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

And The Effect It Had Upon Me,  Be Erased From My Memory. She Was Tall,

Too Tall,  Had It Not Been For The Perfect Symmetry Of Her Form. Her

Face Of A Clear Olive,  And Oval In Shape; Her Eyes Jetty Black; Nose

Straight,  And Beautifully Formed; Mouth Small,  Thin Lips,  With A Slight

Curl Of Disdain,  And Pearly Teeth. I Never Beheld A Woman Of So

Commanding A Presence. Her Feet Were Bare,  But Very Small,  As Well As

Her Hands. On Her Fingers She Wore Many Rings,  Of A Curious Old Setting,

And A Piece Of Gold Hung On Her Forehead,  Where The Hair Was Parted. She

Looked At Us,  Touched Her High Forehead With The Ends Of Her Fingers,

And Waving Her Hand Gracefully,  Said,  In a Soft Voice,  "You Are

Welcome," And Then Turned To Her Husband,  Speaking To Him In Her Own

Language,  Until By Degrees They Separated From Us In earnest

Conversation.

She Returned To Us After A Short Time,  Without Her Husband,  And Said,  In

A Voice,  The Notes Of Which Were Indeed Soft,  But The Delivery Of The

Words Was Most Determined; "I Have Said That You Are Welcome; Sit Down,

Therefore,  And Share With Us--Fear Nothing,  You Have No Cause To Fear.

Be Faithful,  Then,  While You Serve Him,  And When You Would Quit Us,  Say

So,  And Receive Your Leave To Depart; But If You Attempt To Desert Us

Without Permission,  Then We Shall Suspect That You Are Our Enemies,  And

Treat You Accordingly. There Is Your Lodging While Here," Continued She,

Pointing To Another Hut. "There Is But One Child With You,  This Boy

(Pointing To Jumbo),  Who Can Lay At Your Feet. And Now Join Us As

Friends. Fleta,  Where Are You?"

A Soft Voice Answered From The Tent Of Nattee,  And Soon Afterwards Came

Out A Little Girl,  Of About Eleven Years Old. The Appearance Of This

Child Was A New Source Of Interest. She Was A Little Fairy Figure,  With

A Skin As White As The Driven Snow--Light Auburn Hair,  And Large Blue

Eyes; Her Dress Was Scanty,  And Showed A Large Portion Of Her Taper

Legs. She Hastened To Nattee,  And Folding Her Arms Across Her Breast,

Stood Still,  Saying Meekly,  "I Am Here."

"Know These As Friends,  Fleta. Send That Lazy Num (This Was Philotas,

The Fool),  For More Wood,  And See That Jumbo Tends The Fire."

Nattee Smiled,  And Left Us. I Observed She Went To Where Forty Or Fifty

Of The Tribe Were Assembled,  In earnest Discourse. She Took Her Seat

With Them,  And Marked Deference Was Paid To Her. In The Meantime Jumbo

Had Blown Up A Brisk Fire; We Were Employed By Fleta In Shredding

Vegetables,  Which She Threw Into The Boiling Kettle. Num Appeared With

More Fuel,  And At Last There Was Nothing More To Do. Fleta Sat Down By

Us,  And Parting Her Long Hair,  Which Had Fallen Over Her Eyes,  Looked Us

Both In The Face.

"Who Gave You That Name,  Fleta?" Inquired I.

"They Gave It Me," Replied She.

"And Who Are They?"

"Nattee,  And Melchior,  Her Husband."

"But You Are Not Their Daughter?"

"No,  I Am Not--That Is,  I Believe Not."

The Little Girl Stopped Short,  As If Assured That She Had Said Too Much,

Cast Her Eyes Down On The Ground,  And Folded Her Arms,  So That Her Hands

Rested On Each Opposite Shoulder.

Timothy Whispered To Me,  "She Must Have Been Stolen,  Depend Upon It."

"Silence," Said I.

The Little Girl Overheard Him,  And Looking At Him,  Put Her Finger Across

Her Mouth,  Looking To Where Num And Jumbo Were Sitting. I Felt An

Interest For This Child Before I Had Been An Hour In Her Company; She

Was So Graceful,  So Feminine,  So Mournful In The Expression Of Her

Countenance. That She Was Under Restraint Was Evident; But Still She Did

Not Appear To Be Actuated By Fear. Nattee Was Very Kind To Her,  And The

Child Did Not Seem To Be More Reserved Towards Her Than To Others; Her

Mournful Pensive Look,  Was Perhaps Inherent To Her Nature. It Was Not

Until Long After Our First Acquaintance That I Ever Saw A Smile Upon Her

Features. Shortly After This Little Conversation Nattee Returned,

Walking With All The Grace And Dignity Of A Queen. Her Husband,  Or

Melchior,  As I Shall In Future Call Him,  Soon Joined Us,  And We Sat

Down To Our Repast,  Which Was Excellent. It Was Composed Of Almost Every

Thing; Sometimes I Found Myself Busy With The Wing Of A Fowl,  At Another

The Leg Of A Rabbit--Then A Piece Of Mutton,  Or Other Flesh And Fowl,

Which I Could Hardly Distinguish. To These Were Added Every Sort Of

Vegetable,  Among Which Potatoes Predominated,  Forming A Sort Of Stew,

Which An Epicure Might Have Praised. I Had A Long Conversation With

Melchior In The Evening,  And,  Not To Weary The Reader,  I Shall Now

Proceed To State All That I Then And Subsequently Gathered From Him And

Others,  Relative To The Parties With Whom We Were Associating.

