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^"^lYoRKS  Just  IPublished. 

THE    VICAR    OF    BULLHAMPTON. 

By   ANTHONY    TROLLOPE. 
la  crown  8vo,  \\'ith  Illustrations  bv  Hexry  Woods.     Price  6s. 


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THE    VILLAGE    INNKEEPER. 

A   STORY   FOR   CHILDREN. 

By    hope    INSLOW. 

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I. 

THE    GORDIAN    KNOT. 

By    SHIRLEY    BROOKS. 

II. 

ESSAYS    ON    MEN    AND    MANNERS. 

By    W.    SHEXSTOXE. 

III. 

DR.    JACOB. 

By   M.  BETHAM   EDWARDS. 

IV. 

HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 
By   F.  C.  BURNAND. 

V. 

THE    TALLANTS    OF    BARTON. 

By  JOSEPH   HATTOX. 

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ASPEN     COURT. 
By   SHIRLEY  BROOKS. 

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MADEMOISELLE     MATHILDE. 
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MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 
By  F.  C.  BURXAXD. 

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MORE 

Happy   Thoughts 


BY 

F.  C.  BURNAND. 


LE 


MORE 


Happy  Thoughts 


&c.,  &c. 


BY 


[^  "O  iV;        F.    C.    BURNAND, 


SECOXD  EDITION. 


LONDON :  ^ 

BRADBURY,  EVANS,  &  CO.,  lo,  BOUVERIE  ST. 
1871. 


LONDON 
BEADBl-RV,    EVANS,    AND   CO.,    PRiNTEKS,    WHITEFRIARS. 


^rtfotorn  gcbiratioii 


HAPPY    THOUGHT— To  Dedicate  this 
SECOND     SERIES 

TO 

My  Uxcle, 

GEORGE    BISHOP,    Esq., 

OF 

Meadowbaxk,  Twickenham, 

IN 

WHOSE   WELL-KNOWN 

OBSERVATORY 

Mr.   Bisiior's  Observatory,  where  Mr.   Hind 
Dates  from,] 

THE 

EARLIEST   HAPPY    THOUGHTS 


JOTTED   DOWN, 

AKD 

THE    GREATER    PART 

OF    THE 

FIRST    SERIES 

WRITTEN  ; 

Whicli  reminds  me  that  not  a  line 

OF     THIS 
WAS 

WRITTEN    IN    THE 

SAME    PLACE. 


Ramsgate, 

JFcast  of  St.  l^anca^fs, 
1871. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   I. 

PAGE 

LITERARY  BUSINESS — OF  FRIDOLINE  MARRIED— A  HOLIDAY 
— BABY  AND  RASH— WILLIS  — HIS  FRIEND — WIGTHORPE — 
A   SUGGESTION I 

CHAPTER   n, 

CATCHING    A    HANSOM  —  THE     FRENCH     RESTAURANT'S  — THE 

VISITORS — SETTLEMENT — THE    LATCH-KEY        ...         7 

CHAPTER   HI. 

WHERE  TO  GO— THE  CLUB— BOODELS'  LETTER— INDECISION 
—  MILBURD  —  COUNT  DE  BOOTJACK  —  NOTE  ON  BABY — 
CONVERSATION  ON  FARMING  —  LORD  DUNGENESS  — 
IRISH    PROPRIETOR I4 

CHAPTER   IV. 

CLUB  CONVERSATION  CONTINUED— A  FLAT  JOKE— MY  FARM- 
ING—AN INVITATION— ANOTHER— PARTY  BREAKS  UP — 
PROPOSALS  FOR  **  LARKS  " — IN  THE  DARK — SNORING — 
SOMEBODY   IN    BED— AWKWARD— SLEEPER   AWAKENED     .       23 

CHAPTER  V. 

SITUATION  CONTINUED— DROWSY  STRANGER — A  DIFFICULTY 
— AN  ARGUMENT— GRAINGER — SELFISHNESS— DETERMI- 
NATION—HOTEL— NUMBER   THREE    HUNDRED,  &C.  .       3 1 


X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

PAGE 

THE  DREAM  — HOTEL  BELLS  —  LETTERS  —  NOTES  —  HEROES — 
HOTEL  PROVERB — TUPPER  AND  SOLOMON— ACADEMY — 
SUGGESTIONS — PLANS 4 1 

CHAPTER   Vn. 

AT  THE  ROYAL  ACADEMY — THE  CATALOGUE — CRUSH — WORK- 
ING OUT  A  PLAN— "NO.  214" — MISS  MILLAR— A  COM- 
PLIMENT— POETRY  —  RELATIONS-IN-LAW — A  SURPRISE — 
DISCOMFITURE 4S 

CHAPTER   Vni. 

DILBURY,     A.R.A.  —  HIS     PICTURE  — MEETINGS  —  GREETINGS — 

LAMPADEPHORIA — "  WT:   MET  " — AN    INTRODUCTION  .      54. 

CHAPTER    LX. 

AVILLIS'S  AGAIN — POPGOOD  AND  GROOLLY — EPISTOLARY — 
CALCULATION  —  A  SNEEZE  —  MINUS  A  BUTTON  — IN- 
EQUALITY—EOODELS  60 

CHAPTER   X. 

RAWLINSON  —  IMPORTANT  QUESTION  —  UNINTERESTED 
FRIEND— REVISION  OF  MS. —TO  THE  PUBLISHERS— COS- 
TU>rE— QUERY  SPECTACLES— THE  OFFICE— POPGOOD  AND 
GROOLLY   INTERVIEWED 66 

CHAPTER   XI. 

AT  POPGOOD  AND  GROOLLY's  —  INTRODUCTIONS — TAKING 
LEAVE— A  BANTLING  QUERY — A  LATE  CHAT — LETTER 
FROM  ASPHODEL  COTTAGE  —  ADVANTAGES  OF  COUNTRY 
—  HAIR   OIL— A    SLIGHT    MISTAKE 78 


CONTENTS.  XI 

CHAPTER   XII. 

PAGE 

EXPECTANT — ARRANGEMENTS — DISRAELl's  CURIOSITIES  — MR. 
buckle's  PORTMANTEAU  —  notes  OF  STORIES  —  COM- 
MENCEMENTS— ALPHAS  AND  OMEGAS— MEMORY — CAZELL 
ACCEPTS — THAT  FELLOW  JAMES— WRINKLES  AND  WINKS        86 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

CAZELL— SHERIDAN  MANUFACTURED  —  CHANGE  OF  NAME  — 
JOKES  —THE  BELL — DOGS  —  BURGLARS  —  WHIFFS  —  IDEA 
FOR   CAZELL— ADAMS— DR.    BALSAM— DOG   AND   FOWL      .      94 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

OUR  INSPECTOR — DEFIANCE — THE  INSPECTOR'S  STORY — IN- 
TERVIEWING THE  PIGS— CAZELL  MY  FRIEND— INSPEC- 
TOR'S  FRIEND— DIFFERENCES — MAKING   A  JOB    OF   IT       .     IO4 

CHAPTER  XV. 

PROPOSALS  FOR  VOYAGING— COMPANIONS— EXPENSE— LETTER 

FROM  PUBLISHERS— PILZEN— RHEUMATICS  AND  MILBURD    112 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

MY  RELATIONS — MUSSELS— MY  AUNT  — MY  UNCLE — POLITE- 
NESS—VAMPIRES—FEE  FOR   DOCTOR  .  .  .  .    H? 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

DR.  PILZEN's — WAITING— MYSTERY — MY  EYE— FEE  SIMPLE 
—  THE  PAS  —  HOMOEOPATHY  —  ALLOPATHY  —  HOLE  IN 
POCKET  —  THE  CONJURING  TRICK  —  MANUAL  —  INVITA- 
TION   123 


xii  CONTEXTS, 

CHAPTER   XVIII. 

FACE 

THE  DINNER  PARTY— GUESTS —MESMERISM— ELDERLY  A.ND 
HEARTY  STR.\NGER— A  PUZZLE— A  MISTAKE— NOTE  ON 
SMILING— CAPTAIN  DYNGWELL — DRAWINGS  OUT — FIRST 
COURSE 129 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

ON  DINNER  COMPANY — START  OF  CONVERSATION — CAPTAIN 
DYNGWELL — THE  MOZAMBIQUE  —  IGNORANCE— ANCIENT 
MARINER — ABSTRACT  RIGHT— TWO  THINGS  AT  ONCE — 
DINNER   ARGUMENT 1 36 


CHAPTER  XX. 

VOYAGING— THE  BARON  OSY— ADMIRAL— FOREBODINGS— AD- 
VICES—  DIFFICULTIES— admiral's  BREVITY— GETTING 
OUT   INTO    THE    OPEN— MORE    FOREBODINGS— TITTUPING    I45 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

STILL  NAUTICAL— NAUTICAL  NOT  STILL— BORN  A  SAILOR— 
AT  SEA — TURNS—  UNCERTAINTY  —  HOME  THOUGHTS  — 
LURCHES— CONUNDRUM— OTHER  THOUGHTS— PUNS — LE 
MOMENT — FEARFUL    STRUGGLES— PROSPECTS   OF    PEACE.    I52 

CHAPTER   XXII. 

IMPROVEMENT— STILL  ON  BOARD  — CAZELL— THE  PILOT  — 
MORNING— WASH  AND  BRUSH  UP— PLAN— ANTWERP 
— ARCHITECTURE  —  A  CICERONE  —  THE  LIGHTS — CHIL- 
VERN'S   CHANGE— HIS    COSTUME— QUITE   THE   TOURIST    .     1 59 


CONTEXTS.  x-iii 

CHAPTER   XXIII. 

FAGS 
ANTWERP— CHILVERN's    FUN  —  SNOBBISM  — EATING— DRINK- 
ING—THE  CRESSBS— CHILVERA' LE  FOLISSOX— THE  CARTE 
— THE  LANGUAGE— ri¥£  DEJEUNER  PROGRESSES — SALAD 
— MOXEY 167 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

LES  RUES  D'ANVERS — THE  STATUES— LIGHTS — BOYS  — CON- 
SIDERATIONS—  L'EGLISE  DE  ST.  JACQUES — A  REFUGE- 
ROUT— MURRAY— THE  MONK — THE  MUSEUM— CHILVERN 
COMES    OUT— STRONGLY 174 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

ACCOUNTS  —  MEMS  —  DIFFERENCES  —  CHARACTER  —  ROUND 
SUM  —  ACQUAINTANCES  —VOW — SIGNED— ROW— WAKING 
MOMENTS — DODGE 1S2 


CHAPTER   XXVI. 

ADIEU  !         ANVERS  !  —  TICKETS  —  CHILVERN         FINISHED  — 
C^^A'-G^-r-^AV— THE  BUFFET— STOPPAGE— COCKALORUMS 

— AIX   LA   CHAPELLE— BAGGAGE— FLY— l'hotel— 

PICK  UP  NAMES  —  OBSERVATIONS  —  RECEPTION — POPU- 
LARITY —  LANGUAGE  —  NOVELTIES  —  CHAMBERMAID  — 
RESTAURANTS— RETURN— MISTAKE  ....    iSS 


CHAPTER   XXVII. 

THE  WAITER  — PANTOMIMIC  —CONCERT  — EARLY  HOURS- 
PROBABILITIES — GERMAN  DIALOGUES  — KALT—ZIMMER — 
COUNTERPANE— PRACTICE— BAD       .  .  .  .  .    I96 


xiv  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

TAGE 

DOCTORS  VISIT — INVALID's  BREAKFAST— DYNGWELL's  AD- 
VICE—  SYSTEM  —  PROFESSOR  WANTED  —  INVALIDS  AT 
DINNER — TABLE  D'HoTE  —  MIXTURE— THE  TIMES— DE- 
CEPTIONS —  DIFFICULTIES  —  NOTE  FOR  POPGOOD  —  MY 
TUMBLER   AND   I 203 

CHAPTER   XXIX. 

DRINK  THE  FIRST  -  ELISA— MISS  ELISA— A  SMELL — OTHER 
DRINKERS— IDEA  OF  LANGUAGE — SPIRIT — OBSERVATIONS 
—  DYNGWELL  ON  PRUSSIAN  NAVY  —  POLYTECHNIC 
MEMORY — COSMOPOLITANISM  — SULPHUR —  COMING  OUT 
— STRONG — APPROPRIATE  MUSIC — INVENTION  OF  TERMS 
— MARVELS ,211 

CHAPTER   XXX. 

THE  BATHS — THALERS — DESCENT — BATH-MAN— CELLS — SUG- 
GESTIVE—CONVERSATION— TROUBLE — BOOK — DIRTY  AND 
THIRTY — SOLVITUR 220 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

A  DIP  BY  DAYLIGHT — THOUGHTS — WHAT  TO  DO — A  SINGER 
— ASSISTANCE  —  DER  HERR— EIN  LIED  —  DER  ANDERE 
MANN — BOX  AND  COX — A  THEORY— THE  INDEX — SUL- 
PHUR         226 

CHAPTER   XXXII. 

CATHEDRAL — AACHEN— HIGH  MASS — THE  HERETICAL  THEORY 
— TELEGIL\M — DYNGWELL'S  PRESCRIPTION— KAGELSPIEL 
—LETTER— THE   VAPOUR— DER   ANDERE   MANN         .  .    232 


CONTEXTS.  XV 

CHAPTER   XXXIII. 

PAGE 

DER  AKDERE  MANN  —  COMPARISONS  —  DISGUST  —  END  OF 
VAPOUR  —  THE  FAILURE  —  THE  DOUCHE  —  HAMLET's 
GHOST — PROCEDURE — DOUCHING  —  CONVERSATION — BON- 
MOT— NIAGARA  239 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

TABLE  d'hote — OUR  PARTY  —  CONVERSATION  —  CLASSICS- 
NAVAL  TOPICS— CUTTING  IN — FOURTH  WEEK — LETTER 
FROM  HOME — OUR  PROFESSOR— COCKALORUMS— DYNG- 
WELL — A  CLUB— GERMAN  EXERCISES  — GERMAN  LETTER 
— RESTORATION 245 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 

MUSIC— DYNGWELL'S    NOTION— ECONOMY— THE    PARTY— THE 

concert — herr  somebody— fiddling — the  shipboy 
—  concert  over — supper  —  billiards  —  mongoose  — 
commander's  story 254 

CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

LEAVING — THE  SCOOP  —  FOREIGNERS  —  MORE  EXERCISES  — 
GERMAN  VERBS  —  DYNGWELl's  EXERCISE  —  HYMN— TO 
PARIS — POETRY — ARR.\NGEMENTS 26 1 

CHAPTER   XXXVII. 

RETURN—  POETIC — REALISATION — ALTERNATIONS — MR.  FRESH- 
LIE — WORKS— EXPLANATIONS — WINKS  — LOGIC  ,  .    268 


OUR    YACHT. 

INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER 277 


xvi  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    I. 

PAGE 

WE   START  — BREAKFAST— THE    TREASURE  — LOG   COMMENCED 

— NAUTICAL   PHRASEOLOGY — DLA.RY— A   ROW — MADE    UP     280 

CHAPTER   II. 

A  DIFFERENCE  —  PUFFIN  —  THE  C.  J.— LOG— BEAUMARIS  — 
GUNS— THE  RO\'ER— WADS— DIFFICULTIES— THE  RAM- 
ROD—LOG AGAIN— ROW  THE   THIRD         ....    285 

CHAPTER   III. 

LCG  CONTINUED — BECALMED  —  BOOKS  —  TIME  —  FORGETFUL- 
j^-£SS  _  LAZINESS  —  UNPLEASANTNESS  —  BLACK  EYED 
SUS-AJN  —WILLIAM  —  BILLL\RDS  —  FIDDLES  —  DANCING  — 
EFFECT    OF   CALM — THE   CAPT.AJN— A   SUSPICION        .  .    29O 

CHAPTER   IV. 

LOG-DIARY  RESUMED  —THE  TREASURE — TESTIMONIALS— IN- 
TOXICATION— DIFFERENCES — STEERING —  THE  COMPASS 
— RAIN — THE  LIEUTENANT  DISAGREEABLE— MORE  ROW 
CAPTAIN    HIMSELF   AGAIN— THE   TREASURE— A   FIGHT      .    294 

CHAPTER  V. 

THE  MERSEY  —  DISCUSSION  —  QUESTION  — NEGATIVED — THE 
IDEAL — THE  REAL— ROLLING  GAIT  —  SALTS  ASHORE — 
THE    HOTEL  -COMFORT — BED 29S 


MORE 

HAPPY    THOUGHTS 


CHAPTER    I. 


LITERARY  BUSINESS — OF  FRIDOLINE  MARRIED — A  HOLI- 
DAY— BABY  AND  RASH — WILLIS — HIS  FRIEND — WIG- 
THORPE — A   SUGGESTION. 

A^  London. — The  progress  of  my  book,  Typical 
Developments,  Vol.  I.,  brings  me  up  to  town  to  find 
a  publisher.  Milburd,  whom  I  meet  accidentally, 
says,  "A  publisher  would  jump  at  it."  I  ask  him 
what  publisher.^  He  says,  in  an  off-hand  way,  "Oh,  any 
publisher,"  but  doesn't  volunteer  any  particular  information 
on  the  subject.  Boodels,  I  remember,  published  a  volume  of 
poems  a  year  or  two  since. 

Happy   Thonglit. — To   write    to    Eoodels,  and   ask   what 
publisher  jumped  at  his  poems. 

Odd  that  my  wife  doesn't  enter  into  niy  v/ork.     Wc  have 


2  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

been  married  three  years.  I  read  her  the  first  chapter  of 
Book  I.  during  the  honeymoon.  Since  that  time  I  have 
sometimes  said,  "Now,  I'll  read  you  some  more,"  or  have 
selected  some  passage  that  has  struck  me  as  peculiarly 
happy.  She  has  generally  been  busy.  One  evening,  on  my 
opening  the  manuscript,  she  said  she  didn't  want  to  be 
bothered.  I  told  her  I  didn't  think  it  was  kind  of  her.  She 
replied,  that  rather  than  I  should  think  her  unkind,  she'd 
listen.  I  returned,  "Oh,  but  don't,  if  you'd  rather  not."' 
She  said  that  though  she'd  rather  not,  yet  she  would,  to 
please  me.  I  didn't  want  to  be  cruel,  so  I  said,  "  Never 
mind."'  She  confesses  she'd  like  to  see  it  when  it  was  in 
print.  Before  we  married  I  thought  that  Fridoline  cared  for 
literature.     She  doesn't :  except  for  novels. 

Her  mother,  i^Irs.  Symperson,  is  staying  with  us  at  my 
cottage,  in  a  lovely  situation. 

Happy  JJiought. — To  come  up  to  London  to  look  for  a 
publisher.  Also  might  see  the  Academy,  and  the  Opera, 
and  dine  with  some  fellows  at  the  Club. 

Happy  Thought. — Not  to  say  anything  about  this,  as  o 
course  I  don't  knoiu  that  I  am  going  to  do  it  :  only  mention 
the  publisher.  They  say  they  shan't  be  dull  vdthout  me  ; 
and  as  I  haven't  been  avray  for  a  holiday — I  mean  away 
from  home — for  some  time,  my  wife  thinks  it  will  do  me  good. 

Happy  Thought. — To  say  it's  7iot  a  holiday — it's  business. 
Going  to  London,  in  fact,  on  business.     My  mother-in-law 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  3 

suggests  that  we  should  all  go.  All  means  herself  prin- 
cipally. I  point  out  that  I  shall  only  be  away,  probably,  for 
a  day  or  two.  Better  to  sdiy  '■'' probably '^  in  case  I  should 
stop  three  weeks.  I  add  that  I  shall  be  engaged  the  whole 
time,  and  not  be  able  to  attend  to  them.  Fridoline  says, 
•'  Yes,  better  wait  till  we  can  all  go  away  to  Brighton.  Baby 
will  want  change  of  air  soon.'' 

Happy  Thought. — To  agree  at  once.  Brighton,  by  all 
means,  for  baby,  at  some  time  or  other.  I  consider  this  to 
be  the  condition  of  my  getting  away  now.  My  own  opinion, 
privately,  is  that  Brighton  may  wait.  Baby  is  always  having 
a  rash,  and  always  wanting,  so  they  say,  to  go  to  Brighton. 

I  leave  the  cottage  (Asphodel  Cottage  it  is  called — that  is, 
Friddy  ivoiild  call  it  Asphodel  until  she  thinks  of  something 
she'd  like  better)  in  the  lovely  situation,  and  go  up  by  the 
4*40  to  town. 

Happy  Thought. — Take  my  cheque-book. 

I71  the  Train. — It  occurs  to  me  that  going  to  a  hotel  in 
town  is  expensive.  I'll  drive  to  Bob  Willis's,  in  Conduit 
Street.  Willis  asked  me  whenever  I  wanted  a  bed  in  town 
to  come  to  him. 

In  Conduit  Street. — I  jump  out  and  ring.  I  know  Willis 
well :  a  good  fellow — always  glad  to  see  me.  Willis  is  a  sort 
of  fellow  who'd  do  anything  for  you.  I  foresee  how  111 
dash  past  the  servant,  rush  up-stairs,  and  say,  "  Willis,  old 
boy   here's    a   lark  :    I've    come   to   stay  with   you."      And 

Willis  will  jump  up,  and  order  the  bed,  and The  door 

B  2 


4  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

opens.  The  maid.  "Is  Mr.  Willis  in?"  "Mr.  JJ7io, 
Sir?"  the  maid  asks.  "Willis."  '"No  one  of  that  name 
here,"  she  says,  as  if  she  expected  me  to  try  another  name, 
as  that  wouldn't  do.  I  ask  her  "if  she's  quite  sure?'"'  On 
second  thoughts,  this  question  was  absurd,  as  of  course  she'd 
know  who  was  living  in  the  house.  I  am  perplexed.  I  say, 
"  Oh,  he's  not  here,  eh  ? "  to  myself. 

Happy  ThougJit. — Perhaps  he's  next  door. 

The  maid  says,  "  Yes,  perhaps  next  door."  She  shuts 
hers,  and  I  go  to  the  next  door  bell.  I  don't  know  why,  but 
I  fancy  the  cabman  doesn't  think  much  of  me  after  this 
failure.  Perhaps  his  idea  is,  that  it's  a  dodge  of  mine  for 
not  paying  the  fare.  It's  stupid  of  him  if  he  think's  that^ 
because  he's  got  my  portmanteau  and  my  hat-box,  and  my 
bag  with  the  MS.  of  Typical  Developments  in  it.  I've  heard 
of  swindlers'  portmanteaus  filled  with  stones.  He  may  think 
mine  a  swindler's  portmanteau,  but  even  then  it  would  be 
worth  more  than  two-and-sixpence — his  fare,  at  the  outside. 
Besides,  there's  Typical  Developments^  worth  thousands, 
perhaps  :  only,  not  to  a  cabman. 

Next  door  opens  ;  I  put  the  question  diffidently  this  time  ; 
in  fact,  I  beg  her  pardon  first,  and  then  request  to  be  in- 
formed if  "  anyone  of  the  name  of  Willis  lives  here  ? "  "  Yes, 
Sir." 

Ah,  capital!  here  we  are  I  Down  come  my  things.  Here, 
cabman,  half-a-crown.  He  is  indignant,  and  says  he's  been 
waiting  about  more  than  half  an  hour.  I  dispute  it.  He 
says,   "  Look  here  :    it  was  six  when   you  took   me  at  the 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  S 

Station,  now  it's  seven."  It  might  have  been  six — it  is 
seven. 

Happy  Thought. — Ahvays  look  at  your  watch  when  you 
take  a  cab. 

Sixpence  makes  ver)'  httle  difference  :  pay  him. 

"  Which  floor  are  Mr.  Wilhs's  rooms  ? "     Second.     I  rush 

up.       I    bound    into   the   room.     Hallo,    old   boy "'      In 

another  instant  I  am  begging  somebody's  pardon  (whom  I 
don't  know)  who  is  lying  on  the  sofa  half  asleep.     I  explain 

that  I  thought  Willis  was He  cuts  me  short  courteously. 

They  have  a  room  together. 

Happy  Thought. — Like  Box  and  Cox. 

I  don't  say  this,  but  think  it.  Willis  may  be  in  by  eight, 
or  if  not  by  eight,  not  till  twelve.     Would  I  like  to  wait  ? 

Happy  Thought. — Say  I'll  come  back  about  nine;  and  first 
go  and  get  some  dinner.  I  add  that  I  think  that  will  be  my 
best  course. 

The  stranger  (Willis's  partner — the  Cox  of  the  firm) 
politely  agrees  with  me  that  this  will  be  my  best  course.  He 
doesn't  offer  me  any  dinner  there.  I  hate  inhospitality.  I 
mean  if  anybody,  a  perfect  stranger,  but  still  a  friend  of  the 
partner  of  my  rooms,  came  in,  I  should  press  him  to  take 
something — sherr>'  and  a  biscuit.  I  say,  however,  that  I'll 
leave  my  things  here  (this  will  give  Willis  a  hint  of  what  I 
mean  by  coming  at  all),  and  I  will  return  when  I've  dined. 
The  stranger  {Cox)  rephes,  seriously,  "  Very  good,"  and  is 
evidently  getting  bored  by  me.     I  retire. 


6  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

Happy  Thought. — At  all  events  I've  found  out  where  Willis 
lives.  Must  dine  somewhere.  Where?  At  my  Club,  or 
somebody  else's  Club  ? 

Happy  Thought, — Somebody  else's  Club. 

Turning  into  Regent  Street,  I  come  accidentally  upon 
Wigthorpe.  He  is  delighted  to  see  me.  I  am  to  see  him. 
I  think  (to  myself)  that  111  ask  him  to  come  and  dine  with 
me  at  my  Club.  I  think  it  over  while  Im  walking  with  him 
and  he's  telling  me  a  ston.-  about  what  he  did  last  week  in 
Devonshire.  He  stops  suddenly  to  ask  me  if  I  don't  think 
that  (whatever  it  was  he  was  saying)  a  capital  idea?  I  reply, 
'•  Yes,"  and  put  off  giving  him  my  invitation  until  I  see  what 
he  is  going  to  do.  He  asks  me  what  I'm  going  to  do  to- 
night. 

Happy  Thought. — To  reply,  cautiously,  that  I've  got  to  go 
and  see  Willis.  He  says  that  he's  sorn,-  for  this,  as  he 
should  have  liked  me  to  dine  with  him.  I  say  I  can  with 
pleasure.  '•  Or  stop."  he  says,  suggestively,  "  suppose  I  dine 
with;w/.?" 

Happy  Thouoht. — Too  late  to  order  dinner  at  my  Club. 
Ver}-  inconvenient.  Fix  it  for  another  day.  Say  I'U  write  to 
him.  '■'  \^xx  well,  then,''  he  says,  "  we'll  dine  together,  and 
you  shall  have  a  French  dinner."  '•  Capital.  Agreed." 
We  walk  off  together  to  a  French  dinner. 


CHAPTER   11. 

CATCHING  A  HANSOM — THE   FRENCH   RESTAURANT'S — THE 
VISITORS — SETTLEMENT — THE   LATCH-KEY. 

HE  worst  of  Wigthorpe  is,  that  he's  a  fellow 
who  never  has  any  change.  I  make  this  note 
the  day  after  our  French  dinner.  I  had  never 
met  Wigthorpe  before  in  London  :  always  in  the 

country,   at  somebody  else's  house,  where,   of  course,  one 

didn't  want  change. 

Happy  TJwught. — One  goes  down  into  the  countr}-  for 
"  change,"  and  gets  it.     Say  this  as  Sydney  Smith's. 

He  proposes  a  cab  up  to  the  French  restaurant.  It's 
somewhere  in  Soho,  and  will  only  be,  he  says,  "a  shilling's- 
worth."  A  Hansom  passes  :  its  driver  looking  the  other 
way.  I  don't  like  to  shout  in  Regent  Street,  so  I  hail  him 
with  my  umbrella.  He  passes  on.  Three  Hansoms  pass 
on,  all  looking  the  other  way.  One  trots  up  with  no  one 
inside.  He  sees  me,  but  shakes  his  head,  and  doesn't  stop. 
Why  is  this  ?  Vv^igthorpe  says  it's  because  he's  going  home. 
I  say  it's  impudence.  I  say  I  should  like  to  have  taken  his 
number.  Wigthorpe  wants  to  know  what  I  should  have 
done  with  it.  I  reply,  had  him  up.  On  consideration  I 
don't  know  v.here   I   should  have  had  him  up,  or  what   I 


8  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGPITS. 

should  have  charged  him  with.  The  charge  might  have 
been  for  going  home,  and  not  taking  me.  I  stop  another. 
We  get  in.  As  Wigthorpe  doesn't  know  the  name  of  the 
place  he  is  going  to.  he  tells  him  to  drive  along  Oxford 
Street,  and  he'll  direct  him  whenever  he  has  to  turn. 

Wigthorpe  is  a  fidgety  fellow.  Odd  that  I  never  noticed 
this  before.  He  keeps  popping  forward  to  see  where  the 
turning  is.  He  hits  up  the  little  trap-door,  under  the  driver's 
nose,  suddenly,  and  shouts  out,  "  To  the  right  ! "  then  he 
directs  him  with  his  umbrella.  Very  intricate  place,  Soho. 
We  are  perpetually  turning  from  right  to  left,  and  left  to 
right,  down  little  streets.  At  last  we  stop  at  a  shabby-look- 
ing restaurant.  "  Now,  my  boy,"  says  Wigthorpe,  heartily, 
"  I'll  give  you  a  French  dinner."  He  jumps  out,  and  enters 
the  house.  If  I  pay  the  cabman  now,  I  can  settle  with 
Wigthorpe  afterwards.  A  married  man  must  be  careful. 
When  I  was  a  bachelor,  a  trifle  like  eighteenpence  (it  isn't 
'•  a  shilling's-worth  ''■)  wouldn't  have  mattered. 

Happy  Thotight. — He  says  \i€Y\.gh'c  me  a  French  dinner. 
I  wonder  if  I'm  dining  with  him,  or  whether  we're  dining 
together?     Delicate  question. 

Happy  Tho2igJit. — Better  not  ask.  Take  it  for  granted 
that  I'm  dining  with  him. 

I  follow  him  in,  along  a  narrow  passage.  At  the  end  of 
the  passage  is  a  perspiring  man  in  a  white  nightcap,  backed 
by  stewpans  and  black  pots.  He  salutes  Wigthorpe,  and  we 
pass  into  the  dining  room. 


y.ORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  9 

In  an  off-hand  way  (just  like  Wigthorpe,  now  I  know  him) 
he  stops  as  he  is  opening  the  door,  to  ask  me,  ''  Did  you  pay 
the  cabman  ? "  I  reply  that  I  did,  expecting  him  to  offer  his 
share.  He  answers,  "Ah,  that's  all  right,  as  I  hadn't  any 
change."  I  think  (to  myself)  he's  evidently  giving  me  the 
dinner,  as  he  has  brought  a  note  out  with  him,  and  no  small 
change.  He  takes  off  his  hat  to  a  respectable-looking  woman 
standing  behind  a  counter,  and  informs  me  that  it's  a  French 
custom. 

Happy  Thotight. — Will  go  to  Paris  with  Wigthorpe.  Will 
write  and  tell  my  wife.  Better  not  take  her  until  I've  been 
once  or  twice  myself,  and  know  the  place.  A  literary  man 
(engaged  on  such  a  work  as  Typical  Developments)  must  go 
about  and  see  varieties  of  life.  It's  business,  not  pleasure. 
My  wife  and  her  mother-in-law  (very  poorly-read  person, 
Mrs.  Symperson)  are  inclined  to  call  it  pleasure.  They 
never  can  understand  what  I  mean. 

Wigthorpe  appears  to  be  known  here.  He  says,  "  Garqo7i  /" 
boldly  to  the  waiter,  who  returns,  "  Bienni^  sieu  J "  and 
whisks  imaginar)^  crumbs  off  a  table  with  his  napkin.  Wig- 
thorpe reads  several  French  names  to  me  from  the  biU  of 
fare,  and  asks  me  what  I'd  like.  I  say  I'll  leave  it  to  him. 
'•'  Then,"  he  says,  "  I'll  give  you  a  regular  French  dinner,  just 
what  you'd  get  at  the  Diner  de  Paris:' 

Happy  Thought. — Capital  preparation  for  going  to  Paris. 
Come  and  dine  here  often,  and  speak  nothing  but  French  to 
the  waiter.     Mem.  To  do  it. 


lo  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

I  wish  they  wouldiit  allow  smoking  while  I'm  dining. 
That's  the  worst  of  foreigners  ;  all  in  the  same  room  and  at 
different  stages  of  dinner.  The  room  is  full  of  foreigners — 
Frenchmen,  I  suppose — and  two  or  three  have  evidently- 
brought  their  wives  or  daughters.  They  all  seem  to  know 
one  another,  and  talk  across  the  tables  and  to  the  Woman  at 
the  Counter. 

Happy  Thought. — Good  name  for  a  novel,  The  Woman  at 
the  Coiniter.     Mem.  in  note-book. 

The  proprieter  is  a  stout  Frenchman,  who  plays  with  a  dog 
and  a  cat,  and  patronises  the  establishment  in  his  shirt- 
sleeves, which  are  \qxj  white  ;  in  fact  he  is  so  round  and 
white,  and  so  white  all  round,  that  his  face  comes  out  at  the 
top  like  a  brown  plum-pudding.  As  this  is  a  decidedly 
happy  simile  (I  am  better,  I  think,  at  similes  than  I  used  to 
be),  I  tell  it  to  Wigthorpe,  who  begs  me  to  "  hush,'"  as  the 
proprieter  understands  English,  and  hates  to  be  called  a 
plum-pudding.  Wigthorpe  tells  me  that  most  of  the 
foreigners  dining  here  are  emigres.,  who  are  perpetually 
plotting  something  or  other.  He  says  that  they  all  stick 
together  like  wax.  I  should  say  they  do,  as  they  all  look 
very  hot.  [Note  this  down  for  \o\.  II.  of  Typical  Develop- 
ments, ''  On  Emigre's.'^']  I  notice  that  all  these  distin- 
guished Royalists  put  their  knives  in  their  mouths,  reck- 
lessly. Wigthorpe  asks,  ''Why  not.-^"  When  I  tell  him 
that  I  dont  think  it's  good-breeding,  he  retorts  that  I'm 
narrow-minded. 

Some  of  them  have  little  bits  of  red  riband  in  their  button- 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  ii 

holes,  and  others  parti-coloured  rosettes  about  the  size  of  a 
fourpenny  piece.  Wigthorpe  whispers  to  me  that  there  are 
lots  of  secret  police  always  about  here.  I  say,  "  Indeed  ! " 
and  can't  help  looking  about  to  find  out  a  Secret  Policeman. 

Fi7'st  Dish.  Mussels  in  butter.  I  think  I'd  rather  not. 
Wigthorpe  says,  "Absurd  !  You  don't  know  how  good  they 
are."  He  adds,  that  it  is  the  dish  here.  After  tasting  them, 
I  am  sorr)'  to  hear  it  is  the  dish,  as  I  confess  I  don't  like 
them.  Wigthorpe  replies,  "  Perhaps  you  don't  at  first — it's 
an  acquired  taste."  I  eat  as  many  as  I  can,  to  prove  to 
Wigthorpe  that  I  am  not  a  mere  John  Bull,  and  prejudiced, 
but  I  can't  get  beyond  half-a-dozen,  and  those  with  sus- 
picion. We  then  have  some  fish  and  oil,  or  rather  Oil  and 
fish.  Wigthorpe  is  in  raptures.  He  says  it's  the  best 
French  dinner  in  London.  He  pours  out  a  bumper  of  red 
wine.  I  do  the  same.  I  suggest  to  Wigthorpe  that  perhaps 
it's  a  little  thin  and  acid.  He  won't  hear  of  it,  and  replies, 
indignantly,  "  Acid  I  Not  a  bit  I  Hang  it,  it's  the  wine  of 
the  countr}'."  He  speaks  as  if  we  were  in  France — not 
within  five  minutes  of  Leicester  Square.  I  want  some 
bread,  and  call  out,  "  Waiter  ! "  Wigthorpe  is  disgusted. 
He  likes  to  keep  up  the  illusion  about  being  in  Paris.  He 
says,  "  Garcojt  I  du  pain  !  "  and  puts  himself  on  a  par  with 
the  emigres  and  the  secret  police. 

I  can't  get  a  spoon  for  the  salt,  or  the  pepper.  Wigthorpe 
laughs.  '■  They  never  do  use  spoons  for  salt  and  pepper,"  he 
says,  helping  himself  with  the  point  of  his  knife.  After  the 
fish  we  have  radishes,  sardines,  and  butter.  I  ask  him  if 
we've  finished  dinner,  as  I'm  still  hungiy.     The  waiter  brings 


12  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

some  filets  de  boeiif  au  Cfesson.  Wigthorpe  is  in  ecstasies. 
There  is  barely  enough  for  one  to  be  divided  by  two.  Wig- 
thorpe is  astonished  at  my  appetite.  The  next  thing  is  the 
leg  of  a  chicken  in  a  lot  of  olives.  This  is  also  for  two. 
Then  there  is  cheese,  then  coffee  and  a  cigarette.  '"  For 
goodness'  sake,"  cries  Wigthorpe,  "  don't  take  milk  vs'ith 
your  cafe  P^  \Miile  here  he  talks  all  his  English  in  a  sub- 
dued voice,  and  his  French  very  loud.  '•  There's  a  dinner, 
Sir,"  says  he  :  "better  than  you  can  get  at  any  Club  in 
London ;  and  only  two-and-sixpence  altogether.  Two-and 
sixpence  each  !  Ver)-  cheap  !  And  threepence  iox  garqon — 
two-and-nine."  Wigthorpe  feels  in  his  pocket,  and  con- 
founds it,  because  he  has  no  change.  "  I  have  :  what  for  ?  " 
•'Ah,"  he  says,  "you  can't  manage  a  check,  can  you,  for 
twenty?"'  "No,  I  can't."'  "Then,"  says  he,  pleasantly, 
"  you  square  the  dinner,  and  I'll  settle  with  you  afterwards." 
I  don't  feel  I've  dined,  and  say  so.  Wigthorpe  pretends  to 
be  perfectly  full  and  satisfied.  He  adds,  "  Well,  we  can  sup 
together  somewhere." 

Happy  Thought. — To  say  I  should  like  it,  but  am  engaged 
to  Willis.  Wigthorpe  says  good-bye,  and  hopes  I'll  "  come 
and  look  him  up  "  in  town.  I  will :  and  then  he  can  settle 
with  me  for  the  dinner. 

Back  to  Willis's,  in  Conduit  Street.  ]\Iaid  opens  door. 
"  Oh,  are  you  the  gentleman,  Sir,  who's  going  to  sleep  here, 
to-night  ? "  I  reply  that  I  am,  "  Ah,  then,"  says  the  maid, 
"  here's  Mr.  Rawlinson's  latch-key."  Mr.  Rawlinson  is,  it 
appears,  the  sharer  of  Willis's   sitting-room.     I    ask   if  he 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  13 

won't  want  it  himself?  ^laid  replies  that  he  left  it  out  a 
purpose,  as  he  was  gone  to  bed  early,  and  he'd  just  had  a 
letter  from  Mr.  Willis  in  the  country,  who  wasn't  coming  up 
to  town,  but  had  given  his  bedroom  to  a  friend  for  the  night. 
Good  fellow,  Willis.  Wonder  how  he  knew  I  was  coming  ? 
Or  did  the  maid  mean  that  he  had  given  permission  to  I\Ir. 
Ravrlinson  to  let  a  friend  have  it  .^  ^Nlaid  says  she  dare  say 
that  was  it ;  only,  as  Mr.  Willis  hadn't  sent  up  his  own 
latch-key,  Mr.  Rawhnson  had  lent  his  in  case  I  wanted 
to  stay  out  late. 

Happy  Tho2igIiL~Go  somewhere. 


CHAPTER    III. 

WHERE  TO  GO — THE  CLUB — BOODELS'  LETTER— INDECI- 
SION—  MILBURD  —  COUNT  DE  BOOTJACK — NOTE  ON 
BABY— CONVERSATION     ON     FARMING — LORD     DUNGE- 

NESS — IRISH   PROPRIETOR. 


ERY  jolly  to  have  a  friend  like  Willis.  A  large- 
hearted  generous  fellow,  who  keeps  open  bed- 
room for  friends.  Perhaps  he'll  let  me  stay  here 
for  a  week  or  so.  At  nine  o'  clock  in  London, 
with  nothing  particular  to  do,  it  is  difficult  to  decide  where  to 
go.  The  theatres  are  half  over  ;  and  then  if  you  haven't  got 
your  place,  and  aren't  dressed  for  the  evening,  it's  uncom- 
fortable. There's  Cremorne.  But  nobody's  there  until  about 
eleven.  [Madame  Tussaud's  is  always  the  same  ;  but  I 
suppose  that's  shut  by  this.  Besides,  I  want  something  more 
stirring  and  exciting.  Wonder  if  anything  is  going  on  at  the 
Egyptian  Hall  ?  Might  walk  there.  I  go  there  :  it  is  closed. 
At  St.  James's  Hall  there  are  the  Christy's.  As  I  arrive, 
people  are  beginning  to  leave.  Policeman  at  door  says  it 
will  all  be  over  in  ten  minutes.  No  good  going  in  for  ten 
minutes.  Three  shillings  for  ten  minutes — three  into  ten — 
that's  threepence-farthing  and  a  fraction  over  per  minute  for 
the  Christy's.     Won't  do.     I  should  like  to  make  a  night  of 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  15 

it  somewhere:  but  where?  I  ahnost  wish  Wigthorpe  had 
stopped  with  me.  I  shouldn't  have  minded  paying  his  cab 
to  Cremorne.  if  he  would  have  come.  If  I  went  now,  I  should 
be  in  time  for  everything  :  perhaps  the  balloon  ;  certainly 
the  fireworks. 

Happy  Thought.— Go  to  my  Club,  and  see  if  I  can  get 
somebody  to  go  with  me. 

]Mine  is  a  quiet  Club  in  a  quiet  corner.  It's  very  con- 
venient for  anyone  living  in  the  countr}'  at  least  so  ever}'one 
says.  But  I  can't  see  why  it  is  more  convenient  than  any 
other  when  you  are  once  in  London.  It  makes  a  home  for 
you  in  town.  As  I  enter  I  notice  a  new  hall-porter,  who 
notices  me,  and  he  evidently  inquires  my  name  of  another 
porter.  To  save  trouble,  I  ask  if  there  are  any  letters  for  me. 
I  don't  expect  any  of  course.  By  the  way,  I  do,  though — an 
answer  from  Boodels  about  publishers  jumping  at  poems. 
Porter  makes  a  faint  attempt  at  pretending  to  remember  my 
name.  I  help  him  to  it.  There  is  a  letter  from  Boodels. 
Into  the  smoking-room  to  read  it.  I  don't  want  any  brandy- 
and-water,  nor  a  cigar,  but  I  call  for  them,  and  take  a  seat  in 
the  smoking-room.  As  I  don't  recognise  anyone  there,  I  am 
glad  to  have  Boodels'  letter  to  read.  Boodels'  letter  informs 
me  that  his  printing  and  publishing  was  an  exceptional  affair, 
as  his  publisher  was  a  distant  connection  of  his  family's  by  his 
mother's  side,  and  so  they  did  it  more  to  oblige  him  than  for 
any  other  reason  ;  but  he  is  sure,  that  if  I  know  any  respect- 
able firm,  they  would  be  most  happy  to  do  it  for  me.  If  it  is  a 
work  of  a  philosophical  and  scientific  character,  why  not  go 


i6  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

(says  the  letter)  to  Popgood  and  Groolly  ?  He  incloses  Pop- 
good  and  Grooll)-'s  address  (cut  out  of  a  newspaper)  and 
wishes  me  luck,  "  P.S.  You  mustn't  be  surprised  if  you 
hear  of  my  being  married  soon.  Don't  mention  it  at  present. 
Any  day  you  like  to  come  doun  and  have  some  fun  dragging 
the  pond,  do.  I  shall  be  delighted  to  see  you.  Remember 
me  to  your  v.-ife.'"' 

Oh,  Boodels  can't  be  going  to  be  married.  Impossible. 
But  why  impossible  ?     Why  should  I  be  surprised  ? 

Happy  TJiought. — To  write  him  something  pretty  and 
neat  back  in  verse.  Something  he  can  keep  and  show  to 
his  intended  and  say,  "  Wasn't  that  very  thoughtful  of  him  ?'' 

I  will.  Awkward  word  to  rhyme  to — ''  Boodels."  Poodles. 
Noodles.  Toodles.  There's  a  farce  called  The  Toodles. 
Saw  it  once  in  a  countiy  theatre.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Toodles. 
IMight  say 

"  Oh  may  you,  William  Augustus  Boodels, 
Be  happy  as  Mister  and  Mrs.  Toodles  !  " 

Then  Noodles  has  to  be  got  in  : — 

"  'Tis  true,  my  dear  Boodels, 
Unmarried  are  Noodles, 
They  pet  their  small  lap-dogs. 
Canaries  and  Poodles. 
But  you,"  <S:c.,  Sec. 

Mem.  To  work  this. up  and  send  it  to-morrow.  I  find  that 
the  firm  that  published  Boodels'  lucubrations  was  Winser, 
Finchin,  and  Wattlemas.  The  whole  firm  couldn't  have 
been  distant  connections. 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  17 

Past  Eleven  o'clock. — No  one  in  the  Club  I  know.  If  I  go 
to  Cremorne  by  myself,  it's  dull  ;  and  the  fireworks  will  be 
over.  Besides,  after  all,  what  are  fireworks  unless  you're  in 
spirits  for  em  1  A  gentleman  in  evening  dress  saunters  into 
the  Club-room,  followed  by  two  others,  laughing  heartily. 
They  all  order  "  Slings,''  and  as  the  first  turns  round,  I 
exclaim,  "  Hallo,  Milburdl ''  It's  quite  a  pleasure  to  join  in 
a  conversation. 

He   introduces   me   to   his  friends    Lord  Dungeness  and 

Count  de .     I  can't  quite  catch  the  name,  but  it  sounds 

like  "  Bootjack  ; "  and  Milburd  takes  the  opportunity  of 
whispering  to  me,  immediately  afterwards,  that  he  is  a  dis- 
tinguished Prussian  over  here  on  a  secret  embassy. 

Happy  Thought. — To  say,  "No!  is  he?"'  and  watch  him 
sipping  gin-sling. 

Happy  Thought. — Hessian  boots. 

I  put  this  down  in  my  note-book  as  a  happy  thought, 
because,  somehow  or  other,  I  can't  help  associating  a  Count 
Avith  Hessian  boots.  I  never  met  a  real  one  before.  Hitherto, 
I  fancy,  I  had  considered  it  as  a  stage  title— a  dashing 
character  in  a  Hussar  uniform,  with  a  comic  servant  and  a 
small  portmanteau.  I  can't  help  thinking  that  (as  Wigthorpe 
said  at  the  French  dinner)  I  a})i  narrov.-minded  on  some 
points.  A  literar}-  man  and  a  philosopher  should  be  large- 
hearted.  I  confess  (to  myself  in  my  wtv^-book)  that  I  am  a 
little  annoyed  with  myself  at  finding  the  mention  of  a  Count 
only  brings  up  the  idea  of  Hessian  boots.     Somehow,  also, 

c 


i8  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

polkas,  with  brass  heels.  It  shows  what  early  training  is  : 
I  recollect  some  picture  or  another,  when  I  was  a  boy,  of 
two  smiling  Hungarians,  in  red  jackets  and  brass  heels 
dancing  a  toe-and-heel  step  to  polka  time.  My  nurse  used 
to  call  them  a  Count  and  Countess,  and  I've  never  got 
over  it.  rvlust  take  care  how  I  train  my  baby  with  the 
rashes. 

[Our  baby  always  has  rashes  all  over  him.  There  never 
was  such  a  troublesome  baby.  When  my  wife  and  myself 
once  went  to  a  theatre,  we  heard  a  troublesome  scoundrel 
described  as  a  '•  villain  of  the  deepest  dye.''  By  an  inspira- 
tion I  noted  down 

Happy  Thought. — Our  infant  a  '*'  baby  of  the  deepest 
dye.-"-] 

The  Count  de  Bootjack  does  not  immediately  get  up  and 
dance  the  polka,  but  sucks  his  gin-sling  rapidly,  talking 
excellent  English. 

The  conversation  turns  on  farming.  Ours  is  a  country 
gentleman's  club,  and  therefore,  whenever  we  can,  we  do 
turn  the  conversation  on  farming.  Lord  Dungeness  asks  me 
how  things  are  in  my  part  of  the  world  ?  I  reply  (this  being 
safe),  that  the  farmers  in  my  part  are  complaining.  He  be- 
comes interested  immediately,  and  inquires  "  What  about  ?  " 
I  have  to  take  time  to  consider  my  answer,  as  I  don't  know 
what  they  are  complaining  about ;  nor,  except  for  the  sake  of 
keeping  up  a  conversation,  that  they  are  complaining  at  all. 
I  throw  my  remark  out  as  a  feeler,  because  new  is  evidently 
an  opportunity  for  me  to  learn  something  about  Agriculture 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  rg 

{Typ.  Develop.^  vol.  iii.  par.  i,  letter  A,  ''Agriculture.") 
Milburd  takes  the  reply  out  of  my  mouth,  by  interrupting 
with  "  Pooh !  let  'em  complain,  the  English  farmer  doesn't 
know  how  to  pull  the  value  off  his  land."  We  are  all  in- 
terested now  ;  ready  to  pick  up  intelligence  about  the  English 
farmer. 

