Brindle

“ None of ’em had the fust notion that Brindle and I belonged to this world. I jest turned my head, and passed the hull congregation! I seed the run would be up soon, for Brindle couldn’t turn an inch from a fence that stood dead ahead.
“Well, we reached that fence, and I went ashore, over the old critter’s head, landin’ on t’other side, and lay thar stunned. It warn’t long afore some of ’em as war not so scared, come round to see what I war, for all hands kalkelated that the bull and I belonged together! ”

“ After lying awake for half an hour, thinking over the little adventure through which he had passed, he, too, dozed off, and finally sank into a deep sleep, from which he was awakened by the opening of his door.
"Breakfast in half an hour," said Mr. Brindle, putting his head into the compartment. "How goes it with you this morning, old boy?"
"I feel quite myself," said Hal briskly, sitting up in his bunk. Then, to demonstrate the truth of his words, he stood up. "Yes," he continued, "I feel ever so much stronger than I did last night. ”

“ Brindle was a powerful man, and to be caught in his clutches would be no joke. It was not a pleasant thing to think about, and it troubled the Spaniard. He ground his teeth, and, muttering an oath, whispered in Pedro's ear:
"Keep the revolver," he said, "and give me the knife. Whatever happens, we must contrive to get away."
Convinced by the boots which Hal had placed too far to the right when leaving them in the corridor for the porter to attend to, they crept on a pace, and grasped the handle of the compartment in which Mr. Brindle was sleeping. ”

“ Brindle, with a laugh. "Well, work now is the motto, for when the winter comes there is little to be done. One thing, though, tell all the men to keep their eyes open. You'll remember the Spaniard? He may come our way again, and if he does, it would be bad for us. Do you follow me, Pete?"
The negro nodded his head vigorously, and went off promising to warn the other hands. Mr. Brindle then took his overseer on a tour of the plantations, returning by way of the machinery sheds, which occupied a central position, and which were to be Hal's special care. ”

“ Brindle stalked moodily up and down the deck for several minutes, his hands thrust into his pockets, and his chin resting upon his chest. He was evidently in deep thought, and Hal, with Dora and Gerald close at hand, watched him curiously, wondering when he would commence to speak.
"It is hard to know exactly where to start," he said at last, coming to a stop in front of them, where he leaned against the ship's rail, and producing a cigar, bit off the end with a nervous snap. "It is difficult, I confess, to fulfill my promise. ”

“ Dee did a thriving business. As the afternoon went on she never passed without a car full and sometimes running over. Her face was tense and as often as not she forgot to look up and salute Brindle and me.
"She will be a tired little girl when the day is over," I said to Brindle, and he wagged his tail and snuffled his appreciation of my noticing him. Dee had just passed, the back seat of Henry two-deep with passengers and on the front seat a very dressy looking young woman who seemed to be sitting very close to the stern young jitneur. ”

“ Here again, there being no deception, or, at any rate, only a slight one, for dark brindle is sometimes very nearly black, we can understand how, when black became the favoured colour, the brindles and their blackish-brown parent would gradually disappear. ”

“ These men had no brilliantly lighted saloon for a resort, but human nature is the same under all circumstances. In this locality, like all others, there were two parties, or two spirits—one was to improve the other to degrade society. As we have said, Brindle Bill was the leading spirit of his party. He was always ready to fill the jug and play a social game at cards—he only bet, as he said, to keep up a little interest in the game. Brindle Bill always had a pocket full of money. ”

“ Burnside, near Kendal, was once Brynshead; Brynn, the seat of Lord Gerrard, between Wigan and Newton-in-Mackerfield, was, as I have shown in a previous chapter, anciently written Brun; and, in addition, I have recently seen, in Herman Moll's atlas, published in 1723, this same Brindle, south of Ribble, written Brunall, and, what is still further corroborative, in Christopher Saxton's much earlier map, published in Camden's "Britannia," it is written Brundell, while Bryne and Burnley are spelled as at present. Bryn or bron signifies a little hill, or the slope of a hill. ”

