Cuthbert Bede

“ But there are some faces to be met with once or twice in a life-time, which can never be forgotten, but which will rise in all their freshness and beauty before the charmed spell of memory, without any effort or will of our own to call up the several features. And so it was with the lady of my tale. I can see her before me now—"in my mind's eye, Horatio"—as distinctly as I could in my lover's fancy when I walked that night on the sea-beach at Westcliffe, and, according to my wont under great excitement, talked to my Skye-terrier Trap, on the subject that engrossed my thoughts. ”

“ Passing into a hairdresser's shop, bright with gilding and mirrors—neat, clean, and polished, tasteful and elegant in all its appointments, and, in a word, an utter contrast to the poky and dirty "spacious hair-cutting saloon" of the Barham barber, Mr. Bouncer found himself in the presence of the proprietor of the establishment, who was so decidedly French, that, as was soon apparent, he had not picked up sufficient English to enable him to converse with such a true-born Briton as was Mr. Bouncer. ”

“ Dustacre had no such obliquity of vision, but looked straightly and fixedly at the object before him.
Mr. Bouncer rose from his easy-chair, and silently returned the silent bow of the other. The Doctor took a chair and brought it to the writing-table, near to Mr. Bouncer, all the while making an eye-study of his appearance and manners. It was such a skilled, professional study, that it might have been called eye art. Mr. Bouncer had again settled himself in his chair, and began to experience the sort of sensation which a bird is supposed to feel when it is being fascinated by a serpent. ”

“ Bouncer's mind, by the man approaching him with the query, "Refreshments, sir?" and holding out to him, as the most tempting sample of the contents of his basket, a greasy mutton-pie, the sight and smell of which delicacy were not so agreeable to Mr. Bouncer as to Huz and Buz, who tugged and tore at their chain, in the vain endeavour to possess themselves of so choice a dainty. ”

“ It was that little gentleman's misfortune, rather than his fault, that, although he had been taught Greek and Latin, both at school and college, he had never been instructed in the tongue spoken on the other side of the Channel. Perhaps, the knowledge of French was expected to be developed spontaneously, and to come in the course of nature, like the growth of whiskers; but, as yet, Nature had neither favoured Mr. Bouncer with whiskers nor the capacity to speak French. ”

“ Once more I go to Amy's window. She is still there, and, being ready dressed for her departure, I feel almost inclined to propose an elopement on my own account, and so, provide a substitute for the Captain; but my mirth is checked as soon as I have seen her sad, sad features. She weeps outright this time—bursts into a silent agony of tears, that I can well understand. My heart is touched with pity, and I scribble on a piece of paper—"He may not be able to get leave of absence. He will probably come to-morrow night, and I will watch and meet him. Be of good cheer." ”

“ Mr. Bouncer had a general idea of this particular kind of bailiff, whose official duty it is to arrest debtors; but, happily, he had not hitherto formed their acquaintance. Perhaps that uncomfortable experience (so it struck him) was now to be his.
It is said that drowning men can review the deeds of a lifetime in a minute, and that, in a few moments of acute danger, the actions of many years pass swiftly through the brain, as though made visible in a rapidly rolled out panorama. ”

“ Amy's wedding-cards are lying on the table as I write this. I have not yet seen her; but, as they are expected to be at Glenarvon Castle in a fortnight's time, and as I am invited to meet them, I shall soon have an opportunity of judging whether, as Lady Alvanley, Amy looks as sad and melancholy as she did on the nights of my Long Vacation Vigil. ”

“ Mr. Verdant Green had gone through his intuition as an Oxford Freshman so meekly and with such good humour, that Mr. Charles Larkyns, and many others besides Mr. Bouncer, had taken very kindly to him, and were disposed to spare him when the temptation offered itself to make fresh attempts upon his credulity. But, although he had gained a certain amount of experience that would prove of great value to him in his future life, he had abundance yet to learn in that most difficult yet useful study; and it was fated that little Mr. Bouncer should be one of his preceptors. ”

“ He was not only the essence of good-nature, but was also keenly alive to a joke; and the absurdity of the scene through which he had passed was too much for his feelings, as he thought how he and the Doctor had been mutually deceived. The sight of the Doctor standing bowing to him and revealing glimpses of his bald ostrich-egg-looking head, and then covering it up again with his hat, as though he were performing a juggling trick, moved Mr. Bouncer's risible faculties. "It 's as good as a play," he managed to say, between his bursts of laughter; "the richest thing I 've known for a long time! ”

“ But hers were eyes which had a dumb language of their own, far more expressive than even the words of some people's lips; and, when we met her in our walks, those pleading eyes seemed to say to us "I am persecuted and helpless; oh! be my friends!" And her sad, touching look of melancholy would so work on my excited feelings that I many times asked Trap if I should be justified in laying violent hands upon the Dragons, and delivering the unfortunate Amy from their thraldom. ”

