7/fA 
 
 'V 
 
 a I E) RARY 
 
 OF THE 
 U N IVERSITY 
 or ILLINOIS 
 
 V. I 
 
 (X' 
 
JABEZ OLIPHANT; 
 
 OB, 
 
 THE MODERN PRINCE. 
 
 IN THEEE VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 EICHAED BENTLEY, NEW BUELINGTON STEEET, 
 
 1870. 
 [All Eights Eeserved.'i 
 
\ 
 
 \\x 
 
 V 
 
 ^ 
 
 CONTENTS OF VOL. I. 
 
 ^ BOOK I.— MR. OLIPHANT ASCENDS THE 
 THEONE. 
 
 .^^"•^''•"^« PAGE 
 
 ^ I. ME. OLIPHANT'S last DAY IN TOWN . i 
 
 ^ II. MR. OLIPHANT's triumphal ENTRY INTO 
 
 ^ REINSBER ifj 
 
 r^III. FOTHERGILL AND TRUMAN . . .43 
 
 ^ IV. THE CHRONICLES OF REINSBER . . .60 
 
 j^ V. MR. OLIPHANT AND THE CRAVEN DIALECT 73 
 
 < VI. BEGINS HIS REFORMS . . . .Ill 
 
 ^ VII. SCHEMES 131 
 
 "Mnil. A STORM GATHERS 1 64 
 
 1x. THE NEW SOCIETY 1 82 
 
 X. THE STORM BURSTS 1 86 
 
 BOOK II.— MR. OLIPHANT'S POAYER AT ITS 
 HEIGHT. 
 
 L AN ARRIVAL 212 
 
 II. IMAN PROPOSES BUT GOD DISPOSES . . 230 
 
 «s 
 
 ^ 
 
IV CONTENTS. 
 
 ClIAPTEB PAGK 
 
 III. MR. OLIPHANT DISCOURSES ON THE MO- 
 
 RALITY OF HORSE-DEALING, AND BUYS ONE 250 
 
 IV. AN ADVENTURE 27S 
 
 V. REFORMS 305 
 
JABEZ OLIPHANT. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 MR OLIPHANT ASCENDS THE THRONE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 MR. OLIPHANt's last DAY IN TOWN. 
 
 "XT is two minutes to seven, Mr. Graham ; 
 will you order tlie young men to close 
 tlie premises V 
 
 Mr. Oliphant had said this in exactly the 
 same way and at exactly the same moment 
 every night for thirty years, and to say it 
 
 VOL. I. 1 
 
2 Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 he stopped as usual in the middle of his 
 stately promenade round the extensive pre 
 mises of the firm, Jabez Oliphant and Co., 
 Teadealers, Wholesale and Eetail, in Cheap- 
 side. 
 
 He was a tall and well-built man, 
 though somewhat spare, and the dark blue 
 surtout, which was always fastened tight 
 over his chest and had a flower in the 
 button-hole, set off his handsome figure 
 very well. His hair was getting grey, but 
 he was still remarkably erect, and as he 
 spoke his head fell back a little out of the 
 perpendicular, giving him a slight air of 
 haughtiness ; a failing that might also be 
 traced in the quiet but decisive tone in 
 which he issued his order. Very grand 
 and unapproachable must Jabez Oliphant 
 have appeared to the poor passer-by, but 
 after all it was the calm and polished 
 hauteur of a gentleman, and not, as might 
 rather have been expected, the coarse arro- 
 
Mr, OUphant's Last Day in Town. 3 
 
 gance of the successful trader. In fact, 
 after being ^yq and forty years in the shop 
 and making the fortune of a million by it, 
 he seemed a little out of place in it still. 
 At the first guess a humourist would pro- 
 bably have set him down as some stately 
 Norman aristocrat who had walked out of 
 his frame and was condescending, for the 
 fun of the thing, to try his hand at com- 
 merce. 
 
 One of the shopmen now stepped timidly 
 up to him, " If you please, sir," he said, 
 " to-morrow is Saturday, and we thought — 
 that is, we hoped — ^we might perhaps have 
 a half-holiday on such an occasion." 
 
 " I should have been glad to grant it," 
 Mr. Ohphant answered, in the same com'- 
 teous measured accents, but with an un- 
 usual touch of kindness in them ; " but 
 you know how contrary such a thing would 
 be to all the rules of the house. There is 
 seven ;" and he turned to the cashier. 
 
 1—2 
 
Jahez OUphant. 
 
 " Mr. Smitliies, we will balance the day's 
 accounts, if you please ; — oli, and Mr. 
 Nichols !" 
 
 Another of the young men came forward, 
 apparently, as officers going to their first 
 battle are said to do sometimes, disguising 
 his nervousness under a gallant show of 
 briskness. 
 
 "It is your fault, I understand, that 
 those six chests were not forwarded to 
 Leadbeater and Co. ; you will explain the 
 omission to me at eleven to-morrow." Mr. 
 Oliphant checked himself suddenly, how- 
 ever, and added in a softer tone, "Ah, 
 well, never mind ; I forgot that I shall not 
 be here to-morrow." 
 
 The cash was now balanced, and pro- 
 nounced " only a halfpenny wrong." 
 
 " Only a halfpenny, sir !" exclaimed Mr. 
 Oliphant ; " it is either right or wrong, I 
 suppose." Then he muttered to himself: 
 " I never can get poor Smithies to see that 
 
Mr. Olipliant's Last Day in Toiun. 5 
 
 the halfpence are the life and soul of busi- 
 ness : bad, very bad ; to say nothing of the 
 principle of the thing." 
 
 Tv^^enty minutes' labour among the books 
 and papers followed, with not a few blank 
 looks from the young men who were thus 
 kept in beyond the hour at which it was 
 considered the fashion among the gentle- 
 men of the estabhshment to pay their 
 respects to the far-famed performers at the 
 Drink-and-welcome Music Hall. But at 
 lenofth the mistake in the accounts was set 
 right, and Mr. Oliphant took up his hat. 
 
 " Good night, gentlemen," he said, " and, 
 Mr. Smithies, here is a trifle for the young 
 men to drink my health with ; be good 
 enough to apportion it equally amongst 
 them." Accordingly he handed the cashier 
 a cheque, and went out with a courteous 
 inclination by way of general adieu, for he 
 was retiring from the firm, and this was 
 his last night at the shop. 
 
Jahez OUphant 
 
 " Crusty old curmudgeon !" exclaimed 
 Nichols wlien the door was safely closed. 
 "What a wigging I should have got 
 to-morrow, if he had been coming here 
 again." 
 
 "Well, but/' said Smithies, looking at 
 the cheque, " he has cut up generously at 
 last, and no mistake : here's a cool fiver for 
 every mother's son of us ; and I'll be hanged 
 if the old muff hasn't added six and eleven- 
 pence for the receipt stamps — a penny 
 apiece — that we may have the note clear. 
 Isn't that Gentleman Jabez to nothing? 
 It's exact to a penny, I've no doubt." 
 
 " No doubt, no doubt," echoed the eldest 
 of the shopmen, wiping first his spectacles, 
 and then his eyes, with a demonstration, 
 however, that certainly appeared a little 
 out of proportion to the moisture he found 
 there. " Ay, John, he was a good master ; 
 a better class never entered this establish- 
 ment, and I always said so. Very punctual, 
 
Mr. Oliphant's Last Day in Town. 7 
 
 very exact, but if lie thought a thing was 
 right, he did it." 
 
 " Wish he'd have done it in a kinder way, 
 then," returned a melancholy-looking youth 
 in Byronic collars, who was called Jenkins, 
 and was amusing himself, as he leaned 
 agamst the counter, by tossing up a shilling 
 and catching it with one hand. " Only to 
 think of the surly old bear refusing us a 
 hoHday and then coming out so strong with 
 his money ! Gad, from the airs he gives 
 himself, we might be niggers — nothing 
 more, sir " (the " sir " in question, it is pro- 
 per to explain, was only a figure of rhetoric 
 — an imaginary Speaker, in an imaginary 
 chair — conjured up by the lively fancy of 
 Mr. Jenkins), "nothing more — not men 
 with souls, and — and intellects expanding 
 themselves, sir, in the glorious atmosphere 
 of this metropolis of the world and of liberty. 
 Sir, is it to be borne that Enghshmen, free 
 Englishmen ' ' 
 
Jahez OUphant 
 
 " Come, come, cut it short, Jim," inter- 
 rupted one of his friends good-humouredly ; 
 " wait till you are member for the tea-gar- 
 dens, old fellow, and then well come and 
 hear you, as weVe often promised. We 
 shall miss jolly old Tom in 'Yillikins,' if 
 you don t look alive." 
 
 The injured look of the orator, whose elo- 
 quence was thus nipped in the bud, seemed 
 to hint that his speech might not impos- 
 sibly have proved as great a treat to his 
 friends as " Yillikins ;" but, as he was evi- 
 dently alone in the opinion, while most 
 kinds of oratory are eminently unsatisfac- 
 tory unless you have an audience, the young 
 man of the collars contented himself with 
 putting on a gloomy " Besurgam " air and 
 following his companions. 
 
 While they were thus discussing their 
 employer with a pleasant freedom that 
 made amends for previous restraint, Jabez 
 Oliphant was threading his way homewards^ 
 
Mr. OUphanfs Last Day in Town. 9 
 
 through the crowded streets. He was ab- 
 sorbed m thought, and held his head very 
 stiffly, though he nodded in a dignified way 
 to an acquaintance here and there, and 
 stopped occasionally to exchange a word or 
 two with some of the City notabilities. 
 Any one, however, who knew him well 
 would have observed that his step was a 
 little more jaunty and exulting than usual. 
 Most men at sixty are thinking of their 
 graves, but Mr. Oliphant was just about to 
 begin life. 
 
 He was born in one of the rough York- 
 shire dales, and had risen by his own in- 
 dustry and talents alone ; his father being 
 the village cobbler, a poor and ilhterate man, 
 whose own ambition had been so effectually 
 cured by that admirable counter-irritant, a 
 large family, that he never once thought 
 Jabez, his eldest boy, could do anything 
 but vegetate in the old place at the old 
 trade. But it was not so to be. One of 
 
10 Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 the boy's playfellows had a brother, a clerk 
 in some Manchester house, who seeing the 
 lad was fond of readuig lent him a book 
 about eminent business men. It was a 
 poor thing, wretched in style, meagre in 
 facts, but it was enough for Jabez. He 
 devoured it at one gulp, and, when he rose 
 from it, though he was only ten years old, 
 his mind was made up. He would not be 
 a cobbler, not he ; he would be a great 
 merchant like those he read of, and he 
 would go to school ; for all of them had be- 
 gun with that. 
 
 Now, two or three miles from his native 
 village of Reinsber, was the free grammar 
 school of Stainton, at which from time im- 
 memorial rich and poor had learned their 
 tasks together; and nothing would serve 
 Jabez but going there. By dint of repeated 
 entreaties he at length obtained his father's 
 consent to try the school for a single year, 
 a time which seemed quite sufficient and 
 
Mr. Olipliant's Last Day in Town. 11 
 
 almost immeasurable to tlie boy, and to the 
 old man — as age and youth look at this and 
 most things through different ends of the 
 telescope — a short period which would be 
 well spent in curing him of his folly. 
 
 The kind old bookseller at Stainton lent 
 the boy a Latin grammar and gave him 
 some help in the language, so that at Mid- 
 summer he entered the school mth credit. 
 From that time, as the saying goes, he 
 never looked behind him. The year came 
 and went, but the boy brought home so 
 many prizes, and the masters gave such re- 
 ports of him, that by the end of it the cob- 
 bler had grown proud of his son. " Jabez 
 was happen reght efter aw,'' he said ; ^' he 
 has good stuff m him," a remark which had 
 the merit of containing a little graceful 
 compliment to himself as well as his son. 
 So by endless saving and scraping, hard 
 work and poor fare on the part of all, and 
 by the boy's labouring in the shop after he 
 
12 Jabez Olij^hcmt. 
 
 came home, sometimes till one or two in 
 the morning, lie was kept at school till he 
 was fifteen and a " scholar/' 
 
 The old man lived long enough to have 
 his kindness rewarded. Throughout hfe it 
 was a marked characteristic of Jabez Oli- 
 phant that sooner or later he invariably ac- 
 comphshed whatever he had once made up 
 his mind to do ; and as he had quite made 
 up his mmd to be a great business man, he 
 succeeded. But it is beyond our province 
 to describe his rise, or to tell how, after 
 reaching London with the usual lucky six- 
 pence in his pocket, he obtained through 
 the Manchester clerk a place as errand-boy 
 at a tea-dealer's in Cheapside ; how, a foot- 
 ing once gained, by sticking to the place 
 and seizing opportunities, from errand-boy 
 he became shopman, from shopman cashier, 
 from cashier foreman, and how then, on a 
 vacancy occurring in the firm, his masters 
 found him so necessary that they gave him 
 
Mr. Oliphant's Last Day in Town, 13 
 
 the partnership ; how afterwards, by hard- 
 headed mdustry and strong will, each year 
 he had raised the fortunes of the house ; or 
 again, how, when he became the chief part- 
 ner, he had cautiously added a dingy httle 
 office, a couple of yards square, to the great 
 shop ; and how the former, so inferior in 
 appearance, had surpassed the latter infi- 
 nitely in money-getting and in power, and 
 now had blocks of warehouses on the 
 Thames, and a score of vessels on the sea, 
 and agents in every part of the habitable 
 world : how thus Jabez Oliphant, Esq., 
 had risen to be one of the greatest of the 
 great merchant princes of England, a mil- 
 lionaire whose word was gold in the city, 
 and his bow an honour in Belgravia ; and 
 how, amid it all, he had not forgotten one 
 of those who befriended him when poor, 
 but had lavished on his proud old parents 
 every comfort that affection or money could 
 bestow, had made the struggling Manches- 
 
14 Jahez OUphant. 
 
 ter clerk his book-keeper, and had returned 
 the Stainton bookseller's loan with interest 
 that astonished the lender. 
 
 Altogether it was a great and complete 
 story, not without a certain dignity of its 
 own ; and in the dearth of Enghsh epics I 
 am sorry that I must leave so grand and 
 national a subject unattempted. Yet I 
 cannot but think there would be some mo- 
 notony in the tale. It must have been 
 monotonous, that pacing backwards and for- 
 wards, day after day and year after year for 
 five-and-forty years, whether it was in the 
 dingy little office with the single desk and 
 the one sunbeam that hardly effected an 
 entrance for half an hour a day and seemed 
 heartily ashamed of itself when it had got 
 in, or in the big shop only a thought less 
 dingy in spite of the gilded tea-chests and 
 all the smirks of the spruce shopmen. In 
 an age of sensation novels, one can imagine 
 something livelier than the working of ad- 
 
Mr. Oliphanfs Last Day in Town. 15 
 
 dition and subtraction sums for half a cen- 
 tuiy on a stretch, or calculating a million 
 times in succession the discount at 5 per 
 cent, on a bill from Shanghai of 823Z. 75. 2,('^. 
 due in 8 months, or the perpetual count- 
 ing of bank-notes, even if they are one's 
 own. Monotonous work or not, however, 
 Mr. Oliphant had hardened under it, and, 
 to all outward appearance, had become a 
 proud, soHtary, just old man, without a bit 
 of heart or poetry about him. 
 
 Had he then (asks some young lady 
 reader), had he never known that soothing 
 and softening influence which makes poets 
 and women of us all ? that sweet little bird 
 of Love, which at least once in the hves of 
 most of us — of Corydon at the counter 
 equally with Tityrus under the beech-tree 
 — persists in making its nest in our hearts 
 and in singmg us humanising songs, to an- 
 other, and a good deal better tune, than 
 the clink of guineas ? Perhaps he had, but 
 
16 Jabez OUphant. 
 
 if so, the affair had come to nothing and he 
 never referred to it in any way. If Jabez 
 OHphant ever thawed at all when in love, 
 which his friends doubted, he was one of 
 those men who freeze all the harder for 
 their disappointment. 
 
 Yet under all the coldness and prose of 
 this man of figures, it is strange to say 
 that, unknown to his dearest friends, un- 
 suspected even by the sister-in-law and 
 niece with whom he lived, there had been 
 all along a vein of poetry at red heat. He 
 had carried away with him from Yorkshire 
 a deep instinctive attachment to his native 
 village, and this attachment had survived^- 
 the anxieties of business during so many 
 years, and had even outlived that other 
 love of his. From the moment he set foot 
 in town, it had been the dream of his life, 
 if ever he became rich, to go back and hve 
 at Reinsber. And. the dream had grown 
 in dimensions with brooding on it. It had 
 
Mr. Oliphant^s Last Bay in Town. 17 
 
 long since become a fixed idea with him not 
 only to Hve there, but to make the Httle 
 place a model for all villages, and to be 
 himself its king ; for, accustomed as he was 
 by his wealth, munificence, and abihties, 
 to shine as a star of the first magnitude 
 even among the stars of London, at Reins- 
 ber he would be a sun without rival stars 
 at all. So he had bought many estates in 
 the neighbourhood, and finally the old Hall 
 itself, which had been for generations in 
 the hands of an ancient family, the Mans- 
 fields, who had gone down in the world as 
 Mr. Ohphant had gone up. 
 
 Jabez, as one of his shopmen remarked, 
 was a man of great exactitude. He had 
 always determined to withdraw from the 
 firm at sixty, and on his sixtieth birth- 
 day he bade the old premises the fare- 
 well I have described, and having already 
 created himself sovereign of Reinsber, was 
 
 VOL. I. 2 
 
18 Jahez Olipliant. 
 
 on his way to take possession of his new 
 kingdom. 
 
 Might not his step well be a httle 
 jaunty ? 
 
CHAPTER 11. 
 
 ME. OLIPH ant's TEIUMPHAL ENTRY INTO 
 REINSBER. 
 
 ~jr DO not think you would easily find in a 
 long day's journey, even in this age of 
 railways, as beautiful or primitive a village 
 as Reinsber. It lies, as we said, in one of the 
 wildest and most picturesque of the York- 
 shire dales, forty miles away from any laige 
 city, and out of sight and sound of the 
 world. The nearest town is Stainton, three 
 or four miles lower down the valley, and 
 Stainton itself, though greatly looked up 
 to by an extensive district surrounding it, 
 called Craven — Craig-ven, the Land of 
 
 O 9, 
 
20 Mr. OUphcmfs 
 
 Crags — is but a village on a rather larger 
 scale. Still, on tlie strength, of its proud 
 pre-eminence as the market-town of the 
 neighbourhood, and partly, perhaps, like a 
 backwoods city, from its unlimited capacity 
 for extension, Stainton is disposed to be 
 somewhat pretentious. 
 
 Through the eighty or hundred white- 
 washed cottages which are dignified by the 
 name of Reinsber, • there winds a little 
 mountain-stream, down to which slope the 
 flowery gardens and green crofts of the 
 scattered cottages above; but of the houses 
 themselves, from this point of view, you 
 can only catch a peep now and then, so 
 thick is the veil of over-hanging sycamores, 
 ashes, and hazels. The pretty brook itself 
 has no notion, like some misguided streams, 
 of either giving up its clearness or holding 
 its tongue in the presence of man, and it 
 trots along with pure waters and delicious 
 murmurs all day, but with a great deal of 
 
Triumphal JEntri/ into Rehisber. 21 
 
 Tumecessary splutter and foam, as if in a 
 hurry to join the wider river just below : 
 for Reinsber stands nearly at the junction 
 of its own httle valley with the broader 
 dale of the Ribble, and from some parts of 
 the village you may look up the narrowing 
 dale for miles, and may see the river wind- 
 ing between steep hills topped with heather, 
 and above them mountains of some name, 
 such as Penyghent and Ingleborough, which 
 rise at the head of the valley with forms 
 of considerable grandeur. This is looking 
 northward, but to the south also the view 
 is extremely beautiful. There for foreground 
 on each side are long hnes of grey limestone 
 cliffs, plumed with dwarf yew and chmbing 
 ivy, and worn by age into a thousand fan- 
 tastic towers and buttresses, while the slope 
 from the cliffs to the Kibble is occupied by 
 a rich growth of native wood. Near the 
 river, and parallel to it, the white road to 
 the village winds through the trees, and as 
 
22 Mr. Oliphant's 
 
 the eye wanders on, you see the valley gra- 
 dually widening, and at last ending in a 
 great expanse of plain, well-wooded, rich 
 and beautiful. Then the long whale- 
 backed mountain of Pendle, in another 
 county, rises abruptly and stops our view 
 in the blue distance ; not but that 
 the prospect has been an extensive one 
 already, for Pendle, as the crow flies, is 
 twenty or five and twenty miles from 
 Reinsber. 
 
 The country around is purely pastoral. 
 The plough is unknown ; for the Yorkshire 
 dalesmen say " their land is best the green 
 side uppermost." On each side of the river 
 is a strip of the richest meadow-ground, 
 succeeded, as you ascend the hill-side, by 
 green pastures; but when you have cHmbed 
 half a mile above the village, you are on a 
 vast upland wilderness of rocks, bent, and 
 heather, with the wail of the plover and the 
 whistle of the curlew always round you ; a 
 
Triumphal Entry into Reinsher. 23 
 
 wilderness over which you might stroll in 
 most directions for thirty or forty miles 
 without a break except from valleys still 
 more primitive, and which possesses a suffi- 
 cient store of huge precipices, caves and 
 waterfalls to furnish many a romantic tale 
 at the shepherd's fireside. 
 
 Such was the quiet Httle principahty of 
 which Mr. OHphant, in the spring of 186 — , 
 a week or two after the incidents men- 
 tioned in the last chapter, was on his way 
 to take possession. Accompanied by his 
 niece he was travelling in an open carriage, 
 drawn by a pair of post horses. During 
 most of their journey he had been very 
 silent, leaning back in the carriage in his 
 stately fashion ; but it was pleasant to see 
 the flush of excitement that gradually stole 
 over his face, as they neared their destina- 
 tion and came in sight of objects he remem- 
 bered. In truth, it was one of those mo- 
 ments which are worth a life-time, but 
 
24 Mr, Oliphant's 
 
 which very few have the luck to experience. 
 It would have been sufficiently gratifjdng 
 for an old man to feel that, after all those 
 weary years of London smoke and count- 
 ing-house, he was returning at last, under 
 any circumstances, to the spot he Hked 
 best; but it was inexpressibly more de- 
 lightful to be coming back, his toils re- 
 warded and his dreams realised, with 
 riches and honour, to the home he left so 
 poor. No wonder, therefore, there was a 
 softness about Mr. Oliphant's heart which 
 he had not known for years. 
 
 It was a beautiful afternoon in May. 
 The woods were bursting into leaf all 
 around them, the primroses and hyacinths 
 were in full blaze in the bright sunlight on 
 the banks, and the throstles and larks were 
 contending with each other in their songs. 
 In all limestone districts, there is a sparkle 
 in the streams, a vivid green in the pas- 
 tures, and a general cheerfulness in the 
 
Triumphal Entry into Reinsber, 25 
 
 landscape — a sunniness, if I may use the 
 word — arising, no doubt, from the light 
 colour of the prevailing rock, but which 
 one may look for in vain elsewhere. It was 
 so here ; more especially was it so on this 
 bright afternoon, and this circumstance, 
 perhaps, had also an influence on the old 
 man's mind. From whatever cause, how- 
 ever, his forty years of pride seemed to 
 have thawed suddenly, and, at last, as the 
 carriage reached the top of a little emi- 
 nence, two or three miles from Remsber, 
 his feehngs culminated in a sort of boyish 
 deHght. 
 
 *' There, there !" he cried, throwing his 
 body forward ; " see, Kate, there are 
 Keinsber Scars : are they not beautiful T 
 
 Kate turned to look, flushing with plea- 
 sure, not so much at the beauty of the 
 scene before them, as at the tone of eager- 
 ness and geniality which was so strange in 
 her uncle. But I positively forgot that we 
 
26 Mr. Oliphanfs 
 
 have been toiling up Stainton Brow all tMs 
 time, and I have not yet introduced you to 
 Miss Oliphant. Come, then, let us lose no 
 time about it, for I like her so much my- 
 self, that I shall be extremely disappointed 
 if you do not like her also. 
 
 Kate's was one of those rare natures 
 which under considerable playfulness con- 
 ceal a good heart and a strong will. If you 
 had seen her racing with Fido in the 
 grounds, or heard her teasing her friends 
 good - himiouredly, both of which were 
 favourite amusements of hers, you might 
 have thought her only one of the ordinary 
 light-hearted butterflies, that are fit enough 
 for the sunshine, and look pretty in it, but 
 for the cold winds of life — pshaw 1 But 
 then she occasionally flashed into enthu- 
 siasm, though she would laugh it ofP a mo- 
 ment afterwards, with a pretty little blush, 
 as if ashamed to be detected in earnest. 
 That puzzled you ; it had puzzled most of 
 
Triumphal Entry into Reinsber. 27 
 
 her acquaintance. But when you came to 
 know her intimately, you found, and per- 
 haps to your cost, if she did not happen to 
 agree with you, that Miss Ohphant could 
 be very much in earnest, indeed, in some 
 things. There were plenty of flowers at 
 the surface, but, only an inch or two below, 
 try where you might, you struck rock. 
 
 She was nineteen, rather above the 
 middle height, and very graceful both in 
 her fiomre and movements. Nor in Kate's 
 most spirited sallies could even a prude 
 have detected the least approach to " fast- 
 ness ;" her voice was always too sweet and 
 gentle — her thoughts, her words, her whole 
 manner, were too exquisitely femmine, for 
 that : and probably the persons whom Miss 
 OHphant disliked most were precisely those 
 gnls who are not unaptly called "a bad 
 imitation of their younger brothers." Her 
 face was a noble specimen of the blonde 
 type of beauty. It was her mother s face 
 
28 Mr. Oliphanfs 
 
 (not the present Mrs. Oliphant, who was 
 only Kate's stepmother), but her hvehness 
 was inherited from her father — all the 
 legacy, by the way, she ever had from him ; 
 for poor John Ohphant, with his easy care- 
 less good-nature, had been as plainly created 
 for spending money as his brother Jabez 
 for making it, and long before he died had 
 discovered the intentions of Providence in 
 that respect. Jabez had paid his debts 
 again and again, had kept him, had buried 
 him, and after his death had taken charge 
 of his widow and of Kate. 
 
 " Beautiful indeed !" answered Kate 
 softly at last, with deep feehng. Then she 
 added, with an arch laugh, " but I think 
 the foreground is prettier still." 
 
 " What, the wood ? Ay, I have never 
 seen any green to match yon. We shall 
 find some fine bits for an artist's pencil 
 yonder, eh, Kate ?" His niece was a skilful 
 amateur. 
 
Tnumphal Entry into Reinsber. 29 
 
 " No, not the wood, dear uncle, but your 
 face. I have never seen it half so bright 
 in my life ;" and she kissed the old man 
 twice. He returned the salute fondly but 
 gravely, for demonstrations of this kind 
 were somewhat foreign to the natures both 
 of uncle and niece, and were very rare mth 
 them. 
 
 During the rest of their journey, the old 
 man kept eagerly pointing out to her the 
 places he recollected. " Yon dark spot is 
 Skinscrape Hole — so we boys used to call 
 it : it goes into the rocks for a mile ; in 
 fact, we used quietly to believe amongst our- 
 selves that there was no end at all to some 
 of the branchmg passages. Ah, the times 
 I have explored it ! Ay, and do you see 
 that overhanging rock, with a httle tuft of 
 ivy below it ? there was always a hawk's 
 nest in that tuft, but no one had ever 
 reached it except Tom Chitty. I re- 
 member I tried to rob it ^yq years in sue- 
 
30 Mr. Oliphanfs 
 
 cession, and failed ; but I did it tlie 
 sixth/' 
 
 " You talk as if you were going to try 
 again to-morrow," said Kate, laughing ; 
 " we shall have to hire a staff of keepers, I 
 can see ; you are ready for any desperate 
 enterprise." 
 
 " I have often wondered where Tom is: 
 the last time I heard of him. he was in 
 Australia. There is the pool where we 
 used to bathe : the water is shallow to 
 some distance from the side, but then it 
 deepens all at once, and young Silverwood 
 got in there and was drowned. I never 
 shall forget the scene. Of all my school- 
 fellows he was the one I liked best — poor 
 Dick !" 
 
 Thus praising past time while they en- 
 joyed the present, our travellers came in 
 sight of the village, and Miss Oliphant was 
 dehghted with the view of her future home. 
 - But the sight, so uncommon about Eeinsber, 
 
Trmmplial Entry into Reinsber. 31 
 
 of a few country-people strolling towards it 
 in twos and threes, with all the abandon of 
 determined pleasure-seekers, seemed now 
 to occupy the old man's thoughts, and to 
 fill him first with surprise and then with a 
 kind of simmering satisfaction. He re- 
 lapsed indeed into silence, but he looked 
 veiy like a dignified Newfoundland that 
 is being stroked the right way by a child. 
 
 '' Really, this is more than I expected — 
 much more," he said, as they came in sight 
 of an arch of evergreens hung between the 
 first two houses in the village, and with 
 the word " Welcome," in huge letters, in 
 the middle. " And I thought we had kept 
 the day of our arrival so close ! All their 
 own notion, Kate ; I am rather averse to 
 this pomp and fuss, myself," he added, 
 carelessly. 
 
 " I am sure they are very kind ; it must 
 have been a great deal of trouble," said 
 Kate, looking at the arch. 
 
32 Mr, Oliphant's 
 
 They now heard a distant cheer, far up 
 the straggHng village. " They are aware, 
 you hear, that we have entered the place. 
 This honour, you must know, Kate, is a 
 most unusual one at Reinsber : I never 
 knew a single instance before. However, 
 no doubt they are naturally proud of a 
 fellow- townsman who has distinguished 
 himself." 
 
 " But, uncle, how could the news of our 
 arrival reach them up yonder so soon ?" 
 asked Kate. " Have they the telegraph at 
 Beinsber ?" 
 
 " Oh, they had scouts on the look-out, I 
 suppose." 
 
 As they drove quietly through the long 
 street, the number of persons in holiday 
 garb who were advancing in the same di- 
 rection kept increasing, but presently they 
 met a stream of rustics pouring down from 
 a side street which led up to the village 
 green. The crowd consisted mainly of a 
 
Triumphal Entry into Reinsbcr. 33 
 
 noisy, jovial medley of ruddy -faced lads 
 and blooming country graces, not in threes 
 but in dozens, and almost all of them with 
 large bunches of primroses or other spring- 
 flowers in their hands ; but here and there 
 hi the mass were demure, chapel-going 
 shopkeepers, fat matrons with prodigious 
 baby-burdens, and stalwart, rollicking 
 tenant-farmers or labourers — the two classes 
 being quite undistinguishable here in 
 speech, manners, or even in dress, for both 
 had waistcoats and neckties of such asto- 
 nishingly vivid colours that they seemed 
 to belong to some brighter planet than 
 ours. In the centre of all was Tommy 
 Doolittle, the principal grocer and sole con- 
 stable of Reinsber, a pale, little, bald- 
 headed man, who was staggering along 
 under the weight both of his own import- 
 ance on the occasion, and, still more, of an 
 immense red banner which he carried, with 
 * Industry and Temperance lead to Wealth 
 VOL. I. 3 
 
34 Mr. Oliphant's 
 
 and Joy ' painted on it in wliite letters. 
 Tommy being a strenuous ^ teetotaler/ the 
 flag had already done good service at many 
 feasts of our more temperate brethren, and 
 had even graced one or two elections for 
 the Kiding. In fact, by careful observa- 
 tion, you might still have traced the words 
 
 ^ Vote for ' under a huge square 
 
 patch on the red calico. This, however. 
 Tommy very properly thought, was no 
 valid reason for not showing its splendours 
 ^gaiii. 
 
 " See, Kate ; a most appropriate motto, 
 is it not ? Really, there must be at least 
 four or ^YQ hundred people present — a very 
 great gathering for Reinsber, I assure you. 
 Do you not think it would be proper to 
 make them a httle speech T 
 
 " Nay, you know their customs much 
 better than I do, uncle ; but might it not 
 be as well to wait till someone — perhaps 
 the clergyman of the place — addresses us, 
 
Triumphal Entry into Reinsher. 35 
 
 as he ought to do, ought he not ? How 
 they do all stare at us, to be sure, and how 
 surprised they seem ! It is very odd." 
 
 " They are anxious, no doubt, to see 
 what we are like. We have been the sole 
 talk of Reinsber for weeks, I fancy." 
 
 Whilst the carriage made its way through 
 the crowd, Mr. Oliphant began bowing 
 graciously on each side, at which the rustics 
 stared harder than ever. " They mean 
 Avell," he remarked; "but then* manners 
 are bad, very. After taldng the trouble to 
 organise all this procession specially for us, 
 they do not know how to look when we 
 come. But they are capable of better 
 things, I believe, under good manage- 
 ment." 
 
 A strapping young farmer now caught 
 sight of a rustic flame of his on the other 
 side of the carriage, and being in a sportive 
 mood from frequent libations, thought it 
 would be a feat to throw a nosegay of 
 
 3—2 
 
36 Mr. Oliphant's 
 
 primroses across the horses to her. His 
 shot, as may be supposed under the cir- 
 cumstances, was rather well intended than 
 well directed, and the flowers fell in a mass 
 on Kate's lap, while she was looking 
 another way. Jabez, however, thinking it 
 an intentional compliment to his niece, was 
 delighted, and very warmly thanked the 
 fellow, who stood staring in surprise and 
 consternation at what he had done ; but a 
 half-crown popped into his fingers recon- 
 ciled him to the act, and, his face beaming 
 with joy, he began a tipsy ' hurrah T which 
 was taken up by the crowd. They had 
 seen the money pass from one hand to the 
 other, and, touched by the electrical influ- 
 ence which the sight of coin usually has on 
 a mob, each man, woman, and child began 
 flinging showers of primroses, violets, or 
 hyacinths, into the carriage, till it seemed 
 a moving hillock of blue and yellow, and 
 Kate was in some danger of being buried, 
 
Triumphal Entry into Reiiisher. 37 
 
 like the unlucky Roman maiden, under tlie 
 presents she received. 
 
 Jabez was equal to the emergency. He 
 pulled out all the silver and copper in his 
 pockets, and flung handfuls first on the one 
 side, and then on the other, bowing all 
 the time like Punch in the puppet-show, 
 while the mob cheered and cheered again 
 after each handful. Never was there such 
 an ovation. Even Kate was too much 
 delighted not to smile and bow now. At 
 last Mr. Ohphant's feelmgs overcame him, 
 and stopping the carriage, he delivered 
 himself of the following speech : 
 
 " I am at a loss how to thank you suffi- 
 ciently, my good people, for this splendid 
 reception. Knowing how averse you are to 
 ceremony, for the most part, I think you 
 have been really too kind to me. You 
 seem glad to have me once more among 
 you, and I can tridy say that I too am glad 
 to come back. I always liked Reinsber, 
 
38 Mr. Olvphant's 
 
 and I always vowed in my heart that I 
 would return and end my days among you. 
 I am here to fulfil my vow and hve with 
 you, and I trust we shall soon be friends. 
 I know not what more I can say, except 
 that I thank you once more for your great 
 kindness, and that your comfort and im- 
 provement shall be my constant care." 
 
 The oration was grandly dehvered, as 
 suited the occasion, but the sense was lost 
 on the mass of the good villagers, for they 
 cheered all but incessantly, and always in 
 the wrong place. Tommy Doohttle, how- 
 ever, who, with half-a-dozen others, was 
 sufficiently near to catch a few of Mr. 
 Oliphant's words, seemed to prick up his 
 ears and spread his little eyes ; but at the 
 end of the speech he made Jabez a very 
 low obeisance indeed. 
 
 The carriage then passed on, gradually 
 emerging from the crowd. At the farther 
 end of the village was a still more elaborate 
 
Triumphal Entry into Reinsber. 39 
 
 arch of flowers, with ' Hail to the Queen 
 of May' upon it. "Look, Kate, look,'' 
 whispered Mr. Oliphant ; "a special com- 
 pliment to yourself. Very appropriate and 
 pretty indeed I Dear me, what trouble 
 they have given themselves for us i I 
 should have liked to thank them particu- 
 larly for this. Indeed, I almost think we 
 ought to turn again and do so ; besides, I 
 find there are several other things I wish to 
 say to them." But Kate, who was tired, 
 dissuaded her uncle from returning, and 
 they rattled on to the Hall at an increased 
 pace. 
 
 A circumstance must now be mentioned 
 which I would gladly omit. Scarcely was 
 the carriage gone and the cheering over 
 when a farmer close to Doolittle re- 
 marked : 
 
 " I say. Tommy, but this bangs me. 
 Wha the deuce is he, and what did he 
 mean by thanking us sa mich ?" 
 
