Tales Of The Trains Part 6

"For the purpose of my tale," said Mr. Yellowley, "it is unnecessary that I should mention any incident of my life more remote than a couple of years back. About that time it was, that, using all the influence of very powerful friends, I succeeded in obtaining the consul-generalship at Stralsund. My arrangements for departure were made with considerable despatch; but on the very week of my leaving England, an old friend of mine was appointed to a situation of considerable trust in the East, whither he was ordered to repair, I may say, at a moment's notice. Never was there such a _contretemps_. He longed for the North of Europe,--I, with equal ardor, wished for a tropical climate; and here were we both going in the very direction antagonist to our wishes! My friend's appointment was a much more lucrative one than mine; but so anxious was he for a residence more congenial to his taste, that he would have exchanged without a moment's hesitation.

"By a mere accident, I mentioned this circ.u.mstance to the friend who had procured my promotion. Well, with the greatest alacrity, he volunteered his services to effect the exchange; and with such energy did he fulfil his pledge, that on the following evening I received an express, informing me of my altered destination, but directing me to proceed to Southampton on the next day, and sail by the Oriental steamer. This was speedy work, sir; but as my preparations for a journey had long been made, I had very little to do, but exchange some bear-skins with my friend for cotton shirts and jackets, and we both were accommodated.

Never were two men in higher spirits,--he, with his young wife, delighted at escaping what he called banishment; I equally happy in my antic.i.p.ation of the glorious East.

"Among the many papers forwarded to me from the Foreign Office was a special order for free transit the whole way to Calcutta. This doc.u.ment set forth the urgent necessity there existed to pay me every possible attention _en route_; in fact, it was a sort of Downing-Street firman, ordering all whom it might concern to take care of Simon Yellowley, nor permit him to suffer any let, impediment, or inconvenience on the road.

But a strange thing, Mr. Tramp,--a very strange thing,--was in this paper. In the exchange of my friend's appointment for my own, the clerk had merely inserted _my_ name in lieu of his in all the papers; and then, sir, what should I discover but that this free transit extended to 'Mr. Yellowley and lady,' while, doubtless, my poor friend was obliged to travel _en garcon?_ This extraordinary blunder I only discovered when leaving London in the train.

"We were a party of three, sir." Here he groaned deeply. "Three,--just as it might be this very day. I occupied the place that you did this morning, while opposite to me were a lady and a gentleman. The gentleman was an old round-faced little man, chatty and merry after his fashion.

The lady--the lady, sir--if I had never seen her but that day, I should now call her an angel. Yes, Mr. Tramp, I flatter myself that few men understand female beauty better. I admire the cold regularity and impa.s.sive loveliness of the North, I glory in the voluptuous magnificence of Italian beauty; I can relish the sparkling coquetry of France, the plaintive quietness and sleepy tenderness of Germany; nor do I undervalue the brown pellucid skin and flashing eye of the Malabar; but she, sir, she was something higher than all these; and it so chanced that I had ample time to observe her, for when I entered the carriage she was asleep--asleep," said he, with a bitter mockery Macready might have envied. "Why do I say asleep? No, sir!--she was in that fact.i.tious trance, that wiliest device of Satan's own creation, a woman's sleep,--the thing invented, sir, merely to throw the shadow of dark lashes on a marble cheek, and leave beauty to sink into man's heart without molestation. Sleep, sir!--the whole mischief the world does in its waking moments is nothing to the doings of such slumber! If she did not sleep, how could that braid of dark-brown hair fall loosely down upon her blue-veined hand; if she did not sleep, how could the color tinge with such evanescent loveliness the cheek it scarcely colored; if she did not sleep, how could her lips smile with the sweetness of some pa.s.sing thought, thus half recorded? No, sir; she had been obliged to have sat bolt upright, with her gloves on and her veil down. She neither could have shown the delicious roundness of her throat nor the statue-like perfection of her instep. But sleep,--sleep is responsible for nothing. Oh, why did not Macbeth murder it, as he said he had!

