Dick

“ Dick, dear Dick, I can be a good woman for your sake. I know that I am older than you by some years—oh, what do the years matter when the heart has not grown old? Dick, there is not a grey hair in my heart. I have been vain, I know; I have loved seeing men make fools of themselves, but none of them all has ever made a fool of me. No, don’t tell me that I am making a fool of myself before you now! ”

“ Listen to me, Dick. Do you remember one afternoon, when we were riding together, I got ahead of you, and dashed off to the casa. I don't know what possessed me, or WHY I did it. I only know I wanted to get home quickly, and get away from you. No, I was not angry, Dick, at YOU; it did not seem to be THAT; I—well, I confess I was FRIGHTENED—at something, I don't know what. When I wheeled round into the lane, I saw—a man—a young gentleman standing by the garden-wall. He was very picturesque-looking, in his red sash, velvet jacket, and round silver buttons; handsome, but oh, so pale and sad! ”

“ Set both their hearts afire
In one fierce flame
Of quick desire:
Though neither breathed her name.
Then Dick stretched out his hand; and caught
His brother's arm; and whispered in his ear:
"Bob, lad, there's naught to fear ...
And, when we're out, lad, you and she shall wed."
Bob gripped Dick's hand; and then no more was said,
As, slowly, all about them rose
The deadly after-damp; but close
They sat together, hand in hand.
Then their minds wandered; and Dick seemed to stand
And shout till he was hoarse
To speed his winning whippet down the course ... ”

“ Mark that.’
‘D’ye think not?’ said Dick.
‘Aye, I do; and I am certain of what I say, that’s better,’ returned the dwarf. ‘You bring Trent to me. Tell him I am his friend and yours—why shouldn’t I be?’
‘There’s no reason why you shouldn’t, certainly,’ replied Dick, ‘and perhaps there are a great many why you should—at least there would be nothing strange in your wanting to be my friend, if you were a choice spirit, but then you know you’re not a choice spirit.’
‘I not a choice spirit?’ cried Quilp.
‘Devil a bit, sir,’ returned Dick. ‘A man of your appearance couldn’t be. ”

“ He praised my Dick for singing well,
The night Dick took the road to hell;
And when my corpse goes stiff and blind,
Leaving four helpless souls behind,
He will be there still, drunk and strong.
It do seem hard. It do seem wring. ”

“ Dick's first act had been to shave off his characteristic beard and moustache, and even to submit his long curls to the village barber's shears, while a straw hat, which he bought to take the place of his slouched sombrero, completed his transformation. His host saw in the change only the natural preparation of a voyager, but Dick had really made the sacrifice, not from fear of detection, for he had recovered his old swaggering audacity, but from a quick distaste he had taken to his resemblance to the portrait. ”

“ Dick! Her little, laughing Dick—her big, loving Dick. Then she was aware of a gun crashing, a band playing a dirge—the gun crashing again into the music; it was the “minute-guns of sorrow” they were firing. And then suddenly—a shrill sound and a heart-stirring—as they lifted the coffin to the gangway, the boatswain, in the old ceremony of the sea, “piped his comrade over the side.” Step by slow step they carried the lad down and the boatswain’s whistle called piercingly again as Dick, high on the shoulders of eight uniformed men, reached shore. ”

“ The whereabouts of Peterkin;
And, if we found the Flower, we knew
Father would be forgiven, too;
And mother’s kiss atone for all
The quarrel by the rose-hung wall;
We knew not how, we knew not why,
But Dick it was who bade us try,
Dick made it all seem plain and clear,
And Dick it is who helps us here
To tell this tale of fairy-land
In words we scarce can understand. ”

“ Dick nodded assent, and drained his glass.
‘Let them know my humour,’ said the single gentleman, rising. ‘If they disturb me, they lose a good tenant. If they know me to be that, they know enough. If they try to know more, it’s a notice to quit. It’s better to understand these things at once. Good day.’
‘I beg your pardon,’ said Dick, halting in his passage to the door, which the lodger prepared to open. ”

