Gregg

“ Gregg was a man whose one thought was for knowledge, and I too before long caught something of his enthusiasm, and strove to enter into his passion for research. In a few months I was perhaps more his secretary than the governess of the two children, and many a night I have sat at the desk in the glow of the shaded lamp while he, pacing up and down in the rich, gloom of the firelight, dictated to me the substance of his "Text-book of Ethnology." ”

“ Gregg was not deluding himself that it was over, because Bill was dead and Marjorie was home again with her father; of course it was not over, he was realizing; nothing can ever be "over" in the sense that its consequences become complete. But they can reach periods of intermission, those consequences, when they give you breath and rest, and a chance to get hold of yourself before once more they hurry you on. And so to-night Gregg, like Marjorie since he had taken her home, grasped at this sensation of pause. ”

“ You class Fleetwood with Gregg? The best man in the State with a little beggarly thieving nonentity? It's evident enough you're new at wire-pulling, or you would show more skill at it!"
She met this with a laugh. "I'm not likely to have much practice if my first attempt is such a failure. Well, I will see if Mrs. Gregg will let me help her a little—I suppose there is nothing else to be done."
"Nothing that we can do. If Gregg wants a place he had better get one on the staff of the 'Spy.' He served them better than he did me." ”

“ The picture has never been taken from Gregg’s studio. It still keeps its place over the mantel. There is rarely a day that one of the three does not place flowers beneath it; sometimes Madeleine and Phil arrange [Pg 206] them; sometimes Adam; and sometimes little blue-eyed, golden-haired Olivia is lifted up in Gregg’s strong arms so that she may fill the jar with her own wee hands. ”

“ But no instruction was needed by the horses in front of Gregg. They understood, and scarcely had the other stage turned into the main road ahead when they at one jump broke from a walk into a gallop. George William saw and gave his four the rein and the whip. Glancing back, Gregg watched the whole procession change from a line of decorous dignity to one of active excitement. Dust began to rise, men on horseback passed men on mules; men in buckboards passed men on lumber wagons. George William held the road, and with it a great advantage. ”

“ The Doctor shut the door carefully and lifted a warning finger. "Gregg, this thing must never be known. It must never go beyond ourselves."
"Why not?" Gregg sat down on the couch and twisted his hat idly between his fingers.
"Because," said the Doctor, trying hard to control the twitching of his features, "it's too terrible. What I have seen to-night is not fit for mortal eye to behold. It's inhuman. It's monstrous!" ”

“ Who those persons were that offered Gregg his life, with great preferments and advantages (if he would but accuse his master) may not uneasily be guessed at, for most of the time he was locked up none but people of note, were permitted to come near him, who made him strange promises, and often repeated them. ”

“ Edwin Barley would destroy it," dissented Mr. Gregg. "Nothing can be more improbable. She expressed her happiness at having been able to make a will; her great satisfaction. Who left the keys about, sir?"
"The blame of that lies with Charlotte Delves. It escaped her memory to secure them, she tells me: and in the confusion of the sudden blow, it is not to be wondered at. But, and if the keys were left about? I have honest people in my house, Mr. Gregg." ”

“ Gregg is to go to Neasdon to-morrow from Mitcham; he has dined here once; when his business will permit it I shall see him again. I have already hinted to him what you have desired as to his account. He desires it as a satisfaction to himself as well as to you. Delme does not please him by his conduct in any manner, and I think that he will, if he undertakes anything for him, do it more to oblige you than for any other reason. ”

“ They sat silent for a moment.
"I suppose you're crazy about Rome," said Henry Gregg again. "There's a lot of culture here, and history, and all that; and—"
"I hate Rome!" said Mary Gowd.
Henry Gregg stared at her in bewilderment.
"Then why in Sam Hill don't you go back to England?"
"I'm thirty-seven years old. That's one reason why. And I look older. Oh, yes, I do. Thanks just the same. There are too many women in England already—too many half-starving shabby genteel. I earn enough to live on here—that is, I call it living. ”