Milburd's  idea  is  to  ''  let  the  soil  rest."  This  appears  ver}' 
sensible,  and  I  can't  help  expressing  myself  to  that  eftect : 
the  Count  asks  me  '"'  Why  ? "  I  reply  that  it  is  evident  to 
reason  (not  to  put  it  on  agricultural  grounds),  that  if  you  let 
it  rest,  it  is  fresh  again. 

Happy  Thought. — Got  out  of  that  ven,-  well.  The  explana- 
tion doesn't  seem  to  impress  them  much,  as  they  continue 
their  argument.  [I  note  down  what  I  can  of  their  conversa- 
tion at  odd  times,  for  future  use.]  Lord  Dungeness  wants  to 
know  "Why  let  it  rest  ?"  ''  There,"  he  says,  "is  the  ground 
— there  it  remains — it  doesn't  run  away." 

Happy  Thought^  which  I  say  out  loud.  '•'  It  might  in  a 
landslip." 

Milburd  complains  that  I  luill  come  in  as  a  buffoon.  ■  I 
beg  his  pardon  with  some  asperity,  I  meant  it.  The  two 
others,  the  Count,  and  Lord  Dungeness,  agree  with  me  that 
a  landslip  might  make  a  difference ;  but  barring  landslips, 
there  was  your  land,  you  raised  your  crops,  you  turned  it 
over,  you  were  always  working  it,  lower  soils  and  top  soils, 
with  dressings,  and  you'd  pull  off  cent,  per  cent,  every  year 
The  Count  remarks  that  that  is  true,  in  Turnips  alone. 

c   2 


20  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

Happy  Thought. —  Cent,  per  cent,  in  turnips:  go  in  for 
turnips.     IMilburd  shakes  his  head  over  potatoes  this  year. 

"  Except,"  says  Lord  Dungeness,  "in  Jersey — large  exports 
made  there  now.''  This  diverts  the  conversation  for  a  time 
to  Jersey.  I  say  apropos  of  the  potatoes,  that  I've  never 
been  to  Jersey.  Milburd  asks  me  if  111  go  with  him?  We 
have  more  gin-sling,  and  I  arrange  to  go  to  Jersey  with  him 
in  a  few  weeks'  time.  Shall  have  to  explain  this  to  my  wife 
judiciously. 

The  Count  says  that  Prussians  let  the  soil  work  itself; 
which  seems  clever, 

"  But  after  three  years  of  top-dressings  ? "  puts  in  Lord 
Dungeness. 

I  feel  inclined  (Lord  Dungeness  has  pointed  this  question 
so  strongly)  to  say,  '•  Yes,  what  would  you  do  then  'i "  only  it 
occurs  to  me  that  in  that  form,  and  from  me.  it  would  sound 
like  a  riddle,  and  Milburd  would  immediately  reply,  '*  Gib  it 
up,"  like  a  nigger  (/  know  him)  which  would  stop  this  really 
interesting  and  valuable  conversation.  So  I  merely  listen, 
and  look  as  farmerish  as  possible. 

An  Irish  gentleman  joins  us,  a  large  landed  proprietor 
[Milburd  whispers  this  to  me],  and  then  plunges  at  once,  in 
medias  res,  by  observing  defiantly  that  there  is  no  farming 
like  Irish  farming.  The  Prussian  Count  attends  to  this 
closely.  Perhaps  this  is  some  of  the  secret  information  he 
has  come  over  for.  Milburd  doubts  this  statement  about 
Irish  farming.  The  Irish  gentleman  otiers  to  prove  it_to  him 
on  his  fingers,  with  a  cigar, 

"Thus,  yell  take  so  many  counties,  ye  see"' — we  all  say 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  21 

"  yes,"  and  nod.  "  Well,"  he  continues,  "  ye  don't  take  one 
crop  and  there  an  end,  but  ye  just  take  one  aft'her  the  other 
and  work  'em  on  and  on,  successively,  and  each  one  helps 
the  others.  Ye  take  one  field  with  the  other"— here  he  sums 
up  on  his  left-hand  fingers,  checking  them  off  as  fields,  or 
faraiers,  or  counties,  (we  are  none  of  us,  I  am  sure,  quite 
clear  which)  "and  ye  lose  nothing  'av  the  prod'huce.  The 
acres  last  for  ever — it's  not  like  hard  cash  or  paper — and  ye 
get  your  interest  and  principal  together,  increasing  the  first. 
and  the  second  too,  for  the  matter  of  that,  in  proportion. 
Ye  see  how  'tis.'"'  As  we  all  profess  to  have  followed  his 
argument  closely,  he  doesn't  continue,  but  announces  himself 
as  being  dn,-,  and  orders  "  what  you  other  fellows  are  drink 
ing  there  with  ice  in  it."  Here  are  two  people  I  never  met 
before — a  Prussian  Count  and  an  Irish  Landed  Proprietor. 

Happy  TJiought. — Opportunity  for  varied  information. 
Ask  Irish  Proprietor  if  he's  ever  been  shot  at  from  behind 
a  hedge.  He  laughs  at  my  credulity.  "  They  ?iever  do  it,'" 
he  says.  "  I  reply  that  I  had  thought  from  the  Papers, 
that ■' 

"  The  Papers  ! "  he  exclaims.  "  If  ye'll  believe  a  word 
they  say  of  Ireland,  I  give  ye  up  intirely."  As  I  don't  want 
to  irritate  him,  I  tell  him  that  I  don't  believe  every  word 
they  say,  and  assure  him  that  I  am  only  asking  for  informa- 
tion. 

"  Why,  Sir,"  he  says,  "  my  property  lies  among  the  worst 
and  wildest  parts,  and  I  might  walk  among  'em  any  day  if  I 
chose,  Protestant  or  Catholic,  no  matter,  without  a  gun  or  a 


22  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

dog,  or  a  s.ick,  or  any  mortal  thing,  and  they'd  not  touch 
me." 

Interesting  conversation  this  :  must  get  back  to  Wilhs's, 
though. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

CLUB     COXVERSATIOX     CONTINUED  -  A     FLAT     JOKE— MY 
FARMING  —  AN  INVITATION  —  ANOTHER  —  PARTY 

BREAKS  UP  — PROPOSALS  FOR  ''LARKS"— IN  THE 
DARK— SNORING  — SOMEBODY  IN  BED— A^VK^VARD— 
SLEEPER   AWAKENED. 

^  TILL  at  the  Club.  The  conversation  (kept  up, 
^  with  animation,  by  the  Count  de  Bootjack,  Mil- 
burd,  Lord  Dungeness  and  the  Irish  Proprietor) 
turns  upon  Drainage.  I  can't  tear  myself  away 
from  Drainage,  as  this  is  to  me  a  novel  topic.  [''  D '"' 
for  Drainage,  Typical  Developments,  Book  \ .)  The 
Prussian  Count  questions  (as  I  understand  him,  or 
rather  as  I  don't  understand  him)  the  utility  of  Alluvial 
Deposits.  Milburd,  who  really  seems  to  know  what  he's 
talking  about  on  this  subject,  observes  that  the  great  point 
is  neither  to  exhaust  the  land  by  over-manuring  and  work- 
ing off  three  crops  for  one,  nor  to  under-fertilise  it  by 
constant  drainage.  This  (I  say,  thoughtfully,  as  I  cannot 
sit  there  without  making  some  observation)  is  mere  common 
sense. 

Milburd    retorts   with    some    sharpness,    "  Of  course  it's 
common  sense  ;  but  who  does  it.^"'  to  which  I  can  only  reply, 


24  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

as  he  seems  annoyed,  "  Ah,  that's  it,"  and  take  a  sip  at  my 
gin- sling.     A  pause.     More  orders  to  waiter. 

Happy  Thought. — To  say  that  the  Drainage  question 
involves  many  "  slings." 

No  one  seems  to  notice  my  having  said  this  except  the 
Prussian  Count,  who  smiles  somewhat  patronisingly,  and  says, 
"  Yes,  we  drain  slings,"  then  laughs  again.  I  laugh,  out  of 
compliment,  not  that  I  see  anything  funny  in  what  he  said, 
as  it  was  only  a  sort  of  explanation  of  my  joke.  The  Irish 
Proprietor  asks  me  if  I  farm  at  all.  I  reply,  *'  No,  scarcely  at 
all."  This  reply  sounds  like  a  hundred  acres  or  so,  nothing 
to  speak  of.  [It  really  means  five  hens  that  won't  lay,  two 
pigs  'invalids)  a  cock  that  crows  in  the  afternoon  only,  and  a 
small  field  let  out  to  somebody  else's  cow.] 

Milburd  observes  that  he's  heard  I've  a  ver}-  nice  place  in 
the  country.  I  tell  him  I  shall  be  ver>'  glad  if  he'll  come  and 
see  me  there.  Feeling  that  this  invitation  to  only  one  in  the 
company  may  be  taken  as  a  slight  by  the  others,  I  add  (not 
knowing  their  names,  and  I  can't  address  the  Count  as  De 
Bootjack)  "  and  anyone  who  likes  to  come  down."  They 
murmur  something  about  being  delighted,  and  then  follows 
a  sort  of  awkward  pause,  as  if  I'd  insulted  ever>-  one  of 
them. 

Happy  Thought. — To  break  the  silence  by  saying,  "  I  like 
living  in  the  country." 

The  Irish  Proprietor  remarks,  that  I  must  come  to  Ireland 
if  I  want  to  see  country,     "  Ye  must  come  over,"  he  says, 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  25 

heartily,  ''to  my  shooting-box  this  side  of  Connemara,  and 
I'll  show  you  Ireland." 

HapPy  Thought. — A  real  opportunity  of  seeing  life  and 
character  :  the  Fine  Old  Irish  Gentleman  ;  bailiffs  shot  on 
the  premises  :  port  wine  ;  attached  peasantry  ready  to  die  for 
the  Masther  ;  old  servants  saying  witty  things  all  over  the 
house  :  car-drivers  ;  laughter  all  day ;  flinging  money  right 
and  left ;  Father  Tom  and  whisky-punch  in  the  evening,  and 
no  one  at  all  uncomfortable  except  a  hard  landlord  and  a 
rent-collector. 

I  accept  with  pleasure, 

Irish  Proprietor  wants  to  know  when  I'll  come,  as  he 
shan't  be  at  home  for  the  next  four  months,  but  after  that 
will  I  write  to  him  ?     I  promise. 

Note. — Jersey  with  Milburd,  Ireland  with  Mr.  Delany. 

Happy  Thought. — Must  arrange  for  my  wife  to  go  some- 
where with  my  mother-in-law. 

Prussian  Count  says  he  must  go  to  bed.  I  rise  too.  We 
say  good-bye.  He  asks  me  if  I'm  going  anywhere  near 
Brussels  this  year.  I  reply.  "  No.  Jersey  and  Ireland,  I 
shan't  go  any  farther."  "  Well,"  he  returns,  "  if  you  do,  look 
me  up."     I  promise  I  will. 

Happy  Thought. — Ask  him  to  ^^rite  down  his  address  so 
that  I  may  know  his  name,  which  of  course  can't  be  De 
Bootjack. 

The  Count  answers  that  everyone  knows  him,  and  that 


26  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

he's  always  to  be  heard  of  either  at  the  Legation  or  the 
Embassy  ;  or,  if  it's  after  November,  and  I  go  on  to  Turin, 
"just  inquire  at  the  Palace,  and  they'll  tell  you  my  where- 
abouts, and  we'll  have  a  pipe  and  a  chat.''  I  reply,  '*'  Oh, 
yes,  of  course,"  as  if  I  was  in  the  habit  of  calling  at  Palaces, 
and  having  pipes  and  chats  with  Lord  Derby. 

"  He's  a  greater  swell  than  Lord  Derby  when  he's  at 
home,"  says  Milburd,  to  whom  I  relate  my  parting  words 
with  the  Count.  I  really  viust  go  and  see  him,  and  drop 
Ireland  and  Jersey.  More  character  and  life  in  Brussels, 
Vienna,  and  Turin.  Diplomatic  life,  too.  The  Count  de 
(I  must  get  his  right  title,  as  it  would  never  do  to  go  to  the 
Palace  at  Turin,  and  ask  for  a  Prussian  Count,  describing 
him  as  a  greater  swell  than  Lord  Derby,  with  a  name  like 
De  Bootjack) — The  Count  would  introduce  me  every- 
where. 

Happy  Thought. — Get  up  my  French  and  Italian. 

Happy  Thought. — Say  "good  night,"  and  go  to  Willis's,  in 
Conduit  Street.  IMilburd  and  Lord  Dungeness  will  walk 
part  of  the  way.  Milburd  is  suddenly  in  wonderful  spirits. 
It  is  almost  daylight.  Milburd  sees  a  coffee-stand,  and 
stops.  He  says,  ''Wouldn't  it  be  a  lark  to  upset  the  whole 
lot,  and  bolt  ? "  I  laugh  [Happy  Thought — like  the  monks 
of  old,  "Hal  ha  I"]  and  get  him  to  walk  on.  By  Burlington 
Arcade  he  stops  again,  and  says,  "  Wouldn't  it  be  a  lark  to 
knock  up  the  beadle,  and  when  he  came  out  just  say  '  How 
are  you  this  morning?' and  run  away?"     Lord  Dungeness 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  27 

■wishes  there  was  a  jolly  good  fire,  as  we'd  all  have  a  ride 
on  the  engine. 

Milburd  observes  "he  should  like  to  have  a  row  some- 
where/' and  Dungeness  proposes  St.  Giles's  or  Wapping. 
jNIilburd  says  to  me,  ''  Yes,  that's  your  place  (meaning 
Wapping)  for  character,  if  you  want  to  fill  up  ^Biblical 
Elephants.'"'  [He  zuill  still  call  Typical  Developjnents 
''  Biblical  Elephants."'  That's  the  worst  of  Milburd — always 
overdoes  a  joke.  I  will  really  get  one  good  unanswerable 
repartee,  to  be  delivered  before  a  lot  of  people,  and  settle  him 
for  ever.  One  never  knows,  now,  whether  Milburd  is  serious 
or  joking.]  It  occurs  to  Dungeness  that  he  knows  what  he 
calls  "  a  crib "'  where  the  last  comer  has  to  fight  the  thieves* 
champion,  and  '"stand  liquor"  all  round.  "It's  a  sort  of 
den,"  he  adds,  '"'that  it's  not  safe  to  go  into  without  about  five 
policemen."     But  he  doesn't  mind. 

Happy  Thought. — To  say,  '•  Should  like  to  see  those  places 
very  much,  but  got  to  be  up  to-morrow  morning,  and  must 
go  to  bed  now.  \qxx  sorry.  Staying  with  a  fellow,  so  won't 
do  to  be  too  late.  As  I  open  the  door,  Milburd  says, 
••'  Don't  forget  Jersey."  Nod  my  head  :  all  right.  As  much 
as  to  intimate  that  I'm  ready  for  Jersey  at  any  moment. 
Can't  help  thinking  what  a  good  fellow  Willis  is  to  let  me 
have  his  room  in  town,  and  to  write  to  say  I  might  be 
expected. 

Happy  Thought. — Simple  arrangement,  a  latch-key.  Feel 
as  if  I   were  getting  in  burglariouslv.     Gas    out.     Wish    I 


28  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

knew  where  the  stairs  commenced.     Stupid  practice  having 
a  bench  in  the  passage.     They  might  have  left  out  a  hght— 

Happy  Thought  {in  the  dark) — instead  of  leaving  a  light 
out.  \_Me7n.  Put  this  down,  and  work  it  up  as  something  of 
Sheridan's.  People  vs-ill  laugh  at  it  then.]  Fallen  against 
the  umbrella-stand.  Awkward  if  the  Landlady  is  awoke. 
She's  never  seen  me  before,  and  I  should  have  to  explain 
who  I  was  and  how  I  got  there.  Might  end  in  Police.  Willis 
ought  to  have  written  to  his  Landlady  about  me. 

Happy  Thought. — Stairs  at  last,  and  banisters.  Willis  lives 
on  second  floor.  Snoring  on  first  floor.  Stop  to  listen. 
Lots  of  snoring  about.  Landlady  below,  perhaps  ;  maid- 
servant above  ;  lodgers  all  round  :  all  snoring.  Something 
awful  in  these  sounds.  Not  solemn,  but  ghostly,  as  if  all  the 
snoring  people  would  certainly  burst  out  upon  you  from  the 
diflferent  doors.  Simile  occurs  to  me — Roberto  and  the  Nuns. 
That  ended  in  a  ballet.  Fancy  this  ending  in  a  ballet — with 
the  Landlady.  Daylight  streams  in  through  window  on 
second  flight.  \tx\  pale  light  :  makes  me  feel  ghostly,  espe- 
cially about  the  white  waistcoat  :  a  sort  of  dingv'  ghost.  L'p 
the  next  stairs  quietly.  Pass  Rawlinson's  bed-room.  More- 
snoring.  Rawlinson  snores  angrily.  The  other  people  down 
below  contentedly ;  except  one,  somewhere,  who  varies  it  with 
a  heavy  sigh.     Glad  to  shut  the  door  on  it  all,  and  go  to  bed. 

Happy  Thought  (Jfi  connection  iviih  the  ballet  and  Roberto). 
—  "  Willis's  Rooms."     Good  idea  this.     Should  like  to  wake 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  29 

up  Rawlinson,  and  tell  him  what  I'd  thought  of.  Won't  : 
don't  know  him  well  enough.  My  portmanteau  has  been 
moved  into  the  bed-room  evidently.  But  here's  my  bag  on 
the  sofa  :  even-thing  in  it  for  the  night  ready.  See  these  by 
the  pale  daylight.  Look  at  myself  in  the  glass.  Say,  "  This 
won't  do  :  mustn't  stop  out  so  late."  Hair  looks  wir>-.  The 
bed-room  is  quite  dark,  so  I  must  light  a  candle  to  go  in 
there,  as  somehow  the  stupid  idiots  at  home  have  put  the 
only  thing  I  really  do  want  for  night  in  my  portmanteau, 
instead  of  in  my  bag.  Delicious  it  will  be  to  go  to  bed,  and 
get  up  when  I  like  in  the  morning. 

Happy  Tlwnghf.—l^ed. 

In  the  bed-room.  Hullo  !  why,  I  can't  have  made  a  mis- 
take :  there's  some  one  in  bed.  Is  it  some  one,  or  a  cat,  or — 
no,  Some  One  fast  asleep.  Willis  come  back,  confound  him  I 
He  turns.  It  isn't  Willis.  But — I  can't  make  it  out  :  these 
are  the  rooms  I  Avas  in  before.  Yes.  I  go  gently  back  and 
examine.  Yes,  not  a  doubt  of  it.  I  return  still  more  gently, 
and  examine  sleeping  stranger  by  candle-light.  Don't  know 
him  from  Adam.  Wonder  what  he's  doing  there.  Sleeping, 
of  course.  He  can't  be  a  thief.  Thieves  don't  take  all  their 
things  off  (his  boots  and  clothes  are  littered  all  over  the 
place  anyhow),  and  go  to  bed.  Intoxicated  lodger,  perhaps, 
mistaken  the  room.  I  really  don't  know  what  to  do.  Most 
awkward  situation.  Shall  I  call  Rawlinson  up  to  look  at 
him  ?  What  shall  I  say  to  Rawlinson  ?  Say,  "  Look  here, 
Rawlinson,  sorry  to  disturb  you,  but  just  come  and  see  what 
I've  found  in  Willis's  bed." 


30  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

I  mustn't  do  it  too  suddenly,  or  nervously,  or  Rawlinson 
might  be  frightened  into  a  fit.  Recollect  hearing  once  of  a 
man  being  awoke  suddenly,  and  frightened  into  a  fit.  But  I 
think,  by  the  way,  that  that  had  something  to  do  with  a  sham 
ghost  and  a  turnip.  Perhaps,  on  the  whole,  I'd  better  take 
my  things  and  go  away  quietly.     Where  ? 

Happy  Though /.— H  otel. 

Must  unpack  my  portmanteau,  and  get  my  things  out  first, 
as  I  can't  lug  the  horrid  thing  down-stairs  without  disturbing 
the  house  ;  in  which  case  I  should  have  to  explain  to  ever>'- 
body.  Perhaps  there  are  eight  or  ten  lodgers,  and  the  Land- 
lady. I  still  stand  surv^eying  him  by  candle-light,  as  if  there 
were  some  chance  of  his  getting  up,  of  his  own  accord,  in  his 
sleep,  and  going  away  to  a  hotel  instead  of  me.  I  only  hope 
he  won't  wake.  He  is  waking.  I  can't  move.  He  is  awake. 
We  stare  at  one  another.  He  says,  "Eh  I  Why?  W^hat 
the " 

Happy  Thought. — To  answer  verj' politely.  Say,  ''Don't 
disturb  yourself.     Quite  an  accident." 

Happy  Thought  that  will  come  into  my  mind.  Scene  from 
somebody's  opera  or  oratorio,  The  Sleeper  Awakened. 
Whose  ?  Perhaps  a  continuation  of  Sosinainbula.  This  all 
flashes  across  my  mind  as  he  says,  hazily,  "  Accident  !  '■ 
Then  starting  bolt  upright,  '"  Not  fire  !  1     Eh .' "' 


CHAPTER   V. 

SITUATION  CONTINUED  —  DROWSY  STRANGER— A  DIFFI- 
CULTY—AN ARGUMENT — GRAINGER — SELFISHNESS- 
DETERMINATION  —  HOTEL  —  NUMBER  THREE  HUN- 
DRED, &C. 


l\  S  the  Stranger  comes  up  suddenly  from  under 

I  the  bedclothes,  and  inquires  if  its  a  fire,  I  can't 

help  noticing  (in  the  flash  of  a  second^  that  /i/s 

J  appearance,  about  the  head  I  mean,  is  rather 


conflagratory  than  otherwise.     His   hair   is   red,  long,   and 
rough  ;  his  face  is  red,  his  moustache  and  beard  are  red. 

Happy  Thought. — The  Fire  King  in  bed. 

I  explain  that  it  is  7iot  a  fire,  and  that,  generally,  no 
danger  is  to  be  apprehended. 

"  Then,"  says  he.  stupidly,  "  what's  the  time  ? ''  As  if  he'd 
been  expecting  me  at  a  certain  hour,  and  I  had  anticipated 
the  appointment. 

It  doesn't  seem  to  occur  to  him  that  he  is  causing  vie  any 
inconvenience  ;  and,  having  once  ascertained  that  there's  no 
fire,  he  strangely  enough  appears  to  take  no  further  interest 
in  me,  but  lies  down  again,  and,  turning  away  on  his  side. 


32  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

mutters.  '•  Well, — all  right — never  mind — don't  bother — get 
out  I  ■'*  He  is  not  a  bit  afraid  ;  only,  after  a  short,  spasmodic 
gleam  of  intelligence,  he  relapses  into  the  heaviest  drowsi- 
ness. 

This  is  so  annoying  that  I  determine  to  tr}-  if  his  sense  of 
justice  will  not  bring  him  out. 

Happy  Thought. — To  say.  simply,  but  emphatically,  "  I 
beg  your  pardon :  you've  got  my  bed." 

He  replies,  gruffly  and  drowsily,  without  stirring,  "  You  be 
somethinged  !     Don't  bother." 

Now  I  do  think  that  to  come  home  at  three  in  the  morn- 
ing, happily  and  pleasantly,  expecting  to  turn  in  and  rest, 
then  to  find  a  red-haired  stranger,  a  man  whom  you  never 
saw  in  your  life  before,  in  your  bed,  and,  on  your  infoiTning 
him  of  his  mistake,  to  be  told  that  you  may  be  "  some- 
thinged "  (a  word  worth  five  shillings  in  a  police-court),  and 
are  not  to  "bother,"  is  rather  a  strong  proceeding,  to  say  the 
least  of  it. 

"Yes,"  I  reply,  "but  I  must  bother."  I  am  becoming 
annoyed,  and  I  ivill  have  him  out.  Why  should  /  pay  for  a 
bed  at  a  hotel?     Why  shouldn't  he?     Or,  stop 

Happy  Thought. — If  he  won't  move  out,  he  might  pay  for 
my  bed  at  a  hotel.  By  the  way,  isn't  this  rather  like  a 
street-organ  nuisance  ?  "  Give  me  so  much,  and  I'll  go 
away."     Can't  help  it  if  it  is.     It's  only  fair. 

I  continue,  louder,  so  as  to  stop  his  going  to  sleep, 
"  You've  got  my  bed." 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  33 

From  under  the  sheets  he  murmurs  pleasantly,  '*'  I'll  have 
your  hat  1  '*'  as  if  he  thought  my  address  to  hhn  mere  low, 
vulgar  chaff.  As  if  I  should  come  (I  can't  help  putting  this 
to  him  pointedly)  at  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  merely  to 
indulge  in  low,  vulgar  chaff  with  a  stranger  I  Does  he  think 
it  likely? 

He  pretends  to  have  fallen  asleep  again.     Humbug  I 
I  repeat,  angrily,  "  I  tell  you,  Sir,  you're  in  my  bed." 
He  replies,  more  stupidly  than  ever,  "  All  right  !  " 
I  say,  sarcastically,  ''  Well,  Sir,  as  you  don"t  dispute  the 
fact,  perhaps  you'll  kindly  turn  out.'' 

This  does  rouse  him,  as  he  turns  round  and  asks  me,  in 
unnecessarily  strong  language,  who  the  blank  I  am?  what 
ih^  blank  I  want  ?  why  the  blank  I  come  there  bothering  ? 
I  answer,  simply,  that  Willis  lent  me  his  bed. 
He  retorts,  "  Well,  Willis  lent  it  me."' 
I  did  ;/^/  expect  this,  and  am  staggered  for  the  moment  ; 
so  much  so'  that   I   can  only  say,  very  inadequately,  '"  Did 
he?" 

"  Yes,"  continues  the  Stranger,  angrily,  '•  for  as  long  as 
I  like  to  stop."  Evidently  implying  that  he's  not  going  to 
get  up  yet. 

"But,"  I  remonstrate,  "Wilhs  lent  it  to  meyfr^/." 

'•  Couldn't,"  returns  Red-Haired  Stranger,  rudely :  "  I've 

just  come  straight  from  him.     He  gave  me  his  latch-key.'' 

And,  sure  enough,  on  the  table  lies  the  fellow  to  Rawlin son's. 

"  But  I  came  up  this  afternoon,"  I  inform  him.     I  feel  this 

is  weak  as  an  argument. 

To  which  he  replies,  "  And  I  came  this  evening." 

D 


34  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

"  Yes."  I  reply,  admitting  the  fact,  '■  but  I  came  here 
first : "  wherewith  I  point  to  my  portmanteau.  I  don't  ex- 
actly see  why  he  should  take  this  as  corroborative  evi- 
dence, but  it  strikes  me  (as  a  Happy  Thought  at  the 
moment;  that  it  will  quite  knock  him  over  ;  which,  however, 
it  doesn't  at  all. 

"Well,"  says  he,  clenching  the  matter, '•  I  came  to  bed 
first." 

I  can't  deny  this.  Don't  know  what  to  do.  I  should  like 
lo  have  the  power  of  producing  some  crushing  argument 
which  should  bring  him  out  of  bed. 

Happy  Thought. — Fetch  Rawlinson. 

I  look  into  his  room  cautiously,  and,  as  it  were,  breathe 
his  name.  I  breathe  it  louder.  He  is  awake  and  bolt 
upright  in  bed  with  the  suddenness  of  a  toy  Jack-in-the-Box. 
Then  he  laughs  :  then  he  asks  me,  "  Can't  you  eat  'em  ?" 

I  ask,  rather  astonished,  "  Eat  what  ? "' 

He  replies,  "  Turnips,"  seriously :  from  which  I  gather 
that  he  has  not  yet  mastered  the  fact  of  my  being  in  his 
room,  and  that,  despite  his  sudden  liveliness,  he  is  still 
dreaming.  After  a  few  more  disjointed  words,  he  laughs 
and  apologises,  and  adds  that,  as  he"s  quite  awake  now,  he 
wants  to  know  what's  the  matter. 

"Ah  !  that  must  be  Grainger,"  he  answers,  when  I  tell 
him  of  the  red  man  in  bed.  He  says  this  with  an  evident 
conviction  that  what  I've  told  him  is  so  like  Grainger : 
Grainger  down  to  the  ground,  in  fact.  It  appears  that 
Willis  has  been  staying  with  Grainger,  and  that  Grainger 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  35 

has  come  straight  up  from  Wilhs.  with  permission  to  use 
his  room  in  town,  while  Wilhs  uses  Grainger's  in  the  countr)-. 
"  I  don't  see  how  you  can  turn  him  out,''  observes  Rawlinson, 
thoughtfully,  but  at  the  same  time  setthng  himself  once 
more  under  the  sheets,  as  much  as  to  say,  "and  you  can't 
expect  me  to  give  up  my  bed." 

Happy  Thought.— Tq  say,  "It's  rather  hard  to  have  to 
turn  out  at  this  time  to  go  to  a  hotel."  I  say  this  piteously, 
with  a  view  to  appealing  to  his  sense  of  compassion,  as  I 
had  before  to  Grainger's  sense  of  justice.  Rawlinson,  com- 
fortably under  the  clothes  again,  agrees  with  me.  ''  It  is,"' 
he  says,  "  confoundedly  hard."  "  Such  a  nuisance,"  I  con- 
tinue plaintively.  "Horrid  !"  returns  Rawlinson,  under  the 
clothes,  in  a  tone  which  signifies  that  he  really  doesn't  care 
twopence  about  it  as  long  as  h^s  left  alone. 

Happy  Thought.— The  selfishness  of  Bed.  Note.  This  is 
worth  an  Essay. 

I  stand  there  hesitating. 

Happy  Thought. — To  suggest  "  Isn't  there  a  spare  bed  in 
the  house  ? " 

Rawlinson  answers,  decidedly,  "  No." 

I  can't  help  feeling  that  if  he  got  up  and  looked,  I  dare  say 
he'd  find  one  ;  or,  in  fact,  that  if  he  interested  himself  at  all 
in  the  matter,  he  might  do  something  for  me. 

It  occurs  to  me  at  this  moment  that  I  have  often  professed 
myself  able  to  shake  down  anywhere,  and  rough  it.     I  sug- 

D  2 


36  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

gest  (I  can  only  suggest,  as  I  feel  that,  now,  not  having  any, 
as  it  were,  legal  status  in  Willis  and  Rawlinson's  rooms,  I 
am  there  simply  on  sufferance — a  wayfarer — a  wanderer, 
glad  of  a  night's  lodging  anywhere,  anyhow,' — I  suggest  that 
the  sofa  might  do. 

Rawiinson,  half  way  to  fast  asleep,  replies,  '•  Yes."' 

Happy  Thought. — To  say  that  the  table-cloth  would  do 
for  sheets,  &c.,  in  the  hope  that  he'll  return,  "  Oh,  if  you 
want  sheets,  here  you  are,''  and  jump  out  and  give  me  some 
out  of  his  cupboard.  He  does  not  seem  to  be  particularly 
struck  with  the  ingenuity  of  the  idea,  and  again,  more  feebly 
than  before,  replies  '"  Yes." 

Hang  it,  I  think  he  might  do  somethitig.  I  am  angr)*,  I 
can't  help  it.  I  go  back  to  the  sitting-room.  Broad  day- 
light. I  might  sit  up  till  Rawiinson,  or  the  red  man,  rises, 
and  then  go  to  bed.  The  sofa  is  a  hard  horse-hair  one. 
Suddenly  I  become  determined.  I'll  go  to  a  hotel,  and  then 
write  to  Willis,  and  complain.  Complain  ?  of  what  ?  Some- 
thing's too  bad  of  somebody,  but  who's  to  blame.^  I'll  have 
it  out  to-monow  morning.  Go  to  bedroom  to  get  portman- 
teau. Red  man  has  locked  his  door  to  prevent  intrusion. 
IMy  night  things  are  in  the  portmanteau.  I  tell  him  this 
through  the  door.  He  won't  hear.  I  thump.  No.  I 
anathematise  the  servant  at  home,  who  didn't  pack  up  my 
things  in  my  bag,  as  I  told  her. 

Happy  Thought. — Write  down  instructions  in  future. 
Anathematise    Rawiinson,    Red    Man,    Willis,    everj-body. 


MORE    HAPPY   THOUGHTS.  37 

Descend  stairs  \vith  bag.  Feel  reckless  ;  don't  care  whom  I 
wake  now.     Landlady,  maid,  lodgers,  anybody.     "  Confound 

'em!  they're  all  sleeping  comfortably,  while  I "     I  bang 

the  bag  down  in  the  passage,  and  open  the  door.  Where's 
a  cab  ?  All  gone  home.  There's  one  up  in  Regent  Street, 
crawling.  I  don't  care  what  noise  I  make  nouii.  "  Hallo  ! 
Hi !  Cab  1  here  !  "  As  I  put  my  bag  in  the  cab,  it  occurs  to 
me  that  this  looks  uncommonly  like  having  robbed  the  plate 
chest,  and  coming  away  with  the  contents. 

"Where  to.  Sir  ? "  I  think.  I've  only  once  been  to  a  hotel 
in  town.  Morley's.  Stop ;  on  second  thoughts,  ]Morley's 
wouldn't  like  being  rung  up  at  this  time.  A  railway  hotel  is 
the  place  where  they're  accustomed  to  it. 

Happy  Thoi^ght. —  Charing  Cross,  where  the  Foreign  Mail 
trains  come  in.  Always  up  and  awake  there,  and  suppers, 
and  Boots,  and  Chambermaids,  all  alive  at  night  as  well  as 
by  day. 

Happy  Thought. — Much  better,  after  all,  to  go  to  a  hotel 
than  to  Willis's.  Here  we  are.  How  sleepy  I  am.  Dis- 
charge cab.  How  sleepy  the  night  porter  is.  Everything 
gigantic  and  gloomy.  Large  hall,  large  staircase,  large 
passages,  small  porter  with  small  chamber-candle.  A  doubt 
crosses  my  mind,  and  I  wish  I  hadn't  discharged  the  cab. 
"  Can  I  have  a  bed  here?"  "Yes,"  says  the  porter,  with  a 
sort  of  reluctance  which  I  attribute  to  his  sleepiness.  He 
then  consults  a  mystic  board,  and  1  find  I  can  be  accommo- 
dated with  Number  Three  Hundred  and  Seventv  Five. 


38  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

HapPy  Thought. —  Go  up  by  the  Lift.     Rather  fun. 

Answer :  No  hft  at  night.  Should  hke  a  soda-and-brandy, 
I  say.  Not  that  I  want  it,  but  to  give  him  to  understand 
that  I  am  not  an  outcast,  to  be  placed  in  Number  Three 
Hundred  and  Seventy  Five,  five  stories  high.  No  other 
room  ?     No. 

Happy  Thought. — "Not  got  one  on  the  First  Floor?"' 
This  also  is  to  give  him  an  idea  of  my  importance.  I  am 
not  a  bale  of  goods,  to  be  shoved  up  into  Number  Three 
Hundred  and  Seventy  Five.  I  have  an  idea  that  rooms  on 
the  First  Floor  are  about  two  guineas  a  day,  and  (I  fancy) 
are  let  out  in  suites  to  Ambassadors,  or  distinguished 
Foreigners. 

Happy  Thought. — Ambassadors  have  their  rooms  for 
nothing.  Paid  for  by  their  Government.  Wish  I  could  say 
I  was  an  Ambassador.  Milburd  would  have  done  it.  There 
is  no  brandy  and  soda  out.  He  can  give  me  some,  he  says, 
when  the  bar  opens,  about  three  hours  hence.  Idiot!  Will 
he  bring  up  my  bag  1  No  ;  the  house-porter  will  do  that. 
He  communicates  with  the  house-porter  through  a  pipe  in  a 
hole.  He  tells  me  to  go  up-stairs  as  far  as  I  can,  and  I  shall 
-meet  the  house-porter  with  my  bag. 

I  go  up  the  grand  staircase.  As  I  ascend,  I  think  of 
pictures  of  staircases  in  the  Illustrated  London  News,  and 
people  going  up  them.  Look  down  long  corridors.  All  sorts 
of  boots  out :  keeping  guard  before  the  doors.  Like  a  prison 
on  the  silent  system  :  the  prisoners  having  put  their  boots 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  39 

out.  On  the  landing  of  last  staircase  I  meet  the  house-porter 
with  my  bag.  He  leads  me  (gaoler  and  prisoner — gaoler 
carrying  bag  full  of  stolen  property)  down  one  corridor,  up 
another,  through  a  third,  up  small  stairs,  into  a  fourth  cor- 
ridor smaller  than  the  previous  ones.  We  come  suddenly 
upon  Number  Three  Hundred  and  Seventy-Five.  He  has  a 
key  ready :  the  door  is  opened :  bang  goes  my  bag  on  to  a 
stand.  I  walk  forward  towards  glass,  examine  myself  leisurely, 
debate,  will  give  my  orders  to  the  Boots,  and,  take  it,  gene- 
rally, very  easily,  having  arrived  at  a  haven  of  rest. 

Happy  Thonghf. — A  haven  where  I  wouldn't  be. 

Happy  Thought. — To  be  called  at  ten,  and  have  a  cup  of 
tea  brought.  He  will  be  good  enough  to  open  my  bag,  and 
put  out  my  things.  I  like  a  hotel,  because  you  are  waited  on 
so  beautifully  :    much  better  than  at  home. 

Before  I  can  turn  (quite  leisurely,  and  with  something  of 
a  '•  swagger,"  just  to  show  him  that  though  I  am  up  in 
Number  Three  Hundred  and  Seventy-Five,  /  oughtn't  to 
^^)— before  I  can  turn  to  give  my  orders,  the  house-porter 
has  gone,  without — confound  him  1  —  without  undoing  a 
single  strap. 

Happy,  but  very  angry  Thought. — To  ring,  and  show  him 
I  will  be  attended  to.  My  hand  is  on  the  bell.  I  pause. 
On  second  thoughts,  111  pitch  into  him  to-morrow  morning. 
Go  to  bed  now.  Let  me  see — take  my  note-book  to  bed, 
and  make  mems  for  to-morrow.     Roval  Academv  to-morrow 


^o  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

Happy  Thought. — After  night's  fitful  fever  he  sleeps  weH, 
He  went  away  (house-porter  did,  I  mean)  without  my  telling 
him  when  I  want  to  be  called.  Doesn't  matter.  Call  my- 
self, and  ring  the  bell  v\  hen  I  awake,  to  call  him  and  pitch 
into  him.  Wish  I'd  got  all  my  regular  night  things.  Know 
I  shall  ca.tch  cold. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  DREAM — HOTEL  BELLS— LETTERS — NOTES— HEROES — 
HOTEL  PROVERB — TUPPER  AND  SOLOMON — ACADEMY 
— SUGGESTIONS — PLANS. 

WAKE  up  in  the  Hotel  apparently  in  the  middle  of 
a  dream. 

H(-ppy  TJioiight  {on  the  instant). —  To  note  it. 
as  it  seems  a  connected  story.  My  dream.  {Example  oj 
Connected  Dreams  for  Typical  Developments,  Vol.  IX.  ch.  ii., 
par.  3,  under  ''  D," /or  Dreams,  i.  e.  Dreams  ofallXations?[  I 
thought  Lord  Westbur)-  came  up  to  me,  somewhere  in  a 
room  or  a  garden,  took  me  aside  and  said  something  to  the 
effect  that  '•  his  real  name  was  Sarsaparilla."'  I  don't  think 
I  was  surprised  at  the  announcement,  or  perhaps  I  hadn't 
time  to  express  any  astonishment,  as  immediately  afterwards 
I  was  attempting  to  creep  on  all-fours  under  a  kitchen-table 
which  some  one  (I  don't  know  who  it  was  as  I  didn't  see  him) 
said  was  a  Monastery  for  Little  Boys.  Then  immediately,  I 
seemed  to  be  in  India,  about  to  be  executed  for  insurbor- 
dination  to  a  General  who  was  crying.  I  didn't  know 
any  of  the  officers  except  Boodels,  who  was  explaining  to 
me  the  principle   of  the  guillotine.     I  replied  to  some  one 


42  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

(to  Boodels,  I  fancy)  that  I  must  write  home  to  ask  per- 
mission. But  for  what  I  don't  know,  unless  I  meant  per- 
mission to  be  executed.  The  dream,  at  this  point,  became 
confused,  and  by  the  way,  on  looking  over  the  above  notes  it 
doesn't  seem  so  clearly  connected  as  it  had  at  first  appeared. 
I  am  sure  there  are  some  missing  links  which  have  escaped 
my  memon.-.  Ill  think  of  them  during  the  day  and  put 
them  down.  My  impression  about  the  insurbordination  in 
India  and  the  guillotine  is  so  vivid,  that  I  am  really  quite 
glad  to  find  myself  in  the  Hotel  bed. 

Happy  Thought. —  Ring  the  bell  and  order  cup  of  tea,  to 
thoroughly  wake  me.  First,  to  jiiid  the  bell.  It's  generally, 
in  hotels,  near  the  bed.  No  it  isn't.  Or  above  my  head. 
No. 

Happy  Thought.  {B7-illiant  in  fact.) — To  trace  position 
of  bell-handle  by  following  the  wires  at  the  top  of  the  room. 
I  should  have  made  a  good  detective.  There  are  no  wires. 
I  sit  up  in  bed  and  then  observe  that  the  bell-handles  are 
on  either  side  of  the  fireplace  :  as  if  it  was  a  dining-room. 
It's  absurd  to  have  a  bed-room  like  a  dining-room  :  the 
architect  ought  to  have  known  better.  By  the  way,  is  it  the 
architects  business  I  Curious  how  ignorant  one  is  on  these 
really  common  subjects.  I  never  thought  of  it  before,  but 
now  I  do  consider  the  matter,  it  appears  to  ?ne  that  the 
architect  manages  the  outside  of  the  building — its  archi- 
tectural part — and  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  inside.  Then 
who    does    the   stairs  ?    and  the   doors  ?      Carpenters   and 


I^IORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  43 

upholsterers  ?  I  wish  I  had  a  dictionary  here,  I'd  look  out 
wha.t/(7cade  means,  as  I  hiow  it's  the  architect's  business  to 
attend  to  that.  Odd,  now  I  think  of  it  again,  I  do  believe 
I've  left  out  Architecture  under  A,  in  Typical  Developments^ 
Vol.  II.  However  I  shall  show  the  publishers  only  Vol.  /., 
which  is  complete  up  to  Abstractions.  Get  up  and  ring  the 
bell.  Get  into  bed  again.  Delightful  to  tJiink  in  bed.  To 
lie  and  think  :  then  take  note-book  and  jot  something  down. 
Jot  down  my  arrangements  for  the  day.  ist.  Get  up. 
Wash  and  dress.  Need  hardly  put  that  down,  but  I  will. 
There's  nothing  like  regularity  in  details.  2nd.  Have 
breakfast^  ^c.  Start  a  separate  heading.  Letters  to  write. 
By  the  way  they  haven't  answered  that  bell.  Out  of  bed  to 
ring  again.  Jump  in  once  more.  Quite  exercise.  Jot  on. 
Letter  to  Boodels.  I've  got  lots  to  wTite,  I  know,  but  can't 
think  just  now  to  whom.  One  to  Willis  about  his  bed  and 
the  stranger  Grainger  in  it.  That's  all.  No.  One  to  my 
wife.     Forgot  that.     What  can  I  say  1 

HapPy  Thought. — Musn't  say  "  I'm  enjoying  myself  very 
much  in  London."  Will  write.  '"  Horrid  place,  London  this 
time  of  year."  {Happy  Thought:  Height  of  the  Season.) 
"  Wish  I  was  back  home  in  our  cottage.  But  can't :  business 
with  publisher — most  important.  Kiss  baby  for  me.  Love 
to  Mamma"  (I  mean  Mrs.  Symperson,  my  mother-in-law. 
Must  shove  in  that).  Ring  the  bell  again.  That's  the  third 
time. 

Happy    Thought,    {for    letter  to    my   wife)    to   throw   in 


44  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

pathetically,  "  The  longer  I  stay  away  the  more  I  am 
convinced  there  is  no  place  like  home."  This  will  be  a  sort 
of  apolog}'  for  my  staying  away  ever  so  long  now,  perhaps 
including  going  to  Jersey,  and  Prussia  to  see  Count  de 
Bootjack.  Looking  at  the  sentence  in  two  ways,  there  is 
one  in  which  it  isn't  ver)-  complimentary.  "{Happy  Thought. 
—  Look  at  it  in  the  other  way.  Wife  will,  I  hope.]  Finish 
up  letter  with,  '■'  There  is  no  news  here."'  (Where  ?  I  don't 
exactly  know.  Epistolary  Conventionalities.  Good  title  for 
handy  book.  Suggest  it  to  publisher.  Wonder  v.-hether 
he'll   '"'jump   at  it.")     Finish  with  '"'I  am,  dearest  Friddy" 

(short  for  Fridoline)  "  your  ever  affectionate  husband  " 

By  the  way,  why  sign  my  Christian  and  surname  to  my 
wife  ?  (Ring  the  bell  again.  That's  the  fourth  time.  I 
suppose  I  am  so  out  of  the  way  they  don't  care  about  me  in 
Number  Three  Hundred  and  Seventy-Five.  Too  bad: 
because  what  should  I  do  in  case  of  fire  ?  Ah  well,  p'raps 
one  would  hardly  want  a  bell  then,  except  to  ring  and  order 
a  cab.  Say,  for  instance,  "  There's  a  fire  here  :  so  I  shan't 
stay  any  longer.  Get  me  a  cab."  Back  to  bed  for  the 
fourth  time.  That's  eight  jumps  in  and  out,  and  the  room 
crossed  eight  times  :  walk  before  breakfast.)  To  resume. 
Why  should  I  sign  any  name  to  my  wife's  letter.^  Odd  I've 
always  done  it,  but  its  absurdity  never  struck  me  till  this 
moment. 

Happy  Thought. — •'  Your  ever  affectionate  husband.^'  Full 
stop,  and  a  dash  to  the  final  "  d  "  of  husband.  This,  as  it 
were,  marks  an  era  in  letter-writing.     I  wish  they'd  answer 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  45 

the  bell.  Fifth  time  of  jumping  out  and  in  and  ringing. 
Pause:  no  answer.  Sixth  time.  Enter  Maid  suddenly, 
*'Did  you  rang.  Sir?"  Yes,  I  did  rang,  I  answer  crossly. 
Can't  help  being  cross — she's  an  elderly  woman  of  the  very 
plainest  pattern.  \Xote  for  Typical  DevelopvieJits :  Physic- 
gno7ny :  Effect  on  Persoiis?^  I  complain.  Rang  ten  times: 
exaggeration  pardonable.  She  never  heard  the  bell — it's  not 
Jicr  landing.  "  Then  why  did  she  come .' "  I  feel  imme- 
diately afterwards  that  this  question  is  ungrateful.  What 
did  I  v,-ant  ?  Well — I — (my  mem^ory  is  so  treacherous. 
Odd.  For  the  moment  I've  quite  forgotten  what  I  had 
been  ringing  six  times  for  ? ) 

Happy  Thought. — Oh,  please  take  clothes  and  boots,  and 
brush  'em.  "  Here  they  are.  Sir,  outside."  Ah,  taken  while 
I  was  asleep.  Oh,  (as  she  is  leaving  the  room)  I  know  : 
Tea  and  a  bath.  She  understands  me  and  retires.  Note 
down  what  else  Fve  got  to  do  to-day.  Do  the  Royal 
Academy. 

Happy  Thought. — Get  up,  and  go  early.  It  takes  me  a 
long  time  getting  up.  Wish  I  could  do  what  heroes  in 
novels  do.  Their  toilet  never  takes  them  more  than  a  few 
minutes.  "Ten  minutes  sufficed  him  to  complete  his  toilet, 
and  then  hurr}-ing  down  the  stairs  he  met,"  &c.,  &:c.,  cr 
"  To  jump  from  the  rude  couch,  and  to  buckle  on  his 
armour,  was  with  Sir  Reginald  the  work  of  a  few  seconds. 
When  fully  accoutred  he  descended  the  steps  and  found 
Lady  Eveline  on  the  Terrace,"  tS:c.,   &c.     I   should  like  to 


46  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

fill  this  out  ( *'  Come  in  !  "  to  Boots,  with  bath)  with  details. 
'•'  To  jump  from  the  bed,  look  in  the  glass,  brush  his  hair, 
blow  his  nose,  wash  his  face  and  hands,  tub  himself,  brush 
his  teeth,  put  on  a  clean  shirt  of  mail,  get  a  button  sewn  on 
behind,  ask  for  a  clean  pocket-handkerchief,  and  have  his 
armour  brushed  and  polished,  was  with  Sir  Reginald  the 
work  of  fewer  seconds  than  it  has  taken  me  to  write  this." 

Happy  Thought. — After  breakfast  tell  Boots  to  pack  up 
bag,  bring  it  down,  and  I'll  call  for  it  in  the  course  of  the 
day.  Ver\-  Happy  Thought,  because  by  this  means  I  don't 
have  to  lug  it  about  town.  'By  the  way,  where  am  I  going 
to  sleep  to-night  ?  At  Willis's,  if  Grainger's  gone  :  call  and 
see).  I  don't  have  to  pack  it  myself,  and  I  fetch  it  without 
any  ostentation.  Without  ostentation  means  that  ten  to  one 
against  this  particular  Boots  being  in  the  Charing  Cross 
Hall,  and  so  I  shan't  have  to  tip  him.  Don't  deserve  tips  for 
not  answering  bells.  Almost  a  proverb  this — "Who  answers 
no  bells,  gets  no  Tips." 