"If I were a legislator, sir, I'd prohibit any woman under forty-three from sleeping in a public conveyance. It is downright dangerous,--I would n't say it ain't immoral. The immovable aspect of placid beauty, Mr. Tramp, etherealizes a woman. The shrewd housewife becomes a houri; and a milliner--ay, sir, a milliner--might be a Maid of Judah under such circ.u.mstances!"

Mr. Yellowley seemed to have run himself out of breath with this burst of enthusiasm; for he was unable to resume his narrative until several minutes after, when he proceeded thus:

"The fat gentleman and myself were soon engaged in conversation. He was hastening down to bid some friends good-bye, ere they sailed for India.

I was about to leave my native country, too,--perhaps forever.

"'Yes, sir,' said I, addressing him, 'Heaven knows when I shall behold these green valleys again, if ever. I have just been appointed Secretary and Chief Counsellor to the Political Resident at the court of the Rajah of Sautaucantantarabad!--a most important post--three thousand eight hundred and forty-seven miles beyond the Himalaya.'

"And here--with, I trust, a pardonable pride--I showed him the government order for my free transit, with the various directions and injunctions concerning my personal comfort and safety.

"'Ah,' said the old gentleman, putting on his spectacles to read,--'ah, I never beheld one of these before. Very curious,--very curious, indeed.

I have seen a sheriff's writ, and an execution; but this is far more remarkable,--"Simon Yellowley, Esq., and lady." Eh?--so your lady accompanies you, sir?'

"'Would she did,--would to Heaven she did!' exclaimed I, in a transport.

"'Oh, then, she's afraid, is she? She dreads the blacks, I suppose.'

"'No, sir; I am not married. The insertion of these words was a mistake of the official who made out my papers; for, alas! I am alone in the world.'

"'But why don't you marry, sir?' said the little man, briskly, and with an eye glistening with paternity. 'Young ladies ain't scarce--'

"'True, most true; but even supposing I were fortunate enough to meet the object of my wishes, I have no time. I received this appointment last evening; to-day I am here, to-morrow I shall be on the billows!'

"'Ah, that's unfortunate, indeed,--very unfortunate.'

"'Had I but one week,--a day,--ay, an hour, sir,' said I, 'I 'd make an offer of my brilliant position to some lovely creature who, tired of the dreary North and its gloomy skies, would prefer the unclouded heaven of the Himalaya and the perfumed breezes of the valley of Santancantantarabad!'

"A lightly breathed sigh fell from the sleeping beauty, and at the same time a smile of inexpressible sweetness played upon her lips; but, like the ripple upon a gla.s.sy stream, that disappearing left all placid and motionless again, the fair features were in a moment calm as before.

"'She looks delicate,' whispered my companion.

"'Our detestable climate!' said I, bitterly; for she coughed twice at the instant. 'Oh, why are the loveliest flowers the offspring of the deadliest soil!'

"She awoke, not suddenly or abruptly, but as Venus might have risen from the sparkling sea and thrown the dew-drops from her hair, and then she opened her eyes. Mr. Tramp, do you understand eyes?"

"I can't say I have any skill that way, to speak of."

"I'm sorry for it,--deeply, sincerely sorry; for to the uninitiated these things seem naught. It would be as unprofitable to put a Rembrandt before a blind man as discuss the aesthetics of eyelashes with the unbeliever. But you will understand me when I say that her eyes were blue,--blue as the Adriatic!--not the gla.s.sy doll's-eye blue, that shines and glistens with a metallic l.u.s.tre; nor that false depth, more gray than blue, that resembles a piece of tea-lead; but the color of the sea, as you behold it five fathoms down, beside the steep rocks of Genoa! And what an ocean is a woman's eye, with bright thoughts floating through it, and love lurking at the bottom! Am I tedious, Mr. Tramp?"

"No; far from it,--only very poetical."

"Ah, I was once," said Mr. Yellowley, with a deep sigh. "I used to write sweet things for 'The New Monthly;' but Campbell was very jealous of me,--couldn't abide me. Poor Campbell! he had his failings, like the rest of us.

