Chyle

“ One morning, little Master Willie insisted on riding over to the rectory on top of the load of vegetables. There he sat, grand as a lord, flourishing his whip over poor Bran, who pulled and panted along and thought his lot was a very hard one indeed, almost too much for patient dog-nature to bear. And so it was, for the baskets were uncommonly heavy—Willie was fat, and Kitty too full of frolic to think of helping, even by pushing when they were going up hill. But how Willie enjoyed his ride, selfish, thoughtless little fellow! ”

“ Supported by pillows lay Charlie, panting for breath, while from his white lips issued drops of blood, which Marian gently wiped away, while the rest of the family were doing what they could to restore him. When Orianna’s loud cry of agony echoed through the room, Charlie slowly unclosed his eyes, and in an instant the Indian girl was beside him, exclaiming wildly, “Charlie, Charlie, do not die. I’ll marry him, I’ll go for her, I’ll do anything.” ”

“ To me of all men had been given the chance to write the most marvellous tale in the world, nothing less than the story of a Greek galley-slave, as told by himself. Small wonder that his dreaming had seemed real to Charlie. The Fates that are so careful to shut the doors of each successive life behind us had, in this case, been neglectful, and Charlie was looking, though that he did not know, where never man had been permitted to look with full knowledge since Time began. ”

“ I should be proud, said Charlie promptly,
There are few things sweeter in this world than the guileless, hot-headed, intemperate, open admiration of a junior. Even a woman in her blindest devotion does not fall into the gait of the man she adores, tilt her bonnet to the angle at which he wears his hat, or interlard her speech with his pet oaths. And Charlie did all these things. Still it was necessary to salve my conscience before I possessed myself of Charlie's thoughts.
'Let's make a bargain, I'll give you a fiver for the notion, I said.
Charlie became a bank-clerk at once. ”

“ Nearly all my life it must have lain deep down in my heart, like a seed that, buried in the ground, waits for the coming of the spring; and now, in the spring and sunshine of my young manhood, it had risen up in blossom and in fruit.
'Willie, here comes your father,' said Hildred presently, jumping up and running off to meet him. They liked each other, those two. ”

“ He knew that his power with Kitty came largely from a certain stoicism, a certain hardness, mingled, as he would prove to her, with a boundless devotion. Let him carry it through—without fears—and so enlarge her being and his own! And as to responsibilities beyond, as to their later lives—let time take care of its own births. For the modern determinist of Cliffe's type there is no responsibility. ”

“ Swiftly as a deer Orianna bounded away, while Charlie, in evident confusion, attempted to secrete his book, and Robert burst into a loud laugh, saying, “Well done, Charlie! So you’ve turned schoolmaster, and chosen a novel pupil, upon my word. But who is she? If she be a native, she is handsomer far than half the white girls!”
“She is Orianna,” said Charlie, “the daughter of a chieftain, and I love her too.” ”

“ They always go to the bad.
mrs. cheveley. As if anything could demoralise Robert Chiltern! You seem to forget that I know his real character.
lord goring. What you know about him is not his real character. It was an act of folly done in his youth, dishonourable, I admit, shameful, I admit, unworthy of him, I admit, and therefore . . . not his true character.
mrs. cheveley. How you men stand up for each other!
lord goring. How you women war against each other!
mrs. cheveley. [Bitterly.] I only war against one woman, against Gertrude Chiltern. I hate her. I hate her now more than ever. ”

“ Charlie rose early one morning, intending, as Ben had gone away and given him the day, to work on his boat; but the beauty of the morning was such, the wind and tide just right for a sail both ways along shore, that he felt a strong desire to go and enjoy the day on the water.
“Go, Charlie,” said his mother; “you work hard enough; you’ll get the boat done long enough before Uncle Isaac wants her.”
He took his gun and luncheon, and started: he kept flint, steel, matches, and a horn of tinder in the locker of the boat, that he might kindle a fire whenever he wished. ”