“ Fortunately for Dick, the teacher, Miss Wheeler, was every way worthy of her trust. She had studied the character of every scholar. She loved them and spared no pains to help them to progress in their studies.
Richard, her dear minister's son, was a special object of interest to her. She trusted him implicitly. She was very strict in her government, a little stiff in her manners, but occasionally was thrown off her guard by some witty answer, and laughed more heartily than she herself approved. ”

“ Dick sent up his name, and was conducted by a servant to an ante-chamber. Scarcely had he finished a hasty survey of the apartment when hurried footsteps were heard. He turned. The Count came rushing into the room, flushed and trembling, and without a word threw himself into Dick's arms, embraced him, and kissed him. It was a trying moment for Dick. Nothing is so frightful to a man of the Anglo-Saxon race as to be hugged and kissed by a man. However, Dick, felt deeply touched at the emotion of his friend and his grateful remembrance of himself. ”

“ 'It's rather sudden,' said Dick shaking his head with a look of infinite wisdom, and running on (as he was accustomed to do) with scraps of verse as if they were only prose in a hurry; 'when the heart of a man is depressed with fears, the mist is dispelled when Miss Wackles appears; she's a very nice girl. She's like the red red rose that's newly sprung in June--there's no denying that--she's also like a melody that's sweetly played in tune. ”

“ Fortunately Dick was of an elastic temperament, and the love of adventure and the charm of novelty which the new country possessed for him soon returned to him that zest for life which youth and health seldom entirely lose. ”

“ Because Dick would have wanted it, because she herself must honor these glorious lads who were, each one, somehow partly Dick, she threw herself into the greetings, and many a boy was made happy and welcome by the slim, tall, still-young woman with the startling white hair, who knew so well what to say to a chap. Outwardly all her ways stayed the same. No one of her friends noticed a difference except that sometimes one would say: “I wonder what keeps her going? Does she hope yet that Dick may come back?” Surely she hoped it. She would not wear black. Till certainty came she must hope. ”

“ He had almost gained the door when, to his astonishment, he suddenly heard his name shouted from off on the lake.
“Dick! Dick!”
Dick turned and faced the monster, and, looking over and beyond him, saw Charley paddling the rubber canoe for all he was worth.
“Hello, Dick! What in thunder are you doing there?” yelled Charley. “Look on the shore! Don’t you see?”
Bang! Bang!
At the same instant two rifle shots rang out in quick succession and Dick saw Doctor Dan running along the shore toward the monster. ”

“ Brass a wunner?" said Dick.
"Not half what Miss Sally is, he isn't," replied the small servant, shaking her head. "Bless you, he'd never do anything without her."
"Oh! He wouldn't, wouldn't he?" said Dick.
"Miss Sally keeps him in such order," said the small servant; "he always asks her advice, he does; and he catches it sometimes. Bless you, you wouldn't believe how much he catches it."
"I suppose," said Dick, "that they consult together a good deal, and talk about a great many people—about me, for instance sometimes, eh, Marchioness?" ”

“ They forgave Dick—handsome, rollicking Dick—his passing aberration, his one overt act of treason to their charms, and reflected, with satisfaction, that his married life had been so brief, it might be considered as not counting at all—an episode, not a history. ”

“ In France—seeing things that had brought that new expression to his eyes—he'd tried hard to stop hating Nell's Don; but with her first sob in his arms, he let the hate flame up again, hot as a blast from a well-stoked furnace. He had a right to hate Don now. He wouldn't be human if he didn't!
But Dick was cursed with the unfortunate clearness of vision that forces a man to see both sides of a question, whether he wishes to see or not. People who see only their own side are happier and more successful in their careers, but it had always been like that with Dick. ”

“ A shell fell bursting . . . Where the butter went,
God only knew! . . .
⁠And Dick . . . He dared not think
Of what had come to Dick . . . or what it meant—
The shrieking and the whistling and the stink
He'd lived in fourteen days and nights. 'Twas luck
That he still lived . . . And queer how little then
He seemed to care that Dick . . . perhaps 'twas pluck
That hardened him—a man among the men—
Perhaps . . . Yet, only think things out a bit,
And he was rabbit-livered, blue with funk!
And he'd liked Dick . . . and yet when Dick was hit,
He hadn't turned a hair. ”

