Japhet in Search of a Father Part 45

Alas! that was a subject of no little difficulty to me. A person who has been brought up to a profession naturally reverts to that profession--but to what had I been brought up? As an apothecary--true; but I well knew the difficulty of obtaining employment in what is termed a liberal profession, without interest or recommendation; neither did I wish for close confinement, as the very idea was irksome. As a mountebank, a juggler, a quack doctor--I spurned the very idea. It was a system of fraud and deceit. What then could I do? I could not dig, to beg I was ashamed. I must trust to the chapter of accidents, and considering how helpless I was, such trust was but a broken reed. At all events, I had a sufficient sum of money, upwards of twenty pounds, to exist upon with economy for some time.

I was interrupted by a voice calling out, "Hilloa! my lad, come and hold this horse a moment." I looked up and perceived a person on horseback looking at me. "Do you hear, or are you stupid?" cried the man. My first feeling was to knock him down for his impertinence, but my bundle lying beside, reminded me of my situation and appearance, and I rose and walked towards the horse. The gentleman, for such he was in appearance, dismounted, and throwing the rein on the horse's neck, told me to stand by him for half a minute. He went into a respectable looking house opposite the inn, and remained nearly half an hour, during which I was becoming very impatient, and kept an anxious eye upon my bundle, which lay on the seat. At last he came out, and mounting his horse looked in my face with some degree of surprise. "Why, what are you?" said he, as he pulled out a sixpence, and tendered it to me.

I was again nearly forgetting myself, affronted at the idea of sixpence being offered to me; but I recovered myself, saying, as I took it, "A poor labouring man, sir."

"What, with those hands?" said he, looking at them as I took the money; and then looking at my face, he continued, "I think we have met before, my lad--I cannot be sure; you know best--I am a Bow Street magistrate."

In a moment, I remembered that he was the very magistrate before whom I had twice made my appearance. I coloured deeply, and made no reply.

"Well, my lad, I'm not on my bench now, and this sixpence you have earned honestly. I trust you will continue in the right path. Be careful--I have sharp eyes." So saying, he rode off.

I never felt more mortified. It was evident that he considered me as one who was acting a part for unworthy purposes; perhaps one of the swell mob or a flash pickpocket rusticating until some hue and cry was over. "Well, well," thought I, as I took up a lump of dirt and rubbed over my then white hands, "it is my fate to be believed when I deceive, and to be mistrusted when I am acting honestly;" and I returned to the bench for my bundle, which--was gone. I stared with astonishment. "Is it possible?" thought I. "How dishonest people are! Well, I will not carry another for the present. They might as well have left me my stick." So thinking, and without any great degree of annoyance at the loss, I turned from the bench and walked away, I knew not whither. It was now getting dark, but I quite forgot that it was necessary to look out for a lodging; the fact is, that I had been completely upset by the observations of the magistrate, and the theft of my bundle; and, in a sort of brown study, from which I was occasionally recalled for a moment by stumbling over various obstructions, I continued my walk on the pathway until I was two or three miles away from Brentford. I was within a mile of Hounslow, when I was roused by the groans of some person, and it being now dark, I looked round, trying to catch by the ear the direction in which to offer my a.s.sistance. They proceeded from the other side of a hedge, and I crawled through, where I found a man lying on the ground, covered with blood about the head, and breathing heavily. I untied his neckcloth, and, as well as I could, examined his condition. I bound his handkerchief round his head, and perceiving that the position in which he was lying was very unfavourable, his head and boulders being much lower than his body, I was dragging the body round so as to raise those parts, when I heard footsteps and voices. Shortly after, four people burst through the hedge and surrounded me.

"That is him, I'll swear to it," cried an immense stout man, seizing me; "that is the other fellow who attacked me, and ran away. He has come to get off his accomplice, and now we've just nicked them both."

"You are very much mistaken," replied I, "and you have no need to hold me so tight. I heard the man groan, and I came to his a.s.sistance."

"That gammon won't do," replied one of them, who was a constable; "you'll come along with us, and we may as well put on the _darbies_,"

continued he, producing a pair of handcuffs.