40 . Mr, Oliphant's 
 
 "I really don't know/' replied Tommy, 
 timidly ; " I — I think it must have been 
 the banner/' and lie cast another admiring 
 glance up at the mistress of his thoughts. 
 
 " Dal thy flag/' said the other ; "it runs 
 atween thee and thy wits, thou dunder- 
 head. Does ta knaw yon fellow, Dick ?" 
 
 " Nay ; but he hes a couple o' tidy tits 
 onyhow," answered Dick Wideawake, the 
 Yorkshireman addressed, and the sharpest 
 hand in the dale at a bargain. 
 
 " Well, he's ter'ble free wi' his money an' 
 his gab, be he wha he may," said another ; 
 "but here comes t' queen." And there 
 swept down the side street another crowd, 
 bearing upon a chair supported by the 
 shoulders of four young men a pretty 
 country lass who had just been made the 
 " Queen of the May," and was being car- 
 ried round the village in procession, before 
 the dance on the green at night. 
 
 The fact is, that Mr. Oliphant in his 
 
Triumphal Entry into Reinsbcr. 41 
 
 Jong absence from E^einsber had forgotten 
 that the village was one of the few now 
 left which keep up May-day (when he hajD- 
 pened to arrive) by choosing a queen and 
 celebrating her short reign with rustic 
 honours. I know not, however, whether 
 to admire most in my hero that subhme 
 consciousness of desert which accompanies 
 great minds, and which instinctively recog- 
 nised in these honours a natural joy on the 
 part of the innocent villagers at his return; 
 or the unconscious tact he displayed in con- 
 verting, by a few coppers and sixpences, 
 what was meant as a fanciful tribute to 
 another into a real ovation for himself 
 From this little episode, too, I infer that 
 Jabez Oliphant possessed another of the 
 requisites for a great ruler. He was evi- 
 dently fortunate as well as wise. Provi- 
 dence was on his side, and being deter- 
 mined to give him a triumphal entry 
 w^hether the neglectful boors wished it or 
 
42 Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 not, kept the May Queen well behind the 
 scenes and out of sight till he had delivered 
 his speech and was safely through the 
 village. 
 
 *.*. 
 
CHAPTEE III. 
 
 FOTHERGILL AND TRUMAN. 
 
 QCAECELY half-an-Iiour had elapsed 
 ^^ after the OHphants reached the house 
 when they were summoned from their 
 dressing-rooms to receive a couple of 
 visitors. Though the mob had been alto- 
 gether ignorant who our travellers were, 
 two or three of the crowd, with the enter- 
 prising curiosity natural to small places, 
 had made it their business to see where the 
 carriage went, and, when it turned from the 
 main road, had suddenly guessed that the 
 old gentleman was the new owner of 
 Eeinsber Hall. The news soon spread and 
 reached the ears of one of Mr. Oliphant's 
 
44 Jabez Oliphant. 
 
 acquaintances who happened to be among 
 the crowd, and, indeed, was the principal 
 manager of the festivities. 
 
 WilHam Fothergill was a dark-com- 
 plexioned man with large and roughly- 
 chiselled but not ungainly features, that 
 indicated considerable mental power. He 
 had practised for a short time as a physician 
 in London ; but, on inheriting a small 
 estate near Reinsber, and finding that the 
 receipts from his profession were unhkely 
 for some years to pay for the cleaning of 
 the brass plate on his door, he had aban- 
 doned the science of health for that of 
 destruction, and, a year or two before our 
 story begins, had become a confirmed 
 grouse-killer and country gentleman. He 
 was a bachelor, and, knowing the Oliphants 
 in town from the accident of their con- 
 nection with Reinsber, thought it only 
 proper to pay his respects to them at once, 
 more especially since Kate's beauty, if 
 
Fothergill and Truman. 45 
 
 report spoke the truth, had ah^eady made 
 some impression on him. He took the 
 clergyman of the place with him. 
 
 Mr. Oliphant by this time had got over 
 his emotion, and received his visitors with 
 his usual condescension. 
 
 " I heard of your arrival, Mr. Ohphant," 
 said Fothergill, when they had shaken 
 hands, " and I thought I would just run in 
 for a minute to welcome you to the place. 
 We are all very glad you are come, but 
 you'll find Keinsber as dull as the morning 
 after a ball. Miss Oliphant. I have taken 
 the liberty of bringing my friend, Mr. 
 Truman, with me — our incumbent.'^ 
 
 The E-ev. Joseph Truman was a tall, big- 
 boned, awkward man, with a kind, un- 
 assuming expression of countenance. He 
 had been incumbent of Eeinsber for some 
 three-and-twenty years (he was now on the 
 shady side of fifty), and from his long resi- 
 dence in the secluded village, had adopted 
 
46 Jabez Oliphant. 
 
 all the simplicity of the honest farmers 
 round him, together with a little of their 
 roughness ; but a sincerer Christian never 
 lived. He and Fothergill, though one 
 would have thought them as incompatible 
 as oil and vinegar, were on very intimate 
 terms ; theu friendship, like the affection 
 of two Paladins of romance, or the more 
 prosaic and less mythical attachment so 
 often observed between two ardent chess- 
 players, being apparently due to no earthly 
 reason but constant antagonism. It must 
 be owned, however, that in all their skir- 
 mishes Fothergill invariably took the move 
 and made the attack ; while the parson, 
 like the man of peace he was, confined him- 
 self strictly to defence. Or, to vary the 
 comparison, the drum and the drummer 
 were inseparable, only it was always the 
 drummer's part to beat and the drum's 
 privilege to be beaten. 
 
 The magnificent affability of Mr. Oli- 
 
F other gill and Truman. 47 
 
 phant's bow to tlie incumbent was worth 
 seeing. There are men who are able to 
 show you, without in the least infringing 
 the rules of good breeding, the exact degree 
 of estimation in which they hold you ; and 
 Mr. Oliphant's bow was that of a monarch 
 to the prime minister he has just appointed 
 to his office. 
 
 " I hope you are well, Mr. Fothergill," 
 he said ; " Mr. Truman, I have no doubt 
 we shall be better acquainted before long, 
 and shall work well together. And first, 
 let me thank you most heartily, gentlemen, 
 for this warm reception of yours, as agree- 
 able as it was unexpected." Mr. Oliphant 
 meant the triumph. 
 
 " Oh dear, Mr. Oliphant, don t mention 
 it," broke in Mr. Truman, meaning the 
 visit, and speaking with the rather broad 
 Yorkshire accent he had acquired in the 
 dales ; ''we are only too glad to see any- 
 body new at Reinsber." 
 
48 Jahez OUjjJiant. 
 
 Mr. Oliphant's manner towards the in- 
 cumbent grew more stately by some inches. 
 Anybody, indeed ! Then, to be inter- 
 rupted in a speech from the throne ! 
 
 " I don't know about anybody," said 
 Fothergill, noticing the change ; *' but we 
 are delighted to have the prospect of a 
 little more agreeable society, and the poor 
 have been very anxious for some one to come 
 to the Hall. They have always been ac- 
 customed to look to it, you see, for advice, 
 assistance and everything. Youll soon 
 have your hands full if you care to indulge 
 the lazy beggars." 
 
 Jabez smiled pleasantly and turned to- 
 wards Fothergill : "I was going to say, 
 when Mr. Truman stopped me," he re- 
 sumed, " that I had hoped to preserve a 
 strict incognito on my arrival. I had even 
 gone the length of forbidding my servants 
 to mention the day of my departure from 
 town. Your kindness however found me out/'' 
 
Fothergill and Truman. 49 
 
 " Well, you've had a warm day for tra- 
 velling, Mr. Oliphant." As some apology 
 for the incumbent's rudeness in thus inter- 
 rupting the rounded periods again after 
 being rebuked for his first offence, I may 
 say he was utterly unconscious that the 
 other's oration was not finished, for it was 
 given deliberately and with solemn pre- 
 cision. 
 
 Jabez bowed slightly, but coloured and 
 went on with his own train of thought : 
 " It was magnificent " (Joseph imagined he 
 referred to the day ) ; " the arch nearest 
 the Hall reflects great credit on the de- 
 signer, and the motto is singularly appro- 
 .priate.'' 
 
 " Ah, now, I'm glad you liked that,'' 
 cried the parson triumphantly : "it was all 
 my doing, that. The flowers were from my 
 own garden, every one of them : I said to 
 our blacksmith last Monday " 
 
 " But you really should not have put 
 
 VOL. I. 4 
 
50 Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 yourselves to so much, expense and trouble/' 
 continued Mr. Oliphant, noticing the in- 
 corrigible parson and his interruptions no 
 longer ; " it was needless, though I grant it 
 was perfectly natural." 
 
 " Oh, 'tis an old cust " 
 
 But Fothergill had begun to suspect Mr. 
 Oliphant's mistake, and prudently changed 
 the subject as fast as possible. 
 
 " Well, our Reinsber pageant will scarcely 
 make you forget the London theatres," he 
 said gaily ; " was there much going on in 
 town when you left ? All the managers, I 
 suppose, would be fighting, as usual, for the 
 worst piece ?" 
 
 The conversation was now on general 
 subjects for a few minutes, but soon re- 
 turned to the spot on which, though from 
 different reasons, the thoughts of all were 
 dwelling. 
 
 " I never imagined Reinsber was such, a 
 beautiful place, Mr. Fothergill," remarked 
 
Fothergill and Truman. 51 
 
 Kate ; "it reminds one of the happy valley 
 in Rasselas." 
 
 " At any rate I hope the princess, now 
 that she has fairly arrived, will not be m a 
 hurry to quit it/' replied Fothergill in a 
 jocosely-surly tone, which was common with 
 him when he paid compliments, so that it 
 was difficult to knoAv whether he meant 
 them or not. " But I can answer for one 
 who thinks there might be pleasanter places 
 imagined even than this." 
 
 " Yourself, I suppose," replied Kate 
 with a smile ; "I remember in London you 
 were always acting the part of the discon- 
 tented knight, and sighing for green fields 
 and flowers." 
 
 " Say watercresses, Miss OHphant ; I own 
 I always had a weakness for them : you do 
 get them fresh at Reinsber." 
 
 "Ay, that little stream by Tadespit 
 Moss that I showed you, Fothergill, is a 
 famous place for them, isn't it now ?" said 
 
 4—2 
 
 ■ iQD&RV 
 
52 Jabez Oliphant. 
 
 the matter-of-fact parson. " Many a time 
 have I half filled my pannier with them 
 there on a bad day/' 
 
 " It is very plain, Mr. Truman, I must 
 take you and not Mr. Fothergill as my 
 guide ; for he would fill my head with discon- 
 tent at once. He would think it the proper 
 thing to encore a throstle, and would say 
 that the chandelier in a London drawing- 
 room gives a far pleasanter light than the 
 sun." 
 
 " And so it does," said Fothergill ; " es- 
 pecially when it is helped out by the bright 
 eyes below ; I know you were fishing for a 
 compliment, so 111 give you one. But as 
 to your preferring Truman here for a guide, 
 it is simply absurd : he would always take 
 you one way — towards Stainton and Miss 
 Norber's." 
 
 " Now, Fothergill !" said the parson, in 
 a tone of remonstrance, but one that 
 
Fothergill and Truman. 53 
 
 showed he was not very deeply offended at 
 the alkision. 
 
 Kate observed WiUiam's sly look, and 
 asked laughingly who Miss Norber was. 
 
 " Not a word of truth in it," the in- 
 cumbent hastened to say : " but she is a 
 lady » 
 
 " Really, Truman, where are your gal- 
 lantry and affection?" interrupted Fother- 
 gill ; "a young lady, you mean — of not 
 more than fifty, Miss Oliphant — and she 
 had the good fortune to ensnare our friend 
 here, it is supposed, some five-and-twenty 
 years ago — a case of love at first sight when 
 he came to Reinsber. The picture of her 
 charms — slightly aspirmg nose, luxuriant 
 ringlets with just a pathetic sprinkling of 
 time-dust on them, eyes beaming mildly 
 through a pair of fight blue spectacles, like 
 a couple of full moons in a clear sky — all 
 this he is of course much more competent 
 
54 Jahez OUphant. 
 
 to draw than I am. He is very constant 
 and attentive, calling almost every day to 
 inquire after her health, or, if she has the 
 bad manners to be well, after her little dog — " 
 
 '^Fotherginr 
 
 " — which seems to be a permanent in- 
 valid, and wears flannel. The only thing 
 we cannot make out is why the matter 
 never gets any farther, and we all think he 
 is treating her very badly " 
 
 " Miss Oliphant," protested the incum- 
 bent. 
 
 " But after a smooth courtship of a quar- 
 ter of a century, don't you agree with us 
 it is a shame ? Some think him a gay 
 young Lothario, divided between affection 
 for her and a dozen other ladies as young 
 as herself ; and some think it is simple diffi- 
 dence.'' 
 
 " Well, you must certainly introduce me 
 to her, Mr. Truman," said Kate, seeing that 
 the incumbent was not displeased. 
 
Fothergill and Truman. 55 
 
 " Nay, now, indeed, on my honour it is 
 all a romance," he exclaimed, able to get a 
 hearing at last. 
 
 " Then, there is another reason for bring- 
 ing matters to a crisis," Fothergill resumed ; 
 "for if anything happened to that dear 
 little lap-dog, there might be a difficulty in 
 finding excuses for so many visits. Besides, 
 I tell him marriage is a duty he owes to his 
 principles. Don't you think, Mr. Oliphant, 
 all Protestant clergymen should support 
 then' church and themselves by marry- 
 ing?" 
 
 " Now, how in the world is it possible 
 that I should marry ?" expostulated Tru- 
 man. " How can a man take such a serious 
 step on seventy-two pounds, four shillings, 
 and two-pence a year — -just think of that ? 
 Nobody but a madman would do it, as you 
 know very well." 
 
 " Is that the whole income of the bene- 
 fice T asked Jabez in a grave tone. 
 
56 Jahez Olipliant. 
 
 " Ay, that it is — not that I am grumb- 
 ling." 
 
 " Mr. Fothergill does the grumbling for 
 you, I suppose/' said Kate slily. 
 
 "Well, it is an abominable thing," re- 
 marked Mr. Oliphant. 
 
 " Oh, one's expenses are not large," re- 
 plied the incumbent, who had become ac- 
 customed to his lot; "and I get on very 
 pleasantly by the help of a little fishing and 
 gardening. We've famous trout-fishing in 
 the Ribble " (enthusiastically), " and you 
 must take it up ; I shall be most happy to 
 teach you how to throw a line if you do 
 not know. You'll find living here very te- 
 dious work without it. Only the other 
 day I caught seven] pounds and a half; 
 one fish was nearly a pound and eleven 
 ounces." 
 
 "Have you many poor at Reinsber now ?" 
 asked Jabez. 
 
 " Not many ; and those are so by their 
 
Fotliergill and Truman, 57 
 
 own fault for tlie most part, drinking — 
 drinking mainly." 
 
 " The farmers here/' said Fothergill, 
 " consider it a duty to their ancestors to 
 get tipsy every market day." 
 
 "This and many other points will require 
 early and most serious attention/' said Mr. 
 OHphant. "It is the old story over again, 
 I suppose ; what w^as everybody's business 
 has been nobody's. All reformation re- 
 quires some able, enterprising, influential 
 man to take it in hand ; and even then 
 the best mode of achieving it is a suffi- 
 ciently difficult question. But on this sub- 
 ject, I should like at some time to have 
 the benefit of your local experience, Mr. 
 Truman." The last words were added 
 somewhat grudgingly, as if Jabez thought 
 them only a concession due to poHte- 
 ness. 
 
 Joseph, however, improved on Mr. Oli- 
 phant's request, by saying he would be 
 
58 Jahez OUphcmt. 
 
 proud to give him his advice at all times, 
 and the visitors rose. 
 
 " We hope to have the pleasure of seeing 
 you at dinner before long," said Jabez ; 
 " to-day we are a Httle fatigued. But as a 
 remembrance of the day and your kindness, 
 let me give you a small contribution to 
 your poor-box." 
 
 When the two friends were out of the 
 house, and the parson had looked at the 
 note, he found it was for fifty pounds, — 
 nearly as much as his own income. He 
 was both surprised and pleased, but could 
 not help saymg : 
 
 " Well, he is a queer fish, Fothergill, 
 however !" 
 
 " Ay, and you'll have to give him plenty 
 of line," replied the other, drily. " He 
 appears somehow to have grown from a 
 smelt into a salmon, since I met him in 
 London — a rather ridiculous change at his 
 
Fothergill and Truman, 59 
 
 age ; I can't quite make liim out yet. Miss 
 Oliphant is a fine girl, is she not ?" 
 
 " Why, I scarcely noticed her face, I 
 think." 
 
 " Ah, too busy ruminating on the ever 
 lasting charms of Miss Norber, I suppose, 
 thou virtuous and devoted Joseph !" said 
 the other. 
 
 As for Mr. Oliphant, he went to bed soon 
 after dinner, well pleased with the events 
 of the day, his grand triumphal entry more 
 especially, and he dreamed of many great 
 plans, and perhaps of the ancient chronicles 
 of Reinsber. 
 
CHAPTEE lY. 
 
 THE CHRONICLES OF REINSBER. 
 
 ijlOR Reinsber had its clironicles. Though 
 -^ so small and secluded, it had spread 
 its fame for thirty miles round, and was 
 classic soil to the whole of the Yorkshire 
 dales. Like Gotham, and one or two other 
 villages — oases of staid philosophy in a 
 laughter-loving world — it enjoyed a reputa- 
 tion for extraordinary wisdom, and every 
 strange story of preternatural sagacity was 
 placed by the other dalesmen, without a 
 touch of jealousy, to the credit of the 
 Reinsber carles, as they were styled, so 
 universally allowed was their superiority. 
 
The Chronicles of Reinsber. 61 
 
 At what period of its history the 
 village first achieved its fame, no one can 
 tell. But, strange as it may be, the fact 
 seems certam that in this remote spot there 
 flourished generation after generation of 
 sages, through a hoary antiquity that dates 
 by centuries. It is sad to think that not a 
 single name out of its long list of great men 
 has been handed down to us. They appear, 
 indeed, to have been engaged in farming, 
 much Hke the Romans of old or the carles 
 of the j)resent day; but, with a grand 
 himaility, they lived and died in retirement, 
 silenced by the gTeatness of their thoughts, 
 and, like Shakespeare, utterly indifferent to 
 glory. 
 
 Nine Keinsber men (where else could 
 we find such devotion to science among 
 farm labourers ?) are said to have spent 
 the greater part of a day in endea- 
 vouring to solve what is admitted to be 
 one of the most difiicult problems in aU 
 
62 Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 domestic economy, viz., how to get a bull 
 out of a field. For ^yq hours did the 
 united nine, with wonderful perseverance 
 and heedlessness of danger, try to lift the 
 huge animal over the gate. The weight, 
 however, was too great, and at last they were 
 compelled to put the bull down, and send 
 one of their number to the village for 
 assistance. As he opened the gate to go 
 through, one of the remaining eight was 
 observed to scratch his head and go off into 
 a brown study — the sure sign of some good 
 idea at Reinsber. After a quarter of an 
 hour's thought, he ventured to ask the rest 
 whether '^ it wouldn't do to oppen t' yett 
 as Tom had done, and drive t' bull through?" 
 The rest of them began to light their pipes 
 on this, and smoked for an hour without 
 speaking ; for the villagers were remarkable 
 for never giving hasty answers. Then, 
 after talking the plan carefully over, they 
 came to the conclusion that at all events 
 
The Chronicles of Eeinsher. 63 
 
 there could be no harm m trying it. 
 They did try it, and the experiment suc- 
 ceeded. From that day to this, driving 
 a bull through the gate instead of lifting it 
 over has been the accepted mode of getting 
 it out of a field both at Reinsber and in all 
 the rest of the world — so inexplicably and 
 so suddenly are the greatest discoveries 
 sometimes made, and (for I'll lay my life 
 not one of my readers has ever heard of the 
 village before) so ungratefully are the dis- 
 coverers forgotten. It is still, however, a 
 custom in the dales to pay homage to the 
 natives of Reinsber by asking them, " Who 
 lifted t' bull ower t' yett V 
 
 In old times when knives were scarce 
 there was only one in the place. It was 
 called a whittle, and when not in use was 
 stuck in a tree in the centre of the green. 
 Some workmen took it with them on one 
 occasion to a wild moor, called Girzliegut 
 Moss, above the village, and when they 
 
64 Jahez Oliphmit, 
 
 were about to return home at night, 
 thought they would save themselves the 
 trouble of carrying the whittle by leaving 
 it where they could find it next morn- 
 ing on coming back to work. The moss, 
 however, was a wild, bare spot, without 
 a tree, wall, or stone to serve as a 
 mark. But, as usual, Reinsber ingenuity 
 triumphed over difficulties. They observed 
 a remarkable cloud over one part of the 
 moor — a cloud which they would be cer- 
 tain to recognise when they saw it again 
 — and directly under this they placed the 
 whittle. To be sure they were not able 
 to find it next day, for the mark itself, 
 by some strange freak of nature, had 
 moved off, and was no longer to be seen. 
 But though the whittle was lost, and 
 there has been a good deal of carping at 
 them on this account, surely such censures 
 are undeserved, for it is palpable that 
 neither the Eeinsber mind nor any other 
 
The Chronicles of Reinsher. 65 
 
 human intellect whatever can contend 
 with Nature when she chooses, out of sheer 
 mahce, to balk us. Besides, it is said that 
 the carles have not even yet given up all 
 hopes of recovering their favourite whittle, 
 and for several generations have been 
 anxiously watching the moor for the re- 
 appearance of the same cloud over it. 
 
 But perhaps theh most successful 
 achievement was the following. Grave 
 fears had been long entertained that 
 the neighbouring cliff, which is some- 
 thmg hke a quarter of a mile long and 
 a hundred feet high, would come down 
 bodily on the houses and overwhelm them ; 
 and one of the usual Eeinsber councils, 
 consisting of the whole population — for 
 the danger was universal, and where all 
 were so wise it would have been folly to 
 exclude any one — was held on the green to 
 consider the matter. Sweet village, how I 
 should have enjoyed being present at one 
 
 VOL. I. 5 
 
66 Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 of these sage deliberations of the olden 
 time 1 How often, standing on thy little 
 bridge, have I tried to restore in imagina- 
 tion the pregnant silence that must have 
 brooded over them, the thoughts slowly 
 given, short and sententious, which found 
 utterance only every half hour or so, the 
 endless pipes, the puckered brows, the 
 solemn head-shakings of disapproval, the 
 weighty nods of approbation ! On the 
 present subject there were many opinions, 
 all worth Hstening to, no doubt, but the 
 one which finally prevailed was a miracle 
 of engineering talent. It was suggested 
 that the dangerous cliff in question should 
 be bound round with a long rope, and tied 
 tight to a great oak which stood on the 
 rock a hundred yards from the edge. The 
 device was adopted and answered wonder- 
 fully ; for the cHff is standing, even now, 
 after many hundreds of years. 
 
 Again to discover new uses for a thing was 
 
The Chronicles of Reiiisber. Q7 
 
 of eveiy-day occurrence in the village. When 
 the little bridge was first built there by a 
 strange architect employed by government, 
 the whole place, as may be supposed in the 
 case of persons who had never seen such a 
 thing before, was lost in wonder and specu- 
 lation. What could it be for ? On the 
 day when the bridge was completed and 
 ready for trafiic, some of the carles return- 
 ing home from a fair reached the new erec- 
 tion just as a shower came on. Not at 
 all suspecting the real use of the struc- 
 ture, they followed the old road to the 
 water's edge, and were fording the brook 
 by the stepping-stones as usual, when it oc- 
 ciuTed to one of them that the bridge had 
 been put up by the king as a shelter for the 
 passers-by during such heavy rain as was 
 then faUing. The theory appeared most 
 plausible, and, not to seem ungrateful to his 
 majesty, they — though of course with con- 
 siderable discomfort to themselves — took 
 
68 Jabez Oliphant. 
 
 shelter under the bridge in the middle of 
 the stream, till the shower was over, but it 
 did strike two of the party simultaneously 
 " 'at he might ha built t' biggin i' a drier 
 shop, an' he wad." 
 
 It has always been the misfortune of 
 genius — especially in remote parts — to have 
 its discoveries pirated, and its best thoughts 
 stolen. The merit of some of the grand 
 ideas I am now about to mention has been 
 claimed, I believe, for other places, but the 
 Yorkshire dalesmen maintain stoutly that 
 the credit of originating them is due to 
 Reinsber. It was there, they will tell you, 
 that the remarkable thought of walling in 
 the cuckoo first had bhth. The sager in- 
 tellects of the place had noticed that when- 
 ever they heard the cuckoo it was spring, 
 and hence they inferred that if they 
 could keep the cuckoo all the year round 
 they would have perpetual spring, and " a 
 rare time for t' kye." Accordingly they 
 
The Chronicles of Reinsber. G9 
 
 watched the bird to a Httle grove near 
 the houses, and during the night built 
 a wall round the trees. In the morn- 
 ing, when the cuckoo flew to a higher 
 branch, by immense exertions they raised 
 the wall to a corresponding height, and 
 were just about to put the roof on and 
 secure their wishes, when — oh, perverse 
 fate ! — the bird took a hop, skip, and flutter 
 mto the air, and was gone. 
 
 It was at Heinsber first, if you listen to 
 the dalesmen, that a farmer tried to wheel 
 sunshine into the barn to dry his hay, and 
 that thrifty wives bought oilcloths for the 
 kitchen floors because sand was so ex- 
 pensive. The monkey which clapped a 
 fuse to a loaded cannon and looked up the 
 barrel at the same time to see what would 
 come of it, is said to have spent some years 
 of its life at Reinsber; and while one 
 native of this place is recorded to have sent 
 skates and warming-pans for sale to the 
 
70 Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 Brazils, it was on the liint of another who 
 had an office under the Dutch government, 
 that the latter got an immense profit by 
 selling provisions at exorbitant rates to 
 some town they were besieging. It was at 
 Reinsber that the brilliant notion first 
 occurred to man, when you had dug a hole 
 and did not know what to do with the 
 earth, of digging another hole to put it in. 
 It was at Heinsber that a shrewd cattle- 
 dealer, observing that everyone else brought 
 his cattle from the north to the south, hit 
 on the plan of taking the opposite direction, 
 and driving his to the north to sell — with 
 what gain, except experience, tradition does 
 not state. It was at Heinsber that an old 
 woman, when a Methodist chapel was about 
 to be built near her house, on some ground 
 leased for nine hundred and ninety-nine 
 years, petitioned that the lease might be 
 extended, for fear the rubbish of the ruined 
 chapel might, at the end of that time. 
 
The Chronicles of Eeinsher, 
 
 block up the road to lier garden. Perhaps 
 this instance was prudence in excess, but 
 in fine, the traditions current in the dales 
 with regard to the village are simply in- 
 numerable. 
 
 Such had the village been in ancient 
 times. At present, I fear, its inhabitants 
 have somewhat degenerated, and have little 
 of the strange wisdom which characterised 
 theh^ forefathers. Like the dalesmen gene- 
 rally, they are a staid, cautious, indepen- 
 dent race ; with a bull-dog tenacity of 
 purpose that is highly edifying ; shrewd 
 at a bargain, and reverencmg wealth, if 
 anythmg ; men averse to demonstration, 
 but with hearts in them somewhere which 
 it is hard to reach, harder to rouse, and 
 hardest of all to lay ; a race of height, 
 breadth, and muscle, scarcely to be matched 
 in these islands. 
 
 However, I cannot but think that a good 
 deal of the best blood of the Eeinsber 
 
72 Jahez OUphant. 
 
 sages must have run in the veins of Jabez 
 Olipliant, and I consider it one of tlie most 
 fortunate circumstances of my hero's life 
 that the principahtj he had taken it upon 
 himself to administer was already memor- 
 able. Many historians have thought it an 
 unhappy thing for a prince to be called on 
 to rule a nation which is famous, and I do 
 not deny that in such a position success is 
 less easy, and failure more ridiculous ; but, 
 for my part, I have little fear that Mr. 
 Oliphant will be found to disgrace the 
 reputation of his sagacious ancestors. 
 
CHAPTEE V. 
 
 MR. OLIPHANT AND THE CRAVEN DIALECT. 
 
 " T~\0 come into the drawing-room, mam- 
 ^-^^ ma ; there is capital fun going on. 
 Uncle has caught a native, and is learning 
 the Yorkshire language from him. He is a 
 farmer, or something, and the most comi- 
 cal fellow I have seen for a long time. Do 
 come." 
 
 Miss Oliphant had run out into the gar- 
 den to seek her step-mother. The latter 
 had now reached the Hall, and was a little, 
 thin, weird-looking woman, very primly 
 dressed in black silk. Affecting youth — 
 though it had long fled — she did not wear 
 the ordinary matron's cap on her glossy 
 
Jahez Oliphant, 
 
 hair. She had been a governess before 
 John Oliphant married her, and as she had 
 plotted and manoeuvred a good deal to 
 catch the handsome widower, her triumph 
 made her fancy ever afterwards that her 
 genius lay in intrigue. Some of her West- 
 end acquaintances were ill-natured enough 
 to assert that, like many parvenus, she was 
 occasionally superior in manners to the 
 upper ten thousand themselves ; but of her 
 character we shall see more anon. 
 
 " A farmer in the drawing-room I" she 
 exclaimed faintly but bitterly ; " really, I 
 wonder what Mr. Oliphant will do next. 
 And I am expecting the Highsides every 
 minute ; Mr. Truman said they were 
 coming to call to-day. How very awk- 
 ward !" 
 
 " Bother the Highsides ! Pray come ; I 
 am sure he will amuse you." 
 
 " What a pity it is, Kate, that you allow 
 yourself to be so excited ! I have told you 
 
Mr. Olipliant and the Craven Dialect. 75 
 
 over and over again that well-bred people 
 never suffer their feelings to rise above a 
 certain point. Your cheeks are just now 
 as much flushed as if you had been run- 
 ning a race ; and all because you have 
 heard an intensely vulgar fellow breaking 
 his rude jests in your uncle's drawing- 
 room. Mr. Oliphant's heiress, I should 
 have thought, would not condescend to be 
 aware of the existence of such a man." 
 
 "But, mamma," replied Kate, who was 
 undutiful enough to enjoy teasing her step- 
 mother a little now and then, "he is such 
 a. size that no one could possibly be in the 
 same room without seeing him ; and as to 
 his being vulgar, I am sure he has more of 
 the gentleman about him than many who 
 call themselves so. I should have fallen in 
 love with him, only he is so fat, and says 
 lie has a wife and six ' bairns.' " 
 
 " Kate ! But I am j)erfectly aware your 
 expressions are not always as refined as I 
 
76 Jabez Oliphant. 
 
 could wish." (This was said with a sort 
 of bland waspishness.) " Well, I suppose 
 I must go and see if I can get him away in 
 time." 
 
 Machiavelli — to whose ^ Prince ' I shall 
 sometimes refer, as both in Mr. FothergilFs 
 opinion and mine there was in some re- 
 spects a great though unconscious resem- 
 blance between Mr. Oliphant and the 
 Italian's ideal monarch — Machiavelli re- 
 marks that there are three ways of keep- 
 ing a newly -acquired principality ; the 
 first, to ruin it ; the second, to inhabit ; 
 and the third, to govern it by deputy. 
 We have seen that Jabez chose the second 
 of these methods : for the third interfered 
 too violently with his wishes ; and as to 
 the first, why, he was so far from desiring 
 to ruin Reinsber, that all his thoughts, 
 good man, were bent on finding the best 
 means of improving it. With this object 
 he had spent the three weeks since his 
 
21 r. Oliphant and the Craven Dialect. 77 
 
 arrival in a strict and conscientious study 
 of the place. 
 
 Now three or four weeks is not a 
 very long time to understand three or 
 four hundred people in ; but we must 
 not measure a genius like Mr. Oliphant s 
 by the common standard ; for in that space, 
 partly by observation but chiefly by intui- 
 tion, he had qualified himself fully for his 
 great task. He had satisfied himself by 
 frequently strolling through the village, 
 that its inhabitants rose at ^yq and went 
 to bed at nine, or earlier, to save candles ; 
 that they had breakfast at six, dinner at 
 twelve, tea at four, and supper with praise- 
 worthy punctuality at eight; that they 
 gathered in little knots at the corners 
 during the noon hour or at night after 
 work, and smoked and dozed, and [talked 
 and dozed again ; that their conversation 
 was endlessly about the weather ; or, if 
 that was perversely steady, about 'yows' 
 
Jabez Oliphant. 
 
 and fat * stirks/ with just a spice of cu- 
 riosity, to give zest to life, about their 
 neighbours' doings. 
 
 He had come to know the names, too, 
 of several of his subjects, and exchanged a 
 ' good morning ' with most of them in his 
 sublimely patronising way ; had observed 
 that Tommy Doolittle, the grocer, had on 
 an average three customers in a morning ; 
 that a cart was an event, and a carriage a 
 miracle; and that at most times of the 
 day there was nothing to be heard in the 
 quaint little village but the sound of the 
 beck or Goody Hawks well's very shrill 
 voice, and no live thing stirring but him- 
 self and a great gobbling turkey, which 
 promenaded the silent streets as constantly 
 as Mr. Oliphant, and with almost as proud 
 a consciousness of the grandeur of the des- 
 tiny to which Providence had called it. 
 
 But with even sharper eyes had Jabez 
 looked out for the faults of the rustics. 
 
Mr. Oliphant and the Craven Dialect. 79 
 
 Failings, alas ! like other people, they had 
 in abundance. The " Red Lion '' and the 
 " Black Unicorn " drove a roaring trade, 
 and there were certain assignations of the 
 lads and lasses on Sunday nights, and at 
 other times that were rather pleasant, no 
 doubt, than moral ; nor would an ordinary 
 observer, perhaps, have approved of the 
 farmers living only — as many of them did 
 — for the scraping together of pounds, 
 shillings, and pence. Nevertheless, Mr. 
 Oliphant, with characteristic originality, 
 passed by these little defects : perhaps 
 he considered them trivial, perhaps irre- 
 mediable ; and I have even heard it 
 suggested that he was grandly uncon- 
 scious of their existence, more especially 
 since his own tours of observation were 
 always taken with royal regularity at 
 one time, and that in the morning, when 
 nothing of the kind was going on. How- 
 ever, if he was acquainted with these pec- 
 
80 Jahez OUphant. 
 
 cadillos, for some wise reason doubtless he 
 took no notice of them, and as the cardinal 
 fault of the dalesmen he fixed on — their 
 want of reverence. 
 
 What confirmed him most in this 
 opinion, was his meeting a tipsy farmer, 
 who was staggering home from Stainton 
 market, and who remarked as he passed 
 (being probably struck with Mr. Oliphant's 
 magnificent bearing), "Well, owd Gruff- 
 and-Glory, ye're lat for t' market, but if 
 ye're quick yell happen be i' time for t' 
 dance at neght.'' " Sir 1" however, was 
 deigned to this kindly intended piece of in- 
 formation. 
 
 '' I observe this failing," he said to Mr. 
 Truman, "in their single attendance at 
 church on Sunday : they have not enough 
 veneration for God to attend His service 
 twice. I observe it in their frivolity. I 
 observe it in the slighting manner in which 
 they speak of the majesty of the law itself 
 
Mr. Oliphant and the Craven Dialect. 81 
 
 when it does not happen to suit them. I 
 observe it in their bold speech and deport- 
 ment on all occasions : why, sir, would you 
 believe it ? — many and many a time in 
 this village, when I have nodded to some 
 labourer I knew, the fellow has nodded 
 back in the most familiar manner — yes, sir, 
 to me ! Now, in the south, the inferior 
 invariably touches his cap with the greatest 
 deference in a similar case. Our aim, Mr. 
 Truman, must be to teach them above 
 all things reverence, humihty, and obe- 
 dience.'' 
 
 Want of respect, then, for Law, God, 
 and Mr. Oliphant being the cause of all 
 evil at Reinsber, the head of Jabez had 
 become choke-full in these three weeks of 
 schemes for supplying the deficiency. But 
 he had made leisure to form acquaintance 
 with the richer people of the place, most of 
 whom had already called at the Hall, and 
 he had mentally apportioned out to these, 
 
 VOL. I. 6 
 
82 Jabez OUphant. 
 
 who might be considered his aristocracy, 
 the share of assistance they were to render 
 him. 
 
