Japhet, In Search Of A Father Part 1 by Frederick Marryat (read people like a book .TXT) 📕

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 The Camp. He

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