Japhet In Search Of A Father Part 1 by Frederick Marryat (unputdownable books TXT) 📕

Settled--And As Here Come Mr Pleggit'S Assistants With Only One Pair Of

Eyes Between Them,  The Sooner We Pack Up The Better."

In Half An Hour All Was Ready; A Bundle Each,  Contained Our Wardrobes.

We Descended From Our Attic,  Walked Proudly Through The Shop Without

Making Any Observation,  Or Taking Any Notice Of Our Successors; All The

Notice Taken Was By Timothy,  Who Turned Round And Shook His Fist At His

Old Enemies,  The Iron Mortar And Pestle; And There We Were,  Standing On

The Pavement,  With The Wide World Before Us,  And Quite Undecided Which

Way We Should Go.

"Is It To Be East,  West,  North,  Or South,  Japhet?" Said Timothy.

"The Wise Men Came From The East," Replied I.

"Then They Must Have Travelled West," Said Tim; "Let Us Show Our Wisdom

By Doing The Same."

"Agreed."

Passing By A Small Shop,  We Purchased Two Good Sticks,  As Defenders,  As

Well As To Hang Our Bundles On--And Off We Set Upon Our Pilgrimage.

     We Take A Coach,  But The Driver Does Not Like His Fare And Hits Us

     Foul--We Change Our Mode Of Travelling Upon The Principle Of Slow

     And Sure,  And Fall In With A Very Learned Man.

I Believe It To Be A Very General Custom,  When People Set Off Upon A

Journey,  To Reckon Up Their Means--That Is,  To Count The Money Which

They May Have In Their Pockets. At All Events,  This Was Done By Timothy

And Me,  And I Found That My Stock Amounted To Twenty-Two Pounds

Eighteen Shillings,  And Timothy'S To The Five Guineas Presented By Mr

Cophagus,  And Three Halfpence Which Were In The Corner Of His Waistcoat

Pocket--Sum Total,  Twenty-Eight Pounds Three Shillings And Three

Halfpence; A Very Handsome Sum,  As We Thought,  With Which To Commence

Our Peregrinations,  And,  As I Observed To Timothy,  Sufficient To Last Us

For A Considerable Time,  If Husbanded With Care.

"Yes," Replied He,  "But We Must Husband Our Legs Also,  Japhet,  Or We

Shall Soon Be Tired,  And Very Soon Wear Out Our Shoes. I Vote We Take A

Hackney Coach."

"Take A Hackney Coach,  Tim! We Mustn'T Think Of It; We Cannot Afford

Such A Luxury; You Can'T Be Tired Yet,  We Are Now Only Just Clear Of

Hyde Park Corner."

"Still I Think We Had Better Take A Coach,  Japhet,  And Here Is One

Coming. I Always Do Take One When I Carry Out Medicines,  To Make Up For

The Time I Lose Looking At The Shops,  And Playing Peg In The Ring."

I Now Understood What Timothy Meant,  Which Was,  To Get Behind And Have A

Ride For Nothing. I Consented To This Arrangement,  And We Got Up Behind

One Which Was Already Well Filled Inside. "The Only Difference Between

An Inside And Outside Passenger In a Hackney Coach,  Is That One Pays,

And The Other Does Not," Said I,  To Timothy,  As We Rolled Along At The

Act Of Parliament Speed Of Four Miles Per Hour.

"That Depends Upon Circumstances: If We Are Found Out,  In all

Probability We Shall Not Only Have Our Ride,  But Be _Paid_ Into The

Bargain."

"With The Coachman'S Whip,  I Presume?"

"Exactly." And Timothy Had Hardly Time To Get The Word Out Of His Mouth,

When Flac,  Flac,  Came The Whip Across Our Eyes--A Little Envious Wretch,

With His Shirt Hanging Out Of His Trousers,  Having Called Out,  _Cut

Behind!_ Not Wishing To Have Our Faces,  Or Our Behinds Cut Any More,  We

Hastily Descended,  And Reached The Footpath,  After Having Gained About

Three Miles On The Road Before We Were Discovered.

"That Wasn'T A Bad Lift,  Japhet,  And As For The Whip I Never Mind That

With _Corduroys_. And Now,  Japhet,  I'Ll Tell You Something; We Must Get

Into A Wagon,  If We Can Find One Going Down The Road,  As Soon As It Is

Dark."

"But That Will Cost Money,  Tim."

"It'S Economy,  I Tell You; For A Shilling,  If You Bargain,  You May Ride

The Whole Night,  And If We Stop At A Public-House To Sleep,  We Shall

Have To Pay For Our Beds,  As Well As Be Obliged To Order Something To

Eat,  And Pay Dearer For It Than If We Buy What We Want At Cooks' Shops."

"There Is Sense In What You Say,  Timothy; We Will Look Out For A Wagon."

"Oh! It'S No Use Now--Wagons Are Like Black Beetles,  Not Only In Shape

But In Habits,  They Only Travel By Night--At Least Most Of Them Do. We

Are Now Coming Into Long Dirty Brentford,  And I Don'T Know How You Feel,

Japhet,  But I Find That Walking Wonderfully Increases The

Appetite--That'S Another Reason Why You Should Not Walk When You Can

Ride--For Nothing."

"Well,  I'M Rather Hungry Myself; And Dear Me,  How Very Good That Piece

Of Roast Pork Looks In That Window!"

"I Agree With You--Let'S Go In and Make A Bargain!"

