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

Influence Of Them Towards The Evening. I'M Afraid That You Take More

Than Is Good For Your Health."

"Not More Than I Require For What I Have To Undergo To Keep Up The Faith

Of My Disciples; But There Are Many Who Waver,  Some Who Doubt,  And I

Find That My Movements Are Watched. I Cannot Trust The Woman In This

House. I Think She Is A Spy Set Upon Me,  But I Cannot Remove Her,  As

This House,  And All Which It Contains,  Are Not Mine,  But Belong To The

Disciples In General. There Is Another Woman,  Not Far Off,  Who Is My

Rival; She Calls Me An Impostor,  And Says That She Is The True

Prophetess,  And That I Am Not One. This Will Be Rather Difficult For Her

To Prove," Continued She,  With A Mocking Smile. "Beset As I Am,  I

Require Your Assistance,  For You Must Be Aware That It Is Rather

Discreditable To A Prophetess,  Who Has Risen From The Dead,  To Be Seen

All Day At The Gin-Shop,  Yet Without Stimulants Now,  I Could Not Exist."

"And How Can I Assist You?"

"By Sending Me,  As Medicine,  That Which I Dare No Longer Procure In any

Other Way,  And Keeping The Secret Which I Have Imparted."

"I Will Do Both With Pleasure; But Yet," Said I,  "Is It Not A Pity,  A

Thousand Pities,  That One So Young--And If You Will Allow Me To Add,  So

Lovely,  Should Give Herself Up To Ardent Spirits? Why," Continued I,

Taking Her Small White Hand,  "Why Should You Carry On The Deception;

Why Sacrifice Your Health,  And I May Say Your Happiness--" What More I

Might Have Said I Know Not,  Probably It Might Have Been An Offer Of

Marriage,  But She Cut Me Short.

"Why Does Everybody Sacrifice Their Health,  Their Happiness,  Their All,

But For Ambition And The Love Of Power? It Is True,  As Long As This

Little Beauty Lasts,  I Might Be Courted As A Woman,  But Never Should I

Be Worshipped As--I May Say--A God.--No,  No,  There Is Something Too

Delightful In That Adoration,  Something Too Pleasant In Witnessing A

Crowd Of Fools Stare,  And Men Of Three Times My Age,  Falling Down And

Kissing The Hem Of My Garment. This Is,  Indeed,  Adoration! The Delight

Arising From It Is So Great,  That All Other Passions Are Crushed By

It--It Absorbs All Other Feelings,  And Has Closed My Heart Even Against

Love,  Japhet. I Could Not,  I Would Not Debase Myself,  Sink So Low In My

Own Estimation,  As To Allow So Paltry A Passion To Have Dominion Over

Me; And,  Indeed,  Now That I Am So Wedded To Stimulants,  Even If I Were

No Longer A Prophetess,  It Never Could."

"But Is Not Intoxication One Of The Most Debasing Of All Habits?"

"I Grant You,  In Itself,  But With Me And In My Situation It Is

Different. I Fall To Rise Again,  And Higher. I Cannot Be What I Am

Without I Simulate--I Cannot Simulate Without Stimulants,  Therefore It

Is But A Means To A Great And Glorious Ambition."

I Had More Conversation With Her Before I Left,  But Nothing Appeared To

Move Her Resolution,  And I Left Her Lamenting,  In The First Place,  That

She Had Abjured Love,  Because,  Notwithstanding The Orris Root,  Which She

Kept In Her Mouth To Take Away The Smell Of The Spirits,  I Found Myself

Very Much Taken With Such Beauty Of Person,  Combined With So Much Vigour

Of Mind; And In The Second,  That One So Young Should Carry On A System

Of Deceit And Self-Destruction. When I Rose To Go Away She Put Five

Guineas In My Hand,  To Enable Me To Purchase What She Required. "Add To

This One Small Favour," Said I,  "Aramathea--Allow Me A Kiss."

"A Kiss," Replied She,  With Scorn; "No,  Japhet,  Look Upon Me,  For It Is

The Last Time You Will Behold My Youth; Look Upon Me As A Sepulchre,

Fair Without But Unsavoury And Rottenness Within. Let Me Do You A

Greater Kindness,  Let Me Awaken Your Dormant Energies,  And Plant That

Ambition In Your Soul,  Which May Lead To All That Is Great And Good--A

Better Path And More Worthy Of A Man Than The One Which I Have Partly

Chosen,  And Partly Destiny Has Decided For Me. Look Upon Me As Your

Friend; Although Perhaps,  You Truly Say,  No Friend Unto Myself.

Farewell--Remember That To-Morrow You Will Send The Medicine Which I

Require."

