Roy

“ After a time it occurred to him that Faith would be very likely to be in such a lovely place. The swing-doors were always opening and shutting. Roy, watching his opportunity, pushed his way in by the side of a ragged woman and two coarse men. They advanced up to the counter to ask for gin, but the baby child remained on the threshold. He looked around him with the wide open eyes of admiration, innocence, and trust. Anything so lovely gazing at anything so evil had been seldom seen ”

“ From a railroad time table Roy ascertained where he must go, and by the first train he could get in the morning he set out.
“Be very gentle with him, Roy,” his mother said at parting. “By his sending to you he evidently thinks I am greatly displeased with him.”
“Trust me, mother,” Roy assured her with a smile.
He felt very happy this morning, happier than he had, it seemed to him, since they had come into their fortune. Of such worth is sorrow sometimes, to make a contrast by which to intensify joy. ”

“ May. No, Roy, hear me first. (Falls on her knees.) Hear my confession. (Enter Bess and Marcus, L. I. E.)
Roy (quickly raising her) . Hush, wife! listeners.
May (steps back in line with door, 3 E. R.) . I care not: hear it all. (Roy goes to mantel.) One whom I thought dead, one whom my mother wronged, comes now in want and wretchedness, not to claim my duty as he has a right, but with a nobleness that puts to shame my pride, to seal his lips, that, with a word, could make me blush before the world. Do you hear me, Roy?
Roy. I am listening, May. ”

“ From that hour Roy was as one who has some awful fear upon him; he started at the slightest sound. None save himself knew how bitter were his feelings, how acute his anguish. And always from his soul this cry went up: “What have I done to deserve this terrible affliction?” His whole life was blasted. All his bright dreams, all his ambitions, were roughly brought to an end, and from a man, young, strong, resolute, he had become more pitiably helpless than a little child—all by the evil-doing of a reckless, useless man-animal to whom he had been rescuer and friend. ”

“ Faith laid him tenderly on the horse-hair sofa, covered him over, and sat down by his side. She sat on a low seat, and, folding her hands on her lap, gazed straight before her. Faith was nearly eleven years old now, but she was small for her age—small, thin, and very sad-looking. Only when playing with Roy, or tending Roy, did her little sallow face grow childish and happy in expression. Faith possessed her mother’s sensitive temperament. Love alone could make this child bright and happy; without love she must pine and die, perhaps as her mother died. ”

“ Roy, too, seems to take to him, for he wags his tail and suffers himself to be patted in a way that is remarkable; for of late, like his master, though with different reasons, he has taken to viewing all mankind with suspicion. ”

“ Roy. Half a mile below. Did he look rough?
Mar. Rough, but good-natured. Dress ragged, face bloated, figure plump. These fellows thrive on their pickings these pests.
Roy. Don’t say that, Marcus. The fellow may have been unfortunate.
Mar. Unfortunate? Bah! What’s misfortune but a roll in the dust?——jump up, shake yourself, and you’re as good as new. I’ve no patience with a man who wants vim——something on the side of his face——you know——cheek!
Roy. Yes: a quality which tramps (aside) and drummers (aloud) possess in a wonderful degree. (Bess goes up to piano.) ”

“ But has this amazing creation a meaning, or is Roy merely one of the results of the sportive play of a man of genius? He is something more, we feel, when, at the end of the romance, he gives his life for the woman who has so faithfully loved him and believed in his royal pretensions. He perishes in a fire, because in saving her he would not save himself. It is as if the author said: "Behold, a man by nature histrionic and Bohemian, and do not make the mistake to think him incapable of nobility. ”

“ It is not impossible that he is making-believe all the time. One great, good thing can be said for Roy: he is [p 87]
never really cross; he never snaps; he never snarls; he never bites his human friends, no matter how great the provocation may be. Roy is a canine enigma, the most eccentric of characters. His family cannot determine whether he is a gump or a genius. But they know he is nice; and they like him!
Long may Roy be spared to wag his earthly tail, and to bay deep-mouthed welcome to his own particular people as they draw near home. ”

