Mr. Hammond

“ Hammond came in sight.
"Howdy, Hammond!" greeted the labor contractor, as he came out of the best-looking house in the clearing. "Why, it's the girls I hauled off the sand bar!" he added, as he recognized Betty and her chums. "Did you get home all right?"
"Yes, and we've come to do as you said, and hire some help for Mr. Stonington," ventured Betty, blushing a bit at her boldness.
"Good!" exclaimed Mr. Belton. "I've got just the kind of pickers you want, Hammond. Quick, cheerful lot of boys, that will work from sunrise to sunset."
"That's what you always say," laughed Mr. Hammond. ”

“ Hammond may satisfy himself as to the union of commerce and literature by simply reading the history of the Medici, where commerce, literature, and the arts made one of the most splendid, useful, and powerful coalitions that ever were seen in modern times. Here is a fine sentence! Mr. Hammond once, when piqued by my raillery, declared that he never in his life saw, or could have conceived, till he saw me, that a philosopher could laugh so much and so heartily. ”

“ The church clock was striking eight as Hammond came at a brisk pace down to the valley. There was still an hour before breakfast, so he took a circuitous path to Fellside, and descended upon the house from the Fell, as he had done that summer morning when he saw James Steadman sauntering about in his garden.
Within about a quarter of a mile of Lady Maulevrier's shrubberies Mr. Hammond encountered a pedestrian, who, like himself, was evidently taking a constitutional ramble in the morning air, but on a much less extended scale, for this person did not look capable of going far afield. ”

“ Hammond?”
“No.” The word was spoken with a touch of disdain.
“Not know Mr. Hammond! Why, I thought Hammond’s ales were drunk in all the clubs?”
“It doesn’t follow that you know a man because you drink his beer. But I have heard of him. Isn’t he rather an outsider?”
The marchioness looked indignant.
“He is run after by all the best people,” she remonstrated.
“Yes, but is he worth it?” returned Despencer.
[8] “He is worth two millions,” retorted the marchioness.
Despencer sat up in his chair and glanced at her.
“Rather a loud kind of man, they tell me,” he observed. ”

“ Hammond, but she resisted every attempt to do so.
"I will save you, my son," she murmured in the ear of the young man. "Your mother will protect you. Oh! if you had never left her side, nothing on earth could have done you harm."
"He is dead!" I heard the doctor whisper; and a thrill of horror went through me. The words reached the ears of Mr. Hammond, and his groan was one of almost mortal agony.
"Who says he is dead?" came sharply from the lips of the mother, as she pressed the form of her child back upon the bed from which he had sprung to her arms, and looked wildly upon his face. ”

“ Nothing has been told me, and it is a matter about which I have conjectured little. But, sir, I have seen Mr. Hammond every day for four years, and I know what I say when I tell you that he loves you as well as if you were his own son. Moreover, he—"
"Hush! you talk of what you do not understand. Believe in him if you will, but be careful not to chant his praises in my presence; not to parade your credulity before my eyes, if you do not desire that I shall disenchant you. Just now you are duped—so was I at your age. Your judgment slumbers, experience is in its swaddling-clothes ”

“ Hammond died in the year 1743, in the thirty-first year of his age, at Stow, the seat of his kind patron, the lord Cobham, who honoured him with a particular intimacy. The editor of Mr. Hammond's Elegies observes, that he composed them before he was 21 years of age; a period, says he, when fancy and imagination commonly riot at the expence of judgment and correctness. He was sincere in his love, as in his friendship; he wrote to his mistress, as he spoke to his friends, nothing but the true genuine sentiments of his heart. ”

“ Mr. Hammond is eagerly expecting you, and it will be a keen disappointment to the old man if I return without you. Is it useless to tell you that you ought to go and see him? You need not hesitate on St. Elmo's account; for unless you wish to meet him, you will certainly not see him. My son is too proud to thrust himself into the presence of any one, much less into yours, Edna Earl."
"I will go with you, Mrs. Murray, and remain at the parsonage—at least for a few weeks."
"I scarcely think Mr. Hammond will live until spring; and it will make him very happy to have you in his home." ”