Happy  Thought. — Compose  a  book  of  ne^tu  Proverbs. 
Offer  this  to  a  publisher  who'll  jump  at  it.  What  a  lot  of 
things  I  shall  have  to  offer  to  the  publisher  when  I  go  with 
Vol.  I.  of  Typical  Developments .'  Might  make  a  fortune  if 
he  only  goes  on  jumping.  '•  New  Proverbs  "  is  a  first  rate 
notion.  Stop,  though — isn't  it  rather  sacrilegious  ?  (That 
isn't  the  word  I  want,  but,  I  mean,  isn't  it  rather  treading  on 
Solomon's  ground?;  Wouldn't  do  this  for  anything.  By 
the   way,    didn't   Tupper  ?     That's   rather   against    it.     But 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  47 

mine's  a  totally  different  notion.  "  New  Proverbs,"  \vith 
the  celebrated  motto,  "  Let  who  will,  write  their  songs,  give 
me  the  composition  of  their  proverbs,"  or  words  to  that 
effect.     Mejii.  Find  out  who  said  this,  and  when  :  date  (Sec.) 

Dressed  and  breakfasted.     Now  to  the  Academy. 

Af  the  Royal  Academy.  Early.  Very  early.  No  one  there. 
Up  the  steps  into  the  hall.  Not  a  soul.  No  one  to  take  the 
money.  Perhaps  they've  abolished  payments.  Good  that. 
So  gloomy,  I'm  quite  depressed.  See  a  policeman.  He 
reminds  me  that — of  course — how  idiotic  I — the  Royal 
Academy  has  gone  to  Piccadilly,  and  here  I  am  in  the  old 
Trafalgar  Square  place. 

Happy  Thought. — Take  a  cab  to  the  New  Academy. 

Ah,  nice  new  place  !  Inscription  over  the  entrance  all  on 
one  side.  Leave  my  stick,  and  take  a  catalogue.  Hate  a 
catalogue :  why  can't  they  put  the  names  on  the  pictures, 
and  charge  extra  for  entrance  ?  I  know  that  there  used  to 
be  a  North  and  a  South  and  an  East  and  a  West  room  in 
the  old  place. 

Happy  Thought. — Make  a  plan  for  seeing  the  rooms  in 
order.  Go  back,  and  buy  a  pencil.  I'll  begin  with  the 
North,  then  to  the  East,  then  to  the  West,  and  so  on. 


CHAPTEPv   VII. 

AT  THE  ROYAL  ACADEMY — THE  CATALOGUE  — CRUSH — 
WORKING  OUT  A  FLAX — "  XO.  214" — MISS  MILLAR — 
A  COMPLIMEXT  —  POETRY  —  RELATIOXS-IX-LA\V  —  A 
SURPRISE— DISCOMFITURE. 


I^^'H 


Ui 


E    CataWue,  on   reference   to  it,   is,   I    fin 


iJ^.'^i    divided  into  galleries  all  numbered. 


Happy    Thought. — Take    Number    One   first, 


and  so  on.  in  order.  Where  is  Number  One?  I  find  myself 
opposite  214.  I  won't  look  to  see  what  it  is,  as  I  want  to 
begin  with  Number  One.  This  I  ascertain  by  the  Catalogue 
is  Galleiy  No.  \\ ..  and  the  picture  is  Landing  Herrings. 
By  C.  Taylor.  Go  into  another  Caller)-.  336.  The  Xu7'sling 
Donkey.  A.  Hughes.  Oh,  this  is  Gallery  No.  \\.  Retrace 
my  steps  to  another.  Let  ,me  see  :  think  I've  been  here 
before.  Have  I  seen  that  picture  ?  V»liat  I  want  is  Number 
One.  What  number  is  that  I  Oh.  214.  Landing  Herrings 
again,  of  course.  To  another  room.  Now  then.  Old  men 
talking.  Can't  help  stopping  before  this  picturq,  though 
I  want  to  go  on  to  Number  One.  This  is  137.  Politicians. 
T.  Webster,  R.A.  Capital.  But  this  is  Gallery  No.  III. 
People  are  crowding  in  now.     Nuisance.     Wedged  in.     Beg 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  49 

pardon.  Somebody's  elbowing  my  back.  Big  lady  stops 
the  way.     Beg  pardon.     Thanks.     Squeeze  by. 

In  another  Room.  I  hope  Number  One  this  time.  429. 
Soonabharr.  J.  Griffiths,  Gallen.-  Xo.  \\\.  Bother  Soon- 
abharr  !     Try  back  again. 

Beg  pardon  several  times  for  toes  and  elbows.  Xo  one 
begs  my  pardon.  Irritating  place  the  Royal  Academy,  when 
you  can't  get  a  settled  place.  Where  is  Number  One 't 
Beg  pardon,  bow,  bend,  toes,  elbows,  push,  squeeze,  and  I'm 
in  another  room.     Hot  work. 

Happy  Thought. — Watch  old  lady  in  chair.  When  she 
goes  I  will  sit  down.  Getting  a  seat  is  quite  a  game  :  like 
Puss  in  the  Corner.  She  does  go  at  last,  and,  though  elbowed, 
hit,  trodden  upon,  backed  upon,  and  pushed,  I've  never 
moved.  I  sit.  Xow  then  to  take  it  coolly.  Where  am  I  ? 
What's- that  just  opposite?  Have  I  seen  it  before?  214. 
La7iding  Herrings.  C.  Taylor.  Gallery  Xo.  I\'.  That's 
the  third  time  I've  seen  the  picture. 

Happy  Thought. — To  look  out  in  Catalogue  for  what  is 
Number  One.  Number  One  is  Topsy,  Wasp,  Sailor,  and 
Master  Turvey,  p?-oteges  of  James  Farrer,  Esq.,  of  Ingle- 
borough.  A.  D.  Cooper.  Wonder  what  that  means?  He 
might  have  called  it  Topsy  IVopsy  ^  Co.  Funny  that.  As 
I  am  being  funny  all  to  myself,  I  see  two  ladies  whom  I 
know.     Miss  Millar  and  her  Mamma. 

Happy  Thought. — Offer   Mamma  a   seat,  and  walk  with 

E 


50  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

rvliss  Millar.  OpportuPxity  for  artistic  conversation.  Clever 
girl,  Miss  Millar,  and  pretty.  '•  Do  I  like  pictures  ? ''  Yes  I 
do,  I  answer,  with  a  reservation  of '"Some — not  all."'  '"Have 
I  been  here  before?"'  I've  not.  Pause.  Say,  "It's  very 
warm,  though."  (Why  --though"?  Consider  this.)  Miss 
Millar,  looking  at  a  picture,  wants  to  know  '•  Whose  that  is  ? " 
I  say,  off-hand,  (one  really  ought  to  know  an  artist's  style 
without  referring  to  the  Catalogue,^  '*  Millais."  I  add,  "I 
think.""  J  refer  to  Catalogue.  It  isn"t.  We  both  say,  ''  Very 
hke  him,  though.'"' 

^liss  Millar  observes  there  are  some  pretty  faces  on  the 
walls. 

Happy  Thought. — To  say,  ••  Not  so  pretty  as  those  off  it." 
I  don't  say  this  at  once,  because  it  doesn't  appear  to  me 
at  the  moment  well  arranged  as  a  compliment  :  and,  as  it 
would  sound  flat  a  fev.-  minutes  afterwards,  I  don't  say  it 
at  all.  Stupid  of  me.  Reserve  it.  It  will  come  in  again  for 
somebody  else,  or  for  when  Miss  r^Iillar  gives  me  another 
opportunity. 

Portrait  of  a   Lady. — The  opportunity.  I    think.     Don't 

I   admire  that?      ''Not  so  much  as "     If  I   say,  "As 

you,"'  it's  too  coarse,  and,  in  fact,  not  wrapped  up  enough. 
She  asks —  '•  As  what  ?  "■"  I  refer  to  Catalogue,  and  reply, 
at  a  venture,  ■- As  Storey's  Sister.'^  Miss  Millar  wants  to 
know  who  she  is  ?  I  explain — a  picture  of  '"  Sister.;'  by 
G.  A.  Storey. 

We  are  opposite  428,  Sighing  his  Soul  into  his  Ladfs 
Face.      Calderon.      We    both    sav,    '•  Beautiful  I"      I    sav. 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  51 

••  How  delightful  to  pass  a  day  like  that  ! '"  Miss  Millar 
thinks,  with  a  laugh,  that  it's  rather  too  spooney.  (Don't 
like  "  spooney '"  to  be  used  by  a  girl.}     '•  Spooney  I  "  I  say. 

Happy  Thought. — Opportunity  for  quoting  a  poetical  de- 
scription out  of  Typical  Developments,  just  to  see  how  it 
goes.  If  it  doesn't  go  with  Miss  Millar,  cut  it  out,  or 
publisher  won't  jump.  I  say,  "  See  this  lovely  glade,  this 
sloping  bank,  the  trees  drooping  o'er  the  stream,  which  on 
its  bosom  carries  these  two  lovers,  who  know  no  more  of  their 
future  than  does  the  drifting  stream  on  which  they  float.'' 
She  observes,  '•  That  is  really  a  poetic  description  I  Do  you 
like  rowing  ?  •'     Yes,  I  do,  and 

Happy  Thought.— W o'dldn'i  it  be  nice  to  have  a  pic-nic 
up  the  river?  Miss  Millar  says,  ''Oh  do."  She  knows  some 
girls  who  will  go.  I  reply  I  know  some  men  who  will  be 
delighted:  only  she  (Miss  Millar"  must  let  me  chaperon  her 
for  the  day.  (This  with  an  arch  look :  rather  telling,  I  think. 
Couldn't  have  done  it  so  well  before  I  was  married.  Being 
married,  of  course  there's  no  harm  in  it.'  '•  Oh  yes,"  she 
replies,  "of  course."  Wonder  if  she  means  what  she  is 
saying.     I  ask  what  day?  and  take  out  my  note-book.     I 

say,  gently,  "  I  shall  look  forward  to  "'     Before  I   can 

finish,  I  am  suddenly  aware  of  two  girls  and  a  boy  (from 
fourteen  downwards,)  very  provincially  dressed,  rushing  at 
me  with  beaming  faces,  and  the  taller  of  the  girls  crying  out 
(the  three  positively  shout — the  uncouth  wretches  !)  '"  Oh, 
Brother  Wiggy!"  (they  all  sa.y  this,}   seizes  me  round  the 

E    2 


52  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

neck,  jumps  at  me,  and  kisses  me.  The  lesser  one  follows. 
Same  performance.  I  can't  keep  them  off.  They  are  my 
^vife's  youngest  sisters  and  little  brother  just  from  school, 
%vhom  I  used  at  one  time  foolishly  to  encourage.  Friddy 
told  them  about  my  song  of  the  little  Pig,  and  they  always 
(as  a  matter  of  endeaiTnent)  call  me  "Brother  Wigg^.-."  I 
shall  write  to  my  wife,  or  tell  her  when  I  get  home,  that  her 
family  must  really  be  kept  quiet.  I  can't  stand  it.  I  smile, 
and  look  pleased  (everyone  is  turning  to  observe  me  except 
]Miss  Millar,  who  pretends  to  be  absorbed  in  a  picture,)  and 
say,  "Ah,  Betty  1  ah,  Polly!  how  d'ye  do  .^  When  did  you 
come  up  ? " 

Happy  Thought. — When  are  you  going  back  again  ?  Give 
them  half-a-crown  to  go  to  the  refreshment-room,  and  eat 
buns  and  ices.  They  go.  IMiss  ^lillar  has  found  her 
]\Iamma,  and  gone  into  another  room.  Hang  those  little 
S}Tnpersons.  Somebody  treads  on  my  toes,  I  will  not  beg 
his  pardon.  I  am  vcTy  angr}-.  Somebody  nearly  knocks 
my  hat  off  pointing  out  a  picture  to  a  friend.  He  doesn't 
beg  my  pardon.  Rude  people  come  to  the  Academy.  I'll 
be  rude.  I'll  hit  some  one  in  the  ribs  when  I  want  to 
change  my  position,  I'll  tread  on  toes,  and  say  nothing 
about  it.  Veiy  tall  people  oughtn't  to  be  allowed  in  the 
Academy. 

Happy  Thought. — Walk  between  tall  person  and  pictures, 
rvlust  be  rude  at  the  Academy,  or  one  will  never  see  any 

pictures  at  all — at  least,  close  to. 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGPITS.  53 

A  hit,  really  a  blow,  in  my  side.  I  turn  savagely,  ''  Con- 
found it,  Sir " 

It's  that  donkey  Milburd,  who  introduces  a  tall  young 
friend  as  Mr.  Dilbur)-.  ''What  picture  do  you  particularly 
want  to  see?"  asks  Milburd.  I  tell  him  number  One. 
Dilbur}'  will  show  me. 

"  But  first,"  says  Dilbur)-,  taking  me  by  the  arm,  '•  here's 
rather  a  good  bit  of  colour."  He  is  evidently  a  critic,  and 
walks  me  up  in  front  of  a  picture.     '"  There  !  "•"  says  Dilbur)-.  ' 

I  refer  to  Catalogue.     Oh,  of  course 

214.  Landing  Herrings,  C,  Taylor,  for  the  fifth  time.  I 
tell  him  I  know  it.  and  so  we  pass  on. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

DILBURV,    A.R.A.— HIS      PICTURE— MEETINGS  — GREETINGS 
— LAMPADEPHORIA — ''  WE   MET  " — AN    INTRODUCTION. 

T^^^^^il  ILBURY  takes  me  to  see  Eagles  Attacked.  By 
^r^i^R'  Sir  Edwin  Landseer.  We  stand  opposite  the 
f^f^M  picture  in  front  of  several  people  :  we  are  silent. 
^^^^'^'^^^l  Dilbury  says  presently,  ''  Eine  picture  that?"'  I 
agree  with  Dilbury.  V/onder  where  Sir  Edwin  was  when  he 
saw  it.  I  don't  see  how  he  could  have  imagined  it,  because, 
from  what  one  knows  of  eagles  and  swans,  it  is  about  the 
last  thing  I  should  have  thought  of.  Perhaps  it  occurred  to 
him  as  a  Happy  Thought.  But  what  suggested  it }  I  put  it 
to  Dilbury. 

''  The  Serpentine,  perhaps,"  Dilbury  thinks,  adding  after- 
wards, ''  and  a  walk  in  the  Zoo."' 

Dilbury  tells  me  that  that  is  how  subjects  suggest  them- 
selves to  him.  From  which  I  gather  that  Dilbur)-  is  an 
artist.  I  don't  like  to  ask  him,  "•  Do  you  paint 't  ''  as  he  may 
be  some  very  well  known  painter. 

He  says,  *'  I'll  show  you  a  little  thing  I  think  you'll  like." 
He  takes  me  by  the  elbow,  and  evidently  knowing  the 
Academy  by  heart,  bumps,  shoves,  and  pushes  me  at  a  sharp 
pace  through  the  crowd.  Dilbury  has  an  awkward  way  of 
stopping  one  suddenly  in  a  sharp  walk  to  draw  one's  atten- 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  55 

tion  to  something  or  somebody,  that  has  attracted  him— 
generally,  a  pretty  face. 

"  I  say,"  says  he,  after  two  bumps  and  a  shove  have 
brought  us  just  into  the  doorway  of  Gallery  Xo.  III., 
"  There's  a  deuced  pretty  girl,  eh  ? " 

Before  I  have  time  to  note  Avhich  girl  he  means,  he  is  off 
again  with  me  by  the  elbow.  Bump  to  the  right,  shove  to  the 
left,  over  somebody^s  toes,  and  through  a  knot  of  people  into 
Galler}-  IV.  Stop  suddenly.  Hey  what }  '•  There's  a  rum 
old  bird,"  says  Dilbury,  winking  slily,  "in  Eastern  dress,  he'd 
make  a  first-rate  model  for  my  new  picture  ;  sacred  subject. 
Methusaleh  Coniifig  of  Age  in  the  Olden  time,  \\'onder  if 
he'd  sit  .=  -•' 

Happy  Thought. — To  say,  jestingly,  '•'  I  wish  I  could,"' 
meaning  sit  down,  no\i\ 

Dilbury  is  rejoiced.  Would  I  sit  to  him  "t  He  is  giving 
his  mind  to  sacred  subjects,  and  is  going  to  bring  out  Balaam 
and  Balak.  Would  I  give  him  a  sitting,  say  for  Balak? 
Milburd  has  promised  him  one  for  Balaam,  unless  I'd  like  to 
take  Balaam.  (As  he  pronounces  this  name  Baa-lamb,  I 
don't  at  first  catch  his  meaning.)  I  promise  to  think  of  it. 
He  gives  me  his  address. 

Happy  Thought. — Have  my  portrait  taken.  Not  as 
Balaam,  as  myself  Settle  it  with  Dilbur}-.  He'll  paint  it 
this  year,  and  exhibit  it  next.  Milburd,  who  happens  to 
come  upon  us  at  this  moment,  suggests  showing  it  at  a 
shilling  a  head  in  Bond  Street,  as  a  sensation  picture. 


56  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

"  111  be  with  him,"  says  Milburd,  "as  Balaam  (you've  pro- 
mised me  that),  and  he  shall  be  the  ' ' "' 

I  know  what  he's  going  to  say,  and  move  off  with  Dilbun- 
before  he's  finished.  Milburd  i^'ill  talk  so  loud.  He's  so 
vain,  too  :  does  it  all  for  applause  from  strangers.  I  saw 
some  people  laughing  about  Balaam.  Hope  the  little  Sym- 
persons  have  gone.  As  we  are  squeezing  through  the  door, 
we  come  upon  Mrs.  and  Miss  Millar  again.  Meeting  for  the 
third  time,  I  don"t  know  what  to  do. 

Happy  Thought. — Safest  thing  to  smile  and  take  off  my 
hat.  Miss  Millar  acknowledges  it  gravely.  Pity  people 
can't  be  hearty.     She  might  have  tv.inkled  up  and  nodded. 

Dilbury  points  out  a  picture  to  me.  A  large  one. 
■■  Yours  ?  "  I  ask. 

Happy  Thought. — To  make  sure  of  this  before  I  say  any- 
thing about  it.  He  nods  yes,  and  looks  about  to  see  whether 
any  one  is  listening.  I  suppose  he  expects  that  if  it  got 
about  that  he  was  here  he'd  be  seized  and  carried  in  proces- 
sion round  the  galleries  on  the  shoulders  of  exulting  multi- 
tudes. However,  there  is  no  one  near  the  picture  ("which" 
he  complains  •"  is  very  badly  hung  '■;  and  consequently  no 
demonstration. 

'■'  Good  subject,  eh  r  •■  he  asks  me.  ''  Yes,  ver)',"  I  answer, 
wishing  I'd  asked  him  first  what  it  was,  or  had  referred  to 
the  Catalogue.  It  is  classical,  evidently  ;  that  is,  judging 
from  the  costume,  what  there  is  of  it.  I  tr}-  to  find  out 
quietly  in  the  Catalogue. 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  57 

Dilbury  says,  '•  You  see  what  it  is,  of  course  ? ''  Well — I — 
I — I  in  fact,  don't, — that  is,  not  quite. 

'•  Well,'"'  he  replies,  in  a  tone  implying  that  I  am  sure  to 
recognise  it  when  I  hear  it,  "  it's  Prometheus  Instituting  the 
LainpadephoriaP  To  which  I  say,  "  Oh,  yes,  of  course. 
Prometheus  vinctus^''  and  look  at  the  number  to  see  how  he 
spells  it.  I  compliment  him.  X^xy  fine  effect  of  light  and 
shade.  In  fact,  it's  all  light  and  shade,  representing  a  lot  of 
Corinthians  (he  says  it's  in  Corinth)  running  about  with  red 
torches.  Dilbury  points  out  to  me  the  beauties  of  the 
picture.  He  says  it  wants  a  week's  study.  He  informs  me 
that  it  was  taken  on  the  spot,  and  that  his  models  were  "  the 
genuine  thing." 

Happy  Thought. — To  say,  "  I  could  stop  and  look  at  this 
for  an  age,"  then  take  out  my  watch. 

"You  can  come  back  again  to  it,''  observes  Dilbury,  seizing 
my  elbow  again. 

rvleet  Mrs.  and  Miss  Millar  again.  Awkward.  Don't 
know  whether  to  bow  or  smile,  or  nod,  or  what  this  time.  I 
say,  as  we  pass,  ''  Not  gone  yet  ? ''  I  don't  think  she  likes  it. 
I  didn't  say  it  as  I  should  like  to  have  said  it,  or  as  I  would 
have  said  it,  if  I  had  the  opportunity  over  again.  I  daresay 
it  sounded  rude. 

Dilbury  stops  me  suddenly  Avith,  "  Pretty  face  that,  eh  .^ " 
and  looks  back  at  Miss  Millar.  ^Vhereupon  I  rejoin, 
"  Hush  !  I  know  them."  Dilbury  immediately  wishes  to  be 
introduced.  I  will,  as  an  Academician,  and  his  picture,  too. 
We  go  back  after  them.    We  struggle  towards  them  :  we  are 


58  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

all  jammed  up  in  a  crowd  together.  I  hear  something  crack. 
I  become  aware  of  treading  on  somebody's  dress.  It  is  Miss 
Millars.     I  beg  her  pardon.     "  I  hope  I "' 

Happy  Thought. — '•  We  met  :  'twas  in  a  crowd."  Old 
song. 

I  say  this  so  as  to  give  a  pleasant  turn  to  the  apology  and 
the  introduction.  I  don't  think  Miss  Millar  is  a  good- 
tempered  girl.  Somebody  is  nudging  me  in  the  back,  and 
somebody  else  is  wedging  me  in  on  either  side.  As  she  is 
almost  swept  away  from  me  by  one  current,  and  I  from  her 
by  another,  I  say,  hurriedly,  "  iVliss  Millar,  let  me  introduce 
my  friend,  Mr.  Dilbun,' — an  Academician.''  She  tries  to 
stop  :  I  turn,  and  lay  hold  of  someone  who  ought  to  be 
Dilbur)-,  in  order  to  bring  him  forward.  It  isn't  Uilbur>'  at 
all,  but  some  one  else — a  perfect  stranger,  who  is  very  angry, 
and  wants  to  kick  or  hit — 1  don't  know  which  (but  he  can't, 
on  account  of  the  crowd;,  and  I  am  carried  on,  begging  Miss 
Millar's  pardon  and  his  pardon,  and  remonstrating  with  a 
stout,  bald-headed  man  in  front,  who  w///  get  in  the  way. 

Happy  Thought. — Get  out  of  this  as  quickly  as  possible. 

Getting  out  again.  Lost  my  Catalogue.  Meet  Milburd. 
I  ask  him  what's  that  picture,  alluding  to  one  with  a  lot  of 
people  in  scant  drapery  in  an  oriental  apartment.  He  replies, 
"  Portraits  of  members  of  the  Garrick  Club  taking  a  Turkish 
bath."  It  is  No.  277.  It  simply  can't  be.  Besides  there 
are  ladies  present.  Milburd  pretends  to  be  annoyed,  and 
savs,  I  needn't  believe  it  unless  I  like. 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  59 

Must  go  to  Willis's  :  see  about  sleeping  to-night,  luggage, 
dinner,  and  a  lot  of  things. 

Happy  Thought. — Have  my  hair  cut.     Have  an  ice  first. 
Leave  the  Academv. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

WILLIS'S  AGAIN— POPGOOD  AND  GROOLLY — EPISTOLARY- 
CALCULATION —  A  SNEEZE  — MINUS  A  BUTTON  — IN- 
EQUALITY— BOODELS. 

LOOK  in  at  Willis's.     Grainger  (the  stranger)  has 
gone.     Rawlinson  says,  "  if  I  like  to  stop  here,  and 
use  Willis's  bed,  I  can.*'     I  will.     Rawlinson  wants 
U  to  know  what  I'm  going  to  do  this  evening. 


m 


Happy  Thought. — Don't  know — dine  with  hhn,  if  he 
likes. 

'•  He  won't  do  that,"  he  says,  '"  but  will  meet  me  anywhere 
afterwards.''  Go  to  Club.  Ask  for  letters  :  two  :  -one  from 
my  wife.  Keep  that  until  I've  opened  this  envelope  with 
the  names  of  Messrs.  Popgood  and  Groolly,  Ludgate,  the 
eminent  publishers,  stamped  on  the  seal. 

Popgood  and  GrooUy  have  jumped  at  Typical  Develop- 
jnentsj  at  least,  in  answer  to  a  letter  of  mine,  with  an 
introduction  from  Boodels'  second  cousin,  '•  they  will  be  glad 
if  I  will  favour  them  with  an  early  call."  An  early  call,  say 
six  in  the  morning.  Popgood  and  Groolly  in  bed.  Popgood 
in  one  room,  Groolly  in  another,  myself  in  a  room  between 
the  two,  reading  aloud  \'ol.  I.  of  Typical  Developments.     I 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  6i 

say  this  to  a  friend  in  the  Club,  as  I  must  talk  to  some  one 
on  the  subject,  being  in  high  spirits. 

Must  look  over  the  MS.  and  see  it's  all  in  order  to-night. 
Better  read  some  of  it  out  loud  to  myself,  for  practice,  or  tr\- 
passages  on  Rawlinson  when  he  comes  in  in  the  evening. 

Happy  Thought. — If  I  asked  Rawlinson  to  dine  with  me, 
he  couldn't  ver\-  well  help  listening  to  it  afterwards. 

Open  Friddy's  letter.  She  says,  '•  Baby's  got  another  rash  ; 
her  Mamma  advises  change  of  air — sea-side.  How  long  am 
I  going  to  be  away  ?  Why  don't  I  write  ?  She  is  not  ver\- 
wel].  Now  I  am  in  town  I  must  call  on  Uncle  and  Aunt 
Benson,  who  have  complained  to  my  mother  of  my  neglecting 
them.  ]\Iy  mother  (the  letter  goes  on  to  say)  was  down  here 
the  other  day,  and  cried  about  it  a  good  deal.  Her  Mamma 
(my  wife's,  my  mother-in-law,  Mrs.  Symperson)  sends  her 
love,  and  will  I  call  and  pay  Fribsby's  bill  for  her,  to  save 
her  coming  up  to  town.  Fribsby,  the  Jeweller,  in  Bond 
Street." 

Write  by  return  ;  dash  the  letter  off  to  show  how  busy  I 
am  : — 

Dear  Friddy, — 

Full  of  business  just  now.  Popgood  and  Groolly, 
the  great  Publishers,  are  going  to  buy  Typical  Developments., 
I'm  going  to  see  them  to-morrow.  Love  to  ever}-one.  Poor 
Baby  !     Will  see  about  Uncle. 

Your  affectionate  Husband,  in  haste. 

P.S.   Going  to  have  my  portrait  done  by  Dilbun.-,  A.R.A, 


62  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

Letter  sent.  Send  to  Messrs.  Popgood  and  Groolly  to  say 
Fm  coming  to-morrow  ?  or  shall  I  take  them  by  surprise  ? 

After  some  consideration  I  think  I'd  better  take  them  by 
surprise.  Having  nothing  to  do  this  afternoon — (I  feel  as  if 
I  had  dismissed  ever\thing  from  my  mind  by  having  sent 
that  letter  to  my  wife,  saying,  '"'how  full  of  business  I  am  just 
now,"; — I  will  stroll  towards  Belgravia  and  call  on  Uncle 
and  Aunt  Benson. 

Happy  Thought. — Take  Rotten  Row  and  the  drive  on  my 
way. 

After  the  Popgood-and- Groolly  letter  I  feel  that  I  have,  as 
it  were,  a  place  in  the  world.  My  mother  and  Uncle  and 
Aunt  Benson  have  always  wanted  me  to  take  up  a  profes- 
sion; especially  since  my  marriage.  Friddy  agrees  with 
them.  Well,  here  is  a  profession.  Literature.  Commence 
with  Typ.  De^'eL,  Vol  L  Say  that  runs  to  fifteen  editions ; 
say  it's  a  thousand  pounds  for  each  edition,  and  a  thousand 
for  each  volume ;  there  will  be  at  least  fifty  volumes,  that's 
fifty  thousand;  then  fifteen  times  fifty  is  seven  hundred  and 
fiftv,  that  is,  seven  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  pounds.  Say 
it  takes  me  ten  years  to  complete  the  work,  then  that's 
seventv-five  thousand  pounds  a  year.  I  stop  to  make  this 
calculation  in  my  pocket-book.  A  sneeze  suddenly  takes 
me  :  I  haven't  got  a  cold  at  all,  but  it  shakes  me  violently, 
and  I  feel  that  a  button  has  gone  somewhere.  The  back 
button  to  my  collar,  I  think  :  as  I  fancy  I  feel  it  wriggling 
up.  I  really  thought  when  one  was  married  all  these  things 
would  have  been  kept  in  proper  order. 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  63 

Happy  Thought. — Might  stop  somewhere,  and  ask  them 
to  sew  on  a  button. 

Where  .'  Pastrycook's.  Shall  I  ?  I  look  into  the  windovr 
at  a  jelly,  and  think  how  I  shall  manage  it.  I,  as  it  were, 
rehearse  the  scene  in  my  mind.  Suppose  I  enter.  Sup- 
pose I  say  to  girl  at  counter,  I'll  take  an  ice  :  strawberry-, 
if  you  please  ;  and,  oh  by  the  way,  (as  if  I  hadn't  come 
in  for  this  at  all)  have  you  got  such  a  thing  as  a  button 
about  you  which  you  could  kindly  sew  on  for  me  ?  Think 
I'd  better  not.  It  might  look  odd.  Or  go  into  a  haber- 
dasher's. Buy  gloves  :  only  I  don't  want  gloves,  and 
that'll  be  four-and-sixpence  for  having  a  button  sewn 
on. 

I  feci  the  collar  is  wriggling  up,  and  has  got  over  my 
waistcoat.  I  seem  to  be  wrong  all  over.  There's  a  sort  of 
sympathy  in  my  clothes.  On  looking  down  (I'd  not  noticed 
it  before)  I  see  that  one  trouser  leg  is  shorter  than  the  other. 
I  mentioned  this  about  the  last  pair  to  my  tailor.  I  par- 
ticularly told  him  not  to  make  one  leg  longer  than  the  other. 
It's  his  great  fault.  After  three  days"  wear  one  leg  always 
becomes  shorter  than  the  other. 

HapPy  Thought. — Can  rectify  it  by  standing  before  a  shop 
window,  pretending  to  look  in,  unbutton  my  waistcoat,  and 
adjust  braces. 

Much  the  same  difficulty  about  braces  as  about  my 
stirrups  in  riding. 

Somebody  seizes  my  arm  suddenly,  and  turns  me  round. 
I  face  Boodels,  an  elderly  gentleman  and  two  ladies,  very 


64  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

fashionably  dressed,  to  whom,  he  says,  he  wants  to  introduce 
me. 

Horridly  annoying  ;  my  shirt-collar  is  up  round  my  neck, 
my  waistcoat  is  open,  and  in  twisting  me  round  (so  thought- 
less of  Boodels  !)  the  lower  part  of  the  brace  is  broken. 
Awkward.  I  can't  explain  that  it's  only  my  braces,  because 
that  would  sound  as  if  it  wasn't.  Boodels  says  they've 
been  longing  for  an  introduction.  Well,  now  they've  got  it. 
The  Elderly  Gentleman  (I  don't  catch  any  of  their  names) 
shakes  hands  with  me,  (I  have  to  disengage  my  hand 
for  him.)  and  says  with  a  smile,  ''  I  have  heard  a  great  deal 
of  you,  Sir.     I  am  told  you  are  a  very  humorous  person."' 

Happy  Thought. — To  say,  '•  Oh,  no,  not  at  all.'' 

What  a  stupid  remark  for  him  to  make.  I  couldn't  answer, 
"Yes,  Sir,  I  am  very  humorous."  A  gloom  falls  over  the 
party  after  this,  and  we  walk  silently  down  Piccadilly.  I 
can't  help  thinking  how  disappointed  they  must  be  in  me  as 
a  ver}'  humorous  person.  Then  Boodels  shouldn't  have  led 
them  to  expect  it.     I'll  have  a  row  with  him  afterwards. 

When  1  turn  to  speak  to  the  young  lady  (rather  handsome 
and  tall;  my  collar  turns  too,  and  seems  to  come  up  very  much 
on  one  side.  1  should  like  to  be  brilliant — and  humorous  — 
now.  The  result  is  that  I  ask  her  (round  my  collar,  which  I 
pull  down  to  enable  me  to  speak  comfortably)  if  she  is  making 
any  stay  in  town  ?  which,  on  the  whole,  is  not  particularly 
brilliant,  or  humorous. 

She  replies,  "  No,"  and  leaves  the  rest  to  me. 

The  Elderly  Gentleman  (her  papa,  1  fancy)  on  the  other 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  63 

side  repeats  "We've  heard  of  you" — this  v.-ith  almost  a 
chuckle  of  triumph,  as  if  he'd  caught  me  at  last — ''  We've 
heard  of  you  as  a  very  humorous  person.'' 

I  return  "  Indeed,"'  and  we  proceed  in  silence  up  to  Apsley 
House.  They're  silent,  not  liking  (as  Boodels  tells  me 
afterwards)  to  speak,  for  fear  I  should  satirically  laugh  at 
them,  and  also  to  hear  some  witty  remarks  from  me. 

Happy  Thought  [by  Park  Gate). — ^'er^•  sorry,  must  leave  ; 
got  to  go  in  the  opposite  direction.  Should  like  to  say  some- 
thing humorous  at  parting,  but  can't.  Say  Good-bye,  and 
look  as  humorous  as  possible. 


CHAPTER   X. 

RAWLIXSOX  —  IMPORTANT  QUESTION  —  UNINTERESTED 
FRIEND — REVISION  OF  MS. — TO  THE  PUBLISHERS — 
COSTUME  —  QUERY  SPECTACLES — THE  OFFICE — POP- 
GOOD   AND    GROOLLY   INTERVIEWED. 

ILLIS  not  returned,  so  use  his  bed.  I  awake 
to  the  fact  that  it  is  the  day  for  Popgood  and 
Groolly,  and  Typical  Developments. 

Rawhnson  is  down  to  breakfast  about  a 
quarter  of  an  hour  before  I  am.  He  always  ivill  come  down 
a  quarter  of  an  hour  before  I  do,  and  then  he  begins  break- 
fast without  telling  me  he  is  there — A\-hich  is  unsociable,  as  I 
now  know  him  well  enough  to  tell  him.  Apparently  his 
object  in  being  first  at  breakfast  is  to  get  hold  of  the  Tijnes, 
which  he  keeps  until  five  minutes  before  the  boy  calls  for  it 
(it  is  only  hired)  and  then  asks  me  if  "  I'd  like  to  see  it," 
though,  he  adds,  "  there's  nothing  particular  in  it  this  morn- 
ing." 

The  important  question  to  me  now  is  how  shall  I  appear 
before  Popgood  and  Groolly  ?  I  mean,  how  dressed  ?  I've 
never  called  on  a  pubhsher,  or  a  pair  of  publishers  before, 
and  the  difficulty  (I  put  it  thus  to  Rawlinson)  is,  should  one 
be  shabbily  dressed  to  give  them  an  idea  of  poverty  (starving 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  67 

author,  children  in  attic.  Grub  Street,  &c.,  Szc,  of  which  one 
has  heard  so  much)  or  should  I  go  in  the  height  of  fashion, 
so  as  to  appear  independent  ?  Rawlinson  doesn't  take  his 
eyes  off  the  newspaper  but  smiles,  and  replies,  "  Ah,  yes, 
that's  the  question." 

HapPy  Thought. — To  interest  him  personally,  and  get 
his  advice  by  saying,  "What  would  jv/^  do  if  you  vrere  in  my 
position  ? '' 

He  looks  up  from  his  paper  for  a  second  or  so,  vaguely,  and 
after  answering,  "  that  he  doesn't  precisely  know,"  resumes 
his  perusal. 

Happy  Thought. — To  express  an  opinion,  so  as  to  get  him 
to  differ  from  me.  and  then  the  subject  will  have  the  benefit 
of  a  discussion.  I  say,  '•  I  should  think  one  ought  to  go 
dressed  well,  eh  ?  " 

Rawlinson  (without  taking  his  attention  from  the  Times) 
replies,  "  Oh,  yes,  decidedly."' 

I  don't  know  him  sufficiently  well  to  express  my  annoyance 
at  his  selfishness  in  not  going  into  the  matter  thoroughly  with 
me.  He  is  selfish,  ver}-,  I  took  him  to  dine  at  my  Club 
with  me,  in  order  that  on  returning  to  his  rooms  together  he 
might  listen  to  me  reading  my  ^vIS.  aloud,  as  a  sort  of 
rehearsal  for  Popgood  and  Groolly,  but  he  picked  up  two 
friends  on  the  road,  and  whispering  to  me,  "  You'd  hke  to 
know  those  fellows,  one  plays  the  piano  very  well,"  he  brought 
them  in,  and  they  stayed  in  his  and  Willis's  rooms,  singing, 
playing  and  smoking,  until  past  three  in  the  morning,  and 


68  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

in  fact  I  still  heard  them  roaring  Avith  laughter'  after  I  had 
gone  to  bed. 

Rawlinson  says  this  morning,  apologetically,  that  he's  sorry 
those  fellows  stopped  so  confoundedly  late,  as  he  had  missed 
hearing  part  of  my  Typical  Developments,  which  he  had  hoped 
I  would  have  read  to  him. 

I  say,  "  Oh,  it  doesn't  matter,"  but  I  shan't  give  a  friend 
a  dinner  at  the  Club  again  in  order  to  secure  his  attent:ion 
afterwards. 

He  adds  presently  and  still  apologetically,  that  he  should 
so  much  have  liked  to  have  heard  me  read  some  of  my 
best  passages  to  him  now,  after  breakfast,  if  it  hadn'i 
been  that  he  is  obliged  to  go  down  to  the  Temple  this 
morning. 

As  I  should  really  like  to  try  some  of  it  before  appearing 
before  Popgood  and  Groolly,  I  ask  him  at  what  hour  he  must 
be  at  the  Temple,  as  there  would  be,  probably,  plenty  of  time 
for  him  to  hear  something  of  it  at  all  events. 

Rawlinson  looks  at  the  clock,  and  says  regretfully,  "  Ah, 
I'm  afraid  I  must  be  off  immediately,"  and  proceeds  at  once 
to  look  for  his  umbrella  and  brush  his  hat. 

Happy  Thought. —  To  bring  my  MS.  out  of  my  bag  and 
commence  at  once  on  a  passage  with  '•  What  do  you  think  of 
this?" 

Rawlinson  has  his  hat  on,  and  his  hand  on  the  door-handle. 
I  read,  '*  On  the  various  beari?igs  of  Philological  Ethno- 
graphy on  Typical  Development.  The  assimilation  of 
characteristic  is  perhaps,  from  our  present  point  of  view,  one 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  69 

of  the  most  interesting  studies  of  the  present  day."  Mem 
Must  cut  out  the  second  '"  present ;  "  tautology  would  quite 
knock  over  Popgood  and  Grodlly. 

Happy  Thought. — Ask  Rawlinson  to  lend  me  a  pencil. 

Very  sorr)-  he  hasn't  got  one.  I  say  "  Just  stop  a  minute. 
while  I  erase  the  word  : "'  he  looks  at  the  clock  again,  and 
observes,  he's  afraid  he  must 

I  tell  him  that  listening  to  this  passage  won't  take  a  second. 

"In    Central   Africa    the   present "   ver}'   odd,    another 

"  present ;  "  scratch  it  out :  only  having  scratched  it  out,  the 
next  word  to  it  is  "  present " — can't  make  it  out  at  all.  I 
pause  and  consider  what  I  could  have  meant.  I  ask  Raw- 
linson to  look  at  the  word.  What  is  it?  '■'Pheasants.,  I 
think,"  he  says,  '•  but  I  can't  stop  now  :  hope  to  hear  good 
account  of  your  interview  with  what's-his-name  the  pub- 
lisher," and  runs  out  of  the  room. 

Happy  Thought. — Must  really  read  this  through  quietly, 
and  see  it's  all  right  before  going  to  Popgood  and  Groolly. 

"In  Central  Africa  the  Present  presents  an  aspect  not  re- 
markably dissimilar  from  his  brother  of  the  American  States." 
I  see  what  I  meant :  for  "  Present  "  read  "  Peasant,"  and  the 
next  word  is  a  verb. 

]My  eye  soon  gets  accustomed  to  my  own  writing,  after 
going  carefully 'over  several  pages  (there  are  a  hundred  and 
fifty-two  in  this  MS.),  and  I  determine  upon  driving  to  Pop- 
good  and  Groolly  immediately. 

Buy  a  pencil.     Take  a  cab. 


70  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

Happy  Thought. — To  appear  (in  the  cab)  opening  and 
reading  my  MS.,  and  correcting  with  pencil.  Anyone  pass- 
ing, who  knows  me,  will  point  me  out  as  up  to  my  eyes  in 
literars-  business.  I  wish  I  could  have  a  placard  on  the  cab, 
with  ''  Going  to  call  on  Popgood  and  Groolly,  the  eminent 
publishers,  with  Typical  Dcrelopffienfs,  Vol.  I."'  The  result 
of  the  dressing  question  is,  that  I  am  principally  in  black,  as 
if  I  had  suddenly  gone  into  half-mourning,  or  was  going  to 
fight  a  duel  with  Popgood  and  Groolly. 

Happy  Thought. — Might  buy  a  pair  of  spectacles.  Looks 
studious,  and  adds  ten  years'  worth  of  respectable  age  to 
the  character.  Perhaps  I'd  better  not ;  as  if  they  found  me 
out  afterwards,  they'd  think  I'd  been  making  a  fool  of 
them. 

We  drive  eastward,  and  pull  up  at  the  entrance  of  a  narrow 
street  which  has  apparently  no  outlet.  I  pay  Cabby,  and  enter 
under  an  archway.  I  feel  very  nervous,  and  inclined  to  be 
polite  to  everyone.  ]>.Iy  MS.  seems  to  me  quite  in  character 
when  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Fleet  Street,  though  I  couldn't 
have  walked  up  Regent  Street  with  it  on  any  account.  I 
think  (encouragingly  to  myself)  of  Dr.  Johnson,  and  Gold- 
smith, and  Mrs.  Thrale,  and  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  and  then 
of  Smollett  and  Fielding,  and  I  am  saying  to  myself,  "  They 
went  to  a  publisher's  for  the  first  time  once; "  when  I  find 
myself  opposite  a  door  on  which  is  written  "  Popgood  and 
Groolly."  I  ascertain  that  this  is  not  the  only  door  with 
their  names  on  it.  There  are  doors  to  the  right,  to  the 
left— 


-SIORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  71 

\_Happy  Thought  (don't  know  why  it  occurs  nov\-,  but 
suppose  I  am  nervous) — 

"  Doors  to  the  right  of  me, 
Doors  to  the  left  of  me, 
Rode  the  Six  Hundred;  " 

only  it  wasn't  ''doors'"' — it  was  '•'cannon"  or  "foes"] — and 
on  all  the  doors  is  "  Popgood  and  GrooUy." 

There  is  a  great  deal  of  noise  from  some  quarter,  as  of 
machinery'  (not  unlike  the  sounds  you  encounter  on  entering 
the  Polytechnic),  and  I  deliberate  as  to  which  door  I  shall 
enter  by,  I  see,  on  a  wall,  a  flourishing  hand  pointing  up 
some  stone  steps  to  '•  Clerks'  Office  Up-Stairs." 

Happy  Thought, — Go  up  and  see  a  clerk. 

The  passages  are  all  deserted.  They  are  divided  into,  it 
seems,  different  rooms  ;  every  room,  has  its  ground-glass 
window.  Perhaps  numbers  of  people  can  see  me,  though  I 
can't  see  them.  Perhaps  Popgood  and  Groolly  are  examining 
me  from  somev.'here,  and  seeing  what  I'm  like,  and  settling 
how  they'll  deal  with  me. 

Happy  Thought, — To  walk  to  the  end  of  the  passage,  and 
if  I  don't  meet  any  one,  come  back  again. 

I  do  meet  some  one,  hov.ever, — a  clerk,  bustling.  He 
inquires  of  me,  hastily,  '*  Whom  do  you  want.  Sir  ?  "  I  reply, 
"  Well — "  rather  hesitatingly,  as  if  I  either  didn't  wish  to 
commit  myself  v\ith  a  subordinate,  or  hadn't  an  excuse  at 
hand  for  being  in  there  at  all,  (By  the  way,  I  never  knew 
publishers  had  clerks.    I  had  always  thought  that  a  publisher 


72  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

was,  as  it  were,  a  sort  of  Literar}-  Judge  or  Critic,  who  said, 
"  Yes,  ril  print  your  book,  and  send  it  to  the  booksellers.'' 
Certainly  varied  experience  enlarges  the  mind.)     "  Well," — I 

continue  my  reply — '*  I  want  to  see  Pop "'    I  check  myself 

in  saying  familiarly,  Popgood  and  Groolly,  and  substitute, 
'•  Mr.  Popgood  or  Mr.  Groolly.'*  The  brisk  clerk  says, 
*•  This  way,'"  and  I  follow  him  into  a  small  room,  with  a 
small  clerk  in  it,  who,  it  appears,  doesn't  know  if  Mr.  Pop- 
good  or  Mr.  Groolly  is  disengaged,  but  will  take  in  my 
name. 

I  fancy  they  are  eyeing  my  manuscript.  I  feel  that  the 
appearance  of  the  roll  of  MS.  is  against  me.  If  I  could  only 
have  come  to  see  Popgood  and  Groolly  for  pleasure,  it  strikes 
me  I  should  have  been  shown  in  at  once.  But  I  can  imagine 
^while  I  am  waiting,  having  vmtten  my  name  down  on  a  slip 
of  paper)  the  little  clerk  hinting  to  Popgood  and  Groolly  that 
the  visitor  has  a  manuscript  with  him  ;  in  which  case  Pop- 
good  and  Groolly,  being  taken  by  suiprise,  and  not  liking  it, 
vv'on't  be  at  home. 

The  little  clerk  returns,  and  says,  "  Will  I  step  this  way  ?  " 
I  step  his  way.  and,  feeling  veiy  hot  and  uncomfortable 
(much  as  I  did  when  I  was  about  to  propose  to  Fridoline  in 
the  conser^-aton-),  I  am  suddenly  ushered  into  Popgood  and 
Grcolly's  private  office.  The  boy  pauses  by  the  door  a 
minute,  apparently  curious  to  see  what  we'll  do  to  each  other, 
for  here  sits  either  Popgood  or  Groolly,  I  don't  know  which. 
in  a  chair  between  a  large  writing-table  and  the  fender.  I 
think  the  clerk  mentions  the  gentleman's  name,  but  I  can't 
catch  it. 


\IORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  73 

Popgood,  or  Groolly,  rises  slightly,  bows,  and  indicates  a 
chair  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  hearthrug  to  where  he  is 
sitting. 

I  bow  to  him.  So  far  nothing  could  be  more  pleasant  or 
charming. 

My  hat  suddenly  becomes  a  nuisance,  and  I  don't  know 
whether  to  put  my  hat  on  the  table,  and  my  r^IS.  on  the  floor, 
or  vice  versa — hat  on  floor,  MS.  on  table. 

Happy  Thought. — To  say,  *'  I  think  you  had  a  letter  of 
introduction  to  me — I  mean,  about  me — from  Mr.  Boodels."' 

It  seems  so  formal  to  call  him  [Nlr.  Boodels,  that  the  inter- 
view at  once  assumes  the  air  of  a  sort  of  state  ceremony. 

Popgood,  or  Groolly,  bows  again.  I  wish  I  knew  which 
it  was.  He  is  elderly,  and  rather  clerical  in  appearance.  I 
should  imagine  him  to  be  Popgood.  I  don't  like  to  dash 
in  quickly  with  "  Now  I'll  read  you  Typical  Developments , 
Vol.  I.,"  though  that  would  be  the  way  to  come  to  business. 

Happy  Thought. — To  talk  to  him  about  Boodels  ;  to  make 
Boodels //-6'  tern,  the  subject  of  conversation,  to  give  us,  as  it 
were,  common  ground  to  start  on. 

I  remark,  that  (taking  it  for  granted  that  Popgood,  or 
Groolly,  knows  Boodels)  he  is  a  capital  fellow  ;  a  great  friend 
of  mine  ;  that  he  has  (this  I  say  patronisingly)  written  several 
little  things,  and — in  fact — oh  yes,  he  is  a  very  good  fellow. 
Popgood,  or  Groolly,  replies  that  he  hasn't  the  pleasure  of 
Boodels'  acquaintance,  and  that  it  was  a  relation  of  his  "  from 
vv-hom  we  (the  firm  of  P.  and  G.)  received  this  letter." 


74-  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

Happy  Thought. — To  ask,  Did  he  mention  what  my  Work 
was  ? 

Popgood.   or    Groolly    (somehow   I    begin   to   think   it   is 

GrooUy),    says,   "  No,  he  did  not.     What  may  be '"  he 

inquires  rather  sleepily,  as  if  I  had  failed  to  interest  him  up 
to  this  point,  '*'  What  may  be  the  nature  of  the  work  ? " 

Happy  Thought. — To  stop  myself  from  answering  hastily. 
'•  \Vell,  I  don't  know/"  which  in  my  nervousness  I  was  going 
to  do. 

I  hesitate.  I  should  almost  like  to  ask  him  '"  What  sort 
of  thing  he  wants  ? '"'  Because,  really  and  truly.  Typical 
Developments  would  suit  all  readers. 

