Tor

“ Tor did not even observe his friend’s silence in his own gladness of heart.
‘Phil, you rascal, tell me how you came here? How did you escape from your vessel without my knowledge? I can’t conceive how you came, but it’s such an immense relief to have you back that I don’t care for anything else. Did that Italian fellow smuggle you in? By-the-bye, where is he?’
Tor looked round him with a comical air of perplexity; and then, seeing the coat and wig lying on the bed, and the shaving apparatus upon the washstand, the true meaning of the situation dawned upon him. ”

“ The tors are remarkable for their quaint fantastic outlines, which, like the clouds, suggest all manner of strange similitudes—to dragons, and griffins, and hoary ruins, and even to human forms of gigantic size, apparently confronting the traveller as the lords and natural denizens of the rugged waste. The principal summits are Yes Tor, Cawsand Beacon, Fur Tor, Lynx Tor, Rough Tor, Holne Ridge, Brent Tor, Rippen Tor, Hound Tor, Sheep’s Tor, Crockern Tor, and Great Mis Tor. Not only must their variety of form delight the artist, but his eye rests well pleased on their manifold changes of colour ”

“ TORR (Gadhelic) ,
TWR (Cym.-Cel.) ,
a mound, a heap, a conical hill, cognate with the Lat. turris, the Ger. thurm, and the Grk. pyrgos (a tower) ; Tor, in Ireland, means a tower also; e.g. Toralt (the tower of the cliff) ; Tormore (great tower or tower-like rock) ; Tornaroy (the king’s tower) ; Tory Island, off the Irish coast, had two distinct names—Torach (i.e. abounding in tower-like rocks) , and Toirinis (the island of the tower) , so named from a fortress called Tor-Conaing (the tower of Conaing, a Fomorian chief) ”

“ In the centre of the moor there are also fine tors. They are, in fact, very numerous, for nearly every little hill has its granite cap, which is a tor, and every tor has its name. Some of the high hills that are tor-less are called beacons, and were doubtless used as signal beacons in times gone by. As the tors are not grouped or built with any design by Nature to attract the eye of man, they are the more attractive on that account, and one of their consequent peculiarities is that from different points of view they never appear the same. ”

“ The tors—Nature's towers—are huge masses of granite on the top of the hills, which are not high enough to be called mountains, piled one upon another in Nature's own fantastic way. There may be a tor, or a group of tors, crowning an eminence, but the effect, either near or afar, is to give the hilltop a grand and imposing look. ”

“ But Tor was so like a little animal himself that the heart of the great, gaunt beast had gone out to him. And Tor responded in kind. The undivided love of a beast is better than no love at all. Perhaps it is because of this that the heart of a dog is so loving; more than once has it solaced pain that would otherwise be unbearable in the nobler heart of a child. ”

“ And now you have only to go up Tor Hill (a landmark for miles round, with its tower of St. Michael on top like the watch-dog of a dead king) to see Wells Cathedral to the north, the blue Mendips east and west, and cutting the range, a mysterious break, like a door, which means the wild pass of Cheddar; far in the west, a gleam of the Bristol Channel; south, the Polden Hills, the Dorset heights beyond, and the Quantocks overtopped by the peak of Dunkery Beacon. I think one would have to go far to see more of England in one sweep of the eye. ”

“ Look at all the glass you have put up.’
‘Yes; that’s my hobby. I can’t do without flowers; and when you once begin, you must go on. There’s no end to what one wants. I should like to have seven acres of glass, like Veitch.’
‘And overlook all yourself, Miss Marjory?’ asked Tor, with a smile.
‘Yes, of course. I always do want my finger in everybody’s pie. I suppose you think I couldn’t do it—an old woman like me.’
‘I have a very strong impression that you could do anything you’ve a mind to, Miss Marjory,’ answered Tor; and Miss Marjory laughed and shook her head at him in implied rebuke. ”

“ It had been a habit from the first, that she and Tor should stroll round the garden together before the day’s work began; and from what he had said, she fancied that he intended still to keep up this habit. How would he treat her now? how would he behave? He had always been so quiet and reserved in his affection, she so open and familiar. ”

