Thomas Shirley

“ Why, you little goosie, Mexico is within sight of us, and Europe is ’way off to the other side of the world.”
“Truly? Then I’m not going to any old Europe!”
And Weezy’s lip began to quiver.
“Not with papa and mamma, darling?” said Molly. “They’ll go with us and so will Captain Bradstreet, and they’ll all take care of The Merry Five.”
“Here’s three cheers for Europe!” shouted Kirke, swinging his cap. “And hurrah! Three cheers for The Merry Five!”
[11] “Hurrah! Free chairs for Mary Five!” echoed little Donald, flapping his arms like a windmill in a gale. “Hurrah! Free chairs for Mary Five!” ”

“ Pauline and the others laughed in concert, for Mr. Wasson was exceedingly tall.
“This is Molly Rowe,” said Pauline affably; “and this is her brother Kirke. They’re visiting at our camp, and Paul and I have brought them to see the ranch.”
“Always pleased to have folks come, particularly young folks.—Mother,” Mr. Wasson glanced over his shoulder and shouted,—“Hello, mother, here’s company!”
“That’s Mr. Wasson’s wife; he always calls her mother,” whispered Paul to Kirke, as a woman appeared at the door of the house and hastily retreated. ”

“ Pryor, take care of this future magistrate, this churchwarden in perspective, this captain of yeomanry, this young squire of Briarfield, in a word. Don't let him exert himself too much; don't let him break his neck in hunting; especially, let him mind how he rides down that dangerous hill near the Hollow."
"I like a descent," said Shirley; "I like to clear it rapidly; and especially I like that romantic Hollow with all my heart."
"Romantic, with a mill in it?"
"Romantic with a mill in it. The old mill and the white cottage are each admirable in its way."
"And the counting-house, Mr. Keeldar?" ”

“ Be as quick as you can.”
As the train ran into the New York station, a rough-looking lad emerged from the curtains clad in a brakeman’s overalls turned up at the hem, Molly’s ulster, Mrs. Rowe’s overshoes, and Captain Bradstreet’s smoking-cap.
“O Kirke, you look like”—Mrs. Rowe [76] cut short Weezy’s comparison by a warning glance.
“Like a California freak, Weezy. Why, I knew that; did it on purpose,” retorted Kirke, assuming an air of bravado.
“Oh, no, Kirke, you look like a precious mosaic,” said Pauline lightly, while the whole party managed to crowd closely about the nondescript boy. ”

“ Sel. That’s right! Once more into the breach, dear boy! If you are tired take a cab—I’ll go halves in it with you! (Exit Fred, C.) What devotion! Can I refuse to let this man marry my daughter? No!
Dibbs (entering, L. U. E.) . Mr. Bellamy not here, sir?
Sel. Just gone out! What do you want?
Dibbs. It’s another messenger with another letter “from the same lady as before” he said! (Selwyn seizes and tears it open nervously aside.) Now, I’ll just go and tell Captain Katskill the governor’s alone. Missus told me to watch for an opportunity. ”

“ Page 169
“Miss Evans had failed to make satisfactory arrangement for bringing out the book in Paris, Captain Bradstreet,” explained Mrs. Rowe. “Consequently, she was taking it to publishers in London.”
“It’s a sad loss, a sad loss,” returned the captain, as he helped the ladies into the carriage. “But where are the rest of us?” he added. “We can’t leave our boys.”
“They’re coming, they’re running like everything,” cried Weezy, standing upon the wagon-seat to look. “Kirke is holding something up high, and shaking it.”
“It’s a bag!” shouted Molly, clapping her hands. ”

“ After chatting awhile, Captain Bradstreet went into the lemon-house to speak with his cousin, Mr. Keith, leaving the boys to entertain [22] each other. Paul, acting as host, at once invited Kirke to visit the well that had been begun; and they sauntered by the lemon-grove to a deep hole sunk in the ground. Above the hole stood a windlass with a bucket attached to it.
“Is anybody down there now?” asked Kirke, dropping upon his knees and peering into the dark cavern.
“No, Yeck Wo is sick to-day; so Sing Wung left off working here, and is cultivating in the orchard.” ”

“ Is that so?” The captain raised the glass and peered through it himself. “Yes, you’re right, Bright-Eyes. The fog is ‘going to begin’ to bear down upon us.”
And in a few moments the white fog had shrouded the vessel from stem to stern. Then came at frequent intervals the dreary sound of the fog-horn.
“What a hoarse old thing!” exclaimed Weezy, stopping her ears in disgust. “It brays just like Kirke’s burro, only awful worse.”
“As if it had a long sore throat,” laughed Molly, buttoning her sister’s cape at the neck.
“They’re manning all the lookouts,” remarked the wise Pauline. ”

