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

First Ran Through His Various Professions,  Pointing Out To Me That As

Juggler He Required A Confederate,  In Which Capacity I Might Be Very

Useful,  As He Would Soon Instruct Me In all His Tricks. As A Quack

Doctor He Wanted The Services Of Both Tim And Myself In Mixing Up,

Making Pills,  &C.,  And Also In assisting Him In Persuading The Public Of

His Great Skill. As A Fortune-Teller,  I Should Also Be Of Great Service,

As He Would Explain To Me Hereafter. In Short,  He Wanted A Person Of

Good Personal Appearance And Education,  In Whom He Might Confide In

Every Way. As To Tim,  He Might Be Made Useful If He Chose,  In Various

Ways; Amongst Others,  He Wished Him To Learn Tumbling And Playing The

Fool,  When,  At Times,  The Fool Was Required To Give A Shrewd Answer On

Any Point On Which He Would Wish The Public To Be Made Acquainted. I

Agreed To My Own Part Of The Performance,  And Then Had Some Conversation

With Timothy,  Who Immediately Consented To Do His Best In What Was

Allotted As His Share. Thus Was The Matter Quickly Arranged,  Melchior

Observing,  That He Had Said Nothing About Remuneration,  As I Should Find

That Trusting To Him Was Far Preferable To Stipulated Wages.

     Whatever May Be The Opinion Of The Reader,  He Cannot Assert That We

     Are _No Conjurers_--We Suit Our Wares To Our Customers,  And Our

     Profits Are Considerable.

We Had Been Three Days In The Camp When The Gathering Was Broken Up,

Each Gang Taking Their Own Way. What The Meeting Was About I Could Not

Exactly Discover; One Occasion Of It Was To Make Arrangements Relative

To The Different Counties In Which The Subdivisions Were To Sojourn

During The Next Year,  So That They Might Know Where To Communicate With

Each Other,  And,  At The Same Time,  Not Interfere By Being Too Near; But

There Were Many Other Points Discussed,  Of Which,  As A Stranger,  I Was

Kept In Ignorance. Melchior Answered All My Questions With Apparent

Candour,  But His Habitual Deceit Was Such,  That Whether He Told The

Truth Or Not Was Impossible To Be Ascertained By His Countenance.

When The Gathering Dispersed We Packed Up,  And Located Ourselves About

Two Miles From The Common,  On The Borders Of A Forest Of Oak And Ash.

Our Food Was Chiefly Game,  For We Had Some Excellent Poachers Among Us;

And As For Fish,  It Appeared To Be At Their Command; There Was Not A

Pond Nor A Pit But They Could Tell In a Moment If It Were Tenanted,  And

If Tenanted,  In Half An Hour Every Fish Would Be Floating On The Top Of

The Water,  By The Throwing In Of Some Intoxicating Sort Of Berry; Other

Articles Of Food Occasionally Were Found In The Caldron; Indeed,  It Was

Impossible To Fare Better Than We Did,  Or At Less Expense.

Our Tents Were Generally Pitched Not Far From A Pool Of Water,  And To

Avoid Any Unpleasant Search,  Which Sometimes Would Take Place,

Everything Liable To Detection Was Sunk Under The Water Until It Was

Required For Cooking; Once In The Pot,  It Was Considered As Safe. But

With The Foraging,  Timothy And I Had Nothing To Do; We Participated In

The Eating,  Without Asking Any Questions As To How It Was Procured.

My Time Was Chiefly Spent In company With Melchior,  Who Initiated Me

Into All The Mysteries Of Cups And Balls--Juggling Of Every

Description--Feats With Cards,  And Made Me Acquainted With All His

Apparatus For Prepared Tricks. For Hours And Hours Was I Employed By His

Directions In What Is Called "Making The Pass" With A Pack Of Cards,  As

Almost All Tricks On Cards Depend Upon Your Dexterity In This Manoeuvre.

In About A Month I Was Considered As A Very Fair Adept; In The Meantime,

Timothy Had To Undergo His Career Of Gymnastics,  And Was To Be Seen All

Day Tumbling And Retumbling,  Until He Could Tumble On His Feet Again.

Light And Active,  He Soon Became A Very Dexterous Performer,  And Could

Throw A Somerset Either Backwards Or Forwards,  Walk On His Hands,  Eat

Fire,  Pull Out Ribbons,  And Do Fifty Other Tricks To Amuse A Gaping

Audience. Jumbo Also Was Worked Hard,  To Bring Down His Fat,  And Never

Was Allowed His Dinner Until He Had Given Satisfaction To Melchior. Even

Little Fleta Had To Practise Occasionally,  As We Were Preparing For An

Expedition. Melchior,  Who Appeared Determined To Create An Effect,  Left

Us For Three Days,  And Returned With Not Only Dresses For Timothy And

Me,  But Also New Dresses For The Rest Of The Company; And Shortly

Afterwards,  Bidding Farewell To Nattee And The Rest Of The Gipsies,  We

All Set Out--That Is,  Melchior,  I,  Timothy,  Fleta,  Num,  And Jumbo. Late

In The Evening We Arrived At The Little Town Of ----,  And Took Up Our

Quarters At A Public-House,  With The Landlord Of Which Melchior Had

Already Made Arrangements.