I  say,  "  It  is  rather  difficult  to  explain,  as  it  comprises  a 
vast  variety  of  subjects."' 

'•'  It's  not,"  says  Popgood,  or  Groolly,  "  a  collection  of  tales, 
I  mean  such  as  we  could  bring  out,  with  illustrations,  at 
Christmas  ? " 

I  am  obliged  to  say,  "  No,  it's  not  that,"  though  I  wish  at 
the  moment  I  could  turn  it  into  that,  just  to  please  Popgood 
and  Groolly. 

"  We  should  be  open  for  something  on  this  model,"  says 
Popgood,  or  Groolly,  producing  a  thin  book  with  green  and 
yellow  binding,  and  coloured  illustrations  about  Puss  in 
Boots.  '"  It  went,"  he  adds,  "  very  vrell  last  Christmas."  It 
occurs  to  me  that  the  letter  written  by  Boodels'  relative  must 
have  given  Popgood  and  Groolly  quite  a  wrong  notion  of 
Typ.  Devel.  He  seems  to  have  introduced  me  as  an  author 
of  Nurse)y  Books. 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  75 

Happy  Thought. — To  say  I  think  Typical  Developnic'Jifs 
would  illustrate  very  well. 

It  appears  this  is  the  first  time  he  has  heard  the  title.  ''  A 
religious  work } "'  he  inquires.  "  Well — no,  Mr.  Popgood,"'  I 
am  about  to  say  pleasantly,  only  it  occurs  to  me,  as  a  Happy 
Thought,  that  if  he  is  Groolly  he  won't  like  being  called 
Popgood,  so  I  reply,  "  Not  exactly  religious."'  Feeling  that 
perhaps  I  have  gone  too  far  here,  I  correct  myself  with, 
"  But,  of  course,  not  atheistical." 

Popgood,  or  Groolly,  considers.  "We  are  very  busy  just 
now,  and  our  hands  are  quite  full,"  he  says.  '"  Ever}-thing 
is  very  dull  —  \Happy  Thought.  —  ''Except  Typical  De- 
velopmentsP  But  I  don't  say  it] — and  it's  a  bad  time  of 
year  for  bringing  out  a  book  of  the — of  the — nature  you 
intimate." 

I  say,  to  put  it  clearly  and  help  him  along,  that  it's  some- 
thing after  the  style  of  a  Dictionary.  At  this  Popgood,  or 
Groolly,  appears  much  relieved,  and  says,  '"'  It's  a  bad  time 
just  now  for  bringing  out  Dictionaries,  even,"  he  adds,  ''  if 
they  were  in  our  line."  It  appears,  from  further  conversation, 
that  Popgood  and  Groolly  did  once  bring  out  a  Dictionary, 
in  monthly  parts,  which  nearly  proved  fatal  to  them.  I 
explain  that,  though  I  said  it  was  after  the  style  of  a  Dic- 
tionary, yet  it  was  not  vierely  a  Dictionary,  but  if  I  read  him 
a  little  of  it,  he  could  judge  better  for  himself.  He  bows.  I 
take  the  MS.  off  the  table.  It  is  all  curled  up.  and  won't 
open  properly.  I  tell  him  I  will  select  any  passage  at  hap- 
hazard. He  bows  again.  It  is  difficult.  Something  about 
"  Forms  in  a  Primaeval  Forest  "  catches  mv  eve.     I  wonder 


76  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

if  tJiat  is  a  good  specimen  to  read  to  him.  I've  forgotten 
what  it's  about. 

Happy  Thou  gilt. — To  beg  his  pardon  for  a  minute,  just 
to  gain  time,  and  cast  my  eye  over  it,  to  see  if  I  can  get  at 
the  meaning  at  once,  so  as  not  to  give  it  with  wrong  em- 
phasis. 

I  commence,  with  Popgood's,  or  Groolly's,  eye  upon  me, 
"  The  first  forms,  or  Protoplastic  creations,  have  in  themi- 

selves  such  interest  to  us  of  the  present  day,  that "  then 

follovrs  a  hard  word  scratched  out,  and  I  have  to  read  on  to 
find  out  what  it  ought  to  be.  I  can't  imagine  what  this  con- 
founded word  was. 

Happy  Thought. — To  say  this  is  only  a  mere  prelude,  and 
to  pass  on  to  a  paragraph  lower  doA\'n. 

The  door  (not  the  one  I  came  in  by,  but  another  on  the 
opposite  side)  opens,  and  in  comes  a  tall,  bluff  gentleman 
with  a  beard.  The  clerical  person  to  whom  I  am  reading 
introduces  him. 

Happy  Thought.— S\\2l\  now  know  which  is  Popgood  and 
which  GrooUy. 

He  introduces  him  as  '•'  My  Partner."  Popgood  and 
Groolly  are  before  me.  If  I  only  knew  which  was  which, 
I  could  carry  on  the  conversation  so  much  more  plea- 
santly. 

Happy  Thought.— To  say  '"  Well,  Mr.  Groclly,"  and  look 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  77 

at  both  of  them.     One  of  the  two  must  ackno'vvledge  his 
name. 

No.     Both  bow. 


Happy  Thought.— Try  "  Mr.  Popgood"  next  time. 


CHAPTER    XI. 

AT  PijPGOOD  AND  GROOLLY'S — INTRODUCTIONS — TAKING 
LEAVE — A  BANTLING  QUERY— A  LATE  CHAT— LETTER 
FROM  ASPHODEL  COTTAGE — ADVANTAGES  OF  COUNTRY 
—HAIR   OIL — A   SLIGHT   MISTAKE. 

HE  Sitting-doAvn  partner  (Groolly,  I  fancy)  says 
!  to  the  partner  standing  up  (consequently  Pop- 
good;.  "  This   gentleman  has  called  about  his 
book  on^on " 

Happy  Thought. — Typical  Developments. 

We  all  bow  to  one  another  like  waxworks.     Standing-up 

partner  says,  ''  Ha,  yes,  I  was  going  to "  and  looks  about 

fussily.  He  evidently  thinks  that  I  have  been  there  before, 
and  that  he  has  mislaid  my  MS.  His  friend  enlightens  him 
with,  "  He  has  brought  his  Z^IS.  this  morning."  Standing-up 
partner's  mind  much  reMeved.  I  corroborate  Sitting-down 
partner,  and  we  all,  more  or  less,  do  wax^vorks  again. 

A  silence.  I  recommence  looking  in  the  manuscript  for 
something  to  read  to  them.  On  glancing  over  it,  rapidly,  I 
don't  recognise  my  own  sentences.  It  would  be  fatal  to 
everything  if  I  went  on  reading  what  I  didn't  understand. 
Sure  to  show  it. 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 


79 


Happy  Thought. — To  say,  '•  I  think  I"!!  leave  this  in  your 
hands,"  pleasantly. 

It  suddenly  occurs  to  them  at  this  point  to  introduce  each 
other.  It  is  not  quite  clear  at  first  which  is  Groolly  and  which 
is  Popgood.  After  a  short  conversation  on  general  topics  I 
try  to  name  them  individually  and  correctly.  I  fail.  Having 
exhausted  general  topics  (we  all  fight  shy  of  Typical  Develop- 
fnents)  I  fancy  they  are  getting  tired  of  me,  as  Popgood  says 
to  Groolly  (or  vice  versa)  that  he  must  go  to  somewhere  that 
I  don't  catch.  This  awakens  Groolly  to  the  fact  that  it's 
later  than  he  had  imagined. 

Happy  Thought. — Ingratiate  myself  by  taking  the  hint. 

Hand  them  the  ]MS.  Should  like  to  say  something  witty 
and  remarkable  just  before  leaving  the  room.  If  I  did.  I  feel 
they'd  consult  together,  and  say,  "  Clever  man,  that ;  let's 
read  his  Typical  Developments,^^  and  so  on  to  publishing. 

The  nearest  thing  to  the  point  I  can  say  is,  '•  Well,  I'll 
leave  this  here,  shall  I  ? "  placing  it  on  the  desk,  whence  Mr. 
Groolly  (or  Popgood)  removes  it  to  a  pigeon-hole,  which 
looks  business-like. 

I  ask  "  If  I  shall  call  again?"  I  feel  immediately  I've  said 
it  that  it's  a  mistake.  Nothing  like  taking  publishers  by 
surprise.  Popgood  says,  '•'  Oh,  we  won't  trouble  you  to  call  ; 
youll  hear  from  us." 

I  execute  a  sort  of  waxwork  mechanical  movement  again, 
with  my  hat  in  one  hand  and  my  umbrella  in  the  other.  I 
say,  "  Good  day,  Mr.  Popgood,"  and  both  return  good  day  at 
the  same  time. 


8o  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

Happy  Thought  {ivhen  I'm  outside  the  house). — I  ought  to 
have  said,  '"  Gentlemen,  I  leave  my  bantling  in  your  hands, 
you  are  excellent  nurses,  I  am  sure,  and  will  soon  shov/  her 
how  to  walk.'' 

I  think  I've  heard  this  before.  Will  look  it  out  in  Dic- 
tionary- of  Quotations.  Note.  Add  a  Chapter  to  Typ.  Devel., 
Book  2,  on  "  Tricks  of  Memon,-."  By  the  way,  what  is  a 
*'  Banthng  -'  ? 

I  should  say,  without  a  dictionary,  the  youngest  chick  of  a 
Bantam.  If  it's  not  that,  its  a  foundling  put  out  to  nurse.  1 
know  the  simile  comes  in  happily,  somehow.  Ought  to  carr>- 
a  pocket-dictionar\-  about  with  me,  so  as  to  turn  down 
corners  (not  of  the  book,  I  mean,  of  the  street.  Mew.  To 
work  up  this  into  a  joke,  somehow,  as,  "  Sheridan  said,"  <S:c.} 
and  look  things  out  while  you  think  of  it.  Its  merely 
developing  my  plan  of  note-books. 

To  Willis's  rooms.  Rush  up  to  tell  Rawlinson  ever}thing 
about  it.  He's  not  there.  Pass  the  evening  in  dining  out, 
and  coming  in  five  times  to  see  if  Rawlinson  has  returned 
yet.     At  last  he  appears. 

Sit  up  with  Rawlinson  and  Milburd  chatting.  When 
Rawlinson  doesn't  go  to  bed  early,  he  is  an  excellent  hand 
at  sitting  up  and  chatting.  He  sits  up  (when  he  does  sit  up' 
till  three  or  four  in  the  morning,  "  expecting,"  he  says,  "  that 
it's  not  unlikely  some  feUow  will  drop  in."  I  never  yet  have 
seen  any  fellow  drop  in  at  that  time  ;  so  I  fancy  it's  an 
excuse  that  Rawlinson  makes  to  himself,  so  that  "  sitting  up 
and  chatting  "  may  be  set  dovn\  as  an  act  of  politeness. 

We  naturallv  discuss  Poogood  and  Groollv. 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  Si 

I  ask  him  whether  he  thinks  they'll  read  it.  Rawlinson 
says,  "Oh,  of  course,"  heartily.  Rawlinson  always  com- 
mences with  the  brightest  view  possible  under  any  circum- 
stances, and  then  gradually  introduces,  as  it  were,  saving 
clauses.  He  continues,  "  They'll  read  it  :  at  least  their  man 
will.  Publishers  keep  a  man,  you  know,''  (I  don't  know,  but 
I  nod  as  if  Popgood's  man  was  a  matter  of  course,)  "  who 
has  to  read  ever}'thing  and  advise  upon  it."' 

I  observe,  "  I  suppose  he'll  advise  on  Typical  Develop- 

Happy  Thought. — P'raps  he's  reading  it  now,  and  enjoy- 
ing it. 

I  say  this.  Milburd  says,  "  P'raps  he  isn't,''  which  he 
thinks  funny,  and  I  think  simply  stupid.  Rawlinson  doesn't 
laugh.  He  sympathises  with  me  in  a  iiterar}-  matter,  I 
know. 

"  I  suppose,''  addressing  myself  to  Rawlinson,  '*'  they  won't 
be  long  before  they  give  me  an  opinion  ? "' 

"  Oh,  no  time  !  "  replies  Rawlinson  heartily. 

"  Quicker,  if  possible,"  says  Milburd.  (That's  the  worst  of 
him  :  he  never  knows  when  to  stop.  For  myself,  I  enjoy  a 
joke  as  much  as  anybody  ;  but  this  is  out  of  place  now.) 

Happy  Thought. — Not  even  smile.  Take  no  notice  of 
him. 

Rawlinson  says,  "  Oh  yes,  they'll  soon  give  an  opinion  ; 
that's  if  they  haven't  much  business.  Of  course,  it  may  take 
a  year  or  so  before  their  man  can  read  it." 

G 


82  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

Happy  Thought. — Oh,  Rawlinson  can't  know  much  about 
it.     He  only  talks  from  hearsay.     But  then  what  is  hearsay  ? 

Rawlinson  continues.  '"  Those  fellows  who  are  paid  to  read 
too  1     They're  a  rum  lot." 

■'  Highly  educated,"'  I  suppose. 

They  both  pooh-pooh  the  idea.  I  don't  care  about 
Milburd's  pooh-poohing,  as  he's  not  in  earnest. 

''Why,"  says  Rawlinson,  who  really  does  seem  to  be  up 
in  the  subject,  "  I  was  staying  with  a  fellow  once  who  did 
the  reading  for  Shaptur  and  \Verse.  He  had  piles  of  print 
and  manuscript  :  just  like  yours  this  morning — \Happy 
Thought. — I  say  yes,  and  smale.  Why  smile  ?  ] — and  he 
just  cut  a  few  pages  of  one,  and  dipped  into  another,  and 
skimmed  a  third,  and  threw  "em  away  like  so  much  trash. 
Of  course  if  you  knoii.'  him  he'll  read  your  MS.*' 

Miiburd  suggests,  "  Find  out  Popgood  and  Groolly's  man, 
and  ask  him  to  dinner."  If  it  wasn't  Milburd  who  says  this. 
there  really  might  be  something  in  it. 

Rawlinson  says,  '"'  Perhaps  they  may  not  even  give  it  to 
the  man.     Perhaps  not  read  it  at  all." 

Happy  Thought.— 'KtdiWy  Rawlinson  ca?i:t  knov.-  anything 
about  it. 

"  From  what  I  saw  of  Popgood  and  Groolly  to-day,  I  should 
say  they  were  rather  inclined  towards  the  book  than  other- 
wise." 

Rawlinson  says  heartily  as  usual,  "  Oh,  most  probably. 
They'll  be  delighted  at  your  bringing  it  to  them.  Only,  don't 
you  see,  as  you're  comparatively  an  unknown  man " 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  83 

I  feel  it  IS  kind  of  him  to  put  in  '"  comparatively^^  it  softens 
down  obscurity  when,  as  it  were,  it  is  only  shared  in  a  less 
degree  by  Gladstone,  Bulwer  Lytton,  Disraeli,  Dickens,  and 

so  forth '-of  course  you  can't  expect  the  same  attention 

as  the  great  names  command."' 

Happy  Thought. — To  take  this  remark  sensibly  and  calmly 
and  answer,  "  Oh,  of  course  not." 

Wonder  (to  myself)  whether  Popgood  and  Groolly,  imme- 
diately I  was  gone,  winked  at  each  other,  tied  up  my  3.1  S.  in 
a  clean  sheet  of  paper,  directed  it  to  me,  and  gave  it  to  a 
clerk,  to  be  posted  in  two  days'  time. 

We  separate  at  last,  [Milburd  finding  out  at  four  o'clock 
A.M.  that  "  it's  time  to  go,  by  Jove  I  "  as  if  he'd  got  to  go  and 
meet  a  bed  like  a  train,  and  be  punctual  to  the  minute.  He 
does  say  such  stupid  things,]  and  Milburd,  as  he  goes  down 
stairs,  calls  out,  '"'  Liquor  up  the  fellow  who  reads,  and  he'll 
send  to  old  Popkins  and  Gruel,"  [he  thinks  it  so  amazingly 
funny  to  pretend  to  mistake  names.  He  will  call  Typ.  Dez'., 
Biblical  Elephants.  Nonsense,]  '"and  say  it's  the  best  six- 
penn'orth  he  ever  read.     Good  night." 

We  retire. 

In  the  morning,  as  usual,  Rawlinson  sneaks  down  to 
breakfast,  finishes,  and  is  well  in  to  the  Times  before  I  have 
even  mastered  what  o'clock  it  is.  I'm  always  telling  him 
that  this  is  unsociable.  "  Then,"'  remonstrates  Ravdinson, 
"  why  don't  you  get  up  in  time  ? " 

Happy  Thought, — Drop  the  subject,  lie  in  bed  and  think. 


S4  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

I  tell  Rawlinson  it's  much  jollier  waking  in  the  countn- 
than  in  town.  While  I  dress  I  expatiate  to  him  on  the  advan- 
tages of  rustic  residence.  Sometimes  from  the  next  room  he 
replies,  "  Ah  !  "  "  Yes  !  "  "  Oh  !  "  "  No  1  "  "  Well,  perhaps  !  ■' 
and  so  forth,  from  which  I  gather  that  he  is  absorbed  in  the 
Times.  It  is  confoundedly  unsociable  in  the  morning.  After 
sitting  up  late  hair  looks  dried  up.  The>''ve  forgotten  to  pack 
up  my  hair- oil.  See  Willis's  in  a  bottle  labelled  Oil  of  Mero- 
I'ingia.     Balsamic  properties^  &c.  &c. 

Happy  Thought. — Use  it. 

Generally  find  other  people's  hair-oil  better  than  my  own. 
Other  people's  collars  and  shirts  always  seem  made  for  me. 
Curious  :  same  with  ties.  Other  people's  colours  always  suit 
me  better  than  my  own.  Willis  has  two  or  three  favourites 
of  mine,  which  I  shall  always  use  when  I  stop  at  his  rooms. 
Don't  much  like  the  hair-oil,  though.  It  will  do  however  for 
a  change. 

Come  in  to  breakfast :  letters  on  table.  One  for  me  :  open 
it  afterwards.  Rawlinson  obser\-es  that  there's  not  a  nice 
smell  in  the  room.  Isn't  there  ?  (Willis's  hair-oil  probably 
— don't  say  so.)  Expatiate  again  on  the  sweet  fragrance  of 
the  countr}-  in  the  morning  as  compared  with  London  smells 
on  waking. 

Breakfast.  Open  my  wife's  letter.  Say,  '"  There,  my  boy  " 
(to  Rawlinson),  "  this  is  perfectly  scented  with  the  country." 
I  read  it. 

My  wife  writes  to  say,  "Must  come  home  at  once  :  man 
been  here  (that  is,  to  our  Rural  Cottage)  about  nuisances — 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  85 

dreadful  stenches  will  spread  fevers — and  it  wouldn't  do  to 
see  her  or  her  Mamma,  but  the  man  must  see  imp  Also  a 
man  for  some  taxes  or  other,  and  dogs  ;  and  somethino 
about  executions  in  the  house,  which,  my  wife  finishes,  "  I 
do  not  understand,  but  he  really  did  frighten  me,  and  you 
oughtn't  to  stay  away  so  long.  Baby's  rash  has  appeared 
again — the  Doctor  was  here  yesterday.'' 

HapPy  Thought. — Say  I  must  go  down  home  on  business. 
Not  a  word  about  fragrance  of  country.    Exceptions  prove 
rules — this  seems  a  very  strong  exception. 

Happy  Thought. — Shall  return  again  if  Willis  isn't  coming 
back. 

Rawlinson  says  he  isn't  just  yet,  as  he's  just  heard  from 
him  that  morning,  and  he's  rather  seedy.  Extract  from  his 
letter :  "  Please  send  me  down  my  diarrhoetic  mixture 
(peculiar  prescription,  made  on  purpose;  which  is  in  my 
room.  Yours,  &c.  P.S.  By-the-way,  the  cork  went  into  the 
proper  bottle,  so  I  had  my  old  hair-oil  bottle  washed  and 
cleaned  out,  and  I  put  it  in  that.  Youll  know  the  mixture 
by  its  being  labelled  Oil  of  MerovingiaJ^ 

Happy  Thought. — Say  nothing  about  having  used  this  for 
hair-oil. 

Tell  it  years  hence  as  a  practical  joke  I  played  on  some 
one  a  long  time  ago. 


CHAPTER    XII. 

EXPECTANT — ARRANGEMENTS — DISRAELlJS  CE'RIOSITIES— 
MR.  buckle's  PORTMANTEAU — NOTES  OF  STORIES — 
COMMENCEMENTS— ALPHAS  AND  OMEGAS — MEMORY — 
CAZELL     ACCEPTS— THAT     FELLOW    JAMES — WRINKLES 

AND   WINKS. 

O  answer  from  Popgood  and  Groolly.     Arrange 
to  go  home  at  once  and  return. 

Happy  Thought. — Flying  visit  will  enable  me 
to  protract  my  holiday  ;  because  I  can  explain  that  I  must 
return  to— 

1.  Call  on  Popgood  and  Groolly. 

2.  Make  arrangements  for  publishing,  if  necessary. 

3.  Sit  for  my  portrait  to  What"s-his-Xame. 

Happy  Thought. — Have  it  engi-aved  as  a  frontispiece  to 
Typ.  Devcl.,  with  a  little  slip  in  book,  "*^*  Directions  to 
Binder  :   Portrait  to  face  title-page."' 

4.  Bound  to  go  to  Jersey.     Ought  to  go. 

5.  Bound  to  go  to  Milan.     Ditto. 

6.  And  to  go  to  Austria,  and  call  on   Count  de  Boot- 
jack. 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  87 

If  my  wife  says  I  am  too  much  away,  that's  absurd,  when 
it's  business.  Then  it's  absolutely  necessan,'  for  my  literary 
work. 

Happy  Thought. — To  put  down  on  paper  Literary  work  in 
order. 

Have  read  somewhere  of  orderly  habits  of  literary  men 
(Disraeli's  Curiosities,  I  think).  Good  plan,  and  divide  the 
week  and  the  days. 

First,  WTiat  work?  Typical  Developnioits.  This  will 
probably  run  to  twenty  vols.  Notes  for  these  (as  did  the 
author  of  Civilisation,  History  of).  It  is  said  that  portman- 
teaux full  of  notes  were  lost.  Good  plan  that,  portmanteau 
for  notes  for  travelling. 

Second,  Book  of  Repartees,  alphabetically  arranged.  These 
require  perpetual  refining  and  polishing. 

Third,  Everybody's  Country  Book.  This  will  be  a  capital 
Shilling  volume,  with  a  picture  outside  (my  portrait  again, 
in  colours  would  do — Milburd  says,  "  Better  have  ii plain" 
— and  expects  me  to  laugh.  I  do,  because  another  fellow's 
present.  Idiot  Milburd),  containing  a  quantity  of  valuable 
information  on  country  subjects,  when  I  have  collected  it. 

Fourth,  Humorous  Tales  and  Stories.  I  began  to  make  a 
large  collection  of  these  ;  that  is,  it  would  have  been  large 
only  I  kept  forgetting  to  carr\-  about  the  special  pocket-book 
with  me,  except  at  first,  so  that  I've  only  got  six  down.  It  is 
so  difficult  to  recollect  a  good  stor\'  when  you  come  home 
late  at  night  and  write  it  down.  I've  got  some  commenced 
in  the  manuscript,  but  on  looking  at  them   I  fancy  I    must 


88  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

have  fallen  asleep  over  them.     I  have  since  tried  to  finish 

them. 

Happy  Thought. — Might  publish  a  weekly  paper  of  Com- 
mencements ajid  Endings^  z.^  a  sort  of  Notes  and  Queries, 
and  invite  the  public  to  correspond  and  fill  up. 

\tr\  good  idea  this.  Will  try  it  on  friends  first  :  try  it 
even,'\vhere.     The  plan  on  paper  is  this — 

A  Commencement.— ^^  As  Brummel  was  one  day  coming 
out  of  a  shop  in  St.  Martin's  Court,  an  urchin  who  had  been 
eagerly  eyeing  the  Beau,  asked  him  for  a  penny.  The  Beau 
refused,  telling  the  ragged  youngster  in  words  less  polite 
than  forcible  that  he  would  see  him  at  Jericho  before  he 
would  bestow  upon  him  a  stiver.     The  Urchin 

"  Now  what  did  the  Urchin  say  ?  The  public  is  requested 
to  supply  details."' 

Again.  "  Soame  Jenyns,  seeing  the  Lord  Chancellor  mount 
his  palfrey  at  the  gate  of  Westminster  Hall,  observed  to 
George  D'Arcy 

"  Now  what  did  Soame  Jenyns  observe  to  George  D'Arcy? 

"■^j^*  Anyoneknowing  what  Soame  Jenyns  said  will  kindly 
forward  the  same  to  the  Editor  of  the  Comme?tce??ients,  cHr." 

As  an  example  of  Endings :  '*'  There's  a  capital  Irish  story 
ending  with  '  Bedad,  Dochter,  'tis  the  same  thing  entirely.' 
How  does  this  begin  .^ " 

"  '  His  nose,'  answered  the  wit.  Erskine  smiled  at  the 
witticism,  but  never  forgave  the  satire.  How  does  this 
commence  ? " 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  89 

I  would  give  a  trifle  to  remember  one  or  t\vo  things  Fvc 
said  also,  but  I  dare  say  they'll  come  in  in  time.  A  friend 
of  Rawlinson's  told  me  the  other  day  about  somebody  on  a 
tight-rope,  and  I  made  a  reply  which  set  everyone  roaring 
with  laughter  ;  there  were  only  Rawlinson,  Cazell,  and  self. 
I  couldn't  write  it  down  at  the  time,  and  tv>o  hours  after  I 
couldn't  recall  it. 

I  ask  Rav.linson  ;  he  doesn't  remember.  I  ask  Cazell,  he 
doesn't.  Cazell  says  he'll  think  of  it,  and  he's  got  a  capital 
thing  for  me  for  Typ.  Dcvel.  Will  he  tell  it  me  when  I 
return?  He'll  be  away.  He's  going  to  Busted's,  in  Hert- 
fordshire, to-morrow. 

My  Cottage  is  near  the  road — will  he  stop  the  night,  and 
over  a  pipe  he  could  tell  me  all  about  it  .^     He  accepts. 

Cazell  has  his  luggage  ready,  so  we  start.  I  complain 
of  luggage.  '•  I'll  tell  you  what  you  ought  to  do,"'  says 
CazeU. 

N.B.  I  subsequently  discover  that  this  is  Cazell's  pecu- 
liarity;  he  is  always  telling  people  ''what  they  ought  to 
do."  He  is  great  in  "  dodges,"  and  apparently  there  is  not 
a  single  subject  he  is  not  well  up  in.  Most  useful  fellow, 
Cazell. 

As  to  luggage,  he  says,  ''  You  ought  to  get  one  of  Spanker 
and  Tickett's  bags.  Those  are  the  men  :  only  six  guineas. 
Put  ever)-thing  in  'em  for  a  fortnight." 

Happy  Thought. — To  say,  knowingly,  "  That  depends 
on  what  you  want."  Capital  for  repartee-book  that.  Put  it 
down.     I    should  have  said   it   was  unanswerable  if  Cazell 


90  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

(he  is  a  sharp  fellow,  Cazell)  hadn't  immediately  replied, 
'•  Yes  ;  but  if  you  take  one  of  these  bags,  you  won't  iua7tt 
anything." 

Happy  Thought. — Put  Cazell's  answer  down  instead  of 
mine.     Better. 

"  Have  you  got  one  ? '"  I  ask. 

"  Xo,  he  has  not.  He  divides  things  into  two  lots,  one 
for  each  week.     It  is  nearly  as  good."' 

Happy  Thought. — To  say,  ''  Yes,  of  course,"'  being  unin- 
terested. I  don't  know  what  he  means,  and  hate  uninterest- 
ing explanations. 

\Ve  talk  about  literature  :  chiefly  Typical  Developments. 
I  ask  his  opinion  of  Popgood  and  Groolly.  He  says,  "  I 
tell  you  what  you  ought  to  have  done  :  gone  to  Laxon  and 
Zinskany." 

I  say  if  Popgood  and  Groolly  fail.  I'll  go  to  Laxon. 

Happy  Thought.— \\\s\\  Pd  gone  to  Laxon. 

I  think  Cazell  (I  put  this  note  down  later  as  an  opinion) 
is  calculated  to  render  one  dissatisfied. 

"  Where  do  you  go  for  your  hats  ? '"  asks  Cazell. 

I  tell  him.     He  smiles  pityingly,  and  shakes  his  head. 

"  \Vhy  not  ? "  I  ask. 

He  tells  me  where  I  ought  to  go  for  hats. 

It  appears  that  I  go  to  all  the  wrong  places  for  gloves, 
shoes,  boots,  coats,  shirts — ever\'thing.  All  the  people  are 
furnishing  me  with  those  things  who  oughtn't  to. 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  91 

I  apologise  for  them  generally,  and  say,  -'  Well,  they  suit 
me  very  well." 

Happy  Thought. — When  Cazell  gets  out  at  our  Station 
and  sees  my  boy  in  liver}-  (as  a  tiger)  and  my  pony-trap,  he 
won't  go  on  giving  advice  as  if  I  was  nobody  at  all,  and 
knew  nothing  about  that  sort  of  thing. 

At  viy  Station. — '•  Come,'"'  I  say,  heartily,  "  here's  the  trap 
waiting.     I  shall  be  glad  to  get  home  for  dinner.'"' 

"My  servant  here?"  I  ask  the  Station  Master,  with  a 
lord-of-the-manorish  air. 

Station  Master  hasn't  seen  him,  and  goes  off  to  give  some 
directions  to  a  sub-oflicial.  This  apparent  neglect  will  not 
impress  Cazell.     The  trap  is  not  there. 

I  say,  ''  Confound  that  fellovr  James  ! "  ( Explain  that 
James  is  my  groom.)  The  fellow  James  is  four  feet  high, 
aged  fifteen. 

Happy  Thought. —  Better  v%-alk. 

"Tell  you  what  you  ought  to  do,"  says  Cazell,  ''you 
ought  to  have  a  communication  between  the  Station  and 
your  house,  so  that  you  could  tell  'em  when  you  come  down, 
and  so  forth." 

I  say  it  would  be  convenient,  but  how  could  it  be  done  ? 

He  says,  "  Easily  ;  write  to  the  Manager.  Represent 
the  case  here,  and  to  the  London  Superintendent,  and  it's 
done." 

We  meet  James  and  the  pony-trap.  He  is  doing  a  full 
gallop,  and,  on  seeing  us,  pretends  the  pony  has  run  away. 


92  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

Young  vagabond  I  :\Iost  angn-  at  the  present  state  of  his 
livery,  he  looks  so  dirty  and  disreputable  (specially  about  the 
gloves,  and  tie),  that  I  wish  I  could  pass  him  off  as  some- 
body else's  boy. 

Happy  77/^?/^///.— Bio  whim  up  privately  behind  the  stable- 
door  %\hen  we  get  in,  and  threaten  to  send  him  away  if  he's 
not  better. 

He  weeps  copiously  at  this,  (hope  Cazell  won't  return 
during  this  scene  :  he'll  go  about  telling  ever>-one  that  I 
make  my  groom  cry.)  but  I  feel  sure  that  directly  my  back  is 
turned  he  m^akes  faces  at  me.  I  turn  suddenly  one  day,  and 
find  him  'I  will  swear  it)  executing  a  sort  of  war-dance  at  my 
back.  I  charge  him  with  it,  and  he  says,  with  a  look  of 
utter  surprise  at  such  an  insinuation,  '•  No,  he  warn't."' 

I  can't  say,  '•'  Yes,  you  were,"  when  he  says,  "  No,  he 
warn't."  He  tnust  know  whether  it  was  a  war-dance,  or  not, 
better  than  I. 

As  to  pony-traps,  Cazell  tells  me  ''  what  I  ought  to  do."' 
Go  to  Lamborn,  the  fellow  who  builds  for  the  Prince.  This 
wrinkle  (he  generally  calls  his  infonnation  ■'  wrinkles '')  he 
gives  with  a  wink.  In  fact,  when  I  think  of  it,  Cazell's  con- 
versation consists  of  nods,  and  winks,  and  wrinkles. 

"  You  mention  my  name,'"'  says  Cazell,  '•'  and  Lamborn  will 
do  it  for  you  at  a  very  moderate  price." 

I  make  a  note  of  this.  Begin  to  wish  r"d  gone  to  Lamborn 
originally. 

As  Cazell  hasn't  much  to  say  about  the  pony  (I  am  disap- 
pointed with  Cazell.  as  most  people  coming  down  observe 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  93 

"  What  a  pretty  pony  !  "  Ladies  say,  '•  What  a  pet  !  " 
"What  a  dehcious  httle  trap,"  &c.,  Sec] — I  remark  to  him 
that  it's  a  pretty  pony,  isn't  it  ? 

Cazell  hesitates.  "Yes,"  he  says,  dubiously.  It  appears 
he  doesn't  hke  that  sort.  He  suggests  that  it  is  rather  touched 
in  the  wind.  I  deny  it.  Wish  he  wouldn't  say  these  sort  of 
things  before  the  boy  James.  "  If  I  want  a  pony,*'  he  says, 
with  a  wink  and  a  nod  as  usual,  "  he  can  put  me  up  to  a 
wrinkle.  Go  to  Hodgkins."  Here  he  leans  back  in  the  seat, 
and  looks  at  me  as  much  as  to  say,  "  There  !  there's  a  chance 
for  you,  my  boy.  'Tisn't  everyone  who  knows  about  Hodg- 
kins.'' 

Happy  Thought. — To  pretend  (as  I  get  rather  tired  of 
Cazell)  that  I  wouldn't  go  to  Hodgkins  on  any  account. 

"Then  you're  wrong,*'  says  Cazell.     Subject  dropped. 

We  arrive  at  my  gate. 

James  (the  tiger)  has  been  instructed  by  me  to  touch  his 
hat  on  going  to  the  horse's  head.  He  has  a  salute  peculiarly 
his  own  :  "  something  between  the  militar}-  and  a  clown  in  a 
ring,''  says  Cazell  (rudely,  I  think.  If  he  sees  a  fault,  he  says, 
it's  friendly  to  mention  it). 

"  You  ought  to  send  your  boy  to  Thoroughgood,  the  trainer. 
He  educates  them  regularly  for  noblemen,  /know  him,  he'd 
do  it  for  ineP 

I  should  like  to  send  James  to  be  educated  as  a  tiger. 

Happy  Thought. — To  avail  myself  of  Cazell's  knowing 
Thoroughgood. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

C-\ZELL — SHERIDAN  MANUFACTURED— CHANGE  OF  NAME 
— JOKES  —  THE  BELL  —  DOGS  —  BURGLARS — WHIFFS — 
IDEA  FOR  CAZELL— ADAMS— DR.  BALSAM- DOG  AND 
FOWL. 


f^ 


NEVER  saw  such  a  feUow  as  Cazell.  I  mean,  he'd 
make  anyone  (who  wasn't  strong-minded,  and  able 
to  view  things  philosophically)  discontented  with 
everything  around  him. 


Happy  Thought, — Never  ask  anyone  to  stop  at  your  house 
suddenly. 

When  I  note  down  '•  suddenly,"'  I  mean,  don't  ask  a 
stranger,  or  a  comparative  stranger.  Cazell  is  a  positive 
stranger.  [Note  that  down  on  a  side  page  as  either  for 
repartee,  or  for  a  story  from  Sheridan.  I  see  how  it  might  be 
done.  Story  about  a  stranger  wha  laid  down  the  law  to 
Sheridan.  Some  one  says  to  Sheridan,  "  So  rude,  too,  from  a 
comparative  stranger."'  '•'  Comparative,"  replied  Sherr}', 
"  Gad,  Sir,  he's  a  positive  stranger."'  This  will  make  stoiy 
No  6.     Good.] 

We  arrive  at  Mede  Lodge.     A  little  time  ago  I  called  it 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  9S 

Asphodel  Cottage,  but,  as  there  are  no  Asphodels,  and  it  isn't 
exactly  a  cottage,  I  said  one  day, 

Happy  Thought. — Call  it  Mede  Lodge. 

"  Why  Mede  ?"'  says  Cazell.  "  Because,"  I  answer,  trium- 
phantly, "  it  is  in  the  midst  of  7nedes,  or  meadows."'  "  Might 
as  Avell  call  it  Persian,"'  savs  Cazell. 


Happy  Thought.— To  reply,  "  I  knew  he'd  say  that,"  and 
pass  it  over. 

Ever)'body  who  comes  down  admires  Mede  Lodge.  It  is 
lovely  ;  the  rural  thing  that  I  was  looking  after  for  years. 
Ever}'one,  seeing  it  for  the  first  time — (specially  ladies) — is  in 
raptures  with  it. 

I  say  to  Cazell,  "  Here's  Mede  Lodge." 

"  Oh,  indeed,"  says  he.  '-This  is  the  Lodge,  eh?  Then 
zuhere's  the  House  ?  " 

Happy  Thought. — To  tell  him,  without  a  smile,  that  it's  an 
old  joke. 

It  suddenly  occurs  to  me,  "'  How  will  my  wife  like  Cazell?" 
That's  another  reason  why  one  oughtn't  to  ask  a  man  down 
suddenly.  Always  Xr\  your  gold  in  the  fire  (or  some  proverb 
to  that  eftect). 

The  gate-bell  doesn't  respond  to  the  tug  I  give  it. 

"  I  tell  you  what  you  ought  to  do,"  says  Cazell,  seizing  the 
opportunity.  "You  ought  to  have  a  bell  attached  to  the 
house " 


96  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

''  This  is  attached  to  the  house,''  I  return,  rather  snap- 
pishly, I  own. 

Happy  Thought. — Host  mustn't  lose  his  temper  with  com- 
parative stranger.  But  then  Comparative  Stranger  ought 
not  to  go  on  telling  me  "  what  I  ought  to  do,"  as  if  I  didn't 
know. 

"  Yes,'- he  continues,  imperturbably  ;  '"but  don't  you  see, 
if  it  was  attached  by  means  of  a  metal-plated  zinc  tube 
imper^-ious  to  wet,  it  would  never  be  out  of  order,  as  it  is 
now."' 

I  ring  again  violently.  No  one  comes.  Most  disappoint- 
ing. What  I  should  have  liked  would  have  been  one  ser\-ant 
rushing  out  to  open  the  gate,  another  at  door  (both  smiling 
at  my  return)  to  receive  luggage,  my  wife  in  the  hall,  beam- 
ing, dogs  rushing,  barking,  jumping  up  and  fondling  me. 
Recollect  how  Sir  Walter  Scott  used  to  be  welcomed  by  his 
Deerhounds. 

Happy  Thought. — Buy  a  deerhound,  and  teach  him  to 
welcome  me. 

I  apologise  to  Cazell.  I  say,  '•  I  suppose  the  servants,  and 
all  of  them  ""  'meaning  my  wife,  and  Mrs.  Symperson,  with 
perhaps  nurse  and  baby)  '•'  are  in  the  garden,  and  don't  hear 
the  bell." 

''  It's  certain  they  don't  hear  the  bell,"'  says  Cazell. 
"  It's  dangerous,  too,  in  such  a  lonely  place  as  this.  I  tell 
you  what  you  ought  to  do  ;  you  ought  to  have  dogs  about.'' 

I  inform  him  that  I  hai'c  dogs  about — four  dogs,  some- 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  97 

where.  I  got  them  because  the  place  was  lonely.  I  pur- 
chased a  magnificent  stable-yard  dog  that  has  been  chained  up 
ever  since  we've  had  him  to  make  him  savage,  but  he  won't  be 
vicious  at  all,  and  only  plays  with  all  the  tradesmen  and  any 
strangers  who  may  come  in.  If  a  burglar  came  at  night  I'm 
convinced  the  idiotic  brute  would  play  with  him,  and  be 
rather  delighted  to  see  him  at  midnight  (when  he  must 
feel  it  very  lonely)  than  otherwise.  Now  I  come  to 
think  of  it,  a  burglar  would  be  quite  a  godsend  to  the  animal 
as  a  playmate. 

Happy  Tho2ighf.~^\\her).  the  dog  first  came. — To  call  him 
Lion. 

He  is  between  a  retriever  and  a  Newfoundland,  with  a 
placid  sheep-like  expression  of  countenance. 

Another  Happy  Thought. — To  write  up,  "  Beware  of  the 
Dog." 

If  James,  the  boy-tiger  in  top-boots,  hadn't  been  a  wicked, 
mischievous  young  ape,  (I  was  obliged  to  call  him  this  when 
I  found  him  inciting  Lion  to  jump  over  the  side  of  the  stye 
and  worry  the  pigs,  which  the  little  fiend  considered  as  fair 
sport  in  the  absence  of  rats,)  people  would  have  believed  in 
Lion's  ferocity.  But  he  told  anyone  who  came  up  that  the 
dog  was  as  harmless  as  a  kitten.  I  should  never  be 
astonished  if  we  were  inundated  Avith  tramps  and  burglars. 
My  dogs  inside  the  house  do  bark  ;  at  the  slightest  noise  too. 
A  stranger  (Cazell,  for  instance)  would  think  there  were 
attempts  at  burglar)-  all  night.     If  they  really  did  come,  I 

H 


98  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

wonder  whether  the  dogs  would  be  afraid.     Perhaps  they 
•would. 

Cazell  is  about  to  tell  me  where  I  ought  to  go  for  dogs 
when  the  maid  comes  doN\-n  the  garden  and  opens  the  gate. 
Cazell  says  to  me,  sotto  Z'oce,  ''  What  a  pretty  maid  you've 
got.'' 

Happy  Thoitglif. — To  reply  Yes,  severely,  adding,  "  and  a 
very  good  girl,  too,"'  emphatically. 

I  don't  like  Cazell's  conduct.  Mem.  Certainly  not  to  ask 
a  fellow  doA^Ti  whom  you've  only  met  once  casually. 

'•'  This  gentleman  sleeps  here  to-night,'"  I  tell  my  maid. 

Happy  Thought — Only  to-night. 

Maid  says,  "  Ver\-  well,  Sir." 

This  is  as  it  should  be  in  a  countn.-  house — no  difficulty 
about  receiving  a  guest,  no  trouble,  old-fashioned  English 
hospitality. 

I  ask  where  her  mistress  is  ?  She  is  upstairs  with  Mrs. 
Symperson.  Ver\'  good ;  then  what  does  Cazell  say  to  a 
walk  round  the  place  before  dinner  ?  Cazell  says  delighted 
to  view  the  domain.  A  whiff  of  dinner  comes  down  the 
passage  from  the  kitchen.     A  nasty  whiff. 

Happy  Thought.— Tdke  Cazell  out  before  it  gets  worse. 

I  don't  know  why,  but  the  smell  of  cabbages  boiling 
conveys  the  idea  of  huts,  povert>^,  and  living  all  in  one 
room. 

Cazell  won't  be  moved,  but  stops  to  sniff. 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  99 

I  say  (to  take,  as  it  were,  the  wind  out  of  his  sails},  ''  Yes, 
nasty  smell,  but  the  cook  ivill  do  it,  though  I've  told  her  not 
to,  over  and  over  again." 

Cazell  says,  "  My  dear  fellow,  I'll  tell  you  what  you  ought 
to  do.  You  ought  to  get  one  of  Ince's  patent  door-ventila- 
tors. Have  it  fixed  up  here,"  he  taps  the  wall,  and  begins 
examining  its  capabihties,  "  and  you'd  be  free  from  it  at 
once." 

I  say,  '•'  Indeed  ! "  and  he  puts  on  his  hat  and  accom- 
panies me  into  the  garden. 

I  never  knew  such  a  fellow  as  Cazell  ! 

He  surveys  my  geraniums  and  asters  with  an  eye  of  pity  : 
he  looks  at  my  roses,  of  which  my  gardener  is  justly  proud, 
and  shakes  his  head  as  he  observes,  "  Ah  I  why  don't  you 
have  the  Double  Lancaster  1  thafs  a  Rose."  As  if  this 
wasn't.  ''  You  ought  to  go  to  Mullins's  at  Sheffield  for  them. 
Mullins  is  the  only  man." 

\Ve  visit  my  glass-house,  where  the  grapes  are.  He  starts 
back — he  is  horrified.  \Vhat  is  it  ?  A  wasp  ?  A  hornet  ? 
No.  "  My  dear  fellow,"  he  says,  "  you'll  never  do  anything 
with  your  grapes  if  you  don't  move  'em  lower  down,  and 
syringe  them  with  Sloper's  Ingreser  Mixture." 

Happy  Thought. — Cazell  would  be  worth  anything  to 
tradesmen  as  an  advertiser.  Won't  suggest  it,  he  might  be 
angry.     Host  mustn't  insult  guest. 

But  I  say  they  (the  grapes)  are  verv-  fine  this  year. 

"  Fine  ?  well,  so  so,"  he  admits  ;  "  but  next  year  you  won't 
have  07ieP 

II  2 


loo  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

Happy  Thought. — Call  the  gardener,  who  v.ill  floor  Cazell 
technically,  on  the  spot. 

I  call  loudly,  ''Adams  I"  There  is  no  ansvrer.  I  know 
by  this  that  Adams  has  gone  to  the  village. 

Directly  his  work  is  finished,  Adams,  even.-  evening,  dis- 
appears to  the  village.  Being  remonstrated  with,  he  says 
his  work's  done  for  the  day,  and  what's  he  wanted  for  here 
when  his  work's  done?  For  this  I  had  no  solution  when 
he  first  put  the  difficulty,  nor  have  I  now.  I  think  a 
repartee,  quick,  cutting,  and  decisive,  would  have  settled 
him.  ["G"  Gardener.  Repartee  to  a  Gardener.  Never 
thought  of  Gardener  before.  Had  only  got  down  Godchild 
and  Gasman.  Repartee  to  a  Godchild :  Repartee  to  a  Gas- 
man. Rowland  Hill  and  Sydney  Smith  used  to  do  this  sort 
of  thing  :  also  Dean  Swift.  Swift  cuffed  his  sen-ant  Patrick, 
Wonder  v.-here  /  should  be  if  I  cuffed  Adams  ?] 

Cazell  approves  of  the  place  generally.  He  agrees  with 
me,  '•'  Nothing  hke  being  out  of  town."  But  he'll  tell  me, 
he  says,  what  I  '•ought  to  do''  with  this  place.  This  is 
given  in  an  interrogative  form,  and  evidently  demands  the 
answer, 

"  What  .^ '-' 

"  Why,"  he  returns  emphatically,  '•'  buy  it." 

Does  he  think  it  worth  buying,  I  ask  modestly.  No, 
he  doesn't,  he  says,  for  the  present,  but  in  future  it  may 
be  valuable.  '•  But,"'  he  goes  on,  "  I'll  tell  you  what  you 
want."  This  is  only  another  form  of  '•  what  I  ought  to  do," 
and  it's  no  use  answering  that  you  don't  want  whatever  it  is, 
"  You  want  to  pull  down  the  left  wing,  construct  a  new  door- 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  loi 

way,  throw  out  a  bay  window,  just  put  a  verandah  round  the 
dining-room,  and  there  you  are." 

Happy  Thought. — To  say  ironically  :  Pull  down  the  house 
in  fact. 

Cazell  replies,  "  That's  it,  pull  it  down,  and  build  two 
storeys.     What's  your  drainage  here?" 

Happy  Thought. — To  say,  "  don't  know,"  because  this  is  a 
question  I  hate. 

I  look  upon  the  country  as  pure  and  healthy,  and  questions 
of  drainage  and  water-supply  annoy  me.  I  say  to  him, 
jocularly,  "  Bless  you  ;  we  don't  know  what  drainage  is  here, 
it's  beautifully  managed ; "  I  have  an  idea  hoiu  it's  managed, 
but  keep  it  to  myself;  "and  we,  none  of  us,  were  ever  so 
healthy  anywhere  as  here."  I  always  say  this,  or  my  wife 
would  want  to  go  somewhere  for  the  benefit  of  her  health 
and  baby's. 

Ring  at  gate-bell.     A  gentleman.     "  Who's  that  ? " 

"That  is"— I'm  obliged  to  say— "That  is  Dr.  Balsam." 
"  Whom  has  he  come  to  see  ?"  The  maid  replies,  "  Missus 
and  baby."  "  Thought  you  said  it  was  so  healthy,"  observes 
Cazell. 

Happy  Thought. — Must  remember  he  is  the  guest,  and 
I  am  the  host. 

Old  English  hospitality  must  be  obsen/ed,  or  really  he  is 
so  irritating  I  could  quarrel  with  him  at  once. 

Dr.  Balsam  comes  out.     Cazell  doesn't  offer  to  withdraw, 


I02  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

as  he  might  do.  on  pretence  of  seeing  the  plums,  or  anything, 
before  the  family  doctor  ;  but  he  walks  with  Dr.  Balsam  and 
myself  round  the  gardens,  while  I  am  being  told  how  my 
wife  is  suffering  fromx  a  low  state  of  nenes  and  rheumatic 
hysteria;  the  baby,  of  course,  from  rash. 

"Your  wife  says  she's  had  the  Inspector  of  Nuisances 
here."  I  tn.-  to  turn  the  Doctors  question  off  jocosely 
before  Cazell ;  but  it  won't  do.  Dr.  Balsam  says,  "  You 
must  have  your  pigsty  cleaned  out,  and  the  drainage  is "" 

"Ah,"'  cries  Cazell,  knowingly,  '"'I'd  have  sworn  I  smelt 
something  horrid."' 

"  It'll  breed  fever,"'  says  the  Doctor. 