 There was Sir George Augustus High- 
 side, the pompous old baronet from High- 
 side Castle, near Stainton, and his son, 
 Harry Highside, a pair well-matched in 
 abilities, except that the son did tmder- 
 stand horses, and the father nothing. 
 There were Fothergill, Truman, and Mr. 
 Hawtrey, the shrewd master of the gram- 
 mar school ; Mrs. and Miss Mansfield, 
 lately the owners of E,einsber Hall, and 
 still living in the village ; and last, not 
 least — at any rate in dimensions — the fat 
 squire at the other end of the place, 
 Eobert Carlton by name, with a good- 
 natured wife and two daughters, all nearly 
 as stout as himself. 
 
 But in his preparation for the task be- 
 fore him, Jabez found an unexpected diffi- 
 culty on the threshold. During his long 
 
Mr. Olipliant and the Craven Dialect. 83 
 
 residence in London he had utterly for- 
 gotten the rich though rugged dialect of 
 his native place, and now could hardly 
 understand a word the farmers said. He 
 began, therefore, to study ' Craven/ com- 
 forting himself with the reflection that 
 many governors-general must have been 
 older when they began Hindustani, to say 
 nothing of Cato, who learned Greek at 
 eighty. 
 
 He plodded, accordingly, through the 
 best glossaries ; but, as he soon found that 
 mere book-knowledge would not serve his 
 purpose, the notion occurred to him of get- 
 ting some dalesman to help him, and the 
 day after he formed this determination, he 
 met the very man for the purpose, Dick 
 Wideawake — a magnificent specimen of the 
 Yorkshire farmer, standing six feet three 
 in his stockings, and of girth and weight 
 to match. 
 
 " Good morning, Mi. Wideawake," said 
 
 G-2 
 
84 Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 Jabez, as the farmer's great red face rose 
 and beamed good-humour edly on him. 
 
 " Nay, Mr. Oliphant, mister me na mis- 
 ters," answered the other, nodding ; " I'se 
 plain Dick, all'ays, wi' aw t' dale, an 111 
 be obleeged to ye if yell caw me sae. 
 Howsomdivver, I wish ye good morning 
 aw t' saam." 
 
 "Well, then, Eichard,'' said Mr. Oli- 
 phant, compromising the thing, as ' Dick ' 
 seemed rather low, '^ I want a little help. 
 Can I speak a word with you now ?" 
 
 "Ay, twenty if ye like. Aa man, Tse 
 all'ays ready for a crack an' a gill wi' ony 
 man. Yan's tongue's like a lamb's tail 
 when it's souking : it will be wagging. 
 But if ye Ve ought to say, Mr. Oliphant, 
 let's gang into t' ' Lion,' an' 111 treat ye — 
 ay, begow but I will," he added, misinter- 
 preting a slight look of dignified surprise, 
 which came into the other's face. 
 
 But Jabez " thought it better to proceed 
 
Mr. OUpliant and the Craven Dialect. 85 
 
 to the Hall, wliere they would be free from 
 interruption," and explained on their way 
 that he would like to understand something 
 more of his native dialect. 
 
 " Thear, now, that comes o' Hving sa 
 lang amang Cockneys ; I wonder, for my 
 part, howiver ye can manish to speak Eng- 
 lish at aw," said Dick, when his companion 
 had finished. " I niver seed a Cockney 
 nobbut yance, but he wor a capper. It 
 wor yan sloppy neght just as we were ^bout 
 lapping up and ganging to bed, ther corn a 
 girt ran-tan to t' dooar; sa I oppened it 
 an thear wor a lile hop-o'-my-thumb mak 
 of a fellow, 'at looked as if he'd bin built 
 by contract — sae mich for t' job — an' thin 
 an cheap they'd done it. ' Cawn you let 
 me have something to eat, my good mawn ?' 
 says he, draahng it out just as if his words 
 wor shillings, an' he didn't like to part wi' 
 'em ; ' I've lost my way in the mist.' 
 ' Surely, surely,' says I ; ' come in an' rest 
 
86 Jabez OUphant. 
 
 ye, an we'll mak ye some'at hot ; ye re 
 welcome/ Sa wi' that he com in, an we 
 dried his claes for him, an' Mary — that's 
 my wife — frizzled him a good fat bacon- 
 collop an we med him as comfortable like 
 as we could. But what d'ye think t' lile 
 beggar did but sit at t' hob-end, gieing 
 hissel airs like a lord, an' niver speaking a 
 word author to chick or child but ' Yaas,' 
 or ' Noa,' when I axed him a question, an^ 
 ordering t' sarvant about wi'out sa mich as 
 * please,' or ' thank ye,' or ought ! Then 
 he cocked up a lile bit of an ee-glass 'at he 
 hed, an' stared at her through that, till she 
 blushed again at his gangings on," 
 
 " Some counter-jumper out for his holi- 
 day," suggested Mr. Oliphant. 
 
 " I judged sae, but thinks I, whaiver ye 
 be, young man, I'll tak ye down a peg 
 afore IVe done wi' ye. Howiver, I let him 
 finish his supper, as wor nobbut mannerly, 
 an' then he began piking his teeth an' 
 
Mr. Oripliant and the Craven Dialect. 87 
 
 glowring at Mary again as she cleared t' 
 tilings away. ' Now, hev ye done V says 
 I. ' Yaas/ says he, ' what for ?' * Acos if 
 ye\^e quite done,' says I, * I'll trouble ye 
 to pike yersel oif at yance, an' when ye 
 caw in again ye'll happen bring yer manners 
 wi' ye.' Well, he stared a bit at that, but 
 gat up to start ; sae as he was ganging out 
 at t' dooar, he offered me a shilling. 
 ' Nay,' says I, * ye'd best keep yer brass ; 
 I think ye'll want it o' t' rooad. ' At that 
 he went as red as a cow-tongue, an' 
 spreead hissel out like a cock 'at's boun to 
 feight, an' says he, 'You're an insolent 
 fellah ; do you know who I am V ' Yi,' 
 says I, ' ye mun be t' son o' t' owd man 'at 
 said he knew he'd bin a varra bad un hissel, 
 but onyhow he'd manished to bring up a 
 son 'at 'ud show 'em aw ther could be 
 somebody warse.' Well, wi' that, what 
 does t' lile hell-cat do but ups wi' his fist 
 an' fetches me a slap reght o' t' lug ! Nae 
 
88 Jabez Oliphant. 
 
 Yorkshireman could stand that, ye knaw, 
 sa I gat hod on him by t' scruff o' t' neck 
 an t' waistband — see, 111 just show ye, 
 Mr. Ohphant, how I held him ;'' and the 
 giant, borne away by the excitement of his 
 own story, and his anxiety to render it 
 clear, made a dead stand on the causeway, 
 and was actually advancing his huge brown 
 paw towards the sacred neck of Mr. Oli- 
 phant. 
 
 The latter's surprise and indignation at 
 Dick's act of unconscious disrespect were 
 immense. But then he scarcely saw at the 
 moment a way of resenting it without loss 
 of dignity, and the poor fellow knew no 
 better, and he might besides be so useful, 
 and — in short there w^ere a hundred 
 reasons why Jabez only interposed his 
 hand deprecatingly, and said in haste, 
 '^ No, no, Richard ; I assure you I under- 
 stand what you are saying, though it is 
 Craven." 
 
3Ir. Oliphayit and the Craven Dialect. 89 
 
 " Why, bless ye, Mr. Olipliant, what, I 
 wadnt harm yef cried Dick, with a great 
 jolly laugh. " I nobbut wanted just to 
 show ye how to hod a chap if iver yeVe 
 occasion. Howiver as ye're sa flaid o' yer 
 baans brekking wi' looking at, I willn t try it. 
 
 " Well, then " (resuming his walk and 
 narrative), " I kept him weel out at arm's 
 length, an' I wor sa mad, I nobbut med 
 three steps on't to t' duckpond, wi' him 
 yowling an' kicking an' plunging about like 
 a yearling, an' when I gat thear, it wor 
 just ' yance, twice, aud in ye gang !' Aa, 
 but he wor a nice seght when he piked 
 hissel out at t'other side, wi' t' mud fair 
 siling off him. * Now then, young man/ 
 says I, ' ye've itten an' ye Ve liquored, an' 
 ye've hed yer dessart, sae ye'd better gang.' 
 Then he shakt his neif at ma, an' teld ma 
 if ther wor law i' the land I sud hev it, 
 but I niver heard nought mair on him. 
 An' I fancy he mun ha teld 'em aw i' 
 
90 Jahez OUphant. 
 
 Lunnon what mak of a duckpond tlier wor 
 at Sandy Topping, for I've niver bin 
 troubled wi' ony Cockneys sin then/' 
 
 By the time Dick ended his long story, 
 the incongruous pair had arrived at the 
 drawing-room, the only place in the Hall 
 which was yet thoroughly habitable. Here 
 they found Kate, to whom Mr. Oliphant 
 briefly introduced his companion. 
 
 " Well, if iver !" said Dick, seating 
 himself with much discernment and self- 
 possession in the easiest arm-chair, which 
 however seemed too small for him ; "I 
 didn't think sich pretty roses 'ud grow i' 
 Lunnon fog, Mr. Oliphant." 
 
 Kate blushed and laughed : she was 
 pleased at the compliment, it was so 
 evidently sincere. '' And I did not think, 
 Mr. Wideawake," she answered, *' that I 
 should find flatterers here ; but the roses, 
 such as they are, are certainly due to your 
 Craven air.'' 
 
Mr. OhpJicmt and the Craven Dialect. 91 
 
 " Whya, whya/' said Dick, flattered in 
 turn, for he was thoroughly patriotic, " I'se 
 noa saying but we hev an advantage ower 
 Lunnon tJiear : ye see, amang t' hills we 
 git wer air first-hand." 
 
 Thus they chatted on, mutually pleased, 
 whilst Mr. Oliphant, having ordered a 
 supply of whisky and water for the un- 
 bashful Dick, armed himself with a quire 
 of foolscap, and drew up his chair to the 
 table, where he sat bolt upright, pen in 
 hand, and ready to note down any uncom- 
 mon word he might hear. 
 
 "Why, I^se hauf flaid o' ye, Mr. Oli- 
 phant, ye look sa fierce," exclaimed Dick, 
 with a burst of laughter, when the prepar- 
 tions were complete. " Yan \\d awmost 
 think ye'd swallowed a hagworm, or wor a 
 lile tarrier 'at hed bin set watching a rat- 
 hoil aw day, an' hedn't hed a click at 
 ought. Ye didn't sarve a prenticeship to 
 a chancery barrister 'at wor waiting for 
 
^2 Jdbez Oliphant, 
 
 suits, did ye ? Well, well, earstia,'' he 
 added, lifting the glass to his lips. 
 
 Jabez had shuffled uneasily on his seat 
 during the first part of Dick's speech, but 
 he began writing with the utmost eagerness 
 as he caught the last word. 
 
 " What's that, Eichard ? What's that ? 
 Would you be good enough to spell me 
 that last word ? ears — What does it 
 mean V 
 
 The farmer spread his grey eyes in 
 astonishment ; then, as he understood what 
 Mr. Oliphant wished, burst into another 
 laugh. " Ay, begow, now ye do cock yer 
 lugs ; now ye hev cotched some'at ; but 
 I'se blessed if I can tell ye what it is, efter 
 aw — fish, flesh, or fowl. Nobbut I knaw 
 it's what we all'ays say hereabouts when 
 we first tak a drink. But ye mun ax them 
 ^at's mair scholards nor me what it stands 
 for. Ears-ti-a," he repeated, musingly. 
 
 Mr. Oliphant wrote the strange word 
 
Mr. Oliphant and the Craven Dialect. 93 
 
 down, and waded afterwards through many 
 glossaries to find it, but without success. 
 He had even written a letter to a philo- 
 logical journal with his own explanation, 
 when Mr. Hawtrey suggested that the 
 Craven farmers occasionally drop their li^, 
 and that the true phrase was, '' Here's 
 t' ye 1" short for " Here is health to ye 1" 
 Jabez, however, who was a well read man, 
 and as ingenious as a Greek commentator^ 
 had discovered no fewer than seven dif- 
 ferent reasons, why a man's * ears ' are 
 exactly the most appropriate part of his 
 person to be mentioned in a drinking salu- 
 tation, and he always maintained that the 
 rest of the word was Scandinavian; but 
 his promised letter on the subject never 
 appeared. 
 
 It was at this juncture that Mrs. Oli- 
 phant, having been fetched in by Kate, as 
 we described at the beginning of the chap- 
 ter, entered the room. Beyond a dubious. 
 
94 Jabez Olipliant. 
 
 ' Oh !' on Kate's saying, '' This is Mr. 
 Wideawake, mamma/' she took no notice 
 of the farmer, but went and seated herself 
 near her brother-in-law. 
 
 " Are you aware, Mr. Oliphant, that the 
 Highsides are coming to call this morn- 
 ing V she inquired, in tones of subdued 
 indignation. 
 
 " Well, Mrs. Oliphant ? I suppose we 
 shall be glad to see them," returned Jabez, 
 quietly going on with his writing. 
 
 Foiled in this direction, she renewed the 
 attack in another, with a winning glance 
 thrown at Dick across the table. 
 
 "I am sure Mr.— Hum — Mr. — Hem — 
 would not mind coming another day ; we 
 are expecting callers this morning." 
 
 " Oh, ay," answered Dick, who had an 
 inkling of the state of affairs, but was not 
 inclined to leave such first-rate whisky 
 without doing full justice to it ; " but if 
 it's Sir George, mistress, ye may show him 
 
Mr. Oliphant and the Craven Dialect, 95 
 
 up — I'se be glad to see him. His son an' 
 me are as thick as thack/' 
 
 Kate laughed outright at the turn Dick 
 had put on her step-mother's entreaty : 
 
 " You are a friend of everybody's, for 
 miles round, I suppose, Mr. Wideawke V 
 she said. 
 
 " Whya, miss, as to nodding to 'em, an' 
 chatting wi' 'em, and swapping a bit o' 
 horse-flesh wi' 'em now an' then, sae far I 
 knaw 'em gay week But as to friends. 
 Lord bless ye, t' mair ye want, t' fewer 
 ye'll hev. They're like t' watter i' a basin, 
 er friends — sae lang as t' basin ca,n hod 
 itsel up, t' watter's thear aw reght ; but 
 just let it trundle itsel ower o' yan side, 
 an', aa my ! but t' watter's gaen afore ye 
 can say Jack Eobinson. Friends er shy o' 
 poor folk like me ; but ye'll hev 'em about 
 ye, miss, like flies round a sugar-ca,sk. 
 What a buzzing they will mak ! Don't 
 they, now T 
 
96 Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 Mrs. Oliphant here looked up from a 
 book which she had taken and was pre- 
 tending to read with an air of total indiffer- 
 ence to Dick's presence : " Perhaps friends 
 should be of the same station in life, and 
 then — " she remarked. " Kate, did you 
 not arrange with Williams to see about the 
 roses in the garden this morning V 
 
 Kate, however, " was sure her interview 
 witht he gardener would do very well in 
 the afternoon/' 
 
 " Ay, ay, mistress," was Dick's comment, 
 " there's na doubt if t' sleeve isn't o' t' 
 saam stuff as t' cooat, they'll gang badly 
 togither. But i' ony station, as ye caw it, 
 yer friends '11 think twice as weel o' ye if 
 they hear a bit o' yallow-boy music i yer 
 pockets. Now, I sudn't think ye wad hev 
 sa mony friends yersel, mistress, afore ye 
 married Mr. Oliphant's brother ; hed ye, 
 now ?" 
 
 The question was put in Dick's most 
 
Mr. Oliphant and the Craven Dialect. 97 
 
 respectful tone, but there was a wonder- 
 fully merry twinkle in his eye at the same 
 time. 
 
 Kate looked serious when Mrs. Oliphant, 
 without answering, returned to her book 
 with a slight toss of the head and took no 
 further share in the conversation ; but over 
 Jabez's face there came a grim smile, which 
 he only prevented by an evident effort from 
 becoming a downright chuckle. 
 
 " But you say you are" poor, Mr. Wide- 
 awake,^^ remarked Kate, slily ; "I thought 
 you a man of substance." 
 
 Dick laughed his great, honest guffaw. 
 
 ''Begow, but yeVe hit me thear, Miss 
 OHphant. I weigh twenty-three staan ten 
 pund afore dinner, an' it'll ha bin a poor do 
 if I don't fetch twenty-fower at-efter. But 
 I'll tell ye what, Mr. Oliphant, ye willn't 
 find mony men, 'at weigh like me, 'at er as 
 ]ish an' handy, anther. It isn't fat, it's 
 muscle. I've walked sixty-two mile atween 
 
 VOL. I. 7 
 
98 Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 sun-rise and sun-down, an I'll feiglit, walk, 
 or bargain wi' ony cliap i' t' dales, I don't 
 care wha it is ; an' onybody '11 tell ye as 
 mich if ye mention my naam to 'em — Dick 
 Wideawake, fra Sandy Topping. Well, 
 come now," he continued, helping himself 
 uninvited to a second glass of whisky- 
 and-water, " ye're curious about Craven, sa 
 I'll gie ye an owd sang i' it ;" and without 
 waiting for permission, to Mrs. Oliphant 's 
 intense disgust, he struck up, in his deep, 
 rich voice, a humourous song well known 
 in the dales, and beginning : 
 
 " At Clapham town-end lived an owd Yorkshire tyke, 
 At dealing i' horse-flesh ther ne'er wor his like." 
 
 At the end of the song Kate applauded 
 and insisted on hearing it again. Mr. Oli- 
 phant, too, " would be glad to have another 
 opportunity of taking down some of the 
 very peculiar diction in it." 
 
 Dick therefore started again, and had 
 
Mr. Oliphant and the Craven Dialect. 99 
 
 just reached the third stanza, when a ser- 
 vant threw open the door and ainiounced 
 Sh' George and Mr. Highside. 
 
 Mrs. OHphant sprang from her seat in 
 dismay, mnrmuring a piteous " There, I 
 told you how it would be,'' to Jabez, who 
 received the words with a provokingly un- 
 conscious stare. 
 
 The plump, red-faced baronet, too, as he 
 advanced into the room towards Mrs. Oli- 
 phant, nearly came to a dead stand of 
 surprise on catching sight of Dick seated 
 so comfortably by the side of the whisky- 
 bottle. Sir George had doubted for some 
 time whether the representative of the 
 High sides could call on a City merchant 
 without loss of caste, and it now struck 
 him that his doing so was decidedly a mis- 
 take. 
 
 Mr. Highside, however, a tall young 
 man, with very light hair and moustaches, 
 and whose shyness in female society was 
 
100 Jahez OUphant. 
 
 great, was much relieved to see an old 
 friend there in Dick ; and when the first 
 salutations were over, gladly dropped 
 anchor under lee of the farmer, whose 
 colossal dimensions promised a very effi-^ 
 cient shelter. 
 
 As for Mr. Oliphant, he rose with great 
 politeness, but a little real impatience at 
 the interruption, while his niece looked on 
 an amused spectator of the whole. Dick 
 alone was perfectly unconcerned, his only 
 thought being whether he had better go on 
 with the song immediately or wait a bit 
 till they got settled. 
 
 " We are very glad to see you, Sir 
 George,^^ said Mrs. Oliphant, with an affec- 
 tionate humility, which proved that, after 
 all, her amiability only wanted opportunity 
 to show itself ; "but I do so much wish 
 we had been better prepared for the 
 honour of your visit. Our house is yet 
 unfurnished, and we have only one room at 
 
Mr, Olipliant and the Craven Dialect. 101 
 
 the service of — of everybody" (viperish look 
 across the room). 
 
 '* I vv^as busy study mg the pecuHarities 
 of the Craven dialect by the kind help of 
 Mr. Wideawake," said Jabez. 
 
 Sir George accepted Mrs. Oliphant's apo- 
 logy with a gracious bow, and replied to 
 the other : 
 
 " Oh, you City people are obliged to 
 mix familiarly with all kinds of persons, I 
 suppose, sir V 
 
 " Why, it is only right that one should 
 condescend a little whenever there is any 
 good to be gained or done by it." 
 
 '' Hum, certainly ; and how do you 
 like the Craven dialect ? Very rough, 
 ehr 
 
 " It is rough, no doubt, but by no means 
 vulgar. I would rather look on it as a bit 
 of old-world talk which, from an accident 
 of position, has been untouched by civilisa- 
 tion ; the latter seems to batter at words 
 
102 Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 till they are both lessened in size, and have 
 all the angularities knocked off them, just 
 as shapeless stones are ground down into 
 nice, smooth pebbles by the tide. Besides, 
 the Craven contains many Norse and old 
 English expressions, which have dropped 
 out of use in most parts, and it is, perhaps, 
 the best commentator we have on many 
 doubtful passages in the old ballads, and 
 even in Chaucer and Shakespeare them- 
 selves. On the whole, therefore, I should 
 be sorry to lose it. It has one advantage 
 over many of the English dialects : it is 
 extremely like the lowland Scotch, which 
 is now made classical by the pens of Scott 
 and Burns/' 
 
 " Well, I think Burns overrated, and 
 I've never read a line of him. He was 
 nothing but a low impudent radical, and I 
 believe has done more harm to church and 
 state with his rascally songs, than any 
 dozen men put together. I had actually 
 
Mr. OlijyJiant and the Craven Dialect. 103 
 
 my tailor quoting him to me the other day ; 
 Bobby Burns, he called him." 
 
 " That is something hke practical fame, 
 though, is it not ?" remarked the other 
 with a quiet smile. 
 
 " You were a native of this part, I 
 think V said Su* George. 
 
 " Yes, my father was a shoemaker here 
 at Beinsber ; still, I always claim," replied 
 Mr. OHphant pleasantly, " to be considered 
 a scion of a great family, for there were 
 ten of us. They are all gone except my- 
 self, but I find it very agreeable to return 
 to the old place. It is scarcely changed at 
 all." Mrs. Oliphant winced and thought 
 her brother-in-law need not dwell on un- 
 pleasant circumstances in the family history, 
 but Jabez rose in the baronet's estimation 
 by his frankness. 
 
 " I hear you are the only fixtures in the 
 country. Sir George, except Penyghent 
 yonder," said Kate, referring to an old 
 
104 Jahez Oliphant, 
 
 wives' saying common about Reinsber, that 
 there would always be a Highside while 
 the hill stood. 
 
 " It must be very nice to be the head of 
 such an old and distinguished family," said 
 Mrs. Oliphant, who, owing to the continued 
 presence of the farmer and the necessity 
 of watching him, had not been sufficiently 
 at ease to take much part in the previous 
 conversation. But her present remark 
 made Sir George think her a very agreeable 
 woman. 
 
 Meanwhile, Dick and Mr. Highside were 
 holding a far more animated dialogue on 
 the merits and demerits of a Hit ' which 
 the farmer had sold him; but at length 
 Mr. Wideawake, after carefully finishing 
 his whisky, raised his voice and inquired, 
 " Mr. Oliphant, wad ye like me to end that 
 sang for ye, acos I mun be jogging V 
 
 Mrs. Oliphant blushed, and Sir George 
 lifted his double eye-glass to his nose and 
 
Mr. Oliphant and the Craveyi Dialect. 105 
 
 surveyed the speaker for a moment, then 
 dropped the giass, took a pinch of snuff, 
 and gave a slight shrug of contempt, the 
 contempt being pretty equally distributed 
 between Dick and the Oliphants generally. 
 
 Not therefore however did Jabez say the 
 less courteously, *^ Thank you, Richard ; 
 you are very kind, and I am greatly in- 
 debted to you for your assistance. But I 
 should like to hear the song again when I 
 can pay stricter attention to it ; unless Sir 
 George wishes to have ' At Clapham town- 
 end?'" 
 
 " Thank you, thank you, sir ; heard it 
 often ; written by a Highside gamekeeper 
 in Sir Phihp's time." 
 
 Dick, therefore, got under weigh and 
 left the coast clear for Mrs. Oliphant, who 
 had been anxious to go and seat herself by 
 Harry, but had hitherto been deterred '' by 
 the smell of that man," which she asserted 
 did not get out of the room for a week. 
 
106 Jahez OUphant. 
 
 " I heard you talking about horses, Mr. 
 Highside," she said ; " I am told you are 
 the best rider in the county." 
 
 " No, really, now," answered Harry, 
 well pleased and twirling the end of his 
 small moustache ; " but who could tell you 
 
 that r 
 
 " A certain little bird who often tells me 
 things," replied Mrs. Oliphant. "Eiding 
 must be a delightful accomplishment ; 
 
 To feel my steed 
 Floating like proud seas under me, 
 
 as the poet says ; you remember the 
 passage V 
 
 The young man " thought he did," but 
 as the lines were given with more animation 
 than correctness, a total ignorance of the 
 quotation would have been excusable. A 
 dim notion, however, came across him that 
 the verses were from the poet's corner in 
 BelVs Life, but he did not venture to say 
 so. 
 
Mr. Oliphant and the Craven Dialect. 107 
 
 " I do so much wish that Kate would 
 take to horse exercise, now that she is come 
 to reside in the country. Do you not 
 think you could be eloquent enough on the 
 subject to persuade her to do so ? Kate, 
 dear, I was just suggesting that you should 
 learn to ride." And Kate, pitying the 
 diffident young man, came and joined in 
 the conversation. 
 
 Harry looked up and took one glance 
 at the beautiful face before him ; then his 
 eyes fell, and he coloured at his own bold- 
 ness. 
 
 " You d find it jolly fun, Miss Oliphant,'' 
 he remarked. 
 
 " What, the being run away with, or the 
 being thrown, or the bemg played at 
 battledore and shuttlecock with ? Wliich 
 of these is jolly, Mr. Highside ?" asked 
 Kate laughing. *^ I suppose you never 
 meet with such mishaps, but I have tried 
 them all in turn." 
 
108 Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 " You do ride, then ?" 
 
 " A little, but alas ! I soon found out 
 that I was more afraid of the horse, than 
 the horse of me." 
 
 " A little tuition by a first-rate rider 
 would soon cure you of your nervousness, 
 dear," said Mrs. Oliphant, watching Harry 
 to see how he took the hint. 
 
 " Well, I don't know," he said bluntly ; 
 ^^ I Ve seen fellows that would face a house 
 on fire, boggle at the first shy of a skittish 
 mare, and never cross a horse's back again. 
 Now, there was Tom Coverdale of the 
 95 th, a plucky chap enough, and a d — d 
 good hand — I — I beg your pardon, Mrs. 
 Oliphant ;" but the naughty word that had 
 slipped out discomposed Harry so much 
 that Tom Coverdale's invaluable experiences 
 remain to this day a mystery. 
 
 The two old men meanwhile had been 
 gradually coming to a better understanding 
 of each other. Sir George's estimate of 
 
Mr, Oliphant and the Craven Dialect. 109 
 
 his neighbour had especially risen when he 
 found that Jabez had bought for the 
 ' mere bagatelle/ as he called it, of one 
 hundred and fifty thousand pounds an 
 estate on which the baronet had long set 
 vain, though willing, eyes. Bh-th might 
 be the grandest gift of God, but after all 
 riches were a power that must be recog- 
 nised. 
 
 When the visitors Avere gone, Mrs. Oli- 
 phant was loud in their praise, especially 
 because they had been so "affable." 
 
 " The affability must have shown itself 
 in looks then, not in words, mamma, so far 
 as Mr. Highside was concerned ; for he 
 was as sparing of them as if he wished us 
 to believe, poor man, that he had never 
 heard of the proverb about the respective 
 values of speech and silence." 
 
 ^' Ah, Kate, it is not every one who has 
 had such advantages as you have had. He 
 has not seen much society, but he would 
 
110 * Jcibez OUphant. 
 
 soon improve, and it is not necessary for a 
 man in his position to speak much/' 
 
 Jabez had looked up from his writing- 
 desk at Mrs. OHphant's first remark, and 
 he now said quietly ; " It strikes me, Mrs. 
 Oliphant, that you misapplied the term 
 ^ affable ' just now : the word is not appro- 
 priate to the intercourse of equals." 
 
 " But surely we are scarcely on a level 
 with the Highsides ; remember the baro- 
 netcy." 
 
 " Psha ! I consider myself the equal of 
 any Englishman living, and of much better 
 men than the Highsides," retorted Jabez ; 
 and Mrs. Oliphant did not dare to pursue 
 the subject, but left him to his writing. 
 
CHAPTEE YL 
 
 BEGINS HIS HEFORMS. 
 
 I^/TE. OLIPHANT was now too impa- 
 -^ -*- tient to delay the commencement of 
 his reforms any longer, and one bright 
 morning in June he issued forth in state 
 with the object of inspecting any nuisances 
 that might exist in the village. " Dirt and 
 vice," he argued, " go hand in hand ; the 
 one saps the body, the other the mind ; and 
 mind and body act and react on each other. 
 Hence the greatest rulers have ever made 
 the sanitary condition of the people their 
 first consideration." In one word, men 
 must be kept alive if you would do them 
 good ; a proposition which philosophers will 
 
112 Jctbez Oliphant. 
 
 readily admit, though T beheve it has been 
 doubted by certain philanthropists and 
 most theologians. 
 
 He was dressed with scrupulous care, 
 and a tall footman in blue with snow-white 
 stockings followed him at the distance of a 
 few yards, moving when he moved, and 
 stopping when he stopped. As he pro- 
 ceeded, a retinue of boys and girls also 
 gathered about him, and with open mouths 
 expressed their awe and admiration. In- 
 deed it was by no means an every-day 
 sight, the imposing way in which the old 
 man came to attention opposite each offen- 
 sive middenstead, and after surveying it 
 with a look of dignified remonstrance, took 
 a few strides along the edge and then 
 silently motioned the gorgeous footman to 
 bring him the gold pencil and note-book, 
 by which the dimensions were recorded. 
 Before each open drain too he stood for two 
 or three minutes, sniffing in, with head. 
 
Begins his Reforms. 113 
 
 thrown back, the exact amount of damage 
 inflicted on the neighbourhood. "When he 
 had carefully examined the midden itself, 
 he proceeded to call on the owner, and, 
 after a few prefatory remarks on the wea- 
 ther, to give Hodge time to recover himself, 
 explained that he wished to have the nui- 
 sance removed, but was willing himself to 
 pay for its removal ; meeting all the objec- 
 tions which the astonished and conservative 
 mind of the carle could urge. 
 
 This he did with such mfinite courtesy 
 that only in one case did he encounter de- 
 cided opposition. Goody Hawkswell, tlje 
 postmistress, kept a small shop for gro- 
 ceries, a less stylish rival of Tommy Doo- 
 little's establishment on the opposite side of 
 the street. Her tongue, however, was so 
 much dreaded that, from sheer fear of it, 
 her neighbours patronised her more than 
 Tommy. On one side of her house was a 
 large midden with an excellent frontage <»u 
 
 VOL. I. 8 
 
114 Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 the main street, and Jabez unsuspectingly 
 made his way into the shop with his most 
 civil ' good morning/ 
 
 " Now, what do ye want V asked Goody 
 Hawkswell by way of reply, with a tart 
 emphasis on the personal pronoun. She 
 was hard at work scrubbing the floor with 
 her sleeves tucked up, and did not stop in 
 the operation at all. 
 
 '^ A very fine morning, Mrs. Hawks- 
 well." 
 
 " Happen it is, happen it isn't ; I hevn't 
 bin out to see. What do ye want T scrub 
 —scrub — scrub. 
 
 " I think you do not quite know who I 
 am." 
 
 " Yi, ye re t' new man at t' Haw :" scrub 
 — scrub — scrub. 
 
 " Not the man, my good woman," replied 
 Jabez, smiling affably at her mistake ; '^ I 
 am Mr. Oliphant himself." 
 
 " Why, didn t I say soa ? Will ye tell 
 
Begins his Reforms, 115 
 
 me what it is ye want V scrub — scrub — 
 scrub. 
 
 " Eeally, Mrs. Hawkswell : — I wished to 
 speak to you about your ash-midden." 
 
 " Ass-midden !" screamed the vixen, 
 raising herself on her knees and putting 
 her steaming fists on her hips as she looked 
 defiantly at him ; '' and what about t' ass- 
 midden ? What hev ye to do wi' it, I sud 
 like to knaw V' 
 
 " Well, I consider it a great eyesore and 
 very detrimental to health." 
 
 " Ye do, do ye T scrub — scrub. 
 
 " A kind mother like you, my dear Mrs. 
 Hawkswell," added Jabez, making a diplo- 
 matic shot at a venture, " would not wish 
 her children to catch a fever and die, or to 
 grow up poor, puny, sickly things instead 
 of being strong and hearty like yourself." 
 
 " An' wha dares to say ought again my 
 childer? They itt enough to be well, at 
 ony rate ;" scrub — scrub. 
 
 8—2 
 
116 Jahez Olipliant. 
 
 " I do not doubt that for a moment ; I 
 was merely speaking of the future. But 
 you would have no objection, I am sure, to 
 my being at the expense of removing the 
 midden." 
 
 " Ye ! I sud like to see ye or ony other 
 man touch my midden." 
 
 '^ But you could easily place it farther 
 from the house, could you not ? You see it 
 actually projects on the pavement/' per- 
 sisted Jabez. 
 
 "Nay, I isn't boun to stir it or hev it 
 stirred, author ; but ye re welcome to come 
 an' layke on it wheniver ye like — an' yer 
 footman too." 
 
 Mr. OHphant's face grew red with anger : 
 " You are not very civil, madam," he said, 
 *' but if you will not accept my offer, I shall 
 force you to remove the nuisance." 
 
 " Force me, will ye ? We shall see about 
 that." And Jabez retreated, having had 
 slightly the worst of the engagement, while 
 
Begins his Reforms. 117 
 
 the virago detailed to all her neighbours in 
 the course of the day how she had told 
 "yon girt babby up at t' Haw 'at he 
 might come an' layke on t' midden when- 
 iver he liked." 
 
 Tommy Doolittle opposite was more com- 
 plaisant, for the meek little grocer had been 
 previously drilled by the dictatorial wife 
 whose appendage he was, and who had 
 already heard from the village gossips some- 
 thing of the purport of Mr. Oliphant's visit. 
 " Now, Doolittle," said she, with the fore- 
 finger raised menacingly, " if he comes here, 
 mind ye're as civil to him as if he was your 
 own wife — ^ye can't be too civil : tell him 
 ye'll be glad to do anything that lies in your 
 power, and give him plenty of ' sirs ' in 
 your talk ; these great folk like it, and it 
 will happen be a good thing for us : they 
 must use a deal of groceries up at the Hall, 
 man." 
 
 Accordingly when Jabez stepped in to 
 
118 'Jdbez Oliphant. 
 
 complain of an open drain near Tommy's 
 house, the grocer, with a profusion of 
 fluttered obeisances, expressed his great de- 
 light that there was at last a chance of this 
 dreadful nuisance being abated, now that 
 the matter was really taken up by some 
 one of influence. The drain had long been 
 a source of very great annoyance to him ; 
 he even thought that his paleness, thinness, 
 and usual want of energy (more popularly 
 ascribed by the carles to the strict discipline 
 under which Mrs. Doolittle kept him, and 
 to his preference for tea), nay that his bald- 
 ness itself arose from the same cause ; and 
 he ended by asking Mr. Oliphant if he 
 wanted any other article to-day. Jabez re- 
 tired therefore with a most favourable im- 
 pression of Tommy's character and abihties, 
 and Mrs. Doolittle had no reason to regret 
 her sagacious advice ; for the Hall footmen 
 paid almost daily visits thenceforth to the 
 shop. In fact, " that open drain," Mrs. 
 
Begins his Reforms, 119 
 
 Doolittle often remarked afterwards, " was 
 the best tiling that ever came near then* 
 doors, and she would not have mmded for 
 her part if there had been a dozen 
 there/' 
 
 The last visit of inspection which Jabez 
 made, was to the limekilns, about a quarter 
 of a mile above the houses. On one un- 
 lucky day as he was wandermg up the 
 stream, he saw that it was whitened for a 
 few yards by a tiny runlet which once or 
 twice a year made its way from the lime- 
 kilns to the brook that ran through the vil- 
 lage. He immediately returned home and 
 read up m some medical work the pernicious 
 effect of lime on the human stomach. Hor- 
 rible ! Here was a whole population being 
 poisoned for the sake of one lime-burner ; 
 but, as the kilns were on Mr. Oliphant's 
 property and the lease was just out, he had 
 the remedy in his own hands. 
 
 " If you wish to have a new lease, Mr. 
 
120 Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 Shepherd/' he said, " I will give you a 
 choice of two alternatives. You may either 
 remove your lime-works to another part of 
 my land where they will not pollute the 
 stream ; or you may dig a trench to the 
 river and carry the dirty water away with- 
 out its coming near Reinsber." 
 