Indignant at the insult, I suddenly broke from him who held me, and darting at the constable, knocked him down, and then took to my heels across the ploughed field. The whole four pursued, but I rather gained upon them, and was in hopes to make my escape. I ran for a gap I perceived in the hedge, and sprang over it, without minding the old adage, of "Look before you leap;" for, when on the other side, I found myself in a deep and stagnant pit of water and mud. I sank over head, and with difficulty extricated myself from the mud at the bottom, and when at the surface I was equally embarra.s.sed with the weeds at the top, among which I floundered. In the mean time my pursuers, warned by the loud splash, had paused when they came to the hedge, and perceiving my situation, were at the brink of the pit watching for my coming out. All resistance was useless. I was numbed with cold and exhausted by my struggles, and when I gained the bank I surrendered at discretion.

PART THREE, CHAPTER FOUR.

WORSE AND WORSE--IF OUT OF GAOL, IT WILL BE TO GO OUT OF THE WORLD--I AM RESOLVED TO TAKE MY SECRET WITH ME.

The handcuffs were now put on without resistance on my part, and I was led away to Hounslow by the two constables, while the others returned to secure the wounded man. On my arrival I was thrust into the clink, or lockup house, as the magistrates would not meet that evening, and there I was left to my reflections. Previously, however, to this, I was searched, and my money, amounting, as I before stated, to upwards of twenty pounds, taken from me by the constables; and what I had quite forgotten, a diamond solitaire ring, which I had intended to have left with my other bijouterie for Timothy, but in my hurry, when I left London, I had allowed to remain upon my finger. The gaol was a square building, with two unglazed windows secured with thick iron bars, and the rain having beat in, it was more like a pound for cattle, for it was not even paved, and the ground was three or four inches deep in mud.

There was no seat in it, and there I was the whole of the night walking up and down shivering in my wet clothes, in a state of mind almost bordering upon insanity. Reflect upon what was likely to happen, I could not. I only ran over the past. I remembered what I had been, and felt cruelly the situation I then was in. Had I deserved it? I thought not. "Oh! father--father!" exclaimed I, bitterly, "see to what your son is brought--handcuffed as a felon! G.o.d have mercy on my brain, for I feel that it is wandering. Father, father--alas, I have none!--had you left me at the asylum, without any clue, or hopes of a clue, to my hereafter being reclaimed, it would have been a kindness; I should then have been happy and contented in some obscure situation; but you raised hopes only to prostrate them--and imaginings which have led to my destruction. Sacred is the duty of a parent, and heavy must be the account of those who desert their children, and are required by Heaven to render up an account of the important trust. Couldst thou, oh, father, but now behold thy son! G.o.d Almighty!--but I will not curse you, father! No, no--" and I burst into tears, as I leant against the damp walls of the prison.

The day at last broke, and the sun rose, and poured his beaming rays through the barred windows. I looked at myself, and was shocked at my appearance; my smock-frock was covered with black mud, my clothes were equally disfigured. I had lost my hat when in the water, and I felt the dry mud cracking on my cheeks. I put my hands up to my head, and I pulled a quant.i.ty of duck-weed out of my matted and tangled hair. I thought of the appearance I should make when summoned before the magistrates, and how much it would go against me. "Good G.o.d!" thought I, "who, of all the world of fashion--who, of all those who once caught my salutation so eagerly--who, of all those worldly-minded girls, who smiled upon me but one short twelve months since, would imagine, or believe, that j.a.phet Newland could ever have sunk so low--and how has he so fallen? Alas! because he would be honest, and had strength of mind enough to adhere to his resolution. Well, well, G.o.d's will be done; I care not for life; but still an ignominious death--to go out of the world like a dog, and that too without finding out who is my father."