“ Of course there was no High-table; any of the Dons, who were still in residence, would dine together on that day; and now Willoughby and Collins were gone, I was positively the only man left up—the only man left in College on Christmas-day! "Ha! ha!" Desolation had marked me for her own.
Our Dining-Hall at Brazenface is, as every one knows, one of the largest in Oxford, and the feeble light from the two solitary lamps only made it appear the more vast and solitary. ”

“ LITTLE MR. BOUNCER GIVES A BREAKFAST PARTY.
ERE are the notes, Giglamps," said little Mr. Bouncer, as he re-entered his friend's room at Brazenface, on his return from the interview with the Hon. Blucher Boots. "I had a squeeze to get them for the fellow cut up rather rusty. But here they are, and joy go with them."
"Oh, thank you, so much!" cried Verdant Green, heartily, as he once more handled the three five-pound notes that had been entrusted to the charge of the son of Lord Balmoral. "You are a real friend. What can I do to repay you?" ”

“ S the mutton-pie was held forth by its owner and vendor for little Mr. Bouncer's approval and purchase, an aroma stole from it that altogether overpowered the sweet scent of the newly-mown grass by which the July air was exquisitely perfumed. Loose-shirted rustics, sweltering in the heat of a noon-day sun, were tossing up and turning over the fragrant shocks of tedded hay in the fields that lay around the Barham Station, doing their best to practically carry out the proverb that directs us to make hay while the sun shines ”

“ But, when my cousin, Captain Alvanley, proposed for my hand, my father would not listen to him; he had set his heart on marrying me to Philip Gurdon, and he would hear of nothing else. He is a kind father, and loves me; but he is cold and stern; and when I wept upon his bosom, he told me that I must marry as he wished me, and must forget my cousin. I pleaded strongly, and with tears; but in vain. Henry, also, had one more interview with my father, but was dismissed—even with insults. ”

“ There are unkind people in the world who would, perhaps, say that it was as bad as fleecing a Freshman; but, whatever they may say, you 've only yourself to thank for it. Ta, ta! my beauty. Look out for squalls." And little Mr. Bouncer left the room.
"Hi! here! wait a moment, you sir!" called out Mr. Blucher Boots, as he went to the door of his room, after a momentary hesitation. "If your Freshman friend don't choose to avail himself of my disinterested kindness, he 's a fool for his pains. It is n't every one who could have had such a good thing offered to him. ”

“ Bouncer's head appeared, made the little gentleman a most profound bow, opened the chaise door for him to step out, and said, "Mr. Bouncer, I ought to have believed you when you told me your name; but I construed your words to mean what, in vulgar parlance, is called 'a bouncer;' and I thought that you were purposely deceiving me. I owe you more apologies than I can express, and I know not how sufficiently to ask your pardon. Through a series of misconceptions, I arrived at the conclusion that you were the young Mr. Winstanley whom Mr. Smalls is entrusting, for a time, to my care as a patient ”

“ He is very shy at meeting strangers; and, perhaps, will avoid you, or not speak to you, if you meet him. It is but right to tell you this, in order to put you on your guard; but you will now understand how matters are, if you should meet poor Tom and he should seem queer." "Poor fellow!" said Mr. Bouncer. "I understand; and I will try not to annoy him."
Then they reached the Woodlands and had a hearty welcome from Mr. Smalls, the Squire. "You must kindly take us just as we are, Mr. Bouncer," he said. ”

“ Bouncer's feelings; but when songs are shouted or yelled at the top of the voice, and without much attention to time or harmony, the result is anything but musical or soothing. Mr. Smirke was there, none the worse for his ducking of the previous day, but already anything but the better for an injudicious combination of coffee and punch. ”

“ It was but a sorry consolation to assure him that, before the end of the Long Vacation, his whiskers would have grown again, and would be as fascinating as ever. As for Paddy, he disowned the deed, and it never could be proved against him.
Little Mr. Bouncer thought of this incident as he was whirled towards his home, and wondered whether his own cropped head of hair would grow as quickly as Blatherwyck's whiskers. ”

“ ECLINING on the grassy slope of Firs Hill were other patients of the Institution, who were not joining in the dance to the music of the band; but poor Mrs. Flabby sat apart from these, and sheltering herself from the hot sun with a large parasol, looked sadly towards the fair stretch of landscape that was spread before her. In accordance with the sanction that he had received from Dr. Dustacre, little Mr. Bouncer went to her and introduced himself, in true English fashion, by a remark upon the weather.
"How highly favoured we are, ma'am; it is just the very day for a pic-nic, is it not? ”