Symington

“ He sighed. “I don’t like it. Cad as he is, I could almost trust Symington not to maltreat the girl, but. . . .” He returned to the telephone and rang up a police station on the route that a cab would naturally take to Euston.
“But he would never dare,” began Hilda, and stopped short, remembering Symington’s face as she had seen it that night in the train. Cruel—that was the word—the face of a man who would inflict torture to gain his end.
Risk had hit on the truth, Symington had not gone far North that morning. ”

“ Have ye or have ye not parted wi’ any o’ the shares?”
His indignation was well assumed. “If you were a man—” he began.
“But I’m only a woman, and not one of the blind, trusting sort, Mr. Symington. Still, I’m as curious as any.”
Suddenly he gave an ironic laugh. “Very well, Miss Corrie; I don’t want you to lose any more of your beauty sleep, so I give you my word that—”
“And ye’ll let me see the certificates, Mr. Symington,” she interrupted very firmly.
For an instant he hesitated. He might tell her that they were in his banker’s safe. But no: better exhibit them and have done with the matter. ”

“ Nettled, he replied, “You may as well make up your mind that I’m going to see you start safe in London.”
She drew away from him as far as possible and resumed her study of the darkness.
Symington, trying to look as if he had not been rebuffed, lay back, folded his arms and stared openly, rather rudely at the intruder, who was now making a pencil jotting on the fly-leaf of her p. 71book. When she had finished writing she went back to the printed page, read for a few moments, and stopped as if an idea had struck her. She put up her hand and pressed the button labelled “Attendant.” ”

“ Symington. He said it was the very thing. . . . Could ye no’ eat something?”
He was brooding again, and minutes passed ere he roused himself.
“That postman’s got me,” he muttered bitterly, “got me as never a man was got before. I’m cornered. He’ll hear from the girl to-morrow—they’ll ha’ planned about writing, ye can be sure—and then he’ll get to work wi’ the letter. God! I feel like making a bolt for it—but where can a man hide in these days o’ wireless telegrams and so forth.” ”

“ It must be pure goodness that prompts her, dear."
"She must be used to being taken coldly," said Elma. "The Professor glares at her, and Elsie charges straight out to the back garden every time she calls."
"Is Mr. Symington there now?" asked Miss Grace.
"No, he left in two days. Papa was charmed with him. He and the Professor and papa had an evening together when we were all at the Gardiners, and Mrs. Clutterbuck came too. Papa says Mr. Symington will make a name for himself one day. He is coming back to Ridgetown for a summer, some time soon, he liked it so much." ”

“ Colin smiled. “One is more likely to hear of a man’s faults than his virtues. Besides, as I told you, I’ve been more away from Dunford than in it during the last five years or so.”
“You are not familiar with the natives?”
p. 141“Not generally speaking. Still, I hope I have a friend or two among them.”
“Would Mr. Symington have been welcome in your home?”
“His father would have been courteously received.”
Risk nodded thoughtfully. “Please pardon so many questions, Hayward. I feel that I may now tell you why I am taking so much trouble, and giving you so much, over this Mr. Symington. ”

“ So he rowed them across; and then, while Rosamond discussed plaits and gores with the new dress-maker, he discoursed his best eloquence and learning to the professor, with such good effect that the latter said to Rosamond, as they walked home through the twilight, having been persuaded to extend the row a little, "I am glad, dear, that this opportunity of presenting young Symington to you without apparent favoritism has arisen. He is a most promising young man, but a little inclined, I fear, from what I hear of him in his social capacity, to be frivolous. ”

“ On the completion of his education at the grammar school, the subject of this sketch entered the warehouse of his father, who carried on business as a muslin manufacturer. By the death of his father in 1841, he succeeded, along with an elder brother, to the full management of the concern. In 1848 the establishment was removed from Paisley to Glasgow, where it continues to be prosperously carried on.
Eminently devoted to literary and artistic studies, Mr Symington has cultivated the personal intercourse of artists and men of letters. He has contributed to some of the leading periodicals. ”