“ The marchioness suddenly became the great lady. “We are not talking of that, as you know. Mr. Hammond is not one of those foolish young [139] men who marry a girl out of their own class and regret it ever afterwards. You must put that idea out of your head at once, believe me. I am speaking as your friend and as a woman of the world.”
Belle looked at her friend for a moment with a silence that had something satirical in it.
“What is Mr. Hammond’s class?”
“Don’t you know? Mr. Hammond is a millionaire. He moves in the very best society. He could marry almost any woman in England, except royalty. ”

“ Hammond.”
All this time it had not occurred to Belle, in her simplicity, that she could possibly be regarded by the great lady beside her as a rival, and a dangerous rival, to her own daughter. She only felt that something very dear to her was at stake, and she wrestled for it blindly.
“Is that simply because he is rich?” she [140] demanded, with the scorn which youth always feels for wealth.
“Not entirely,” the marchioness answered, mildly, “though, of course, that has a great deal to do with it. But Mr. Hammond comes of a most respectable family, I believe. ”

“ Every man’s character has its weak spot, and this was the weak spot in John Hammond’s. There were moments when he despised himself for the halo with which his imagination encircled the heads of the caste [39] into which he had not been born. There were other moments when he felt inclined to marry the Lady Victoria Mauleverer.
Mr. Hammond entered.
“I’m afraid you find me brutally punctual, marchioness,” he said, in a vigorous, masculine voice that seemed to go through the atmosphere of the drawing-room like a breath of fresh air. “That is the worst of business habits. ”

“ Hammond is ever so much worse. Gifford has been round to the stables to get a groom sent off for Dr. Wilkinson.--I beg your pardon, Lady Mitford,--I ought to have mentioned that Mrs. Hammond's maid is looking for you."
Confusion reigned at Redmoor all that day, which seemed likely, during many hours, to have been the last of Mr. Hammond's life. Sir Charles felt that his morning meditation had had something prophetic in it; here was the other alternative almost within his grasp. At all events, whether he died a little sooner or lingered a little longer, Mr. Hammond must remain at Redmoor. ”

“ Hammond, adding something in a sort of jargon, to which the aged man replied. He seemed more like a negro than an Indian.
"He claims to be over a hundred years old," went on Mr. Hammond, as he and the party passed through the clearing. "And he sure looks it. His wife is nearly as old."
As they went on they heard ahead of them the not unpleasant strains of a negro melody.
"What's that?" asked Grace, coming to a stop.
"We're near Belton's place," explained the foreman. "He keeps quite a lot of hands in readiness, and they pass away the time singing and eating until they're hired. ”

“ The old man had cared so much more than his daughter. So Lady Grainger came to think of Mrs. Hammond as a nice woman.
Meanwhile, Miller's Rise had been thrown open to the young officers of the camp. Sunday after Sunday they came to play on the tennis-courts, to strum rag-time on the drawing-room piano, and to consume quantities of cigarettes. Two pleasant but foreseen results rewarded Mrs. Hammond. The first was that Mr. Hammond became interested in the young men, and liked to talk aeroplanes with Bobby Collins, and machine guns with Captain Lowcroft, and horses with young Staines. ”

“ Mr Hammond confronted them as coolly as you please; he could keep his presence of mind.
“Only gave the fellow a taste of what he deserves. Chap who behaves like a blackguard to a woman wants drowning. Sorry, though, to have had to make a mess with him in a place like this.”
Attendants seemed to be advancing on us from all sides. Suddenly I found that Basil Carter was standing in front of me. He was white with anxiety, or agitation, or rage, or something. He began to order me about as if I were a child.
“Miss Norah, come up to my box, at once. ”

“ Hammond.
The girls were permitted a distant view of the camp, and then they started for their boats, Tom in the midst of the girls, explaining to them his seeming desertion. The Loon was worried over his failure to rescue the unknown young man who had given him money.
"Never mind," consoled Mr. Hammond. "We may find him later. We'll keep a lookout as we go along. If he has any sense he'll get out of this swamp, anyhow."
"I wonder who he may be?" said Grace. "Oh, if only we could go to the rescue of my brother. I wish we would get some news of him."
"We all do, dear," spoke Mollie, gently. ”