^^'hat  fever  !  fever  !  bad  drainage  !  pigs  cause  of  illness  at 
Mede  Lodge,  in  the  lovehest  part  of No  I 

'■'  I  tell  you  what  you  ought  to  do,'"  says  Cazell :  "  buy  five 
tons  of  Disinfecting  Fluid,  and  ten  of  Chloride  of  Amphistar- 
tum  Compound,  and  empt)-  it  all  about  the  place.  It'll  last 
for  two  years.'"' 

The  Doctor  says  he's  right,  and  wishes  me  good-bye. 

Inspector  of  Nuisances  to  come  to-morrow.  I  see  Doctor 
to  gate. 

Happy  Thought  (which  I  express". — ''A  little  inconve- 
nience which  a  few  labourers  will  remove  :  soon  do  it.  The 
only  nuisance,  after  all,  in  the  country." 

Man  looks  over  gate  with  a  paper.  "  For  you,  Sir,"  he 
says.  I  open  it.  A  legal  document.  Summons  before  the 
Magistrate  for  keeping  dogs  without  a  licence.  Hang  the 
dogs  1     Irate  woman  heard  at  back  door.     I   go  round  to 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  103 

her.  She  is  holding  up  a  fowl  with  its  head  off.  "Well?" 
"Well!"  screams  irate  elderly  peasant,  "I  ain't  going  to 
have  this :  your  nasty  {sob)  dog  came  into  our  field  {sob),  and 
killed  {sob)  my  {sob)  chicken.  I  wouldn't  ha'  took  five 
shillin'  for  it.     I  wouldn't." 

Happy  Thought— To  say,  '•'  Glad  to  hear  it."  Otter  her 
sixpence. 

Cazell  says,  "You  ought  to  ask  if  the  fowl  was  tied  up,  or 
not." 

I  ask  the  question.  This  sends  her  nearly  wild.  She'll 
have  the  law  on  me.  She'll  go  and  fetch  a  policeman. 
'Tisn't  because  she's  poor  and  hard-worked  she's  to  be 
insulted,  &c.,  &c.  She  raves  through  the  stable-yard  gate. 
Lion,  instead  of  attacking  her  (he  oughtn't  to  have  let  her 
pass,  the  idiotic  brute  I)  pretends  to  play  at  something  or 
other  with  her  shawl  as  she  passes  his  kennel,  for  which  he 
gets  a  thump  on  the  head,  and  retires  dismally. 

Cazell  follows  her  into  the  lane  to  reason  with  her  and  tell 
her  what  she  ought  to  do. 

Happy  Thought. — Better  leave  it  to  mediation  and  retire. 

Go  back  into  house.  Screams.  Wife  in  hysterics  on 
sofa.  Doctor,  man  with  summons,  woman  screaming,  smells 
from  pigs,  baby  with  rash  too  much  for  her,  "  And,"  says 
Mrs.  Symperson,  ironically,  "  /  think  you  might  have  taken 
the  trouble  to  come  up-stairs  and  see  how  we  were  when  you 
came  in." 

J/?;//.— Don't  bring  down  a  friend  suddenlv  asrain. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

OUR  INSPECTOR — DEFIANXE— THE  INSPECTOR'S  STORY— 
INTERVIEWING  THE  PIGS — CAZELL  MY  FRIEND— IN- 
SPECTOR'S    FRIEND  —  DIFFERENCES  —  MAKING     A     JOB 

OF   IT. 

XSPECTOR   of  Nuisances  calls  upon  me  while 
Cazell  is  at  Mede  Lodge  in  the  morning. 

Happy  Thought. — Try  and  get  Cazell  to  take  a 
turn  round  the  garden  while  the  Inspector  is  here. 

Cazell  won't.  He  says  that  he's  never  met  an  Inspector  of 
Nuisances,  and  wants  to  see  one. 

The  Inspector  (I  thought  he'd  have  a  uniform  on,  but  he 
hasn't)  abruptly  obsen-es  that  he  will  come  to  the  point  at 
once.  I  say  "by  all  means."  The  point  turns  out  to  be 
"  drains.''  He  says,  without  any  emotion,  he'll  have  to  re- 
port me  to  the  Board  if  I  don't  attend  to  it.  He  is  business- 
like and  determined.  He  goes  on,  in  a  loud  voice,  and  with 
a  great  deal  of  emphasis  with  his  right  hand,  to  say  that  he's 
been  obliged  "to  bring  several  people  to  book  who  had  defied 
him."     Here  he  compresses  his  lips  and  looks  at  me  sternly. 

Happy  Thought.— To  reply  at  once  that  he's  quite  right. 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  105 

Hope  he  doesn't  think  that  I  am  going  to  defy  him.  Defence 
not  defiance. 

"  In  the  exercise  of  your  duty,"  I  remark  (Cazell  tells  me 
afterwards  that  I  oughtn't  to  have  been  so  patronising  to  a 
Government  official),  "you  are  quite  right." 

"  Of  course,"  returns  the  Inspector,  firmly,  and  gives  us^an 
anecdote  about  a  man  who  li'ould  keep  thirty-two  pigs,  and 
defied  him,  the  Inspector.  "  He  was  a  nuisance.  Sir,"  says 
the  Inspector,  with  grim  retrospective  delight  at  his  own 
triumph.       "  He  was  a  nuisance,  Sir,  and  defied  me." 

"  Says  he  to  me,"'  continues  the  Inspector,  "  I've  got 
witnesses  to  prove  they're  not  a  nuisance,  says  he.  Well,  I 
says  to  him,  not  going  to  be  defied  by  him,  or  any  one,"  he 
adds,  with  a  glance  at  me  to  see  how  I  like  that.  I  nod  in 
appreciation  of  his  sentiments,  and  he  resumes,  '•/  haven't 
any  witnesses  except  myself,  and  that's  enough.  We'll  tr>'  it, 
says  he,  at  law.  Before  the  Magistrates,  I  says,  for  I  was 
bound  to  prosecute  him.  And  prosecute  him  I  did,  as  he 
defied  me.  And,"  says  the  Inspector,  warming  with  the  re- 
cital, '•  the  jVIagistrates  wouldn't  hear  him  at  all,  but  when  I 
put  it  to  them,  they  said  the  case  v/as  clear,  and  those  pigs 
had  to  be  cleared  out,  they  had,  ever}'  one  on  'em.  He  defied 
vie^  Sir,  and  it  cost  him.  Sir,  a  'underd  pound  it  did,  if  it  cost 
'im  a  penny,  it  did.  But  I  wasn't  to  be  beat,  I  told  him,  and 
if  he  went  on  a  defying  me  I'd  fight  him  I  would,  I  said,  and 
so  I  did,  and  won.  Government  protects  me,  you  see  it  does, 
that's  where  it  is  ;  and  it  ain't  no  use,  as  I  says  to  him,  your 
defying  vie,  I  says." 

He  is  so  excited  that  I  am  afraid  he'll  do  something  violent 


io6  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

in  my  case.  He's  a  sort  of  walking  Inquisitor,  and  Govern- 
ment takes  his  word  against  anybody's  in  a  matter  of  (for 
instance)  pigs. 

Happy  Thought. — To  applaud  him  and  say  pleasantly, 
that   I  hope  it  won't  come  to  that  (meaning  the  hundred 

pounds)  with  me. 

He  hopes  not,  too  ;  as  though  this  was  a  subject  not  to  be 
treated  lightly. 

Happy  Thought. — To  appear  interested,  and  ask  if  the 
man  keeps  pigs  now. 

"  Yes,  he  do  still,"  says  the  Inspector,  somewhat  mourn- 
fully (Cazell  says  afterwards  that  I  oughtn't  to  have  asked 
this,  as  I  evidently  touched  on  a  sore  point),  '•  and  I  ain't 
done  wdth  him  yet.  He  wanted  to  'ave  me  hup  for  perjur)-, 
he  did,"  the  Inspector  goes  on.  As  he  drops  an  '"hj^and 
puts  one  in  occasionally,  I  suppose  there  is  no  examination 
for  Inspectors  (he'd  called  himself  /Tmspector)  of  nuisances. 
"  There  was  a  trial  at  Westminster  it  was,  about  these  ver}' 
pigs,"  he  continues,  proudly  ;  "  it  was  before  Baron  Bram- 
well " — (he  calls  the  Judge  Brammle) — "  yes — and  when  the 
Baron  'ears  it,  he  says  to  the  Jur}-,  says  he,  Look  'ere,  says 
he," — here  the  Inspector  gives  us  w-hat  he  takes  to  be  an 
exact  and  correct  report  of  Baron  Bramwell's  summing  up, 
supposing  Cazell  to  be  the  Jun,',  and  myself  the  plaintiff  with 
the  pigs.  Cazell  smiles,  and  so  do  I,  as  if  delighted  with  the 
whole  thing  as  an  entertainment — ''There  ain't  no  case 
against  the  Hinspector  in  this  ;  not  a  bit,  says  the  Judge. 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  107 

The  pigs  was  a  right  down  nuisance,  says  he,  they  was,  and 
the  hofficer — that  was  me  the  Baron  meant — the  hofficer  was 
right  in  having  the  law  on  him.  And  so  you  see,"  he  adds, 
coming  somewhat  abruptly,  but  artistically,  to  the  finish, 
"  that's  how  it  was." 

We  reply,  at  least  I  do,  speaking  for  self  and  Cazell,  that 
I  do  see  clearly.  The  Inspector  adds  the  moral,  that  I  must 
see  about  viy  pigs  at  once,  and,  of  course  it  is  understood, 
that  I  don't  defy  him. 

Happy  Thought. — Ask  him  to  have  a  glass  of  sherry. 

As  he  "doesn't  know  but  what  he  'z^'z*// just  have  a  glass,"  I 
order  in  the  bottle,  and  he  helps  himself  and  pledges  us.  We 
then  resume  business  on,  as  it  were,  a  more  friendly  footing, 
though  (by  frequent  reference  to  the  celebrated  pig  case)  he 
gives  me  to  understand  that  he  is,  personally,  a  favourite 
with  the  Government,  and,  generally  speaking,  not  a  man  to 
be  trifled  with,  or,  of  course,  defied.  In  the  matter  of  pigs 
and  drains  he  is  adamant. 

Happy  Thought. — To  say  (Cazell  tells  me  afterwards  that 
this  is  ser\-ile,  and  I  ought  not  to  be  bullied)  that  111  do  what- 
ever he  likes. 

"Well  then,"  says  he,  "make  a  job  of  it."  Cazell  goes 
with  us  round  the  garden  and  into  the  piggeries,  where  he 
pretends  to  be  disgusted,  and  makes  the  case  out  worse  than 
the  Inspector  does  himself.  It's  unkind  of  Cazell  to  do  this, 
and  I  tell  him  so  subsequently.  Cazell  now  (before  the 
Inspector)  tells  me  "  what   I  ought  to  do."     "  You  ought," 


ic^  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

says  he,  '"'  to  take  up  all  the  old  pipes,  lay  down  new  ones, 
turn  on  the  water  in  a  fresh  place,  open  a  new  ditch,  move 
the  piggeries,  and  put  a  wall  right  down  the  side,  and  have 
bell-traps."^ 

I  pooh-pooh  this.  The  Inspector  is  serious  and  agrees 
with  Cazell.  In  fact,  he  says,  that's  the  only  way  to  (what  he 
calls)  "  make  a  job  of  it,"' 

It  appears  (on  my  pleading  ignorance  of  anybody  who  can 
do  all  this  in  the  neighbourhood)  that  a  friend  of  his  can 
make  a  job  of  it. 

Happy  Thought.—  To  say  By  all  means  let  your  friend  come. 

If  the  job  isn't  made,  the  Inspector  says,  with  regret  (on 
account  I  think  of  the  friendly  feeling  evoked  by  the  sherry) 
that  he  imist  proceed  against  me. 

Alternative,  Inspectors  friend  to  make  a  job  of  it,  say 
twenty  pounds,  or  Law  Proceedings,  Counsel,  Judge,  Jur)', 
JNIagistrates,  writ,  summ.ons,  police,  Westminster  Hall,  and 
Government  backing  up  the  Inspector,  and,  dead  against 
me,  say,  two  hundred  pounds.  Afiair  settled.  Inspector 
departs.  Friend  (he  undertakes  to  say,  for  curiously  enough 
he's  going  to  meet  him  quite  accidentally  to-night,  when 
he'll  tell  him)  will  come  and  make  a  job  of  it  in  the  morning. 

When  he's  gone,  Cazell  tells  my  wife  what  I  ought  to  have 
done.  He  says  I've  been  imposed  upon  ;  that  I'Jii  weak  and 
have  allowed  the  Inspector  to  bully  me.  Fridoline  says, 
"  Yes,  that  she  heard  us,  and  knew  that  I'd  be  talked  into 
anything  by  that  horrid  man.'"'  Mrs.  Symperson  (who 
doesn't  understand  the  case  at  all,  no  more  does  my  wife) 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  109 

gives  it  as  her  opinion  that  I  oughtn't  to  have  Hstened  to  him 
for  a  moment.  Both  agree  with  Cazell.  Row.  All  through 
Cazell,  too. 

Happy  Thought. — To  say  jocularly,  but  ironically,  "  'What 
I  ought  to  do  is  to  have  ten  thousand  a  year,  pull  the  house 
doAvn  and  make  a  mansion." 

The  presence  of  a  stranger  (Cazell)  prevents  recrimina- 
tions. On  the  v/hole  it's  not  bad  to  have  a  stranger  present 
when  there's  a  chance  of  a  family  quarrel.  He  can  agree 
with  the  wife-party  when  they're  all  together,  and  with  the 
husband-party  in  the  smoking-room  afterwards.  Have  done 
it  myself :  and  therefore  can  understand  Cazell's  being  a 
humbug.  What  I  object  to  is  his  telling  my  wife  that  while 
all  these  alterations  are  being  made  she  ought  to  go  to 
Brighton,  or  the  Isle  of  Wight,  or  some  other  expensive 
place. 

Next  mo7'jii7ig. —  Inspectors  friend  at  work  early  :  with 
bricklayer's  hods,  pickaxes,  spades,  bricks,  mortar,  and  things 
enough  to  build  a  house  instead  of  a  pigsty. 

Inspector's  friend  hopes  I'll  "'scuse/^/w  mentioning  it,  but 
that  there  tool-house  isn't  safe  quite — not  as  he  should  like  to 
see  it  on  a  gentleman's  place."  Wonderful  what  a  regard 
Inspector's  jobbing  friend  has  for  my  respectability.  Cazell 
says,  No,  ought  to  have  that  down.  Dangerous.  I  say,  Well 
have  it  down.  Inspector's  friend  wants  to  know  if  I'd  mind 
stepping  this  way.  I  step  this  way.  He  stops  before  the 
coach-house. 

"  'Scuse  me,"  says  he,  "  for  mentioning  it,  but  this  coach- 


no  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

house  ain't  in  a  proper  state  ;  you  see  this  here  pipe,"  &c.  : 
he  shows  me  a  pipe  which  does  something  or  other,  I  don't 
understand  what,  but  something  poisonous,  or  dangerous,  or 
both  :  at  all  events  it's  "  not  the  sort  of  pipe  as  he,"  the  In- 
spector's friend,  "would  like  to  see  on  'a  gejitleniaii^s^ 
(meaning  my)  place."  Cazell  says  I  ought  to  have  it  up,  and 
adds  (literally  playing  into  the  Inspectors  friend's  hands), 
"You  might  have  the  hen-house  done  now  —  it'll  be  a 
nuisance  in  time,  you'll  see."  We  inspect  the  hen-house. 
Inspectors  friend  shakes  his  head  gravely.  "  It's  not  the 
sort  of  hen-house  he'd  like  to  see,"  &c.  He  points  out  that 
the  house  will  be  infected  with  fl**s  if  the  chickens  live 
where  they  now  are.  "  Chickens  are  full  of  fl"^^s,"  he  says. 
Curious  fact  in  Natural  History.  Inspectors  friend  has  come 
'•  to  make  a  job  of  it,"  and  a  nice  job  he's  making.  We  now 
discover  (through  Inspector's  friend)  that  we  have  been  living 
in  the  midst  of  danger  without  knowing  it.  "  Why,  Sir,"  says 
Inspector's  friend,  who  suddenly  ascertains  that  soapsuds  are 
poured  out  on  the  ground  near  the  kitchen-window,  "  there 
ain't  no  poison  like  soapsuds  :  it's  worse  than  drainage  and 
pigs." 

Happy  TJioiighi. — Then  leave  the  drainage  and  pigs,  and 
merely  give  up  throwing  soapsuds. 

Inspectors  friend  and  Cazell  smile.  Cazell  says,  "  No,  go 
in  for  making  a  thoroughly  good  job  of  it."  Inspector's 
friend  says  he  means  to  :  judging  from  the  bricks  and  mortar 
and  men  (three  more  have  just  come  in  with  wheel-barrows 
and  ladders)  it  looks  like  it. 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  in 

At  breakfast  I  happen  to  complain  of  rheumatics. 
Cazell  almost  jumps  from  his  chair,  and  shouts  (before  the 
ladies,  too  !),  '•  Rheumatics  I  I'll  tell  you  what  you  ought 
to  do  for  rheumatics.  Go  abroad.  Take  baths.  Drink 
waters."  Wife  says,  "Yes,  by  all  means."  Mrs.  Symperson 
says  she  did  it  years  ago,  and  it  cured  her.  I  answer,  "  Did 
it,  indeed  ? ''  but  don't  express  joy. 

Happy  Thought. — Go  abroad.  Vienna  :  and  call,  as  I 
promised,  on  the  Count  de  Bootjack. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

PROPOSALS  FOR  VOYAGING  —  COMPANION'S  —  EXPENSE  — 
LETTER  FROM  PUBLISHERS  —  PILZEN  —  RHEUMATICS 
AND   MILBURD. 

^p^J^^n  AZELL  says  I  ought  to  go  by  Antwerp  to  Aix. 
^^X^^i  ^^e  knows  a  fellow  going  :  Chilvern — Tom  Chil- 
Ir'^^l^  vern.  Odd:  old  schoolfellow  of  mine.  Cazell  is 
pfa?~«*'a>^:-|  going  to  see  a  friend  in  Hertfordshire,  for  a  day 
or  so,  but  will  give  me  Chilvern's  address  in  to\Mi.  Cazell 
says,  "  You  ought  to  go  and  consult  a  doctor  about  your 
rheumatism.''  He  oughtn't  to  say  this.  It  makes  one  nervous 
when  you're  not  really  nervous.  Wife  begs  me  to  consult  a 
doctor.  She  is  ner^-ous  about  me  :  thinks  I  must  have 
caught  something  from  the  pigs  or  the  chickens.  Cazell  has 
told  her  (he  is  an  ass  in  some  things  and  ought  not  to  frighten 
women)  that  babies  can  catch  measles  from  fowls,  and 
chicken-pox  too.  She  is  frightened,  sends  for  the  Doctor 
and  examines  the  baby  three  times  an  hour.  New  rash 
discovered.  Doctor  says,  "  Best  thing  to  go  to  Brighton,  and 
Mrs.  S>Tnperson  can  take  care  of  both."  Wife  in  delicate 
state ;  Doctor  says  to  me,  Better  go  away  for  change.  I 
smile.  He  smiles.  We  both  smile.  We  nod.  We  under- 
stand one  another,  only  what  do  we  mean  exactly  ?     He  says 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  113 

good-bye,  and  hopes  to  hear  we're  all  soon  better,  taking  it 
for  granted  that  Tm  going  abroad. 

Happy  Thought. — Go  on  the  Continent  while  Inspector's 
friend  builds  pigsties,  and  generally  speaking  "  makes  a  job 
of  it,"  which  at  present  looks  uncommonly  like  making  a 
mess  of  it.  If  liii  away  he  can't  have  any  authority  for  doing 
anything  more  than  precisely  what  he  has  got  to  do. 

Happy  Thought  {Xo.  2  ou  the  same  subject). —  Quiet  place 
to  wriie  Typical  Developments,  and  correct  proofs  of  first 
volume  for  Popgood  and  Groolly. 

Cazell  leaves.  I  promise  him,  as  I  really  am  bad  with 
rheumatics,  to  go  and  see  Dr.  Pilzen  in  London.  Wife  says 
she  wants  a  considerable  cheque  before  she  goes  away. 
Argument  on  economy.  ]Mrs.  Symperson  points  out  what  I 
should  have  spent  if  it  hadn't  been  for  her  and  Fridoline's 
admirable  arrangement. 

I  see  some  sort  of  a  repartee  (might  come  under  heading 
M.  Mothet'-in-Ldzu.  Repartee  to  a  Mother-in-Laiu),  but 
can't  quite  put  it  into  form.  The  se?ise  is  "  what  I  would  have 
spent  without  them."  Feel  this  would  be  cruel.  Draw 
cheque.  Affecting  parting.  Arrangement  as  to  corre- 
spondence :  I  am  to  write  from  abroad  to  Friddy  ;  Friddy  to 
me  abroad  from  Brighton. 

London  again.  At  Willis's  rooms.  Letter  from  Popgood 
and  Groolly  with  MS.  Know  the  MS.  by  sight  at  once: 
it  is  Typical  Developments  returned.     Civil  note  :  — 

"  Messrs.  Popgood  and  Groolly  present  their  compliments, 

I 


114  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

and  thank  the  author  of  the  enclosed  work  for  favouring 
them  with  a  perusal  of  it  ;  but  as  they  understand  from  him 
that  it  is  to  reach  twenty  volumes  at  least  before  it  is  finished, 
they  are  unable  to  pronounce  an  opinion  on  its  merits  in  its 
present  condition.  If  the  author  will  kindly  allow  them  to 
look  over  it  when  it  has  attained  a  more  perfected  form, 
and  is  near  its  completion,  they  will  esteem  it  a  favour, 
and  will  give  the  work  their  immediate  and  most  careful 
attention.  Sincerely  wishing  the  work  in  hand  a  successful 
issue, 

"  They  beg  to  subscribe  themselves,  Sir, 
"  Yours  faithfully, 
'•  POPGOOD   AND    GROOLLY."' 

"  P.S.  We  enclose  the  list  of  our  latest  publications,  and 
also  of  those  works  which  can  now  be  obtained  from  our 
stock  at  soincthing  less  tha?i  half  price. — P.  6c  G."' 

Happy  Thought. — They've  read  it.    Evidently  the}-'Ve  read 

it,  because  they  want  to  see  it  again  when  it's  in  a  more 

advanced  state.    Can't  find  fault  with  their  answer.    Sensible, 

when  you   come  to  think  of  it.     Will  write,  saying  that  I 

agree  with  them  :  will  get   on  with  the  work  as  quickly  as 

possible,  and  let  them  see  it.     Will  take  it  abroad,  and  work 

t  it. 

Xext  thing  is  to  go  about  the  rheumatics  at  Pilzen.     Meet 

ilburd  in  the  Club.     He  exclaims,  "  Well,  old   Gropgood 

.nd  Poolly,  how  are  you  ? "     I  check  him  by  replying  that, 

seriously,  Popgood  and  Groolly  entertain  the  idea  of  publish- 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  115 

ing  Typical  Developincnts.  He  replies,  that  the  idea  of 
publishing  Typical  Developments  will  probably  entertain 
Popgood  and  Groolly.  "  Old  joke,"  I  say.  '•  V\'ho  said  it 
wasn't  ?  "  he  retorts,  and  roars  with  laughter. 

I  wish  I  hadn't  told  him  about  my  rheumatics  (as  I  did 
immediately  after  the  Popgood  conversation),  as  he  directly 
begins  to  imitate  the  Pantaloon — tottering  about  on  his 
stick  (and  this  in  the  Club  hall),  and  then  he  says,  as  Cloiun^ 
"  Poor  old  man  ! "  in  a  quavering  voice.  Then  he  changes 
to  a  boisterous  manner,  and  says,  "  You  got  the  rheumatics  ! 
Walker  ! "  and  slaps  me  on  the  back.  I  tell  him  (being 
annoyed,  I  can't  help  speaking  to  him  with  asperity)  that  if 
he  had  the  rheumatics  as  /  have,  he  wouldn't  laugh.  Upon 
which  he  winks,  and  replies,  "  Yes,  but  I  haven't,  you  see — 
that's  where  it  is  ;  "  and  pokes  me  in  the  ribs,  and  says, 
"  Tchk  !"  and,  in  fact,  so  plays  the  Tom-fool  that  the  Hall- 
porter  disappears  behind  his  desk,  and  I  hear  him  suppressing 
a  burst  of  laughter.  "  Well,"  says  rvlilburd,  "you're  looking 
awfully  well :  never  saw  you  better."' 

He  is  most  irritating.  I  return,  that  it's  very  good  of  him 
to  say  that  I'm  looking  well,  but  I  know  I'm  not. 

Happy  Thought. — Try  and  make  him  sympathise  with 
me. 

I  shake  my  head,  and  say,  sadly — at  the  moment  I  am 
so  impressive  that  I  can  almost  fancy  myself  at  my  last  gasp 
— (picture  of  the  sad  event  in  the  Club  hall — porters  kneel- 
ing— butler  coming,  terrified,  down-stairs — members  explain- 
ing to  one  another — commissionnaire  just  come  in  from  a 


ii6  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

message,  weeping,  and  rubbing  his  eyes  with  his  only  arm-  - 
Milburd,  suddenly  struck  with  remorse,  vows  never  again  Id 
be  unsympathetic  with  a  sick  man,  &c.,  <S:c, — really  good 
subject  for  picture :  lights  and  shades  of  our  hall,  marble 
columns,  &c.,  might  be  as  perfect  as  the  late  Mr.  Roberts's 
Cathedral  interiors) — I  shake  my  head,  and  say,  sadly, 
"Yes,  I  am  going  to  see  Pilzen  to-morrow,  and  he  will," 
more  sadly  and  with  intensity,  *•'  order  me  off  abroad,  some- 
where."' 

Milburd  says,  "  Hooray  !  Then  I  will  go  with  you,  my 
pretty  maid  :  I  mean,  I  daresay  111  join  you.  Bravo  ! " 
And  he  slaps  me  again  on  the  back.  X.B.  Give  up  talking 
rheumatics  with  Milburd. 

Doctors  to-morrow,  and  next  day  with  Chilvern  to  Ant- 
werp. Note  from  wife  to  say  what  a  tremendous  job  In- 
spectors friend  is  making  of  it.     Wonder  what  he's  doing  ? 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

MY  RELATIONS— MUSSELS— MY  AUNT — MY  U^XLE— POLITE- 
NESS-VAMPIRES— FEE   FOR   DOCTOR. 

appy  Thought. — On  my  way  to  the  doctor's  call 
on  my  Uncle  and  Aunt,  ^^•hom  I  was  going  to 
see  just  before  I  left  town  last  time,  but  didn't. 
Don't  know  ivhy  I  didn't.  Very  odd,  but  it's 
always  been  the  same  as  regards  my  Uncle  and  Aunt  ever 
since  I  can  recollect.  I  used  to  be  taken  to  their  house 
by  my  nurse.  Perhaps  the  fact  of  being  take?i  there  has 
remained  in  my  inner  consciousness  ever  since.  Me)?i. 
for  Typical  Developments,  Vol.  IV.,  Early  Co7npulsion. 
datnaging  effects  of.  By  the  way,  must  hurr)^  on  with  Typ. 
Devel.,  Vol  I.,  for  Popgood  and  Groolly. 

I  remember  the  street,  but  forget  the  number.  I  don't 
know  why  I  hit  upon  thirty-seven,  but  I  do,  and  am  right. 
(Stop  to  make  this  note  in  the  hall.  Mem.  for  Typ.  Dev.. 
Tendrils  of  Me?nory,  seize  on — leave  blank  here  for  word  tc 
be  selected  in  calmer  moments — in  early  youth,  and  so  on, 
&c.     /shall  understand  this  when  I  wish  to  develope  the 

note  into ) 

I  find  that  the  butler  has  held  the  drawing-room  door  open 


Ii8  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

for  more  than  a  minute,  while  I  am  making  this  note,  coming 
up-stairs  (not  easy],  in  my  Pocket-book.  My  Aunt  says, 
"  Shut   the   door,    Mussels,"   sharply.     Mussels,  the  butler, 

retires. 

Happy  Tlwuglit. — Mussels  rh}-nies  to  Brussels,  and  I  am 
going  to  Aix, 

If  my  Aunt  or  Uncle  had  any  sense  of  humour,  I'd  say 
this  as  a  pleasant  commencement.  {Xote.  Typ.  Devel.,  On 
Cojfijnencefnenis.) 

My  Aunt  having  stood  up  to  receive  me,  in  the  draught 
which  Mussels  had  made  by  keeping  the  door  open — (funny 
name,  Mussels) — is  cross,  and  coughs  behind  her  hand. 

Happy  Tlwught.  -To  say  cheerfully,  and  smiling  lightly, 
"How  dye  do,  Aunt?"'  ignoring  the  draught.  It  appears 
she  doesn't  do  particularly  well,  nor  my  Uncle  either. 

Happy  Thought. — Suit  your  manners  to  your  company  : 
drop  smiling  and  look  serious.  My  Uncle  is  sitting  in  an 
arm-chair,  very  feeble,  and  occasionally  groaning.  My  Aunt 
describes  her  own  symptoms  with  painful  and  touching 
accuracy,  but  has  no  pity  for  ///;;/.  She  says  impatiently, 
"  Oh  dear,  your  Uncle  groans  and  coddles  himself  up  if  his 
little  finger  aches.  I  tell  him  to  go  out  for  a  good  walk,  and 
take  healthy  exercise."  On  examining  him  reproachfully,  as 
much  as  to  say,  ^''\\\i\  don't  you  take  my  Aunt's  advice?" 
he  appears  as  if  he  might  possibly  venture  as  far  as  the 
centre   pattern   of  the  carpet  and  back  again.     Think  my 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  119 

Aunt  a  little  hard  on  my  Uncle.  Better  not  say  so.  Merely 
observe  gravely,  "  I  am  sorry  to  see  you  so  unwell "'  (to  my 
Aunt,  as  if  I  didn't  care  how  my  Uncle  was,  dismissing  him 
in  fact  as  a  shammer). 

[Q»ery.  Isn't  this  "  time  serving,"  and  oughtn't  I  to  be 
above  it  ?  ] 

My  Aunt  gives  me  a  list  of  her  complaints ;  I  appear  to 
be  listening  with  great  interest,  like  a  doctor.  If  Cazell  was 
here,  he'd  tell  her  "  what  she  ought  to  do."'  While  she  is 
talking  I  can't  help  remembering  that  I  have  always  heard 
what  expectations  I  have  from  my  Aunt.  Friends  have 
joked  me  about  it.  Many  have  said  they  envy  me.  Ever}-- 
one  seems  to  know  what  a  lucky  dog  I  am  going  to  be 
except  myself.  She  continues  her  list  of  maladies,  she 
shakes  her  head  mournfully,  says  she's  getting  an  old  woman 
now. 

/IapJ>}'  TJiought.—  '^2.y  politely,  "  Oh  no." 

Feel  that  she  must  see  through  this.  If  she  sets  me  down 
as  a  humbug,  it  will  ruin  my  chance.  Yet  I  can't  sit,  as  it 
were,  gloating  over  my  victim  like  a  Vampire.  Feel  inclined 
to  say  solemnly,  "  Well,  Aunt,  we  must  all  come  to  an 
end  "  (substituting  this  expression  for  "  die  "  which  had  first 
occurred  to  me)  "  sooner  or  later."  Should  have  been 
obliged  to  say  this,  if  she  hadn't  turned  the  conversation  to 
my  wife  and  baby. 

Happy  TJiought. — To  answer,  "They're  longing  to  come 
and  call  on  you,  but  have  been  so  unwell." 


120  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

Partly  truth — partly  fiction.  They  have  been  unwell,  but  I 
neve)-  can  get  Fridoline  to  call  on  my  Aunt.  She  says,  "  It's 
such  a  horrible  idea  to  go  and  see,  not  how  people  are  getting 
on,  but  getting  off,  when  they're  going  to  leave  you  money." 
The  discussion  has  never  ended  pleasantly.  I  can't  help 
feeling  that  my  wife  is  honest,  but  impolitic  ;  so  I  put  it  to 
her  reasonably,  and  she  retorts  that  I  want  her  to  be  a 
hypocrite.  It  is  so  difficult  to  explain  to  a  woman  the 
difference  between  policy  and  hypocrisy.  She  won't  go,  so  / 
have  to  call.  I  own  to  feeling  (as  I  have  said)  like  a  \'ampire 
myself     Perhaps  it's  as  well  as  it  is. 

Happy  Tlwiight. — One  Vampire's  enough  in  a  family. 

Interview  over,  glad  of  it.  My  Uncle,  who  has  not  joined 
in  the  conversation,  except  by  groaning  at  intervals,  mutters, 
"  Good-bye,  won't  see  me  again."  I  really  could  cry  if  it 
wasn't  for  my  Aunt,  who,  having  rung  for  Mussels  to  open 
the  door,  is  now  saying  good-bye  to  me,  and  remarking  quite 
cheerfully,  "  Your  Uncle  is  very  well,  only  if  he  luill  make 
stupid  mistakes"  (with  such  a  look  at  the  poor  old 
gentleman,  who  groans)  "  he  can't  expect  to  be  well.  Good- 
bye." 

On  inquir}-,  I  ascertain  from  Mussels  that  the  "stupid 
mistake  "  my  Uncle  had  made  was  in  drinking  his  lotion  and 
rubbing  in  his  mixture.  As  my  Aunt  said,  of  course  he 
couldn't  expect  to  be  well. 

Happy  Thought. — Good-bye,  iSIr.  INIussels 

Always  be  polite  to  the  Butler.   Recollect  Mussels  years  ago 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  121 

when  I  used  to  look  at  picture-books  in  the  pantry  ;  at  least, 
I  think  I  do,  or  another  butler,  just  like  him.  ]Mr.  Mussels 
asks  civilly  after  my  wife  and  family.  I  return  thanks  (to 
Mussels)  for  them,  and  add  playfully  that  ''  the  family  "  has 
the  rash. 

Happy  Thought. —  Return  compliment,  "  Mrs.  Mussels 
quite  well  ? " 

Wish  I  hadn't.  Mussels  has  been  a  widower  for  five  years. 
Don't  know  what  to  say  to  this.  Not  the  place  for  a  repartee  : 
opportunity  for  consolation.  The  only  consolation  I  can 
think  of  at  the  moment  is,  "Well,  never  mind,"  with  the 
addition  of  what  I  wanted  to  have  said  up-stairs  about  '•  We 
must  all  be  buried  sooner  or  later."  Pause  on  the  top  step, 
fumble  Avith  umbrella,  feel  that  on  the  whole  nothing  can  be 
said  except  "  Dear  me  ! "  and  walk  into  the  street  abstractedly. 
Door  shut.  I  (as  it  were)  breathe  again.  Re-action.  Walk 
cheerfully  to  the  Doctors. 

Wonder  what  his  opinion  will  be.  Shall  tell  him  that  friends 
(really  Cazell)  have  advised  me  to  go  abroad  for  the  benefit 
of  my  health. 

Happy  Thought. — Nothing  the  matter  with  me  except, 
perhaps,  a  little  rheumatism.  However,  just  as  well  to  see  a 
doctor. 

"  Prevention  better  than  cure,"  sensible  saying  that,  and  I 
shall  be  able  to  finish  off  several  volumes  of  Typ.  Devel.  at 
Aix  (a  very  quiet  place,  I  am  told),  and  astonish  Popgood  and 
GrooUv. 


122  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

Happy  Thought. — Before  I  go  to  Doctors,  wrap  up  the  fee 
carefully  in  a  piece  of  paper,  and  put  it  in  a  pocket  by  itself. 
Watch  in  one  pocket ;  fee  in  the  other.    Then  you  can  get  at 

it  at  once,  and  give  it  with  a  sort  of  grace. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

DR.  PILZEN'S — WAITING— MYSTERY — MY  EYE — FEE  SIMPLE 
—  THE  PAS— HOMCEOPATHY  — ALLOPATHY  —  HOLE  IN 
POCKET— THE  CONJURING  TRICK — MANUAL— INYITA- 
TION. 


T  the  Doctors. —  Door  is  opened  immediateh 
by  a  most  respectable  gentleman  (it  isn't  the 
Doctor  of  course)  who  shows  me  at  once  into  a 
room,  and  somehow  manages  to  show  somebody 
else  out  at  the  front  door  at  the  same  time.  And  yet  he 
doesn't  seem  to  move.     Odd  and  spectral. 

Ill  the  Waiti7ig-rooin. —  Several  people  waiting,  like  wax- 
works at  Madame  Tussaud's,  only  they're  sitting  instead  ol 
standing.  Some  look  up,  with  one  movement  of  the  head,  at 
me  on  my  entrance,  and  then  with  what  they  call  in 
machinery  "  a  reverse  action,"  look  down  again.  {Query. 
Do  they  call  it  "  Reverse  action .? "  A'ote.)  There  are  three 
doors  to  the  room  :  one  by  which  I  entered ;  from  one  of 
the  other  two  the  Doctor  will  appear,  or  we  shall  go  to  him. 
Which  ? 

Happy  Thought. — Sit  as  near  the  middle  as  possible,  by 
table. 


124  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

Door  on  my  right  opens.  Doctor  looks  in,  says  nothing, 
takes  away  an  elderly  lady.  Wonder  what's  the  matter  ■with 
her  ?  Open  a  volume  of  Punch,  commence  looking  at  the 
pictures  vaguely.  Door  opens  again.  Can't  be  my  turn  ? 
Xo.  Doctor  takes  off  a  middle-aged  man  with  his  arm  in  a 
sling.  Wonder  what's  the  matter  with  Jiitn  ?  Rather  expect 
to  hear  cries  and  screams  in  the  distance :  everything 
mysteriously  quiet.  We  are  fetched,  one  after  another,  like 
victims  for  the  guillotine.  (I  make  notes  while  I  am  sitting 
here.  Xotc.  Was  it  for  the  guillotine  where  the  victims  sat 
all  in  a  room  and  were  called  out  one  after  the  other  .'*  or  was 
it  something  in  Japan?  Look  it  up  when  I  get  home.) 
Open  another  volume  of  Punch.  Doctor  wants  somebody 
else. 

Happy  Thought.— My  turn. 

No.  Old  lady  and  her  companion  (evidently  a  com- 
panion"; have  been  waiting  there  nearly  an  hour. 

Happy  Thought. — To  \.r\  and  catch  the  Doctor's  eye  next 
time  he  looks  in. 

Throw  into  ;;;/  eye  an  expression  which  will  say  to  him. 
*•'  Never  mind  these  people,  let  me  come  ;  I'm  worth  your 
trouble.  Can't  waste  time  like  they  can,  being  engaged  on  a 
great  work,  Typical  Developyneiits'^ 

Doctor  looks  in  again.  Arranged  my  eye  :  not  quickly 
enough,  as  I  didn't  catch  his.  A  gentleman  and  a  little  boy 
disappear  into  the  sanctum.  I  open  another  volume  of 
Punch.     During  the  morning  I  read  five  volumes  of  Punch, 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  125 

and  for  an  hour  and  a  half  I  am  perpetually  attempting  to 
catch  the  Doctor's  eye. 

Doctor  looks  in  for  the  twentieth  time  (I  count  them,  and 
also  keep  on  looking  at  my  watch,  with  a  sort  of  idea  that  if 
the  people  see  me  doing  this  they'll  say  to  themselves,  "  He's 
a  man  of  business,  got  appointments,  wants  to  be  off;  let 
him  go  first.") 

Happy  Thought. — Feel  if  my  fee  is  ail  right  in  waistcoat 
pocket. 

It  is.  Arrange  a  little  dram^a  with  myself  as  to  ho-cU  111 
give  the  fee.  Let  the  Doctor  see  it,  then,  when  he's  not 
looking,  place  it  on  the  mantel-piece  ;  sort  of  conjuring  trick. 
When  I'm  gone  he'll  say,  "Where's  he  put  the  fee?"'  Joy 
on  discovering  it.     End  of  drama,  and  enter  another  patient. 

Happy  Thought. — Twenty-first  appearance  of  Doctors 
head  at  door.     Jump  up — at  him. 

I  hear  a  rustle  behind  me  of  several  people,  and  a  mur- 
mur. Tall  lady  in  black  is  by  my  side,  in  a  second,  protest- 
ing. I  give  in.  Tall  lady  retires  with  Doctor.  Feel  I've 
done  something  rude.  Never  mind,  show  I'm  not  to  be 
trifled  with.     I  take  a  seat,  defiantly  now,  near  the  door 

Happy  Thought. — Xext  turn  must  be  mine. 

Twenty-sccojid  appearance  of  Doctors  head.  My  turn? 
Doctor  speaks  this  time  ;  most  politely,  "  my  turn  next,''  he 
says  ;  "  this  gentleman "  (indicating  a  short  stout  man  with 
a  florid  face  and  a  carpet-bag  in  his  hand)  ''has,  I  think, 


126  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

the  pasT     I  bow,  not  to  the  carpet-bag  invahd,  but  to  the 
Doctor. 

Twenty-third  appearance  of  Doctor,  and  disappearance  of 
Myself.  Interview.  Yes,  decidedly  go  abroad.  Take  baths 
and  waters,  and  get  the  incipient  gout  out  of  me.  I  am 
quite  right  (Doctor  says) — prevention  is  better  than  cure.  He 
won't  give  me  a  prescription,  but  an  introduction  to  a  Doctor 
at  the  watering-place,  which  he  dashes  off  there  and  then. 

Happy  Thought. — Pick  up  some  medical  notes  for  physio- 
logical portion  of  Typ.  Devel. 

Commence  a  discussion  with  him  on  Homoeopathic 
theories  as  applied  in  Allopathic  practice.  Would  it  not, 
I  say,  in  some  cases  be  allowable.^  He  replies,  "  Undoubt- 
edly," and  seals  up  the  letter.  (He  evidently  feels  he  has  no 
ordinary  patient  to  deal  with.  I  can  presently  introduce 
Typical  Developments  to  him  :  he'll  be  interested.) 

Happy  Thought. — To  dravs-  him  out. 

The  science  of  medicine,  I  observe,  is  in  a  state  of  change. 
The  old  practice  I  suppose  (1  add)  requires  readaptation  to 
the  increasing  knowledge  of  the  present  day. 

Doctor  replies,  courteously,  "Just  so,"'  and  opens  the  door. 
]\Iost  annoying,  the  fee  has  got  out  of  the  paper — or,  where 
the  deuce  has  it  gone  .''  Awkward  to  be  fumbling  for  fees, 
while  the  Doctor  holds  the  door  open.  Can't  say  anything 
funny,  or  scientific.  I  have  got  the  sum  in  half  a  sovereign 
and  silver  in  my  trousers  pocket,  but  that's  mixed  up  with 
coppers  and  keys  ;  and  I  have  got  studs  in  my  other  pocket 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  127 

to  be  mended.  {Happy  Jhouglit. — Everything  in  separate 
pockets  :  have  always  intended  to  tell  the  tailor  this.} — I 
must  have  lost  the  fee. 

Happy  Thought. — Xo  I  feel  it  just  over  my  hip  bone. 

Hole  in  pocket;  slipped  through  and  got  round  into 
lining.  Tear,  recklessly,  the  pocket  lining,  and  catch  the 
fee.  Might  make  some  jocund  remark  about  '•  Catching  a 
fee." 

Doctor  smiles  courteously,  but  appears  pre-occupied.  I 
can't  do  the  trick  I  had  arranged  about  placing  the  fee  on 
the  mantelpiece,  as  he  is  looking.  On  the  table,  or  in  his 
hand  } 

Happy  Thought. — On  the  table. 

Am  just  about  to  do  it,  when  it  strikes  me,  being  in  white 
paper,  it  looks  too  staring. 

Happy  Thought. — Pass  it  into  my  other  hand  (by  a  sort  of 
legerdemain)  and  when  saying  good  bye,  press  it  on  him, 
secretly,  as  much  as  to  say,  "  Don't  tell  anybody." 

Do  it.     Good  bye,  and  leave. 

As  I  walk  along  the  street. — Wish  I  hadnH  done  it  in  this 
manner  :  bad  taste.  I  should  like  to  have  done  it  in  a  less 
underhand  way.  For  instance,  to  have  said,  jovially,  ''Here I 
what's  this  !'■'  holding  up  fee,  "  There,  take  that,  you  rascal,'" 
playfully,  and  adding,  "  I'm  very  much  obliged  for  your 
advice.  Bless  you,  good  bye,  my  boy,"  and  so  go  out 
whistling. 


123  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

Happy  Thought. — To  my  Handbook  of  Repartees  will  add 
Conversations  and  Interviews. 

Odd.  just  as  I've  thought  of  this,  I  find  myself  in  front  of  a 
Booksellers  shop.  In  the  window  is  a  red-book,  Manual  of 
Conversatio7is  in  French.  English,  German,  and  Italian. 

Happy  Thought. — Buy  it.  Most  useful.  And  can  work 
up  my  own  from  it  when  travelling. 

Full  of  the  idea.  When  I  am  full  of  an  idea,  I  should  like 
to  dash  it  off  in  the  street.  If  we  lived  in  a  literar}-  age,  and 
in  a  literan--  town,  there  might  be  writing-desks,  with  pens 
and  ink  chained  to  them  (as  they  did  with  the  Bibles  in  the 
Parish  Churches),  at  the  comer  of  the  streets.  Enter.  Pay 
a  halfpenny.  Write  down  idea,  stop  and  develope  it  if  you 
like  ;  then  go  on  again.  If  another  idea  strikes  you  on  the 
same  walk,  another  halfpenny  will,  as  it  were,  register  it 
there  and  then. 

Go  to  Willis's.  Pack  up.  Say  good  bye  to  Rawlinson. 
Milburd  has  just  been  there.  A  card.  "  If  you'll  dine  with  me 
and  Chilvern  ches  club,  Cazell  and  another  fellow  coming, 
we'll  all  go  together  to  Antwerp  by  boat  to-morrow." 

Happy  Thought. — Will  dine  with  Milburd. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

THE  DINNER  PARTY — GUESTS  —  MESMERISM  —  ELDERLY 
AND  HEARTY  STRANGER — A  PUZZLE — A  MISTAKE — 
NOTE  ON  SMILING— CAPTAIN  DYNGWELL— DRAWINGS 
OUT — FIRST   COURSE. 

HEX  I  go  in,  Milburd's  guests  are  waiting  for 
their  host.  Cazell  is  there,  and  three  other 
men  in  evening  dress.  Cazell  knows  one  of 
them,  but  doesn't  introduce  me  to  him.  We 
evidently,  more  or  less,  consider  one  another  as  intruders. 


Happy  Thought. — To  say  it's  been  a  nice  day. 

Some  one  (elderly  gentleman  with  yellow  grey  whiskers) 
says  he  doesn't  think  so,  "  but  perhaps,"  he  adds,  sarcastic- 
ally, "  you  like  rain."  Forgot  it  had  been  raining.  Should 
like  (only  he's  my  senior)  to  inform  him  that  my  observation 
was  only  thrown  out  to  give  the  conversation  a  start.  Pause. 
Cazell  who  tnight  talk  to  two  of  us,  doesn't.  The  third  is  a 
gentleman  with  tight  waist,  long  legs,  and  a  glass  in  his  eye. 
He  manages  to  pass  the  time,  apparently,  by  stretching  out 
his  legs  as  far  as  he  can  away  from  him,  smoothing  them 
down  with  both  hands,  and  rejarding  them  critically  through 


I30  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

his  eye-glass.  We  are  all  drawn  towards  him.  His  smooth- 
ing his  legs  has  evidently  a  mesmeric  effect  upon  us,  and  we 
all,  at  least  so  it  seems  to  me,  begin  to  take  a  silent  but 
intense  interest  in  his  legs.  If  we  were  left  there  two  hours, 
he  would  probably  become  mesmerically  mechanical  in  his 
movement,  and  we  should  all  be  fixed  staring  at  him  in  our 
chairs,  unable  to  move,  with  mesmerised  legs.  {Xote,  Not 
to  forget  Mesmerism,  under  M,  in  Typ.  Devel.^  vol.  vi.)  An- 
other old  gentleman  is  shown  in  by  the  waiter.  He  is  portly 
and  enters  genially,  with  his  hand  out  ready  to  grasp  Mil- 
burd"s.    I  can't  help  pitying  him  when  he  doesn't  see  Milburd. 

Happy  Thought. — Respect  age — rise.  Old  fashion  and 
good. 

The  old  gentleman  seizes  me  by  the  hand.  So  glad  to  see 
me  again.  '•  Capital,"'  he  says,  "  not  met  for  an  age."  I 
answer  that  I  am  delighted  to  meet  him.  Wonder  to  myself 
where  I've  seen  him  before  :  puzzle,  give  it  up. 

"Well,"'  he  says,  "all  well  at  home?"'  I  answer,  ''Only 
pretty  well."'     He  is  sorry  to  hear  it. 

Happy  Thought. — To  ask  him  if  he's  all  well  at  home. 

"Yes,"  he  says  he  is,  '•  though  Milly  isn't,"  he  adds,  "quite 
so  well  as  she  might  be.'"'  I  reply,  '"  Indeed,"  thoughtfully, 
for  as  I  don"t  know  how  well  Milly  might  be  if  she  tried,  nor 
who  Milly  is,  I  fancy  that  there  must  be  a  mistake.  Still  if 
I  ought  to  know  him,  to  tell  him  that  I  haven't  an  idea  who 
he  is,  would  be  rude — specially  from  a  young  man  to  his 
senior.     Man  with  eve-c;^las5,  in  meantime,  has  lowered  him- 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  131 

self  in  easy  chair,  and  is  stretching  out,  complacently,  farther 
than  ever.  {Note.  Silent  G}Tnnastics.)  He  is  still  criticising 
his  legs  favourably,  and  varying  his  movements  by  pulling 
up  his  wristbands,  which  are  very  wide,  long,  and  come  up 
to  his  knuckles. 

