Hobbs

“ Mr. Hobbs was well acquainted with the locality of Lisle Court, which was little more than thirty miles distant, he should be proud to accompany Lord Vargrave thither the next morning. But, might he venture, might he dare, might he presume—a gentleman who lived at the town of ——- was to dine with him that day; a gentleman of the most profound knowledge of agricultural affairs; a gentleman who knew every farm, almost every acre, belonging to Colonel Maltravers; if his lordship could be induced to waive ceremony, and dine with Mr. Hobbs; it might be really useful to meet this gentleman. ”

“ Hobbs showed disapproval. "You stop the training," he said, "just as she's getting into the swing of it."
"I understand breaking in colts, I think. I don't want her worried."
"Oh, well, it's for you to say."
"Yes, it's for me to say—yet."
They stood in silence as the stableman led away the colt, then Hobbs said, cheerfully,
"Things are going from bad to worse at Grimstone, they say."
Mr. Jerrold turned to him anxiously. "In what way, Hobbs? I have scarcely seen anything of Vale since his marriage—seven or eight weeks ago, isn't it? ”

“ Mr. Hobbs used to read the papers until his head was in a whirl, and in the evening he and Dick would talk it all over. They found out what an important personage an Earl of Dorincourt was, and what a magnificent income he possessed, and how many estates he owned, and how stately and beautiful was the Castle in which he lived; and the more they learned, the more excited they became.
"Seems like somethin' orter be done," said Mr. Hobbs. "Things like them orter be held on to--earls or no earls." ”

“ Hobbs and Dick sat in the back-room and talked together until midnight.
XIV
It is astonishing how short a time it takes for very wonderful things to happen. It had taken only a few minutes, apparently, to change all the fortunes of the little boy dangling his red legs from the high stool in Mr. Hobbs's store, and to transform him from a small boy, living the simplest life in a quiet street, into an English nobleman, the heir to an earldom and magnificent wealth. ”

“ It's true, too, what you say. But, look here, Vale, are you under the impression that Hobbs is a poor man? That seems a ridiculous question . . . the truth is . . . oh, Lord! I've borrowed money from the man. An uncle died in the Old Country two years ago. Left him rich. I haven't borrowed a little. I've borrowed a lot." He stood shamefaced, like a boy who has made confession, hitting his leg with the stick he carried.
Derek was aghast. "Why did Hobbs stay on then—after the fortune was left him?" ”

“ Hobbs about England and the Queen, and Mr. Hobbs had said some very severe things about the aristocracy, being specially indignant against earls and marquises. It had been a hot morning; and after playing soldiers with some friends of his, Cedric had gone into the store to rest, and had found Mr. Hobbs looking very fierce over a piece of the Illustrated London News, which contained a picture of some court ceremony.
"Ah," he said, "that's the way they go on now; but they'll get enough of it some day, when those they've trod on rise and blow 'em up sky-high,—earls and marquises and all! ”

“ Hobbs turned to the suspected tramper’s sorrowful face and then to his fair pretty child—and his good angel whispered something to Mr. Hobbs’s heart—and he said, after a pause, “Heaven forbid that we should not feel for a poor fellow-creature not so well to do as ourselves. Come in, my lass, and have a morsel to eat.”
The girl did not seem to hear him, and he repeated the invitation, approaching to unlock the gate.
“No, sir,” said she, then; “no, I thank you. I could not come in now. I could not eat here. But tell me, sir, I implore you, can you not even guess where I may find Mr. Butler?” ”

“ Hobbs' latest, a debate fortified by manifold reminiscences of the past and possibilities of the future. It was known in the little street that Nellie Lawton intended taking a holiday with an individual who was universally accepted as her "young man," and Ned's appearance upon the stage naturally made him a subject for discussion which temporarily over-shadowed even Mrs. Hobbs' baby.
"I'm told he's a sort of a farmer," said one.
"He's a shearer; I had it from Mrs. Phillips herself," said another.
"He's a strapping man, whatever he is," commented a third. ”