“ You will surely come next Sunday, won't you?"
"Last Sunday I couldn't come, and till next Sunday is so long I can't wait. I have to run away every day."
"Where do you run, Renti? I never see you."
"It is always late when I come, and then I have to go right, back. And you are never here. I run home every day to Lindenhof, and if no one is there to see, I go into the barn and look down through the feed holes at the cows. And Brindle always knows me, and says 'Moo' when she sees me. ”

“ She looked at her husband in triumph.
'Beer!' repeated Mr Brindley with undiminished ecstasy, and drank about two-thirds of a glass at one try. Then he wiped the froth from his moustache. 'Ah!' he breathed low and soft. 'Beer!'
They called the meal supper. The term is inadequate. No term that I can think of would be adequate. Of its kind the thing was perfect. Mrs Brindley knew that it was perfect. Mr Brindley also knew that it was perfect. There were prawns in aspic. ”

“ It is agreed on all hands, however, that whatever the rate agreed upon was, Brindley was not paid, and that his heirs were begging unsuccessfully for his just dues long after his death. In a word, Brindley’s honor as an engineer being at stake, and it being dearer to him than any money consideration, he worked for nothing rather than allow the enterprise to fail. ”

“ There are more brindled cattle than in Aberdeen; some are dark red, and others of a silver yellow or dun. A few are black with white hairs intermixed; and occasionally a beast is seen that is altogether white, with the exception of a few black hairs about the head." [21] Youatt makes no kind of reference to the Aberdeenshire polled cattle, but of the horned ones he writes, "The colour is usually black, but sometimes brindled." [22] Macdonald and Sinclair tell us that "Formerly, both in Angus and Aberdeen, the breed [23] embraced a variety of colours as well as difference in size. ”

“ Before Raff awoke that evening, the fairy godmother, as we know, had been in the cottage, the guilders were once more safely locked in the big chest, and Dame Brinker and the children were faring sumptuously on meat and white bread and wine.
So the mother, in the joy of her heart, told them the story of the watch as far as she deemed it prudent to divulge it. It was no more than fair, she thought, that the poor things should know after keeping the secret so safe ever since they had been old enough to know anything. ”

“ The Thousand Guilders None seeing the humble supper eaten in the Brinker cottage that night would have dreamed of the dainty repast hidden away nearby. Hans and Gretel looked rather wistfully toward the cupboard as they drank their cupful of water and ate their scanty share of black bread; but even in thought they did not rob their father.
"He relished his supper well," said Dame Brinker, nodding sidewise toward the bed, "and fell asleep the next moment. Ah, the dear man will be feeble for many a day. ”

“ You may begin to feed the patient, ahem! not too much, but what you do give him let it be strong and of the best."
"Black bread we have, mynheer, and porridge," replied Dame Brinker, cheerily; "they have always agreed with him well."
"Tut! tut!" said the doctor frowning, "nothing of the kind. He must have the juice of fresh meat, white bread, dried and toasted, good Malaga wine, and—ahem! The man looks cold—give him more covering, something light and warm. Where is the boy?"
"Hans, mynheer, has gone into Broek to look for work. He will be back soon. Will the meester please be seated?" ”

“ Bindle watched the course of the cork in amazement, holding the bottle as a fireman does the nozzle of a hose. From the neck squirted a stream of white foam, catching the lady of the white boots, rouge and peroxide full in the face. She screamed.
"You damn fool!" yelled the man to Bindle.
In his amazement Bindle turned suddenly to see from what quarter this rebuke had come, and the wine caught the man just beneath the chin. Never had champagne behaved so in the whole history of Napolini's. A superintendent rushed up and, with marvellous presence of mind, seized a napkin and stopped the stream. ”

“ Bindle approached the young exquisite.
"There's—er—someone got into my room by mistake. She's in my bed, too. What the devil am I to do? Awfully awkward, what!"
Bindle grinned, the young man laughed nervously. He was feeling "a most awful rip, you know."
"Some people gets all the luck," remarked Bindle with a happy grin. "A lady 'as just complained that she's found a man in 'er bed, bald 'ead and black whiskers an' all, an' now 'ere are you a-sayin' as there's a girl in yours. 'As she a bald 'ead and black whiskers, sir?"
"She's got fair hair and is rather pretty, and she's asleep. ”