I Left Her,  And Returned Home: It Was Late. I Went To Bed,  And Having

Disclosed As Much To Timothy As I Could Safely Venture To Do,  I Fell

Fast Asleep,  But Her Figure And Her Voice Haunted Me In My Dreams. At

One Time,  She Appeared Before Me In Her Painted,  Enamelled Face,  And

Then The Mask Fell Off,  And I Fell At Her Feet To Worship Her Extreme

Beauty; Then Her Beauty Would Vanish,  And She Would Appear An Image Of

Loathsomeness And Deformity,  And I Felt Suffocated With The Atmosphere

Impregnated With The Smell Of Liquor. I Would Wake And Compose Myself

Again,  Glad To Be Rid Of The Horrid Dream,  But Again Would She Appear,

With A Hydra'S Tail,  Like Sin In Milton'S Paradise Lost,  Wind Herself

Round Me,  Her Beautiful Face Gradually Changing Into That Of A Skeleton.

I Cried Out With Terror,  And Awoke To Sleep No More,  And Effectually

Cured By My Dream Of The Penchant Which I Felt Towards Miss Aramathea

Judd.

     My Prescriptions Very Effective And Palatable,  But I Lose My

     Patient--The Feud Equal To That Of The Montagues And The

     Capulets--Results Different--Mercutio Comes Off Unhurt.

The Next Day I Sent Timothy To Purchase Some Highly Rectified White

Brandy,  Which I Coloured With A Blue Tincture,  And Added To It A Small

Proportion Of The Essence Of Cinnamon,  To Disguise The Smell; A Dozen

Large Vials,  Carefully Tied Up And Sealed,  Were Despatched To Her Abode.

She Now Seldom Called Unless It Was Early In The Morning; I Made

Repeated Visits To Her House To Receive Money,  But No Longer To Make

Love. One Day I Requested Permission To Be Present At Their Meeting,  And

To This She Gave Immediate Consent; Indeed We Were On The Most Intimate

Terms,  And When She Perceived That I No Longer Attempted To Play The

Fool,  I Was Permitted To Remain For Hours With Her In conversation. She

Had,  As She Told Me She Intended,  Re-Enamelled And Painted Her Face,  But

Knowing What Beauty Was Concealed Underneath,  I No Longer Felt Any

Disgust.

Timothy Was Very Much Pleased At His Share Of This Arrangement,  As He

Seldom Brought Her The Medicine Without Pocketing Half-A-Crown.

For Two Or Three Months Every Thing Went On Very Satisfactorily; But One

Evening,  Timothy,  Who Had Been Sent With The Basket Of Vials For Miss

Judd'S Assistance,  Returned In Great Consternation,  Informing Me That

The House Was Empty. He Had Inquired Of The Neighbours,  And From The

Accounts Given,  Which Were Very Contradictory,  It Appeared That The

Rival Prophetess Had Marched Up At The Head Of Her Proselytes The

Evening Before,  Had Obtained Entrance,  And That A Desperate Contention

Had Been The Result. That The Police Had Been Called In,  And All Parties

Had Been Lodged In The Watch-House; That The Whole Affair Was Being

Investigated By The Magistrates,  And That It Was Said That Miss Judd And

All Her Coadjutors Would Be Sent To The Penitentiary. This Was Quite

Enough To Frighten Two Boys Like Us; For Days Afterwards We Trembled

When People Came Into The Shop,  Expecting To Be Summoned And Imprisoned.

Gradually,  However,  Our Fears Were Dismissed,  But I Never From That Time

Heard Any Thing More Of Miss Aramathea Judd.

After This Affair,  I Adhered Steadily To My Business,  And Profiting By

The Advice Given Me By That Young Person,  Improved Rapidly In My

Profession,  As Well As In General Knowledge; But My Thoughts,  As Usual,

Were Upon One Subject--My Parentage,  And The Mystery Hanging Over It. My

Eternal Reveries Became At Last So Painful,  That I Had Recourse To

Reading To Drive Them Away,  And Subscribing To A Good Circulating

Library,  I Was Seldom Without A Book In My Hand. By This Time I Had Been

Nearly Two Years And A Half With Mr Cophagus,  When An Adventure Occurred

Which I Must Attempt To Describe With All The Dignity With Which It

Ought To Be Invested.

This Is A World Of Ambition,  Competition,  And Rivalry. Nation Rivals

Nation,  And Flies To Arms,  Cutting The Throats Of A Few Thousands On

Each Side Till One Finds That It Has The Worst Of It. Man Rivals Man,

And Hence Detraction,  Duels,  And Individual Death. Woman Rivals Woman,

And Hence Loss Of Reputation And Position In High,  And Loss Of Hair,  And

Fighting With Pattens In Low,  Life. Are We Then To Be Surprised That

This Universal Passion,  Undeterred By The Smell Of Drugs And Poisonous

Compounds,  Should Enter Into Apothecaries' Shops? But Two Streets--Two

Very Short Streets From Our Own--Was Situated The Single-Fronted Shop Of

Mr Ebenezer Pleggit. Thank Heaven,  It Was Only Single-Fronted; There,  At

Least,  We Had The Ascendancy Over Them. Upon Other Points,  Our

Advantages Were More Equally Balanced. Mr Pleggit Had Two Large Coloured