 " Ye mun be joking, Mr. Oliphant,'' said 
 the puzzled Shepherd, scratching his head ; 
 " thear are t' kilns, ye see ; how am I to skift 
 'em ? What, each of 'em cost me mair nor 
 a hundred pound." 
 
 " Well, then dig the trench. Think of 
 the Roman aqueducts, sir." 
 
 " Trench an' hack-wi-ducks ! Why, how 
 could I git leave, d'ye think, to gang dig- 
 ging up folk's land ? Besides it 'ud cost 
 mair nor aw t' boiling's worth. Ye're 
 joking, surely !" 
 
 " I was never more serious in my life, 
 sir. I am truly sorry for you if what you 
 say is the case, but the public good is our 
 
Begins his Reforms. 121 
 
 first consideration, not that of the indi- 
 vidual. You may suffer a little — I cannot 
 help that ; I wish I could — but the people 
 of Reinsber cannot be allowed to drink 
 water with fifty per cent, of lime in it. 
 Think my offer over." 
 
 Shepherd did think it over, and the 
 result was that in a few days afterwards, 
 when the lease expired, the limekilns 
 stopped work, and ten or fifteen labourers 
 were thrown out of employment : but, 
 as Jabez philosophically remarked, it 
 was all for the advantage of society at 
 large. 
 
 Mr. Oliphant returned home as satisfied 
 as a sportsman who has had a good day. 
 He had bagged thirty-one ash-pits, seven 
 cess-pools, and three open drains, to say 
 nothing of larger game in the shape of the 
 limekilns. All these he duly entered 
 in a thick foolscap note-book, labelled 
 " Nuisances," and ruled with various red 
 
122 
 
 Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 lines, the entries standing something as 
 below : 
 
 Name of 
 Owner 
 
 Nuisance 
 
 Nature 
 
 Kemarks 
 
 Thomas 
 
 1 drain 
 
 Open 
 
 Most civil. Has suf- 
 
 Doolittle 
 
 
 
 fered much from it. 
 Looks ill and pale; 
 good witness. De- 
 serves encouragement. 
 
 Mary 
 
 1 ash-pit 
 
 Near the 
 
 Postmistress. Extraor- 
 
 Hawkswell 
 
 
 street 
 
 dinarily insolent. 
 N.B. — To inquire how 
 she manages the post- 
 office. 
 
 Miss Oliphant came in while the old man 
 was busy in these labours, and he gave her 
 an account of his proceedings. Even great 
 men feel the necessity of a confidant, and 
 Jabez, breaking through his ordinary re- 
 serve, had consulted her often in the last 
 three or four weeks about his various pro- 
 jects, while the sanguine little minx, partly 
 out of affection for him, and partly because 
 she was as eager for everybody's good as 
 he was himself, had encouraged him in 
 
Begins Ms Reforms. 123 
 
 tliem, though she reserved to herself the 
 supreme right of teasing him on the-subject. 
 
 "■■ But, uncle," said Kate, when he had 
 ended his narration, " I cannot for my life 
 imagine what you are giving yourself all 
 this trouble for T 
 
 " Then you are scarcely as quick as usual, 
 Kate. By removing these nuisances, we 
 shall lengthen the lives of all the good 
 people in Beinsber." 
 
 Kate laughed and exclaimed : " But have 
 you never read the inscriptions on the 
 tombstones in the churchyard ? There is 
 scarcely any one lying there who has not 
 hved to eighty ; and how much longer 
 does this dear wise uncle of mine expect to 
 make people live ?" 
 
 Jabez was somewhat posed. " I confess 
 I never looked in the churchyard ; but 
 statistics bear me out in what I am doing, 
 and all modern civilisation rests on statis- 
 tics." 
 
124 Jabez OUphant. 
 
 ''Ah, then, unless that is a figure of 
 speech, I foresee a dreary time coming. 
 We shall all have to live by arithmetic, — 
 just the thing I never could do. Dear me, 
 think of being forced to sleep by proper 
 fractions, and get married by interest ! 
 And I suppose I shall have to go and see 
 Goody Hawkswell seven times a year be- 
 cause seven is a magic number. What a 
 disagreeable world it will be !" 
 
 Fothergill, a frequent visitor at the Hall, 
 was now announced, and Kate turned to 
 him : " Mr. Fothergill, uncle and I have 
 just settled it, that the world is going to 
 be a world of arithmetic for the future. 
 You and Mr. Truman will have to go to 
 school again to learn accounts .'' 
 
 " If you'll be schoolmistress, I'll do so ; 
 and submit to a good deal of caning, too, 
 before I play truant." 
 
 " But I should be very severe ; masters 
 
Begins his Reforms. 125 
 
 always are who do not know much about 
 what they are teaching." 
 
 " To hide their own faults, they ' hide' 
 their pupils, I suppose. But when are 
 these wonderful lessons to begin ?" 
 
 "Immediately, of course. You must 
 reckon up for me instantly how many roses 
 there will be on my favourite tree this year : 
 here are pen, ink, and paper." 
 
 " The calculation is too simple to require 
 them. Let me see. There will be 201. 
 Is the answer correct V 
 
 " I will tell you that in a month,'' said 
 Kate, laughing ; " but how do you get such 
 a queer result ?" 
 
 " Why, a hundred will come out because 
 it is Miss Oliphant who wishes it, and 
 another hundred to have a look at her ; and 
 there will be one, I hope, for myself — ^which 
 makes 201, doesn't it?" 
 
 " Is there not something in mathe- 
 
126 Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 matics," asked Kate, " which they call a 
 complementary or complimentary number ? 
 But you shall have your rose if the answer 
 is right/' 
 
 " I hear you have been engaged in a very 
 useful work to-day," said William, turning 
 to Mr. Oliphant. 
 
 "Yes," replied Jabez ; " Eeinsber is cer- 
 tainly in a disgraceful state, but I hope we 
 shall put it to rights before long." 
 
 " My only fear is, you will excite a great 
 dealofill-wm." 
 
 " I do not care for ill-will, sir. The man 
 is very mean-spirited who dares not do a 
 great public good in spite either of ill-will 
 or opposition ; and, if any opposition arises, 
 I will soon trample it down." 
 
 " Still calumny is not very pleasant to 
 bear." 
 
 "As to both flattery and calumny, Mr. 
 Fothergill, I agree with Politiano's famous 
 dictum ; they cannot raise or deject me, 
 
Begins his Reforms. 127 
 
 any more than the lengthening or shorten- 
 ing of my shadow by the sun could make me 
 think myself a taller or a less man than I am." 
 
 Mr. Oliphant was called out of the room 
 soon afterwards ; and Fothergill continued 
 on the same subject to Miss Oliphant : 
 
 " I am afraid this is really rather a foolish 
 business your uncle is engaged in." 
 
 " Foolish ! I thought you told my uncle 
 it was a very good work." 
 
 " So I did, and so it is ; only I doubt 
 the policy of doing it all at once, as he is 
 doing it." 
 
 " But how should it be done ?" 
 
 '^ Little by little ; the world is a naughty 
 boy, and will only take its physic after a 
 great deal of coaxing, and with a big 
 spoonful of syrup to each drop of the 
 medicine." 
 
 *'Yes; tact — tact and management are 
 necessary if you wish to carry a point," 
 said Mrs. Oliphant. '' But, poor Mr. Oli- 
 
128 Jabez Oliphant. 
 
 pliant ! I fear he will never have either ; 
 and I cannot understand what he wishes 
 with his alterations, when things are so 
 pleasant." 
 
 " Ay, the world is pleasant enough — for 
 persons of fortune and position," answered 
 Fothergill, with ill-disguised satire. 
 
 " WeH, I am altogether with my uncle," 
 said Kate proudly ; '' when a thing is right, 
 do it and do it at once. And I think the 
 former residents here have not tried to 
 make these improvements even little by 
 little." 
 
 " No, faith ; more to our shame," replied 
 William. " But I like your uncle much, 
 and should be very sorry if he became un- 
 popular." 
 
 When he took his leave, instead of going 
 home, he Hghted a cigar, and paced about 
 for an hour on the road in sight of the 
 Hall. 
 
 ''I shall have my rose, shall I?" he 
 
Begins his Reforms. 129 
 
 thought, triamphantly : " but that was an 
 unhicky hint of mine about the old do- 
 tards magnificent midden-poking. Her 
 eyes fairly blazed in her scorn of my doc- 
 trine of expediency. I wonder now what 
 business I had to be advising them for their 
 good, when all they want is praise. Honest 
 advice — ay, a pretty fool's gift to his 
 friends ! It is like carving wood with the 
 back of a jackalegs knife, is honest advice ; 
 one makes no impression on the block and 
 cuts oneself : 111 forswear it for the future. 
 It is confoundedly unpleasant, though, 
 having to fool the good old fellow to the 
 top of his bent ; but it is plainly the only 
 way to keep in with her ; and I think I 
 mended the matter by that protestation 
 about infinite affection, etc., for her uncle : 
 that must have been touching from me. 
 Well, she is a splendid creature, but I am 
 scarcely in love yet, thank heaven, and I 
 will take care not to be till I see how I 
 VOL. I. 9 
 
130 Jdbez OUphant. 
 
 stand with her. As Mrs. Oliphant says, 
 the world is not a bad place at all if one 
 does not spoil it by having too much feel- 
 ing; but that is the deuce. I wonder 
 which is her window." 
 
 And so moralising, our friend took his 
 way homewards when he had finished his 
 
CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 SCHEMES. 
 
 " X HAVE been wondering, Sir George, 
 -^ who that dark man in armour be- 
 tween tlie windows there can be. Is any- 
 thmg kno^\m of him ? It is a very striking 
 face/' 
 
 " The face of a hard hitter at any rate, — 
 ha, ha, ha ! Portrait of an ancestor of ours, 
 Mrs. Ohphant — Lord Highside, the first 
 Harry in the family : w^e were attainted 
 afterwards and lost the barony. He fought 
 at Poitiers and ^vsiS called the Grim Baron, 
 but I never heard much harm of him except 
 his roastmg two or three Jews aHve and 
 imprisoning two or three dozen of our serfs 
 
 9—2 
 
132 Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 till they died. The bones were visible in 
 the dungeons below us till about a hundred 
 years since/' 
 
 " Dear me, it is very dreadful to think of," 
 said Mrs. Oliphant, elegantly adjusting her 
 scarf. 
 
 " Ah, they did not think much of a trifle 
 Hke that in the good old days. Ill warrant 
 he only acted as every other gentleman 
 acted then — he would not have been a 
 Highside, ma'am, if he had not." 
 
 " Well, how very pleasant it is to have 
 such interesting reminiscences and tradi- 
 tions in the family ! I often think of all 
 things in life it must be the most delightful 
 to be able to look back on a long line of 
 illustrious ancestors ; it is a happiness that 
 falls to so few. What poet is it that says 
 ' I'd rather be an English nobleman ' — ah, 
 I forget the words, but he means he would 
 rather be a nobleman here than a king any- 
 where else." 
 
 " Quite so, quite so; just what I've often 
 
Schemes. 133 
 
 said," replied Sir George : "I would not 
 change with any beggarly foreign prince of 
 them all. I've kept a nice bit of breast here ; 
 pray let me give you it, Mrs. Oliphant." 
 
 "Thank you. And who is that young 
 cavalier above the mantel-piece ? He has 
 a history, too, or I am mistaken in that 
 roguish look of his." 
 
 "You certainly do hit on the more re- 
 markable of these portraits in a very ex- 
 traordinary way" (it never entered the 
 baronet's head that Mrs. Oliphant might 
 have been reading up for the occasion). 
 " That was Sir Francis, the handsomest of 
 our family. The Merry Monarch gave him 
 with his own hands the silver cup you see 
 yonder on the sideboard. Andrews, bring 
 Mrs. Ohphant some champagne in King 
 Charlie's cup." This was the highest hon- 
 our Sir George could confer, and marked a 
 very rapid progress on Mrs. OHphant's part 
 in his good graces. 
 
134 Jahez Olijphant. 
 
 " I did not intend to take any more 
 wine, but I really must be able to say 
 that I have drunk out of such an invalu- 
 able relic. How beautiful it is ! The 
 figures on it seem to be nymphs and 
 satyrs f which, curiously enough, was also 
 the conjecture hazarded about them in the 
 guide-book to the district, so that the au- 
 thor was probably right. The cup however 
 was judiciously applauded by Mrs. Oliphant, 
 together with the rest of the baronet's stock- 
 stories about his ancestry, his filberts, his 
 apples and his cabbages ; for none of these 
 were ordinary things — they were the apples, 
 filberts, and cabbages of a Highside, and 
 had pedigrees as long as that of the family 
 itself. 
 
 '' I do not see many portraits of ladies," 
 Mrs. Oliphant said by and by ; " but I sup- 
 pose members of a family like yours have 
 always married beautiful heiresses ? By 
 the way, I heard the other night that Mr. 
 
Schemes. 135 
 
 Highside yonder was to be married before 
 long/' 
 
 " Harry !" exclaimed the baronet in as- 
 tonishment, and Mrs. Oliphant knew by 
 his tone that Harry was still unattached. 
 Her white lie had answered its purpose. 
 
 " It was only village gossip, no doubt. 
 People will talk, you know, and most of 
 all, as is natural, about those who stand 
 highest. You are happy in having such a 
 son. Sir George; and how pleasant and 
 Hvely he is to-night ! Kate and he seem 
 to have plenty to talk about, do they not ?" 
 The hint was of the broadest, but then Sir 
 George required broad hints or he would 
 not understand. 
 
 Yes, Mrs. Ohphant was schemmg. She 
 had set her heart on a marriage between 
 Harry and her step-daughter ; but it was, 
 of course, necessary that the proposal should 
 come from the Highsides, and for the sake 
 of the proprieties which she reverenced so 
 
136 Jabez Oliphant. 
 
 mucli, slie would even like the baronet to 
 fancy that the notion was altogether his 
 own. She flattered herself, however, that 
 she had adroitly set his thoughts to work 
 on the matter ; for Sir George went off im- 
 mediately afterwards into a state of solemn 
 reflection, from which he scarcely awoke till 
 the ladies rose. 
 
 It was a state dinner at Highside Castle 
 in honour of the Oliphants, and there were 
 many other schemers at table — at what 
 table are there not ? There was Fothergill 
 keeping his own end of it ahve with jests 
 or satire, but scheming all the time how he 
 could secure a long chat with Kate when 
 they went into the drawing-room ; and sit- 
 ting next to him there was Dora Mansfield, 
 not perhaps scheming, but at least wishing, 
 ah me ! she knew not what, and I dare not 
 say ; only her quiet Madonna-like face was 
 turned shyly but admiringly towards her 
 neighbour during his sallies, for she had 
 
Schemes. 137 
 
 never seen him so brilliant before. There 
 was Kate opposite from pure pity scheming 
 out subjects of conversation for that shame- 
 faced Harry Highside who took her in to 
 dinner but had scarcely a word to say ; and 
 there was Harry himself, fascinated and 
 pleased as he was, yet altogether out of his 
 element, and contriving various plans for 
 getting a cigar before the ladies were gone ; 
 while even the honest parson was scheming 
 to procure a seat in one of the Beinsber 
 carriages, the night being very wet. Above 
 all, there was Mr. Oliphant himself brood- 
 ing over a grand scheme of which we shall 
 hear more soon. 
 
 When Mrs. Mansfield, who was filling 
 the place of hostess, had retired with the 
 other ladies to the drawing-room, Sir George 
 rubbed his hands complacently, and settling 
 himself more firmly in his chair, called for 
 another bottle of the famous Twenty port. 
 *'He did not believe, not he," he said, "in 
 
138 Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 tliat new-fangled plan of leaving the table 
 directly after the ladies; the Highsides had 
 always been two-bottle men, and so would 
 he be himself as long as he hved;" and 
 his nose, pleasantly inclined to a rubicund 
 stoutness, might have made a stranger 
 credit the assertion ; his friends never even 
 doubted it. Harry and the fox-hunting 
 squires who were present, also seemed pre- 
 paring for liveher chat about hunting, shoot- 
 ing, pretty ankles, or anything in the world 
 that was not too serious. 
 
 They were soon undeceived. Scarcely 
 had the fresh bottle arrived and brought 
 fresh vigour to the conversation, scarcely 
 had the baronet raised his glass to wink at it 
 with one eye and make his usual remark on 
 the occasion, ''That's a good glass of wine, 
 Truman," — when Mr. Oliphant, who had been 
 very silent hitherto, suddenly addressed him 
 from the farther end of the table in a decided 
 voice that put a stop to any other conversation. 
 
Schemes. 139 
 
 " Sir George, I wish for your advice, if 
 you please, about a project whicli has cost 
 me much anxious thought and labour ; and 
 I trust that these gentlemen also will be 
 inclined to assist me." 
 
 " Most happy, Oliphant, I am sure — any- 
 thing in my power," replied the baronet ; 
 while " Oh, certainly," rose in chorus from 
 all parts of the table. Every one was 
 wrapt in attention — Fothergill hardly able 
 to keep his countenance at the magnificent 
 way in which Jabez drew himself up for his 
 exordiiun. 
 
 " Well then, gentlemen all, I think you 
 will agree with me that the state of the 
 lower classes in Reinsber is far from satis- 
 factory. When I came back from London 
 after my long absence, I expected to find 
 my native village inferior indeed to cities in 
 refinement and the appliances of modern 
 civilLzation, but at any rate immeasurably 
 superior to them in honesty, in morality, in 
 
140 Jabez Oliphant. 
 
 godliness. I had fancied that in this little 
 nook, so secluded from the world and its 
 follies, there might still remain an Arcadian 
 simphcity which would remind one of the 
 golden age of yore. How was I deceived ! 
 I found the village absolutely reeking with 
 drunkenness and debauchery, its four pub- 
 he-houses full, its one church empty, and 
 the whole of the poorer classes, instead of 
 improving their minds, altogether given up 
 to pernicious amusements — dancing, ^^card- 
 pla3mig, novel-reading, and frivohty ; ir- 
 reverent to God, for they neglect His day, 
 and equally irreverent to their superiors 
 here, such as yourself, Sir George." 
 
 " Confounded poaching lot of fellows 
 there, at any rate ; wish you could catch 
 some of them and just let me know," 
 broke in one of the sqmres ; but Jabez 
 went on. 
 
 " Shall we then allow this deplorable 
 state of affairs to continue — we, men of the 
 
Schemes. 141 
 
 first influence and position in the neigh- 
 bourhood, and whose duty and high preroga- 
 tive it is to lead these poor misguided 
 people to better things ? Surely not. Let 
 us inculcate virtuous principles into them ; 
 it is a knowledge of virtue they want. O, 
 Virtue, how beautiful art thou ! how far 
 above gold or rubies ! how sought after by 
 some I how despised by others ! Yet how 
 soon mider thy glorious influence would 
 the mists of vice and ignorance vanish 
 away like a dream from this dehghtful 
 spot I" 
 
 '' Good, very good," applauded Truman, 
 who Hked a little floweriness in a dis- 
 course. 
 
 " And so well-timed and prepared !" 
 whispered Fothergill to him. 
 
 "I say, Fothergill," groaned Harry, in 
 an undertone, " how long will you keep 
 that claret at your elbow ? Don't you see 
 Im choking? By Jove, I thought we 
 
142 Jdbez Olipliant 
 
 should have had a jolly good chat now, and 
 here we are in for an hour's sermon, by 
 gad ! This beats Truman, this does." As 
 for Sir George and the squires, though con- 
 siderably astonished, they contented them- 
 selves with leaning back sheepishly in theh^ 
 chairs, and offering double libations to their 
 own capacious stomachs. 
 
 ''But," said FothergiU, aloud, "but if 
 we grant your premisses, Mr. Oliphant, 
 that Eeinsber is very wicked, what is your 
 remedy T 
 
 "Co-operation, sir. Without co-opera- 
 tion where at this day would be the world ? 
 It is co-operation which has built our 
 roads, bridged our rivers, delved our mines. 
 It is gigantic co-operation which has spread 
 a network of railways over Britain, which 
 has flashed the electric hghtning into every 
 village, which has covered the ocean with 
 our sails. We can co-operate for the paltry 
 purposes of trade, art, or civilization — for 
 
1 
 Schemes. 143 ^ 
 
 gold, fame, or power ; shall it be said that 
 we do not think it worth while to co-operate 
 to secure for this benighted village that 
 which is worth them all — that virtue which 
 should be the aim, end, and perfection of 
 our lives V 
 
 " Then, in other words," said Fothergill, 
 " you wish us to form some kind of society 
 for making the Eeinsber carles better ? It 
 is a truly noble idea, and I, for one, shall be 
 delighted to give you my very best as- 
 sistance, if indeed you will accept such 
 poor help :" and the young hypocrite 
 looked as pious as he could, for Kate's 
 sake. 
 
 " I shall be proud of your help, Mr. 
 Fothergill, and I am obliged to you for so 
 readily tendering it," replied the other with 
 his sweetest smile, and Fothergill felt that 
 he had risen a hundred per cent, in the 
 old man's estimation by being the first to 
 see the merits of his project. '' I shall ex- 
 
144 Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 pect much assistance from you too, Mr. 
 Highside — ^young, active, and enterprising, 
 what might you not do ?" 
 
 He had turned so suddenly on Harry 
 that the latter blushed like a schoolgirl ; 
 for, to tell the truth, he had been furtively 
 getting up a whispered conversation with 
 his next neighbour on the merits of the 
 Bradford Giant and Southern Pippin, who 
 were to have their great ' mill ' next 
 week. 
 
 " Oh yes,^ — yes, of course," he answered, 
 ruefully and dubiously ; "I suppose it'll be 
 giving tracts and looking up the old women, 
 and so on — oh yes. I don't think it is 
 much in my line — I'm better at a five-barred 
 gate, and that sort of thing, you know, 
 Mr. Oliphant. But if you like, I'll try my 
 best, — with FothergiU here." 
 
 " And no one can do more," replied 
 Jabez, graciously ; "but perhaps the toils of 
 our committee may not be of the kind or 
 
Schemes. 145 
 
 quite so great as you suppose ; Sir George, 
 I trust I may count on you V 
 
 The baronet started up from the slight 
 doze into which he was rapidly faUing : 
 " Hum — ha, well, — I don't quite understand 
 the thing ; — but if it is an affair for a sub- 
 scription, I should be the first Highside, sir, 
 who ever declined to head a pubhc-spirited 
 thing.'' 
 
 " It is not money I wish for. Sir George, 
 but your name, your influence. The com- 
 mittee '' (hereupon Harry cautiously went 
 back to the squire) "must be men who 
 could induce persons to join the society, 
 and would overlook the conduct of the 
 members ; these members being of course 
 entirely of the poorer classes." 
 
 " The rich not requiring virtue, I 
 suppose," whispered Fothergill to Tru- 
 man. 
 
 " Xor would I confine myself simply to 
 
 VOL. I. 10 
 
146 Jahez Olipliant, 
 
 persuasion. In due proportion to their 
 advancement in virtue and religion, at the 
 end of each year I would give prizes, not 
 of value — for virtue, I hold, should be its 
 own exceeding great reward — but still 
 honourable badges of distinction, which 
 the recipients may hand down with law- 
 ful pride to their children's children. 
 And for awarding these prizes, what 
 plan so excellent as that of giving 
 marks for every virtuous act which the 
 member has performed throughout the 
 year ? The acts of which we take cog- 
 nisance, and the number of marks given 
 for each, would be settled by the com- 
 mittee ; and the member v/ho won the 
 greatest number of marks would have the 
 head prize for the year." 
 
 '' Admirable 1" exclaimed Fothergill. 
 " Why it would be nothing less than a 
 grand competitive examination in virtue for 
 
Schemes. 147 
 
 all the village !" Then he relieved himself 
 with a hearty laugh, as if at his own no- 
 tion. 
 
 " If you like to put the thing in that 
 way, so it would," replied Jabez, smiling 
 faintly in response ; " and I do not see 
 w^hy the competition which discovers merit 
 at our schools and for public offices should 
 not be pressed into the service of morality. 
 I trust that now you see my scheme in its 
 details, you will allow me to put your name 
 on the committee. Sir George." 
 
 " Oh, if you like : but I am an old man ; 
 you must not look for much help from me, 
 you know.' — Have any more wine, Oli- 
 phant ? Then, perhaps, we had better join 
 the ladies." The baronet's tone was lugu- 
 brious, and the attraction of the sex was 
 seldom strong enough to draw him into the 
 other room so early. 
 
 " One moment, please. I think, gentle- 
 
 10—2 
 
148 Jdbez OUphant. 
 
 men, that Mr. Fothergill, Mr. Truman, and 
 myself would be competent to draw np 
 rules for the Society." 
 
 " Hear, hear !" cried the rest, much re- 
 lieved to find themselves left out. 
 
 " But what name do you propose to give 
 the Society, Mr. Oliphant V asked Fother- 
 giU. 
 
 "Why, I thought the best would be 
 ' The Society for the Promotion of 
 Virtue.' " 
 
 " Take a wrinkle from a Society our 
 friend Truman has heard of : for Promotion 
 read Propagation ; but I do not know 
 which is best." 
 
 '' ' The Society for the Propagation of 
 Virtue?' Yes," said Jabez, balancing the 
 merits of the two words, and choosing 
 the longer ; ''it is the better name, and 
 we will adopt it." 
 
 Meanwhile the fair ladies of our story 
 
Schemes. 149 
 
 were variously employed — the squires' 
 wives and daughters with gossip, needle- 
 work, or engravings, and Mrs. Ohphant, 
 who had just shown her consummate tact 
 towards her superiors, in displaymg it ui 
 another way to her inferiors by making 
 herself what she called ' generally agree- 
 able.' Giving, therefore, with a well-bred 
 precision, the same time to each of her ac- 
 quaintance, she praised the knitting, m- 
 quired with the utmost minuteness after aU 
 the children at home, including one or two 
 that were dead, and flattered an aged 
 spinster amazingly, by trusting her hus- 
 band was well. But on one lady she 
 thought it proper to bestow a larger share 
 of her attention ; for she told good-natured 
 Mrs. Mansfield — lately the owner — how 
 delighted she was with Eemsber HaU, its 
 park, and the view from its windows. She 
 would be very glad, she said, to see her 
 there often ; they had got everything very 
 
150 Jahez OUphant 
 
 nice now, — she was afraid to say how much 
 the furniture had cost : but it was very 
 cruel that she (Mrs. M.) had never yet 
 called on them, and had only sent a card ; 
 how was it? And poor Mrs. Mansfield 
 was forced to admit, with a little moisture 
 about the eyes (for she had only one sore 
 point,|but Mrs. Oliphant had touched it), 
 that since her husband was compelled to 
 sell the^place, just before his death, she had 
 not had the heart to go there ; an avowal 
 which called forth all the sympathy of the 
 other's superior nature. 
 
 But as they passed into the drawing- 
 room, Kate had put her arm round Dora 
 Mansfield's waist, and said, " Now, Dora, I 
 am going to have a good chat with you as 
 soon as we can find a quiet corner. Here 
 we are." In spite of their diJfferent dispo- 
 sitions and fortunes, the two girls were 
 already warm friends, and saw a good deal 
 of each other. 
 
Schemes. 151 
 
 " Well," said Miss Olipliant, as tliey sat 
 down on a sofa by themselves, " if this is 
 a fair specimen of your Reinsber dinners, I 
 cannot say I tliink them very lively. I 
 have paid well for mine, I know. Fancy 
 sitting between Mr. Carlton and Mr. High- 
 side for two hours, and working hard at 
 talk the whole time I I shall have brain- 
 fever or something.'' 
 
 " Kate, I hope not," answered Dora, 
 quite deceived by the other's tragic tone. 
 
 " You silly little puss, you always take 
 things so seriously," replied Kate, laugh- 
 ing ; "I am only in fun, you know. But 
 how I did rack my brain for something to 
 say to that stupid young man ! I tried 
 music, and ' he thought he had heard of a 
 fellow called Handel,' — the barbarian ! 
 Then, did he sing ? No ; but he had been 
 told he could if he tried, — and I fancy he 
 would believe anybody who told him he 
 could write an epic poem, or make a steam- 
 
152 Jahez Oliphant, 
 
 engine, or anything. Dancing, was lie fond 
 of that ? Well, rather ; he had been to a 
 ' grand hop ' not long before, where they 
 had 'first rate grub and such sherry- 
 cobblers/ In despair, I turned to more 
 sober subjects, expressed in most eloquent 
 terms my admiration of flowers — paintings 
 • — the beauty of the neighbourhood ; it was 
 all of no use ; I was pumping at a perfectly 
 dry well. He listened admirably, to be 
 sure, but the decanters on the table did 
 that. Had he read many novels ? Yes, a 
 good many. Well, here was a gleam of 
 light, but it turned out he had not read 
 any I like, and I am sure I have never 
 read, and never shall, what he is so fond of 
 — French things of Sue's or somebody. I 
 was forced to beat a retreat again, and 
 then I fairly asked him if he believed in 
 the man in the moon : I know it was 
 wicked, but I could not help it ; he is so 
 simple. At last I carried him off to the 
 
Schemes. 153 
 
 stables, and put liim on horseback, and 
 tlien lie soon cantered on quite out of my 
 reach. I left him engaged in a rat-hunt ; 
 poor fellow, I hope he has got his arm 
 safely out of the hole, for he was up to the 
 elbows in it after one of his terriers when 
 I escaped." 
 
 " Mr. Highside never has much to say ; 
 but I am very sorry you did not enjoy the 
 dinner more ; I thought it livelier than 
 usual." 
 
 "Ah, but then you Vv^ere sitting next 
 Fothergill," said the other, with an arch 
 smile ; " how well he did talk !" 
 
 Dora's hp trembled as she answered 
 quickly, '' I am sure Mr. Fothergill talked 
 far more to you than me, though you were 
 on the other side of the table." 
 
 " Dora, Dora, Dora !" Kate whispered, 
 " you are in love ; you are hopelessly and 
 desperately in love. Do you think I did 
 not see V 
 
154 Jahez Oliphant, 
 
 " Miss Oliphant, how can you say so T 
 expostulated Dora, raising lier eyes to her 
 friend's face ; and there was an encounter, 
 front to front, for a moment, of two of the 
 lovehest pairs of eyes in Yorkshire — one 
 very mournful, the other, how laughing I 
 but the contest was soon over, and 
 quiet little Dora looked down again, van- 
 quished. 
 
 '' How can you say so ?" she repeated ; 
 "it is not kind. I am sure I am 
 not." 
 
 " There would be nothing to be ashamed 
 of, if you were in love : I intend to fall 
 desperately in love myself some of these 
 days ; but I do not think much of Mr. 
 Fothergill. To be able to talk well is not 
 quite everything, and he is so dreadfully 
 cynical. I do not think he has a heart at 
 all : and I am Hke Sydney Smith ; I do like 
 a little heart sometimes." 
 
 "Now you are doing him injustice. 
 
Schemes. 155 
 
 After my father — after his misfortunes — 
 and death, Mr. Fothergill was very, very 
 kind to us, when few people were." 
 
 " And who durst be unkind to you ? 
 Tell me who they were, dear," said Kate, 
 with a fiery gleam in her eyes. 
 
 " Nay, I should be doing wrong if I said 
 any one was positively unkind ; but most 
 people were very cold to us afterwards, and 
 some even talked at us a little." 
 
 " Who did so r 
 
 " Well, I think the worst were those old 
 maids at Stainton — the three saints of 
 Stainton, Mr. Fothergill calls them," and 
 Dora laughed faintly. " But then we can- 
 not expect, when we have become poor, to 
 be treated quite as we were treated before. 
 I have no doubt they only did what they 
 thought right." 
 
 " The three saints of Stainton — -just let 
 me come across them, that is all." 
 
 " Kate, surely, surely you would not refer 
 
156 Johez Oliphant. 
 
 to tlie subject before them," pleaded the other ; 
 '' I would not have mentioned them for the 
 world, if I had thought you would do so. 
 We have suffered a good deal — a great deal 
 — and I assure you we should Hke best of 
 all to be quiet. And they have such bitter 
 tongues, I do hope you will be civil to 
 them,- they will be dreadful if you are 
 not." 
 
 Kate laughed, but made no answer. 
 
 " So we could not help liking Mr. Fother- 
 gill, unless we were very ungrateful," con- 
 tinued Dora, after a pause ; " but I do not 
 think I shall ever marry. I often dream 
 about these sisterhoods which they are in- 
 stituting in England. I should like to re- 
 tire quite away from the world, and spend 
 my life in doing good and trying to make 
 myself better." 
 
 " You are a true little saint already," 
 answered her friend ; " and we will have 
 no nunneries for you." 
 
Schemes. 157 
 
 Soon afterwards the gentlemen came into 
 the room, and there were songs and music ; 
 Fothergill and Kate joining in duets, and 
 Dora listening with a little pang about the 
 heart as the voices blended sweetly together. 
 But before the company broke up, Mrs. Oli- 
 phant found an opportunity of making an- 
 other move in her own game, by seizing on 
 Harry. 
 
 " I have scarcely had a word with you, 
 Mr. Highside," she said. " This is a charm- 
 ing old castle of yours ; it reminds one of 
 those glorious feudal tilts and tourneys we 
 read of 
 
 " Hm, certainly ; jolly old chaps, no 
 doubt," answered Harry, at a venture. 
 " But the castle has no conveniences at all : 
 my smoking-room is the dingiest little hole 
 you ever saw ; and the billiard -room is 
 right at the top of the round tower. When 
 it's mme, I'll pull the whole place down, 
 and build a real handsome modern house. 
 
158 Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 square and in something like taste — see if 
 I don't." 
 
 " I hope you will not sell the old por- 
 traits at any rate, for I have been admiring 
 them all dinner-time. Do you know that 
 Kate says she thinks you are very Hke that 
 young cavaHer over the mantel-piece ? But 
 I cannot quite see the resemblance my- 
 self; has it been remarked before V 
 
 " No, really, but did Miss Oliphant think 
 so V cried Harry ; " why, it is Sir Francis, 
 and they call him the handsome baronet." 
 
 " Well, and if they do, why should not a 
 Highside now be as good-looking as a High- 
 side then V Then the carriages were an- 
 noiuiced, Truman congratulating himself on 
 having secured an inside seat ; but Fother 
 gill staid to have a cigar with Harry. 
 
 "D— n it, Fothergill," said Mr. High- 
 side, as he threw himself into an easy chair 
 after lighting a cigar and ordering some 
 punch, " this society of Oliphant's about 
 
Schemes. 159 
 
 virtue may be a devilish good thing after 
 all ; the cads about here want looking after 
 and taking down a bit, don't they ?" 
 
 Fothergill, who had stretched himself out ' 
 at full length on the sofa, glanced at the 
 other and laughed sarcastically. 
 
 " Yes, Harry," he rephed, " and you and 
 I shall make two famous apostles, shall we 
 not ? I can make the Reinsber carles wise 
 in heresy ; and you will be able to teach 
 them, if not the narrow way, at least the 
 way of swearing pretty broadly." 
 
 '' Jove, Fothergill, but you have me 
 there ; I'll tell you what, I'll bet you a ten- 
 pound note that I'll swear against any man 
 you like to bring, for ten minutes a side, 
 and neither of us to use the same words 
 twice. Come, wiU you take me ?" 
 
 "Nay, Harry, you have your gifts," growled 
 Fothergill ; " you are matchless there, and I 
 don't think I could find anybody except in 
 Billingsgate even to challenge you. Still I 
 
160 Jahez Olipliant. 
 
 should like to see you handing a tract to 
 Goody Hawkswell, or feeding Mother Ten- 
 nant with barley broth, and receiving the 
 old hag's blessings between the spoonfuls. 
 But I say, old fellow, was not Oliphant in 
 high feather to-night ? It was as good as a 
 play to see your father and him ; ^twas like 
 seeing plump and rosy little Bacchus (^ Bac- 
 chus, Apollo virorum,' the god of wine, you 
 know — you must remember that, man) bound 
 with his own vine-branches, and obliged to 
 listen to a long discourse from one of the 
 Pilgrim Fathers." 
 
 " It was too bad ; now don't you think 
 so ? At a dinner-table ! Hang it, I hope 
 the governor will not ask him again, with 
 his cursed preaching." 
 
 " I rather enjoyed it ; it was a bit of a 
 change from the ordinary humdrum of talk. 
 And then, you know, if Mr. Oliphant 
 doesn't come here again, the pretty niece 
 can't. By the bye, you were making great. 
 
Schemes, 161 
 
 sail in tliat quarter to-night ; it is not fair 
 leaving us poor fellows so far behind." 
 