“ Fielding. "You must admit that, if one must have either, the single ones are decidedly preferable, or at least the young single ones."
"Don't try to be funny," said Symington savagely: "you only succeed in being weak. I have"—and he pulled out a note-book and glared at its contents—"an engagement to take two to a concert this evening, other two to a tennis-match on Saturday, and another one out rowing this afternoon. ”

“ In common justice it should be stated here that Alexander Symington was not a faithful slave to alcohol. As a rule he kept the upper hand. A full record of his adult life, however, would show that at long intervals and at times of extreme excitement, he lost his grip, fell, and simply wallowed. His collapse on this occasion was probably the result of his converting a hundred Zeniths p. 179into nearly five hundred pounds sterling. ”

“ Symington strode by her, but halted in the doorway.
p. 156“I’m going back to London to-morrow,” he said harshly, “and I don’t want any more wires from you.” Thereupon he went out.
Rachel turned to her brother.
“John, John,” she cried piteously, “will he no’ help ye?”
The unhappy man threw out his arms, let them fall on the edge of the table and bowed his face on them. Helplessly his sister regarded him, then turned and left him to himself. She went to her room and fell on her knees. ”

“ A man in gold lace leaned out over the rail and said in an off-hand manner:—
"On board the Yankee there! Keep under our lee and return to the harbor, or we'll sink you instantly; play no tricks, if you value your safety. Mark you that."
Why it was that the Englishman did not drop a boat and put a prize crew on board the Rattler, it might be hard to guess. Symington feared that this would happen, and, although he gave no answer to the imperious order, he set about obeying it with every evidence of haste and alacrity. ”

“ To extract truth from such a person will take a bit of doing. The sister, I learn from the gossips, has been ill, though not seriously so, for the last few days. I should add that Corrie goes about saying that the burning of his mill was a piece of foul play. A man told me to-day that it was not insured. . . . No word of Symington. He has not been seen in Dunford for more than a week. As far as I can gather, no one would regret his permanent absence. . . . I see Zeniths have jumped to £8. ”

“ The lead-line showed a depth of seventeen fathoms, while when the lead was brought on deck the "arming" was thick with fine grey sand.
"Good enough," said the Scoutmaster. "We're still eight miles from land. I gave that fellow a generous amount of scope, which is on the safe side. Now, lads, grub. Watch and watch. Starboard watch will remain on deck while the port watch goes below."
With an appreciative "Ay, ay, sir!" Craddock was about to dive into the cabin when Symington, who had relieved Phillips in the bows, suddenly yelled:
"Vessel dead ahead, sir!" ”

“ They had a long chat together, but Geir was not made a bit the wiser, as to where she lived, or whose daughter she was. She told him, however, that her name was Una.
“Una,” said he to her at last, “I am greatly in want of a housekeeper; I don’t know any body so likely to suit as you; will you take the situation?” ”

“ At length Symeon had a dream in which he saw the death of his mother, and shortly after John was comforted by a vision which assured him that his wife was no more.
After a while Symeon informed his comrade that he could not rest in the cave, but that he was resolved to serve God in the city. He felt there were souls to be saved in the world, and that he had a call to labour for their conversion. ”

“ But there was one persistent thing which first troubled Syme and at last terrified him. The President was always looking at him, steadily, and with a great and baffling interest. The enormous man was quite quiet, but his blue eyes stood out of his head. And they were always fixed on Syme.
Syme felt moved to spring up and leap over the balcony. When the President's eyes were on him he felt as if he were made of glass. He had hardly the shred of a doubt that in some silent and extraordinary way Sunday had found out that he was a spy. ”

“ Symeon said, after a few moments' silence. "I read in your eyes last night that you are one of us in spirit, though you may know nothing of our creed. You must join our society."
"Your society?"
"Yes, Madame Provana. We are a company of friends in the world of sense and in the world of spirit. The majority of us have crossed the river. As corporal substance they have ceased to be; their dwelling is in the starlit spaces beyond Acheron. For the common herd they are dead; but for us they are as vividly alive as they were when they walked among the vulgar living, and wore life's vesture of clay. ”