“ Rowe had suspected all along that the good captain had intended to include Weezy in the invitation, but had forgotten to mention the child by name. Grown people are careless sometimes, and forget that little children have been slighted. The children themselves do not forget—ah, no!
Harry remained at Santa Luzia one week longer, and the members of the family vied with one another in making him happy. Mr. Rowe bought him a new suit, which delighted Molly as much as it did Harry; Kirke caught horned toads, and dug up trap-door spiders’ nests for the lad’s amusement ”

“ In politics Shirley was a constitutional whig. A man of wide reading, possessed of a keen sense of humour, he exerted great influence over young men. He helped to mould the character of two distinguished statesmen, his pupil, Stafford H. Northcote (afterwards Earl of Iddesleigh) , and his nephew, W. H. Waddington, the French minister, who was accustomed to speak of Bishop Shirley as his ‘second father.’
In addition to the Oxford prize essay already mentioned, Bishop Shirley published ‘A Charge to the Clergy of the Archdeaconry of Derby,’ 1846. ”

“ After tea Shirley reads, and she is just about as tenacious of her book as she is lax of her needle. Her study is the rug, her seat a foot-stool, or perhaps only the carpet at Mrs. Pryor's feet—there she always learned her lessons when a child, and old habits have a strong power over her. The tawny and lion-like bulk of Tartar is ever stretched beside her; his negro muzzle laid on his fore paws, straight, strong, and shapely as the limbs of an Alpine wolf. One hand of the mistress generally reposes on the loving serf's rude head, because if she takes it away he groans and is discontented. ”

“ Their home was just across the street, and she had watched for Paul, and rushed out to meet him, and now stood leaning against the front wheel of the wagon, chatting with him. She was a warm-hearted, impulsive girl, rather too heedless and outspoken at times. She had no mother to guide her, and lacked the gentle manners of her friend, Molly Rowe.
“You ought to put on your hat, Polly. You’re getting as brown as a Mexican,” remarked Paul, with brotherly frankness, as he attacked a second roll. ”

“ Old Helstone, turning by chance, looked into her face, and he laughed, and she laughed at him.
"There is no battle in prospect," he said; "our country does not want us to fight for it: no foe or tyrant is questioning or threatening our liberty: there is nothing to be done: we are only taking a walk. Keep your hand on the reins, captain, and slack the fire of that spirit: it is not wanted; the more's the pity."
"Take your own advice, Doctor," was Shirley's response. To Caroline, she murmured, "I'll borrow of imagination what reality will not give me. ”

“ That is something that has never yet been done by any man with two legs.”
“Oh, I should hope not,” said Molly; “it makes me shudder to think of it.”
“Look, look,” cried Pauline; “see what he is doing now!”
Some one was playing the fiddle, and this extraordinary young man was actually dancing in perfect time with one foot. He was laughing, too, and seemed to enjoy the performance as much as any one else.
He was always in good spirits, so his wife said; and he assured the boys that he did not mind the loss of his leg.
“There’s a philosopher for you,” said Mr. Rowe to Captain Bradstreet ”

“ To think of the way he went down into that well to save Sing Wung!”
“Kirke is a noble little fellow,” returned Captain Bradstreet heartily, to Molly’s intense satisfaction. “And here he is now, coming aft, and Paul is behind him.”
Pauline flirted her handkerchief at the lads as her father spoke, and they walked across the wet deck toward her, Paul slipping once on the way and nearly falling.
[97] “A miss is as good as a mile,” said his sister merrily, when he came up to her. ”

“ Pryor and Shirley?"
Certainly it is Shirley. Who else has a shape so lithe, and proud, and graceful? And her face, too, is visible: her countenance careless and pensive, and musing and mirthful, and mocking and tender. Not fearing the dew, she has not covered her head; her curls are free: they veil her neck and caress her shoulder with their tendril rings. An ornament of gold gleams through the half-closed folds of the scarf she has wrapped across her bust, and a large bright gem glitters on the white hand which confines it. Yes, that is Shirley. ”

“ Mrs. Rowe was hastily laying aside her apron.
“We’ll ask papa, Molly. Captain Bradstreet is certainly very kind.”
“I don’t think Captain Bradstreet’s kind—I don’t think he’s kind a bit,” muttered little Miss Weezy, as the others went down-stairs. “Never ’vited me at all! Didn’t I ’vite him to my seven-years-old party, ice-cream to it too? O dear, dear, dear!”
Unloading an apronful of dolls in a heap by the trunk, offended little Weezy stole down the back staircase into the garden to confide her sorrows to Ginger, Molly’s yellow kitten. ”