“ At our second interview he was removing his hat and addressing me as “sir.”
While I have found that I can quite gracefully place myself on a level with the middle-class American, there is a serving type of our own people to which I shall eternally feel superior; the Hobbs fellow was of this sort, having undeniably the soul of a lackey. In addition to jobbing his bread and rolls, I engaged him as pantry man, and took on such members of his numerous family as were competent. ”

“ The Prince of Wales was reduced likewise to quit the kingdom and live at Paris: Hobbs was employed to teach the young Prince mathematics, in which he made great proficiency; and our author used to observe, that if the Prince's application was equal to the quickness of his parts, he would be the foremost man in his time in every species of science. All the leisure hours that Hobbs enjoyed in Paris, he dedicated to the composition of a book called, The Leviathan, a work by which he acquired a great name in Europe; and which was printed at London while he remained at Paris. ”

“ Striking a rock appeared to have stunned him, and a heavy belt of gold around his waist kept him from floating.
“Just my luck!” cried Hobbs, with a melancholy growl, as he shook the water off himself like a shaggy Newfoundland dog. “Just my luck!”
“But you’ve got him after all,” said his companion.
p. 267“Got him!” replied Hobbs sarcastically. “What’s the good of a dead criminal to a live policeman?”
* * * * *
The following day Bertha left Darlinghurst triumphantly on the arm of Professor Norris, who had come to meet her. ”

“ Mr. Hobbs inquired. "I'd like to know more of the particklars."
"There's a story about some on 'em in the Penny Story Gazette," said Dick. "It's called the 'Crime of a Coronet; or, The Revenge of the Countess May.' It's a boss thing, too. Some of us boys 're takin' it to read."
"Bring it up when you come," said Mr. Hobbs, "an' I'll pay for it. Bring all you can find that have any earls in 'em. If there are n't earls, markises'll do, or dooks--though HE never made mention of any dooks or markises. ”

“ Hobbs; but she was very weary and discouraged, and finally fell in with my plans. She accompanied me home, was introduced to Mrs. Hobbs, and engaged my rooms from the following day. As she had a sister, she promised to be a more lucrative incumbent than I; she enjoyed ordering food in a raw state, did not care for views, and thought purple clematis vines only a shelter for insects: so every one was satisfied, and I most of all when I wrestled with Mrs. Hobb's itemised bill for two nights and one day. ”

“ The blare of a motor horn aroused me from this musing, and from that moment I had little time for meditation until the evening, as the Journal recorded the next morning, “had gone down into history.” My patrons arrived in groups, couples, or singly, almost faster than I could seat them. The Hobbs lad, as vestiare, would halt them for hats and wraps, during which pause they would emit subdued cries of surprise and delight at my beautifully toned ensemble, after which, as they walked to their tables, it was not difficult to see that they were properly impressed. ”

“ In a few minutes the horses were separated and Vale's were being led quietly through the break in the fence by the crestfallen men.
Derek could not but admire Hobbs for accomplishing in a flash what all these fellows had failed to do. He came up laughing, his face red, and self-conscious.
"I have to show 'em, every now and then," he said. "But it's nothing to be cock-a-hoop about. Any live man could have done it. Miss Jerrold and her father saw the whole thing. They are in the meadow beyond on their horses." ”

“ Hobbs declares that he cannot live many days in any case, and may not live an hour if another hemorrhage should come on. Will you come with me, my dear?”
“Oh, papa, I cannot!”
“Jennie, how can you be so hard-hearted?” demanded her mother, now entering into the conversation for the first time. “I am ashamed of you, and afraid for you lest you be punished. After the man is dead and gone, and you can never be kind to him again, you will be sorry. ”

“ In consideration of his immersion in the harbour, P.-C. Hobbs was allowed a day off from his duties, and he readily seized the opportunity to pursue his investigations as to the origin of the crime.
p. 39The view of his wife, that the murder was not a woman’s murder, strongly influenced him. He was further impressed in Mrs. Booth’s favour by the fact that popular opinion, backed by Detective Dobell, generally condemned her. Popular opinion, said Mr. Hobbs to himself, is an ass. It sees no further than the end of its nose. ”