“ If ever a man had cause for ambition I have. With God’s help, that boy shall take his place with any gentleman in the land before I die.”
He sat down again by his table, but instead of continuing his work he remained for a time, one hand partly shading his eyes, while he indulged in a meditation. Yes; he must save as much money as possible; for Roy’s education must begin early. Roy must have this, Roy must have that. He did not think of Faith at all. Faith was but a girl. ”

“ Roy was very conscious of his prospective position. "I am quite as old already as lots of middies," he would declare, "and only two years younger than General Moore when he began to be a soldier."
"You should not startle your mother, Roy," the Colonel said gravely, as Mrs. Baron sat up, her eyes wide and terrified. "It is necessary sometimes to think of other people before yourself. You understand?"
"I'm sorry, sir; but is it true?" asked Roy, too much excited to be penitent for more than three seconds. "Are we really and truly going to Verdun?" ”

“ And then, before his master is ready to start, Roy goes off to breakfast, alone—at the Williamsons’! He will torment his master sometimes for hours to be taken out to walk; he will interrupt his master’s work, disturb his master’s afternoon nap, and refuse all invitations to run away for a walk on his own account. And the moment he and his master have started, he will join the first absolute stranger he meets, and walk off with that stranger in the opposite direction, and in the most confidential manner possible! ”

“ Pressing forward, through sense, to the limitless regions of mind and spirit, new vistas would open, new paths lure him on....
That first bewildering, intoxicating sense of power is good—while it lasts; none the less, because, in the nature of things, it is foredoomed to disillusion—greater or less, according to the authenticity of the god within.
Whatever the outcome for Roy, that passing exaltation eased appreciably the pang of parting from them all. ”

“ Nay! go not," for Roy was starting up. "True! the women are nigh [Pg 136] dead, and Foster-father hath his fingers frost-bitten, but—nay, put more flame to the fire, boy! It is the fire they need!"
He was half beside himself, but he was right. As the fresh juniper branches blazed up Head-nurse came tottering and stumbling into its light. Roy sprang to help her, but she pushed him aside.
"The Heir-to-Empire?" she muttered, her lips almost refusing to form the words. "The Heir-to-Empire, the Admired-of-the-World——"
Roy pointed to the little tent. "There! Safe! Well! Asleep!" he cried ”

“ That Roy had lived to be twenty-eight and never married, or shown a disposition to do so, was a marvel to all, and latterly some of the old dowagers of the neighborhood who had young ladies to dispose of had seriously taken the matter in hand, to see if something could not be done with the grave, impassive man. He was polite and agreeable to all the girls, and treated them with that thoughtful deference so pleasing to women, and so rarely found in any man who has not the kindest and the best of hearts. ”

“ Roy jumped out and saluted with great smartness. He was in uniform, and was hung about with that warlike paraphernalia professionally known as "the whole Christmas Tree." Having disencumbered himself of this, he threw it into the car, climbed the bank, and joined his lady. His heart bumped.
"You do look nice," said Marjorie. "But what is the matter with your buttons?"
"I have painted them with some black stuff," replied Roy. "Quite the thing—not swank! It is always done on active service: otherwise my twinkling little buttons might attract the eye of vigilant Boche." ”

“ Overcome with baffled fury at discovering her gone from the Fort, he had travelled hot-foot in pursuit, but now that she was within his reach, now that he had discovered Roy powerless to protect her, his feelings underwent a sudden revulsion. The spark of humanity that had long lain dormant under all his recklessness burned bright at the sight of Roy’s pathetic figure, and all idea of further pursuit faded from his mind as completely as if it had never filled it. In its stead a raging desire to go far away from the man he had injured possessed him. ”

“ One night as he sat by the fireside, in the little farmhouse of Portnellan, where Ronald's absence formed a source of perpetual grief, he urged that before attacking Inversnaid the oracle of the "House of Invocation" should be consulted; but Rob Roy though brave as man could be, shrunk from seeking intercourse with the world of spirits. ”