"Well, sir, to resume. We arrived at Southampton, but only in time to hasten down to the pier, and take boat for the ship. The blue-peter was flying at the mast-head, and people hurrying away to say 'good-bye' for the last time. I, sir, I alone had no farewells to take. Simon Yellowley was leaving his native soil, unwept and unregretted! Sad thoughts these, Mr. Tramp,--very sad thoughts. Well, sir, we were aboard at last, above a hundred of us, standing amid the lumber of our carpet-bags, dressing-cases, and hat-boxes, half blinded by the heavy spray of the condensed steam, and all deafened by the din.

"The world of a great packet-ship, Mr. Tramp, is a very selfish world, and not a bad epitome of its relative on sh.o.r.e. Human weaknesses are so hemmed in by circ.u.mstances, the frailties that would have been dissipated in a wider s.p.a.ce are so concentrated by compression, that middling people grow bad, and the bad become regular demons. There is, therefore, no such miserable den of selfish and egotistical caballing, slander, gossip, and all malevolence, as one of these. Envy of the man with a large berth,--sneers for the lady that whispered to the captain,--guesses as to the rank and station of every pa.s.senger, indulged in with a spirit of impertinence absolutely intolerable,--and petty exclu-siveness practised by every four or five on board, against some others who have fewer servants or less luggage than their neighbors. Into this human bee-hive was I now plunged, to be bored by the drones, stung by the wasps, and maddened by all. 'No matter,'

thought I, 4 Simon Yellowley has a great mission to fulfil.' Yes, Mr. Tramp, I remembered the precarious position of our Eastern possessions,--I bethought me of the incalculable services the ability of even a Yellow-ley might render his country in the far-off valley of the Himalaya, and I sat down on my portmanteau, a happier--nay, I will say, a better man.

"The accidents--we call them such every day--the accidents which fashion our lives, are always of our own devising, if we only were to take trouble enough to trace them. I have a theory on this head, but I 'm keeping it over for a kind of a Bridgewater Treatise. It is enough now to remark that though my number at the dinner-table was 84, I exchanged with another gentleman, who could n't bear a draught, for a place near the door, No. 122. Ah, me! little knew I then what that simple act was to bring with it. Bear in mind, Mr. Tramp, 122; for, as you may remember, Sancho Panza's story of the goatherd stopped short, when his master forgot the number of the goats; and that great French novelist, M. de Balzac, always hangs the interest of his tale on some sum in arithmetic, in which his hero's fortune is concerned: so my story bears upon this number. Yes, sir, the adjoining seat, No. 123, was vacant.

There was a cover and a napkin, and there was a chair placed leaning against the table, to mark it out as the property of some one absent; and day by day was that vacant place the object of my conjectures. It was natural this should be the case. My left-hand neighbor was the first mate, one of those sea animals most detestable to a landsman. He had a sea appet.i.te, a sea voice, sea jokes, and, worst of all, a sea laugh.

I shall never forget that fellow. I never spoke to him that he did not reply in some slang of his abominable profession; and all the disagreeables of a floating existence were increased ten-fold by the everlasting reference to the hated theme,--a ship. What he on the right hand might prove, was therefore of some moment to me. Another _Coup de Mer_ like this would be unendurable. The crossest old maid, the testiest old bachelor, the most peppery nabob, the flattest ensign, the most boring of tourists, the most careful of mothers, would be a boon from heaven in comparison with a blue-jacket. Alas! Mr. Tramp, I was left very long to speculate on this subject. We were buffeted down the Channel, we were tossed along the coast of France, and blown about the Bay of Biscay before 123 ever turned up; when one day--it was a deliciously calm day (I shall not forget it soon)--we even could see the coast of Portugal, with its great mountains above Cintra. Over a long reach of sea, gla.s.sy as a mirror, the great ship clove her way,--the long foam-track in her wake, the only stain on that blue surface. Every one was on deck: the old asthmatic gentleman, whose cough was the curse of the after-cabin, sat with a boa round his neck, and thought he enjoyed himself. Ladies in twos and threes walked up and down together, chatting as pleasantly as though in Kensington Gardens. The tourist sent out by Mr. Colburn was taking notes of the whole party, and the four officers in the Bengal Light Horse had adjourned their daily brandy and water to a little awning beside the wheel. There were sketch-books and embroidery-frames and journals on all sides; there was even a guitar, with a blue ribbon round it; and amid all these remindings of sh.o.r.e life, a fat poodle waddled about, and snarled at every one. The calm, sir, was a kind of doomsday, which evoked the dead from their tombs; and up they came from indescribable corners and nooks, opening their eyes with amazement upon the strange world before them, and some almost feeling that even the ordeal of sea-sickness was not too heavy a penalty for an hour so bright, though so fleeting.