“ They put so many door-keys down her back that every inch of her must have been metal-plated.
For a long time Mrs. Hobbs refused to yield to treatment. The burnt feathers made her choke and cough, but she went on swooning, and her eyes remained tightly closed. All efforts to lift her were fruitless. Mrs. Hobbs continued to repose inertly upon her doorstep.
Then some one suggested blood-letting, and Mrs. Hobbs sat up. By the time I had pressed a five-pound note into her hand she had recovered completely. ”

“ Mr. Hobbs said of his wife that she had been in poor 71 health for a year past, and hadn’t been able to keep things in order. When I had examined the pictures I got ready to start on. Mr. Hobbs said there was a hotel a mile up the road. I unhitched my horse, and the little boy, with a lantern, ran before me and guided me through the gateway.
ONE OF THE LITTLE RIVERS
At the hotel, when I had made the horse comfortable in the barn I betook myself to the bar-room, where a brisk open fire was burning. ”

“ In front of the Hare and Hounds had gathered a group of men, and it was easy to guess the topic they were discussing. The superintendent, who did not know any of them, had no difficulty in identifying Hobbs, who looked a butcher and was dressed like one, or Tomlin, who was either born an innkeeper or had been coached in the part by a stage expert. A thin, sharp-looking person, pallid and black-haired, wearing a morning coat and striped trousers, must surely be Siddle, while a fourth, the youngest there, and of rather sporting guise, was apparently a farmer of a horse-breeding turn. ”

“ Hobbs pointed out, should have been sacred.
I bowed my head in shame.
Mrs. Hobbs said she would learn me to chase the poor dumb animal.
The crowd murmured approval.
Mrs. Hobbs remarked that some people were no better than Huns.
The crowd cried, “That's right!” and “Shame!”
Mrs. Hobbs said she hoped that some day some people would be trodden on as she had been trodden on.
The crowd hoped so too.
Mrs. Hobbs been to cry. She said this was the crowning sorrow of her life. Nothing would ever make up to her for the chipped Cupid, and the glass case alone had cost a small fortune. ”

“ Mr. Hobbs had formerly heen wealthy, but he had failed, and afterwards obtained a subordinate situation in the Custom House. Perhaps they expected to return to the south some day; and Ellen's knowledge was quite sufficient for a slave's condition. I was impatient to go to work and earn money, that I might change the uncertain position of my children. Mr. Sands had not kept his promise to emancipate them. I had also been deceived about Ellen. ”

“ Don't go about knocking Americans without first taking a look. Just bear that in mind, will you?"
"The surest way is to listen," began Hobbs loftily, but, catching a look from his royal master, desisted. He proceeded to get down the hand luggage.
At the Gare St. Lazare, Robin had a brief glimpse of Miss Guile as she hurried with the crowd down to the cab enclosure, where her escort, the alert young stranger, put her into a waiting limousine, bundled Mrs. Gaston and Marie in after her, and then dashed away, obviously to see their luggage through the douane. ”

“ Hobbs's young friend left him to go to Dorincourt Castle and become Lord Fauntleroy, and the grocery-man had time to realize that the Atlantic Ocean lay between himself and the small companion who had spent so many agreeable hours in his society, he really began to feel very lonely indeed. The fact was, Mr. Hobbs was not a clever man nor even a bright one ”

“ He seems to want to be let alone."
"The trouble with him," said Hobbs, "is that he was too damned cock-a-hoop in the first place. He was so proud of owning the place, and so sure he could manage his farm, and his stock, and his Indians. He'd take no advice from anyone."
"I didn't notice that. What is the trouble now?"
"Well, Chard tells me that he has been going up to the shack almost every night gambling with his Indian brothers-in-law and Jammery, and getting so full he could hardly navigate his way home. ”

“ It seems that even youthful earls kick the legs of things they sit on;--noble blood and lofty lineage do not prevent it. After looking at those marks, Mr. Hobbs would take out his gold watch and open it and stare at the inscription: "From his oldest friend, Lord Fauntleroy, to Mr. Hobbs. ”

“ In the catalogue of his faults, meanness of spirit and cowardice may be justly imputed to him. Whether he was convinced of the truth of his philosophy, no man can determine; but it is certain, that he had no resolution to support and maintain his notions: had his doctrines been of ever so much consequence to the world, Hobbs would have abjured them all, rather than have suffered a moment's pain on their account. ”