Old  gentleman  suddenly  puts  his  hand  in  his  pocket  and 
says  to  me,  "  Oh,  that  reminds  me,  you  didn't  hear  from 
Martin,  did  you?''  A  dilemma  for  me.  Of  course  I  don't 
know  Jiis  Martin.  Shall  I  say,  simply  to  make  a  conversa- 
tion, "Yes  or  No'  ? 

Happy  Thought.— Sdij  the  truth.     '•  No." 

"  Ha  !  ■'  he  exclaims,  "  then  I  must  settle  with  you.  How 
much  am  I  in  your  debt  .^  "  This  is  awkward.  It's  difficult 
at  this  moment  to  tell  him  that  I  never  saw  him  before  in  all 
my  life,  but  I  am  certain  of  it.  If  I  had  any  doubt  of  it,  his 
recollecting  a  debt  to  me  would  put  it  beyond  question,  as  I 
shouldn't  have  lent  him  anything. 

"Well  ?  "  he  asks,  pausing  with  his  purse  in  his  hand. 

Happy  Thought. — Tell  the  truth  again. 

I  commence,  "  The  fact  is " 

Milburd  enters.  He  oughtn't  to  leave  his  guests.  "  Ha  ! 
Commodore  ! "  he  says  to  the  old  gentleman,  "  I'm  glad  to 
see  you're  acquainted." 

I  explain  at  once  that  we're  not  ;  and  he,  putting  on  his 
spectacles,  for  the  first  time,  (without  which  the  aged  mariner 
is  it  appears  as  blind  as  a  bat)  discovers  that  he  has  taken 
me  for  Milburd. 

K   2 


132  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

Happy  Thought. — Aged  mariner.  Wish  I  could  recollect 
a  quotation.  Ought  to  have  something  about  an  albatross  at 
my  fingers'  ends. 

After  this,  Introductions  :  myself  to  Commodore  Brumsby, 
Chilvern  to  me,  we  are  to  be  travelling  companions,  Milburd 
says  ;  whereupon  Chilvern  and  myself  both  smile  vaguely  at 
each  other,  as  if  such  a  notion  was  too  preposterous  or 
absurd.  After  all,  if  smiling  means  nothing  (when  done  in 
this  way),  it's  better  than  frowning.  [X.B.  Make  a  note  in 
pocket-book  to  effect  that  under  A  might  come  important 
article  on  Amenities.]  After  this,  myself  to  Captain  Dyng- 
well,  who  has  risen,  and  on  being  introduced  screws  up  his 
glass  into  one  eye,  his  forehead  dovrn  on  to  his  glass,  and  his 
mouth  up  on  one  side,  as  if  undecided  whether  to  scowl,  or 
receive  me  pleasantly.  He  murmurs  something  to  himself 
(for  me  to  take  up  if  I  like)  about  something's  being  "  doosid 
funny,"  and  tries  to  pull  himself  out  of  his  coat  by  tugging 
at  his  wristbands.  Standing  on  the  rug  and  stretching  the 
right  hand  out  with  a  jerk,  he  catches  the  elderly  gentle- 
man Avith  sandy  grey  whiskers  just  behind  the  ear.  Mil- 
burd, with  admirable  presence  of  mind,  introduces  them  at 
once. 

"  Sir  Peter  Groganal,  Captain  Dyngwell.'^  They  bow 
-politely,  and  the  Captain  is  understood  to  apologise,  but  as 
he  is  struck  by  something's  being  "  doosid  funny,"  the  con- 
versation with  him,  beyond  this  point,  doesn't  progress.  It 
appears,  subsequently,  that  the  circumstance  of  Commodore 
Brumsby's  having  mistaken  me  for  Milburd,  has  struck  the 
Captain  as  "  doosid  funny  ; "'  in  fact,  so  utterly  and  out  of  all 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 


133 


comparison  droll  has  this  appeared  to  the  light-hearted 
soldier,  that  he  is  perpetually  recurring  to  the  circumstance 
throughout  the  evening. 

"  Sir  Peter  Groganal,"' whispers  r^Iilburd  to  me,  "is  a  great 
chemist :  you'll  like  him  :  you  must  draw  him  out."  I  say 
"  I  will,"  but  I  don't  quite  see  my  way  to  drawing  out  a  great 
chemist. 

Happy  Thought. — yTanuals  for  the  Drcssi/ig-table.  Draw- 
ing-out Questions  for  various  professors,  A.  How  to  draw 
out  an  Artist,  &c.,  say,  generally,  "  Are  you  hard  at  work 
now  ?  "  (then  he'll  tell  you,  how  hard  ;  what  at ;  why  ;  what 
next ;  what  he  thinks  of  other  Artists  ;  what  other  Artists 
think  of  him,  (Sic,  &c.  ;  of  ancient  art  ;  of  old  masters,  &c.) 

B.  How  to  draw  out  a  Bishop.  "  Your  Lordship  must  be 
very  much  over\vorked  .^  "  No  ?  '•'  Well,  it's  not  large  pay  1  '^ 
This  raises  interesting  subjects,  ''  Bishops'  Income,  Church 
Property,    Establishment,    Simony,    Lay-impropriation,    &c. 

C.  Chemist.  How  to  draw  out  Chemist  ?  Question.  "  Now 
should  yoii  say," — put  this  as  if  you  wouldn't  or  he  won't  be 
interested  ;  great  secret  this,  interest  your  man,  '■'  Should _y<7// 
say  that  Carbolic  acid  gas  acting  on  the,"  &c.,  &c.  O, 
course,  it  is  necessary  in  scientific  questions,  in  order  to 
obtain  information,  to  master  up  to  a  certain  point  the  ?'udt- 
ments.  Thus  you  must  be  sure  of  its  being  ''  Carbolic  "  not 
"  Carbonic  ;"  acid  gas,  not  "  acid  in  gas  ;  "  also,  as  to  whether 
it  "  does  act  on  the,"  &c.,  Sec. — whatever  it  may  be,  just  to 
start  it,  because  there'd  be  an  end  to  all  conversation  if  A  or 
B  or  C  replied,  "  No,   Sir,  such  a  case   couldn't   possibly. 


134  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

happen  ;  a  r////^  wouldn't  ask  so  foolish  a  question  as  _;'^//rj'.''' 
Only,  of  course,  if  he  did  S2i\  this  he'd  be  a  bear,  and  people 
would  get  tired  of  asking  him  out.  I  am  so  convinced  of  the 
utility  of  this  Manual  that  before  I  go  to  bed  to-night  I  make 
notes  for  its  commencement.  I'm  afraid  I'm  getting  too 
many  irons  in  my  literar}-  fire. 

Milburd  really  has  mixed  us  well.  There's  a  military-  man 
Captain  Dyngwell,  there's  Chilvem  an  architect,  then  Com- 
modore Brumsby,  R.X.,  a  great  traveller,  Sir  Peter  Groganal, 
a  tremendous  chemist.  Cazell  who  will  tell  ever5-one  ''  what 
he  ought  to  do/*'  and  I  hope  get  well  set  down,  Milburd  for 
funniments  seasoned  by  the  courtesies  of  a  host,  and  myself, 
as  a  representative,  to  a  certain  extent,  of  Literature. 

Happy  Thought. — To  ask  Milburd  in  a  whisper,  as  we  go 
in  to  dinner,  "  What  u  a  Commodore  ?  "  Milburd  returns, 
also  in  a  whisper,  '•  Don't  know." 

We  all  sit  diown  :  Captain  Dyngwell,  stretching  out  both 
his  %\Tistbands  over  the  table  as  if  he  were  imparting  a  fashion- 
able sort  of  blessing  to  the  knives,  forks,  glasses  and  napkins. 
Will  I  face  Milburd  ?     With  pleasure,  if  he  wishes  it  ;  but 

won't ?     "'  No,  no,"  says  Commodore  Brumsby,  "  Young 

"uns  do  the  work."  Sir  Peter  says,  gravely,  ■•'  Yes,  Sir,  you 
can  experimentalise."  We  are  arranged.  Milburd  at  the 
head  :  myself,  his  vh-a-vis :  on  my  right  the  Commodore, 
on  my  left  the  Chemist,  Captain  and  Chilvem  vis-a-vis  one 
another,  and  there  we  are.  Excellent  number,  eight,  Cazell 
is  on  IVIilburd's  right,  and  there's  an  empty  place  for  a  man 
who  ought  to  have  been  there  but  isn't.     None  of  us  care 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  135 

one  dump  whether  he  comes  or  not.  No  one  knows  him  : 
he's  a  barrister,  "  very  rising  man,"  says  Milburd,  whereat 
one  or  two  of  us  observe,  ''  Indeed  ?  is  he  .'' "  and  go  on  with 
our  soup. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

ON  DINNER  COMPANY — START  OF  CONVERSATION— CAP- 
TAIN DYNGWELL— THE  MOZAMBIQUE— IGNORANCE — 
ANCIENT  MARINER — ABSTRACT  RIGHT— TWO  THINGS 
AT   ONCE — DINNER   ARGUMENT. 


f,  ILBURD  manages  to  mix  his  company  well 
S,  for  a  dinner.  Thinking  over  it  next  day  when 
ji  on  board  the  packet  for  Antwerp,  how  much 
ij  better  it  is  when  you  give  a  dinner,  to  have 


one  Chemist  (for  example),  one  Cavalry  Officer,  one  Archi- 
tect, one  General  Conversationalist  (almost  a  profession  in 
itself),  one  Barrister,  one  Commodore,  one  Literar}-,  and  one 
Funny  (but  not  foo  funny)  man, — I  say,  how  7nuc/i  better  it 
is  to  give  a  dinner  of  this  sort,  than  of  all  Architects,  all 
Chemists,  or  all  Commodores,  or  all  Funny  men  as  the  case 
may  be. 

Sir  Peter  Groganal  the  Chemist  remarks  as  a  starting 
point,  that  it's  excellent  soup.  This  sets  every  one  off.  I 
don't  know  why.  Captain  Dyngwell  pulls  up  his  shirt- 
sleeves sharply,  nearly  knocking  over  the  water-bottle  in 
front  of  him,  and  says,  "Yes,  hang  it,  they  don't  give  Aim 
that  soup  at  the  Rag.''     Catching  my  eye,  he  suppresses  a 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  137 

laugh,  and  murmurs,  •'  Doosid  ridiculous."  I  ask  him  across 
the  table  ''  What  is  ?  "  He  answers  by  leaning  a  little  back, 
winking  his  disengaged  eye,  jerking  his  head  in  the  Commo- 
dore's direction,  and  saying,  not  too  loud,  "Mistaking  you 

for ''      Another    jerk,    and    a    wink    towards    Milburd. 

Whenever  the  Captain  alludes  to  this  ludicrous  incident 
henceforth,  this  is  the  method  he  adopts.  He  then  chuckles, 
pulls  up  his  wristband,  drops  his  eye-glass,  searches  for  it 
with  the  other  eye,  replaces  it,  looks  defiantly  round,  ready 
either  to  smile  or  scowl,  and  suddenly  dives  down  at  his 
plate  of  whatever-it-is  at  the  moment. 

Sir  Peter  Groganal  the  Chemist  takes  us,  via  soup,  into 
various  questions  of  adulteration.  At  this  point  Cazell  tells 
us  what  we  ought  to  do,  and  Chilvern  the  Architect  takes 
that  opportunity  of  recounting  an  instance  in  point  when  he 
did  what  he  ought  to  have  done,  but  without  effect ;  the 
anecdote  being  introduced  for  the  sake  of  letting  us  know 
that  he  had  once  tenders  and  contracts  (or  sent  in  tenders 
and  received  contracts,  or  whatever  it  was),  with  Messrs. 
Ferry,  Rust,  and  Co.,  the  great  iron-merchants.  This  brings 
out  the  Commodore,  who,  remembers  having  seen  their  name 
somewhere,  when  he  was  in  the  Mosafubique,  which  in  turn 
brings  me  out. 

Happy  Thought. — Ask  him  about  the  Mozambique. 

What  I  should  really  like  to  do  at  this  moment  is,  to 
request  him  to  draw  a  map  showing  me  exactly  ivhere  the 
Mozambique  is  situated  ;  and,  while  he's  about  it,  what  the 
Moza7nbique  7-eally  is. 


138  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

I  thought  up  to  this  moment  it  was  an  island  ;  now  as  he 
begins  talking,  I  fancy  it  must  be  a  Bay  or  a  Gulf. 

Really  when  one  considers  these  ever}--day  matters  (after- 
wards and  in  cold  blood, — that  is  over  an  atlas  quietly  in  my 
own  room,  before  I  go  to  bed),  it  is  astonishing  how  little 
one  knows  about  them.  Milburd,  who  as  host  ought  not  to 
say  anj-thing  rude,  hearing  our  conversation,  asks  me,  as  if  it 
were  a  riddle — 

"What's  the  Mozambique  ?     Do  you  give  it  up  ?" 

I  nod  and  laugh,  as  if,  of  course,  it  was  too  absurd  not  to 
know  what  the  Mozambique  is.  I  feel  that  ^vlilburd  sees 
through  me,  and  am  a  little  uncomfortable,  as  he  doesn't 
mind  what  he  says. 

Happy  Thought. — Perhaps  Milburd  doesn't  know  any 
more  about  it  than  I  do. 

Happy  Thought.— 'Discoy^Y  what  the  Mozainbique  is 
(whether  a  Gulf,  or  a  Bay,  or  an  Island)  from  the  Commo- 
dore's conversation. 

Wish  I  hadn't  devoted  myself  to  the  Commodore.  He 
doesn't  tell  me  anything  particularly  distinctive  about 
Mozambique;  but  his  stor}'  commences  with  something 
about  "headwinds  on  a  forecassel  and  furhng  sails  after 
soundings."  The  mention  of  "porpoises"  seems  to  put  me, 
as  it  were,  at  home  again  ;  but  from  these  he  gets  into  reefs, 
shoals,  deep  waters,  watches,  yardarms,  and  going  aloft,  and 
evidently  hasn't  got  a  quarter  through  his  story  whatever 
it  is. 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  139 

HapPy  Thoyghf. —  He  holds  me,  the  guest,  like  the  Ancient 
Mariner.  Should  like  to  ask  him  about  albatrosses.  He 
Avouldn't  see  the  joke,  or  perhaps,  know  the  allusion.  Be- 
sides it  would  prolong  his  story.  I  listen  respectfully.  The 
worst  of  it  is,  that  in  the  meantime  a  controversy  has  got  up 
between  Sir  Peter  Groganal,  Chilvern,  and  Slingsby  the 
Barrister  (who  has  just  come  in,  apologised  for  being  late, 
and  plunged  into  dinner  and  conversation  as  if  he'd  been 
there  the  whole  time),  which  really  does  interest  me.  It  is  on 
the  Existence  of  Abstract  Right. 

They  are  playing  at  a  sort  of  dummy  whist  with  this  con- 
troversy ;  that  is,  Slingsby  and  Chilvern  are  on  one  side. 
and  Sir  Peter  on  the  other.  I  hear  every  word  they  say. 
and  am  deeply  interested.  Should  like  to  cut  in  and  make  a 
fourth,  but  can't,  because  I  am  bound  to  listen  to  the  Com- 
modore, who  is  still  beating  about  Mozambique  in  headwinds. 
He  is  telling  me  something  about  the  maladministration 
of  naval  affairs  by  the  Admiralty,  illustrating  it  with  an 
argument  just  as  Slingsby  is  asserting  confidently  that 
there  is  no  such  thing  as  Abstract  Right. 

Happy  Thought. — To  say  to  the  Commodore,  '•  Yes,  it 
wants  reform,"  and  turn  at  once,  without  giving  him  an 
opportunity  of  dragging  me  into  his  nautical  conversation 
again,  to  Slingsby,  asserting  the  existence  of  Abstract  Right. 
(I  Vol  Typ.  Develop.) 

The  Commodore  won't  give  me  a  chance  ;  I  am  waiting 
for  even  a  semicolon  in  his  conversation  ;  but  he  continues, 
"Now  I'll  just  give  you  a  case  in  point,  and  you'll  say" — 


I40  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

then  oft  he  goes  into  something  about  a  Lieutenant  who 
had  been  twenty  years  in  the  service,  and  had  never  got 
away  from  Malta,  or  something  to  that  effect  ;  while  in  the 
meantime  I  hear  Slingsby  laying  down  most  outrageous 
laws  with  regard  to  his  proposition,  which  I  consider  false 
in  itself. 

Happy  Thought. — While  the  Commodore  is  in  the  middle 
of  some  Admiralty  grievance  to  turn  a  little  aside  towards 
Slingsby,  smile,  and  shake  my  head,  as  much  as  to  say, 
"No,  that  wont  do,  you  know;"  look  round  at  the  Com- 
modore immediately  afterwards,  and  say,  blandly,  "  Yes, 
of  course  it  was  very  hard,'"'  a  propos  of  his  story,  show- 
ing that  I  can  listen  to  two  things  at  once.  IMilburd  takes 
off  the  Commodore's  attention  for  a  second,  and  I  join 
in  with  Sir  Peter  the  Chemist,  against  Slingsby  and 
Chilvern. 

I  like  a  thorough  philosophical  discussion.  We  all  get 
ver\'  warm  over  it.  Chilvern  objects  to  the  introduction  of 
theolog}-,  and  Sir  Peter  says  '•'  Quite  so."  Slingsby  denies, 
for  the  fourth  tim^e  in  my  hearing,  the  existence  of  Abstract 
Right,  and  at  it  we  go  again. 

I  say,  "There  7}iust  be,  in  the  nature  of  things" — here 
Milburd  recommends  some  of  that  pudding,  to  which  I  help 
myself,  talking  all  the  time  (for  in  an  argument  at  dinner,  if 
you  once  stop  talking  even  to  take  pudding,  some  one  will 
take  your  turn  away  from  you.  People  are  so  selfish,  and 
Avant  to  have  it  all  to  themselves).  I  say,  "  There  7m(st  be, 
in  the  nature  of  things,  an  Abstract  Right." 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  141 

"■'  Why?''  asks  Slingsby  the  Barrister. 

"Why?"  I  retort,  "  JV/i_y /—Why,  if— I  don't  quite  see 
what  I  am  going  to  say  ;  but  by  talking  steadily  and  cau- 
tiously, you're  safe  to  come  upon  something  worth  saying,  at 
last  :  besides,  this  is  the  true  method  of  induction,  or  '"  lead- 
ing mto"  a  subject—"  IV/iy,  if  Abstract  Right,"  this  with 
great  emphasis,  ''  did  not  exist,"  pronouncing  each  syllable 
distinctly  (to  gain  time),  ''then  there  would  be  no  Certain 
Criterion'" — (X.B.  Talk  slowly,  and  you'll  always  be  able  to 
get  good  words.; — '■  no  Certain  Criterion  by  which  to  judge  " 
— here  sauce  is  handed  for  the  pudding — "  by  which  to  judge 
the  actions" — here  a  liqueur  is  handed  round — "the  actions 
of  mankind." 

"  Take  a  savage,"  says  Slingsby. 

"  Take  a  glass  of  Chartreuse,"  says  Milburd,  from  his  end 
of  the  table.  We  dismiss  Milburd  with  a  nod  and  a  smile, 
and  go  back  to  work  again  at  Abstract  Right.  Somehow  we 
all  get  very  warm  over  the  subject.  Slingsby  puts  arguments 
forward  which  sound  unanswerable  ;  but  which,  I  am  sure, 
if  I  could  put  them  down  on  paper  and  go  into  them,  are 
simply  preposterously  absurd.  Yet,  at  the  moment  I  can't 
confute  him. 

Happy  Thought. — To  ask  him  if  he's  read  To7nUson  on 
Abstract  Right?  No,  he  has  not.  "Ah,"  I  say,  much 
relieved,  "  then  when  you've  read  that  we'll  talk.  You'll 
find  all  your  arguments  answered  and  confuted  there  over 
and  over  again."  I  must  get  Tomlison's  book  myself:  I 
looked  into  it  once,  at  a  friend's  house. 


142  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

At  this  point  there  is  a  pause. 

''Well,  Captain/'  says  Milburd,  chaffingly  (that's  the 
Avorst  of  him,  never  serious  !)  leaning  over  to  Captain  Dyng- 
well,  who  has  been  silently  attentive  to  the  wine  all  the 
while,  "  what's 7<?«r  opinion  on  the  subject?'"' 

The  Captain  smiles,  and  replies,  "  Eh  ?  Oh,  it  looks  un- 
commonly like  a  universal  tittup."' 

I  never  was  so  much  taken  aback.  ''A  what?  A  uni- 
versal ivhat  ?^^  asks  Sir  Peter. 

'•  Tittup,'""  says  the  Captain. 

"  I  never  heard  that  word  before,"  says  the  Analytical 
Chem.ist,  seriously. 

"No?"  returns  the  Captain,  carelessly.  From  this  mo- 
ment the  Captain  is  an  object  of  attraction.  It  appears  that 
he  has  quite  a  vocabulary  of  his  own.  The  interest  I  have 
in  him  is  beyond  this,  as  he  has  just  come  from  Aix,  and  is 
going  back  again  there  for  the  benefit  of  his  health.  Will 
he,  I  ask,  tell  me  what  sort  of  a  place  it  is  ? 

"  Well,"'"  he  says,  ''  it's  not  much  of  a  place  for  a  tittup. 
There  are  one  or  two  jolly  old  cockalorums  there,  and,  when 
the  season's  on,  you  can  go  on  the  scoop  in  the  way  of  a 
music-caper,  or  a  hop,  and  you  can  get  rid  of  the  stuff  there 
as  well  as  anywhere." 

Happy  Thought. — To  note  these  words  down.  To  take 
him  aside  aftenvards  and  ask  him  for  an  exact  explanation 
of  "  tittup,"  "  cockalorum,"  "  scoop,"  "  music-caper,"  and 
"  stuff."  '•  Stuff,"  I  discover,  he  applies  equally  to  money  or 
liquor  of  any  sort.     He  passes  the  stuff  at  table,  he  "  makes 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  143 

no  end  of  stuff,"  or  ''  loses  no  end  of  stuff  ■'  (the  latter,  gene- 
rally, from  his  own  account),  on  the  Derby. 

He  tells  me  that  he  is  going  back  to  Aix,  to  be  the  '"'perfect 
cure,"  and  "  do  the  regular  tittup  in  Double  Dutch,"  from 
which  I  gather,  when  I  know  him  better,  that  he  is  returning 
for  the  benefit  of  his  health,  and  to  the  study  of  the  German 
language. 

He  kindly  tells  me  he  can  give  me  "the  correct  card  for 
hotels,  put  me  up  to  all  the  little  games,  and  do  the  trick 
without  any  kidd,  no  deception,  no  spring  or  false  bottom, 
my  noble  sportsman."  I  laugh  at  this,  whereupon  he  adds 
(he  has  not  spared  the  wine),  "  That's  your  tip,  Old  Buck  ; 
you  just  screw  on  to  this  light-hearted  soldier,''  meaning 
himself,  ''and  you'll  turn  out  right  end  uppermost,  A  one 
copper-plate.''  Here  he  drinks  off  a  bumper,  and  chuckles 
at  "  Old  Cockalorum,"  meaning  Commodore  Brumsby, 
"  having  mistaken  you  for  Milburd."  This  is  what  he  says, 
"  he  can't  get  over." 

He  adds  presently,  "  I  say,  you  were  nearly  having  a  uni- 
versal tittup  just  now." 

He  alludes  to  our  getting  warm  in  our  discussion  about 
Abstract  Right,  and  simply  means  that  we  should  have 
quarrelled  if  we'd  continued. 

We  go  into  the  smoking-room ;  and  as  Chilvern  and  I  are 
going  by  boat  to-morrow,  we  leave  early.  When  the  party 
breaks  up,  everyone  wishes  he  was  going  with  everyone  else 
abroad  next  day  ;  and  everyone  hopes  in  default  of  that  to 
meet  ever}-one  else,  heartily  and  pleasantly,  but  vaguely,  some- 
where else  at  some  time  or  other.     So  the  evening  finishes. 


I44  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

To-morrow,  away  from  England. 

Happy   Thought. — Write  to   Friddy  before  I  start.     Ask 
her  to  send  newspapers  out  to  me. 


CHAPTER    XX. 

VOYAGING — THE  BARON  OSV — ADMIRAL — FOREBODINGS- 
ADVICES —  DIFFICULTIES — -ADMIRAL'S  BREVITY — GET- 
TING OUT  INTO  THE  OPEN — MORE  FOREBODINGS — 
TITTUPING. 

ERE  we  are  on  board  the  Baj-on  Osy,  for 
Antwerp — Chilvern,  Captain  Dyngwell,  Cazellj 
and  self. 

Lovely  day,  with  occasional  clouds. 


Happy  Thought. — Secure  a  berth.  Each  cabin  holds  two. 
Chilvern  takes  top  berth  ;  I  take  the  bottom  one. 

I  say,  "  Let's  go  up-stairs."  Cazell  corrects  me.  He  says, 
indignantly,  "  You  ought  to  say,  up  the  companion."  He 
talks  to  the  Captain — I  mean  the  Captain  of  the  Baron  Osy. 

Happy  Thought. — Make  friends  with  the  Captain.  To 
distinguish  him  in  my  note-book  from  Captain  D}Tlg^vell, 
put  him  down  as  Captain  Osy,  or  say  Admiral  Osy.  Chil- 
vern thinks  this  a  good  idea,  and  improves  upon  it,  he  says 
by  proposing  to  call  him  to  his  face  "Baron"  Osy.  I  protest, 
as  I  don't  want  to  quarrel  with  the  Admiral  of  the  vessel  at 
starting,  or  even  afterwards.     He  might  make  the  passage 

L 


146  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

uncomfortable  to  us.  He  might  tell  the  man  at  the  wheel 
to  steer  into  waves,  instead  of  over  them,  and  take  every 
opportunity  of  splashing  us.  So  I  go  up  and  talk  to  him. 
He  is  a  foreigner.  Odd  !  a  foreigner  in  command  of  a 
British  ship.  Besides,  I  thought  that  710  foreigners  were 
sailors.  Always  thought,  up  to  this  mom.ent,  that  that's  why 
Nelson  won  all  his  victories — because  foreigners  were  so  ill 
at  sea.  {Note  down  this  now  as  narrow-minded.  Travel 
expands  the  ideas.) 

Admiral  Osy,  in  answer  to  my  question,  answers  that, 
^'He  not  think  anybody  ill  to-day."'  ''Anybody"  means,  in 
my  question,  myself.  Cazell  is  rather  anxious  about  it's 
being  rough  outside.  The  Admiral  doesn't  know  anything 
about  it  outside.  His  opinion  generally  is  that  the  sea  will 
be  like  a  river  to-day,  and  that  we  shall  do  the  whole  trip  in 
seven  hours  less  than  the  usual  time. 

Cazell  immediately  assumes  a  knowledge  of  nautical  affairs 
(my  only  wonder  is  that  he  doesn't  at  once  tell  the  Admiral 
"  what  he  ought  to  do  "),  and  informs  me  confidentially,  "  that 
we  ought  to  have  a  splendid  passage." 

I  say,  "Ah,  it's  all  ven-  well  here,"  in  the  river. 

Captain  Dyngwell,  after  looking  at  the  clouds  through  his 
eye-glass,  gives  it  as  his  opinion,  '•  That  therell  be  no 
end  of  a  tittup  outside."  I  am  inclined  to  agree  with  him 
about  the  "  tittup  "  in  this  instance,  only  I  feel  it  won't  be 
confined  to  ^^  outside^  Cazell  says,  /'You  oughtn't  to  talk 
about  it." 

Perhaps  we  oughtn't,  but  we  all  do,  and  at  once  begin 
comparing  experiences  as  to  bei^ig  unwell. 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  147 

Happy  TJiought. —  Not  to  boast  about  being  what  Captain 
Dyngwell  says  he  is — '•'  Quite  the  sailor,''  but  obsen'e,  mo- 
destly, that,  "  I  don't  exactly  know  ;  sometimes  I'm  all  right, 
sometimes  I'm  all  wrong."  Inwardly  I  sincerely  hope  I  shall 
be  all  right  ;  my  belief  is  that  I  shall  be  all  wrong. 

Cazell  says,  "Lor'  bless  you,  you  can't  be  ill  here;  why 
the  sea  '11  be  like  glass  ;  there  won't  be  any  tossing." 

Chilvern  observes,  "Yes,  that  thafs  what  he  hates — the 
tossing." 

Cazell  tells  him,  "  It's  not  the  tossing  jv//  mean,  you  ought  to 
say  the  '  rolling.'     The  '  roll '  of  the  vessel  makes  you  unwell." 

Chilvern  replies,  that  he  dares  say  it  is.  Conversation 
then  turns  on  preventives.  Chilvern  inclines  towards  filling 
yourself  with  porter  and  chops.  Captain  Dyngwell  says, 
"  A  good  stiff  glass  of  brandy's  the  correct  tittup  "  (every- 
thing's a  tittup  to-day,  with  him),  and  he  adds,  "  go  in  for 
being  quite  the  drunkard." 

None  of  us  think  this  a  good  preventive.  Cazell  says, 
authoritatively,  "  You  ought  to  stay  on  deck  all  the  voyage  ; 
or  if  you  think  there's  a  chance  of  your  being  ill,  then,  while 
you  feel  ^ueU,  go  at  o?ice  to  your  cabin  and  lie  down." 

Happy  Thought. — Go  at  once  to  my  cabin. 

They  all  say,  "  Pooh  1—  no  use  until  you  get  out  to  sea ; " 
and  it  appears  we  shall  be  seven  or  eight  hours  before  we're 
out  of  the  Thames. 

Captain  Dyngwell  says,  "  The  doose  we  shall  !  Why,  I 
thought  we  got  into  the  briny  at  Greenwich."  Greenwich  is 
Ill's  farthest  point  on  the  Thames. 

L   2 


148  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

Happy  ThoicgJit. — Dyng^vell's  England  is  bounded  by 
Greenwich  and  Whitebait. 

Say  this.  Expect  roars  of  laughter.  No  roars.  Cazell 
takes  me  aside  afterwards  and  tells  me,  "You  oughtn't  to 
have  said  that.  You  don't  know  him  well  enough  to  joke 
him,  and  he's  a  tetchy  fellow." 

Happy  Thought. — Lovely  day  ! 

We  glide  along  like — like — anything.  (Am  not  good  at 
similes.)  '•'  Swans  "  won't  do.  as  we're  not  going  like  swans. 
*'  Like  a  nautilus/'  I  propose,  in  conversation.  Captain 
DvTigAvell  thinks  I  might  as  well  say,  '"  like  an  omnibus." 
They  all  laugh,  /don't.  Ser\-e  him  out.  If  he  had  laughed 
at  mine,  I  would  have  at  his.  Chilvem  says,  "  going  along 
like  winking,"  which  seems  to  suit,  and  we  drop  the  subject. 

I  make  another  attempt  at  raising  the  tone  of  conversation 
by  saying,  "  See  how  the  clouds  fleet  above  us  !  it  makes 

one  feel " Dyngwell  cuts  in,  "  There's  nothing  makes  you 

feel  so  mops-and-brooms  as  doing  that." 

Hovr  strange  it  is  !  Here  are  four  fellows  met  together 
under  conditions  for  inspiring  poetical  feelings,  and  not  one 
of  them  can  think  of  any  simile  but  "  winking,"  and  the  other 
says,  that  looking  up  to  heaven,  while  you're  sailing,  makes 
you  feel  all  "  mops-and-brooms." 

Happy  Thought.— CoxTiQ.  down  to  their  level. 

Talk  of  horse-racing,  for  instance,  then  bring  out  news- 
papers and  get  seats.  Very  difficult  to  sit  comfortably  on 
deck  :    manage  it   at  last  on  a  camp-stool.     Chilvern  and 


SIORE    HAPPY    THOUGPITS.  149 

Dyngwell  have  both  been  seized  with  a  strong  thirst, 
apparently  from  the  moment  they  came  on  board,  Dyng- 
well is  always  "  doing  a  little  tittup  in  the  way  of  a 
moistener/'  and  Chilvern  is  joining  him  in  what  he  calls 
"3.  modest  B  and  S,"  brandy  and  soda-water.  I  never 
heard  fellows  suddenly  become  so  slangy.  I  feel  a  loose 
sort  of  style  coming  over  me  too  ;  sort  of  feeling  that  makes 
you  turn  down  your  collar  and  dance  a  hornpipe.  Quite 
understand  why  a  sailor  is  a  ro^■ing,  rolling,  careless  sort  of 
dog.  Odd,  on  board  I  feel  inchned  to  swear,  purposelessly, 
but  in  keeping  with  nauticality. 

Happy  Thought. — Dinner. 

We  are  all  (at  least  I  am,  and  I  think  the  others  are)  sur- 
prised to  find  v>'e  can  take  dinner  on  board.  We  are  all  in 
good  spirits.  Admiral  Osy  at  the  head  of  the  table,  that  is, 
in  the  chair,  doing  terrific  feats  v/ith  his  knife,  mouth,  and 
the  gravy.  jMakes  one  think  of  the  African  sword-swallower. 
Should  like  to  be  yachting.  What  a  jovial  life  a  sailor's 
must  be,  at  least  if  it's  all  like  this. 

Happy  Thought. — Still  in  the  river. 

I  say  to  the  Admiral  Osy,  '•  I  suppose  that  the  sea  between 
here  and  Antwerp  is  nothing  more  than  the  river,  after  all.'' 
I  am  anxious  to  hear  his  answer.  His  answer  is,  "  Nasty 
passage,  ver}',  sometimes  ;  not  much  pitch  to-night ;  bad  if 
wind  gets  round."  Don't  like  the  sound  of  this  :  will  draw 
him  out.  I  say  to  him,  "  I  suppose  he's  seen  a  deal  of  nasty 
weather."     I  put  this  in  what  appears  to  me  a  nautical  style. 


ISO  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

The  Admiral  Osy  nods  his  head,  and  walks  away.  Chilvern 
says  to  me  that  he's  not  rude,  only  I  oughtn't  to  bother  him. 
Admiral  Osy  is  never  without  a  long  clay  pipe  in  his  mouth. 
Chilvern,  who  is  ver>^  fond  of  pipes,  says  he  must  get  one  of 
them. 

'■  Get  'em — scores,"'  says  the  Admiral,  whose  English  is 
disjointed. 

"  German  ?"  asks  Chilvern.    "  Dutch,"'  replies  the  Admiral. 

"  Dear  ?"  asks  Chilvern.     '•'  Cheap,"'  returns  the  Admiral. 

"  You're  a  German,  I  s'pose  ? "  obser^-es  Chilvern,  know- 
ingly. 

"  Xo  ;  Dutch,'"'  answers  the  Admiral  Osy,  and  stumps  away. 

Happy  Thought. — Seen  a  Dutchman. 

From  this  moment  I  feel  a  great  interest  in  the  Admiral, 
a  Dutchman.  I  say  to  Cazell,  "  Doesn't  it  remind  you  of 
^'anderdecken,  the  Flying  Dutchman,  and  Washington 
Irving's  tales  V  Cazell,  who  is  reading  a  paper,  says,  "  No 
it  doesn't." 

The  Captain,  who  has  been  looking  through  a  small  pocket- 
telescope,  gives  his  opinion  that  "  it  won't  be  long  before 
we're  in  for  a  bit  of  a  tittup."  He  means  that  the  clouds  are 
gathering,  and  that  out  at  sea  it  looks  rough. 

Wonder  if  the  Admiral  puts  on  a  cocked-hat  when  he's 
out  at  sea.     Chilvern  says,  "  Better  ask  him." 

Happy  Thought.— Beiiev  not. 

Happy  Thought. — Have  a  cup  of  tea.. 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  151 

In  cabin,  not  quite  so  steady  as  it  was  ;  or  perhaps  it's 
fancy,  because  I've  been  told  that  we're  coming  near  the  sea. 
Don't  like  the  cabin  now  ;  shall  go  on  deck.  Things  seem  to 
have  changed  on  deck,  it  looks  duller.     Evening  coming  on, 

"  Aren't  we  pitching  a  little  ?"'  I  ask  Cazell,  as  if  merely  out 
of  curiosity,  and  not  as  taking  any  personal  interest  in  the 
movements  of  the  vessel  myself. 

Cazell  says,  with  a  doubtful  air,  '•  Yes,  I  think  we're  begin- 
ning." 


CHAPTER   XXI. 

STILL  NAUTICAL— NAUTICAL  NOT  STILL— BORN  A  SAILOR 
— AT  SEA — TURNS— UNCERTAINTY — HOME  THOUGHTS 
— LURCHES—  CONUNDRUM — OTHER  THOUGHTS — PUNS 
—  LE    MOMENT— FEARFUL    STRUGGLES— PROSPECTS    OF 

PEACE. 


HE  Admiral  comes  abaft  (or  astern  ;  I  mean  he 
|>''-'%^  *5  comes  towards  us,  and  we're  about  the  middle  of 
L^^^J^'-I  I  the  ship),  smoking,  always  smoking.  Somehow 
l'^^^^"^^-l  I  didn't  notice  the  smell  of  his  tobacco  before  : 


it  begins  to  be  unpleasant ;  so  does  Chilvern's  pipe  ;  so  does 
Captain  Dyng^vel^s  cigar. 

"Won't  I 'baccy?"  DyngAvell  inquires.  '•  No,  thank  you, 
I  won't  baccy  !"  Feel  that  to  baccy  just  now  would  be  as  it 
were  the  turning  point  (or  the  tuming-up  point)  in  my  exist- 
ence. '•'  If  you  want  to  keep  well,"  I  say  to  myself,  "  be 
cautious."  Cazell  says,  "'  I  tell  you  wh^tf  ou  ought  to  take — 
a  good  glass  of  stout."  No,  I  dont  want  stout,  specially  just 
after  tea  :  I  feel  in  fact  that  stout  would — but,  no  matter- 
no,  thank  you,  I'd  better  stay  on  deck. 

Night  is  coming  on.  We  are  no  longer  in  the  river. 
Chilvern  says,  "  If  it's  no  worse  than  this  he  doesn't  mind." 
I  like  to  hear  a  fellov\-  cheering  up. 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  153 

Happy  Thought. —  No  worse  than  this,  I  shall  be  all 
right. 

Admiral,  at  the  end  of  his  pipe,  tells  us  that  the  wind"s 
getting  round.     "Bad?"' asks  Chilvern. 

Admiral  nods  and  walks  abaft,  or  afore,  or  somewhere  out 
of  sight. 

I  don't  like  to  turn  in.  Horrid  expression  just  now 
"  Turning  in."  Odd,  how  even  an  expression  seems  distaste- 
ful to  me  just  now.  The  Captain  has  a  large  overcoat  and  a 
rug.     He  intends  to  "  weather  it,  and  do  the  regular  Tar,"' 

he  says.     I  ask  him,  ''If  he  is  ever V'^     I  don't  like  to 

say  the  word.  He  doesn't  mind  it,  and  takes  it  out  of  my 
mouth.  (Bah  !  horrid  expression  again  !)  "  No,"  he  replies, 
"  Never.  Stand  anything,"  and  he  lights  another  cigar.  He 
politely  asks  me,  "if  I  mind  his  baccying?"  Of  course  I 
politely  rejoin  that  I  don't.  In  reality  I  feel  (despairingly) 
that  it  makes  no  difference  to  me  iioiu.  I  am  sure  my  fate 
is  sealed.     Only  a  question  of  time. 

I  miss  Cazell.  I  wish  he  v.-ouldn't  go  away.  He  has  gone 
to  be no,  I  won't  think  of  it.     Perhaps  he  hasn't. 

Thoughts  {whilst  leaning  against  paddle-box  so  as  to  keep 
ifi  middle  of  vessel  as  imcch  as  possible.  Vessel  hnxhing 
horribly).  Is  travelling  worth  this?  Aren't  there  many 
places  in  England  one  hasn't  seen  ?  Why  should  I  go 
abroad  ? 

Wish  they'd  make  a  tunnel  under  the  sea — or  a  bridge 
over  it.  Never  mind  expense.  Anyone  would  subscribe 
handsomely  who'd  ever  been  abroad,  and  had  to  cross  the 
sea  again.     Horrid.     So  helpless   too.     Recollect  suddenly 


154  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

that  Cazell  told  me,  before  he  disappeared,  that  you  oughtn't 
to  keep  your  eyes  fixed  on  one  spot.  I  won't.  I  feel  that  I 
can  hardly  take  them  off  a  lump  of  something.  No  ;  it's  a 
man  lying  in  a  rug  with  his  head  on  a  camp-stool.  Captain 
Djmgwell  is  walking  up  and  down  deck,  with  his  hands  in 
his  great-coat  pockets,  and  a  cigar  in  his  mouth.  He  lurches 
from  side  to  side  occasionally,  but  still  he  walks,  and  appears 
to  enjoy  it.  I  can  only  stick  with  my  back  to  the  paddle-box. 
Chilvern  too.  Chilvern  volunteers  the  statement  that  he 
doesn't  feel  ill.  Do  I  ?  he  asks.  I  don't  know,  I  am  uncer- 
tain. Perhaps  after  all — that  is— z/  /  dov't  talk  much  or 
i?iove,  I  may  be  all  right.  Feel  that  everything  is  uncertain 
Wish  I  was  at  home  :  would  give  a  sum  of  money  to  be 
sitting  with  Friddy. 

Scarcely  Happy  Thought. — Remember  having  heard  of 
somebody  being  Home-sick.  (Ugh  I — why  do  1 — )  I  never 
was  that  *  *  but  -^  ■'«•  * 

A  lurch.  ;My  camp-stool  nearly  fell.  A  wave  has  broken 
over  us  from  somewhere.  Helpless.  Can't  do  anything. 
Let  waves  break  over  us.  Let  the  water  trickle  down  to  my 
feet.  Ver}-  cold.  Captain  comes  up  unsteadily,  but  quite 
well  and  smoking.  He  has  been  having  hot  brandy-and 
water  with  the  Admiral.  He  asks  us,  briskly,  "  How  we're 
getting  on?  Quite  the  gay  Sailor,  eh?"  he  inquires  jovially 
of  me.  I  try  to  smile,  I  would  smile  (to  be  something  of  the 
gay  sailor,  and  show  my  spirit  to  the  last),  but  I  feel  that  the 
slightest  relaxation  of  face,  or  alteration  of  position,  would  be 
fatal.  Chilvern  and  myself  are  against  the  paddle-box,  with 
nothing  to  hold  on  bv,  and  a  strong  inclination  to  fall  face 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  155 

downwards  on  the  deck  at  every  lurch,  or  roll,  or  whatever 
the  horrid  action  of  the  ship  is  called.  Thought  {vaguely). — 
There's  a  dog  called  a  Lurcher.     When  well  might  make 

conundrum  :    "  When   is   a   ship or when   is   a   dog 

******* 

The  vessel  now  takes  a  ver}'  peculiar  motion,  and  I  feel 
myself,  as  it  were,  following  all  the  very  peculiar  motions  of 
the  vessel  in  detail,  as  if  by  some  internal  (and  infernal) 
machiner)-.  She  goes  down  \vith  a  rush,  quivering  :  so  do 
I  :  that  is,  I  don't  move  from  where  I  am,  but  the  machinery 
does  it.  It  seems  as  if  I'd  swallowed  the  engines.  The 
vessel  slides  or  glides,  and  then  comes  up  with  a  sort  of 
scooping  motion  :  exactly  the  same  with  me.  ''  On  the 
Scoop  " — think  of  Dyngwell,  who  seems  perfectly  happy. 

I  wonder  to  myself  how  Chilvern  feels.  I  turn  my  head 
slightly  to  look  at  him,  and  notice  that  he  is  staring  before 
him  in  a  blank,  helpless  manner.  The  machiner\'  gives  a 
surging  groan  ever}-  time  we  dive  down  as  if  we  were 
going  right  under  the  sea,  and  I  feel  as  if  I  was  being  lowered 
into  my  boots  ;  we  come  up  again  with  a  rush,  and  a  noise 
between  a  shriek  and  a  groan  from  the  machiner)-.  I  feel 
myself  entirely  dependent  on  the  machiner>'. 

The  Captain  comes  up  (he  is  pacing  the  deck  to  keep  him- 
self warm)  and  obser\-es  that  "WeVe  got  a  deuced  fine 
passage  ;"  and  adds,  that  "He  shouldn't  think  there'd  be  a 
soul  ill  to-night." — I  can't  answer  him :  there's  only  a  glim- 
mer of  hope  in  his  speech.  My  thoughts  become  gloomy, 
an>i;hing  but  happy.  Except  one  Happy  Thought. — The 
mind   can   abstract   itself  so   as   to  be  insensible  to  pain. 


156  MOxRE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

Therefore,  if  I  can  only  think  of  something  else,  I  shan't  be 
unwell  ;  or  rather,  as  I  feel  unwell  noiu^  I  shan't  be  worse, 
but  probably  better. 

I  have  tried  thinking  of  conundrums.  Perhaps  they're  too 
frivolous  for  this  state.  Try  something  else.  Think  of  stars. 
See  only  one.     Wonder  what  it  is.     Think  of  the  ancient 

sailors  who,  vrithout  compass  or .     T7'eine7ido2is  lurch. 

I  struggle  against  interior  machineiy,  and  again  try  to  think 
of  the  stars.  Wave  breaks  over  vessel.  Some  one  says 
"  That's  a  nasty  one."  Perhaps  it  is.  I  am  past  expressing 
an  opinion.  If  anyone  was  to  point  a  pistol  at  me  I  couldn't 
run  away.  Try  to  recal  passages  of  Shakspeare  ;  to  think  of 
my  next  chapter  of  Typical  Developments j  to  recollect  what 
Sir  Peter  Groganal's  argument  on  Abstract  Right  vras  ;  to 

think  of Lurch.      Wave.     All  machinery  (internal)  in 

motion.  No  more  stars.  Shall  I  leave  paddle-box,  Noiv^  or 
stop  a  little  longer?  *  *  "^  suspense  *  *  *  I  think  I'll 
move  -^  -^  *  I  make  for  the  opposite  paddle-box  *  "^  strik- 
ing out  v.ith  my  legs  at  the  deck,  and  waiting  for  //  to  come 
up  to  me  "^  "^  jerk  to  the  right  *  *  just  miss  cannoning 
against  Captain,  who  is  pacing  up  and  down  (still  with  a 
cigar),  and  dexterously  gets  out  of  my  way. 

Happy  Thought  {flash  across  vie  eve7i  at  this  suprevie 
7nojiient). — Decks-teronsly  *  *  vv-retched  *  * 

I  am  looking  down  into  the  dark  waters — at  the  white 
foam  *  -^  *  -^  if  the  bulwark  were  suddenly  to  give  way  ! 
*  *  *  *  Can  I  help  it?**-^***-3f*  Lurch  *  *  roll 
grapple  vrith  bulwarks  *  *  silent  anguish. 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  157 

Can  anything  on  the  Continent  be  worth  this  !  I  !  !  ! 
Cathedrals — Churches — pictures — pleasures  of  Paris — canH 
be  worth  this  *  -sf-  *  And  *  *  Oh  !  Pve  got  to  come  back 
again  /  1 1     Stagger  to  staircase  *  *  Companion,  I  mean. 

"  Quite  the  jovial  Tar,  eh  ?"  asks  the  Captain,  who  is  light- 
ing another  filthy,  beastly  cigar. 

"  Yes,"  I  answer,  in  somebody  else's  voice,  not  mine,  and 
feeling  that,  if  I  could  see  my  face,  I  should  never  recognise 
the  once  joyous  author  of  Typical  Develop7ne7its. 

Go  down-stairs  ;  horridly  awkward  stairs.  Why  couldn't 
they  be  made  straight  down  instead  of  curling  round  ? 
specially  in  a  steamboat  •*  *  -j^-  *  when  *  *  *  one  so  "^  *  * 
particularly  *  *  *  wants  to  go  straight  *  *  -^  * 

To  my  Cabin. — Will  undress  and  regularly  get  into  bed. 

Happy  Thought. — Give  myself  the  idea  of  being  quite  at 
home. 

Haven't  fastened  door :  it  bangs  against  me,  I  against  it, 
then  it  bangs  back  again,  when  I  bang  against  chair,  then 
against  side,  then  my  head  against  upper  berth,  then  nearly 
into  lower  berth,  then  over  portmanteau,  then  clutch  on  des- 
perately by  side  of  lower  berth,  and  try  to  recover  myself. 
Tear  my  things  off ;  \.r\  to  hang  them  up  neatly.  Dash  at  a 
hook.  The  hook  comes  to  me  and  I  fall  back  against  berth. 
Everything  seems  to  be  going  topsy-turvy.  Collapse,  like  a 
punch-doll,  without  any  middle  joints,  into  lower  berth.  On 
the  whole  rather  astonished  to  find  myself  there. 

Shut  my  eyes  !  *  *  *  *  Open  them  again  very  quickly. 
Awful  sensation.     I  am  wide  awake,  and  painfully  conscious 


158  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

of  the  oil-lamp,  and  of  the  want  of  air.  Out  of  berth  again, 
to  open  the  door — same  performance  as  before.  Put  chair 
adroitly  between  open  door  and  wall :  chance  of  air  now. 
Stagger — bump — pause  for  breath.  Stagger  again  :  fighting 
with  everything,  berth,  washstand,  door,  chairs,  which  all. 
apparently,  keep  coming  at  me.  I  notice  the  name  of  Scott 
Russell  in  the  washing-stand  basin  *  *  *  I  hold  on  *  *  *  I 
wonder  *  *  *  Did  Scott  Russell  make  the  washstand  *  *  * 
or  the  ship  *  "^  *  if  so  "^  *  *  why  didn't  he  *  *  *  Lurch — 
bang  -^  *  -^  -^  -^  *  *  Into  berth  again,  backwards,  anyhow. 
exhausted.  This  is  what  Dyngwell  calls  a  '•  Tittup  outside." 
*-^-)f-^**Ah-^*-^*-^-^  Shall  I  have  to  get  up  again  ? 
■^■;f*****ifnot*-^-^*I  think  I  can  *  ^  *  *  *  * 
Less  Lurching  -^  *  *  * 


CHAPTER   XXII. 