“ Brother must take little Donald down-stairs.”
“Pit-a-bat, pit-a-bat,” pleaded the baby. He saw he must go, and, as that was the case, preferred to go in state, riding on his brother’s back.
“Well, pick-a-back it is, then,” exclaimed Kirke, slinging the teasing child across his shoulders. In the lower hall he met Captain Bradstreet and Pauline.
“You’re the very young man I want to speak to,” cried the cheery captain; “I want”—
“Now, papa, Kirke’s not so very young, I’m sure,” interrupted Pauline archly. ”

“ We should not despise plain features, nor a laborious yet honest occupation, should we? Look at the subject of your panegyric,—he is there in the garden," she continued, pointing through an aperture in the clustering creepers; and by that aperture Louis Moore was visible, coming slowly down the walk.
"He is not ugly, Shirley," pleaded Caroline; "he is not ignoble; he is sad: silence seals his mind; but I believe him to be intelligent; and be certain, if he had not something very commendable in his disposition, Mr. Hall would never seek his society as he does." ”

“ What’s this, “Bosco Blithers!” What does it mean? He’s my Lottie’s father-in-law—what can he want here? Pshaw! He can’t have called here at all, I must have dropped the card myself! (Sitting down again, L.)
Sel. (entering exhausted, C.) . I’m done up! They ought not to be allowed to make such long streets. (He sits.) Hullo! Do you know where that Dibbs is?
Fred. Not the least idea!
Sel. (wiping his forehead) . I want to know if a young—a female has been here for me—have you seen one?
Fred. How the deuce can I tell? Haven’t I just returned from my Tompkins’s hunting? ”

“ Wasson?” asked Kirke uneasily, as a bee whizzed about his ear.
“Wasn’t I ever stung, sir?”—Mr. Wasson put back the comb with an odd grimace,—“well, [110] young man, accidents will happen. There are five hundred of these stands, and I go over them three times every spring.”
“Go over them, Mr. Wasson?” repeated Molly.
“Yes, miss; I clean them, and make sure that each hive has a queen. It’s no fool of a job! The year I was sick mother tended to them, and she hasn’t had any hands since.”
Molly opened her eyes, and glanced at Pauline. ”

“ She said I was the only person besides her solicitor, Pearson Hall, and Mr. Helstone and Mr. Yorke, who knew anything about it; and to me, she intimated, she wished specially to explain its provisions."
"Go on, Harry."
"'Because,' she said, looking down on me with her beautiful eyes—oh! they are beautiful, Mr. Moore! I love them! I love her! She is my star! Heaven must not claim her! She is lovely in this world, and fitted for this world. Shirley is not an angel; she is a woman, and she shall live with men. ”

“ Sing Wung stays below to shovel earth into the bucket, and Yeck Wo stays up here to turn the windlass and draw the bucket up into daylight.”
“I see,” said Kirke, “and the Wo fellow tips the earth out of the bucket on to this heap here, then sends the bucket back empty. It must be fun to watch him.”
[23] “It’ll be more fun, though, when they strike hard pan, for then they’ll begin to blast.”
It was not Paul who said this, but Mr. Keith. He and Captain Bradstreet had now joined the boys and were standing with them near the well. ”

“ Aged 12 Years.”
“If ever a dog deserved an epitaph that dog did,” said Mr. Wasson seriously. “Mother wanted me to get one up myself; but, land! I couldn’t. I can manage bees better than I can manage poetry.”
The boys retired early that night in the tent that they shared with Captain Bradstreet. A little later, as Molly and Pauline were undressing in the end of the parlor tent shut off by the Indian blankets, Molly suddenly exclaimed,—
“O Polly, I’ve thought of something! Let’s write an epitaph for Mèdor. ”

“ It’s sure to be one or the other,” returned easy-going Pauline, stooping to fasten the offending lacing.
“Oh! won’t it be delightful if you and Paul can come to Santa Luzia, Polly? I hope you can stay at Mrs. Kitto’s a whole week.”
“Thank you, Molly dear, and I”—Pauline had been about to say that she hoped Molly and Kirke would stay at least that length of time at the camp; but suddenly remembered that there might not be room enough for them. She must ask her father.
“I—I suppose Auntie David will meet us [11] at Santa Luzia,” she said, to finish the sentence. ”