 '' Stunning girl," replied the flattered 
 Harry, with a knowing wink ; ^' never saw 
 such a pair of peepers in my life, and how 
 her neck is set on ! She'll be a tidy trotter, 
 let me tell you, whether she runs single or 
 double. Give me plenty of blood, and not 
 over much flesh or bone in a girl or a horse. 
 Then there's her ankle ; have you ever 
 noticed it ?" 
 
 " Stop there, thou irreverent Harry," 
 answered Fothergill, half inchned to laugh 
 at the other's characteristic metaphors, and 
 half indignant. " Of course I have, but we 
 ought not to talk our friends over quite in 
 this way." 
 
 " I don't see the harm myself; we were 
 saying nothing but good of her, were we ? 
 But I say, Fothergill," he added in tones 
 made confidential by the punch ; "I find I 
 can talk like a brick when I want." 
 VOL I. 11 
 
162 Jahez Oliphcmt, 
 
 " Who ever doubted it, man V 
 "Ay, but I mean with the girls, you 
 know, stupid. I never thought I could be- 
 fore ; but I see it is only when I have not 
 the right sort by me. We did rattle on, I 
 can tell you, and I don't think I ever stuck 
 fast for something to say, though we talked 
 about all kinds of things." 
 
 " Well, why don't you blaze away at 
 once, a dead shot like you, Harry, and 
 bring her down ? A handsome, thorough- 
 bred, rising three but clever enough for 
 seven, first favourite for a baronetcy, — any 
 girl would leap at you, you know." 
 
 ''Hang it, Fothergill," said the other, 
 " I believe you're quizzing me ; but I never 
 do know whether you are laughing at me 
 or not." 
 
 Thus all the personages in our story went 
 off to bed tolerably satisfied with the even- 
 ing — all except poor little Dora, who sat 
 gazing out on the moonlight for a long 
 
Schemes. 163 
 
 time through the open window of her bed- 
 room, with a feeling of dreariness she could 
 not at all understand, but it was connected 
 somehow with Fothergill and Kate. " Yes, 
 they were made for each other : he so 
 clever and good, and she so very beautiful," 
 was the substance of her thoughts ; *' and I 
 do not know why it should not be so, but 
 I hope Kate will teach him to think more 
 about religion ; oh, I do hope she will. 
 What a thing it was to say that I was in 
 love mth him ; but it was only her non- 
 sense, I suppose." And then she added to 
 her prayers a heartfelt petition, not with- 
 out tears, for the happiness of both her 
 friends ; but she did not sleep that night 
 nearly so well as usual. 
 
 11 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 A STORM GATHEHS. 
 
 OJTAINTON was privileged in being the 
 ^^ residence of numerous old maids, most 
 of whom were amiable enough to have de- 
 served a dozen lovers ; but the ladies whom 
 Fothergill called the Saints of Stainton 
 lived in three large houses midway between 
 the little market town and Reinsber. Oc- 
 cupying this responsible position, and having 
 borne themselves for thirty years as the 
 native aristocracy of the district, they had 
 snubbed or patronised every one in both 
 places till they were taken at then own 
 estimate and admission to their sober tea- 
 
A Storm Gathers. 165 
 
 tables became the blue ribbon of Reinsber 
 society. 
 
 Some three or four days after the events 
 described in the last chapter, Miss Ayrville, 
 Miss Manby, and Miss Beecroft, the strong- 
 minded spinsters in question, were met in 
 solemn conclave at the house of the first- 
 named lady. It was an old-fashioned gloomy 
 place, with odds and ends of furniture 
 gathered during a life-time, and matched 
 the appearance of Tabitha Ayrville herself, 
 who was verging on seventy and was very 
 tall, big-boned and grim. If you had seen 
 her marching along at her ordinary slow 
 place with the head erect, a cold superiority 
 in the eyes, and a foot as firmly set down 
 as if she were mistress of the whole earth, 
 you would have thought her a tragedy 
 queen rehearsing her part as she walked. 
 But she did not trouble herself to speak 
 much, and was too great to argue, only woe 
 to the poor fellow who ventured to dispute 
 
W6 Jabez Oliphant. 
 
 her edicts ! Not for him were the well- 
 buttered delicacies of the Ayrville muffins, 
 or the sweet voices of the sisterhood. She 
 had cut one acquaintance because he would 
 not agree with her that Pope is our greatest 
 bard, and she never really forgave a second 
 who persisted in admiring the nineteenth 
 century. 
 
 Maria Ann Manby, a thickset woman of 
 sixty, and the daughter of a small yeoman, 
 prided herself on her out-spokenness, mean- 
 ing thereby that she would tell you, and 
 most offensively, all your fanlts, but be 
 carefully silent about your virtues. She 
 wore her hair in ringlets, and, where the 
 natural growth was scanty, had supplied 
 the lack with a front which hung down in 
 short crisp curls ; so that her great mascu- 
 line face, blotched with purple, had some- 
 thing of the stern and threatening appear- 
 ance of a Gorgon's head. Letitia Beecroft 
 felt no little satisfaction in being fully two 
 
A Storm Gathers. 167 
 
 years junior even to Miss Manby, and 
 laboured bard to keep up appearances. Sbe 
 rouged terribly, bad botb false bair and 
 false teetb, and some said, a still falser 
 smile. Sbe bad never recovered from tbe 
 bonour wbicb Miss Ayrville and tbe yeo- 
 man s daugbter bad done ber in. admitting 
 tbe cbild of a poor incumbent like berself, 
 to be one of tbe amiable triumvirate. In 
 return bowever for tbe grateful, and indeed 
 bumble, bomage wbicb sbe paid tbem on 
 tbis account, tbere was a tacit understand- 
 ing tbat tbey at least sbould always con- 
 sider Miss Beecroft a lady comparatively 
 young. It was a delusion immensely grati- 
 fying to ber, and not witbout a certain re- 
 flected pleasure to tbe otbers, for wbilst sbe 
 stood at youtb tbey could scarcely sink to 
 tbe freezing-point of age tbemselves. Fotb- 
 ergill, wbo was fond of a nickname, called 
 Miss Ayrville tbe Dictator, and tbe otbers 
 tbe Heavy Dragoon and tbe Cbristian 
 
168 Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 Skirmisher, because lie said Miss Manby al- 
 ways cbarged directly at you, while Miss 
 Beecroft manoeuvred insidiously under cover 
 of extreme piety. 
 
 Miss Beecroft in considerable excitement 
 had just entered the room where her friends 
 were seated. 
 
 '' Have you heard, Miss Ayrville T she 
 asked. 
 
 " Have I heard what, Letitia ?'* 
 
 " About Mr. Oliphant," ejaculated Letitia, 
 still out of breath. 
 
 " I wonder at you, Letitia, keeping us in 
 suspense," said Miss Manby, tartly. 
 
 " Dear Maria, please do not look at me in 
 that stern way ; I will tell you as soon as I 
 can. He has given a harmonium to Reins- 
 ber Church — there !" 
 
 "What?" "I don't beheve it!" ex- 
 claimed the others simultaneously. 
 
 " Oh, how harsh you are this morning, 
 Maria ! Indeed, indeed, I heard it from 
 
A Storm Gathers. 169 
 
 Mr. Truman himself just now — he was at 
 the bridge fishing in his best coat with 
 Silverwood's rod, just till the funeral came 
 up — and he did assure me that Mr. 011- 
 phant had really done so." 
 
 " Maria Ann," said Miss Ayr^dlle in her 
 calm judicial voice, *' I always told you there 
 was no good in that man." 
 
 " Did I ever say there was ?" asked Miss 
 Manby ; "it is simply monstrous." 
 
 "It is more than monstrous ; it is impos- 
 sible," said the Dictator. 
 
 " Nay indeed. Miss Ayrville, Mr. Truman 
 told me that he had actually accepted the 
 gift ; I cannot possibly be mistaken." 
 
 " Compose yourself, child. It is very 
 possible that poor Mr. Truman may have 
 accepted it, but we have not." 
 
 " No, indeed," cried the more violent 
 Miss Manby; "what, a new man in the 
 place, and the son of a common cobbler, who 
 has cobbled my father's shoes many a time — 
 
170 Jahez OUphant. 
 
 to dare even to think of such a thing with- 
 out consulting the old residents I I never 
 heard of such bare-faced impudence in my 
 life." 
 
 " I thought you would not hke it," mur- 
 mured Miss Beecroft. 
 
 " Like it ! The church has done very 
 well without music for us ; — I think it might 
 have served for a cobbler's son." 
 
 " Just what I thought." 
 
 " And he — phaugh ! — must come and 
 teach us what is right and proper, trans- 
 mogrifying the place till we don't know our 
 own village !" said Miss Manby. 
 
 " What can his reason be, I wonder ?" 
 asked Letitia timidly. 
 
 "His reason, child? his reason is plain 
 enough : he wants to show how much richer 
 he is than any one else, and to get us to 
 call on him. I wish he may ! I am only 
 surprised at the Highsides tolerating such a 
 low-bred fellow." 
 
A Storm Gathers. 171 
 
 " Perhaps it is because they are only gen- 
 tlemen ; if there had been ladies at the 
 castle, might it not have been different ?" 
 
 Miss Ayrville, who had not spoken or 
 listened to the others for some time, now 
 broke in on Miss Manby's invectives and 
 delivered judgment. 
 
 " Maria Ann," she said, " this cannot go 
 on. We must put them down/' 
 
 " Of course we must, there is no doubt 
 about that," Maria answered. 
 
 " I shall be most happy, you know, to do 
 anything; but — but who is it?" inquired 
 Letitia. 
 
 " Why, whom have we been talking about, 
 you silly girl ? The OHphants, of course," 
 replied the Heavy Dragoon. 
 
 " And we must do it at once," Miss Ayr- 
 ville continued. 
 
 " Oh, how soon you do see your way 
 through a difficulty, Miss Ayrville !" ap- 
 plauded Letitia. 
 
172 Jahez OUphant, 
 
 " The sooner the better. I shall be on 
 pins till I give this man a bit of my mind," 
 said Miss Manby. " Let me see. They 
 will be at this party at the Carltons' to- 
 morrow week, and we could do it then; 
 what do you say, Tabitha V 
 
 " That will do very weU," answered the 
 Dictator. " Of course it will be a great 
 shock to their pride, but it is a real kindness 
 to them to let them find their level here at 
 once." 
 
 " True charity," echoed the Christian 
 Skirmisher. 
 
 " And they never will, unless they are 
 told it before all their friends," said Miss 
 Manby. " I hear he has actually been 
 tampering with some of our pensioners at 
 Beinsber — his niece paying them visits, and 
 even giving them money." 
 
 " We will remedy all this to-morrow 
 week. Meanwhile, Letitia, it would not be 
 amiss to let every one know our opinion of 
 
A Storm Gathers. 173 
 
 these matters. You may even go so far as 
 to intimate quietly, but firmly, that all per- 
 sons who give the Oliphants any sanction 
 will have no more favours from Us." 
 
 " I will just slip my blue bonnet on, and 
 go my round this very afternoon. Miss 
 Ayrville." 
 
 *' There is one thing to be thought of," 
 said the Heavy Dragoon. " When these 
 Oliphants try to apologise or back out of it, 
 must we still insist on people throwing 
 them off r 
 
 " Would not that be a little harsh r 
 Letitia ventured to put in. " You see, 
 being new comers, they are possibly igno- 
 rant who are the natural leaders of society 
 here. I should be rather incHned, myself, 
 if they receive our expostulations meekly, 
 and in a proper Christian spirit, to pass the 
 thing over, and perhaps even — well, even 
 to — but really I do not know." 
 
 " Perhaps even to ask them to tea ?" 
 
174 Jahez Oliphant 
 
 scoffed Miss Manby. " Eeally, child, what 
 next ? If they don't know who's who, 
 we'll teach them, that's all." 
 
 "Our future conduct, Maria," said Ta- 
 bitha, majestically, " had better be guided 
 by future circumstances. For the present 
 our course is clear. The Oliphants are to 
 be put down on Wednesday, and the neigh- 
 bourhood is to be given to understand that 
 it must make its choice between them and 
 ourselves." 
 
 " And there is not much doubt what 
 that choice will be, I imagine," said Maria, 
 laughing scornfully, and shaking the false 
 curls thereby, like Olympian Zeus of yore. 
 
 Nor was poor Mr. OHphant left utterly 
 in ignorance of his threatened extinction. 
 Two or three days afterwards, on his return 
 jfrom a long ramble on the hills with Kate 
 (a mode of spending the fine summer-days 
 to which they were very partial), he called 
 at Sandy Topping, the residence of Dick 
 
A Storm Gathers, 175 
 
 Wideawake, to inquire after a sick child. 
 The house, a large plain building, stood 
 high above the sea, with nothing but rocks, 
 hills, and bleak moorland round it; and 
 they found the farmer seated in the kitchen 
 with Mr. Truman, near the big family clock, 
 which, apparently with some forlorn notion 
 of being in advance of the age, or stealing 
 a march on Time, was always kept in these 
 remote farmsteads an hour at least before 
 Greenwich, — a circumstance that irritated 
 Jabez extremely. 
 
 When the inquiries about the invalid had 
 been made and answered, *' My word, Mr. 
 Oliphant," said Dick, with the merriest 
 of twinkles in his grey eyes, " but ye're 
 in for it now. Ye'U hev to itt humble pie, 
 or stand bar-foot 1 Cowd Showder Lane for 
 ten year." 
 
 " Why, what is the matter, Eichard ?" 
 " What, hevn't ye heard ? What, there^s 
 Giant Grim, an* Judge Hategood, an' lile 
 
176 Jabez OUphant. 
 
 Pickthank, tlie tell-tale, are ganging about 
 aw ower telling folk at ye re nought, an' 
 they munnot tak ony notice o' what ye do. 
 I wadn t be ye for fifty pund." 
 
 " Giant Grim !'' 
 
 " Ay, I was going to tell you about this 
 myself, Mr. Oliphant, only IVe been busy 
 weeding," said the incumbent. "But he 
 means — glad to hear you read your Bunyan, 
 Dick ; I quoted him on Easter Sunday, if 
 you remember — Wideawake means Miss 
 Ayrville and the rest of them." 
 
 " Oh, the old ladies, uncle, who behaved 
 so badly to Dora, you know," laughed 
 Kajbe. " Well, and what news of the three 
 Saints of Stainton, Mr. Truman ?" 
 
 " Why, it seems they have set their faces 
 against this harmonium your uncle has 
 been kind enough to give us, and they are 
 turning everybody against you." 
 
 " What, for giving a harmonium to the 
 church — absurd !" said Kate. 
 
A Storm Gathers. 177 
 
 " It is not really tliat so much as what 
 one may call your fishing in their waters. 
 You see they always have everything their 
 own way here, and they disHke changes." 
 
 " Then they wish to have us cut by our 
 neighbours ?" said Mr. Oliphant. 
 
 " Exactly, if you don't mend your ways." 
 
 " I fear I am too old to mend mine, even 
 at a lady's dictation." 
 
 " But I am dreadfully afraid, uncle, and 
 vote for running away. Can you not give 
 us shelter at Sandy Topping, Mr. Wide- 
 awake, before this hurricane of spinsters 
 comes on V 
 
 " Nay but, Miss Oliphant," answered 
 Dick, much more seriously than he com- 
 monly spoke, "ye mustn't blow 'em too 
 leght. They're nobbut milk 'at hes gaen 
 sour wi' standing, I knaw ; but they're 
 ti23-topperS at makking up a scandalous 
 story, an' aw t' folk about, baith heigh an' 
 low, er flaid on 'em, an' follow 'em like a 
 
 VOL. I. 12 
 
178 Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 slindder o' staans i' a fence when ye stir a 
 through. I wadn t cross 'em mair nor I 
 could help, if I wor ye." 
 
 " Ah, I see I shall be beaten, but I do 
 not mean to fall without a struggle. I 
 shall show fight, I can tell you." 
 
 " Heigh," laughed Dick, " an begow if 
 ye give 'em a look as breght as that, ye'll 
 wither 'em up clean. I niver seed sich 
 lightning i' my born days ; ye're ewen- 
 down dangerous." 
 
 " You are a sad flatterer, Mr. Wide- 
 awake ; but I hope at any rate you will be 
 on our side when all our friends cast us 
 off." 
 
 " Ay, that I will ; — but do tak care, and 
 don't offend Giant Grim ; ye're young yet, 
 and don't knaw what they'll say o' ye." 
 
 " Wideawake is really quite right, Mr. 
 Oliphant," said the parson ; "I fear we 
 shall all get into a sad scrape about this in- 
 strument, and other matters. Perhaps we 
 
A Storm Gathers. 179 
 
 liad better wait awhile before putting it in 
 the church, and I think I'U send Miss Ayr- 
 viUe a few of my greendroppers. If I 
 might give you a bit of advice, it is to be 
 very deferential to these ladies when you 
 meet. If you are, they'll come round in 
 time, you'll see — they'll come round, never 
 fear." 
 
 " Mr. Truman," answered Jabez, drawing 
 himself up, and looking the other straight 
 in the face, "you mean well, and I am 
 obhged for your good intentions ; but for 
 the future, when I am in want of your 
 advice on matters personal to myself, 
 perhaps you will allow me to ask for it 
 before you give it. Good morning, sir. 
 Come, Kate." 
 
 " Good morning, Mr. Wideawake ; and 
 thank you very much for your hint about 
 the giant, though you have frightened me 
 so," said Miss OHphant ; " and I hope you 
 will come and see us sometimes in our soli- 
 
 12—2 
 
180 Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 tude when we are forsaken by a cruel 
 world. You can slink in, you know, under 
 pretext of teaching uncle some more 
 Craven." 
 
 " Nay, nay, I'll hev nought to do wi' ye. 
 Miss Oliphant ; yan might as weel expect 
 to git Penyghent intul a house wi'out being 
 seen, as me : if I'se to come, ye'll hev to 
 mak an undergrund passage aw t' way fra 
 Sandy Topping to t' Haw." 
 
 '' Good gracious," retorted Kate, " all 
 the engineers in the country would not be 
 able to make a tunnel big enough for you 
 in our time." 
 
 On their way back they met with no in- 
 cident worth recording, except that Jabez 
 saw a man named Bowskill, who had been 
 a quarryman at the limekilns till they 
 stopped work, knock down a hare and 
 pocket it. He was in one of Mr. OHphant's 
 fields at the time, and though Jabez was 
 no sportsman, this open violation of the 
 
A Storm Gathers. 181 
 
 laws excited his indignation so much, that, 
 in spite of Kate's intercession, he brought 
 the poacher before the magistrates, who 
 sentenced him, in default of his paying the 
 fine, to three months in the house of cor- 
 rection at Wakefield, and awarded the 
 prosecutor the warmest thanks of the 
 bench. 
 
CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 THE NEW SOCIETY. 
 
 Being convinced, gentle reader, that every- 
 thing connected with that noble Society 
 for the Propagation of Yirtue, which Mr. 
 OHphant had originated, is of the last im- 
 portance to the human race, I have been 
 at great pains to discover the Prospectus 
 thereof, and by diligent research among 
 the mass of papers at Peinsber Hall, was 
 at last fortunate enough to meet with the 
 original manuscript that had passed into 
 the printer's hands. That nothing may be 
 lost to posterity with regard to the early 
 history of so striking an event, I give the 
 document, as nearly as type will allow, in 
 
Tlie New Society. 183 
 
 the exact state in which I found it. Of 
 the meetings and consultations which took 
 place thereon between Fothergill, Truman, 
 and Mr. Oliphant, the committee, no record 
 whatever has been kept; but I find that 
 though the prospectus itself is in Mr. Oh- 
 phant's own writing (who is doubtless re- 
 sponsible therefore for the rough draft of 
 the regulations), the additions, here marked 
 by brackets, and the corrections are in that 
 of Fothergill, who seems in his usual way 
 to have enjoyed introducing a little satire 
 in disguise. With the simple character of 
 one of his colleagues, the incumbent, he 
 would have no difficulty ; but how he 
 overpersuaded the shrewd mind of Mr. Oli- 
 phant into agreeing to alterations so mani- 
 festly for the worse, I have always been at 
 a loss to understand. However, here is the 
 Prospectus. 
 
184 Jahez OUphant. 
 
 §ocxziv iox the ^rxryagati^n ^f "^irtu^. 
 
 President. 
 Jabez Oliphant, Esq. 
 
 Vice-President. 
 Sir George Augustus Highside, Bart. 
 
 Committee. 
 Rev. Joseph Truman. 
 H. Highside, Esq. 
 
 W. FOTHERGILL, Esq. 
 
 The above Society has been formed for the purpose 
 of inculcating and rewarding virtue in Eeinsber. 
 
 With this object, the Committee propose to give 
 Prizes at the year-end to the most meritorious 
 amongst the inhabitants who shall become members ; 
 and the member who secures the greatest number of 
 marks for such good and moral actions as are specified 
 below, will receive the first prize. 
 
 The marks given are as follows : — 
 
 1. For each attendance at church on Sunday . 5 
 
 2. For each attendance at church on week-days . 10 
 
 3. For each attendance at church, if loss or in- 
 convenience, such as spoiling of the member's 
 hay, &c., has resulted therefrom, additional . i 
 
 4. For bows at the name of Jesus, each . . 4 
 
 5. For touching the cap, or making curtsies to a 
 
 lady or gentleman, each time . . !^ 4 
 
 6. For using the word " sir," or " madam," each 
 
 time . !^ 4 
 
The New Society. 185 
 
 7. For offering a seat, or putting himself to any 
 inconvenience through his pohteness, each 
 time !^ I 
 
 8. For general godliness, per week . . 1^ i 
 
 9. For keeping the house clean, per week . . i 
 
 10. For every neatly mended patch on a coat or 
 
 gown I 
 
 11. For each cold dinner eaten on a S^sd^^ 
 
 Sunday ... .... 5 
 
 12. For each tract duly read .... 5 
 
 It must also be understood — 
 
 I St. That each member must make it his business 
 to convert othcra others, and with this object must be 
 instant " in season and out of season." For each case 
 of conversion aad or introduction of another person to 
 the Society an existing member will receive 5 marks. 
 
 2ndly. That a member is never to be [seen] drunk, 
 or to swear, or play cards, or dance, or to walk out 
 on Sunday [or in fact to do anything on that day]. 
 For each offence he will forfeit 5 marks. 
 
 Applications for admission to be made to the Pre- 
 sident, J. Oliphant, Esq., Reinsber Hall. 
 
CHAPTEE X. 
 
 THE STORM BURSTS. 
 
 If Shakespeare himself had occasion to 
 wish for a muse of fire to sing aright the 
 glories of Agincourt, how much more must 
 the humble biographer of Mr. Oliphant 
 need heavenly assistance when he attempts 
 to describe the perils that now surrounded 
 the unestablished throne of his great hero ! 
 Inspire me, ye bright eyes of Eeinsber ; 
 for my hand trembles as I come to the fatal 
 day when he must either contend at such 
 odds against the united powers of Stainton, 
 or, giving up all he holds dear, penitently 
 ask forgiveness, happy if even so he may 
 escape the utter annihilation to which they 
 
Tlie Storm Bursts. 187 
 
 destine him. However, muse or no muse, 
 the effort must be made. 
 
 It was the evening, then, of the Carltons* 
 tea-party and there was a large gathering : 
 for with strangers to be pubHcly snubbed, 
 who could decline an invitation? There 
 was assembled in the drawing-room there- 
 fore (start not, reader, as I whisper the 
 awful name) all the great Slasher family 
 from Stainton, the potent family that di- 
 vided authority at that place even with 
 the sisters three, though to power at Keins- 
 ber it cared not to aspne. Then there were 
 the Earnecliffs of the Hill, and the Silver- 
 woods of the Grove, the Highsides, the 
 Mansfield s, Fothergill, Truman, and a 
 mixed multitude of spectators, all of name 
 and mighty in their own domains. Of 
 course too there were the Saints and Oli- 
 phants themselves. 
 
 Opinions were divided as to whether the 
 latter would ' take their punishment ' 
 
188 Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 quietly or not. Truman, Harry and the 
 Slashers held that they would ; Fothergill 
 had his doubts. But no one doubted that 
 if the Oliphants did resist they would be 
 terribly beaten. As Harry Highside put 
 the case, the betting was ten to one against 
 the fight coming off, and, if it came off, the 
 odds were a hundred to one on the Saints. 
 The latter indeed, forgetting his gallantry 
 in his acuteness, he offered to back to any 
 amount, but he could find no ^ takers,* ex- 
 cept honest Dick Wideawake, who alone 
 had the courage to venture half a sovereign 
 on Kate. 
 
 And in truth most of us who wished to 
 win would have laid our money against the 
 Oliphants. For do but glance your eye 
 over the room. The Fates, the Furies, and 
 the Graces have each a representative there. 
 See how calm confidence and irrepressible 
 majesty sit on the virgin brow of the Dic- 
 tator, who has taken the arm-chair of 
 
Tlie Storm Bursts. 189 
 
 honour, and is the centre of a crowd that 
 trembles before the nodding of her awful 
 head-dress of other days. Observe how 
 the very footmen, as they hand her coffee, 
 bow to her at least six inches lower than 
 to any one else, how the gentlemen look 
 solemn as they offer her a plate of toast, 
 how all the company is silent as she de- 
 livers her oracles, how eagerly it listens, 
 how loudly it applauds. See, too, — assured 
 omen of victory — how there is fierce eager- 
 ness for the coming struggle, and scorn of 
 opposition, and dauntless determination to 
 do or die, — a whole line of bayonets, in 
 fact — in that contemptuous eye of the 
 Heavy Dragoon, and how the crisp curls 
 wave more menacingly than ever as she 
 laughs out her disdain and mahce to her 
 neighbours. Even the simper on Letitia's 
 ever-rosy cheek is sweeter than usual, as if 
 she thinks a walk over the field after the 
 victory will be a very pleasant thing. She 
 
190 Jabez Oliphant. 
 
 is splendidly got up, but it certainly is a^ 
 pity (as Fotliergill whispers to Harry) that 
 she shows so much of her bare shoulders 
 unless they were better covered with flesh. 
 On the same side, there is the prestige of 
 thirty years' leadership, the friendship of 
 many of the company, and the terror of the 
 rest. And who are their antagonists ? The 
 old man yonder, sitting thoughtful and 
 neglected in a corner, and this girl, who is 
 either unconscious of her danger or is more 
 probably disguising her fright by pretend- 
 ing to talk with a good deal of animation 
 — two very weak victims indeed, consider- 
 ing that they are alone among strangers. 
 Surely, ye Saints, as ye merit that name 
 and have the power, ye will be mer- 
 ciful. 
 
 There was even disaflection in the camp 
 of the Oliphants themselves ; for Mrs. Oli- 
 phant had heard something about the coming 
 storm, and advised staying away from the 
 
The Storm Bursts. 191 
 
 party, but her infatuated connections abso- 
 lutely refused to do so. She went herself 
 therefore in the hope of conciliating the old 
 ladies by tact and humility ; but during 
 tea she often wished she had not come, for 
 she found herself, like Jabez and Miss Oli- 
 phant, treated with reserve by almost all 
 the company. Many of the latter of course 
 scarcely knew the Oliphants, and more were 
 positively afraid to notice them under those 
 prying eyes of the old maids. Fothergill, 
 indeed, chatted manfully with Mr. Oli- 
 phant ; but when he afterwards approached 
 Miss Ayrville to take her empty tea-cup, 
 the Dictator gave him her most chilling " No 
 thank you, sn-," instead. 
 
 And now that the tea-things are cleared 
 away there is a lull in the conversation. 
 Mrs. Carlton, anxious to prevent any nn- 
 pleasantness in her house, bustles up to 
 the arm-chair and deferentially hopes Miss 
 Ayrville will join in a rubber. But that 
 
192 Jahez OUphant 
 
 lady has seen her opportunity, and will not 
 miss it. 
 
 " Whist, Mrs. Carlton V she says, with 
 deliberate disdain : *' certainly — ^by-and-by. 
 But just at present we have a httle duty to 
 perform. Mr. Truman 1" and as that gen- 
 tleman was in the farthest comer she had 
 to raise her voice to make him hear. Silence 
 fell on the company, for every one felt that 
 the engagement was beginning. 
 
 " Mr. Truman — sit still, sir ; I have no- 
 thiQg to say which every one in. the room 
 may not hear — what is this strange report 
 about a harmonium for the church ? Can 
 it be true, sir V 
 
 " Why, yes. Miss Ayrville," answered 
 Truman, quaking between fear of losing his 
 present and incensing the Dictator ; '' yes, 
 I am afraid it is — that is — I mean — that 
 Mr. Ohphant here " (Jabez was sitting next 
 him, which made the business still more 
 awkward) " has mimificently offered us one." 
 
The Storm Bursts, 193 
 
 Then not knowing what else to say, he 
 blundered on : " This is Mr. Oliphant, Miss 
 Ayrville ; I don't think you know him." 
 
 " Indeed !" said the venerable dame, 
 severely, givmg at the same time the 
 slightest glance she possibly could in the 
 direction of Jabez, and the stiffest bob of 
 her majestic head. Mr. Oliphant responded 
 with a bow more courteous but quite as 
 stately, while the Dictator turned to the 
 hostess and continued in a lower voice, but 
 one evidently intended to be audible over 
 the room, " What a pity it is, Mrs. Carlton, 
 that poor Mr. Truman will persist in intro- 
 ducing persons who live in the same neigh- 
 bourhood : if we had wished to know these 
 people, we should have called on them.'' 
 
 The parson blushed, and half a second's 
 awful pause followed. Kate broke it sud- 
 denly : 
 
 " Who is that droll old gentleman in the 
 corner, Mr. Slasher — the one who has just 
 
 VOL. I. - 13 
 
194 Jdbez Olipliant. 
 
 been talking ? Ah, it is a lady, I see," she 
 said, speaking herself also in an undertone, 
 but loud enough to be heard by Miss Ayr- 
 ville and every one, for Mr. Slasher was 
 three or four chairs off. 
 
 That gentleman, with several others, was 
 nearly choking with subdued laughter as 
 he saw the whiteness that came over the 
 elderly lady's face at Kate's pretended igno- 
 rance. It would perhaps have been wiser 
 to pass by the observation as it was ad- 
 dressed to another person, but Miss Ayr- 
 ville was too angry to do so. 
 
 "Your friend, Mr. Slasher," she said, 
 " can have moved but little in our society 
 if she is not acquainted with me ; and she 
 will allow me to say that this is not the 
 way to get into it." 
 
 " I am very sorry for that. Miss Ayrville, 
 — since that is your name, Mr. Slasher tells 
 me," replied Kate, looking at the old lady 
 with a quiet smile : '^ but, in the society in 
 
The Storm Bursts. 195 
 
 wliicli we have hitherto moved, people do 
 not treat strangers with insolence, and do 
 not listen to private remarks." 
 
 Miss Ayrville's face grew white again, 
 but as she had no answer ready, she only 
 shrugged her shoulders contemptuously and 
 turned to the parson. 
 
 " To resume the subject, Mr. Truman, I 
 must tell you that the introduction of this 
 instrument will cause the greatest dissatis- 
 faction to us all — dissension it mil not 
 cause ; for we are all of one mind on the 
 question." 
 
 Joseph was struggling hard to find an 
 apology, when Mr. Oliphant, who had been 
 windiQg himself up for a speech, began 
 striking as suddenly and grandly as the 
 clock at Westminster. 
 
 " Courtesy compels me to say, madam, 
 that I am somewhat sorry if any act of mine 
 has unintentionally caused you annoyance ; 
 but to expect that I shall yield in this 
 
 13—2 
 
196 Jahez OUphant. 
 
 matter or any other in wMcli I conceive 
 myself right, is to expect me to do what I 
 have never done yet, and what at my age I 
 do not intend to begin doing. All argTi- 
 ment, all authority, all reason are on the 
 side of the introduction of music into 
 churches. If by the aid of his wonderful 
 lyre, Orpheus could move stones " 
 
 " We have never heard of Mr. Orpheus 
 here, sir," burst in Miss Manby, who had 
 been burning to second the Dictator, and 
 could no longer restrain her impatience : 
 " and what has a pack of things about your 
 great city-people and liars and so on to do 
 with this harmonium business ? You must 
 talk plainly here, sir, if you want us to 
 know what you mean : we are simple, plain 
 people, and " 
 
 " Remarkably plain, Mr. Slasher — do you 
 not think so T said Kate with a sly look 
 at the great red face : and the titter which 
 the Heavy Dragoon's pardonable blunder 
 
The Storm Bursts. 197 
 
 had occasioned, grew into an absolute laugh 
 all round the room. 
 
 Miss Manby stopped suddenly, like a 
 fierce bull checked in mid career by the 
 lance of the picador — and turned the Gor- 
 gon head with its flashing eyes and all its 
 threatening curls full on Miss Oliphant as 
 if to petrify her. Apparently however the 
 survey of Kate's smiling face was unsatis- 
 factory, for with a voice still rougher than 
 before she returned to her charge on the 
 uncle. 
 
 " You talk about argument and authority, 
 su- ; well, we don't care about arguments at 
 Reinsber and we want no authority but our 
 o^vn. You have come here a mere stranger, 
 occupying the place of better people than 
 yourself, and you think of turning Reinsber 
 topsy-turvy because you have got rich ; 
 you'll find yourself very much mistaken." 
 
 " I do not quite see, madam, how intro- 
 ducing a harmonium into the church is 
 
198 Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 turning Reinsber topsy-turvy, as you call 
 it," replied Jabez with cold courtesy ; " but 
 if I find anything wrong in the village I 
 shall certainly do my best to set it right." 
 
 " Oh yes, and you'll introduce paintings 
 next, and incense and stained glass win- 
 dows, and all kinds of Popish things, won't 
 you V 
 
 " I am a Low Churchman myself, madam, 
 and therefore unlikely to go so far as you 
 say, but you certainly remind me of one 
 thing I had nearly forgotten — I think, Mr. 
 Truman, as this good lady says, the chiu*ch 
 does look very bare, and with your per- 
 mission, I shall put up a stained glass 
 window in memory of my father." 
 
 The looks of indignation and astonish- 
 ment which the Saints exchanged may be 
 imagined. 
 
 " What, sir — the cobbler ?" Miss Manby 
 exclaimed, furiously. 
 
 The observation was a rude one, even for 
 
The Storm Bursts. 199 
 
 the Heavy Dragoon ; but Mr. Oliphant met 
 lier eye without flincliing. 
 
 " Yes, madam, the cobbler," he answered 
 quietly but proudly. " I am not ashamed 
 of my worthy father ; and I may perhaps 
 say that not many cobblers have sons 
 who are able to erect windows in their 
 honour." 
 
 " By Jove, no," exclaimed Sir George 
 Highside, whose ancient blood, sluggish as 
 it was, was stirred by the coarseness of 
 Miss Manby's remark : " you are right 
 there, Oliphant. And perhaps it is not 
 many sons either that would care to erect 
 them," he added sadly, Avith a glance to- 
 wards Harry. 
 
 Letitia felt that she was in duty bound 
 to strike a blow for the good cause ; for the 
 battle seemed going sadly against the tri- 
 umvirate. 
 
 '' Oh dear, Sir George," she whimpered 
 out, " I do hope I shall never live to see 
 
200 Jabez OlipJmnt. 
 
 such a thing — such a — such a desecration, 
 Sir George." 
 
 " Well, poor old body, I fear it is scarcely 
 likely she will : what can one expect at 
 seventy ?" whispered Kate sympathetically, 
 but audibly, and it was observed that 
 Letitia did not speak again all the night. 
 
 Miss Ayrville, who had been watching 
 with a general's eye the not very brilliant 
 success of her armaments, now resolved to 
 end the contest by a decisive blow. She 
 drew herself up for it. 
 
 "Mr. Truman, it is evidently useless to 
 pursue the subject," she said in awful tones ; 
 " but I think it right to tell you that if this 
 harmonium is placed in the church. Miss 
 Manby, Miss Beecroft and myself have 
 fully decided on giving up our pews. We 
 shall not enter E-einsber church agam." 
 
 Now, in that old-fashioned place of wor- 
 ship, the ladies occupied pews as large as 
 small rooms, and covered, by way of dis- 
 
The Storm Bursts. 201 
 
 tinction rather than ornament, with green 
 baize and brass nails. The sittings were 
 rehcs of the time when it was thought 
 proper to give emphasis to rank even in 
 the house of God : hence they were placed 
 immediately in. front of the communion 
 rails, and were higher by two steps than 
 the narrow pens of varnished deal which 
 were considered good enough for the rest 
 of the flock. There then, every Sunday 
 morning, the old ladies might be seen, each 
 in the ample space of her own pew, and 
 towering in solitary grandeur over the 
 plebeians below. The only other pew 
 on the same level was that belonging 
 to the Hall, and occupied, of course, by the 
 Ohphants. 
 