“ I am a miserable sinner," wailed Mr. Hearty; "but spare me that I may repent." Then he fell to moaning, whilst Bindle caught a vision of Mrs. Bindle disappearing over the further gate with a startling exposure of white stocking.
"Well, I'm blowed!" he muttered. "Ain't it funny 'ow religion gets into the legs when there's a bull about? Bit of a slump in 'arps, if you was to ask me!"
For some seconds he stood gazing down on the grovelling form of Mr. Hearty, an anxious eye on the [Pg 195] bull which, with angry snorts, was battering the gate in a manner that caused him some concern. ”

“ Entirely unconscious that he was a subject of conversation between the two shepherds of Barton Bridge, Bindle was standing behind a refreshment stall that he had appropriated to himself, surrounded by an amused crowd of revellers.
He was discoursing upon the virtues of lemonade upon a hot day. "Give 'er a drink, sir," he called to one sheepish-looking rustic, who stood grasping in his the hand of a lumpy, red-faced girl. "Give 'er a drink, sir, do, or she'll faint. 'Er tongue's almost 'anging out as it is. Be a sport. ”

“ The ludicrous expression in Bindle's eyes, the unnatural position in which he crouched, his having caught a burglar red-handed—it was all so ridiculous.
Then there came the triumphant sense of victory. The Professor was calm and collected now, as if the discovery of a burglar in his bedroom were a thing of nightly occurrence. There seemed nothing strange in the situation. The things to be done presented themselves in obvious and logical sequence. He was conscious of the dramatic possibilities of the situation. ”

“ How long did the money last, Hans? I could not hear your mother. What did she say?"
"I said, Raff," stammered Dame Brinker in great distress, "that it was all gone."
"Well, well, wife, do not fret at that; one thousand guilders is not so very much for ten years and with children to bring up. . .but it has helped to make you all comfortable. Have you had much sickness to bear?"
"No, no," sobbed Dame Brinker, lifting her apron to her eyes.
"Tut, tut, woman, why do you cry?" said Raff kindly. "We will soon fill another pouch when I am on my feet again. ”

“ Whereat Mrs. Hearty collapsed into ripples and wheezes. Bindle was the only self-possessed person in the room. He regarded his fellow-guests with keen interest, noted the odour of camphor and mustiness and the obvious creases in the men's coats. "Smells like a pawn-shop," he muttered. Then he came to the Rev. Mr. Sopley, a gaunt, elderly man, with ragged beard that covered his entire face, save the cheeks which, like two little hillocks of flesh, peeped out from a riot of whiskered undergrowth.
"'Ow are yer, sir?" asked Bindle.
Mr. Sopley raised a pair of agonised eyes. ”

“ The arrival of one of the superintendents put an end to the dispute; but it was obvious that Giuseppi Antonio Tolmenicino nourished in his heart a deep resentment against Bindle for his unintentioned insult.
"Fancy 'im takin' on like that," muttered Bindle, as he strove to adjust a white tablecloth so that it hung in equal folds on all sides of the table. "Funny things foreigners, as 'uffy as birds, they are." Turning to Scratcher, who was passing at the moment, he enquired, "Wot the 'ell am I a-goin' to call 'im?" ”

“ Hans and Gretel looked astonished.
“Like enough, Raff,” she said, nodding her head and raising her eyebrows. “When a heavy man like thee falls on his head, it’s hard to say what will come—but thou’rt well NOW, Raff. Thank the good Lord!”
The newly awakened man bowed his head.
“Aye, well enough, mine vrouw,” he said after a moment’s silence, “but my brain turns somehow like a spinning wheel. It will not be right till I get on the dikes again. When shall I be at work, think you?”
“Hear the man!” cried Dame Brinker, delighted, yet frightened, too, for that matter. ”

“ To Millie Hearty the world that evening had become transformed into a place of roses and of honey. If life held a thorn, she was not conscious of it. For her there was no yesterday, and there would be no to-morrow.
"My! ain't we a little mouse!" cried Bindle as they passed down the moving-stairway at Earl's Court.
"Oh, Uncle Joe, I'm so happy!" she cried, giving his arm that affectionate squeeze with both her hands that never failed to thrill him. "Please go on talking to Charlie; I love to hear you—and think."
"Now I wonder wot she's thinkin' about?" Bindle muttered. "Right-o, Millikins!" ”