“ It is that we may not remember our first and most beautiful wooings. Were this not so, our world would be without inhabitants in a hundred years.
'Now, about that galley-story,' I said still more cheerfully, in a pause in the rush of the speech.
Charlie looked up as though he had 'been hit. 'The galley—what galley? Good heavens, don't joke, man! This is serious! You don't know how serious it is!'
Grish Chunder was right. Charlie had tasted the love of woman that kills remembrance, and the finest story in the world would never be written. ”

“ I opened my eyes, and Charlie was bending over the bed. I looked him right in the face; such a beautiful face, so much goodness in it, I thought I had got to heaven, and that an angel was hovering over me; and then, when I came to myself, he was so kind,—fed me with a spoon, took me in his arms, and put me in a chair, just as my mother would; and Ben Rhines, though he ain’t handsome, he is just as good as the rest. Uncle Isaac and Fred Williams, they are all just as good as they can be. I mean to go down there, and stay a month at Pleasant Cove, and Elm Island. ”

“ Now that Willie was asleep, Mrs. Chillis felt a growing nervousness and embarrassment. She could not bring herself to sit down again, alone with Joe Chillis. Not that she was afraid of him—there was nothing in his appearance to inspire a dread of the man; but she wanted to know what he was there for. The sensitive nerves of the man felt this mental inquiry of her, but he would not be the first to speak; so he let her flutter about—brightening the fire, putting to right things that were right enough as they were, and making a pretense of being busied with household cares. ”

“ But Charlie thrust that thought aside; he preferred to live in the pleasant present than to picture the gloomy future. No romantic incident, no runaway horse, no death averted from accident, or other melodramatic episode to draw largely on the young lady's gratitude, as in novels, led to Charlie's avowal of his love. ”

“ Captain Rhines would have furnished his daughter abundantly; but she, like John, preferred to earn it herself.
“I never saw such children as mine are,” said the captain. “They won’t let me do anything for them.”
“Wait, father,” said Mary, “till we get a frame-house, and our land cleared. We may burn this up, and it is good enough for that: besides, father, I know how Charlie feels; he abhors the idea of marrying on; he will feel a good deal better to get under way himself: you know, you can give me any time, if you want to. Charlie, John, and Fred are all alike about being helped.” ”

“ The bards raised songs of lamentation for her fate. [Pg 273] “Surely,” said they, “when the Chylde Wynde cometh, his sword, which maketh the brave to fall and bringeth down the mighty, will break the enchantment.” And the burden of the songs was—“Return, O valiant Chylde, conqueror of nations—thou who makest kings captives, return! Free the enchanted! Deliver the beautiful!”
Now, the people of the land where the Chylde and his warriors landed, were stricken with terror at their approach. They fled before them, as sheep fly upon the hills when the howl of the hungry wolf is heard. ”

“ Had some of the Indians, imagined to be under Charlie’s table, gone to the outside of the windows, there to look in, grinning at him and shaking their head-feathers at a boy stupidly sitting near a table on which was a lighted lamp? Charlie rubbed his eyes for a better look, then rubbed again and again, and—and—were those Indians shouting, “Charlie, how are you?” He now sprang to his feet, fully awake, and there were several members of the club, their faces streaked with red chalk, their caps ornamented with all kinds of feathers, their—Charlie did not take another look at their decorations! ”

“ Charlie’s mamma lay awake that morning smiling to herself to think how nice it was that Rose was going to be Charlie’s little sister for a time, and how happy he would make her in this beautiful country, showing her the new kittens, and the rabbits, and old Brindle’s little calf, and the flower-garden,—all the things which Charlie had enjoyed so much since he had come into the county to live. ”

“ You speak,' said Mrs. Chilver, 'of his idea. His sacrifice is his idea. And his idea,' she added, 'is his happiness.'
'His sacrifice of your reputation?'
'Well—to whom?'
'To me,' said Bertram Braddle. 'Do you expect me now to permit that?'
Mrs. Chilver serenely enough considered. 'I shall protect his happiness, which is above all his vision of his own attitude, and I don't see how you can prevent this save by breaking your oath.'
'Oh, my oath!' And he prolonged the groan of his resentment. ”

“ And Charlie at threescore years, aye! or more than that I’ll be sworn,
And that very remarkable infant that died before it was born.
So Willie has gone, my beauty, the eldest that bears the name,
It’s a soothing thought—“In a hundred years it’ll be all the same.” ”