“ Dick, ‘a simpleton, a weak-minded person—present company, you know!’ striking himself again, ‘may do what wonderful people may not do. I’ll bring them together, boy. I’ll try. They’ll not blame me. They’ll not object to me. They’ll not mind what I do, if it’s wrong. I’m only Mr. Dick. And who minds Dick? Dick’s nobody! Whoo!’ He blew a slight, contemptuous breath, as if he blew himself away.
It was fortunate he had proceeded so far with his mystery, for we heard the coach stop at the little garden gate, which brought my aunt and Dora home.
‘Not a word, boy!’ he pursued in a whisper ”

“ Dick’s oration was too much for the feelings of his audience. They laughed and cheered at every sentence; and when finally he subsided between his two supporters, quite short of breath, and wondering at the length of his own speech, they forgot the Captain’s rebuke, and finished their howl against Pledge to the bitter end. ”

“ CHAPTER II. DICK AT HOME.
"I'D give a hundred dollars if my boy had been here to see Dick," said Mr. Follinsby. "He'll make his mark in the world. He's got the true grit."
"I'd give ten thousand if I had one like him," said the other. "The idea of Christmas decorations on this hot day!" And he ha-ha'd, till the ceiling rang with his mirth.
"We shall hear of Mr. Richard Monroe Stuart again; or I'm mistaken," he added presently.
In the mean time Dick, who had accompanied a neighbor to the city, hurried back to the main street to be in time to ride home with him in the covered wagon. ”

“ Then Dick with some solemnity put a blue official envelope into his friend's hand. "It's the will, Major. I think it's all right; I got the bâbu to witness it. And of course the--the other--doesn't make any difference. You see I shall write and tell her it is all a mistake."
The older man as he returned the boyish clasp felt indescribably mean. "Don't be in a hurry, Dick," he said slowly. "You can think it over and give it me when you join us, for join us you must. I won't take it till then, at all events. As for the other, as you call it, the mistake would be to have it changed. ”

“ Dick knew he must study hard, and he dreaded it. He looked upon learning as attended with greater difficulties than it really possesses. But Dick had good pluck. He meant to learn, nevertheless, and resolved to buy a book with his first spare earnings.
When Dick went home at night he locked up his bank-book in one of the drawers of the bureau. It was wonderful how much more independent he felt whenever he reflected upon the contents of that drawer, and with what an important air of joint ownership he regarded the bank building in which his small savings were deposited. ”

“ Dick had something else to do than to look after little girls, you know. He looked after the horse, and he played the organ—but he seemed awful pleased to see me, and him and her, they both looked at my locket and twisted it about, and they said to be sure it was the same."
"Had Dick got a little bit of a moustache, and a whitish sort of unwholesome-looking face?" ”

“ The Indian was shaking all over with suppressed laughter, as he cut the cords which held Dick a prisoner.
“Good for you, doctor!” cried Dick, springing up. “What have you been doing; killing old P. D.?”
“Not at all. That one is dead and it is only a fragment,” replied the Indian. He seized the dangling head and pulled and two or three yards of neck came whipping over the rocks and that was all there was to old P. D.
It was all dried up and looked decidedly aged.
“I ran this stick in under the jaw and just shook the head at him,” chuckled Doctor Dan. ”

“ Dick, the quick and energetic Dick, was half-way up hill Puzzle when his brother and sister were only beginning to ascend. His bright young face was flushed, but rather with pleasure than fatigue; he sped on with a light elastic tread, neither panting nor pausing, but bearing the carpet of History as though he felt not its weight. He moved all the more swiftly for seeing that his guardian's eye was upon him, and on reaching the [120] crown of the hill, saluted Mr. Learning with a very self-satisfied air. ”

“ 'I came here,' said Dick, rather oblivious of the purpose with which he had really come, 'with my bosom expanded, my heart dilated, and my sentiments of a corresponding description. I go away with feelings that may be conceived but cannot be described, feeling within myself that desolating truth that my best affections have experienced this night a stifler!'
'I am sure I don't know what you mean, Mr Swiviller,' said Miss Sophy with downcast eyes. ”