"Well,  Timothy," Said I,  As Soon As We Were In bed,  "How Do You Like Our

New Life And Prospects?"

"I Like It Better Than Mr Cophagus'S _Rudimans_,  And Carrying Out

Physic,  At All Events. But How Does Your Dignity Like Turning Merry

Andrew,  Japhet?"

"To Tell You The Truth,  I Do Not Dislike It. There Is A Wildness And A

Devil-May-Care Feeling Connected With It Which Is Grateful To Me At

Present. How Long It May Last I Cannot Tell; But For A Year Or Two It

Appears To Me That We May Be Very Happy. At All Events,  We Shall See The

World,  And Have More Than One Profession To Fall Back Upon."

"That Is True; But There Is One Thing That Annoys Me,  Japhet,  Which Is,

We May Have Difficulty In Leaving These People When We Wish. Besides,

You Forget That You Are Losing Sight Of The Principal Object You Had In

View,  That Is,  Of 'Finding Out Your Father.'"

"I Certainly Never Expect To Find Him Among The Gipsies," Replied I,

"For Children Are At A Premium With Them. They Steal From Others,  And

Are Not Very Likely Therefore To Leave Them At The Foundling. But I Do

Not Know Whether I Have Not As Good A Chance In Our Present Employment

As In any Other. I Have Often Been Thinking That As Fortune-Tellers,  We

May Get Hold Of Many Strange Secrets; However,  We Shall See. Melchior

Says,  That He Intends To Appear In That Character As Soon As He Has Made

A Harvest In His Present One."

"What Do You Think Of Melchior,  Now That You Have Been So Much With

Him?"

"I Think Him An Unprincipled Man,  But Still With Many Good Qualities.

He Appears To Have A Pleasure In deceit,  And To Have Waged War With The

World In General. Still He Is Generous,  And,  To A Certain Degree,

Confiding; Kind In His Disposition,  And Apparently A Very Good Husband.

There Is Something On His Mind Which Weighs Him Down Occasionally,  And

Checks Him In The Height Of His Mirth. It Comes Over Him Like A Dark

Cloud Over A Bright Summer Sun; And He Is All Gloom For A Few Minutes. I

Do Not Think That He Would Now Commit Any Great Crime; But I Have A

Suspicion That He Has Done Something Which Is A Constant Cause Of

Remorse."

"You Are A Very Good Judge Of Character,  Japhet. But What A Dear Little

Child Is That Fleta! She May Exclaim With You--'Who Is My Father?'"

"Yes,  We Are Both In Much The Same Predicament,  And That It Is Which I

Believe Has So Much Increased My Attachment To Her. We Are Brother And

Sister In Misfortune,  And A Sister She Ever Shall Be To Me,  If Such Is

The Will Of Heaven. But We Must Rise Early To-Morrow,  Tim; So

Good-Night."

"Yes,  To-Morrow It Will Be Juggle And Tumble--Eat Fire--Um--And So On,

As Mr Cophagus Would Have Said; So Good-Night,  Japhet."

The Next Morning We Arrayed Ourselves In Our New Habiliments; Mine Were

Silk Stockings,  Shoes,  And White Kerseymere Kneed Breeches,  A Blue Silk

Waistcoat Loaded With Tinsel,  And A Short Jacket To Correspond Of Blue

Velvet,  A Sash Round My Waist,  A Hat And A Plume Of Feathers. Timothy

Declared I Looked Very Handsome,  And As The Glass Said The Same As Plain

As It Could Speak,  I Believed Him. Timothy'S Dress Was A Pair Of Wide

Turkish Trousers And Red Jacket,  With Spangles. The Others Were Much The

Same. Fleta Was Attired In Small,  White Satin,  Turkish Trousers,  Blue

Muslin And Silver Embroidered Frock,  Worked Sandals,  And Her Hair

Braided And Plaited In Long Tails Behind,  And She Looked Like A Little

Sylph. Melchior'S Dress Was Precisely The Same As Mine,  And A More

Respectable Company Was Seldom Seen. Some Musicians Had Been Hired,  And

Handbills Were Now Circulated All Over The Town,  Stating That Signor

Eugenio Velotti,  With His Company,  Would Have The Honour Of Performing

Before The Nobility And Gentry. The Bill Contained The Fare Which Was To

Be Provided,  And Intimated The Hour Of The Performance,  And The Prices

To Be Paid For The Seats. The Performance Was To Take Place In a Very

Large Room Attached To The Inn,  Which,  Previous To The Decadence Of The

Town,  Had Been Used As An Assembly-Room. A Platform Was Erected On The

Outside,  On Which Were Placed The Musicians,  And Where We All

Occasionally Made Our Appearance In Our Splendid Dresses To Attract The

Wonder Of The People. There We Strutted Up And Down,  All But Poor Little

Fleta,  Who Appeared To