“ Charlie’s eyes were alive and alight. He was looking at the wall behind my chair.
“I don’t know how we fought. The men were trampling all over my back, and I lay low. Then our rowers on the left side—tied to their oars, you know—began to yell and back water. I could hear the water sizzle, and we spun round like a cockchafer and I knew, lying where I was, that there was a galley coming up bow-on, to ram us on the left side. I could just lift up my head and see her sail over the bulwarks. ”

“ Lady Chiltern, I have a certain amount of very good news to tell you. Mrs. Cheveley gave me up Robert’s letter last night, and I burned it. Robert is safe.
lady chiltern. [Sinking on the sofa.] Safe! Oh! I am so glad of that. What a good friend you are to him—to us!
lord goring. There is only one person now that could be said to be in any danger.
lady chiltern. Who is that?
lord goring. [Sitting down beside her.] Yourself.
lady chiltern. I? In danger? What do you mean?
lord goring. Danger is too great a word. ”

“ Winter was gone, and Charlie, no longer able to sit up, lay each day in his bed, talking of heaven and Ella, whom he now scarcely hoped to see again. One afternoon Orianna lingered longer than usual, in low, earnest conversation with the sufferer. Charlie listened eagerly to what she was saying, while his eye sparkled and his fading cheek glowed as with the infusion of new life. As she was about leaving she whispered, softly, “Never fear, though the time be long, I will surely bring her.” ”

“ But Charlie and I didn’t think much of picking up nuts we couldn’t eat. Charlie didn’t like the city at all. The houses were too tall and dark to suit him and the back yards too little and the grass not meant to be trodden on. A fellow couldn’t whistle or make a bit of noise without annoying some one, [221] and there were no dogs, except an occasional fat pug or a curly poodle. ”

“ Hilda longed to send a message by him to her father and mother and her Uncle and Aunt Ashley, but had not courage to go near enough to him to whisper her request. Her indecision brought the delicate bloom to her cheek, which always appeared under any little excitement, and which awakened anew the admiration of Chloe.
“She is as pretty as a picture; that is just the truth,” she remarked to Kitty. ”

“ How he longed to show the latter to his sisters; for Charlie had three, in that dear old home in Warwickshire, all softly featured and gently mannered girls, such as England excels in, more than all the world besides. Would they love her? But could they fail to do so? Well, his father might, perhaps, oh, no! he could not look coldly on her, because she was a foreigner. Pure innocence and beauty belong to no country in particular; and Ernestine looked more thoroughly English than many an English lady Charlie had seen in Regent Street and the Row. ”

“ See how the sunshine falls in golden patches on the pond yonder, like what you read about this morning. Willie, I don't want to be Phebe—nothing but little Phebe. I—I want to fly! See that bird going up, up. He will get away beyond the clouds—far above the top of the mountain yonder. I want to be like him, or something, I do not know what; don't you, Willie?"
"Yes; though ambitions are not for one like me; but you will be something besides 'little Phebe,' by and by. I see it in your beaming face and deep dark eyes; while I must always be 'poor little Willie,' nothing else. ”

“ Her voice held a bitter sarcasm and again the flush swept up the Judge's pale face. But his voice was emotionless as he said, "Chilly never felt the need of advice from any one. He goes his own sweet way."
"That is just it!" she said. "You set yourself so far above him. You have such a contempt for his pleasures and so thoroughly despise the company he keeps. Suppose he has a taste for liquor. He is still a gentleman, I believe. But you, with your solemn rectitude and your touch-me-not self-righteousness—you would drive him to the very people and places he ought to keep away from!" ”

“ Kline had described, "the most good-natured man in the world," and, to all appearances, loving his wife with the whole of his big heart. He was big in stature, too, with broad shoulders, pleasant face, and cheerful, ringing voice. The shaggy dog, who had slunk away from Mrs. Arnold, came leaping up on his master when he saw him; the horse he had ridden rubbed his nose against his master's shoulder [Pg 92] before turning to go into his stable, and Constantia and Fred beamed on him with their white teeth and laughing eyes from the kitchen-door. ”