 When the important determination was 
 announced, Jabez for the first time was 
 posed. The parsoa, too, was evidently 
 wavering on account of the hole which such 
 a defalcation would make in his scanty pit- 
 
202 Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 tance, drawn almost entirely from the pew- 
 rents. Kate, however, met the difficulty 
 by saying to her uncle across the room : 
 
 " That would do very nicely, uncle, 
 would it not ? I think you were telling 
 me the other day that we wanted two or 
 three pews for the servants ; so if these 
 ladies give up theirs, perhaps Mr. Truman 
 would let us have them for that purpose." 
 
 *' Certaialy, certainly," said Jabez, greatly 
 relieved ; "I shall be obliged if you will, 
 Mr. Truman." 
 
 Kate had spoken very quietly, but her 
 audacious proposition caused a succession 
 of sly looks among all in the company who 
 could see a joke ; and a great joke most of 
 them thought it would be to have the Hall 
 domestics filling that conspicuous position 
 in church of which the Saints, if the fact 
 should be mentioned, were known to be 
 somewhat proud. But to the three ladies 
 the notion was intolerable. It was all that 
 
The Storm Bursts. 203 
 
 even the Dictator could do to speak calmly 
 as she said — 
 
 "Well — perhaps, M^\ Truman — well, we 
 have not quite come to a final decision 
 about our pews : when we have we will let 
 you know." 
 
 Then, at last, with the appearance of a 
 grim Indian warrior who has fallen into the 
 hands of his enemies, but is resolved to 
 bear the torture without a groan, she per- 
 mitted herself to be led off to the whist 
 table. The great battle, for which the 
 Samts were so anxious, had not only come 
 off, but to everybody's astonishment it was 
 perfectly clear that they had lost it. 
 
 Although, however, the general engage- 
 ment was over, and the Dictator and Letitia 
 had retired sullenly to three-penny points for 
 the night. Miss Manby, fierce and obstinate 
 even in defeat, resolved to have a passage 
 of arms on her own account with that " in- 
 solent minx," Kate Oliphant, at a later 
 
204 Jabez Oliphant, 
 
 period of the evening. As she did not wish 
 the young lady's humiliation to be a pri- 
 vate one, she chose her time when Dora 
 and Kate were the centre of a group, and 
 she thought it best to strike at Miss OH- 
 phant through her friend. 
 
 " Well, Dora," she said, seating herself 
 on a chair by Miss Mansfield, and smiling 
 affectionately — they were hideous things 
 those smiles of the Heavy Dragoon — " well, 
 Dora, I suppose we must all congratulate 
 you on your appointment." 
 
 " My appointment. Miss Manby ?" 
 
 " Perhaps I have been misinformed, but 
 they had it in the village that you were 
 appointed to play this dreadful new instru- 
 ment which makes such a noise already." 
 
 " Ah, the harmonium," rephed Dora 
 smiling ; '^ yes, Mr. Truman is kind enough 
 to say that I may play it if I like." 
 
 " Well, of course it is not what we, your 
 old friends, should have liked for you, but 
 
Tlie Storm Bursts. 205 
 
 you and your mother know best, and, in 
 your altered circumstances, no doubt the 
 salary will be very useful." 
 
 "The salary, Miss Manby ! What do 
 you mean V asked Dora, with tears in her 
 eyes, and quivering at the insult. 
 
 " Oh, I beg pardon ; you are not to be 
 paid, then ? — well, perhaps that is better. 
 But you should not excite yourself so 
 much, you silly girl ; you are not to blame 
 for what has happened, and if you get so 
 much excited, youll be playing badly in 
 church, you know," and she tapped the 
 poor girls shoulder playfully with her 
 fan, in a sort of ogrish attempt at jocu- 
 larity. 
 
 Hitherto Kate had never lost her temper, 
 and throughout had spoken gently and 
 even good-humouredly ; but this gratuitous 
 insult to the unoffending Httle dove at her 
 side made her vehemently angry, and her 
 eyes were flashing with some of the light- 
 
206 Jahez Oliphant 
 
 ning Dick Wideawake observed in them, as 
 she said : 
 
 " Well, Dora, if you do give us a false 
 note sometimes, at any rate I hope you will 
 never show a false front to your friends." 
 
 She had addressed Dora, but she looked 
 full at the waving curls of the Heavy Dra- 
 goon, and it was the latter s turn to be 
 angry now, for a low laugh was running 
 like wildfire round the group of listeners. 
 
 " I thought. Miss Oliphant," she said 
 with a bitter sarcastic laugh, " your maxim 
 was not to listen to private remarks." 
 
 It was a blunder in tactics to use Kate's 
 name, and the latter replied coolly : 
 
 " E^eally, madam, you have the advantage 
 of me." 
 
 " Gad, then, it's for the first time to- 
 night," whispered Harry to his next neigh- 
 bour. Kate heard the remark and smiled, 
 but continued : 
 
 " But as to my maxim, it served its pur- 
 
The Storm Bursts. 207 
 
 pose, and if I now discard it when it is no 
 longer useful, that is not so bad as dis- 
 carding a friend under the same circum- 
 stances." 
 
 " Who does discard their friends ?" asked 
 Miss Manby, blazing into anger ; but Kate, 
 as if disdaining to continue the conversa- 
 tion with her, addressed Fothergill. 
 
 " I have just thought of an amusing 
 character for a play, Mr. Fothergill," she 
 said ; " a maUcious old toady, who repays 
 herself for her flattery to the rich, by in- 
 sulting them when they become poor. 
 With admirable consistency she should 
 never forgive either her former friends for 
 being obliged to sell the house where she 
 had eaten so many dinners or the innocent 
 new-comers for taking it. I would make 
 her a coarse, vulgar, blustering woman, 
 country-bred, and of the very lowest ex- 
 traction, yet so old, that she had quite for- 
 gotten the circumstance, and thought her- 
 
208 Jabez Oliphant. 
 
 self at liberty to twit others with their 
 parentage. She should aspire to be a 
 leader of ton without knowing the meaning 
 of the word, a model Christian without 
 
 charity, and There, Dora, I thought I 
 
 would make her vacate that chair before 
 long,'' Kate whispered with a laugh, as 
 the Heavy Dragoon beat a hasty retreat : 
 ''see, she has left her work-bag behind 
 her, and I think I might fairly claim it as 
 spoils of war ; but please give it to her, 
 Mr. Fothergill, and ask her if she will not 
 come back and hear the rest of the dis- 
 course.'' But William dehvered the bag 
 and not the message. 
 
 Before the company broke up, Miss OH- 
 phant had pleased the elderly part of it by 
 her kindly feeling, and delighted the 
 younger by promising them a picnic and 
 dance afterwards. Next day, Harry paid 
 his -^YQ sovereigns like a man to Dick 
 Wideawake with the comment that, " he'd 
 
Tlie Storm Bursts. 209 
 
 have given the money twice over to see the 
 fan," and within twenty-four hours all 
 Keinsber knew what had been said and 
 done on the previous evening. It was the 
 end of the Saints' influence in the village ; 
 for their authority, arising from self-assump- 
 tion on the one side, and fear on the other, 
 only required disputing to be overthrown, 
 and the richer people about began to think 
 that the Oliphants would be pleasanter ac- 
 quaintance than the sisterhood. Like a 
 skilful general, too, Mr. Oliphant followed 
 up his victory by raising from his own 
 purse Mr. Truman's miserable stipend to 
 one hundred and fifty pounds a year, and 
 by sundry acts of munificence to the 
 charitable institutions of the district; 
 while the neighbouring squu-es were so 
 delighted with his conduct about the 
 poacher, that on their unanimous recom- 
 mendation he was placed on the Commis- 
 sion — all which circumstances increased 
 VOL. I. 14 
 
210 Jahez OUphant. 
 
 l)Oth his popularity and importance. As to 
 the poor, even Miss Ayrville's pensioners 
 found they could get double rations at the 
 Hall, and played their cards accordingly. 
 With this class, the way of giving relief 
 also turned out to be important, for one of 
 them contrasted the visits of Miss Manby 
 and Miss Oliphant as follows : " When owd 
 Miss Manby comes to see us she looks as 
 glum an' as sour at us as if we'd stolen 
 some'at, an' she sits lecturing us on wer 
 wickedness — though that's aw varra weel 
 belike — but then she will knaw how t' hoil 
 1 t' childer's pinafore com about, and what 
 we've done wi' t' last sixpence she gev us, 
 and if we can't tell her to a penny, shoo's 
 as sharp as sharp : but Miss Oliphant axes 
 efter granny an' t' childer i' sich a kind 
 pleasant way, 'at ye feel ye've a reght good 
 friend in her, an' ye tell her aw yer lile 
 troubles an' ivery thing." In the rustic 
 opinion, then, Mr. Oliphant's niece had 
 
The Storm Bursts. 211 
 
 something to do with the declining influence 
 of the Saints ; and as for Fothergill and 
 Highside, they swore henceforth that there 
 was no one in Reinsber worthy to cross 
 swords with that redoubtable knight, Sir 
 Kate Ohphant. Jabez on the other hand 
 thought to his dying day that the great 
 victory and its consequences were entirely 
 due to his own firmness and eloquent ora- 
 tion, however much the effect of the latter 
 had been marred by interruption. 
 
 Between these conflicting opinions I 
 shall not pretend to decide, but having now 
 traced the commencement of my hero's 
 reign till we have seen him fairly seated 
 on the throne of Beinsber in undisputed 
 supremacy, and having moreover indicated 
 some of the great measures of internal 
 policy which were to make his reign 
 glorious, with the reader's leave I will 
 draw breath awhile before proceeding 
 farther. 
 
 14—2 
 
BOOK 11. 
 
 MR. OLTPHANT'S POWEE AT ITS HEIGHT. 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 AN ARRIVAL. 
 
 ""TTTHEN is tMs young man coming, 
 
 ^^ Mr. Oliphant T 
 
 " The day after to-morrow : that mil be 
 the first of July, I believe. He must have 
 a room with a north aspect as a studio, for 
 he will no doubt wish to have much of his 
 time to himself" 
 
 "Certainly, it would be better,'' replied 
 Mrs. Ohphant. " One would not like to 
 have him always hanging about, and coming 
 across the family. The little back room on 
 
An Arrival 213 
 
 lie third storey will be just the thing. I 
 suppose he could dine with the house- 
 keeper ; it would save the trouble of dish- 
 ing up his meals separately." 
 
 " He will of course take his meals with 
 the family, unless he prefers them by him- 
 .self." 
 
 "With us, Mr. Oliphant? Why, I 
 thought you said he was of the very lowest 
 origin, brought up at a charity school V 
 
 "And what was I myself, originally?" 
 said Jabez. 
 
 "Yes, but that is very different, you 
 know," answered the other, testily. " When 
 the young man has become as rich as you 
 are, I am sure no one will object to receiv- 
 ing him at table, whatever he is." 
 
 " It has always been one of the highest 
 privileges of wealth to extend its patron- 
 age to deserving young artists. Mr. Hol- 
 den s profession is one of great dignity, and 
 its claims must be recognised." 
 
214 Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 " But do consider, Mr. Olipliant, liow 
 much, he will be thrown with us and Kate." 
 
 " No doubt, he will necessarily be a good 
 deal with us, and more with Kate ; other- 
 wise he would not be of much use to her," 
 answered Jabez. 
 
 " Oh, yes, that is aU very weU ; but I 
 do hope his manners are passable ; it will 
 be very disagreeable if they are not, with 
 the Highsides and others coming here so 
 much." 
 
 " Mr. Holden is a most praiseworthy 
 young man, Mrs. OHphant, who is raising 
 himself to eminence entirely by his own 
 exertions, except for such encouragement 
 as persons like ourselves can give him. He 
 has travelled a good deal, and his manners, 
 for an almost self-educated man of his age, 
 are above par ; that is," correcting himself, 
 *' gentlemanly, in fact. Can you suppose I 
 should wish him to teach my niece if they 
 
An Arrived. 215 
 
 had been othermse ? I think you will be 
 able to make all the necessary arrange- 
 ments now, and I am very busy this morn- 
 ing." 
 
 So Jabez turned to the mass of state 
 papers before him, and his sister-in-law 
 went away in dudgeon. But it was 
 some shght satisfaction to her that she 
 contrived to give their visitor one of the 
 worst bed-rooms in the house. 
 
 The artist arrived on the day named. 
 He had been engaged by Mr. Ohphant to 
 give lessons in painting to Kate, who was 
 fond of water-colours. He w^as about 
 twenty-four, with a pleasant, open face that 
 bore no marks of the hard work and cares 
 through which he had passed ; for it was 
 the nature of the man to look always at 
 the sunny side, and — hence perhaps — 
 though he was an aspiring enthusiast, his 
 enthusiasm was of that kind which stops 
 
216 Jabez Oliphant. 
 
 short of the stake. Such, no doubt, is not 
 the temper of the highest order of creative 
 minds, but it was Frank Holden's. 
 
 " I am very anxious, Mr. Holden," said 
 Jabez, in the course of the evening, "to 
 raise our farmers and labourers, both 
 morally and intellectually, and I have 
 already told you by what means I intend 
 to improve their morals " (Mr. Oliphant 
 tapped significantly a goodly bundle of 
 papers which lay on the table, and which 
 were nothing less than prospectuses of the 
 S. P. v., fresh from the printer's hands) ; 
 " but with regard to their intellectual ad- 
 vancement, I should like your opinion. 
 They are mere savages now in all that re- 
 lates to the beautiful or the subhme : how 
 can we give them a taste for these T 
 
 " It seems to me," replied Holden, 
 modestly, " that you must give them a 
 good education first. An Englishman's 
 head produces facts and steam-engines 
 
An Arrival. 217 
 
 without forcing; but his brains must be 
 well manured to yield poetry." 
 
 '' My own theory is that we should do it 
 by simply placing constantly before the man 
 some good works of art. By feasting his 
 eyes on these night and day — hving with 
 them in fact — his soul will gradually come 
 to be in harmony with them, and his whole 
 nature be refined and purified." 
 
 " Just as mad-doctors often become mad 
 themselves," said Fothergill, who had been 
 invited to meet the artist. 
 
 " But until a man appreciates nature 
 itself," objected Holden, " he will scarcely 
 admire a painting of it. You would be 
 expecting him to like a very poor copy (for 
 the best work of art is no more) when he 
 does not care for the matchless original." 
 
 '' I am not at all offended at your can- 
 dour, Mr. Holden," replied Jabez, " but I 
 do not give up my opinion. Would you 
 oblige me by dashing off a few rough paint- 
 
218 Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 ings of the scenery here ? I think it is 
 better to begin by showing my neighbours 
 the beauty of objects they have long been 
 familiar with. We will distribute these 
 sketches among the cottages where there 
 are large families, since the young are 
 naturally more susceptible." 
 
 Holden said he would be happy to do 
 his best, and Fothergill remarked with a 
 sly smile : 
 
 " You are at aU events acting up to the 
 advice of the great Italian, I believe, Mr. 
 Oliphant. Ah, here it is " (taking down 
 the ' Prince ' from Mr. Oliphant's well- 
 stocked bookshelves). " ' Princes,' and of 
 course all men of influence, ' ought to 
 honour talents and protect the arts.' Hum, 
 the next is not so appropriate, but how 
 true it is ! ' They should honour with their 
 presence the different trading companies 
 and corporations, and display on such occa- 
 sions the greatest affability and facility of 
 
An Arrival, 219 
 
 access, always remembering to support 
 their station with becoming dignity, which 
 should never be lost sight of under any cir- 
 cimistances/" 
 
 " Admirable ! I am obliged to you for 
 reminding me of the passage," said Jabez, 
 never dreaming that the description was 
 mtended as a sarcastic commentary on his 
 own manner. 
 
 '' You like MachiavelH, then, Mr. Fother- 
 giU r Holden asked. 
 
 '' Oh, the Prince is the king of all books, 
 though people do talk of the repubhc of 
 letters," answered Fothero-ill, 
 
 "His style no doubt is wonderful, so 
 clear, yet so condensed," said Jabez. " It 
 is Hke that of the old Greeks ; and a page 
 of theirs often contains as much thought as 
 a modem volume. You see I have kept up 
 my classics, Mr. Holden." 
 
 " Well," said the artist, " modern authors, 
 with their fifty volumes apiece, must surely 
 
220 Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 think that Time is the captain of a Great 
 Eastern, with -anlimited capacity for the 
 stowage of heavy lumber ; whereas he sails, 
 I take it, in a very small boat, and allows 
 no luggage whatever, except what you can 
 carry in your breast-pocket, while you are 
 extremely lucky if you can get a passage 
 to posterity even so." 
 
 '' Pooh, man, our authors don't write for 
 posterity, but the publishers," growled 
 Fothergill. " They are wise enough to 
 prefer a note of the Bank of England to 
 any number of notes of admiration in 
 future ages." 
 
 " Not our best writers, surely," returned 
 Holden, smiling. '' But as to Machiavelh, 
 I confess he repels me because he founds 
 his theory of government on policy, and 
 not on straightforwardness." 
 
 " Policy is very necessary sometimes," 
 answered Fothergill. " Do you not think 
 so, Mrs. Oliphant ?" 
 
An Arrival. 221 
 
 The latter assented, but Holden ex- 
 claimed : 
 
 " It would be a wretched world if such 
 duplicity as Machiavelli advocates were 
 necessary." 
 
 " And is it not a wretched world ? I 
 laiow I often wish I were a tailor.'', 
 
 " Why a tailor, Mr. Fothergill V 
 
 " Why, because I should then be only 
 the ninth part of a man, and have as little 
 of this vile humanity as possible." 
 
 "^Well, I've been more fortunate in my 
 experiences of mankind than you seem to 
 have been. I have found them, on the 
 whole, tolerably kind-hearted and well- 
 meaning, and doing wrong oftener through 
 mistake than from malice." 
 
 Fothergill looked at the good-natured 
 young artist from beneath his shaggy eye- 
 brows with a sort of rough pity and kind- 
 liness. 
 
 " My dear sir, you are e\4dently not a 
 
22ii Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 native of England, but Utopia," he said, 
 gently. 
 
 " And I'd rather live on in Utopia," re- 
 torted Frank, with a laugh, " than be 
 dragged out of it into a world such as 
 yours." 
 
 " But my world is the real one. Take 
 your case of statesmen. Well, it is one of 
 the sublime but incomprehensible necessi- 
 ties of the universe that ministers should 
 wriggle to their object like worms, instead 
 of walking to it straight and in the upright 
 posture like men. If they went straight- 
 forward, they would be thought fools, and 
 the fatality of fools would attend them. 
 They must crawl. They have always 
 governed the world by crawling, and they 
 always will." 
 
 " And so you think it all very proper 
 that they should expend as much brain as 
 would almost have written the Proverbs of 
 Solomon in tricking another state out of a 
 
An Arrival. 223 
 
 miserable island not worth twopence, or 
 undermining a rival politician !" 
 
 *' I did not say it is right ; I said it is 
 the fact, and I am sorry it is, but I cannot 
 help it," Fothergill rephed. 
 
 " Excuse me, you said it is a necessity of 
 the universe. Now, I hold that honesty is 
 the best policy, even for states." 
 
 " It may be so — when the millennium 
 arrives," answered Fothergill. 
 
 " Then the millennium is at hand, for I 
 beHeve there is a time coming when even 
 statesmen will dare to walk straight and 
 speak out, because they will desire nothing 
 but what is just. Even now, the most 
 popular statesmen are those who, like Glad- 
 stone and Lord Stanley, marshal their great 
 abilities under the command of conscience 
 alone, fight only m broad daylight, and 
 never lent themselves to a trick in their 
 Hves. These are the men of whom, more 
 than of a dozen wily Talleyrands, a nation 
 
224 Jahez Olipliaiit. 
 
 has reason to be proud. And we are proud 
 of them : we do them some justice ; his- 
 tory will do them more." 
 
 " History ! Why, that's falser than the 
 politicians. It's the long lane that never 
 has a turning into truth from one end to 
 the other." 
 
 The argument between the young men 
 ended, of course, by each disputant being 
 strengthened in his own opinion. Jabez 
 and Kate, who had been watching with 
 amusement the earnestness displayed on 
 one side, and the scepticism on the other, 
 were disposed to agree with Frank ; but 
 Mrs. Oliphant was very strongly on the 
 side of Fothergill. The interest, however, 
 with which the artist had entered into the 
 dispute did not make him forget his 
 promise to Mr. Oliphant, and in a short 
 time he dashed ojff a few landscapes such 
 as that gentleman wished for. These were 
 duly distributed, and Mr. Oliphant's en- 
 
An Arrival. 225 
 
 thusiasm did not stop even here, for he 
 gave a couple of paintings, which he had 
 bought for twenty pounds each at the 
 Academy, to householders who had six or 
 seven children apiece. 
 
 A fortnight afterwards he started with 
 Frank on a tour of inspection, not so much 
 with the hope of any great result being 
 developed as yet in the minds of the 
 Reinsber carles, as to see how they liked 
 and had hung the pictures. 
 
 " Good-morning, Mrs. Hargraves," he 
 said, when he came to the first cottage 
 where one of the landscapes was deposited ; 
 " and how do you like your painting ? May 
 we come in ?" 
 
 " Surely, surely, Mr. Oliphant," replied 
 the woman, dropping a curtsy, and dusting 
 a couple of chairs with her apron ; "an' 
 I'se sure we re mich obleeged to ye for it. 
 Aa, man, but it's fearful fine ; our John's 
 sat mony an hour glowring at it as ye teld 
 
 VOL. I. 15 
 
226 Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 him to do. We clapped it a' top o' t' 
 dresser, to be safe. See !" 
 
 The painting was one of the Reinsber 
 valley in winter, when the ground was 
 covered with snow, above which only the 
 grey limestone crags, with a few bare trees, 
 were visible. It had no frame, being 
 simply mounted on stiff card-board; and 
 Frank nearly went into a fit with endea- 
 vours to hide his laughter, when he saw 
 that the picture was placed with the bottom 
 uppermost. 
 
 " See 1" repeated the good dame, proudly. 
 " My man thinks thor clouds are some'at 
 wonderful" (she put her thick red fore- 
 finger on the hmestone rocks) ; "but, 
 though he's scratted his topping mony a 
 time ower it, he can't reghtly mak out 
 what that blue at t' boddom can stand for, 
 unless it's t' sea. This I mean, Mr. Oli- 
 phant," and she pointed to wha-t was meant 
 for a bright frosty sky. 
 
An Arrival 227 
 
 Jabez groaned in spirit. 
 
 " I think we must try them with figure- 
 sketches, Mr. Holden : landscape is perhaps 
 at present just a little beyond their powers 
 of appreciation. That will do, my good 
 woman, that will do— thank you," and Mr. 
 Oliphant resumed his hat and gloves in 
 great haste ; but Frank kindly explamed 
 to Mrs. Hargraves her mistake, and put 
 the picture right. 
 
 On visiting the rest of the cottages, they 
 found that one of Frank's water-colours 
 had acquired a good many additional 
 touches by being thrown down among the 
 ashes ; and another had been carefully 
 wrapped up in paper, and stowed away, 
 '' to keep it out of the dust." The fate of 
 the two oil-paintings, however, had been 
 even more disastrous, for in one the boys 
 had discovered a church - tower, which 
 formed an admirable mark for their arrows; 
 and the other, within a few days after Mr. 
 
 15—2 
 
228 Jahez 0Upha7it. 
 
 Olipliant gave it, had been sold by its new 
 possessor to a wandering pedlar, who was 
 struck with the gorgeonsness of its frame. 
 
 '' Why, ye see," said the prudent carle, 
 when summoned to defend such an out- 
 rageous piece of conduct, " he offered me 
 ten shilling for it, an' T thowt I'd better be 
 doing. Begow, ten shilling isn't mich to 
 ye, happen, but it's a mint o' money to sich 
 as mysel, Mr. Oliphant. It wor a first-rate 
 bargain, / thowt." 
 
 Jabez was very properly indignant at the 
 last fellow, and never gave him the light of 
 his countenance again. But he did not 
 altogether abandon his own method of 
 developing a taste for art, and, as the most 
 appropriate thing he could think of, jDre- 
 sented to the village a large plaster cast of 
 Hercules resting on his club after cleansing 
 the Augean stables. This was placed in 
 the centre of the green, and was certainly 
 attractive even to the simple rustics ; for 
 
An Arrival 229 
 
 eveiy evening at least a dozen might be 
 seen clustered round it with their pipes. 
 To be sure, they generally turned their 
 backs on it, getting support rather than in- 
 spiration from it ; and on one occasion some 
 luxhins were rude enough to place a clay 
 pipe between the lips of Hercules. But 
 Mr. Ohphant msely trusted to tune ; on 
 which he was also forced to rely for the 
 success of his new society, for at present 
 almost the only members, besides the com- 
 mittee, were Tommy Doolittle the grocer, 
 a meek and good Sunday-school teacher 
 named Brown, and half-a-dozen bhnd and 
 bedridden old women. In fact, it went 
 already by a bad name in the village, beii:ig 
 irreverently dubbed ''The Cold Mutton 
 Club," because, forsooth, cold dinners on 
 Sundays were so strongly insisted on in the 
 prospectus. 
 
CHAPTEE 11. 
 
 MAN PROPOSES, BUT GOD DISPOSES. 
 
 nnHREE montlis had gone by, and 
 -^ Fothergill was growing more bitter 
 and sarcastic every day. He bad no appe- 
 tite ; be could not sleep ; be could do no- 
 thing but tbink of Kate Olipbant, in spite 
 of tbe wise resolution be bad previously 
 made about ber. He was afraid, too, tbat 
 be bad a rival in tbe artist, and, by tbe 
 bints and insinuations be bad thrown out 
 one night over a pipe, bad succeeded in 
 making Holden examine more closely tbe 
 state of his feelings towards bis pupil. Of 
 Harry Higbside WilHam was even more 
 jealous, for, by a little of Mrs. Oliphant s 
 admirable management, tbe embryo baronet 
 
Man i^roposes, hut God disposes. 231 
 
 was Kate's constant escort on riding expe- 
 ditions, and liad sliown of late a marked 
 improvement in politeness. 
 
 Fotliergill determined, therefore, to take 
 tlie very first opportunity of declaring him- 
 self, and thought he could find one during 
 a picnic which the Oliphants gave in Octo- 
 ber. It was an excursion to a waterfall 
 among the hills, and the party, which was 
 a large one, after being conveyed in car- 
 riages as far as the road served, had then 
 to go on foot through the pastures for the 
 remaining three miles. Before they had 
 walked far, William found his way to the 
 side of Miss Oliphant, who was with High- 
 side and one of the Miss Carltons. 
 
 " Her Majesty's own weather," he said, 
 in his usual bantering tone, as he came up. 
 
 " And has not her Majesty's prince of 
 grumblers something to object to in it ?" 
 asked Kate. " Might not the sun's fires 
 have a little fresh coal put to them with 
 
232 Jahez Oliphant 
 
 advantage, or the leaves of yon beech-trees 
 some brighter colour from Mr. Holden's 
 paint-box T 
 
 " A nice mess he would make of them 1 
 — paint them wrong side up, very likely, 
 as Betty Hargraves says he did with the 
 Eeinsber valley. But I do wish the 
 ground " (glancing down) " would grow 
 Turkey carpets instead of wet grass.'' 
 
 " Ah, that would be nice I" said Miss 
 Carlton. 
 
 " Well, I knew there would be something 
 wrong," said Kate, " and even if you got 
 your marvellous footpath, Mr. Fothergill,you 
 would not be content with it unless there 
 was a bush growing cigars by its side." 
 
 " And a pretty hand popping up to give 
 one a light when required." 
 
 " And fairy music underneath, to make 
 the distance seem shorter." 
 
 "Yes, and sofas here and there, to sit 
 down on when one was tired." 
 
 " And the beautiful landscapes all fore- 
 
Afan proposes, hut God disposes. 233 
 
 shortened from nature, that you might see 
 them without trouble — and a hundred other 
 things, Mr. Fothergill — and after all you 
 would say it did not quite lead where you 
 wished to go," said Kate. 
 
 " Ah, no ; I would have it between 
 Reinsber and the Hall," he replied. 
 
 " And get tired of using it in a week. I 
 believe you and Mr. Trimian yonder think 
 more about getting your miserable feet 
 damp than about this terrible railway acci- 
 dent which we were just discussing." 
 
 "And very reasonably, unless one had 
 happened to be in the train," Fothergill 
 retorted. " The damp feet affect one's 
 self, the accident only affects other people. 
 In what possible way can it concern me that 
 Smith, Brown, and Robinson are killed by 
 a goods train running into them ? They 
 are only names to me, and I never did feel 
 any interest in names. Besides, I know 
 there will be plenty more Smiths, Browns, 
 and Eobinsons to ffll up their place. I 
 
234 Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 should consider it a gross affectation even 
 to say I was sorry." 
 
 " O Mr. Fotliergill ! How can you expect 
 any one to feel sympathy for yourself, when 
 you have none for others V asked Miss 
 Carlton. 
 
 " I expect sympathy only where I give 
 it — in the case of my friends, who are few 
 enough/' he said. "As to the condolence 
 and pocket-handkerchiefs of the outside 
 multitude, I should scorn them. I say, 
 Highside, you are pushing Miss Oliphant 
 and me off the path. Don't you see how 
 much narrower it is ? Just show us a bit 
 of this new politeness of yours, old fellow " 
 (with a queer side-glance at Miss Oliphant), 
 " and move on a little in advance." 
 
 Harry looked fierce, as if he thought 
 himself supplanted, but was obliged, from 
 mere civihty, to beg pardon and move on 
 with Miss Carlton, leaving Kate and Wil- 
 liam to bring up the rear. 
 
Man proposes, hut God disposes. 235 
 
 " You liave tamed our young savage 
 wonderfully," said Fothergill. " What in- 
 finite trouble he must have cost you !" 
 
 " Mr. Highside is of a teachable nature, 
 very unlike some persons/' laughed Kate. 
 
 " Well, you'll have to pay the puppy-tax 
 on him the next time the collector comes 
 round. He is as much your property as 
 your horse." 
 
 " Now, Mr. Fothergill, I will not have 
 you abusing him. He is a very kind- 
 hearted young fellow, a splendid rider, 
 and I never thought till lately there was 
 a thousandth part of the good in him 
 which there is." 
 
 " Really 1 What discoveries travellers 
 do make when they are the first to set foot 
 in a country ! By the way, is not that a 
 new fern ? Let me get it for you." 
 
 He sprang a few yards up the bank, and 
 plucked something while Miss OHphant 
 waited below. He threw the plant away, 
 
236 Jdbez Oliphant. 
 
 however, immediately, exclaiming, "It is 
 only a common one, after all,'' and rejoined 
 her. But by the delay he had placed 
 thirty or forty yards between Harry and 
 themselves. 
 
 " It is strange that I should be so much 
 mistaken," he said. 
 
 " Surely there are stranger things in the 
 world than that," retorted Kate. 
 
 " Oh, the strangeness of things depends 
 so much on the point of view. For in- 
 stance, I think it strange, as I was saying, 
 that you should stroke Harry Highside so 
 much, and you think it strange, I dare say, 
 that all the world, including him and my- 
 self, is so desperately in love with you." 
 
 He had often got nearly as far as this 
 before, speaking jestingly as now, and Kate 
 answered in the same way : 
 
 " The world must be silHer, then, than I 
 thought it. And as for you, Mr. Fother- 
 gill, I had always fancied you admired an- 
 
Man 2yroj)oses, hut God disposes. 237 
 
 other person too much ever to fall in love 
 with me." 
 
 " Another person !" 
 
 " Yourself, to be sure. Is not the im- 
 peachment true ?" 
 
 *' By heaven, you wrong me, Miss OH- 
 phant, but I hope and trust you were only 
 in jest." 
 
 " Why, you did not think I meant it, 
 surely ? I am very sorry," answered Kate, 
 struck with the other's changed tone. 
 
 " Thank you for that, at any rate," he 
 said in an earnest voice. " But I am not 
 in jest myself Kate !" (taking her hand) 
 " since the first day I met you in London I 
 have admired you, and that admiration has at 
 last become irresistible, till I can find nothing 
 in the world so beautiful and complete as 
 yourself I will not come to you with a 
 He on my tongue, Kate. I will not pay the 
 cleverest girl I know the poor compliment 
 of swearinp^ that if she won't have me, I 
 
238 Jabez Oliphant. 
 
 shall die. No ; but if you value tlie affec- 
 tion of one who can appreciate you, and 
 who loves you very heartily, here it is for 
 you. It is rather too dirty to do the 
 proper thing and kneel, isn't it ?" he added, 
 quite unable to resist a joke even then. 
 " Say that you will try to love me, Kate !" 
 And he again took the trembling little hand 
 which she had withdrawn. 
 
 "Nay, Mr. Fothergill,'' replied Kate 
 gently and very sadly. " I cannot say so. 
 I ought to have stopped you before — before 
 you spoke so much. I am very sorry for 
 all this ; but it cannot be." 
 
 "And yet you pity me; and they say 
 pity is akin to love. Why cannot it be T 
 
 " I do not love you so." 
 
 " But you may. Let me try to win this 
 OTcat prize of your affection ; let it be an 
 object to me to live for, let years of devo- 
 tion- " 
 
 " No, Mr. Fothergill. You will, I trust, 
 
Man proposes, hut God disposes. 239 
 
 find some one a thousand times worthier 
 than myself of all these efforts, and I re- 
 spect you from my heart ; but love you — 
 in that way — I do not, and, I am certain, 
 never can." 
 
 *' Indeed! And why cannot you love 
 me V said Fothergill, proudly. " You will 
 at least tell me what is this insurmountable 
 barrier that divides us V* 
 
 "Is it not enough to say that my answer 
 is final V she asked, pleadingly, and turn- 
 ing to him with tears in her eyes. " If, 
 without thinking, I spoke rather hastily, 
 indeed, indeed I did not mean to be un- 
 kind. It was only to end the sooner what 
 you must now feel, dear Mr. Fothergill, to 
 be the least pleasant episode in our friend- 
 ship." 
 
 " It is at least due to me. Miss Oliphant, 
 to give your reason for so decisive an 
 avowal." 
 
 " Nay, I will not, cannot pain you un- 
 
240 Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 necessarily. Have we not said enough 
 about all tMs V 
 
 " It is your fortune, I suppose. I ought 
 to have been a stupid cow-gazing baronet, 
 or a milhonaire." 
 
 *'No, Mr. Fothergill," said Kate, with 
 dignity ; "I count my money only as the 
 dirt beneath our feet in talking of such 
 things as these. But I may be mistaken — 
 I may misjudge you — and I scarcely know 
 how to put my reasons ; but, if I must 
 speak, I think they are that you seem 
 to be sceptical just where I am reverential. 
 You worship nothing but intellect without 
 heart ; so you trust nobody, cannot beheve 
 in virtue, ridicule enthusiasm — in one word, 
 you only count the clock when it strikes 
 wrong." 
 
 " You are as fond of satire as I am, Miss 
 OHphant." 
 
 " Possibly : but you satirise to destroy, 
 I to reform ; and I spare the weak and 
 
Man j^TOjDOses, hut God disposes. 241 
 
 the good. I am not quite Cliristian enough 
 to spare my enemies, but I do spare, and 
 would die for my friends. If your arrows 
 are sharp, you do not care whether it is 
 justice or injustice that shoots them." 
 
 "In other words," answered FothergiU, 
 haughtily, " I am a httle gibing Mephisto- 
 pheles, or at best a catchpenny fool, who 
 sees nothing in life but a jest, and nothing 
 in eternity but the chance of a pun. It 
 may be so, but I did not know it." 
 
 " Nay, nay ; you are naturally noble, 
 and you have kept your head clear enough; 
 but — forgive me, dear Mr. FothergiU — ■ 
 your heart has got cased over somehow. 
 Once remove the casing, and I believe the 
 heart is still there as kind and generous as 
 ever." 
 
 " I believe you are right," murmured 
 FothergiU. " I had high aspirations and 
 generous impulses once. You are right, 
 
 VOL. I. 16 
 
242 Jabez Oliphant. 
 
 Kate ; but oh, if you would help me to 
 remove the casmgs ! I could succeed in 
 anything with you at my side, and I will 
 try hard to be worthier of you than I am." 
 
 " Once more, Mr. Fothergill, it cannot 
 be. You require a gentler hand than my 
 own : yes, and the hand of one you love 
 better than you would ever love me." 
 
 " That is hardly possible, Miss Oliphant." 
 
 " Oh, yes. You will find some affection- 
 ate girl in whom you can trust perfectly ; 
 and when you see there really is one good 
 person in the world, you will begin to look 
 for more. Your love for me is a feeble, un- 
 real thing — not such as would ever do you 
 good or satisfy me." 
 