“ Pancras; and thoughts of the metropolis again come to us at Hey Tor, which provided granite for London and Waterloo Bridges. These eastern heights, Rippon and Hey Tors, are not so lofty as those of the north-west, but they both command very fine views. It is magnificent to see sunset flame across the moors from this eastern borderland. Patches of cultivation, open moorland dotted with sheep, lovely river-valleys, and wide undulations of heather and gorse fade into horizons of the westward summits. There is always the changeful charm of atmosphere. ”

“ Tor shrugged his thin shoulders. “Is the dry bed of Kedron filled with a single [pg 29] shower?” he inquired tersely. “I have eaten. I—” He stopped short and fixed his bright eyes on the Galilean’s hurt hand, which he had thrust into a fold of his tunic. “Let me see it,” he added timidly.
“Wherefore; wouldst thou again whet thy teeth on me?”
Tor shook his head. “It hurts me, also, now that I have eaten thy bread,” he faltered. Then to the immense astonishment of the man, he burst into a passion of weeping, his rough head bowed upon his scarred knees. ”

“ Even the short silence which followed his speech seemed to cause some slight uneasiness to the sick man.
‘You do not speak—you do not answer!’ he said, with a certain sharpness, and a catch in his breath which showed how easily he was agitated.
Tor signed to Roma to give him brandy, and answered gently enough:
‘If I do not speak, it is not because I do not feel. I am deeply conscious of the honour you do me; Roma and I both understand all that your words mean to us. But whilst you are so ill, we would rather postpone further discussion. ”

“ Come,—thou must come!”
“Why should I come?” said Tor mournfully. “I am only a beggar—and blind.”
“But thou shalt have thine eyes again, lad,” cried Dan exultantly. “The King is even now laying his hands upon the [pg 49] blind, the lame, and palsied, and they see and leap and walk forthwith. I myself have looked upon it. I will fetch thee to him.”
“But the King would not touch me—a beggar, and unclean,” wailed Tor. “Look you, I am no better than Baladan, and the Jews hate and despise all dogs. He would spurn me—spit upon me. Nay, I will not go.” ”

“ From the Bread and Cheese, a walk along the brow of the hill by the Slipper Stones—so called because there Bishop Bronescombe dropped one of the coverings of his feet—shows the valley to perfection, with Black Tor rising above it, and Yes Tor towering high aloft in the rear. By the stream below is a stunted copse, a relic of the ancient arms of forest that stole up the ravines far into the moor, but of which now hardly any remain. At Stinga Tor, further up, is a fine logan rock. The visitor may return by the peat-works and the noble pile of Lynx Tor to the valley of the Lyd. ”

“ Tor followed her, wondering, but not seeing the end. Was this what she meant by ‘putting a spoke in Belassis’ wheel’?
‘Now,’ said Miss Marjory, seating herself upon a rustic chair, and bidding Tor follow her example. ‘I suppose, as you are a man, you don’t see an inch before your nose as yet? Men never do.’
Tor was forced to admit that he didn’t.
‘Now, who do you suppose was the father of that young man?’
‘Was it a brother of Belassis?—a brother who made a low marriage and was cast off, and never heard of more? ”

“ Like one in a dream he made his way to the library, where Maud’s decision was to be heard. He resented Tor’s attempt to exclude him as a personal affront. Who had the best right to be there, the brother, or the brother’s friend?
Phil listened to all that passed with a feverish interest, not taking in its full significance, but observing only what he thought [Pg 138] might be afterwards useful to himself. He saw that Tor had made bitter enemies of the Belassis’, husband and wife, and knew that they would now support him, heart and soul, in his claim to wrest his own from the hand of their foe. ”

“ All lingering hope of proving Tor a villain, was crushed by the news of Signor Pagliadini’s sudden flight.
‘Well, I don’t think I’ll stay longer to-day,’ said Phil. ‘You seem altogether too much astonished to have anything to say. I’ll look in another day when you have got over your surprise. Tor would have me come to report myself at headquarters, and I’ve done it now. You may congratulate yourself, uncle, that you had Tor to deal with in the first place, not [Pg 200] me. I’m an awful duffer at business, and never do understand things. ”