“ When Syme had that thought he drew himself up, and all that was good in him sang high up in the air as a high wind sings in the trees. He thought of all the human things in his story—of the Chinese lanterns in Saffron Park, of the girl’s red hair in the garden, of the honest, beer-swilling sailors down by the dock, of his loyal companions standing by. Perhaps he had been chosen as a champion of all these fresh and kindly things to cross swords with the enemy of all creation. “After all,” he said to himself, “I am more than a devil; I am a man. ”

“ And just as leaven leavens by its mere presence in the lump, by merely passively being there, and will go on doing it so long as there is a lump to leaven, so had the vicar, more than his hardworking wife, more than the untiring Lady Shuttleworth, more than any district visitor, parish nurse, or other holy person, influenced Symford by simply living in it in a way that would have surprised him had he known. There is a great virtue in sweeping out one's own house and trimming its lamps before starting on the house and lamps of a neighbour ”

“ John Symonds, son to him whose wife forfeited succession to her brother, Mr Millington's fortune, because both men were sturdily obstinate in the matter of political creed, was, though a layman, great at extempore prayer and sermon-making. When any young man came a-wooing to one of his bonnie daughters, the father would take the suitor to an inner sanctum, there to be tested as to his ability to get through the like devotional exercises. ”

“ He could see that what Miss Symons was in his drawing-room, touchy, incompetent, and snappish she would be in any work she did in the parish. But he was also made to see her extreme generosity, of which she herself was entirely unconscious. He liked and was touched by her humility. "Oh no, [123] don't trouble about asking me, Mr. Vaughan, nobody will want to talk to a dull person like me. Get some nice young men for the girls, if you can." "No, I can't have that pretty Miss Allan helping at my stall, I can get along very well by myself. I shall bring Annie; we can manage together." ”

“ Symes obligingly tenders the loan of “Nelson’s History of Islington,” wherein is ample information on these points. In my visit, yesterday, I gathered one or two particulars from this gentleman not befitting me to conceal, inasmuch as I hold and maintain that the world would not be the worse for being acquainted with what every one knows; and that it is every one’s duty to contribute as much as he can to the amusement and instruction of others. Be it known then, that Mr. Symes says he possesses the ancient key of the gate belonging to the prior’s park. ”

“ The smile was still there, but it might have been the first smile of a baby.
"I knew I was a poet," cried Syme in a sort of ecstasy. "I knew my intuition was as infallible as the Pope. It was the spectacles that did it! It was all the spectacles! Given those beastly black eyes, and all the rest of him, his health and his jolly looks, made him a live devil among dead ones."
"It certainly does make a queer difference," said the Professor shakily. "But as regards the project of Dr. Bull——"
"Project be damned!" roared Syme, beside himself. "Look at him! ”

“ Syme’s eye always caught the black glasses and the blind grin. Had the dying Professor worn them, or even the pale Secretary, they would have been appropriate. But on the younger and grosser man they seemed only an enigma. They took away the key of the face. You could not tell what his smile or his gravity meant. Partly from this, and partly because he had a vulgar virility wanting in most of the others it seemed to Syme that he might be the wickedest of all those wicked men. Syme even had the thought that his eyes might be covered up because they were too frightful to see. ”

“ I was struck as you were by the admirable, sudden, clear sunshine upon Southey—even on his works. Symonds, to whom I repeated it, remarked at once, a man who was thus respected by both Carlyle and Landor must have had more in him than we can trace. So I feel with true humility.
It was to save my brain that Symonds proposed reviewing. He and, it appears, Leslie Stephen fear a little some eclipse: I am not quite without sharing the fear. I know my own languor as no one else does; it is a dead down-draught, a heavy fardel. ”

“ I looked on Kingsley with a sentiment of wonder. Every muscle of his face was composed into the most quiet indifference. He saw my glance, and smilingly exclaimed:—
“I trust to my star, Clifford. Sans Souci—remember!”
No time was allowed for more. The moment was a breathless one. Cleveland had taken up the dice. His manner was that of the most singular deliberation. His eyes were cast down upon the table. His lips strongly closed together; and now it was that I could see the keen, piercing look which Kingsley addressed to every movement of the gambler. I watched him also. ”