“ But he was endowed with a vigorous intellect, and with an enthusiasm which had been deepened by the peculiar circumstances of his clan and kinsfolk. It is impossible to comprehend the character of Rob Roy, unless we look into the history of his race, as we have briefly done, and consider how strong must have been the impressions which hereditary feuds, and wrongs visited upon father and child, had made upon a mind of no common order. ”

“ When Roy had finished, she spoke softly. "I'm glad you told me. I know now the kind of man your father was. He loved you more than his own life. He was brave and generous and kind. Do you think he would have nursed a grudge for seventeen years? Do you think he would have asked you to give up your happiness to carry on a feud that ought never to have been?"
"No, but—"
"You are going to marry me, not Hal Rutherford. He is a good man now, however wild he may have been once. But you need n't believe that just because I say so. Wait and see. Be to him just as much or as little as you like. ”

“ I don’t believe that any one ’ud be so dreadful wicked as to steal away little Roy’s clothes.”
“Then you don’t believe as nobody ha’ stole him away. Why, Faith, in course ef he wor not picked up and carried off by some one he’d be brought back afore now by the perleece—why in course yer little baby Roy is stole away.” ”

“ Well, Master Roy, that sounds handsome, and I like the idea of it: it’s cheering-like to a man who tries to do his best. But all people don’t think same as we do, and whenever we hear of a castle being attacked and defended, there were always people outside trying to make traitors of those who were in, and temptation’s a nasty, cunning, ’sinuating sort of a thing. ”

“ I must say first that the Rob Roy was a good, stout ship; the master a bluff, good-hearted Scotchman; the mate a kindly man, and altogether different from the red-faced mate that was on the Blackbird; and the people were all just as good and kind to us as the savages had been. ”

“ The woman was not much surprised when Roy told her of the condition in which her master had come home.
“It’s what I’ve been expecting every day,” she said. “He doesn’t eat enough to keep a bird alive. I’m amazed to think he should ask you to stop to dinner. It’s little enough you’ll get, Master Roy, but I’ll do my best.”
The house was a bare looking place, furnished only with the merest necessities. No pictures were on the walls, no books on the tables; Roy wondered what the old man did to pass the time here by himself. There was not even a sofa for him to lie upon. ”

“ Ho, ho; it's too rich, Roy! You would make yourself as good a man as old Baintree; you would make yourself worthy of his daughter. Remember telling me that? And didn't you, though—with my help! My help, Roy—not God's! It was Black Angus and the Devil did it!
"Well, well, I thought I would surprise you with my little tale of how I used the Twigg girl to spoil your chance with Mary. But Beasley surprised you instead. Didn't he, now? A neat trick, eh, Roy? ”

“ Roy smiled ironically. They were a sign of the lord Gar and of his servant, Pilot Officer Vanjan, come to blast them into eternity and change the future, to give the animals a chance.
Who would chronicle his role as the re-arranging angel, the unheavenly host about to gather up in violence the drifting souls below? Who, he wondered. Some simian scribe? Some unborn elephant prophet? An insectate scholar destined to evolve from among the creeping things that would inherit the Earth? ”

“ I am everything that is bad, I confess; but, oh, how could I tell, when all 351these years nobody has known, and I was so different, and the old life lay far behind, and I did love Roy. Oh, if I’ve sinned deeply, I am cruelly punished at the last. Think, Henry, to-morrow, ay, to-day, for it is to-morrow now, I was to have been his wife; everything is in readiness, the guests are here, and now it cannot be, and I,—oh, what reason can I give to Roy for holding back at the very altar? ”

“ Yet was Rob Roy as wise as brave;
Forgive me if the phrase be strong;—
A Poet worthy of Rob Roy
⁠Must scorn a timid song. ”

“ Among others, Rob Roy engaged in a joint adventure with James, Marquis of Montrose, who had received a sum of money for his Union vote, and in the month preceding that measure had been created a duke, with the office of Lord Privy Seal for Scotland.
"The capital to be advanced," says Dr. Browne, in his "History of the Highlands," "was fixed at ten thousand merks each, and Rob Roy was to purchase cattle therewith, and drive them to England for sale." ”