And I put my fettered hands up and pressed my burning brow, and remained in a sort of apathetic sullen mood, until I was startled by the opening of the door, and the appearance of the constables. They led me out among the crowd, through which, with difficulty, they could force their way; and followed by the majority of the population of Hounslow, who made their complimentary remarks upon the _footpad_, I was brought before the magistrates. The large stout man was then called up to give his evidence, and deposed as follows:--

"That he was walking to Hounslow from Brentford, whither he had been to purchase some clothes, when he was accosted by two fellows in smock-frocks, one of whom carried a bundle in his left hand. They asked him what o'clock it was; and he took out his watch to tell them, when he received a blow from the one with the bundle, (this one, sir, said he, pointing to me,) on the back of his head; at the same time the other (the wounded man who was now in custody) s.n.a.t.c.hed his watch. That at the time he had purchased his clothes at Brentford, he had also bought a bag of shot, fourteen pounds' weight, which he had, for the convenience of carrying, tied up with the clothes in the bundle; and perceiving that he was about to be robbed, he had swung his bundle round his head, and with the weight of the shot, had knocked down the man who had s.n.a.t.c.hed at his watch. He then turned to the other (me), who backed from him, and struck at him with his stick. (The stick was here produced; and when I cast my eye on it, I was horrified to perceive that it was the very stick which I had bought of the Jew, for three-pence, to carry my bundle on.) He had closed in with me, and was wresting the stick out of my hand, when the other man, who had recovered his legs, again attacked him with another stick. In the scuffle he had obtained my stick, and I had wrested from him his bundle, with which, as soon as he had knocked down my partner, I ran off. That he beat my partner until he was insensible, and then found that I had left my own bundle, which in the affray I had thrown on one side. He then made the best of his way to Hounslow to give the information." His return and finding me with the other man is already known to the readers.

The next evidence who came forward was the Jew, from whom I had bought the clothes and sold my own. He narrated all that had occurred, and swore to the clothes in the bundle left by the footpad, and to the stick which he had sold to me. The constable then produced the money found about my person and the diamond solitaire ring, stating my attempt to escape when I was seized. The magistrate then asked me whether I had anything to say in my defence, cautioning me not to commit myself.

I replied, that I was innocent; that it was true that I had sold my own clothes, and had purchased those of the Jew, as well as the stick: that I had been asked to hold the horse of a gentleman when sitting on a bench opposite a public-house, and that someone had stolen my bundle and my stick. That I had walked on towards Hounslow, and, in a.s.sisting a fellow-creature, whom I certainly had considered as having been attacked by others, I had merely yielded to the common feelings of humanity--that I was seized when performing that duty, and should willingly have accompanied them to the magistrate's, had not they attempted to put on handcuffs, at which my feelings were roused, and I knocked the constable down, and made my attempt to escape.

"Certainly, a very ingenious defence," observed one of the magistrates; "pray where--" At this moment the door opened, and in came the very gentleman, the magistrate at Bow Street, whose horse I had held. "Good morning, Mr Norman; you have just come in time to render us your a.s.sistance. We have a very deep hand to deal with here, or else a very injured person, I cannot tell which. Do us the favour to look over these informations and the defence of the prisoner, previous to our asking him any more questions."

The Bow Street magistrate complied, and then turned to me, but I was so disguised with mud, that he could not recognise me.

"You are the gentleman, sir, who asked me to hold your horse," said I.

"I call you to witness, that that part of my a.s.sertion is true."

"I do now recollect that you are the person," replied he, "and you may recollect the observation I made, relative to your hands, when you stated that you were a poor countryman."

"I do, sir, perfectly," replied I.

"Perhaps then you will inform us by what means a diamond-ring and twenty pounds in money came into your possession?"

"Honestly, sir," replied I.

"Will you state, as you are a poor countryman, with whom you worked last--what parish you belong to--and whom you can bring forward in proof of good character?"

"I certainly shall not answer those questions," replied I: "if I chose I might so do, and satisfactorily."

"What is your name?"

"I cannot answer that question either, sir," replied I.

"I told you yesterday that we had met before; was it not at Bow Street?"

"I am surprised at your asking a question, sir, from the bench, to which, if I answered, the reply might affect me considerably. I am here in a false position, and cannot well help myself. I have no friends that I choose to call, for I should blush that they should see me in such a state, and under such imputations."

"Your relations, young man, would certainly not be backward. Who is your father?"

"My father!" exclaimed I, raising up my hands and eyes. "My father!

Merciful G.o.d!--if he could only see me here--see to what he has reduced his unhappy son," and I covered my face and sobbed convulsively.