"'Which is 123?' thought I, as I elbowed my way along the crowded quarter-deck, now asking myself could it be the thin gentleman with the two capes, or the fat lady with the three chins? But there is a prescience which never fails in the greater moments of our destiny, and this told me it was none of these. We went down to dinner, and for the first time the chair was not placed against the table, but so as to permit a person to be seated on it.

"'I beg your pardon, sir,' said the steward to me, 'could you move a little this way? 123 is coming in to dinner, and she would like to have the air of the doorway.'

"'She would,' thought I; 'oh, so this is a she, at all events;' and scarce was the reflection made, when the rustle of a silk dress was heard brushing my chair. I turned, and what do you think, Mr.

Tramp?--shall I endeavor to describe my emotions to you?"

This was said in a tone so completely questioning that I saw Mr.

Yellowley waited for my answer.

"I am afraid, sir," said I, looking at my watch, "if the emotions you speak of will occupy much time, we had better skip them, for it only wants a quarter to twelve."

"We will omit them, then, Mr. Tramp; for, as you justly observe, they would require both time and s.p.a.ce. Well, sir, to be brief, 123 was the angel of the railroad."

"The lady you met at--"

"Yes, sir, if you prefer to call her the lady; for I shall persist in my previous designation. Oh, Mr. Tramp, that was the great moment of my life. You may have remarked that we pa.s.s from era to era of our existence, as though it were from one chamber to another. The gay, the sparkling, and the brilliant succeed to the dark and gloomy apartment, scarce illumined by a ray of hope, and we move on in our life's journey, with new objects suggesting new actions, and the actions engendering new frames of thought, and we think ourselves wiser as our vicissitudes grow thicker; but I must not continue this theme. To me, this moment was the greatest transition of my life. Here was the ideal before me, which neither art had pictured, nor genius described,--the loveliest creature I ever beheld. She turned round on taking her place, and with a slight gesture of surprise recognized me at once as her former fellow-traveller. I have had proud moments in my life, Mr. Tramp. I shall never forget how the Commander of the Forces at Boulahcush said to me in full audience, in the presence of all the officials,--

"'Yellowley, this is devilish hot,--hotter than we have it in Europe.'

"But here was a prouder moment still: that little graceful movement of recognition, that smile so transient as to be scarce detected, sent a thrill of happiness all through me. In former days, by doughty deeds and hazardous exploits men won their way to women's hearts; our services in the present time have the advantage of being less hazardous; little attentions of the table, pa.s.sing the salt, calling for the pepper, lifting a napkin, and inviting to wine, are the subst.i.tutes for mutilating giants and spitting dragons. I can't say but I think the exchange is with the difference.

"The first day pa.s.sed over with scarce the interchange of a word between us. She arose almost immediately after dinner, and did not make her appearance during the remainder of the evening. The following morning she took her place at the breakfast-table, and to my inexpressible delight, as the weather still remained calm, ascended to the quarterdeck when the meal was over. The smile with which she met me now had a.s.sumed the token of acquaintance, and a very little address was necessary, on my part, to enable me to join her as she walked, and engage her in conversation. The fact of being so young and so perfectly alone--for except her French maid, she did not appear to know a single person on board--perhaps appeared to demand some explanation on her part, even to a perfect stranger like myself; for, after some pa.s.sing observations on the scenery of the coast and the beauty of the weather, she told me that she looked forward with much hope to the benefit her health might derive from a warmer air and less trying climate than that of England.