IMPROVEMENT — STILL  OX  BOARD— CAZELL — THE  PILOT — 
MORNING — WASH  AND  BRUSH  UP  —  PLAN — ANT- 
WERP— ARCHITECTURE — A  CICERONE— THE  LIGHTS 
— CHILVERN'S  CHANGE — HIS  COSTUME — QUITE  THE 
TOURIST. 

^  AM  better. 

Sleep,  gentle  sleep,  or  an  imitation  of  it,  with 
people  v/alking  about,  shouting,  shutting  oft"  steam, 
going  backwards  and  going  forwards,   and   appa- 
rently getting  (thank  heaven  !)  into  still  water. 

Cazell  looks  in  once,  and  looks  out  again  very  quickly.  He 
merely  puts  his  head  in  at  the  door  with  the  view,  I  believe, 
to  tell  me  "  What  I  ought  to  do '"'  under  the  circumstances, 
but  he  thinks  better  of  it.  Chilvern  comes  down — he  says 
he  is  very  jolly  now.  I  won't  attend  to  him.  I'm  afraid  he's 
coming  to  occupy  the  other  berth  above  me.  Dreadful  ! 
He'll  drag  my  things  about,  and  tumble  over  my  boots. 

Happy  Thought. — Pretend  to  be  asleep. 

Ruse  successful.  He  looks  in,  says,  "  Hallo  !  asleep.^  eh? 
The  pilot's  come  on  board,"  and  then  he  disappears.  He  re- 
appears at  intervals  after  this,  to  inform  me  (if  awake)  that. 


i6o  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

J  St,  the  pilot  has  fit  come  on  board  ;  2ndly,  that  the  pilot 
ii'o?i't  come  on  board  ;  3rdly,  that  the  pilot  cati't  come  on 
board  (we  are  pitching  awfully,  and  horrors  are  returning)  ; 
4thly,  that  if  this  pilot  doesn't  come  on  board,  we  must  get  a 
pilot  who  ivillj  Sthly,  that  they  can't  get  a  pilot  at  all ;  6thly, 
that  the  pilot  has  come  on  board.  Altogether,  I  wish  the 
pilot  was but  it  doesn't  matter  now. 

Morning. — Recognise  feeble  portrait  of  myself  in  the  look- 
ing-glass. Recognise  several  other  feeble  portraits  of  yester- 
day's originals  at  breakfast. 

Captain  Dyngwell  comes  out  of  a  cabin,  "  Fit,"  he  says, 
"  as  a  fiddle." 

Cazell  re-appears.  He  has  not  been  seen  since  nine  o'clock 
last  night,  when  he  told  somebody  "  what  he  ought  to  do," 
and  then  vanished  down  the  companion. 

He  looks  as  if  he'd  been  to  a  ball  for  three  nights  together, 
and  was  going  to  bed. 

Captain  Dyngwell  says  that  Cazell  '"  looks  as  if  he'd  been 
on  the  scoop,"  which  strikes  me,  somehow,  as  expressive, 
though  not  capable  of  exact  definition.  "  Slang,"  some  one 
says,  ''is  the  language  of  the  future  ;"  if  so,  Captain  Dyng- 
well is  a  sort  of  gay  Wagner. 

All  more  or  less  represent  the  Great  Unwashed.  Chilvern, 
who  is  five  feet  two,  represents  the  Small  Unwashed. 

N.B.  No  amount  of  basining  (Scott  Russell  &  Co.)  can 
be  satisfactor>^  on  board.  Look  fonvard  to  bath  at  hotel. 
Wish  I  hadn't  put  my  comb  and  brush  and  clean  pocket- 
handkerchief  in  some  (apparently)  secret  part  of  my 
portmanteau. 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  i6i 

Happy  Thought. — To  have  a  bag,  specially  for  this  sort  of 
thing,  with  compartments,  so  that  whatever  you  want  at  the 
moment  comes  out  first. 

It  appears  there  have  been  some  difficulties  with  the  pilot, 
and  so  we  are  some  hours  late.  This  accounts  for  Chilvern's 
several  visits  to  me  during  the  night.  He  was  much  inter- 
ested in  the  pilot,  he  says  ;  if  he  hadn't  been,  he  adds,  he 
should  have  been  unwell,  or  rather,  worse  than  he  actually 
was. 

Happy  Thought. — Shore.     Antwerp. 

Captain  Dyngwell  says,  "  Here's  Antwerp,"  pointing  it  out 
to  us,  which  is  unnecessary,  as  there  is  no  other  place  near 
at  hand. 

I  say,  "  Thank  you,  I  know  it."  Consequent  coolness  be- 
tween Captain  and  self  Custom-House  officers.  Chalked 
baggage.  Crush.  I  assure  a  passenger  who  is  digging  into 
me  with  an  umbrella,  a  bag,  and  an  Alpine  stick,  that  "  there 
is  no  hurry."  Man  in  front,  whom  I  am  pushing,  tells  me 
the  same  thing.  We  all  struggle  and  push.  Difficult  to 
carry  two  rugs,  umbrella,  stick,  and  coat,  to  struggle  and 
kick,  and  at  the  same  time  to  get  one's  ticket  out  of  one's 
waistcoat  pocket.  Do  it  though,  somehow,  desperately. 
Suppose  I  should  lose  it  at  the  last  moment .' 

Happy  Thought.— QdiYry  it  in  my  teeth:  like  Newfound- 
land dog  with  a  stick. 

Collector  takes  it.  Ceremony  over.  Cross  the  plank. 
Dangerous.     Take  breath,  and  look  about. 

M 


i62  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

Captain  and  Cazell  get  off  first.     Chilvern  and  self  follow. 
Hotel  de  St.  Antoine. 


AT   ANTWERP. 

Happy  Thought. — Foreign  Town. 

Our  party  of  four  is  split  up  into,  so  to  speak,  three  sub- 
parties. 

First  Sub-party  is  Captain  Dyngwell,  who  doesn't  particu- 
larly care  about  seeing  anything,  and  when  I  say,  '•  Why,  my 
dear  Sir,  look  at  the  Churches  I "  he  merely  answers,  "  Oh 
blow  the  churches  \  "  evidently  not  the  spirit  in  v\hich  to 
come  to  Antwerp.  He  is  entirely,  as  he  expresses  it,  "for  a 
tittup  at  the  theatre,  and  then  and  some  sort  of  Bal  Mabille," 
here  he  winks  knowingly  behind  his  eyeglass,  "  and  go  in  for 
a  regular  rumti-iddity."  Whereupon  he  calls  out  "  Waiter !  '■' 
imperiously,  with  an  aside  to  us  that  "  he'll  bustle  'em  a  bit," 
and  on  the  appearance  of  the  waiter,  the  Captain  orders  a 
'-'  B  and  S,"  just  as  if  he  were  in  his  London  club,  and  con- 
founds the  fellow's  ignorance  when  his  command  is  not 
exactly  understood. 

Second  Sub-party  is  myself  and  Chilvern.  Bond  of  sym- 
pathy between  us  is  that  he  really  does  want  to  see  the  town. 
Being  an  architect,  he  will  enjoy  (I  know  he  will,  and  I  tell 
him  so)  the  queer  old  buildings,  the  Cathedral,  the  other 
Churches,  and  the  pictures.  Don't  know  why,  being  an 
architect,  he  should  enjoy  pictures  ;  but  it  seems  natural 
when  you  think  of  it  for  the  first  time.  Years  ago  I've  been 
to  Antwerp.     Chilvern  obsen-es,  "  You'll  be  able  to  show  me 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  163 

ever)-thing."  He  adds,  "that  he  Hkes  going  about  "vvith  a 
fellow  who  really  can  show  him  evemhing,  and  who  has  an 
artistic  appreciation  of  queer  buildings,  old  houses,  fine 
churches,  and  pictures." 

Dyng^vell  says,  '•  If  you've  seen  one,  you've  seen  all."'  We 
agree,  when  talking  Dyngvvell  over,  that  the  Captain  isn't 
troubled  with  brains.  [Afialytical  Physiological  ?iofe  for 
Typ.  Devel.  Isn't  this  a  form  of  mental  pride  .^  Isn't  it  also 
flattery?  It  means  that  Chilvem  has  a  great  quantity  of 
brains — so  great  as  to  be  troubled  by  them — and  that  I  have 
also.  It's  as  much  as  if  I  said  to  Chilvern,  "  I  say,  you're  a 
clever  fellow,  because  if  I  don't  you  won't  say  Ftn  a  clever 
fellow."  Wonder  what  Chilvern  says  of  me  to  D>Tigwell. 
In  speaking  of  Chilvern  to  Dyng\vell,  I  say  with  truth,  that 
"  Chilvem's  clever  in  his  own  line,"  meaning  architecture ; 
this  is  after  we've  seen  the  pictures  and  the  town. 

Happy  Thought. — Chilvern  can't  say  that  of  me — nobody 
can,  in  fact — ^because  I  haven't  got  a  particular  line.] 

Third  Sub-party.  Cazell.  By  himself.  He  says  he  has 
been  a  great  deal  on  the  Continent,  and  will  insist  upon  tell- 
ing every  one  what  he  ought  to  do.  Besides,  he  pretends  to 
know  the  language.  He  also  orders,  with  an  air  of  superior 
knowledge,  dishes  and  drinks,  which  he  says  are  peculiar  to 
the  place.  He  talks  German  and  French.  That  is,  he  talks 
German,  but  I  don't  think  much  of  his  French.  We  fall  out, 
in  fact,  on  this  subject.  He  professes  to  speak  it  like  a  native. 
I  own  I  don't  do  that ;  but  I  say  I  have  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  it,  and  can  read  it  easily.     Chilvern  takes  my  view  of  the 

y\  2 


i64  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

question.  I  like  Chilvem,  A  ven-  good  fellow,  and  really 
clever  as  an  architect ;  only  I  do  wish  he  had  come  abroad 
with  more  money  than  two  sovereigns  in  English  money. 
Will  I  lend  him  some  ?  Yes.  But  why  can't  he  ask  Dyng- 
well  or  Cazell  ?  I  don't  exactly  put  this  to  him  in  so  many 
words,  but  he  intimates  that  he  can't  go  to  thern  for  it,  as  he 
has  "rather  quarrelled  with  them  by  siding  with  inef^ 

Happy   TJiought. — To  tell  him  he  must  \vTite  home  for 
money  at  once.     See  him  do  it,  and  post  the  letter  myself. 
He  is  bound  to  me  now.     He  will  fight  for  my  opinions  as 

a  sort  of  mercenary-. 

Happy  Thought. — To  secure  a  companion.  I  promise  to 
pay  for  him  even-where,  but  I  won't  lend  him  any  ready 
money.  I  point  out  to  him  that  I  am  going  to  show  him  the 
town,  and  that  our  tastes  assimilate.  If  he  had  the  money 
in  his  pocket,  perhaps  our  tastes  wouldn't  assimilate. 

Cazell  tells  us  we  ought  to  go  and  see  the  Cathedral  (it 
isn't  a  Cathedral,  I  say,— dispute),  and  the  Church  of  St. 
Jacques  and  St.  Paul,  also  the  Museum  of  Pictures. 

I  reply  that  I  will  take  Chilvem  to  see  the  great  Church, 
then  the  Museum,  Sic,  in  fact,  choosing  my  own  arrange- 
ment. 

The  head  waiter  asks  me,  "  Will  I  have  a  guide  ?  '' 

I  am  indignant.  As  indignant  as  if  I'd  lived  in  Antwerp 
all  my  life.  Hate  guides.  Explain  to  Chilvem  that  it's  no 
use  having  a  guide,  one  can  find  one's  v.ay  so  easily  about 
Antwerp, 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  165 

Chilvern  replies,  "yes;"  then  suddenly,  "  I  say,  let's  go  and 
have  some  lunch." 

I  inform  him  that  abroad  there  is  no  such  thing  as  lunch, 
it's  dejeicner  a  la  fourchette.  "All  right,"  he  replies,  "let's  go 
and  have  anything  that's  something  to  eat." 

I  notice,  for  the  first  time,  that  Chilvern,  in  Antwerp,  is 
peculiarly  and  offensively  English.  He  seems  to  have  learnt 
slang,  or  a  slangy  manner  from  Dyngwell. 

He  is  dressed  in  a  suit  of  what  he  calls  "  dittos  "  and  a 
v.-ide-awake  hat. 

Happy  Tho2ight.—To  stop  him  de/o?'e  we  get  out  of  the 
hotel,  and  say,  "  You  can't  go  out  like  that." 

"'  Why  not  1 "  asks  Chilvern. 

"  Well,  my  dear  fellow," — I  put  it  to  him  reasonably, — "'you 
wouldn't  do  it  in  a  town  in  England." 

"Wouldn't  I  I "  he  exclaims,  and  cocks  his  wide-awake  on 
one  side. 

I  request  him  as  a  favour,  to  get  his  hat,  and  put  on  a 
black  coat. 

"  Haven't  got  a  hat  or  a  black  coat,"  he  returns. 

"  Quite  the  tourist,"  observes  Dyng^vell,  with  his  feet  on  a 
small  table  in  the  courtyard  of  the  hotel  smoking  a  cigar. 
He,  at  all  events,  is  well  dressed.  He  is  sensible  on  that 
point.     I  hold  him  up  as  a  model  to  Chilvern. 

I  hesitate  about  going  out  with  Chilvern.  Chilvern  says, 
"  It's  all  ridiculous  humbug."  I  reply,  "  That  it  isn't."  He 
returns,  "  That  it  /j."  I  observe,  "  That  he  ought  to  consider 
other  people's  feelings."     He  rejoins,  "  That  I  ought  to  con- 


i66  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

sider  hisP     I   tell  him  "  I  do."     He  answers  flatly   "  You 
don't !  " 

Happy  Thought. — Say  I  won't  lend  him  any  money. 

Happy  Thought. — No,  not  say  it,  let  him  think  it.  See  by 
his  face  that  he  is  thinking  it.  Row  ends.  We  go  out.  To 
dejeihier  somewhere. 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 


ANT^VERP — CHILVERN'S  FUN — SXOBBISM — EATING — DRINK- 
ING—THE  CRESSES  — CB-ILyi:j^y  LE  POLISSON — THE 
CARTE  —  THE  LANGUAGE  —  THE  DEJEUNER  PRO- 
GRESSES— SALAD — MO^E  V. 

E  find  a  cafe  in  an  open  sort  of  square. 

I  call  for  the  ca7-te.  Chilvern  makes  some 
joke  about  cart  and  horse,  something  about 
eating  horse-cutlets. 


Happy  Thought. — Stop  his  English,  by  telling  him  that  it's 
dangerous  to  talk  it  \vhen  ever>-  one  understands,  though  they 
don't  speak  it. 

Waiter  attends.  "Que  desirez-vous  ?'''  I  ask  Chilvern, 
in  an  off-hand  manner. 


Happy  Thought. — Garcon  thinks  I'm  a  Frenchman.  [On 
considering  this  question  at  night  quietly,  Chilvern  says, 
"That  the  feehng  is  snobbish."  "Snobbish ! ''  I  retort.  "Yes," 
he  replies,  "  A  fellow's  a  snob  who  wishes  to  be  considered 
anything  better  or  worse  than  he  really  is." 

Wish  I'd  never  lent  him  any  money.     This  is  a  note  at  the 


i68  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

end  of  ihe  day.  Ever  since  he's  become  bound  to  me  he's 
been  disagreeable.] 

Chilvern  says,  laughing,  as  if  it  was  the  greatest  joke  in  the 
world,  "  Ask  the  cove  if  he's  got  some  roast  beef  and  plum 
puddang.'"'     ["  Plum-pudrt^<rz;/^"  is  his  notion  of  fun  in  French.] 

I  hate  this  sort  of  thing.  I  tell  Chilvern  so  afterwards. 
Hate  calling  a  waiter  "  a  cove,"  and  ask  for  plum-pudding  in 
the  middle  of  the  day.  He  wouldn't  do  it  if  he  was  in 
England.  He  replies,  "  Yes,  he  would,  if  he  liked."  Hate  a 
man  who's  provoking. 

Happy  Thought. — Not  express  disgust  publicly  before 
waiters  in  cafe,  but  smile  as  if  I  was  tolerating  a  drole. 

Happy  Thought. — Call  Chilvern  in  French  a  polisson. 
Gar^on  smiles. 

Chilvern  replies,  "  Wee.,  let's  have  some  of  that,"  thinking 
I'd  spoken  of  fish. 

The  waiter  here  asks  me  a  long  question  in  rapid  French. 
Haven't  an  idea  what  he  means. 

Happy  Thought. — Won't  tell  Chilvern  that  I  don't  under- 
stand him.  Consider  for  a  few  seconds,  then  reply,  in 
French,  "  Yes,  but  make  haste."  Ga?-co?i  says  something, 
and  hurries  off.  \Vonder  what  the  dickens  Fve  agreed  to  ? 
Wonder  what  this  will  result  in.  Chilvern  asks  me,  "  What 
did  the  waiter  say  ? '' 

Happy  Thought. — To  answer,  "  Oh,  only  something  about 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  169 

what  we  are  going  to  have."     Chilvern  presses  to  know  what 
we  are  going  to  have. 

Happy  Thought.— To  say,  shly,  •'  You'll  j.v."  So  shall  I, 
for  at  this  minute  I  haven't  a  notion  what  I've  ordered,  by 
saying,  "Yes  ;  but  make  haste"  to  the  waiter. 

Happy  Thought. — I  shall  find  out  soon,  though  ;  and  then 
If  I  don't  like  it,  won't  do  it  again.  Just  coming  from 
England,  one's  out  of  practice  at  these  things. 

While  Chilvern  and  myself  are  waiting  for  our  dejeiiner, 
I  begin  to  feel  the  rolling  of  the  vessel  again.  I  remark 
this  as  '■  xtry  curious  ''  to  Chilvern.  '"  Curious,"  perhaps, 
I  think  to  myself,  is  hardly  the  word.  Chilvern  observes 
(also  carelessly)  that  he  is  experiencing  the  same  sensa- 
tion. We  look  at  one  another — we  know  what  we  mean. 
Begin  to  fear  we  shan't  enjoy  lunch.  Wonder  what  I've 
ordered  by  saying  ^^  our'  to  the  ga7-con.  Here  he  comes. 
Voila. 

Three  little  dishes, — sardines,  butter,  and  radishes. 

Happy  Thought. — Hors  d'oeuvres. 

Chilvern  asks  which  are  hors  d'oeuvres.  I  explain  to  him. 
He  at  once  commences  with  a  sardine  and  bread-and-butter. 
I  tell  him,  to  encourage  him  in  foreign  manners,  that  that's 
quite  the  correct  thing  to  do,  and  eat  some  myself,  also  a 
radish. 

Garqo7i  appears  with  a  fish  of  some  sort  done  up  in  oil, 
with  mushrooms,  (I  think,)  truffles  (I  fancy.)  and  mussels  (I 


I70  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

am  not  quite  sure  about  these,  but,  as  it's  not  oyster  season, 
they  must  be  mussels).     What  wine  ?  " 

"Well,"  says  Chilvern,  ''  I  should  say " 

I  know  he's  going  to  ask  for  beer,  and  stop  him  v/ith  Happy 
Thought  {befo7'e  Chilveni  can  aftsive?'). —  Vm  ordinab'c. 

Explain  to  Chilvern  that  this  is  the  correct  thing.  Chilvern, 
who  is  much  pleased  with  the  first  course,  says,  "  capital  idea 
of  yours,"  to  me,  "  ordering  fish.     What  is  it  ?  " 

Happy  Thought. — Sole  Hollandaise.  This  is  as  good  a 
title  as  any  other, — better. 

Odd,  by  the  way,  this  fish  coming,  as  I  didn't  recognise  the 
word  poisson  when  the  waiter  asked  me  rapidly  that  question 
about  what  I'd  have,  or  how  I'd  have  it. 

Happy  Thought. — Another  time  will  call  for  the  carte^  and 
point  out  each  dish  that  I  want — no  mistake  then. 

Waiter  appears  with  the  wine. 

Chilvern  says,  "  I  wish  you'd  ask  for  a  pepper-box  and 
salt-spoon." 

I  frown  at  him.  I  tell  him  that  it's  a  Continental  custom 
7iot  to  have  salt-spoons  (I  don't  see  any),  but  to  take  it  out  of 
the  salt-cellar  with  your  knife. 

"  Horrid  custom  !  "  says  Chilvern. 

This  is  what  I  don't  like  in  Chilvern  abroad ;  he  is  insular. 
Because  ive  have  pepper-casters,  therefore  all  the  world  must. 
\For  psychological  analysis^ — a  7iote  i7i  pocket-book.  Is  it  by 
force  of  antagonism  that  I  suddenly  become  pre-eminently 
foreign,  and  peculiarly  un-English,  when  with  such  a  mind  as 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  171 

Chilvern's  ?  Good  article  for  Typ.  DeveL  Heading,  Ant. 
Word,  Antagonism.  Division,  M.  Mental?^  I  help  myself 
with  my  knife  to  salt,  and  with  my  fingers  to  pepper. 

Garqon  adds  watercresses  to  the  hors-d-ceuvres.  "  Bravo!" 
I  exclaim.     "  yaiine  beaucoiip  le  cresson  !  " 

"  Watercresses,  by  Jingo  !  "  shouts  Chilvem.  He  begs  my 
pardon  for  his  excitement,  but  says  he  really  thought  that 
'cresses  were  peculiarly  English.  I  beg  him  not  to  shout. 
Some  young  men  (French  or  Belgian)  are  breakfasting  at 
another  table,  and  turn  round  to  stare  at  him. 

I  say,  "  Vous  etes  un  Anglais poiir  rife." 

Happy  Tho2tght. — To  ignore  my  own  nationality,  and 
pretend  to  be  a  foreigner  (of  some  sort — don't  know  exactly 
what),  taking  an  Enghshman  out  for  a  holiday. 

Happy  Thought  {when  I  say  L^ Anglais  pour  rire). — Seen 
this  somewhere  in  a  French  picture.  Don't  wonder  at  the 
idea,  if  the  French  take  their  notions  of  ns  from  men  who 
behave  like  Chilvern.     Wish  I'd  come  alone. 

Happy  Thought. — To  suggest  to  Chilvern  that,  if  he  holds 
his  tongue,  they  w^on't  know  what  he  is. 

Chilvern  replies,  "  You  be  blowed !  "  If  it  wasn't  mean, 
I'd  tell  him  that  I  wouldn't  lend  him  any  more  money. 
Everything  is  "  odd,"  and  "  rum,"  and  "  queer,''  in  Chilvern's 
eyes.  He  has  got  into  a  habit  (from  being  with  the  Captain, 
I  think)  of  calling  every  one  a  "cove."  He  obser\'es,  "  What 
rum  coves  those  are !  "  meaning  at  the  other  table.     I  tell 


172  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

him,  deprecatingly,  that  /  see  nothing  '•  rum  "  about  them. 
I  reproach  him  with  being  insular.  He  rephes,  "  Oh  !  insular 
be  blowed." 

Waiter  brings  cutlets.  Admirable.  It  seems  then  I 
ordered  cutlets — fish  and  cutlets.  He  then  adds  salad.  He 
asks  me  a  question.     I  am  taken  by  surprise. 

Happy  Thought. — Oui. 

Eesult  of  the  answer  is  that  he  takes  the  salad  away. 
"  What's  he  done  that  for  ? "  asks  Chilvern. 
I  am  obliged  to  own  that  I  don't  know,  "  but  fancy,"  I  add, 

•'  that  he  misunderstood  me." 

Happy  Thought. — To  add,  by  way  of  explanation 
to  Chilvern,  that  it's  the  custom.  Chilvern  won't  be 
satisfied.  Waiter  brings  salad  back  again  :  he  took  it  away 
to  mix  it. 

Happy  Thought. — Now  then  coffee  and  cigar.  This,  I 
explain  to  Chilvern,  is  the  real  delight  of  dejeiinering  abroad 
in  any  cafe — you  can  always  smoke  immediately. 

"  Du  cafe,  garcon  "  (in  an  off-hand  manner). 

''Deux-r' 

"  You'll  take  some  ? "  I  ask  Chilvern,  to  show  him  that  I 
cati  hold  a  conversation  with  the  waiter. 

"  Yes,  I'll  have  caffy,"  replies  Chilvern. 

"  Oui.  deux  tasses,"  I  translate. 

We  begin  to  lounge  luxuriously.  Suddenly  motion  of 
vessel  returns.     Horrid.     I  hope  *  *  * 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  173 

Coffee  arrives.  Chilvern  produces  cigars,  and  I  ask  the 
^vaiter  for  fire. 

"  Cest  defe7idu  dc  f inner  ici  si  tot,'^  he  informs  us  apolo- 
cretically. 

I  can't  beheve  it.  Being  unable  to  argue  the  point  satis- 
factorily with  him,  I  can  only  explain  to  Chilvern  that  this  is 
not  France,  but  Belgium.  Chilvern  says,  then  let's  pay  and 
go.  As  much  as  to  say,  "  Let's  go  to  France,  and  not  stay 
in  Belgium."     Both  dissatisfied. 

Gargoft. — "  L'addition" 

It  turns  out  that  we  have  had  the  only  two  dishes  that 
were  not  on  the  carte  du  Joter,  and  that  the  waiter  had  asked 
me,  "  Would  I  leave  it  to  him  to  order  ? "'  and  it  was  to  this  I 
had  answered  "  O/^/."  Horridly  dear:  thought  ever}'thing 
(especially  vin  ordinaire)  was  so  cheap  abroad.  Eight 
francs  a-piece.  I  explain  to  Chilvern  that  this  is  ver>'  dif- 
ferent to  France.  Chilvern  (who  hasn't  had  to  pay)  returns, 
iminterestedly,  "  Is  it  ?" 

Happy  Thought. — Put  down  in  pocket-book  ever}-thing  I 
pay  for  Chilvern,  or  he  may  say  I  didn't.  Shall  astonish  him 
by-and-bye.  He  doesn't  know  what  he's  spending ;  and 
therefore  doesn't  seem  to  care.  Also  keep  the  bill.  We 
w^alk  out.  Wish  Chilvern  hadn't  brought  his  umbrella.  Suit 
of  dittos,  coloured  wide-awake,  and  umbrella.  "  Quite,"  as 
Captain  Dyng^vell  remarked  before,  "the  tourist."  The 
people  will  think  he's  a  Cook's  excursionist,  or  some  sort  of 
"there  and  back  for  seven  shillings,"  or  "a  Happy  Day  at 
Antwerp  for  half-a-crown." 


CHAPTER   XXIV. 

LES  RUES  D'AXVERS  —  THE  STATUES  — LIGHTS  —  BOYS- 
CONSIDER  ATIOXS — L'EGLISE  DE  ST.  JACQUES — A  RE- 
FUGE— ROUT— MURRAY — THE  MONK — THE  MUSEUM— 
CHILYERN   COMES   OUT — STRONGLY. 

HILA'ERX  stops  at  even-  shop. 

Happy  Thought. — To  walk  on  and  leave  him. 
When  I  do  this  I  hear  behind  me  (this  in  the 
open  street,  too),  "  Hi,  old  boy!  hi !  look  here  !  Here's  a  rum 
thing.-' 

In  Antwerp  there  is  a  statue — an  object  of  religious  devo- 
tion— at  the  corner  of  nearly  ever\-  street.  People  going  past, 
I  notice,  generally  touch  their  hats.  Chilvem  stops  opposite 
one  larger  than  the  rest :  a  light  is  burning  before  it. 

"  Hi  1  hallo  !  look  here  ! "  he  cries.  "  Ain't  this  a  rum  go? 
This  is  a  queer  sort  of  dodge  for  lighting  the  streets." 

Happy  Thought. — To  take  his  arm.  I  explain  (I  am 
always  explaining  to  Chilvern)  the  meaning  of  these  figures. 
I  beg  him  not  to  expose  himself  (and  vie)  to  ridicule.  I 
point  out  that  already  his  umbrella  and  costume  have  at- 
tracted the  little  dirty  boys.      His  appearance  does  rather 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  175 

remind  one  of  "the  swell"  in  a  pantomime:  dressed  in 
enormously  loud  check  "  dittos."  Thank  goodness  he  hasn't 
got  a  white  shiny  hat  turned  up  with  green.  They  (the  dirty 
boys)  are  really  following  us,  and  laughing  at  us — I  mean  at 
Jwnj  but,  unfortunately,  we  are  together. 

HapPy  Thought. — Turn  down  a  street. 

Boys  still  following :  joined  by  other  boys.  Chilvern  getting 
angr}^,  turns  suddenly  on  them  with  his  umbrella.  Yells, 
scrimmage,  shouts.  Quite  the  swell  in  the  pantomime  losing 
his  tem.per  with  clown  and  crowd,  at  the  end  of  a  scene. 

It  occurs  to  me,  as  a  stranger  here,  what  must  be  the 
feelings  of  that  unhappy  Chinaman  whom  one  sees  in 
London,  perpetually  walking  about  in  the  costume  of  his 
countr}-,  pursued  by  little  ill-bred,  dirty,  vagabond  boys. 
We  are  in  precisely  the  same  position,  all  through  Chilvern's 
confounded  "dittos"  and  umbrella.  There  really  isn't  another 
man  dressed  like  him  in  Antwerp. 

Happy  Thought. — See  the  door  of  a  church  open.  Enter. 
Refuge  from  persecuting  boys. 

Happy  Thought. — Sanctuary  in  the  olden  time.  Boys 
peep  in  after  us,  but  a  verger,  or  some  sort  of  official  person 
in  seedy  black,  darts  out  at  them  from  a  recess,  and  hits  the 
ringleader  over  the  head  with  a  bunch  of  keys.  Delighted. 
We  are.     Rout  of  boys. 

Happy  Thought. — If  we  stay  long  enough  in  here,  boys 


176  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

%vill  get  tired  of  waiting  outside.  Luckily,  it  is,  we  discover, 
the  Church  of  St.  Jacques.  The  seedy  black  man  locks  the 
door,  and  commences  at  once  to  take  us  round  the  church 
and  explain.     He  is  the  regular  guide. 

Of  all  things  I  hate  it  is  what  Chilvern  does  at  this 
minute. 

He  winks  at  me,  and  puts  his  hand  in  a  side-pocket, 
where  there  is  something  bulky,  which  hitherto  I  had 
thought  was  a  large  cigar-case.  No.  Out  comes — a  big 
red  book. 

Murray's  Guide  to  Belgium. 

Suit  of  dittos,  coloured  widewake,  umbrella,  and  Murray's 
Guide-book  !  And  I  was  hoping  that  we  shouldn't  be  taken 
for  English  1  If  the  boys  see  this  when  he  comes  out,  it 
will  be  worse  than 

Happy  Thought. — To  borrow  it  of  him,  and  leave  it,  when 
he's  not  looking,  in  one  of  the  side-chapels.  Do  it.  Wonder 
what  devotional  Belgian  will  think  of  this  book  when  she 
finds  it  on  going  to  Mass  to-morrow.  Murray's  Guide  to 
Mass. 

Happy  Thought. — Leave  Antwerp  to-morrow,  and  go  on 
to  Aix.     Not  so  much  " leave  Antwerp^^  as  leave  Chilvern. 

He  is  a  nuisance.  Respectably  dressed,  I  shouldn't  mind 
him.  If  he  had  his  own  money  with  him,  I  could  get  rid  of 
him.  But  in  his,  as  it  were,  celebrated  character  of  a  British 
Excursionist  in  a  suit  of  "  dittos,"  and  entirely  dependent 
upon  vie  for  money,  Chilvern  is  a  nuisance. 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  177 

Happy  Thought.  —Like  the  Monster  in  Frankenstein.  I'm 
Frankenstein  :  Monster  in  '•  dittos  "  with  umbrella. 

He  has  contracted  a  habit  of  staring  about  him,  stopping 
at  corners  and  before  shop- windows. 

Happy  Thought  [zuhile  he's  in  front  of  a  picture-shop 
luindou,';. — Go  on  some  way  ahead,  as  if  I  was  not  connected 
with  him.  He'd  be  sure  to  find  his  way  to  the  hotel  again. 
If  he  didn't,  though  ?  He  can't  be  robbed,  as  he  has  no 
money,  and  has  only  got  a  steel  watch-guard  with  a  bunch 
of  keys  at  the  end  of  it. 

"-Hi  1  Hi  !  Hi  ! "'  Chilvern  shouting.  '•  Here  I  Look  here, 
I  say.     Here's  such  a  rum  cove  at  the  corner  of  the  street ! " 

The  "  rum  cove  "  turns  out  to  be  a  monk  of  some  order  or 
another.  I  suppress  the  strong  desire  to  regard  him  curiously, 
and  only  say,  as  a  lesson  to  Chilvern,  '•  Oh,  of  course  that's 
nothing  here.     Do  come  on." 

Happy  Thought. — Take  his  arm,  and  walk  him  along 
briskly. 

Chilvern  can't  get  over  the  monk.  '•  Why,"  he  says  to  me, 
"he  had  regular  sandals."  I  am  silent.  A  few  seconds 
aftenvards,  he  continues,  suddenly,  '•  Why,  he  was  shaved 
all  over  his  head  !  "  His  next  idea  on  the  subject  is  that 
''  he'd  make  his  fortune  at  Covent  Garden  in  the  season,  at 
so  much  a  night,  for  the  Huguenots  or  Favoritap 

Why  can't  Chilvern  see  that  he  offends  the  prejudices  of 
the  people  by  talking  out  loud  like  this,  and  staring  at  a 
monk  ?     /don't  stare  at  a  monk.     I  should  like  to,  but  I  don't. 

N 


178  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

We  go  to  the  Museum — where  the  picture-galler>'  is. 
Woman  at  gate  wants  to  know  if  111  have  a  catalogue. 
Chilvern  says,  "  Oh,  yes,  do  have  a  catalogue  1 "  and  takes 
one  off  the  counter.  This  costs  me  three  francs.  He 
shouldn't  take  it  and  open  it,  and  read  in  it,  before  it's  paid 
for.  He  replies,  that  it's  all  the  same  to  him,  as  it's  in 
French,  and  he  can't  make  it  out.  Shall  certainly  go  on  to 
Aix  to-morrow,  and  leave  Chilvern. 

Ill  the  Gallery. — Full  of  Old  Masters.  Students  at  easels 
making  copies  in  oils.  I  like  enjoying  pictures  by  myself. 
Get  away  from  Chilvern.  He  is  at  one  end  of  the  room., 
I  in  the  middle.  I  am  admiring  a  masterpiece  by  some 
Flemish  artist,  date  1406.  What  queer  attitudes  people  fell 
into  then  I 

While  I  am  making  this  note,  I  hear  Chilvern  shouting 
— positively  shouting — "Hi!  Look  here,  I  say!''  to  me. 
Everybody  turns  round,  and  stares.  The  whole  place  is 
disturbed. 

Happy  Thought. — Ignore  him. 

He  won't  be  ignored.  He  comes  towards  me,  calling  all 
the  way,  "I  say,  do  look  here  I  Come  along.  Here's  such  a 
rum  go!''  I  return,  quietly,  "I  wish,  Chilvern,  you  would 
not  insult  the  prejudices  of  foreigners,  like  this.  It  reaUy 
does  not  do.  You  wouldn't  shout  like  this  in  the  Royal 
Academy."  "No,"  says  Chilvern,  knowingly,  "but  this  isfCt 
the  Academy."  I  tell  him  that  his  answer  is  not  clever,  and 
is  not  a  repartee.  He  drops  the  subject,  and  continues  in 
a  tone  a  little  more  subdued.     "  But  I  say,  do  come  and  see 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  179 

this."  I  ask  him  what  it  is.  He  is  bursting  with  the  dis- 
covery of  an  artistic  curiosity,  and  leads  the  way  quickly  up 
the  room,  stopping  at  last  in  front  of  a  picture.  Everyone 
is  watching  him.  The  students  are  eyeing  him  with  interest. 
I  walk  up  slowly,  staying  on  my  way  before  a  picture  of  a 
St,  Francis,     r^lost  of  the  subjects  are  religious. 

Chilvern  thinks  I  am  not  coming,  so  he  shouts  out  again. 
"  Look  here  I  do  come,  here  it  is  !  Look  !  Here's  an  old 
cove  praying  like  anything,  and  two  other  coves  kissing 
behind  a  door."' 

He  thinks  111  laugh  at  this.  I  tell  him  I  am  annoyed. 
Referring  sternly  to  the  Catalogue  I  found  the  picture  he 
alludes  to  is  S/.  Bonavetitnra  in  an  ecstasy^  a  Pope  and  a 
Cardinal  standing  in  the  antechamber. 

I  tell- Chilvern  once  for  all  that  I  really  will  not  go  about 
with  him,  if  he  behaves  like  this.  He  has  a  rude  unpleasant 
habit  of  leaning  over  the  students'  shoulders  Avhile  they  are 
at  work,  and  examining  their  paintings  as  if  he  understood 
them  critically.     I  remonstrate  with  him. 

"  Lor  bless  you,"  he  replies, ''  they  rather  like  it ;  they  think 
I'm  going  to  buy." 

A  small  bandy-legged  amateur  is  hard  at  work  before  an 
Adoration  of  the  Magi,  by  Rubens.  His  manipulation  is 
most  creditable.  Judging  from  a  distance  I  should  say  this 
earnest  student  will  make  a  good  copy,  and  will  advance  in 
his  art.  Chilvern  looks  over  his  shoulder — quite  bends  over 
him.  I  think  the  little  man  rather  resents  this  as  he  shakes 
his  head  sharply,  and  a  slip  of  the  brush  is  the  result.  Instead 
of  begging  his  pardon  and  taking  off  his  hat  politely,  Chilvern 

N  2 


i8o  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

observes  to  him  with  a  wink,  "  Hallo,  Rubens  Junior, 
you're  making  a  nice  muck  o'  this,  you  are."  Disgusting  ! 
The  student  doesn't  understand  English,  and   says  so,  in 

French. 

Happy  Thought. — Leave  the  Gallery  while  Chilvern  isn't 
looking.  If  he  picks  me  up  I'll  take  him  back  to  the  hotel, 
and  leave  him  there. 

Lost  my  way.  Thought  I  recollected  the  streets  :  ask  at 
a  shop.  Will  they  have  the  goodness  to  show  me  the  route 
to  the  Hotel  de  St.  Antoine  ?  They  understand  the  question 
in  French,  or  they  catch  the  name.  A  little  woman  bustles 
out  into  the  street,  catches  me  by  the  elbow,  and  gives  mc 
directions  in  rapid  Flemish^at  least,  I  suppose  it's  Flemish  : 
if  not,  it's  German.  Perhaps  German  a7id  Flemish.  I  thank 
her  politely. 

Happy  Thought. — Say  Merci  beaucoup.,  and  take  off  my 
hat.  She  appears  dissatisfied  with  her  own  instructions,  and 
recommences  more  volubly  and  more  emphatically  than 
before.     I'm  to  do  something  "  rechts,"  then  "links." 

Happy  Thought. — Watch  her  arms  and  hands.  During 
the  instructions  she  makes  herself  into  sign-posts.  Deduction 
from  watching  :  Rechts  is  Right  :  Links  is  Left. 

I  again  say,  Mcrci  beaucoup.^  salute  her  more  profoundly 
than  before,  and  she  retires  to  the  door  of  her  shop. 

As  I  haven't  understood  her  in  the  least,  what  is  the  best 
thin^  to  do? 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  i8i 

Happy  Thought. — Walk  straight  on.  I  look  back  :  she  is 
■.vatching  my  movements.  I  bow  again,  to  encourage  her 
in  the  idea  that  I  have  clearly  comprehended  ever)-thing  she 
has  been  telling  me. 

Looking  back  again,  I  find  the  delay  has  just  upset  my 
plans.  Here  is  Chilvern  running  after  me,  waving  his 
umbrella  and  shouting,  '"  Hi  !  here  1   stop  !     1  say,  stop  1  " 

Happy  Thought. — Better  stop,  as  he's  attracting  attention, 
and  I  might  be  taken  for  a  thief,  or  the  boys  might  come  out 
again.  Hang  Chilvern.  I  let  him  come  up  with  me.  "  To- 
morrow," I  tell  him  decidedly, ''  I  go  on  to  Aix,  and  leave 
vou." 


CHAPTER   XXV. 

ACCOUNTS  — MEMS  — DIFFERENCES —CHARACTER— ROUND 
SUM  — ACQUAINTANCES  —  VOW  —  SIGNED  —  ROW  —  WAK  - 
ING   MOMENTS— DODGE. 

APPY  THOUGHT  {before  I  go  mu ay  from 
Ant-cverp). — Find  out  exactly  how  we  (that  is. 
Chilvern  and  I)  stand. 

This  is  a  pohte  way  of  putting  the  question. 
''How  much  does  Chilvern  owe  me?"  Chilvern  himself 
says  that's  just  what  he  wants  to  know.  Have  I  kept  an 
account  ?  "  Yes,  I  have,"  I  am  able  to  answer,  '•  to  a  certain 
extent,  and  we  can  leave  the  rest  to  memoiy.'''  Chilvern 
says  his  memorys  a  very  good  one  :  so,  I  return,  is  mine. 

I  know  I  put  down  most  of  what  I  paid  for  Chilvern  in  my 
pocket-book,  yet,  on  looking  carefully  through  it,  I  can  only 
find  one  entry — '"  Chilvern,  Soap.  ifr.  50c.'"' 

[This  discussion  takes  place  in  our  bed-room  on  my  last 
evening  in  Antwerp.  Dyngwell  and  Cazell  have,  I  believe, 
quarrelled,  and  are  enjoying  themselves  separately.] 

Chilvern  remembers  the  soap.  "  Odd  !"  he  says.  "Now 
I  come  to  think  of  it,  I  can't  call  to  mind  anything  else." 

I  search  the  pocket-book  again.  I  know  I  entered  his  ac- 
count somewhere,  and  headed  it  in  large  letters,  "'  Chilvern." 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  183 

Happy  Thought  {luhiie  I  am  looking  in  710 f e-book). — His 
share  of  the  dejeuner  a  la  foioxhette. 

Chilvern  admits  this.  "How  much?"  "Seven  francs" 
(at  a  guess),  Chilvern  thinks  it  was  six;  because  he  says 
"Don't  I  recollect  asking  him  whether  it  was  fifty  or  a 
hundred  centimes  that  went  to  a  franc."' 

No,  I  doti't  recollect  this.  I  shouldn't  have  asked  such  a 
question.  "Well,"  says  Chilvern,  "I  know  you  asked  me 
something  about  centimes,  because  you  didn't  want  to 
change  another  franc,  and  wished  to  use  the  coppers  in 
your  pocket." 

\Note  here  for  Typical  Developments. — ]My  mind  is  so 
constituted  to  believe  in  others,  that  if  a  man  positively 
asserts  something,  and  continuously  goes  on  asserting  it, 
I  give  in :  against  my  better  judgment,  I  give  in.  I  don't 
like  the  man  for  doing  it,  and  I  go  away  feeling  that  time 
will  show  whether  I  am  right,  or  he.  But  when  time  does 
show,  and  I  go  to  the  other  man  and  say,  "  Look  here !  you 
were  wrong,  after  all ! "'  he  has  forgotten  all  about  it, 
generally  denies  having  said  anything  of  the  sort,  asserts 
perhaps  something  totally  contrary,  or  takes  my  view  of  the 
original  case,  and  swears  he  had  always  held  it,  and  so 
begins  the  complication  all  over  again.] 

How  a  man's  character  comes  out  in  travelling  I  Chilvern 
is  obstinate.  Chilvern  is  ungrateful.  Chilvern  is  niggardly. 
Again,  what  I  did  not  expect,  Chilvern  repudiates,  and 
condescends  to  mere  details.  I  am  at  least  three  pounds 
twelve  shillings  and  sixpence  out  of  pocket  by  him,  and  he 
says  "he  doesn't  see  how  I  make  that  out."     I  answer  that 


i84  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

'V  don't  go  into  details,  but  put  it  down  as  a  round  sum, 
which  may  be  a  httle  more  one  way  or  the  other/' 

He  says  he  doesn't  see  vrhat  there  is  beyond  "  soap  "'  and 
"breakfast."'  I  tell  him,  "  Lots  of  little  things,  that  mount 
up." 

Happy  Thought. — To  say,  playfully,  "  111  draAv  it  out  as  a 
bill."  If  this  wasn't  said  playfully,  I  feel  it  might  be 
unpleasant. 

Fr.         c. 

Porters  from  boat  and  hotel         .         .         .         .20 
For  several  things  on  board  boat     .         .         .     .     5         c 

Breakfast 70 

Cigars 30 

Catalogue  at  Museum  .....30 

Tips  to  men  for  showing  churches,  <S:c.  (at  least)     7         o 
Matches  for  cigars  .        .  .         .  .025 

Soap  ........     I       50 


Total      .         .         .     .     28 


/o 


These  are  all  I  can  recollect.  Then  there's  the  hotel  bill. 
Chilvern  admits  it  will  be  all  right,  if  I  lend  him  three  pounds 
more  to  take  him  back  again.  I  say,  "  Won't  Cazell  do 
that  ? "'     He  returns,  that  he'd  rather  not  ask  Cazell. 

Happy  Thought. — Say,  "  We'll  see  about  it  to-morrow." 
Will  pretend  to  forget  it,  and  get  off  by  the  train  when  he^s 
out  of  the  way. 

To  bed. 

Happy    Thought. —  Tell    Chilvern    to    go    and    see    the 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  1S5 

Cathedral  to  morrow  morning  at  1 1.30.  Give  him  a  franc  to 
do  it  with.  My  train  starts  at  12.15  ;  and  directly  he  has 
gone  I  can  be  off.     Leave  him  to  Cazell. 

In  Bed  {zi'ith  ?iote-book).—Q^r\\  sleep,  whether  it's  thi 
foreign  atmosphere  or  whether  it  isn't  I  don't  know.  I 
ought  to  be  tired,  but  I  am  not. 

Happy  Thought. — Take  note-book  and  jot. 

Jot  down  memoranda.  Perhaps  while  I'm  jotting  meras. 
for  future,  I  may  recollect  what  I've  spent  on  Chilvern. 
Shan't  travel  with  Chilvern  again  unless  he  has  money,  and 
hasn't  a  suit  of  dittos.  Also,  he  must  be  less  insular  and 
narrow. 

A  propos  of  '•'  narrow,"  note  for  my  own  improvement  ; 
fneuis.j  Books  to  read  while  I'm  away  ;  French — Balzac 
(what  works  ?— find  'em  out  and  select  two  or  three),  Motor 
Hugo's  r Homme  qui  Rit.  Also  some  standard  works,  say 
Mohere's  plays.  While  I'm  taking  baths  at  Aix,  might 
devote  my  time  to  learning  German,  and  reading  Goethe's 
Faust  in  the  orginal.  List  of  books  also  to  read  when  I  return 
Froude's  twelve  volumes.  Must  read  this  :  ever>'one  who 
reads  anything  talks  about  this. 

Met  an  elderly  gentleman  and  his  sister,  who  were  well  up 
in  it,  to-day,  in  the  hotel  drawing-room. 

Happy  Thought  {in  reply  to  any  question  about  Ffoude). 
— No;  I've  not  been  right  through  it  yet.  The  next  question 
will  be,  probably,  "Of  course  you've  read  his  third  volume?" 
To  which  the  reply  (if  you  haven't)  must  be,  thoughtfully, 


i86  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

'•Let  me  see, — the  third  volume, — what  is  that  about? — I 
forget  at  this  moment "  Then  rely  upon  your  interro- 
gator, who,  ten  to  one,  is  a  humbug  after  all.  Note. — People 
read  Histor}-  by  short  cuts  now-a-days,  in  Reviews. 

Happy  Tlwught. — Will  make  the  acquaintance  of  a  Ger- 
man philosopher,  and  ask  him  what  he  thinks  of  the  idea  of 
Typical  Develop?nen/s.  Get  him  to  translate  it.  Should  like 
very  much  to  get  into  a  set  of  German  philosophers.  Must 
learn  German.  Im  sure  my  leading  ideas  are  thoroughly 
German — deep  and  profound :  only  while  one  is  with  such 
men  as  Dyngwell,  Boodels,  Milburd,  Chilvern,  and  so  forth- 
one  fritters  av.ay  one's  deeper  feelings.     I'm  waiting  my  time. 

As  I  finish  this  note,  and  am  about  to  blow  out  the  candle, 
I  record  this,  as  a  sort  of  vow  or  resolution,  in  writing. 

(Chilvern's  room  is  next  to  mine.  I  never  heard  such 
feaj'fu I  snoring:  '"fearful'"  is  the  word.) 

Resohition. —  I  have  two  months  or  so  before  me.  Got  to 
get  rid  of  rheumatic  gout  (if  any  in  me,  which  must  be  dis- 
covered; at  Aix.  While  there  will  study  German,  and  go  in 
for  Gennan  philosophy.  Will  avoid  all  frivolity,  and  take 
this  opportunity  of  working  at  Typical  Developjnoits,  Vol.  I., 
in  order  to  have  it  out  with  Popgood  and  Groolly  at  the 
beginning  of  the  year.     This  I  vow.     Signed  (in  bed). 