Melchior Would Not State Who And What He Was Previous To His Having

Joined The Fraternity Of Gipsies; That He Was Not Of Humble Birth,  And

That He Had,  When Young,  Quitted His Friends Out Of Love For Nattee,  Or

From Some Other Causes Not To Be Revealed,  He Led Me To Surmise. He Had

Been Many Years In company With The Tribe,  And Although,  As One Received

Into It,  He Did Not Stand So High In Rank And Estimation As His Wife,

Still,  From His Marriage With Nattee,  And His Own Peculiar

Qualifications And Dexterity,  He Was Almost As Absolute As She Was.

Melchior And Nattee Were Supposed To Be The Most Wealthy Of All The

Gipsies,  And,  At The Same Time,  They Were The Most Liberal Of Their

Wealth. Melchior,  It Appeared,  Gained Money In Three Different

Characters; As A Quack Doctor,  The Character In Which We First Saw Him;

Secondly,  As A Juggler,  In Which Art He Was Most Expert; And Thirdly,  As

A Fortune-Teller,  And _Wise Man_.

Nattee,  As I Before Mentioned,  Was Of Very High Rank,  Or Caste,  In Her

Tribe. At Her First Espousal Of Melchior She Lost Much Of Her Influence,

As It Was Considered A Degradation; But She Was Then Very Young,  And

Must Have Been Most Beautiful. The Talents Of Melchior,  And Her Own

Spirit,  However,  Soon Enabled Her To Regain,  And Even Add Still More To,

Her Power And Consideration Among The Tribe,  And It Was Incredible To

What Extent,  With The Means Which She Possessed,  This Power Was

Augmented.

Melchior Had No Children By His Marriage,  And,  As Far As I Could Judge

From The Few Words Which Would Escape From The Lips Of Nattee,  She Did

Not Wish For Any,  As The Race Would Not Be Considered Pure. The

Subdivision Of The Tribe Which Followed Nattee,  Consisted Of About

Forty,  Men,  Women,  And Children. These Were Ruled By Her During The

Absence Of Her Husband,  Who Alternately Assumed Different Characters,  As

Suited His Purpose; But In Whatever Town Melchior Might Happen To Be,

Nattee And Her Tribe Were Never Far Off,  And Always Encamped Within

Communication.

I Ventured To Question Melchior About The Little Fleta; And He Stated

That She Was The Child Of A Soldier'S Wife,  Who Had Been Brought To Bed,

And Died A Few Hours Afterwards; That,  At The Time,  She Was On Her Way

To Join Her Husband,  And Had Been Taken Ill On The Road--Had Been

Assisted By Nattee And Her Companions,  As Far As They Were Able--Had

Been Buried By Them,  And That The Child Had Been Reared In The Camp.

In Time,  The Little Girl Became Very Intimate,  And Very Partial To Me. I

Questioned Her As To Her Birth,  Telling Her What Melchior Had Stated;

For A Long While She Would Not Answer; The Poor Child Had Learned

Caution Even At That Early Age; But After We Were More Intimate,  She

Said,  That Which Melchior Had Stated Was _Not True_. She Could Recollect

Very Well Living In a Great House,  With Everything Very Fine About Her;

But Still It Appeared As If It Were A Dream. She Recollected Two White

Ponies--And A Lady Who Was Her Mamma--And A Mulberry-Tree,  Where She

Stained Her Frock; Sometimes Other Things Came To Her Memory,  And Then

She Forgot Them Again. From This It Was Evident That She Had Been

Stolen,  And Was Probably Of Good Parentage; Certainly,  If Elegance And

Symmetry Of Person And Form,  Could Prove Blood,  It Never Was More Marked

Than In This Interesting Child. Her Abode With The Gipsies,  And Their

Peculiar Mode Of Life And Manners,  Had Rendered Her Astonishingly

Precocious In Intellect; But Of Education She Had None,  Except What Was

Instilled Into Her By Melchior,  Whom She Always Accompanied When He

Assumed His Character As A Juggler. She Then Danced On The Slack Wire,

At The Same Time Performing Several Feats In balancing,  Throwing Of

Oranges,  &C. When Melchior Was Under Other Disguises,  She Remained In

The Camp With Nattee.

Of Num,  Or Philotas,  As Melchior Thought Proper To Call Him,  I Have

Already Spoken. He Was A Half-Witted Idiot,  Picked Up In One Of

Melchior'S Excursions,  And As He Stated To Me,  So Did It Prove To Be The

Fact,  That When On The Stage,  And Questioned As A Fool,  His Natural

Folly,  And Idiotical Vacancy Of Countenance,  Were Applauded By The

Spectators As Admirably Assumed. Even At The Alehouses And Taverns Where

We Stopped,  Every One Imagined That All His Folly Was Pretence,  And

Looked Upon Him As A Very Clever Fellow. There Never Was,  Perhaps,  Such

A Lachrymose Countenance As This Poor Lad'S,  And This Added Still More

To The Mirth Of Others,  Being Also Considered As Put On For The

Occasion. Stephen Kemble Played Falstaff Without Stuffing--Num Played

The Fool Without Any Effort Or Preparation. Jumbo Was Also "Picked Up;"

This Was Not Done By Melchior,  Who Stated,  That Any Body Might Have Him

Who Claimed Him; He Tumbled With The Fool Upon The Stage,  And He Also

Ate Pudding To Amuse The Spectators--The Only Part Of The Performance

Which Was Suited To Jumbo'S Taste,  For He Was A Terrible Little Glutton,

And Never Lost Any Opportunity Of Eating,  As Well As Of Sleeping.

And Now,  Having Described All Our New Companions,  I Must Narrate What

Passed Between Melchior And Me,  The Day After Our Joining