"'I already feel benefited by the sweet South,' said she; and there was a smile of grat.i.tude on her lip, as she spoke the words. Some little farther explanation she may have deemed necessary; for she took the occasion soon after to remark that her only brother would have been delighted with the voyage, if he could have obtained leave of absence from his regiment; but, unfortunately, he was in 'the Blues,' quartered at Windsor, and could not be spared.

"'Poor dear creature!' said I; 'and so she has been obliged to travel thus alone, reared doubtless within the precincts of some happy home, from which the world, with its petty snares and selfishness, were excluded, surrounded by all the appliances of luxury, and the elegances that embellish existence--and now, to venture thus upon a journey without a friend, or even a companion.'

"There could scarcely be a more touching incident than to see one like her, so beautiful and so young, in the midst of that busy little world of soldiers and sailors and merchants, travellers to the uttermost bounds of the earth, and wearied spirits seeking for change wherever it might be found. Had I not myself been alone, a very 'waif' upon the sh.o.r.es of life, I should have felt attracted by the interest of her isolation; now there was a sympathy to attach us,--there was that similarity of position--that _idem nolle, et idem velle_--which, we are told, const.i.tutes true friendship. She seemed to arrive at this conclusion exactly as I did myself, and received with the most captivating frankness all the little attentions it was in my power to bestow; and in fact to regard me, in some sort, as her companion. Thus, we walked the deck each morning it was fine, or, if stormy, played at chess or piquet in the cabin. Sometimes she worked while I read aloud for her; and such a treat as it was to hear her criticisms on the volume before us,--how just and true her appreciation of sound and correct principles,--how skilful the distinctions she would make between the false glitter of tinsel sentiment and the dull gold of real and sterling morality! Her mind, naturally a gifted one, had received every aid education could bestow. French and Italian literature were as familiar to her as was English, while in mere accomplishments she far excelled those who habitually make such acquirements the grand business of early life.

"You are, I presume, a man of the world, Mr. Tramp. You may, perhaps, deem it strange that several days rolled over before I ever even thought of inquiring her name; but such was the case. It no more entered into my conception to ask after it, than I should have dreamed of what might be the botanical designation of some lovely flower by whose beauty and fragrance I was captivated. Enough for me that the bright petals were tipped with azure and gold, and the fair stem was graceful in its slender elegance. I cared not where Jussieu might have arranged or Linnaeus cla.s.sed it. But a chance revealed the matter even before it had occurred to me to think of it. A volume of Sh.e.l.ley's poems contained on the t.i.tlepage, written in a hand of singular delicacy, the words, 'Lady Blanche D'Esmonde.' Whether the n.o.ble family she belonged to were English, Irish, or Scotch, I could not even guess. It were as well, Mr. Tramp, that I could not do so. I should only have felt a more unwarrantable attachment for that portion of the empire she came from.

Yes, sir, I loved her. I loved her with an ardor that the Yellowleys have been remarkable for, during three hundred and eighty years. It was _my_ ancestor, Mr. Tramp,--Paul Yellowley,--who was put in the stocks at Charing Cross, for persecuting a maid of honor at Elizabeth's court.

That haughty Queen and cold-hearted woman had the base inscription written above his head, 'The penaltie of a low scullion who lifteth his eyes too loftilie.'

"To proceed. When we reached Gibraltar, Lady Blanche and I visited the rocks, and went over the bomb-proofs and the casemates together,--far more dangerous places those little cells and dark pa.s.sages to a man like me, than ever they could become in the hottest fury of a siege. She took such an interest in everything. There was not a mortar nor a piece of ordnance she could afford to miss; and she would peep out from the embrasures, and look down upon the harbor and the bay, with a fearlessness that left me puzzled to think whether I were more terrified by her intrepidity or charmed by the beauty of her instep. Again we went to sea; but how I trembled at each sight of land, lest she should leave the ship forever! At last, Malta came in view; and the same evening the boats were lowered, for all had a desire to go ash.o.r.e. Of course Lady Blanche was most anxious; her health had latterly improved greatly, and she was able to incur considerable fatigue, without feeling the worse afterwards.