 " I love you as well as I shall ever love 
 any one." 
 
 " You think so now, I am sure ; but you 
 will find out your mistake some time. For 
 myself — I am rather romantic, I suppose — 
 
Man proj^^oses, hut God disposes. 243 
 
 but I must have the love of one who would 
 not merely kneel in the dirt for me " (she 
 gave an arch side-glance at him and a 
 gentle laugh), "but would pour out his 
 blood like water for me, if I wished." 
 
 " A kind of lover you will find it hard to 
 meet with in these prosaic times." 
 
 " Then I'll live and die an old maid. I 
 hope we shall be friends, in spite of this," 
 she said, very kindly, and holding out her 
 hand — " all the better friends because we 
 understand each other better." 
 
 Fothergill was a proud man, and his 
 rejection was a deep wound to him ; but he 
 took the hand, and raised it respectfully to 
 his lips. "So much for my ambition !" he 
 said, with a sigh. 
 
 "You will have a nobler ambition some 
 time, depend on it, dear Mr. Fothergill. 
 But just one word more before we pass from 
 the subject, never to talk or think of it 
 
 IG— 2 
 
244 Jahez OUphant. 
 
 again. I hope you do not accuse me of, in 
 any way or at any time, drawing you on to 
 say anything of this kind. If there is one 
 name under heaven I despise and abhor, it 
 isthatofflkt." 
 
 " Nay, let me do you justice there. You 
 never said a word to me that a man of any 
 sense could think more than innocent 
 fun." 
 
 '' Well, here is the waterfall," said Kate. 
 " Shall we join the others ? — Mr. Truman, 
 Mr. Fothergill and I are agreed that 
 you are the man in all the world who is 
 most afraid of damp feet." By this attack, 
 she succeeded in covering the embarrass- 
 ment which she thought Fothergill would 
 feel on joining the party. 
 
 " Do you really think so ?" exclaimed 
 the simple parson. " It's all very fine talk- 
 ing. Miss Ohphant, but I had a cold before 
 I left St. John's; and my doctor — it was 
 
Man proposes, hut God disposes. 245 
 
 Hepworth, a Magdalene man (you may 
 know him, Fothergill, — h.Q went to Lon- 
 don afterwards) — well, he told me I must 
 take the greatest care. And if ever I get 
 my feet wet, sure enough I suffer for it." 
 
 " And so you must needs have a dozen 
 pairs of boots warming at the fire for you 
 every day — don't tell me; I saw them 
 the afternoon I penetrated your sanctum 
 by stealth. If you had the sins of all 
 England on your shoulders instead of the 
 light little peccadillos of a hundred or 
 two good people Hke ourselves, you could 
 not be more careful of yourself I be- 
 Heve you are saving yourself up for a 
 bishopric." 
 
 " No, no; it is on Miss Norber's account," 
 said Holden. " Have you not heard. Miss 
 Oliphant ? There is an alarming crisis in 
 the lapdog's illness, and Truman has been 
 there every day the last week. The con- 
 
246 Jabez Oliphant. 
 
 solation, however, is reported to have been 
 very effectual, and Miss Norber is better, I 
 believe, than could be expected." 
 
 " I say, Holden," the parson vras begin- 
 ning; but Kate, though at another time 
 she V70uld have enjoyed teasing the good- 
 natured clergyman on this subject also, was 
 afraid that just at present it might not be 
 a very agreeable one to Fothergill. She 
 hastened to say, therefore : 
 
 " I am inclined to think it is the bishop- 
 ric, myself; for I saw something like a shovel- 
 hat in a quiet corner of the sanctum. You 
 will perhaps be trying to explain that broad 
 circumstance away next, Mr. Truman." 
 
 " Nay, now. Miss Oliphant, 111 tell you 
 what; I'd gladly give all my chance of a 
 bishopric to have my tackle here just now. 
 Never saw such a beautiful fly-water in my 
 life. D'ye see yon bit of a stream between 
 the two big rocks below the pool? I'll 
 
Man 2^roposeSy hut God disposes. 247 
 
 warrant I'd have fetched you out three or 
 four rattling trout from that spot in ten 
 minutes." 
 
 "I see — where the water, after getting 
 its breath, thinks it is time to be trotting 
 on again, but starts very gently V 
 
 '' Ay, it has to feel first if its legs are 
 sound after its tumble," muttered Fother- 
 
 gill- 
 
 " Or perhaps it is sorry to leave such a 
 
 grand scene in a hurry," said Holden. 
 
 " See, Highside. I'd just stand on these 
 stones and cast a leetle bit to the right of 
 the first big rock. 'Twould be a hardish 
 throw, too ; but here's the place to stand ; 
 don't you think so ?" 
 
 " O Mr. Truman, you are forgetting your 
 feet; pray think of the bishopric and our 
 grief," cried Kate. For in his enthusiasm 
 for the gentle art, he was striding from one 
 slippery stone to another tiU he reached a 
 
248 Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 point several yards from the side, where lie 
 kept throwing up his right arm artistically, 
 as if trying a cast. 
 
 " Aa man, but I could do it nicely from 
 here !" he exclaimed. But from the sudden- 
 ness with which he turned round to speak, he 
 lost his balance and slipped over shoe-tops 
 into the stream. He waded ashore with a 
 rueful face, amid screams of laughter. 
 
 "That's a bad job, Miss Oliphant," he 
 said ; " I shall be laid up for a week, and 
 you'll have to preach next Sunday's sermon 
 yourself If I'd only my rod with me now, 
 I should not care. It is a strange thing, I 
 never do catch cold when I am out fishing, 
 however wet I get ; but the least thing 
 gives me one at other times. Odd, isn't it?" 
 
 "Very odd, indeed," answered Kate, 
 with another laugh. " Your rod is plainly 
 a specific for colds, and we shall all of us 
 expect a chip of it to carry about with us. 
 
an 
 
 proposes, hut God disposes. 249 
 
 But I'll preach for you with pleasure ; only 
 I shall take for my text ' Thou didst set 
 them m slippery places/ or something 
 equally appropriate. I think I should 
 have a congregation the first Sunday, at 
 all events." 
 
CHAPTEE III. 
 
 MR. OLIPHANT DISCOURSES ON THE MORALITY 
 OF HORSE-DEALING, AND BUYS ONE. 
 
 rilHE (lay of the Olipliants' picnic was a 
 -^ liigh. day at Reinsber, having been 
 from time immemorial the annual fair 
 of the place. From an early hour droves of 
 cattle, sheep, and rustics filled the streets 
 of the village and overflowed for hundreds 
 of yards along the roads leading out of it. A 
 stranger would have been amused by the 
 scraps of uncouth dialect, and the appearance 
 of the various groups — the drovers trying to 
 keep their herds together by frantic shouts. 
 
The Morality of Horse-Dealing. 251 
 
 wild gesticulations, and much plying of 
 sticks — the intending purchasers walking 
 round a ' beast ' and examining it first with 
 sagacious eye, then with a skilful pressure 
 of the hand along the back and flanks — and 
 the pair who, after haggling loudly for half 
 an hour, finally clenched the bargain by 
 the purchaser putting a knife into the 
 sellers hand, and adjourned to oil their 
 tongues at the nearest ale-house. On 
 each side of the street was a row of stalls — 
 with fruit, gingerbread, confectionery, and 
 pop — much patronised by young men and 
 women giving one another ' fairings,' and 
 by crowds of youngsters, whose mouths 
 were usually adorned, in lieu of mous- 
 tache, with a broad yellow circle, the only 
 remains of delicious half-pennyworths of 
 toffy. 
 
 As the morning went on, most of the 
 sheep and cattle were sold and driven off* to 
 
252 Mr Oliphant discourses on 
 
 their several destinations, and the business 
 of the rustics being nearly over, their 
 pleasures began. The village green now 
 became the centre of attraction, for here 
 were the peep-shows, merry-go-rounds, and 
 ballad-stalls, with the quack doctor, who 
 had come all the way from London, he 
 assured his patrons, out of pure love 
 for suffering humanity, to work " cures 
 for nothing." Near him a ' Cheap-Jack ' 
 was driving a capital trade in guns war- 
 ranted not to hurt anybody, and tea- 
 kettles which would not (he pledged his 
 honour) come to pieces the first time 
 they were used. The famous giant too 
 was there, the greatest wonder in the 
 whole world, except, indeed, the equally 
 remarkable dwarf, whom this clever show- 
 man had also been fortunate enough to 
 secure — privileged man, to be bearing 
 about in his caravan two of our seven won- 
 
Tlie Morality of Horse-Dealing. 25^ 
 
 ders, and happy little Reinsber, to have 
 them brought to its own doors 1 Hard by, 
 the proprietor of a travelHng menagerie 
 was giving proof that he had the best pair 
 of lungs m the fair, by his stentorian 
 ' ' Now, this way, ladies and gentlemen, 
 this way! roll up, roll up! performance just 
 going to commence : only three pence !" 
 and who could resist stepping in to see 
 " The famous Hamadryad or Lion Slayer," 
 which was painted in vivid colours and of 
 monstrous size on the canvas outside, but 
 turned out to be a chimpanzee, " a troop 
 of which animals had once been known" 
 (by the natives) " to kill a hon" ? The 
 show of greatest pretensions, however, was 
 a panorama of tropical scenery, in which 
 the chief attractions appeared to be '' Afric's 
 Tree with legs," the '' Burly Unicorn 
 snorting defiance at all the world's crea- 
 tures ;" and " the splendid tropical moon 
 
254 Mr Oliphant discourses on 
 
 lighting up the mountain tops with silver 
 and lions ;" the panorama was worth the 
 two-pence if it were only to see this novel 
 and mysterious way of illumination, and 
 the proportions in which the moon mixed 
 its lions and silver to get it. 
 
 Bargaining for the horses was always 
 reserved till the afternoon, being, in the 
 eyes of these canny Yorkshu-emen, at least as 
 much a matter of amusement as of busi- 
 ness. On the road, therefore, which ran 
 through the green, each hack or cob 
 was trotted out by its owner, and had its 
 points canvassed by a line of deeply inte- 
 rested spectators. 
 
 It was about two o'clock — just the time 
 at which the horse-dealing was at its 
 height, the green most crowded, and the 
 bawling of the quack-doctor and showmen 
 loudest — when Mr. Oliphant might have 
 been seen making his way through the 
 
Tlie Morality of Horse-Dealing. 255 
 
 excited farmers, who were looking at the 
 horses. He wanted a cart-horse ; but he 
 had also supplied himself with abundance 
 of the S. P. y. prospectuses, which for the 
 last hour he had been engaged in distri- 
 buting. He had heard so much, too, about 
 the tricks common in horse-jobbing, that he 
 thought it necessary to point out to the 
 ignorant dalesmen the immorality of such 
 practices. And what opportunity could be 
 more favourable than this, when his words 
 were likely to be carried into so many dif- 
 ferent valleys and farmsteads ? After 
 whispering, therefore, to the farmers near 
 him, that he wished to speak to them, he 
 selected for his pulpit some stone steps by 
 which the rustic jockeys mounted their 
 horses. Being thus elevated, he instantly 
 drew the attention of the mob, and a large 
 crowd gathered round him, all very curious 
 to know what he was going to do or say. 
 
256 Mr. Olipliant discourses on 
 
 '' Gentlemen ^ 
 
 " Whisht ! It's Mr. Oliphant." 
 ' " What, is he boun to speak T 
 
 '' Surely to goodness but he is." 
 
 " My, but he does hod hissel rarely. 
 Whisht!" 
 
 " Gentlemen, a word of caution and ad- 
 vice. To-day is a great day with you, and 
 among all the sights of the fair this excel- 
 lent show of horses is not the least attrac- 
 tive or important. Now it is just about 
 these horses and the dealing in them that I 
 wish to speak. Everyone knows that 
 Yorkshiremen are reckoned shrewd in 
 horseflesh ; but I do fear this shrewdness 
 is often only another name for dishonesty. 
 In other things you are honest enough. If 
 you are selling a house or a cow, you ask 
 a fair' price and no more ; but if you are 
 selling a horse, you actually take a pride in 
 passing off an unsound animal as sound." 
 
The Morality of Horse-Dealing. 257 
 
 " Ay, begow, it's diamond cut diamond i' 
 horse-trading," cried Stephen Moorby, a 
 tall, broad-shouldered yeoman. " If chaps 
 'at are green at t' job will meddle wi' it, 
 they're tied to git t' warst o' t' bargain, 
 Mr. Oliphant." 
 
 " So you seem to think in Yorkshire, Mr. 
 Moorby. If a horse is vicious I have 
 heard that you give him laudanum ; and if 
 he is broken-winded, you stuff his nostrils 
 with something." (Laughter.) 
 
 " He hes heard about Hingtail Eoarer," 
 whispered Stephen, with a grin, to his next 
 neighbour, a Quaker farmer. " Dick Wide- 
 awake hes seld him a dozen times for 
 twenty pund, an' all'ays hed him given 
 back. He hes bin a lile fortun to Dick, 
 hes that horse." 
 
 "If he is aged, or spavined, or blind, or 
 lame, you have other devices — very clever 
 no doubt" (renewed laughter), "but surely 
 not very honourable." 
 
 VOL. I. 17 
 
258 Mr. OUphant discourses on 
 
 " Friend Olipliant/' said the Quaker, 
 " this is a timely lesson to us. But thes 
 mightest mention other devices which the 
 unrighteous have for deceiving the unwary 
 in the matter of horses ; such as constraining 
 the poor animals to swallow a pound of 
 shot, or bacon, or a nauseous mixture of 
 milk and cowdung, if they are not sound 
 in the wind : then, if they are old, as thee 
 sayest, the ungodly men file their teeth 
 and mark them with ink — all which things 
 seem to me scarce innocent." (Great 
 laughter at each item of the list.) 
 
 "I am deeply indebted to you, sir, for 
 mentioning these facts, which I hope will 
 not be without effect on the minds of our 
 audience," resumed Jabez, smiling gra- 
 ciously on Isaiah. " Gentlemen, you evi- 
 dently look on horse-trickery as a joke — a 
 keen encounter of wits ?" 
 
 " That we do, Mr. Oliphant !" shouted 
 Moorby ; " it's best fun out — bangs 
 
The Morality of Horse-Dealing. 259 
 
 penny peep - shows aw to nought !" 
 (Laughter.) 
 
 " Friend Moorby is a httle too ready 
 with his tongue/' said the Quaker. " Thee 
 should not interrupt him, Stephen ; he is 
 saying nothing but what is right." 
 
 " Well, gentlemen, I ask you, is it a joke 
 for the purchaser? Is it a joke to give 
 twenty pounds for an animal not worth 
 ^YQ V (Laughter.) " I scarcely know 
 what you are laughing at" (fresh laughter) ; 
 " but I am sure you only sell unsound 
 animals for sound because, living in these 
 remote dales, you are ignorant of the 
 great principles of right and wrong in the 
 matter, and have had no one hitherto to 
 explain the thing to you. 
 
 " The basis of all commerce, gentlemen, 
 is good faith. Look at me. I w^as once 
 only one of yourselves ; now I am rich be- 
 yond my utmost wish : and I became so 
 
 17—2 
 
260 Mr. Olipliant discourses on 
 
 by never giving my word where I did not 
 mean to keep it, by never selling damaged 
 goods as perfect, by avoiding even the ap- 
 pearance of trickery. It was by these 
 means that I raised myself to my present 
 (ahem !) my present position — by these 
 means alone, gentlemen. I avoided decep- 
 tion on principle, and not because I was 
 afraid of having it practised on myself It 
 is, of course, necessary for a business man 
 always to have his eyes about him ; and I 
 may say that I never yet [found any one 
 who was able to cheat me. So in time 
 people came to know their man, and what- 
 ever dupery they might resort to with 
 others, they never even attempted it with 
 myself The same path, gentlemen, is 
 open to you all." 
 
 " Thee art an honour to the place, friend 
 Olipliant. — Ah, what a minister he would 
 have made !" the Quaker added, in a reve- 
 
The Morality of Horse-Deal inrj. 261 
 
 rential tone, not quite low enough to 
 escape Mr. Oliphant's very sharp ears. 
 
 Jabez smiled and bowed to him, and 
 then proceeded to impress on the crowd 
 the advantages of the S.P.Y., informing 
 them that he intended to wait at the Red 
 Lion for three hours, namely, till five 
 o'clock, to receive the names of members. 
 He trusted, however, that there would be 
 no ugly rush into the room, but that all 
 would enter in an orderly and proper man- 
 ner. 
 
 After descending from the steps amid 
 loud and gratifying applause, Mr. Oliphant 
 was escaping from the crowd when he was 
 accosted by the Quaker, Isaiah Ducks- 
 berry. Jabez had been much pleased with 
 tliis man's demeanour, and felt there was 
 ground for hoping that his earnest words 
 had wrought conviction on at least one of 
 his hearers ; nor was it unnatural that a 
 
262 Mr. Oliphant discourses on 
 
 member of the most truly pious sect we 
 have should be the first to have his con- 
 science awakened. 
 
 " Friend/' said Isaiah, " I have been 
 touched with this discourse of thine, and 
 if thee art at liberty, I should be glad to 
 hear further of this matter." 
 
 "I am very proud to make your acquaint- 
 ance, Mr. Ducksberry — very proud indeed. 
 I wish the rest of my audience had shown 
 as true a sense as yourself of the real nature 
 of this abominable horse-jobbing. You, sir, 
 are a man who, by your private influence 
 and the character of the body to which you 
 belong, might do much in putting a stop to 
 all this." 
 
 " Nay, nay, I am but a weak vessel ; 
 very brittle on small occasions, ignorant 
 besides." 
 
 " Tell not me, sir. I have lived in cities 
 all my life, and am a judge of men. It is 
 
The Morality of Horse-Dealing. 263 
 
 not education, or birth, or money, that gives 
 influence ; it is the moral character, and 
 your physiognomy tells me that you are an 
 honest man." 
 
 " I fear thy kindness misjudges me. I 
 am a reserved, diffident man. Yet if I 
 thought — but could I ideally do thee any 
 good ?" 
 
 Mr. Oliphant landed so valuable a fish 
 very skilfully. " Much, much, Mr. Ducks- 
 berry," he said. " You must not under- 
 rate yourself Your assistance will be of 
 the very greatest value to me. Have you 
 seen a prospectus of our society, Mr. 
 Ducksberry ?" 
 
 '' Yea, and I may say I consider it likely, 
 with the blessing, to do great things for 
 Reinsber. Against my poor self joining it 
 however, I have one or two — well, I could 
 scarce call them scruples — but I would like 
 them removed before I could conscientiously 
 join thee." 
 
264 Mr. Oliphant discourses on 
 
 '•' What are they ? Let us hear them as 
 we go along/' said Jabez ; and such was his 
 eloquence that, before they sat long in the 
 room he had engaged, he removed all 
 Isaiah's scruples, and his name was the very 
 first which was entered that day, though 
 (as Mr. Ohphant carefully explained) he 
 was unlikely to get a prize, since some of 
 the acts for which marks were given, such 
 as bowing, were contrary to Quaker prin- 
 ciples. 
 
 " Well now, friend Oliphant," said Isaiah, 
 rising, " I must tear myself away from this 
 dear bewitching discourse of thine. I would 
 gladly have staid awhile longer, but I have 
 brought a horse to sell, and I must mix 
 with the world again." 
 
 "A horse, Mr. Ducksberry ! That is 
 rather singular ; I wish to buy one. How 
 glad I should be if yours would suit me !" 
 
 " Nay, thou wilt be in want of a showy 
 animal, such as is fitting for rich men like 
 
The Morality of Horse-Dealing, 265 
 
 thyself. Mine is but a poor cart-horse ; but 
 thou wilt be helped in thy choice, I do not 
 doubt, as thou deservest to be." 
 
 " Not so fast, if you please. A cart- 
 horse is just the horse I want. Let us have 
 a look at him.'' 
 
 " As thou wilt ; but I am assured he will 
 not suit thee." 
 
 " No harm in seeing him, at any rate. 
 Come." 
 
 The horse was m the quietest back- 
 stables of the inn, for Isaiah disliked the 
 bustle and vanities of the fair, and trusted 
 to find, if the Lord willed it so, some sober 
 godly man as a purchaser. When the 
 animal was led out, he was a strong, well- 
 built chestnut, about the size that Jabez 
 required. The latter did not know so much 
 of horse-flesh as of the world, but he ran 
 his eye over him and examined his points in 
 silence, with the air of a connoisseur. 
 
 " I told thee he would be scarce fine 
 
266 Mr. Oliphant discourses en 
 
 enough for thee," said Isaiah. " Lead him 
 back into the stable, John, and here is a 
 groat for thy trouble." 
 
 " I had rather deal at a word with your- 
 self, Mr. Ducksberry," said Mr. Oliphant, 
 " than with most men on their bond. 
 What is your price for this horse ? He 
 will suit me if we can agree as to 
 terms." 
 
 "I am surprised. "Well, if thee really 
 hast any thought of him, I told E-achel, my 
 wife, before I started this morning, that I 
 had little doubt of taking back to her thirty 
 pounds for the beast ; but I am willing to 
 let thee, friend Ohphant, have him for five 
 and twenty. Surely I should be ungrate- 
 ful, after what thou hast done for me this 
 day, if I were hard on thee in a matter of 
 bargaining." 
 
 " Pooh, pooh, Mr. Ducksberry, I am not 
 going to make a profit out of you. I will 
 give you the thirty pounds for him gladly. 
 
The Morality of Horse-Dealing. 267 
 
 if you can warrant him sound in wind and 
 limb." 
 
 " Yea, I can warrant him perfectly sound 
 in wind and limb." 
 
 " And he can draw ?" 
 
 " It Avould do thee good to see him draw, 
 friend." 
 
 '^ Then I am perfectly satisfied, and much 
 obliged to you. John, send to the Hall, 
 and tell Foster to fetch this horse ; I have 
 just bought him. There is your money, 
 Mr. Ducksberry : Craven notes will do, I 
 suppose." 
 
 " Ah, friend, may we never see anything 
 worse in the world than these !" said Isaiah, 
 putting away the notes in his great drab- 
 coloured pocket-book, after counting them 
 dehberately. " And now I must away to 
 my Eachel, who will doubtless be expecting 
 me to tea. I know not how to thank thee 
 sufficiently ; but thy reward is not of this 
 world. And I am glad thee mettest with 
 
268 Mr. Oliphant discourses on 
 
 me, and not with that profane and riotous 
 man, Richard Wideawake." 
 
 Mr. Oliphant returned to the little bar- 
 parlour, and sat for a long time with the 
 pen and ink ready before him, but no candi- 
 dates for admission into the S. P. Y. made 
 their appearance as yet. From half-past 
 two to half-past three, he was of opinion 
 that the farmers were engaged in setthng 
 their accounts, for he could hear the loud 
 voices of several merry companies in the 
 adjoining rooms ; or perhaps they might be 
 busy discussing the pros and cons of the 
 prospectus ; he knew the cautious nature 
 of these dalesmen, especially with regard to 
 setting their hands to paper. A number of 
 them, however, would probably enter to- 
 gether to sign their names all at once. From 
 half-past three to half-past four, he thought 
 they might possibly be diffident about 
 coming into the presence of one to whom 
 they would naturally look up ; he rang the 
 
The Morality of Horse-Dealing. 269 
 
 bell, therefore, several times, to ask if no 
 one had inquired for him, and he even 
 opened the door once or twice to look if 
 there were not two or three hulking farmers 
 outside, willing, yet too shy, to come in. 
 Perhaps, however, they would slink in by 
 ones and twos, when the throng of the fair 
 was over and there was less danger of attract- 
 ing notice ; so strong is the fear of ridicule, 
 even in doing what one knows to be right. 
 He now blamed himself for selecting so ex- 
 posed a room as an inn-parlour, and thought 
 it might have been more politic to name his 
 own house as the place of rendezvous, but 
 he would know better another time. As no 
 one came up to half-past four, he grew 
 somewhat impatient, and frequently looked 
 at his watch — not that he would break his 
 promise of waiting for members till ^yq. 
 It struck him at last that he ought scarcely 
 to have expected these ignorant men to 
 join immediately after reading the pro- 
 
270 Mr. Oliphant discourses on 
 
 spectus — a work of great difficulty at any 
 time to such illiterate persons, and perhaps, 
 in the distraction of a crowd, utterly im- 
 practicable ; and they might naturally hke 
 some time for reflection before giving in 
 their adhesion to so solemn and important 
 a thing as the S. P. Y. But they would 
 take the prospectuses home v/ith them, dis- 
 cuss them fully with their wives, and after- 
 wards come to him privately. 
 
 Thus Mr. Oliphant was far from being 
 dispirited, though not a soul had entered 
 the room except Isaiah ; but a few minutes 
 before five he began packing up his nume- 
 rous documents. Just at that time, how- 
 ever, he heard a hurried knock at the door, 
 and hastily put the papers down again, to 
 be ready. It turned out, however, to be 
 Foster, the groom from the Hall. His face 
 had some blood on it, and his clothes v\^ere 
 a good deal torn. 
 
 '' Oh, it is only you, Foster, is it V ex- 
 
Tlie Mo red it 1/ of Horse-Dealing. 271 
 
 claimed Mr. Olipliant. "Well, what do 
 you want ? And in that state, too ! What 
 has happened ?" 
 
 " Has the man gone, sir V asked Foster, 
 breathlessly, but not forgetting to touch 
 his cap. 
 
 " What man ?" 
 
 " The man you bought the horse from, 
 sir. Here has been a pretty to-do, sir. 
 You know you sent for me to fetch a horse 
 you had just bought, and as I knew you 
 wanted him to cart the manure to-morrow, I 
 thought I would tiy him at once." 
 
 " That was right. Well?" 
 
 " Well, sir, the long and the short of it 
 is, he has either never been in traces be- 
 fore or he's desperately vicious. He was 
 quiet enough, sir, till I got him into the 
 shafts ; then he began. First his forefeet 
 up, then his heels, and in less than a 
 minute he had smashed the cart to shivers, 
 spite of all I could do to hold him. He 
 
272 Mr. OUjjhmit discourses on 
 
 kicked me on the cheek — here, sir— and 
 another time ripped up my coat as you see. 
 I never had such a near shave in my life. 
 But I ran down at once, sir, to see if you 
 could find the man and return him. You 
 got a warranty, I suppose, sir ?" 
 
 " Certainly. I think, Foster, there is 
 some mistake here, and it will be best to 
 see Mr. Ducksberry, the person from whom 
 I bought him, at once. He is a very 
 honest man, and will do what is right, 
 without doubt. Will you inquire if Mr. 
 Ducksberry is still in the village? I fear 
 not, for he was going home to tea." 
 
 Foster soon returned with the informa- 
 tion that Isaiah had been seen in the street 
 only two or three minutes before, and Mr. 
 Ohphant found him as he was bidding adieu 
 from the back of his Httle nag to a group of 
 farmers. Isaiah blushed very faintly as he 
 caught sight of Jabez. 
 
 " Mr. Ducksberry," said the latter, kindly, 
 
The Morality of Horse-Dealing. 273 
 
 " you have made a little mistake about 
 this horse you have just sold me. He has 
 broken my cart and injured my groom, and 
 I am afraid I shall be obliged to return him." 
 
 " Friend OHphant, a bargain is a bargain ; 
 with thy experience of men, thee must 
 know that. I tried to dissuade thee from 
 purchasing the beast, as thee knowest ; but 
 as thee hast bought him, thee, must stand 
 by thy bargain. I never return money — on 
 principle." 
 
 " But he has never, my groom tells me, 
 been in a cart before, and you told me he 
 could draw, su*." 
 
 " Friend, friend, thee art a little ruffled, 
 and it will proceed if thee dost not bridle it 
 soon. But thy memory wanteth refreshing. 
 I only told thee it would do thee good to 
 see him draw, and I trust in the Lord it 
 may. But Bachel expecteth me. Good 
 day, friend Oliphant, and thank thee much 
 
 VOL. I. 18 
 
274 Mr. Oli'phant discourses 
 
 on 
 
 for all tlie profit tliy worldly and spiritual 
 knowledge liath bronglit me this day." 
 
 " Scoundrel I" broke from Mr. Oliphant's 
 lips, and a roar of laughter from the farmers, 
 as Isaiah struck his heels into the galloway's 
 sides, and cantered demurely off. 
 
 "I niver seed a better bite i' my life, 
 Mr. Oliphant," grinned Dick Wideawake 
 at that gentleman's elbow. "What, ye 
 niver bowt a horse fra that snivelling 
 Quaker, surely? If I'd known ye wor i' 
 treaty wi' him, I'd ha cautioned ye, as a 
 friend like ; but he gat ye to do it sa slily ; 
 he's t' slyest rogue i' aw Yorkshire." 
 
 "Barrin' thysel, Dick," said half the 
 farmers at least. 
 
 " Whya, whya, nebbors," answered Dick, 
 considerably flattered; "I'se not saying 
 but that I knaw a thing or two mysel i' 
 horse-flesh. But when I cheat, begow, I 
 cheat honestly, not wi' praying and soft 
 sawder and turning up t' whites o' my een 
 
The Morality of Horse-Dealing. 275 
 
 like a duck i a thunder-storm — come, now, 
 ye'll aw allow that. An' what might ye 
 give for t' horse, Mr. Oliphant, if it's a fair 
 question V 
 
 " I gave thirty pounds, Richard." 
 " What, for Isaiah's horse ? Why, it 'ud 
 be dear at fifteen ! Lord, Lord, I niver 
 knew sich a thing !" Dick enjoyed the 
 joke a good deal though, to judge by his 
 frequent chuckling. 
 
 "Well, I cannot yet imagine, Richard, 
 that he will keep money so dishonestly 
 got," said Mr. Oliphant ; " I think he will 
 bring it back in the morning." 
 
 "Ye think what?" exclaimed Dick, in 
 utter amazement. " Excuse me, Mr. Oli- 
 phant, but ye mun hev a slate off yer 
 heead, to think o' sich a thing. Whaiver 
 'ud dream o' gitting butter out of Isaiah 
 Ducksberry's throoat V 
 
 "Is he so notorious a character ?" 
 " He is that. What, did ye niver hear 
 
 18—2 
 
276 Mr. Oliphant discourses on 
 
 what lie did at Langpreston market ? He 
 hed a cartload o' taties 'at wor aw bad, an' 
 lie tliowt he'd tak 'em a good bit off where 
 he warn't sae well known; sa he carried 
 'em to Langpreston market. ' But are 
 they good uns, Isaiah ?' they axed afore 
 they bowt 'em. ' We've never had such a 
 lot about the place before,' says Isaiah ; an' 
 wi' that they bowt 'em — he seld ivery 
 taty afore they knew ought about it. An' 
 just as he wor driving off haam, yan on 'em 
 'at wanted some mair, axed him if he'd be 
 that way again soon. ' I dare say I may, 
 friend,' says he, soft like, 'by the time 
 thee wilt want more.' And they niver 
 guessed ought wor wrang till they boiled 
 'em. Aa, he's a clever chap, is Isaiah; he'd 
 talk t' hind leg off a jackass." 
 
 " Well, I shall see my lawyer about the 
 matter, Richard." But Mr. Oliphant's law- 
 yer gave him cold comfort on this occasion, 
 and Isaiah retained his thirty pounds in 
 
The Morality of Horse- Dealing. '2^77 
 
 peace. He even felt so grateful to Jabez 
 that lie referred frequently to a circum- 
 stance which that gentleman, with a silence 
 that did him honour, never mentioned — 
 viz. the fact of Mr. Oliphant's having gener- 
 ously given him five pounds more for the 
 horse than he had asked for it. Jabez per- 
 haps did not know the flattering way in 
 which Isaiah spoke of him behind his back, 
 for he resolutely struck the Quaker's name 
 off the list of the S. P. Y. 
 
CHAPTEE lY. 
 
 AN ADVENTURE. 
 
 rpHE lunch in front of the waterfall went 
 off merrily. Kate was in high spirits, 
 and flung her good-natured badinage at 
 each of her guests in turn. She spared 
 Fothergill, indeed, contrary to her usual 
 habit, but, on the other hand, she was 
 merciless to Holden, with whom her lady- 
 ship was really angry, she could not tell 
 why, except that, since his interview with 
 Fothergill, he had been perceptibly re- 
 served with her, and was still more so to- 
 day. 
 
 When the meal was over, Frank took out 
 his water-colours and began a rough sketch 
 
An Adventure. 279 
 
 of the view before him. The scene was 
 ce]'tauily a grand one, for there had been 
 two or three days' rain, and the stream was 
 in full force. Dkectly in front it threw it- 
 self down a precipice of nmety feet, broken 
 only by a few sharp rocks, on which part of 
 the descending water struck and was in- 
 stantly dashed mto spray, while the main 
 body of the torrent rushed down unbroken 
 to the deep circular pool below. Even 
 there, so great was the speed and mass of 
 the falling stream, that it forced its way 
 do^Ti still, and then, bounding up again 
 with much angry foam and bubbling, spread 
 itself out in waves that grew less in height 
 as they widened till they sank altogether 
 in the still and terribly dark water at the 
 sides of the pool below the clijffs. The pic- 
 ture was completed by a semicircular wall 
 of grey limestone, two hundred feet high, 
 and varied here and there by a stunted 
 yew or mountain-ash that had contrived in 
 
280 Jahez Oliphant . 
 
 some strange way to get foothold in the 
 crevices far overhead. 
 
 "What colour, Miss Oliphant, do you 
 think one should paint yon v^^ater in the 
 middle of the fall T asked Frank. 
 
 "Violent green, to be sure, Mr. Holden. 
 Pray do not talk any more ' shop.' " 
 
 " Kate !" remonstrated Dora. 
 
 " That is the one advantage," replied 
 Holden, laughing, " which you amateurs 
 have over us professionals : we must talk 
 and think ' shop ' all day." 
 
 " Think it as much as you like — nobody 
 will care ; only do not give us the benefit 
 of it. If you will talk, give us a glowing 
 description of the waterfall. You might, 
 perhaps, make yourself amusing in that 
 way, instead of brooding over that water- 
 colour." 
 
 " Certainly," replied Frank, taking up 
 with imperturbable good-humour the chal- 
 lenge thus scornfully thrown down, "if you 
 
An Adventure. 281 
 
 think such a description would please any 
 one." 
 
 " What you have before you, ladies and 
 gentlemen/' he continued, quietly going on 
 with his painting as he talked, "is a 
 mighty temple, divinely beautiful, as you 
 see, and one of the most ancient in the 
 world. It was built ages and ages of im- 
 measurable aeons before man had a history 
 or was thought of, in the dim nebulous era 
 before time was, and when there were 
 strange races on a strange earth. The 
 architects were tiny beings that laid the 
 foundation-stone at the bottom of the sea, 
 and, cheered in their green twilight only 
 by the faint murmurs of the waves over- 
 head, reared the walls painfully and lovingly, 
 course by course, — giving their lives, mil- 
 lions of them, to the task ; the bones of 
 countless generations are built into the 
 great structure just where they died at 
 their work. When the rough masonry was 
 
282 Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 done at last, the gnomes, that have supre- 
 macy over the fires underground, lifted the 
 thing up, as it was, on their huge shoulders, 
 and by main strength raised [it from the 
 silent sea-bed and placed it here for the 
 winds to harden, and the rains to polish, 
 and the lightnings to chisel out into arch, 
 architrave, and column. Thus all the ele- 
 ments contributed their part to form or 
 beautify the great building, and, in the 
 course of a few millions of centuries more, 
 it was pretty nearly as complete as you see 
 it now, — with its vast and solemn amphi- 
 theatre — its long arcades rich in all glo- 
 rious fretwork and tracery — its cyclopean 
 buttresses stage on stage — its aspiring 
 towers, battlements, and pinnacles above — 
 its vaults of gloom underneath, and the 
 glittering mosaic of its many-tinted waters. 
 " The worshippers at this temple. Miss 
 Mansfield, are the Spirits of the Earth ; 
 what seems to us spray is the incense they 
 
An Adventure. 283 
 
 are offering ; and what we think the thun- 
 der of the water-fall is their prayer, goin^ 
 np for ever and ever to the throne of God." 
 
 " There will be some painters for the 
 shrine, you will see, Dora," said Kate aloud. 
 
 " There are six, Miss Oliphant," replied 
 Frank, " and all immortal, — the minister- 
 ing priests of the Almighty, Spring and 
 Summer, Autumn and Winter, with their 
 attendant Levites, Day and Night. Each 
 of these comes in due order and succession 
 to touch the walls and the rich hangings of 
 the temple with his own colours. Their 
 styles are widely different, but they are all 
 great artists, and their work is so beautiful 
 that you always like the last painting of 
 the temple best. Autumn, as you see, 
 prefers gorgeous purples blending with 
 russet, and gold, and green, and every 
 colour of the rainbow. Night is all for 
 dark grey ; while Winter, who is an old 
 fellow, uses a great deal of flake- white." 
 