“ There was something similar in build and in voice; and several little tricks of manner were strongly alike. The younger man was a far pleasanter specimen of humanity, quiet, civil, and unassuming, yet thoroughly up to his work, and able to grasp Miss Marjory’s meaning, and even to make notes, in spite of her rapid delivery, which puzzled Tor more than once.
So he watched attentively, and the conviction became stronger, and a sense of vague bewilderment grew up, as he traced more and more of the Belassis form and colouring in this Whitbury tradesman who bore their name. ”

“ Tor sat down readily enough, and filled his glass. It was not his way to assume heroics, or to stand aloof even from people he considered undesirable. His manner was always unruffled and serene.
This friendliness of demeanour disarmed Mr. Belassis, and gave him courage.
‘Well, Phil, my lad, how do you like the new life, now that you are getting settled down to it? Is it as much to your mind as the old roving style?’
‘I hardly know yet. Not quite, I think. I do not feel settled even now. It would take very little to start me off on my travels again.’
Mr. Belassis seemed to breathe more freely. ”

“ From these circumstances probably is derived the name of Mam Tor, which literally signifies Mother Hill; for Tor is either an abbreviation of, or the old word for, Tower, and means not only a lofty building, but any eminence. Mam is a familiar term, that obtains in all languages, for Mother; and this mountain, like a mother, produces several other small hills.
The inhabitants here have a superstitious notion that this mountain, notwithstanding its daily loss, never decreases, but always keeps its own, and remains the same. ”

“ Tor laughed aloud. “It is well,” he said briefly.
“Nay, it is not well. ’Tis an evil thing for a child to bite like a dog. Wilt thou eat with me, small one?”
“I bite like a dog because I hate like a dog and hunger like a dog,” replied Tor slowly. “I stole from the beggar, [pg 26] and thou didst take the money from me by force. Which is better? Nay, Galilean, I will not eat with thee.”
The stranger sat down upon a stone with an air of indifference. “I am hungry,” he said, and, producing a brown loaf and a handful of olives from his pouch, began to eat. ”

“ Some unthinkable types of human existence are occupying the worlds that can be inhabited. I marveled aloud as I viewed a few more links of the endless chain of intelligent creation. On one of these worlds, which I have christened Tor-tu, I found human beings that resemble us more than any others in the entire solar bounds of Polaris.
Tor-tu dashes along in its unceasing course at a distance of eight hundred millions of miles from Polaris. It is much larger than our world, and is accompanied by three moons and a set of rings which faintly suggested our picturesque Saturn. ”

“ There can be no sameness in a landscape of tors when every tor changes its features according to the point of view from which you look at it. Every tor also has its heap of rock at its feet, some of them very striking jumbles of blocks of granite scattered in great confusion between the tor and the foot of the hill. Fur Tor, which is in the very wildest spot on Dartmoor, and is one of the leading tors, has a clitter of rocks on its western side as remarkable as the tor itself; Mis Tor, also on its western side, has a very fine clitter of granite ”

“ Even Miss Marjory looked puzzled for a moment; but she quickly mastered the true bearing of past events, and laughed to herself heartily and silently.
Tor continued in his gravest way:
‘Aunt Olive, you seem equally fascinated by my friend. His charms of person seem so to entrance you that you cannot even eat your [Pg 170] breakfast. Tor, old man, I shan’t be able to take you into society again, if you are going to cut me out like this.’
Phil’s face quivered. ”

“ Phil,’ and he seized his friend’s hand and shook it nearly off, ‘you can’t have a notion how glad I am to see you again!’
They went down to Tor’s ‘den.’ On the way thither, Tor took the opportunity to slip a piece of folded paper under Miss Marjory’s door.
The paper bore these words:
‘It’s all right. Phil has come back. Look out for larks to-morrow morning.—T. T.’
‘What a comfort it is to sign one’s own name again!’ he thought, as he wrote the two T’s. ”

“ Tor liked neither the words nor the tone.
[Pg 183]
‘I mean that near relatives seldom see likenesses,’ he answered, with a reassuring smile. ‘It is strangers who do that, not intimates.’
Tor was silent, thinking out his plan of action. He was perfectly aware that he was suspected; he already felt in a great measure at this man’s mercy, and he believed him to be, for some unknown reason, his enemy. He dared not make a confidant of a perfect stranger, who might be anything, from a spy of Belassis, upwards ”