“ Gregg. It doesn’t so much matter about Lady Chesterton. She must be pretty well accustomed to handling damp bouquets. But I’d be sorry to spoil Mrs. Gregg’s new gloves. She’s sure to have new gloves. By the way, what’s being done about getting Mary Ellen ready? That girl can’t be trusted to dress herself.”
“Mrs. Gregg is putting the clothes on her this minute,” said Doyle, “above in the best bedroom. She said she’d do it early so as she’d have time after to go home and dress herself.”
“There’s been no trouble with Moriarty, I suppose? ”

“ Adam was in front of him now, his big, broad frame almost touching the intruder. The quick, determined movement meant danger. No one had ever seen Gregg so stirred.
“You will do as I tell you, sir! Leave the room—now—at once! Do you hear me!”
Every man was on his feet. Those who had heard Gregg’s outburst a few hours before knew the reason. Others were entirely ignorant of the cause of his wrath.
“You are not responsible for me or my actions. I’m a man who can——”
“Man! You are not a man, sir! ”

“ Russells inhabited apartments in different sections above here, Gregg knew; he heard about definite ones in half-boastful, half-ashamed•stories told him by some of his friends. Gregg had accepted the fact of them as he accepted other obvious occurrences in life, without thinking about them one way or another. Women of that sort did not appeal to him; they did attract a lot of men, some younger than Gregg; some older; some single, some married; some worthless loafers; some hard workers and men of reputation and ability; some were men whom Gregg did not like ”

“ Her clear, white skin was one of her best features, and she had beautifully shaped hands, which were strong and well-developed for a girl who had never been obliged to work with them. Her arms were well-shaped and so was all her body. But Gregg seldom thought of her as having a beautiful form; he thought of her as able to do well all sorts of active, interesting things and, by nature, requiring something active, and preferably a bit dangerous, on which to spend some of her energy. ”

“ One felt that same quiet strength as the tawny haired man talked to Barry now; his voice was a smooth, deep current. But as for Barry himself, Gregg could not compute the factors which entered into the man. By all outward seeming that slender, half-timid figure was not a tithe of the force which either of the others represented, but out of the past Gregg's memory gathered more and more details, clear and clearer, of the wolf-dog, the black stallion, and the whistling man who tracked down Silent—“Whistling Dan” Barry ”

“ Even in spite of her history Vic would have engaged Grey Molly to beat the roan at equal weights, but since he outbulked the sheriff full forty pounds, he weighed in nice balance the necessity of shooting the roan before he left Alder. It was, he decided, unpleasant but vital, and his fingers had already slid around the butt of his gun when a horse whinnied far off and the roan twitched up her head to listen. She was no longer a cloddish lump of horseflesh, but an individual, a soul; Gregg's hand fell from his gun. ”

“ Simmons pulled Gregg into the group and pounded his back and Gregg pounded other backs in the celebration over the return of Russell to clean up; his friends were for him and no one was more inseparable from him than Hershy. ”

“ The Greggs came to Rome, as has been stated, at two P.M. Wednesday. By two P.M. Thursday Tweetie had bought a pair of long, dangling earrings, a costume with a Roman striped collar and sash, and had learned to loll back in her cab in imitation of the dashing, black-eyed, sallow women she had seen driving on the Pincio. By Thursday evening she was teasing Papa Gregg for a spray of white aigrets, such as those same languorous ladies wore in feathery mists atop their hats.
"But, Tweet," argued Papa Gregg, "what's the use? You can't take them back with you. Custom-house regulations forbid it." ”

“ Beresford has presented his atmosphere—the rooms, the dirty strip of garden, the shabby suburb, the London rain—but beyond all these things is the central figure of Gregg himself. Here is a character entirely new to English fiction—a man who in spite of his degradation has his brilliance, his humour and, above all, his mystery. It is in this implication that, at the very heart of the man, there are fine things too degraded and degraded things too fine for any human record of them to be possible that the exceptional merit of Mr. ”

“ Gregg was a big man, a thinker, a man whose sound sense would succeed in any time. One likens him to the good, sensible business man of to-day, the mainstay of our republic, the practical conductor of affairs.
One detail will serve to show how much in advance he was of his time. In 1846 we find the Easterner, Francis Parkman, and his friend Shaw, killing scores of the great bisons of the plains for no better purpose than the securing of the tail for a trophy. ”