284 Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 " Poor things, what confusion and quar- 
 relling there must be among the six artists T 
 said Kate. 
 
 " None whatever ; each of them knows 
 his time, and they are all gentlemen," re- 
 turned Frank with a sly glance ; and Miss 
 Oliphant blushed a little, not quite know- 
 ing whether the last word was a hit at 
 herself through the sex. 
 
 " But I say, Holden, have they no ser- 
 mons ?" asked the parson. 
 
 " Unless you favour them sometimes 
 when you are here fishing by yourself, Tru- 
 man, I believe no sermons are ever preached 
 in the temple. Instead, there is music, 
 sweet and solemn, played by spirits far 
 away beneath the amber waters in the 
 recesses of the inmost shrine. The strains 
 never cease, inextricably linked together 
 night and day with surge and swell, vibra- 
 tion and ' dying fall ' — but all of it is be- 
 yond comparison of mortal instruments." 
 
An Adventure. 285 
 
 " Rather monotoiious, though, the music," 
 is it not V asked Fothergill, with a yawn. 
 
 " Ah, that is because a single bar of 
 their music lasts much longer, of course, 
 than an ordinary man's life. We cannot 
 measure their time by ours, you see ; but 
 if you come again in a hundred thousand 
 years or so — you'll be transformed, Fother- 
 gill, into a good-natured cherub by that 
 time" (this [parenthesis excited a little 
 laughter at the cynic's expense) — " why, 
 the spirits will probably have finished this 
 tune and begun another. Nor again is 
 this beautiful drapery of trees, ferns, and 
 grass, the usual state of the temple : true, 
 these were there long before man crept 
 from the dust of earth, but they are only 
 up for a day after all — one of the gala days 
 of the immortals ; just as your church at 
 Christmas, Truman, is hung for a single 
 morning with ivy, which is taken down the 
 next." 
 
286 Jabez Oliphant 
 
 " Ye-rygood," applauded the incumbent, 
 seeing that Holden had done ; " you've 
 only made one omission that I can tell ; 
 youVe said nothing about the swarms of 
 trout there are in the pool ; now to my 
 mind, they're the most important part of 
 the whole thing." Then,, as evening was 
 coming on, it was decided that after walk- 
 ing round to look at the Force from 
 above, the party should return to the car- 
 riages. 
 
 '^ How harsh you were to Mr. Holden, 
 Kate," said Dora, as she made her way by 
 her friend's side up the slope of the glen ; 
 " I am sure he must feel your sarcasms very 
 much." 
 
 " I only hope he does ; but never fear, he 
 has the hide of a rhinoceros, that man. I 
 dislike him." 
 
 "0 Kate, why?" 
 
 " Well — well — never mind why ; did my 
 wise little Mentor never find out that I am. 
 
A)i Adventure. 287 
 
 ^vretcliedly capricious ? It is one of my 
 whims." 
 
 " Nay, you are not capricious, and I never 
 knew you severe on any one before, except 
 indeed the three saints." 
 
 Kate laughed. " Yes, that was very 
 good fun, and they deserved it. But why 
 does Mr. Holden, after being so pleasant at 
 
 first, why does he but he is not worth 
 
 talking about. Dear me, how steep it 
 is !" 
 
 " He is worth talking about," answered 
 the other, determined in her gentle way to 
 set the world to rights. " There are very 
 few gentlemen who would have taken so 
 quietly the sharp things you said to him ; 
 and his description of the waterfall, so far 
 as I could understand him, was very fine 
 indeed." 
 
 " Florid, very ; and all from Ruskin, 
 whom he swears by — only spoiled in the 
 stealing. You have a pretty brooch there." 
 
288 Jabez Ohphant. 
 
 " You must have seen my brooch a hun- 
 dred times, Kate." 
 
 *' Perhaps I have. — And you really think 
 I did manage to gall him a little V 
 
 " Surely you saw that yourself/' 
 
 " Then I am very glad, and I'll do it 
 again," said the other sharply ; but Dora 
 thought it best to be silent whilst her 
 friend was in this strange mood. 
 
 After half an hour's climb, the party stood 
 near the place where the water began its 
 descent. From this position they could 
 only see part of the fall, the lower half 
 being hidden by projecting rocks and clouds 
 of spray : but perhaps the very mystery 
 made the scene more striking, and they 
 loitered about admiring the furious unhesi- 
 tating plunge of the torrent into what now 
 appeared a bottomless pandemonium ; the 
 cliffs and winding glen below being dark- 
 ened and made more terrific by the failing 
 twilight. 
 
An Adventure. 289 
 
 Holden had seated himself on the bank 
 '*to catch a grand bit of colour," and 
 Fothergill had wandered forty or fifty yards 
 up the stream to indulge his own reflec- 
 tions, when the attention of both was 
 aroused by a plunge, heard above the mono- 
 tonous roar of the fall. Screams followed, 
 and one terrified shriek, in which Fother- 
 gill recognised Miss Mansfield's voice : 
 "Help, help — for God's sake, help, Mr. 
 Fothergill." 
 
 William ran to the place where a fright- 
 ened group was collected on the bank, and 
 there was Dora with the rest of the ladies, 
 one or two on their knees, some screaming, 
 some rushing here and there, but all very 
 pale and looking hard at the same point in 
 the stream. 
 
 "There — there, Mr. Fothergill," cried 
 Dora, pointing as he came up breathless ; 
 and as he looked he perceived something in 
 the water with a white patch or face 
 
 VOL. I. 19 
 
290 Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 attached — another eddy of the stream 
 turned the white face towards him, and he 
 saw it was Kate's. 
 
 She was always too venturesome, and to 
 get a better view of the fall, had been 
 standing on the very edge of a rock which 
 overhung the stream. The rock gave way, 
 and there she was. 
 
 As Wilham sprang from the group to 
 the point opposite the unhappy girl, he 
 hesitated what to do. The torrent was 
 several yards in breadth, and though only 
 four or five feet deep was boiling along 
 with a speed and fury that would sweep 
 the strongest man off his feet. Even an 
 attempt to swim it seemed the wildest 
 folly ; for not more than seven or eight 
 yards away was the fall, and any one 
 going over would either strike the rocks 
 half-way down or be drowned at the bot- 
 tom. Towards the brink, too, the stream, 
 as if gathering speed for its leap, was 
 
An Adventure. 291 
 
 hurrying on faster and faster every 
 yard. 
 
 " If there were the most infinitesimal 
 
 chance of saving her or, ah, if she had 
 
 even accepted him !" 
 
 So Fothergill hesitated amid overwhelm- 
 ing and conflicting emotions during the few 
 seconds ^in which he had to make up his 
 mind ; and he was only like the rest. 
 Highside was gesticulating like a madman 
 and appeahng to his neighbours, "What 
 must we do ? Can't you suggest any- 
 thing ?" The incumbent (there is always 
 a touch of the comic in nature's tragedies) 
 kept ejaculating to the poor girl herself, as 
 he trotted alongside, " Oh dear. Miss Oli- 
 phant ! Oh dear. Miss Oliphant 1" as if his 
 pity could stop her. So with most of the 
 others. But as William almost decided on 
 the fatal leap, the sound of some one else 
 plunging in told him that he was antici- 
 pated. 
 
 19—2 
 
292 Jahez OlipJiant. 
 
 It was the artist. Like Fothergill, he 
 had heard the first shrieks, and being 
 nearer had partly seen the cause. To 
 throw down his sketch and reach the people 
 on the bank, to hear it was Miss Ohphant, 
 and then to burst through them, and keep- 
 ing his eye steadily on Kate, to dart ahead 
 of the runners and her, was all the work 
 of a moment. He stands now an instant 
 on the edge, but it is not in hesitation. He 
 has already made up his mind to rescue 
 her or die, but he is measuring the difficul- 
 ties and surveying any possible chance of 
 escape there may be in that seven or eight 
 yards of roaring water. He was never 
 more cool in his life. 
 
 Within two feet of the brink of the 
 waterfall there was a pole as thick as a 
 man s arm, and stretching horizontally from 
 bank to bank. It was about three feet 
 above the stream, and no doubt had been 
 put there by some farmer to support a 
 
An Adventure. 293 
 
 movable water-gate, for the pui'pose of 
 stopping sheep from being washed over the 
 Force. In summer, when the stream was 
 nearly dry, the contrivance was probably 
 successful ; but the man must have been a 
 Reinsber carle .indeed if he thought it 
 could be of any use in a flood like this. 
 The gate itself had been swept away, very 
 likely in the first ^ fresh,' but the larch-pole 
 from which it hung was still there, and ap- 
 parently well fixed in the rocks at each side. 
 The pole seemed to be Frank's only 
 chance. His first notion was to get down 
 to it and wait there in the hope of seizing 
 Kate as she passed ; but, besides the pro- 
 bability of missing his aim, the bank was 
 so rocky that he could not have reached the 
 place before Kate was over. Not quite a 
 minute — for actions and thoughts come 
 quick and crowded in such emergencies — 
 had yet elapsed altogether since he was 
 roused by Dora's shrieks. 
 
294 Jahez OUphant. 
 
 He changes his plan — just as the stream 
 brings Kate opposite him — and leaps into 
 the water beside her. Grasping her dress, 
 he struggles madly for an instant to keep 
 his feet : the next, he finds this impossible, 
 and is being hurried along with her very 
 fast ; for the stream, now that it is so near 
 the brink, is running with all the force of 
 a mill-race. But he clasps her round the 
 waist with his left arm, and with the other 
 takes three or four vehement strokes to- 
 wards the'^bank he has just quitted. He 
 has not time for more, but an inch or two 
 nearer the side may make all the difference. 
 
 They are only a yard from the pole now, 
 and with a desperate effort, into which he 
 puts, as it seems to himself, the strength of 
 half a dozen men, he brings his feet to the 
 bottom once more and springs at the pole. 
 He strikes with his side heavily against 
 the wood, and twists his right arm round 
 it. At the same time he lifts up his bur- 
 
An Adventure. 295 
 
 den as much as possible, and gains some 
 support by letting her lean on the pole, 
 which she also grasps by way of seconding 
 his efforts. 
 
 Yet it is the frailest support, surely, that 
 man ever trusted to. It is old, covered 
 with moss, and not very securely fastened, 
 while — what with the rude shock it re- 
 ceived when Holden sprang at it, what 
 with their weight and the force the torrent 
 exerts on it through them — it bends so 
 much that both expect each second will be 
 the last. The water below also threatens 
 to tear them off, and causes a terrible 
 strain on Frank's part to resist it. Still, 
 as its power is rather lessened by the much 
 smaller part of their dresses and persons 
 which is now under water, he thinks, if the 
 larch will only hold, that he may perhaps 
 keep up for a minute or two, but not 
 longer. 
 
 Fortunately it was enough. The rest of 
 
296 . Jabez Oliphant. 
 
 the party, as may be supposed, had fol- 
 lowed them, and Fothergill, Highside, and 
 others, with some difficulty descended the 
 rocky bank. Then, by holding with one 
 hand the branch of a mountain-ash that 
 grew out of the rocks, William got a foot 
 on the pole and stretched out till he could 
 reach Kate, who, owing to Holden's 
 strokes, was not more than a yard from 
 the side. Grasping her under the arms, 
 he shouts out to Frank to " let go," and as 
 the artist complies, swings her clear of the 
 stream at last. Highside seizing an arm, 
 she is soon out of their hands and laid on 
 the grass, amid breathless silence, for there 
 is still another fellow-creature in terrible 
 danger. 
 
 Fothergill turns now to help Frank also. 
 But it is too late. With a sudden snap, 
 the pole, which has been subjected to so 
 hard a strain, parts asunder where Holden 
 is leaning on it, and in a second the two 
 
An Adventure. 297 
 
 bits and lie are hurried over the precipice 
 hke feathers. The momentary passage of 
 something dark down the white wild mass 
 of water is all the horrified party see of 
 the thing, and he is gone. 
 
 They could hardly believe their eyes, till 
 Fothergill exclaimed, in a low, horror-struck 
 voice, " My God — he's over !" Wilham 
 was in imminent danger hunself for a short 
 time ; for, one of his feet bemg on the 
 treacherous larch when it gave way, he 
 found himself suddenly swinging in mid- 
 air, supported only by the branch which he 
 still grasped with one hand. Recovering 
 from his surprise, however, he soon got 
 foothold against the rock, and scrambled to 
 the top. 
 
 Miss Oliphant, though almost fainting, 
 was the first to rouse herself and start off, 
 which she did without a word. They 
 guessed her purpose, however, and followed 
 her — they must at any rate go and look 
 
298 Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 for poor Holden's body. Truman alone 
 found breath to cry out in scattered sen- 
 tences as lie ran, " Don't hurry, Miss Oli- 
 phant, we cannot possibly save him ; you'll 
 only kill yourself, and he is dead by this 
 time, poor, poor fellow !" Kate, however, 
 did not stop, but on the contrary redoubled 
 her speed, and most of the party did the 
 same. Before descending Fothergill had 
 sufficient presence of mind to send High- 
 side to the nearest farm-house for blankets 
 and some kind of drag, on the very faint 
 hope that there might be life in the body 
 when it was found. 
 
 Ten or fifteen minutes elapsed before 
 even the most active could reach the spot 
 where they had lunch, so that when they 
 stood once more by the edge of the pool, 
 an ominous gloom had settled over the 
 place, and they could see no living thing, 
 and hear nothing except the thunder of the 
 relentless waterfall. Though this was only 
 
An Adventure. 299 
 
 what every one expected, there were few 
 who did not experience that revulsion of 
 feehng, that sudden chill of despair which 
 strikes through persons of any sensibility on 
 finding their worst fears confirmed. No one 
 spoke for a time as they looked mournfully 
 at the pool which had just received its victim. 
 
 " I msh they would bring the drags," 
 said William at last. " We shall have a 
 hard night's work. Poor fellow !" 
 
 A response came from a quarter he little 
 expected. 
 
 " Helloa !" cried a faint voice from some- 
 where on the pool ; "is that you, Fother- 
 gill ? You have been a long time in getting 
 dov^n ; but I suppose I came by the short 
 cut." 
 
 There could be no doubt — it was Holden's 
 voice — and, on looking closer, Truman saw 
 the man himself coolly enjoying a pipe on 
 one of the large rocks to which the angler 
 had called attention in the morning. 
 
300 Jdbez Oliphant. 
 
 It will easily be conceived what a sudden 
 change came over the company, and how a 
 shower of joyful exclamations, expressions 
 of astonishment, appeals to him to speak 
 again, questions and advice, was poured on 
 him. 
 
 " I cannot answer quite all that from 
 this rock,'' said Holden, laughing, " but if 
 you'll help me ashore, I'll try my best. 
 Fling me the end of a plaid, Fothergill. I 
 am rather dizzy, and dare not trust myself 
 to swim to land without something to hold 
 by." By these means he was soon ashore. 
 
 " What a comfort a good smoke is after 
 a thing of this sort !" was his first remark 
 as he sat in the middle of the company, 
 which was still lost in amazement at his 
 resurrection. '' I put my tobacco and 
 vesuviatis in a waterproof case only this 
 very morning, Fothergill. How is Miss 
 Oliphant ?" 
 
 " She is here — quite well : but how did 
 
An Adventure, 301 
 
 you get down ? Pray tell us," exclaimed 
 a number of voices. 
 
 " How did I get down ? Oh, partly like 
 an arrow, head foremost, and partly on the 
 pig principle, tail first ; but mainly, I think, 
 on no system at all. The fact is, I don't- 
 remember much of it, except that I was 
 shot along like an Enfield bullet, and then 
 went whirling round and round, blinded 
 Tvdth being in the water, and deafened with 
 the noise, and that I held my breath as my 
 best chance, and at length came head-first 
 souse into the black pool at the bottom. 
 When I rose, by great good luck, I was 
 close to one of Truman's rocks ; I don't 
 think I could possibly have reached it if it 
 had been more than a stroke or two away. 
 Well, I scrambled up that, and looked up 
 at the fall philosophically, and then down 
 at the pool, to see if I could find any of the 
 parson's trout, and I don't believe there are 
 any. I thought you would come down 
 
302 Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 before long to look after me, but I did not 
 hear you till you spoke : I have not got the 
 water out of my head yet, and I am rather 
 tired." 
 
 In spite of his liveliness, Holden soon 
 gave proof of his last assertion by fainting 
 outright; and Fothergill, after feeling his 
 pulse, looked grave, and ordered the men who 
 had now arrived with the ropes to convey 
 him to one of the carriages forthwith. The 
 party drove home, therefore, in a sober 
 mood. Kate herself, though she had borne 
 up with astonishing courage, and had never 
 lost her presence of mind throughout, was 
 very thoughtful, and scarcely said a word 
 to any one, except when Dora was bidding 
 her good-night. Then Miss Oliphant said, 
 with her eyes full of tears, " Good-night, 
 dear ; I was very wicked." 
 
 Mr. Oliphant was unaffectedly thankful, 
 both for Kate's wonderful preservation and 
 the courage Frank Holden had displayed. 
 
An Adventure. 303 
 
 He made a grand and beautiful oration to 
 that effect to the artist, as he was brought 
 in wrapped in the blankets — an oration ex- 
 pressive of his royal gratitude, and his 
 admiration of such daring conduct. The 
 speech was in Mr. Oliphant's best style, 
 but he did not discover till the peroration 
 that it was completely thrown away, as the 
 subject of his panegyric was still insensible. 
 As for Mrs. Oliphant, she remarked that 
 "it was really very good of the young- 
 man. '^ Fothergill laughed out to her face, 
 and replied, " He should rather think it 
 was — people generally did think twice be- 
 fore they shot waterfalls a hundred feet 
 high." And Mrs. Oliphant coloured, and 
 thought WilHam one of the rudest men she 
 had ever known. She also thought, but 
 did not say, that the party might as well 
 have left Mr. Holden at the farm-house, in- 
 stead of giving her all the trouble of 
 nursing him at Reinsber Hall. However, 
 
304 Jdbez OUphant. 
 
 when Frank was carried to his room and 
 examined, it was found that he had suffered 
 very serious damage, his ribs being crushed 
 in to some extent either by the force with 
 which he came against the pole, or by his 
 touching the rocks in his descent. Whether 
 Mrs. Ohphant liked it or not, therefore, he 
 had to be nursed with the greatest cafe 
 during some weeks, and for that time was. 
 confined to his room. Meanwhile, as sick 
 beds are proverbially tedious, we return to- 
 Mr. Oliphant. 
 
' CHAPTER y. 
 
 REFORMS. 
 
 "l^rOTHING is more likely to make a 
 ■^ ^ prince esteemed," says Macliiavelli, 
 " than extraordinary actions ;" and such 
 seems to have been the maxim on which 
 Jabez OHphant acted. The present may, 
 perhaps, be considered the happiest period 
 of his reign, for his enemies were extinct, 
 and his superior wisdom and generosity 
 were the wonder of Reinsber : yet, such 
 was the energy of his genius, and so vast 
 his beneficence, that he was labouring night 
 and day to find fresh methods for correcting 
 the faults of every one around him. Of 
 VOL. I. 20 
 
306 Jahez OlipJiant. 
 
 these toils, whicli would fill volumes, a very- 
 few examples must sufiice. 
 
 That nothing might be wanting on his 
 part to promote that humility in which the 
 Reinsber spirit was so deficient, Mr. Oli- 
 phant resolved to give his neighbours a 
 striking example of the great Christian 
 virtue by taking his place some Sunday 
 morning in the free sittings, which were 
 only occupied, as a rule, by the poorest 
 class. " I may talk for ever about humihty, 
 and they will not understand me," he said ; 
 " but if the poor see a rich man like 
 me actually sitting among themselves, 
 they will at least know what the word 
 means." 
 
 Accordingly, instead of escorting Mrs. 
 and Miss Oliphant as usual to the great 
 Hall pew, which we have already described, 
 Jabez left them, and, waiting till the church 
 was full that the example might be more 
 impressive, entered by the main door at 
 
Reforms. 307 
 
 ttie farther end, as lie would then have to 
 traverse the central aisle. He was glad to 
 see that the congregation watched him as 
 he walked majestically forward, preceded 
 by a tall footman in the Oliphant Hvery 
 (blue and silver, with white stockings), and 
 followed at equal distance by another, who 
 carried a blue velvet church service with 
 silver clasps. Jabez stopped at the free 
 pew which seemed most conspicuous, and 
 the first footman held the door till his 
 master seated himself, while the other 
 placed the book on the ledge, and, taking 
 Mr. OHphant's hat, withdrew with his 
 fellow-servant to another sitting. There 
 were already in the pew, when Jabez en- 
 tered it, a wheezy old man in fustian, and 
 two or three poor women, who seemed 
 struck dumb by the splendid apparition, 
 and conducted themselves with much de- 
 corum during the whole of the service. 
 Mr. Truman from long habit always 
 
 20—2 
 
308 Jahez Olipliant. 
 
 waited till the Hall pew was occupied be- 
 fore lie commenced the service, and, as he 
 had not been in the church at the time of 
 Mr. Oliphant's entrance, and did not see 
 him in his usual place, he seemed doubtful 
 about beginning. Jabez, therefore, with 
 great kindness, slightly rose and bowed to 
 him from his new seat, as an intimation 
 that he wa& present ; on which the parson, 
 with a Httle blush, probably at his own in- 
 advertence, gave out the hymn without 
 more ado, — Mr. Oliphant joining in the re- 
 sponses with a very loud voice, for he 
 wished to teach his poorer neighbours their 
 duty in this respect also. "When the cere- 
 mony was over, the footmen returned with 
 Mr. Oliphant's hat and escorted him out as 
 before. 
 
 I have been thus particular in recording 
 every circumstance of this remarkable act 
 of condescension, because it was the subject 
 of much criticism at Reinsber, from Fother- 
 
Reforms. 309 
 
 gill especially, whose tongue, since he had 
 failed with the niece, was set loose about 
 the uncle. 
 
 *' Tut, tut ! Oliphantiasis — sheer Oliphan- 
 tiasis, all this — that's the best word for it," 
 he growled to the parson. '' It is not the 
 humdrum philanthropy of small things, like 
 thine, friend Truman, nor a curse-and-give 
 philanthropy like my own ; — still less, the 
 white-waistcoat sort that, out of the guinea 
 it gives, spends a pound on turtle-soup for 
 itself, and a shilling on the waiter. No ; 
 Mr. OHphant's philanthropy is a turkey- 
 cock kind of his own : it would raise the 
 poor — but only with a pair of tongs, and in 
 case they behave pretty, and touch their 
 caps to him." 
 
 Jabez, however, was confirmed in his 
 opinion that the example had done some 
 good by the eulogies of an old bed- 
 ridden woman named Tennant, a pensioner 
 of the Hall, who declared to him that " she 
 
310 Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 liad niver heard o' sich a nice kind thing 
 as his going an' sitting amang t' poor folk, 
 just as yan o' thersels, hke ; an people 
 had talked a deal about it too." He was 
 weU satisfied, therefore, though he used to 
 complain afterwards both about the hard- 
 ness of the wooden seat and the stench of 
 fustian which he discovered in the pew ; 
 nor did he consider it necessary to repeat 
 the experiment. 
 
 A few days afterwards, Mrs. Doolittle 
 informed the village that Mr. Oliphant had 
 been giving her husband a lesson in polite- 
 ness. Jabez had already presented every 
 householder in Reinsber with a copy of 
 Lord Chesterfield's Letters ^ as the best 
 theoretical exposition we have ; but he felt 
 it would be well if some of the villagers 
 were also instructed practically in good 
 breeding. 
 
 " The perfect man of the world, Mr. Doo- 
 little," he said, after he had opened his 
 
Reforms. 311 
 
 business to the awe-struck little grocer, 
 " such as I wish you and the other inhabi- 
 tants of Heinsber to become, combines an 
 easy assurance with gentle manners. He 
 is neither bashful nor boisterous, speaks 
 not of himself at all, and sparingly of others, 
 unless he can say something in their praise. 
 He neither gives offence nor takes it — is 
 always ready, never anxious to talk — wish- 
 ful to please, but not officious. To his 
 superiors he is respectful without servility ; 
 to his equals, pleasant without rudeness. It 
 is said that great people, the Chinese, have 
 no fewer than three thousand rules of eti- 
 quette, to suit every possible occasion. Well, 
 I would not push the thmg quite so far as 
 this ; but it is, at aU events, extremely im- 
 portant to know how to treat with pro- 
 priety those who come to you on business. 
 For instance, Mr. Doolittle, suppose I enter 
 your shop to buy a pound of sugar, how 
 would you serve me ?" 
 
312 Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 " Give you the very best sixpence- 
 ha penny, — indeed I would, sir," answered 
 Tommy. 
 
 "Yes, yes, I do not doubt that; but 
 what would be your deportment to me 
 throughout the transaction ? Let me see 
 you. — Now, I come into your shop, and I 
 say, 'Mr. Doolittle, will you oblige me 
 with a pound of sugar V " 
 
 " Sugar, sir ? certainly, sir ; as much as 
 ever you like, I'm sure," said Tommy, bust- 
 ling nervously to his drawer of double- 
 refined, and taking out a huge trowelful, 
 which he proceeded to weigh and present 
 to Mr. Oliphant, who watched him very 
 attentively, and then taking the sugar with 
 much gravity said : 
 
 "Thank you. — Now the little affair is 
 over, and I am going." Accordingly he 
 walked towards the door, looking to see 
 what Tommy would do. 
 
 The latter said, "Good morning, sir,"" 
 
Reforms. 313 
 
 from behind tlie counter, and thanked his 
 stars he had got off so easily ; but to think 
 of Mr. Oliphant carrying the sugar home 
 himself ! 
 
 Jabez returned, however, from the door, 
 and putting the parcel back on the counter, 
 said to him, " No, Mr. DooHttle, this will 
 not do ; it is very bad indeed." 
 
 " O sir ! indeed, sir, I have it from one 
 of the very best Liverpool houses," repHed 
 Tommy aghast. 
 
 " Pish ! I do not mean the sugar, but 
 your manner of conducting yourself On 
 my entrance you ought to have received 
 me with a respectful bow — thus — saying, 
 ' What can I have the honour of getting 
 you this morning, sir V When I told you, 
 you need not have said I could have as 
 much sugar as I Hked ; for, being a man of 
 position, I was of course aware of that : but 
 you should have proceeded to serve me, 
 quickly but quietly (I observed that your 
 
314 Jabez Oliphant. 
 
 movements were somewhat too hurried for 
 the dignity of perfect good manners) ; and 
 whilst thus engaged you might have ven- 
 tured to make any observation you thought 
 would be agreeable, either on the weather 
 or events in E/oinsber. When you had 
 folded up the parcel, you should have said, 
 ' May I have the pleasure of sending it for 
 you, sir V " (Tommy blushed crimson.) 
 " I should probably have declined cour- 
 teously, and taken my leave ; on which you 
 ought certainly to have come round and 
 opened the door for me, with another 
 bow, as I went out. Come now, let us 
 do ah this properly." And the little man 
 was put through the whole performance 
 again. 
 
 " Well, this will illustrate the way in 
 which you should treat your superiors. But 
 suppose I am one of your neighbours — an 
 old woman, we will imagine, who comes in 
 for half an ounce of snuff. In this case a 
 
Reforms. 315 
 
 civil ' Good morning ' would probably be 
 sufficient for your first address to me. But 
 now — * Will you let me have half an ounce 
 of high-dried, Mr. DooHttle V " 
 
 "What price, please, sir T 
 
 "E/Omember that I am an old woman, 
 Mr. DooHttle," said Jabez ; " you should 
 scarcely call me ' sir,' should you ?" 
 
 " No, sir — yes, ma'am ; shall I weigh it 
 for you, sn* — that is, ma'am ?" asked Tommy, 
 getting fairly bothered in the difficulty of 
 distinguishing between the two characters. 
 
 " Weigh it ? Of coin"se ; what else did 
 I come in for ? You should now entertain 
 me with a httle pleasant chat " 
 
 "Well, sir," Tommy eagerly edged in, 
 " have you heard of our last meeting ? 
 There was James Stott, the reformed pub- 
 lican, the best orator " 
 
 " Yes ; only you should not try to do all 
 the talking yourself, but should make fre- 
 quent pauses, that your customer may take 
 
316 Jabez OUphant. 
 
 her share in it if she wishes ; for conversa- 
 tion is like a game at baU, very poor amuse- 
 ment indeed unless each of the players gets 
 a stroke now and then. When she retires, 
 as she is only your equal, you need scarcely 
 take the trouble, I should say, to open the 
 door; but it would not be amiss to give 
 her a courteous salute from your* own side 
 of the counter." 
 
 " What, kiss her, sir ?" exclaimed 
 Tommy, with a nervous glance at the 
 house-door. 
 
 " No, no," said Jabez, smiling ; '^ by salut- 
 ing, I mean giving her a bow as she goes 
 out." 
 
 After thus fully instructing Tommy in 
 the perfect duty of grocers to their cus- 
 tomers, Mr. OKphant practised him in the 
 art of lifting his hat gracefully. As de- 
 scribed by Mrs. Doohttle, this last scene 
 must have been something like the com- 
 mander-in-chief putting a timid and awk- 
 
Reforms. 317 
 
 ward recruit through his facings ; for Jabez 
 made him stand out and go through all the 
 different movements, correcting him over 
 and over again, till he understood the thing 
 completely. When Mr. OHphant finally 
 took his leave, he enjoined Tommy to prac- 
 tise the bowing when he was in the shop 
 by himself The little grocer, however, was 
 so tn-ed that he positively let him go after 
 all without opening the shop-door for him : 
 but he pretended afterwards to justify this 
 incivihty by saying that he did not know 
 whether Jabez was going out in proprid 
 persond or in the character of an old woman; 
 and the courtesy, on Mr. Oliphant's own 
 showing; would not have been equally 
 proper in both cases. 
 
 One of the points on which Jabez was 
 strongest was domestic economy, and he 
 insisted especially on the saving which 
 might be effected by the very poorest, if 
 they would simply buy goods wholesale 
 
318 Jahez OUphant. 
 
 (say a hundredweight of sugar at a time, 
 instead of by miserable half-pounds, on 
 which an extravagant retail price was 
 charged), and would only learn how to use 
 what they bought so as to make the most 
 of it. On one occasion, calling on Peggy 
 Tennant, the rheumatic old woman men- 
 tioned above, he had the kindness, as it 
 was her tea-time, to show her the best way 
 of preparing the beverage. Goody Hawks- 
 well, who had never forgiven him his intru- 
 sion on her middenstead, and was bitter 
 besides at the numerous visits of the Hall 
 footmen to Doolittle's shop, came in soon 
 afterwards, and when she understood what 
 Jabez was about to do, threw herself sul- 
 lenly in the armchair by the fire with some 
 muttering about "a meddling old fool," 
 which I need scarcely say she took care to 
 make inaudible. 
 
 "I now proceed, Mrs. Tennant, if you 
 notice, to put in the pot only half a spoon- 
 
Reforms. 319 
 
 ful of tea, which quantity you will find 
 sufiicient, in my way, to make an excellent 
 infusion. I then pour in from the kettle a 
 very little water thoroughly boiling, and 
 now place the tea-pot on the hob, where it 
 must stand exactly ten minutes." 
 
 Accordingly he pulled out his watch 
 and, keeping it in his hand, chatted affably 
 during the interval, while Peggy was loud 
 in her praise of his kindness. " To think 
 of a girt gentleman like him takking sa mich 
 trouble about a poor old bedridden woman 
 'at was laid up wi' rheumatis and could 
 get nae good for it, except mebbe a sup o' 
 watter fra t' church-font now an then ! 
 Aa dear, well — she had heard tell o' sich 
 things i' story books, but she had lived 
 seventy and three year come Michaelmas, 
 ^Mii she niver thowt they wor facts till now." 
 " I will get you some tea and let you 
 have it at the wholesale price, Mrs. Ten- 
 nant," said Jabez, encouraged by her evi- 
 
320 , Jabez Oliphant. 
 
 dent gratitude. " I ought to know some- 
 thing about tea, so I shall calculate the price 
 you give, buying it as at present, a couple 
 of ounces at a time, and I will keep the 
 difference for you. I believe you will find 
 the saving amount to something consider- 
 able at the year-end." 
 
 Mrs. Hawkswell, notwithstanding a con- 
 ciliatory remark or two which Jabez threw 
 in her direction, sat fuming in her chair, 
 morose and silent ; nor did she rouse her- 
 self till Jabez, grandly unconscious of her 
 feelings, declared that the ten minutes were 
 up, and turned to her : • 
 
 " Now I will trouble you, Mrs. Hawks- 
 well, to pour the water in from the kettle, 
 if you will be so kind, while I hold the tea- 
 pot, and then Mrs. Tennant shall judge 
 whether our experiment is a success or a 
 failure. Be sure, please, that the water is 
 boiling, now." 
 
 "Ay, ay, ill tak' care o' that," cried 
 
Reforms. 321 
 
 Goody Hawkswell, starting up and seizing 
 hold of the kettle ; " it's as hot as t' owd 
 lad hissel," she continued, and instantly- 
 slapped half the boiling water in the kettle, 
 not into the open tea-pot, which Jabez was 
 holding out with a dignified smile of benevo- 
 lence, but — immortal heavens ! — right over 
 that gentleman's sacred legs and ankles. 
 
 -55- -JS- -5^ -JS- -JS- 
 
 Stately as he usually was, Jabez could 
 not resist a sort of grim howl as the scald- 
 ing water fell upon him. He dropped the 
 earthen tea-pot — shivering it in a hundred 
 pieces on the floor — and clapped his hands 
 first to one leg and then to the other as he 
 hfted each in turn. The pain was horrible, 
 for he always wore low shoes, and his black 
 silk stockings were of the thinnest ; but 
 worse than the pain was the sense of in- 
 jured dignity. There is a kind of fizzing 
 spluttering anger which reminds one of red- 
 liot iron plimged into cold water ; but Mr. 
 
 VOL. I. 21 
 
322 Jahez Oliphant. 
 
 Oliphant's was anger at white heat, and 
 would have required a good deal of water 
 (and that not boiling) to cool it. Goody 
 Hawkswell remained standing with the 
 kettle in her hand, her face very red, — ^let 
 us hope with shame at what she had done. 
 As for Peggy, she cowered trembling in her 
 bed, not daring to speak, but watching the 
 pair and thinking it was all over now with 
 the good things from the Hall. 
 
 Jabez sat down, still rubbing his calves. 
 
 "Mrs. Hawkswell," he said, in a voice 
 trembling mth rage, " did you do that on 
 purpose V 
 
 "And why on purpose, think ye, Mr* 
 Oliphant ?" she answered, with a coarse 
 laugh of defiance. "Ye shouldn't be so 
 meddlesome, and then. Kettles will sHp." 
 
 " If I thought you had dared, I — I would 
 — — " Jabez did not finish the sentence, 
 for he really did not know just at the pre- 
 sent juncture what he could do. Had it 
 
Reforms. 32o 
 
 been a nobleman or a prince of the realm, 
 1ie would have managed tlie tiling ; but 
 how could lie contend mtli this vulgar and 
 abominable woman ? 
 
 " Ye Avould what ?" asked Goody Hawks- 
 well, depositing the empty kettle on the 
 hob, and putting her hands on her sides, 
 her usual mode of preparation for a combat. 
 
 '' I would But pish! you are beneath 
 
 notice." 
 
 "Ay, ay, that she is!" whispered Peggy, 
 plaintively, from the bed. "Dear me, I 
 thowt it wasn't for nothing at I dreamed 
 o' weshing my hands last neght : it's a sure 
 sign of trouble, that is. — Mary, how could 
 ye manish to do it ? — Now do let her rub 
 some oil on yer legs, Mr, Oliphant; do, 
 Jir)w. It's i' t' cupboard, Mary, and there's 
 a leaf o' witch-hazel i' it an 'aw. It'll ease 
 ye, I'se sure." 
 
 " Certainly not, certainly not, Mrs. Ten- 
 nant. We mil try our experiment again," 
 
 21—2 
 
324 Jahez Oliphant, 
 
 lie added, with heroic courtesy, which did 
 not fail him even in this disaster, " when 
 that — that woman is not here. I am not 
 offended with you at all. Good afternoon.'' 
 And Jabez limped off, leaving Goody 
 Hawkswell mistress of the field; for I 
 must confess that my hero on this one 
 occasion got something the worst of it 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
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