We Bought A Good Allowance For A Shilling,  And After Sticking Out For A

Greater Proportion Of Mustard Than The Woman Said We Were Entitled To,

And Some Salt,  We Wrapped It Up In a Piece Of Paper,  And Continued Our

Course,  Till We Arrived At A Baker'S,  Where We Purchased Our Bread,  And

Then Taking Up A Position On A Bench Outside A Public-House,  Called For

A Pot Of Beer,  And Putting Our Provisions Down Before Us,  Made A Hearty,

And,  What Made Us More Enjoy It,  An Independent Meal. Having Finished

Our Pork And Our Porter,  And Refreshed Ourselves,  We Again Started And

Walked Till It Was Quite Dark,  When We Felt So Tired That We Agreed To

Sit Down On Our Bundles And Wait For The First Wagon Which Passed. We

Soon Heard The Jingling Of Bells,  And Shortly Afterwards Its Enormous

Towering Bulk Appeared Between Us And The Sky. We Went Up To The

Wagoner,  Who Was Mounted On A Little Pony,  And Asked Him If He Could

Give Two Poor Lads A Lift,  And How Much He Would Charge Us For The Ride.

"How Much Can You Afford To Give,  Measters? For There Be Others As Poor

As Ye." We Replied That We Could Give A Shilling. "Well,  Then,  Get Up In

God'S Name,  And Ride As Long As You Will. Get In behind."

"Are There Many People In There Already?" Said I,  As I Climbed Up,  And

Timothy Handed Me The Bundles.

"Noa," Replied The Wagoner,  "There Be Nobody But A Mighty Clever

Poticary Or Doctor,  I Can'T Tell Which; But He Wear An Uncommon Queer

Hat,  And He Talk All Sort Of Doctor Stuff--And There Be His Odd Man And

His Odd Boy; That Be All,  And There Be Plenty Of Room,  And Plenty O'

Clean _Stra_'."

After This Intimation We Climbed Up,  And Gained A Situation In The Rear

Of The Wagon Under The Cloth. As The Wagoner Said,  There Was Plenty Of

Room,  And We Nestled Into The Straw Without Coming Into Contact With The

Other Travellers. Not Feeling Any Inclination To Sleep,  Timothy And I

Entered Into Conversation,  _Sotto Voce_,  And Had Continued For More Than

Half An Hour,  Supposing By Their Silence That The Other Occupants Of The

Wagon Were Asleep,  When We Were Interrupted By A Voice Clear And

Sonorous As A Bell.

"It Would Appear That You Are Wanderers,  Young Men,  And Journey You Know

Not Whither. Birds Seek Their Nests When The Night Falls--Beasts Hasten

To Their Lairs--Man Bolts His Door. '_Propria Quae Maribus_,' As

Herodotus Hath It; Which,  When Translated,  Means,  That 'Such Is The

Nature Of Mankind.' '_Tribuuntur Mascula Dicas_' 'Tell Me Your

Troubles,' As Homer Says."

I Was Very Much Surprised At This Address--My Knowledge Of The Language

Told Me Immediately That The Quotations Were Out Of The Latin Grammar,

And That All His Learning Was Pretence; Still There Was A Novelty Of

Style Which Amused Me,  And At The Same Time Gave Me An Idea That The

Speaker Was An Uncommon Personage. I Gave Timothy A Nudge,  And Then

Replied,

"You Have Guessed Right,  Most Learned Sir; We Are,  As You Say,  Wanderers

Seeking Our Fortunes,  And Trust Yet To Find Them--Still We Have A Weary

Journey Before Us,  '_Haustus Hora Somni Sumendum_,' As Aristotle Hath

It; Which I Need Not Translate To So Learned A Person As Yourself."

"Nay,  Indeed,  There Is No Occasion; Yet Am I Pleased To Meet With One

Who Hath Scholarship," Replied The Other. "Have You Also A Knowledge Of

The Greek?"

"No,  I Pretend Not To Greek."

"It Is A Pity That Thou Hast It Not,  For Thou Wouldst Delight To

Commune With The Ancients. Esculapius Hath These

Words--'A_Shol_Der--Offmotton--_Acca_Pon--Pasti--Venison,'--Which I Will

Translate For Thee--'We Often Find What We Seek,  When We Least Expect

It.' May It Be So With You,  My Friend. Where Have You Been Educated? And

What Has Been Your Profession?"

I Thought I Risked Little In Telling,  So I Replied,  That I Had Been

Brought Up As A Surgeon And Apothecary,  And Had Been Educated At A

Foundation School.

"'Tis Well," Replied He; "You Have Then Commenced Your Studies In My

Glorious Profession; Still,  Have You Much To Learn; Years Of Toil,  Under

A Great Master,  Can Only Enable You To Benefit Mankind As I Have Done,

And Years Of Hardship And Of Danger Must Be Added Thereunto,  To Afford

You The Means. There Are Many Hidden Secrets. '_Ut Sunt Divorum,  Mars,

Bacchus,  Apollo,  Virorum_,'--Many Parts Of The Globe To Traverse,  '_Ut

Cato,  Virgilius,  Fluviorum,  Ut Tibris,  Orontes._' All These Have I

Visited,  And Many More. Even Now Do I Journey To Obtain More Of My

Invaluable Medicine,  Gathered On The Highest Andes,  When The Moon Is In

Her Perigee. There I Shall