PART THREE, CHAPTER FIVE.

BY THE COMMITTING OF MAGISTERIAL MISTAKES I AM PERSONALLY AND PENALLY COMMITTED--I PREPARE FOR MY TRIAL BY CALLING IN THE a.s.sISTANCE OF THE TAILOR AND THE PERFUME--I AM RESOLVED TO DIE LIKE A GENTLEMAN.

"It is indeed a pity, a great pity," observed one of the magistrates, "such a fine young man, and evidently, by his demeanour and language, well brought up; but I believe," said he, turning to the others, "we have but one course; what say you, Mr Norman?"

"I am afraid that my opinion coincides with yours, and that the grand jury will not hesitate to find a bill, as the case stands at present.

Let us, however, ask the witness Armstrong one question. Do you positively swear to this young man being one of the persons who attacked you?"

"It was not very light at the time, sir, and both the men had their faces _s.m.u.tted_; but it was a person just his size, and dressed in the same way, as near as I can recollect."

"You cannot, therefore, swear to his ident.i.ty?"

"No, sir; but to the best of my knowledge and belief, he is the man."

"Take that evidence down as important," said Mr Norman; "it will a.s.sist him at his trial."

The evidence was taken down, and then my commitment to the county gaol was made out. I was placed in a cart, between two constables, and driven off. On my arrival I was put into a cell, and my money returned to me, but the ring was detained, that it might be advertised. At last, I was freed from the manacles; and when the prison dress was brought to me to put on, in lieu of my own clothes, I requested leave from the gaoler to wash myself, which was granted; and, strange to say, so unaccustomed had I been to such a state of filth, that I felt a degree of happiness, as I returned from the pump in the prison-yard, and I put on the prison dress almost with pleasure; for degrading as it was, at all events, it was new and clean. I then returned to my cell, and was left to my meditations.

Now that my examination and committal, were over, I became much more composed, and was able to reflect coolly. I perceived the great danger of my situation--how strong the evidence was against me--and how little chance I had of escape. As for sending to Lord Windermear, Mr Masterton, or those who formerly were acquainted with me, my pride forbade it--I would sooner have perished on the scaffold. Besides, their evidence as to my former situation in life, although it would perhaps satisfactorily account for my possession of the money and the ring, and for my disposing of my portmanteau--all strong presumptive evidence against me--would not destroy the evidence brought forward as to the robbery, which appeared to be so very conclusive to the bench of magistrates. My only chance appeared to be in the footpad, who had not escaped, acknowledging that I was not his accomplice; and I felt how much I was interested in his recovery, as well as in his candour. The a.s.sizes I knew were near at hand, and I anxiously awaited the return of the gaoler, to make a few inquiries. At night he looked through the small square cut out of the top of the door of the cell, for it was his duty to go his rounds and ascertain if all his prisoners were safe. I then asked him if I might be allowed to make a few purchases, such as pens, ink, and paper, etcetera. As I was not committed to prison in punishment, but on suspicion, this was not denied, although it would have been to those who were condemned to imprisonment and hard labour for their offences; and he volunteered to procure them for me the next morning. I then wished him a good night, and threw myself on my mattress. Worn out with fatigue and distress of mind, I slept soundly, without dreaming, until daylight the next morning. As I awoke, and my scattered senses were returning, I had a confused idea that there was something which weighed heavily on my mind, which sleep had banished from my memory. "What is it?" thought I; and as I opened my eyes, so did I remember that I, j.a.phet Newland, who but two nights before was pressing the down of luxury in the same habitation as Lady de Clare and her lovely child, was now on a mattress in the cell of a prison, under a charge which threatened me with an ignominious death. I rose, and sat on the bed, for I had not thrown off my clothes. My first thoughts were directed to Timothy. Should I write to him? No, no! why should I make him miserable? If I was to suffer, it should be under an a.s.sumed name.

But what name? Here I was interrupted by the gaoler, who opened the door, and desired me to roll up my mattress and bed-clothes, that they might, as was the custom, be taken out of the cell during the day.

My first inquiry was, if the man who had been so much hurt was in the gaol.