“ Something of her earnestness seemed to convey a meaning to Henry Gregg.
"Just wait a minute, folks," he said to the group of three, and joined Mary Gowd, who had chosen a seat a dozen paces away. "What's the trouble?" he asked jocularly. "Hope you're not offended because Tweet said we didn't need you to-day. You know young folks—"
"They must not go alone," said Mary Gowd.
"But—"
"This is not America. This is Italy—this Caldini is an Italian."
"Why, look here; Signor Caldini was introduced to us last night. His folks really belong to the nobility." ”

“ GREY MOLLY If her soul had been capable of enthusiasm, Mame could have made the trip on schedule time, but she was a burro good for nothing except to carry a pack well nigh half her own weight, live on forage that might have starved a goat, and smell water fifteen miles in time of drought. Speed was not in her vocabulary, and accordingly it was late afternoon rather than morning when Gregg, pointing his course between the ears of Mame, steered her through Murphy's Pass and came out over Alder. ”

“ Gregg, they say the Devil's come to Great Wymering at last. I'm not surprised to 'ear it, for the goings on in this town 'ave been something terrible since the war. What with the drinking and the young people doing just as they like.
"Have you heard anything fresh?" enquired Gregg, pleasantly.
"Only about old Mr. Winchape," said Mrs. Masters, as she packed the tea things. "He's seen the man that knocked the cricketers down with the bat. That is, if he is a man, but they do say—"
"Where did Mr. Winchape see him?" broke in Allingham, abruptly.
"Along the path from Bapchurch, sir." Mrs. ”

“ Educated “pitchers” land on only one foot, so that the shock is accompanied by a terrible sidewise, downward wrench that breaks the hearts of the best riders in the world. Grey Molly was educated, and Mrs. Pym stood in the doorway with a broad grin of appreciation on her red face, she knew riding when she saw it. Then, out of the full frenzy, the mare lapsed into high-headed, quivering attention, and Gregg cursed her softly, with deep affection. ”

“ Alder was Vic Gregg's Athens and Rome in one, its schoolhouse his Acropolis, and Captain Lorrimer's saloon his Forum. Other people talked of larger cities, but Alder satisfied the imagination of Vic; besides, Grey Molly was even now in the blacksmith's pasture, and Betty Neal was teaching in the school. Following the march of the mountains and the drift of the clouds, he turned towards Alder. The piled water shook the dam, topped it, burst it into fragments, and rushed into freedom; he must go to Alder, have a drink, shake hands with a friend, kiss Betty Neal, and come back again. ”

“ For example: "I have told Mrs. Gregg about my plan for a trip for Gregg and herself and offered [Pg 49] to pay all the expense.... I will enclose a check which you can fill out as I have no idea how much it will cost. At any rate please use it and send Gregg away for a while; it will be a benefit to him to travel and be away from servants. Let him look after himself."
She rarely gives advice, but frequently makes friendly suggestions backed by the material wherewithal necessary to carry them out. "I have been sorry to know that Gregg has been having so much cold ”

“ In a foot-note he adds: “The same barbarous propensity is observable in regard to wild horses. Most persons appear unable to restrain this wanton inclination to take life, when a mustang approaches within rifle shot. Many a stately steed thus falls a victim to the cruelty of man.”
In April, 1840, Gregg reached the end of his journey—his last trip upon the plains. He was as susceptible as other men have shown themselves to the attractions of the free life of the prairie, its “sovereign independence” ”

“ Captain Lorrimer, for instance, was telling a jocular story to Chick Stewart in the hope that Chick would set them up for every one; and old Lew Perkins was waiting for the treat; and perhaps the sheriff was wondering how he could handle Vic in case of need, or how long it would take to run him down. Not long, decided Gregg, breathing hard; no man in the world could put him on the run. Glass was treating in turn, and again the brimming drink went down Vic's throat and left his brain clear, wonderfully clear. He saw through Betty Neal now ”