“ He gave Despencer a careless nod, and walked [48] across the room to shake hands with Hammond. “How d’ye do? I see you know my women,” he remarked.
“My dear father,” Victoria remonstrated, “if you are not careful you will wake up some day and find yourself covered with moss. Mr. Hammond and I are all but engaged.”
“Victoria!” came in tones of stifled anguish from the marchioness.
“Don’t you believe her, Severn,” laughed Hammond. “I haven’t given your daughter the slightest encouragement—as yet.” ”

“ Hammond was likely to marry Lady Victoria, as, of course, you know.”
“Yes, of course; quite so,” jerked out the [92] alderman, deeply ashamed of his ignorance on the point.
The marchioness heaved a sigh.
“I need not ask if the match had your approval, Mr. Dobbin, because I am sure that you, as a friend of Mr. Hammond’s, must see what an advantage such a connection would be to him in his political career.”
“Certainly, your ladyship. Nothing could be better. It would go a long way in Tooting.” ”

“ She thought of John Hammond, the tall, strong figure, straight and square; the head so proudly carried on a neck which would have graced a Greek arena. The straight, clearly-cut features, the flashing eyes, bright with youth and hope and the promise of all good things. Yes, there was indeed a man—a man in all the nobility of manhood, as God made him, an Adam before the Fall.
Ah, if John Hammond had only possessed a quarter of Mr. Smithson's wealth how gladly would Lesbia have defied the world and married him. But to defy the world upon nothing a year was out of the question. ”

“ Hammond called after him, "is Mr. Thomas in?"
"I guess so," replied Bill, pausing directly in front of Hammond and gazing up at him with a calm, shrewd light in his half-shut eyes. "He seems to stick around pretty close."
"Well," said Hammond, with a heavy frown, "just be good enough to step up and tell him that Sheriff Blodgett and I would like to see him!"
"Step up yourself," said old Bill, quietly, without shifting either his gaze or his position. "You ain't crippled, be you? An' I don't think as your friend Thomas'll fall off'n his chair with surprise if you drop in on him unexpected." ”

“ He had found an extremely well-written letter on his table, signed “George Hammond,” expressing a wish to accompany him abroad, and dated from our house, which he had at first imagined was a jest of mine. “But I find it is from your servant,” he continued, “and I have told him that I can say nothing until I have consulted you on the subject.”
“I am afraid I can allege nothing against it,”
I answered, “if he suits you, and wishes to go. A more trustworthy, excellent person you never can meet with.”
“And what are his connections?” inquired Mr. Jameson ”

“ James Brydges, however, upheld Hammond in a report to Lord-treasurer Dartmouth, dated 11 Nov. 1712, justifying the payments made by him to Portuguese troops (Cal. State Papers, Treas. 1702–7, 1708–14) . At length his affairs becoming hopelessly involved, he judged it best to retire to the Fleet (cf. Lond. Gaz. 3–6 Dec. 1737, p. 2, col. 2) , and was thus enabled to save the remains of his estate for his eldest son. He occupied himself with literary pursuits. In 1720 he edited ‘A New Miscellany of Original Poems, Translations, and Imitations, by the Most Eminent Hands, viz. Mr. ”

“ Shall Fancy, Friendship, Science, smiling Peace,
Thy gentlest influence own,
And love thy favourite name!’ 118. Hammond. James Hammond (1710–1741) . See Johnson’s Lives of the Poets. He seems to have died of love. His Love Elegies, in imitation of Tibullus, were published posthumously.
Mr. Coleridge (in his Literary Life) . See ed. Bohn, p. 19. ‘ [I] felt almost as if I had been newly couched, when by Mr. Wordsworth’s conversation, I had been induced to re-examine with impartial strictness Gray’s celebrated Elegy.’
The still sad music of humanity. Wordsworth’s Tintern Abbey. ”

“ Hammond had always held her head very high in Australia, and spoke of society in England as if she had always mixed on equal terms with the very best county people; though she dreaded and opposed the intrusion of parvenus and self-made men into the charmed circle of colonial aristocracy, and was especially exclusive with regard to her children, she had at one period of her life been on her promotion, and had begun her career as governess in the family of the wealthy Mr. ”