If  there  is  anything  I  detest,  it  is  a  fellow  snoring  when 
you  want  to  go  to  sleep  yourself.  I  call  to  him.  More 
snoring.  I  will  call  till  I  wake  him.  Call.  Snore.  Call. 
Louder  snore — apparently  derisive.  Call.  Snore :  irritating 
to  the  last  degree.     Call  again.     Shout.     Thumping  at  wall : 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  187 

man  next  door  begs  (in  American-English)  I  won't  do  that. 
I  reply  that  it's  a  fellow  snoring.  Call  to  Chilvern  again. 
Louder.  American  next  door  shouts  out  that  he'll  complain 
to  the  hotel  manager.  I  tell  him  that  I  really  must  stop  a 
friend  of  mine's  snoring.  The  door  between  Chilvern's  room 
and  mine  is  open,  that's  why  I  hear  him  so  plainly.  Why 
should  I  get  out  and  shut  it?  "  Hi  !  Chilvern,  wake  up  !" 
American,  next  room,  thumping,  wants  to  know  if  I  mean  to 
insult  him  and  his  wife  ? 

No,  I  don't.  Confound  Chilvern  !  These  Americans 
think  nothing  of  revolvers,  and  in  a  foreign  country-  he'd  be 
applauded  for  calling  me  out.  Chilvern  suddenly  grunts, 
gasps,  and,  apparently,  wakes  himself  up  with  a  start.  He 
asks,  '•  What  is  it  ? "  vaguely,  and  adds,  that  "  he's  just  been 
dreaming  of  frogs."  I  tell  him  to  shut  his  door.  He  won't 
get  out  of  bed.  Xo  more  will  I.  He  says,  "Shut  it  yourself, 
if  you  don't  like  it."  I  tell  him  it's  /i/s  door.  He  says,  "  It's 
yours  as  much  as  mine."  Row.  He  suddenly  changes  his 
tone  (it  occurs  to  him,  probably,  that  I  may  not  lend  him  his 
three  pounds,  or  may  go  off  without  paying  his  share  of  the 
bill),  and,  getting  out  of  bed,  shuts  the  door. 

Never  catch  me  with  Chilvern  again.  Shall  certainly  send 
him  to  the  Cathedral  to-morrow,  and  leave  while  he's  there. 


CHAPTER    XXVI. 

ADIEU  !  AXVERS  '.  —  TICKETS  —  CHILVERN  FINISHED  - - 
C//A.VG£-T-0.y  f  —THE  BUFFET—  STOPPAGE  — COCKALO- 
RUMS—  AIX    LA    CH  APE  LLE— BAGGAGE — fly  — 

L"h6TEL— PICK  UP  NAMES— OBSERVATIONS  —  RECEP- 
TION—  POPULARITY — LANGUAGE — NOVELTIES — CHAM- 
BERMAID—RESTAURANTS—RETURN— MISTAKE. 

^^g^T  THE  RAILWAY  STATION,  ANTWERP, 
en  route  f 07'  Aix. — Rather  a  crowd  at  the  ticket 
place,  and  I  come  in  at  the  tail.  My  ear  not 
having  been  accustomed  to  rapidly  -  spoken 
French  (by-the-way,  I  wonder  how  a  Frenchman  ever  masters 
the  names  of  our  stations  as  called  out  by  the  porters  I)  I  am 
unable  to  grasp  the  exact  sum  demanded  of  me  for  my 
ticket. 

Happy  TJiought. — Put  down  a  Napoleon,  and  see  what 
change  comes  out  of  it. 

Clerk  doesn't  take  it,  but  says  something  more  rapidly  in 
French. 

Happy  Thought. — Say  hien..  and  put  down  another  Napo- 
leon. 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  189 

I  am  not  able  to  count  the  change,  owing  to  being  pushed 
away  by  an  excited  person  behind,  and  led  off,  at  once,  by  an 
intelligent  porter  to  get  my  luggage  weighed,  for  which  I  have 
to  pay  almost  as  much  as  for  myself. 

I  suddenly  come  upon  Dyng^vell  in  a  smoking  carriage. 
We  are  the  only  two — the  Captain  and  myself — out  of  our 
original  party,  going  to  Aix.  He  informs  me  that  Chilvern 
received  some  money  this  morning  from  London.  End  of 
Chilvern.     Still  he's  got  to  settle  up  with  me. 

I  make  a  point  of  asking  the  guard  at  ever)-  station, 
whether  we  change  here.  Nothing  like  being  certain.  Dyng- 
well  wants  to  know  how  long  we  wait  at  Liege.  I  advise  him 
(knowing  his  peculiar  French)  to  ask  the  Guard.  The  result 
is  that  the  Captain  addresses  him  thus  :  "Hi,  Old  Cocka- 
lorum, do  we  stop  the  waggon  here,  eh  1 "  Cockalorum 
returns  some  answer,  and  Dyngwell  asks  me  what  he  said. 
I  interpret  it  as,  "  We  hardly  stop  here  five  minutes."  The 
result  is,  in  point  of  fact,  that  we  don't  go  on  again  for  nearly 
half  an  hour.  After  ten  minutes  Dyngwell  decides  upon 
going  to  "  the  buffet."'  He  immediately  asks  for  bitter  beer 
loudly,  and  gets  it  at  once.  I  can't  make  up  my  mind 
whether  it's  more  Continental  to  take  coffee  and  a  cigarette, 
or  vi7t  ordinaire  and  some  roast  chicken.  I  have  decided 
upon  the  former,  and  am  trj-ing  to  attract  a  gargon,  when 
Dyngwell  says, ''  time's  up :  the  bulgine's  on  again."  Bulgitic 
with  him  means  "  Engine  ;  "  but  I  somehow  fancy  that  he 
imagines  it  to  be  French.  I  remark  that  everyone  (with  the 
exception  of  such  Cockalorums  as  the  Guard,  who  rather 
stands  on  the  dignity  of  his  uniform,  I  imagine)  understands 


I90  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

the  Captain's  English,  while  they  don't  seem  to  get  on  very 
well  with  iny  French.     Dyngwell  notices  this  too. 

Happy  Thought. — To  explain  it  to  him  thus,  that  these  are 
Belgians,  and  don't  speak  like  les  vrais  Parisieiis.  (When 
in  Paris  I  can  look  forward  to  saying  that  Belgium  and  Ger- 
many have  spoilt  my  accent — satisfactory.) 

We  cross  the  frontier,  and  suddenly  hear  nothing  but 
German.  X&cx  strange  this  at  first.  Dyngwell  thinks  it 
would  be  a  rum  sort  of  a  start  if  one  went  from  Kent  to 
Sussex  (from  Tunbridge  Wells  to  Brighton,  for  instance)  and 
didn't  understand  the  language  at  Three  Bridges  Station. 
Dyngwell,  I  note,  has  more  in  him  than  meets  the  eye. 

Aix  at  last.  When  you  get  there  it  is  called  Aachen. 
DyngAvell  explains  this  happily;  he  says  a  Frenchman  ex- 
pects to  find  Londres^  and  it  turns  out  to  be  London. 

Examination  of  Baggage. — Questions  in  Gennan  :  answer 
in  dumb  show,  like  a  pantomime.  We  have  too  much  lug- 
gage for  one  trap,  so  Captain  goes  on  alone.  He  calls  his 
coachman  a  Cockalorum,  and  the  man  touches  his  hat.  I 
feel  somehow  desolate :  wish  I  hadn't  come.  Everj'thing 
looks  drear}'.  I  think  of  Fridoline,  and  the  baby  with  the 
rash,  and  my  mother-in-law  at  Brighton.  Wish  I'd  gone 
with  them.  But  as  I  have  come  all  this  way  to  find  out 
whether  I've  got  latent  rheumatic  gout  anywhere  about  me 
or  not,  I  am  determined  to  go  through  the  ordeal,  whatever 
it  may  be.  I  am  put  into  a  fly — such  a  machine  !  Three 
miles  an  hour,  and  an  unwashed  coachman  in  a  glazed  hat. 
Destination.     L' Hotel  die  Grand  Monarqiie.     Sounds  well 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  191 

First  Observation  in  Xote-Book. — Strasse  means  street. 
Mem.  Will  learn  German  while  here.  We  descend  the  broad 
Theater-Strasse. 

Happy  Thought. — Then  there's  a  Theater  here. 

We  pass  a  large  hotel — we  pass  a  colonnade.  IMore 
hotels — plenty  of  people  about :  nearly  all,  apparently, 
English. 

Second  Observation. — That  at  the  first  glance  Aix  has  a 
highly  respectable  appearance,  but  not  gay. 

The  Hotel  at  last:  courtyard  as  usual — very  fine  place. 
Like  a  courtyard.  I  descend :  a  bell  rings — sort  of  alarm  of 
visitors.  More  bells.  Two  porters,  an  under- waiter,  a  head- 
waiter  (evidently,  though  more  like  an  English  Curate  in 
an  open  waistcoat),  and  in  the  distance  on  the  stairs  two 
chambermaids  come  out  to  receive  me.  Forsee  donations 
to  all  these  when  I  leave. 

Note.  Continental  Chambermaids  always  so  neat.  Dressed 
exactly  to  suit  their  position.     No  snobbishness. 

Happy  Thought. — Commence  in  French  (French  carries 
you  ever}'where)  Je  desire  nne  chambre  au  seconde,  et 

l7n?nediate  Reply  of  the  Low-ivaistcoated-Curate. — "Yes, 
Sir,  if  you'll  step  up  this  way,  I  will  show  you."  Ver>^  annoy- 
ing. If  you  want  to  speak  another  language  than  your  o^vn, 
merely  for  practice,  they  won't  let  you. 

The  Head-Waiter  insists  upon  my  taking  rooms  on  the 
first  instead  of  the  second  floor,  as  the  season  is  just  ending, 
and  it  will  be  all  the  same.     He  leaves  me,  and  enter  the 


193  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

Chambermaid.  She  smiles  (sweetly),  and  addresses  me  in 
her  own  native  tongue— German.  She  is  asking  me,  I  imagine, 
from  her  thumping  the  bed  and  then  putting  a  question, 
whether  I  am  going  to  bed  now.  Good  gracious,  it's  only 
five  o'clock. 

Happy  Thought. — Nein. 

This  I  fancy  sounds  rough,  so  I  soften  it  off  with  Merci. 
She  is  now  putting  another  question,  this  time  with  a  jug  in 
her  hand.  Evidently,  will  I  have  some  water.  1  distinguish 
the  word  wasser. 

Happy  Thought. —  Yah — adding  with  a  smile  "j^//  vous 
plait !^  Another  question  from  her.  Wasser  again,  but  thi:^ 
time  she  mentions  Hice-iuasse?-.  Iced-Water?  Nein,  on  no 
account,  vierci.  thank  you.  But  I  should  like  some — some — 
(I  want  to  say  warm  water  for  my  hands;.  Why  isn't  there 
one  universal  language,  say,  English  ? 

Happiest  Thought. — To  say  Warm  Wasser.  She  is  intelli- 
gent [and  sweet-looking  though  not  young],  p'raps  she's  heard 
Englishmen  try  this  before,  for  she  replies,  laughing  good- 
naturedly  (as  if  I  had  said  something  not  quite  proper,  but 
which  she  would  look  over  as  only  attributable  to  my  igno- 
rance of  the  language)  "  Varm-vasserJ' 

Happy  Thought. — '"'Oui,  I  mean  yes,  Yah,  Varm-vasser." 
She  leaves  me. 
Note. — It's  a  great  thing  to  have  the  command  of  a  Ian- 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  193 

guage.  Within  half  an  hour  of  my  arrival  I  have  mastered 
three  words.  S/rasse  is  street,  IVasser  is  water,  IVarm  is 
warm  ;  and  I  establish  one  rule,  that  "  w "  is  pronounced 
like  "  V." 

I  recollect,  when  travelling  a  long  time  ago,  that 
Vahzo  means  a  good  deal.  Try  it  presently,  and  watch 
the  result. 

After  unpacking,  examine  the  Hotel.  Very  nice.  Every- 
thing looks  worthy  of  the  Grand  Mo?iargue,  to  whom  this 
Hotel  is  dedicated.  Go  out  and  examine  the  town.  Although 
I've  never  been  here  in  my  life,  I  seem  to  have  seen  it  all 
before,  somewhere.  Excellent  shops  :  large  restaurant.  No 
out-of-door  seats  and  tables.  Those  who  are  not  English 
are  in  uniform,  at  least  so  it  seems  at  first.  Men  in  uniform 
are  wheeling  barrows,  men  in  uniform  are  driving  carts,  men 
in  uniform  and  spectacles  are  saluting  superior  uniforms  with 
epaulettes,  and  also  spectacles.  To  the  English  eye  the  town 
appears  to  be  garrisoned  by  our  postmen.  Becoming  accus- 
tomed to  them,  you  gradually  pick  out  the  officers,  most  of 
vv^hom  are,  apparently,  short-sighted  and  use  the  pince-nez. 
Ever>'body  is  smoking,  except  the  ladies,  of  course.  The 
toilettes  here  are  not  remarkable. 

In  the  Theater-Strasse  an  enormous  building  is  guarded 
by  a  ver)'  small  sentry.  Think  the  building  is  a  bank,  or  a 
post-office.  He  (the  small  sentr)')  carries  a  big  gun  in  a 
slouching  way,  and  occasionally  stops  to  look  at  nothing  in 
particular,  with  one  hand  in  his  pocket.  Servant-maids  walk 
about  like  the  Parisian  grisettes  in  clean-looking  caps,  gene- 
rally carr}-ing  a  basket,   and   an   umbrella.     [Mt'vi.    agaui. 

o 


194  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

Continental  servant-maids  aj-e  servant-maids.  No  mistaking 
them  for  anything  else.  No  aping  superiors.  How  much 
better  than  red  ribands,  green  gloves,  yellow  parasols,  and 
extravagant  Jupes.]  Umbrellas  are  popular.  I  meet  a  large 
sprinkling  of  the  clerical  element  in  chimney-pot  hats  with 
narrow  brims.  The  Don  Basilio  type  is  not  here.  Sisters 
of  Charity  (also  with  baskets  and  umbrellas)  in  plenty,  all 
looking  particularly  cheerful  and  happy.  In  the  window  of 
a  bookseller's  shop  I  see  a  Manual  of  Conversation  in  Four 
Languages. 

Happy  Thought. — Buy  it. 

With  this  purchase  I  return  to  the  Grand  Monarque.  The 
Head-Waiter,  who  is  politeness  itself,  begs  me  to  inscribe  my 
name  in  a  book.  I  suppose  Dyngwell  has  been  telling  him 
about  my  writing  Typical  Developments^  and  bringing  out  a 
work  with  Popgood  and  Groolly.  I  say  I  will  give  him  my 
autograph  with  pleasure. 

It  is  in  the  List  of  Visitors. 

I  write  it  down.  Head- Waiter  smiles,  "Ah,"  he  says,  "  I 
know  it  well.'"'  I  am  flattered.  ''  Indeed  ?  "  I  return,  thinking 
of  Dyng\vell.  It's  rather  nice  of  Dyngwell  if  he  has  done 
this  ;  I  really  did  not  imagine  he  had  such  an  appreciation 
of  literature.  "  Yes,"  the  Head- Waiter  continues,  with  his 
peculiar  accent,  "  I  remember  him  well  in  London,  in  'Olborn. 
Name  well  known.     I  am  glad  to  see  you  here.  Sir."' 

I  don't  live  in  Holborn,  and  I  never  had  any  association 
with  the  place.  Is  it  possible  that  my  intention  of  publishing 
has  got  about,  and  that  even  this  waiter No,  it  can't  be. 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  195 

He  goes  on  to  explain.  I  faid  that  he  has  mistaken  the 
speUing,  and  has  confounded  me  (confound  him!)  with  a 
Large  Cheap  Tailor's  Establishment.  Annoying,  but  lucky 
I  discover  it  in  time. 


CHAPTER   XXVII. 

THE  WAITER — PANTOMIMIC— CONCERT— EARLY  HOURS- 
PROBABILITIES — GERMAN  DIALOGUES— KALT—ZIMMER 
— COUNTERPANE — PRACTICE — BAD. 

IXE  with  Dyngwell  at  the  large  Restaurant. 

In  7)1}'  Room. — Ring  bell.    Tall  German  waiter 

answers.     He  has  a  way  of  understanding  you 

before  you  speak — anticipator}-  style,  provoking. 

He   enters  with   '"'You  ring?"     I    reply  that   I   did.     He 

returns,   "  I   thought  so.     You  want   some  tea,   some  eggs, 

some  coffee — what  .^ '' 

No.  I  ii'as  going  to  have  ordered  tea,  but  I  won't  now, 
just  to  show  him  that  this  is  not  the  sort  of  thing  to  tr)-  with 
me.  That  Vm  not  one  of  his  ordinary  travelling  Englishmen. 
I  order,  consequently,  some  sherry  and  seltzer.  "  Sherry  and 
seltzer,"  he  repeats,  ''anting  else?  Xo.'  Xo  meat,  no 
bread,  no  butter,  nutting?     Xo?'' 

This  sort  of  thing  makes  one  ver}-  angry  :  it's  a  liberty.  I 
answer  sternly,  *'  Xo,  nothing  else."' 

Happy  Thought. — ''Yes,  a  biscuit."  I  order  this,  because 
he  hasn't  suggested  biscuits.  He  replies,  '•  Sherr}-,  seltzer, 
biscuits,  nutting  else?     Xo?     I   bring  you  dem,"  and  dis- 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  197 

appears.  I  say  "disappears/'  because  he  is  round  the  corner 
of  the  door  and  out  on  the  landing  before  I  know  he  has 
gone.     A  pantomimic  German. 

Open  my  desk  and  commence  reviewing  my  papers. 
Waiter  back  again.  "  Sherr)-,  seltzer,  biscuits,  all  you  want  ? 
No  ?  "  I  say,  almost  savagely  (for  it  is  just  as  if  I  was  being 
worried  into  ordering  something  else,  or  hadn't  ordered 
enough),  "  Open  the  bottle,"' 

He  echoes  me  again.  "Open?  yes."  He  performs  this 
quickly  and  jerkily.     "  Zo.     Put  him  in  ? " 

Happy  Thought. — To  nod  instead  of  replying,  by  way  of 
checking  him. 

"  Anyting  else  ? "  he  immediately  asks.  "  No  ?  nutting 
else?  no."  He  has  vanished,  before  I  recollect.  But  I  do 
want  to  ask  him  something.     "  Here,  Garcon  .'" 

Happy  Thought. — Kellner,  not  Gargon.     "  Kellner  ! " 

He  is  back  again  from  the  bottom  of  two  flights  of  stairs, 
in  less  than  five  seconds.  "  You  call,  yes  ?  You  want  some- 
ting?     No?" 

"  Yes  ;  I  want  to  know  if  there  is  anything  going  on 
here  to-night?"  He  shrugs  his  shoulders,  and  smiles 
vaguely. 

"Is  there?"  I  repeat. 

"Yes,  going  on?  Yes,"  he  answers.  His  "Yes  "is  very 
prolonged  ;  a  thoughtful  affirmative. 

"What  is  it?" 

"Yes.     Going  on  for  day?"     Then,  after  a  moment's  con- 


198  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

sideration,  he  decides  upon  telling  the  truth,  which  takes  this 
form,  "  I  not  know  what  you  say." 

Happy  Thought. — To  put  it  thus,  slowly,  "  Is-there-a-Con- 
cert,  any  Music,  or  is  the  Theatre  open?" 

"  Oh  !  "  a  light  breaks  in  upon  him,  '"  A  Concert  ?  No,  no 
Concert.  De  Tayarter  is  for  tree  days  open.  Not  dis  night. 
De  Band  in  de  Elisa-ga.rten  in  mornin  play." 

Happy  Thought. — \'ery  nice.  Stroll  there  about  eleven 
to-morrow.     Rank  and  fashion. 

Ask  the  exact  time  of  performance. 

"  Seven  hour,"  he  answers. 

"  Plays  for  seven  hours  I'"  I  exclaim. 

"No  !"  he  laughs,  and  shakes  his  head  as  correcting  his 
own  mistake.  '"  Seven  o'clock  "  (this  very  distinctly)  ;  "  de 
Band  play  all  mornins  from  seven  to  eight." 

What  !  1  1  Get  up  at  six-thirty  A.M.  to  go  to  a  Concert  at 
seven. 

''Do  many  people  go  to  this  concert  at  seven?"  I  can't 
help  inquiring. 

*'A11  people  here,"  he  replies.  I  am  staggered.  What 
time  is  the  Theatre  then,  I  wonder.     P'raps  at  4  A.M. 

Suppers  at  ten  in  the  morning.  Fierce  dissipation 
at  midday.  That  "11  do.  No,  I  don't  want  anything 
more. 

Decision  at  present. — Not  to  go  to  the  Concert  in  the 
Elisa-garten  at  seven  to-morrow  morning.  Examine  con- 
versation-book in  four  languages,   in  order  to  address   the 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  199 

Chambermaid  to-morrow  morning  on  the  subject  of  wasser, 
boots,  clothes,  and  bath. 

The  Chambermaid,  I  find,  (to  begin  with'^  is  a  Zimmer- 
mddcheti.     This  is  satisfactory. 

Happy  Thought. — To  arrange  (before  I  go  to  sleep  to- 
night) a  conversation  Avith  the  Zimmermadchen.  I  think 
Guten  viorgen  is  good  morning.  Can't  find  it.  Guten 
jnorgen,  Zi}?imertnddche?i,  will  do  ver}-  nicely  to  begin  with. 

Happy  Thought. — Must  also  master  the  coinage.  They 
took  francs  to-day  in  payment  for  my  conversation-book. 
One  thing  at  a  time.  Zimmermadchen  at  first.  How 
travelling  does  enlarge  our  views.  I  little  thought  two  weeks 
ago  that  I  should  be  calling  any  one  a  Zimmermadchen, 
and  understanding  what  I  meant  by  it.  Also,  mustn't 
forget  what  I  came  for  ;  i.e.,  to  call  on  the  Doctor,  to  whom 
I  have  an  introduction,  and  ask  him  if  I  have  got  rheumatic 
gout  latent  anywhere.  If  so  where,  and  what's  to  be  done 
for  it. 

It  is  veiy  cold  at  night. 

Happy  Thought. — To  ask  the  Zimm.ermadchen  in  the 
morning  for  a  counterpane  and  more  blankets.  Look  out 
*'  counterpane "  and  ''  blankets,"  before  I  go  to  sleep,  in 
dictionar}',  so  as  to  remember  them  in  the  morning. 

Can't  find  "counterpane."     Das  Betttucii  is  blanket. 

Happy     Thought.  —  Look     out    '*  coverlet  "    instead     of 


200  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

"  counterpane.''  Got  it  —  Oberdecke.  "  Zimmermddchenr 
I  will  say,  "  Ich  iviifische  cine  Oberdecke  und  zwct 
Betttuchs:' 

Sleep  on  it — I  mean  sleep  on  the  phrase. 

Wake  in  the  morning :  rehearse  the  speech  to  myself  two 
or  three  times.  Add  to  it.  Bringen  Sze  mir — ["  Bring  me." 
nothing  more  simple  :  and  it's  wonderful  how  sleeping  in 
a  foreign  town  brings  the  language  out  of  you  in  the  morn- 
ing, like  the  sulphur  waters  do  to  the  gout] — Bringen  Sie  mir 
heiss  IVasser.''  "  77<?m  "  is  "  hot,"  and  yesterday  I  thought 
by  the  sound  it  meant  just  the  contrary. 

Am  I  ready  to  converse  with  Zimmermadchen  ?  Yes. 
Ring  the  bell.  Rehearse  again  to  myself  quietly.  Let  me 
see,  I've  forgotten  what  '*  blankets  "  was.  Shan't  have  time 
to  look  it  out  before  she  comes,  and  it  looks  so  absurd  t  > 
read  to  her  from  a  book. 

Enter  the  Zimmermadchen.  She  wishes  me,  in  her  own 
native  tongue  (I'll  astonish  her  presently),  "  Good  morning." 
I  feel  a  little  nervous — why  should  I  be  nervous  .'  It's  non- 
sense to  be  nervous.  By  the  way  I  want  a  bath,  and  I've 
forgotten  to  look  it  out.  She  has  brought  some  heiss  IVasser, 
so  the  words  I  knew  best  I  have  not  got  to  say. 

Happy  Thought. — Begin  the  conversation  by  alluding  to 
the  heiss  IVasser.  Try  to  assume  a  careless  easy  tone,  as  if 
talking  German  had  been  the  amusement  of  my  leisure  hours 
for  years.  Odd,  I  feel  that  I  don't  pronounce  the  words 
nearly  so  well  as  at  my  rehearsals. 

'"'■  Sie  haben  heiss  IVasser-'  I  say  it  boldly.     She  is  as  much 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  201 

astonished  as  Balaam  was,  I  should  imagine.  It  must  ccme 
upon  her  like  a  voice  from  the  bed  itself. 

She  laughs  and  replies,  "  heiss  IVasser,  jaP  Success  : 
now  for  number  two. 

"  Oh,  Zimmermadchen,  I  want '' — failure.  She  stares — 
perhaps  it  strikes  her  that  I'm  a  great  linguist,  and  know  so 
many  languages  that  I'm  mixing  them  up — perhaps  it  doesn't 
— "  I  mean  Ich  tviinsche  eiiie  OderdcckeT 

'■'•  2\ix  Viwm  genonf?'^  she  asks  ;  at  least,  so  it  sounds,  and 
I  understand  it  perfectly.  \tx\  like  English,  "  Not  warm 
enough  ? "' 

''^  Nein^^  I  return  in,  this  time,  admirably  grammatical 
German. 

Now  all  I  want  her  to  say  is,  "  Yes,  I'll  bring  your  ober- 
decke,"  and  while  she's  gone  I'll  look  out  '"tepid  bath"  in  the 
dictionary.  But  she  commences  a  series  of  questions,  or 
remarks,  or  both,  founded  evidently  upon  the  mistaken 
impression,  which  my  starting  so  fluently  in  her  own  native 
tongue  had  given  her,  that  I  talk  and  understand  German. 

Happy  Thought. — Stick  to  "  Yah^  eine  Obet'decke.^^ 
She  laughs  (what  at  ?  I  don't  know)  and  goes  away.  Now 
then.  Bad  is  bath  ;  tepid  is  .  .  .  tepid  is  .  .  .  not  down — 
what  a  dictionary  !  It  will  be  worth  while  studying  German 
here  for  the  sake  of  my  fellow-countrymen  who  want  diction- 
aries. Tepid  is  not  in  the  conversation-book.  Kalt  is  cold, 
but  I  don't  want  a  cold  bath.  "  If  you  please  "  isn't  in  the 
conversation-book.  Yet  they  seem  a  polite  people.  Perhaps 
it  wasn't  a  polite  person  who  compiled  this  book. 


202  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

Happy  Thought. — Ein  Bad  in  it  halt  unci  heiss  IVasser. 
Kalt  und  heiss  together  must  be  tepid. 

Re-enter  Zimmermadchen,  with  such  a  coverlet !  A  bed 
in  itself — a  sort  of  balloon  stufted  with  feathers,  which  she 
plumps  down  on  the  bed.  I  can't  explain  that  it  is  not  at  all 
the  sort  of  thing  I  mean,  because  I  don't  know  the  German 
for  the  phrase,  and  I  can't  keep  her  waiting  in  the  room 
while  I  find  out  the  words  in  the  dictionary.  She  says  some- 
thing about  '•  Das  ist gut,  sop  And  I  reply  (not  to  hurt  her 
feelings)  ''  Yah,  das  ist gootp  {Yah  should  be  spelt,  I  find, 
^•'Ja"— odd.) 

"  Varm  ?"  says  she. 

'"Very  varm,"  I  reply  weakly,  giving  up  my  German  and 
running  into  bad  English. 

Then  comes  the  ^' Ein  bad'''  request.  She  does  understand 
me,  and  brings  it. 

Rise  aid  go  to  breakfast  with  Dyngwell. 

Impressions  of  German  language  at  first. — Not  unlike 
broad  Scotch  if  talked  by  a  nigger.  '''Yah,  yah,"  just  like 
the  Christv  minstrels,  is  ahvavs  coming;  in. 


CHAPTER   XXVIir. 

doctor's    visit  —  invalid's    breakfast  —  dyxgwell's 
advice — system — professor  wanted  —invalids  at 

DINNER— TABLE  D'HoTE  —  MIXTURE  — THE  TIMES  — 
DECEPTIONS — DIFFICULTIES — NOTE  FOR  POPGOOD — 
MY   TUMBLER   AND    I. 

HE  Doctor  comes  while  we  are  at  breakfast,  and 
takes  me  by  surprise.  There  are  eggs,  tongue, 
grilled  chicken-cum-mushrooms  on  the  table ; 
also,  coffee,  tea,  and  preserve.  I  am  munching 
buttered  toast,  and  generally  speaking  haven't  been  so  tho- 
roughly well  or  less  like  an  invalid  in  the  whole  course  of  my 
life. 

Waiter  says,  "  This  is  the  Herr,"  pointing  to  me,  and  in- 
troduces us. 

Doctor  Caspar  begs  I  won't  derange  myself  (in  excellent 
English),  and  will  call  again.  I  suppose  he  means  call  again 
when  I've  done  the  buttered  toast,  and  am  more  like  an 
invalid. 

Me7n. — It's  odd  that  whenever  a  doctor  calls  upon  me,  as 
a  patient,  suddenly,  I  generally  happen  to  be  looking  remark- 
ably well,  and  all  the  symptoms  that  made  me  send  for  him 
(when,  of  course,  he  couldn't  come)  have  vanished.    My  idea 


204  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

of  a  doctor's  visit  is,  that  he  should  find  one  moaning,  groan- 
ing, and  looking  wretchedly  pale  :  also,  ''  unable  to  touch  a 
morsel,"'  not,  as  Caspar  finds  me,  eating  breakfast  enough  for 
two,  and  enjoying  it. 

Happy  Thought. — Apologise  for  being  in  such  good  health. 
Captain  Dyng^vell  and  Dr.  Caspar,  I  perceive,  know  one  an- 
other. They  talk  about  what  has  happened  in  Dyng^vel^s 
absence.  It  appears  that  nothing  has  happened  in  his  absence 
(which  they  expatiate  upon  to  a  considerable  extent),  where- 
upon he  puts  his  glass  in  his  eye,  and  asks  after  several 
"  Cockalorums.''  [Dr.  Caspar  and  the  Captain  both  use 
glasses  ;  the  first  invariably,  the  second  occasionally.]  The 
Cockalorums  generally  seem  to  be  doing  ver)'  well,  judging 
from  the  Doctors  statistics,  who  is  quite  an  fait  at  Dyng- 
well's  peculiar  English. 

"  This  Cove,"  says  Dyngwell,  when  the  conversation  has 
come  to  a  standstill,  inclining  his  head  sideways  towards  me, 
'•  has  got  the  regular  rumti-iddities,  papsylals,  and  pande- 
noodles  all  in  one.  Reg'lar  bad  case — quite  the  invalid — 
give  him  something  to  rub  in."' 

With  which  piece  of  medical  advice  he  nods  to  both  of  us, 
and  lounges  out  of  the  room,  observing  that  we  shall  meet 
at  the  table  d^hote. 

Alone  with  the  Doctor,  and  the  remains  of  the  breakfast. 
Short  conversation.  Serious  moment.  Feel  that  Frivolity 
has  gone  out  with  Dyngwell.  Doctor  examines  me  through 
his  eye-glass,  which  seems  a  sort  of  operation  in  itself.  De- 
cision soon  arrived  at  ;  namely,  that  probably  Fve  got  rheu- 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  205 

matic  gout  somewhere  about  me,  and  that  if  I  don't  know 
what's  the  matter  with  me  now,  I  soon  shall.  "  The  waters," 
Dr.  Caspar  explains,  "  will  bring  it  out,  whatever  it  is." 

The  summing  up  appears  to  me  to  be,  "  if  you've  come  all 
the  way  to  Aachen  without  having  something  the  matter, 
we'll  soon  knock  up  a  disease  for  you,  and  you'll  be  as  bad 
as  anyone  here  in  no  time." 

Doctor  says  I  must  begin  the  system  to-morrow. 

System. — Rise  at  6"30.  Take  the  waters  at  the  Elisa 
Fountain.  Take  a  short  walk  :  take  this  ivith  the  Concert 
in  the  garden.  Take  another  glass  :  take  some  more  Con- 
cert. Return  to  hotel — light  breakfast— emphatically,  light 
breakfast.  I  again  apologise  for  to-day's  excess  in  breakfast, 
and  lay  it  on  Dyngwell. 

System  cofitmued. — An  hour  and  a  half  after  breakfast 
take  a  bath  :  stop  in,  twenty-five  minutes.  Return  to  hotel. 
Keep  warm  till  dinner-time  at  i  '30,  when  serve  myself  up  at 
fable  d'hote,  hot. 

Understand  it  all.  Write  it  down.  Determine  to  do  it. 
Wonder  what  will  be  the  result.  Wonder  what  lijill  be  the 
matter  with  me  when  I've  gone  through  a  course  of  the 
system. 

HapPy  Thought. — If  I  don't  like  it,  shall  go  home. 

Caspar  being  gone,  I  am  7iot  a  man  again.  Remember 
suddenly  lots  of  things  I  ought  to  have  asked  him. 

Make  Meins  to  ask  him  when  we  meet  again.  May  I  take 
champagne?  or  sherry?  or  both.  If  not,  which,  or  what? 
How  about  vegetable?     How  about  tea  and  coftee?     Will 


2g6  more  happy  thoughts. 

sugar  hurt  me  ?  Will  milk  make  any  difference  ?  WTiere 
am  I  to  get  the  waters?  Where  is  the  Elisa  Garden  ?  Who 
gives  the  waters  ?  Must  one  be  a  subscriber  to  get  the 
waters  ?  If  so — How  much  ?  If  much — Can't  I  get  the 
waters  somewhere  else  ?  ^^1lat  am  I  to  do  in  the  bath  ? 
What  am  I  to  say  when  I  go  there  ?  In  what  language  am 
I  to  ask  for  a  bath  ?     Will  they  know  what  I  want  ? 

Happy  Thought. — Ask  Dyngwell.  When  I  ask  him  a  itw 
of  these  questions,  adding  that  I  am  going  through  the 
course,  he  observes,  interrogatively,  "What,  my  light-hearted 
invalid,  coming  out  as  the  perfect  cure,  eh  ? " 

Must  ask  about  learning  German.  Get  a  German  pro- 
fessor.    Quite  common,  I  suppose,  a  German  professor. 

Happy  Thought. — If  they're  swimm:ng-baths,  I  could 
learn  German  while  swimming  about  with  a  professor  in  the 
water.  Dyngwell,  to  whom  I  mention  this  as  an  idea, 
remarks  that,  as  for  swimming,  of  course  it  depends  how 
much  water  I  want  for  that,  as  the  bath  is  only  about  six  feet 
by  four.     Still,  it  is  a  good  idea. 

Happy  Thought. — The  Doctor,  who  also  dines  at  the  table 
dilute,  will  stop  me  if  he  sees  me  eating  or  drinking  any- 
thing wrong.  Can  take  ever\-thing  till  stopped.  Several 
English  there — all  invalids  :  also  invalids  of  various  nations. 
Dr.  Caspar  points  them  out  to  me,  so  does  D\Tig%vell. 
Dyngwell  tells  me  that  the  Cockalorum  opposite  me  was 
quite  a  cripple  when  he  came,  but  now,  he  says,  ''he's  no 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  207 

end  of  a  hand  at  skittles."  He  nudges  me  (Dyngwell  is 
quite  conversational  here)  to  remark  the  "  rum  coon  next  me 
on  my  left."  I  do  so.  He  is  a  cheerful-looking  elderly 
gentleman  in  spectacles.  Captain  informs  me  that  "  he's  a 
Prussian  Attorney  in  ver^'  good  practice,  which  would  be 
better  if  he  wasn't  for  four  months  in  the  year  in  a  lunatic 
asylum.  The  waters,''  Dyngwell  adds,  "  are  bringing  it  out 
of  him,''  (bringing  what  out  of  him  ? — lunacy  ?)  "  but  he's  not 
all  right  yet :  in  fact  he's  liable  to  be  taken  worse  at  any 
moment." 

Happy  Thought. — Shall  change  my  seat  to-morrow. 

Dining  is  different  in  Prussia  to  anywhere  else,  I  believe. 
We  start  with  soup  and  fish,  as  in  England  ;  after  this  I  lose 
myself.  Better  appear  as  if  I  was  accustomed  to  this  style 
of  living. 

Happy  Thought. — Take  a  little  of  everything.  When  I 
dine  here  again  shall  know  more  about  it.  Besides  if  I'm 
wrong,  Doctor  will  stop  me. 

Result  of  this  determination  is,  that  having  got  clear  of  the 
soup  and  fish,  I  find  myself  taking  beef  and  jam  (I  think), 
chicken  and  cutlets,  salad  and  stewed  pears,  some  sort  of 
game  very  bitter,  and  pudding  and  cheese  on  the  same  plate. 
"  The  whole  to  conclude,"  as  the  play-bills  say,  '•  with  the 
laughable  farce  of  walnuts."  Then  coffee  and  cigars.  The 
Doctor  doesn't  stop  me. 

I  can't  help  remarking  sotto  voce  to  DyngNvell,  that  it's  a 
queer  sort  of  dinner.     "  You  mean,"  says  he,  "  it's  a  queer 


i:o8  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

sort  of  mixture  you've  made  of  it."'  He  explains  that  though 
the  waiters  hand  round  these  dishes  quickly  and  together, 
yet  it's  only  that  everyone  may  make  a  choice  of  what  he 
likes.  Dyngvvell  says,  "  Never  mind  ;  waiters  will  put  it  into 
you  ;  waters  will  take  it  out  of  you."  The  waters,  according 
to  Dyngwell,  will  take  everything  out  of  you. 

After  dinner  we  all  become  conversational,  inclining  to- 
wards argument.  The  Skittler  is  introduced  to  me  ;  the 
lunatic  attorney  retires  (thank  goodness)  ;  a  tall  Englishman 
(.vho  hasn't  dined  there)  saunters  in  and  joins  our  end  of  the 
table.  The  theme  of  his  conversation  is  that  he  can  dine 
somewhere  in  the  town  on  a  rumpsteak,  eggs,  and  beer  for  a 
shilling.  Nobody  denies  it  ;  and,  apparently,  nobody  envies 
him.  An  American  moves  his  coffee-cup  up  to  us,  and 
wants  to  know  who's  seen  the  paper  to-day.  No  one  has, 
and  a  lull  takes  place  in  the  conversation. 

Happy  Thought. — We  get  the  English  papers  here. 

Note. — When  the  Z'/wt-j  arrives  is  uncertain:  but  it  does 
come  ver}'  early  in  the  morning.  Much  dishonesty  is 
practised  to  get  it  at  once.  The  porter  is  entreated,  the 
waiters  are  sent  all  over  the  hotel  with  indignant  messages 
from  one  person  to  another  about  ''  keeping  it  so  long." 
Dyngwell  has  craftily  told  the  porter  at  the  door,  that,  at 
whatever  hour  of  the  morning  the  Times  arrives,  he  is  to 
come  and  wake  him  up  to  read  it.  Consequently  Dyngwell 
is  awoke,  to  have  first  look  at  it :  which  operation,  I  ascer- 
tain, he  performs,  first.,  by  being  angry  at  having  been 
roused;  secondly,  by  getting  half  awake,  and  saying.  ''Hey, 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  209 

what  ?  the  Cockalorum  with  the  thingummy;  "  thirdly,  by  a 
delay  of  two  or  three  minutes,  to  discover  "  where  his  infernal 
eyeglass  has  got  to,"  which  he  finds  somewhere  over  his 
shoulder,  with  one  string  entangled  in  his  whiskers ;  y^//;-///;//, 
to  "shake  himself  together  ;"yf/}'///j',  to  select  one  attitude  for 
reading  in  bed  less  uncomfortable  than  another  ;  and,  lastly, 
to  unfold  the  Times,  confounding  it  because  it  isn't  cut,  and 
asking,  vaguely,  "why  don't  they  cut  it,  hang  'em?"  He 
just  dashes  through  it.  I  observe,  while  craftily  waiting  in 
my  dressing-gown  to  take  it  to  my  own  room,  (and,  perhaps, 
Happy  Thought,  hide  it,  which  I  admit  is  wrong, — but  if  I 
don't,  and  once  go  out,  there'll  be  no  more  chance  of  seeing 
it  for  to-day)  to  him, — "  Surely  you  can't  get  much  out  of  the 
Times  that  way  .''  "  he  replies  that  he  only  wants  to  see  if  they 
say  anything  about  him  in  it.  It  appears  that  they  don't  on 
any  morning  ;  which  causes  the  Captain  to  use  a  vast  amount 
of  strong  language  about  the  old  Cockalorums  at  the  Horse 
Guards,  through  whom,  it  seems,  he  has  got  some  transac- 
tions about  selling  out,  or  purchasing  in,  or  exchanging.  I 
don't  exactly  understand  what  he  is  so  irate  about,  but.  from 
his  explanation,  I  conceive  that  Commissions  are  not  to  be 
had  for  purchasing ;  or  his  isn't  a  good  one  for  selling;  or 
that  no  one  will  exchange  with  him;  or  that  the  fellow 
who  said  he  would,  wouldn't ;  or  some  other  military 
difficulty. 

Happy  Thoi^ght. — Get  Dyngwell  to  explain  the  army 
system  to  me.  Include  it  under  A,  Typ.  DeveL,  B.  I.,  Vol.  I. 
Published  by  Popgood  and   Groolly,  with  Addenda  to  the 

p 


2IO  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

Thirteenth  Edition.    Dedicated  to — to — whom?    Must  think 
of  that.     Something  to  think  of  while  I'm  at  Aix. 

Happy  Thought. — Put  Times  in  my  room.  Go  and  take 
my  first  waters  at  EHsa  Fountain.  Porter  at  door  tells  me  I 
must  take  my  own  tumbler.  Porter  at  door,  wonderful 
linguist,  in  a  sort  of  uniform.  Speaks  ever)^  language: 
shouldn't  be  astonished  if  a  Chinaman  were  to  arrive,  and 
the  Porter  were  to  tackle  him  in  his  ov/n  native  tongue  at 
once.  I  take  my  tumbler,  and,  feeling  a  little  odd  v.ith  it, 
put  it  in  my  great-coat  pocket. 


CHAPTER   XXIX. 


DRINK  THE  FIRST — ELISA— MISS  ELISA — A  SMELL— OTHER 
DRINKERS— IDEA  OF  LANGUAGE— SPIRIT— OBSERVA- 
TIONS— DYNGWELL  ON  PRUSSIAN  NAVY — POLYTECHNIC 
MEMORY  —  COSMOPOLITANISM  —  SULPHUR  —  COMING 
OUT — STRONG— APPROPRIATE  MUSIC — INVENTION  OF 
TERMS— MARVELS. 


^MM 


^ijSigSr^  XTER  under  a  colonnade  in  front  of  a  small 
B'VnK  garden.  This  is  the  Elisa  Garden.  There  is 
something  peculiarly  Heathen-Templish  about 
the  pillars,  about  the  steps  down  to  the  mysterious 
spring  which  comes  out  of  a  lion's  mouth  in  marble  hot  and 
hot,  about  the  maiden  of  the  waters,  and  also  about  the  water- 
seekers  with  their  glass  mugs  of  various  colours  and  dice-box 
shaped  tumblers,  that  the  idea  crosses  my  mind  (I  have  no  one 
to  tell  it  to,  so  it  only  crosses  my  mind,  and  then,  I  suppose, 
recrosses  it)  that  we  are  engaged  in  some  Pagan  rite,  and  that 
the  Undine — \^Happy  Thought  that,  '•  Undine."  Who  was 
Undine  ?  Let  me  see  :  German  legend.  Undine  and  the 
Water-Spout  ;  or  the  hon.  Xo.  Think  of  this  as  I  descend 
the  steps  slowly] — the  Undine  of  the  fountain  is  the  High 
Priestess. 


212  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

Happy  Thought. —  Elisa's  fountain,  and  this  is  Miss 
Elisa. 

We  are  in  a  curious  atmosphere  under  these  Pagan 
columns.  This  is  the  smell  of  the  mineral  springs.  It  might 
(the  smell,  I  mean)  be  produced,  I  imagine,  artificially  by 
stirring  up  a  slightly  stale  Q%g  with  a  lucifer  match  until  it 
boiled.  In  ten  minutes'  time  one  ceases  to  notice  it ;  though, 
at  first,  I  think  of  wTiting  indignantly  to  the  Board  of  Works 
at  Aachen,  and  complaining  of  defective  drainage.  I  left  my 
Cottage  near  a  Wood  on  account  of  drainage,  so  it's  natural 
to  be  annoyed  at  being  followed  by  a  smell.  The  cure,  on 
this  supposition,  is  homoeopathic.  Here  I  am  to  take  my  first 
draught.     I  feel  a  little  nervous. 

Happy  Thought. — Stand  aloof  to  see  what  the  other  people 
do.     Look  about. 

Having  descended  the  steps.  I  find  myself,  with  two  or 
three  dozen  others,  invalids  of  all  nations  —  [Happy 
Thought. —  Good  subject  this  for  a  Cartoon  in  the  House  of 
Lords,  ''  Invalids  of  all  Nations  "], — as  at  the  hotel,  in  a  sort 
of  large  area,  with  railings  at  the  top,  over  which  lounging 
spectators  look  down  upon  us  and  make  remarks,  just  as  the 
people  do  to  the  bears  in  their  pit  at  the  Zoological  Gardens 
when  they  give  them  buns,  only  they  don't  give  us  buns. 
Shouldn't  mind  a  bun,  by  the  way,  only  Dr.  Caspar  says, 
nothing  before,  or  with,  the  waters  ;  nothing,  in  fact,  until 
breakfast,  and  then,  if  possible,  less. 

German,  English,  and  French  is  being  spoken  freely  ; 
English.  I  think,  predominating.     There  are  three  languages 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  213 

that  puzzle  me  ;  I  subsequently  find  they  are  Russian, 
Dutch,  and  Greek.  The  Dutch  I  always  thought  was  a 
rolHng  sort  of  tongue,  so  to  speak  ;  but,  on  reflection,  I  fancy 
this  idea  was  mainly  founded  upon  the  remembrance  of 
having  heard  "  Oh,  that  a  Dutchman's  draught  should  be," 
by  a  bass  singer,  late  at  night,  years  ago.  {Mem.  for  Typical 
Developments.  Early  Impressions.  Technical  Education. 
Children.     Dutchmoi.) 

Miss  Elisa  stands  behind  a  semicircular  counter,  and  is 
rapid,  sure,  and  business-like  in  all  her  movements.  1  put 
forward  my  hand  to  her  with  my  tumbler  in  it.  She  looks  at 
me  for  a  second  or  so.  Not  to  see  what  I  want,  but  because 
(I  found  this  out  afterwards  on  being  accustomed  to  the 
scene)  I  am  new  to  her.  She  is  ver\'  pretty  ;  I  should  like  to 
say  in  good  German  to  her,  "  Gretchen,  my  pretty  one,  wilt 
Thou  give  me  some  of  the  tepid  and  limpid  Stream  that 
rushes  from  the  Lion's  Mouth  ?  "  I  am  sure  I  understand 
thoroughly  the  German  spirit,  if  I  only  knew  the  language. 

Happy  ThoKght.Sdiy  "  IVasser''  as  sweetly  as  possible, 
because  I  don't  yet  know  what  German  for  "  if  you  please  "  is, 
and  IVasser  3\onQ,  that  is,  Wasser  nedit— [Happy  Thought.— 
IVasser  neat.  Good.  Full  of  Happy  Thoughts  this  morning  : 
effect  of  air  and  early  rising]— sounds  rude  and  abrupt  ;  and, 
worse  than  all,  sounds  so  insular. 

Happy  Thought.— TdXVmg  of  insular,  when  I  get  in  with 
some  Germans,  students  and  professors,  for  instance,  I  must 
ask  'em  how  thev  like  being  without   a  Navy.     Curious,   a 


214  MORE    KAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

nation  ^vithout  any  admirals,  or  jolly  tars;  but  then,  after  all, 
they've  got  their  mineral  waters. 

Dyngwell  says,  "  You're  thinking  of  the  Swiss  Cockalorums. 
They've  got  no  na\y.  The  Gay  Prooshians  have  no  end  of 
ships."  I  ask  "  Where  ? "'  He  puts  his  glass  in  his  eye,  and 
replies,  carelessly,  "  Oh,  all  over  the  shop.  Adoo  ! "  and 
saunters  off. 

Elisa  catches  the  water  in  my  tumbler,  jerks  it  out,  catches 
some  more,  and  hands  it  to  me,  smiling.  Wish  I  knew  what 
"  thank  you '""  is. 

Happy  Thought. — Say  ^^  Dankyp  It  sounds  like  good 
German,  and  I  shouldn't  be  much  surprised  to  hear  that  it  is. 
On  second  thoughts,  yes,  I  should  be  surprised.  How  difficult 
it  must  be  to  invetif  a  language.  This  leads  to  deep  thought, 
and  will  occupy  me  while  I  stand  and  sip  the  Mineral 
Wassc)'.  I  begin  sipping  thoughtfully,  as  if  I  was  tasting 
to  see  if  I'd  have  a  case  sent  in  in  the  course  of  the  morn- 
ing. It's  v.-arm :  it's  not  exactly  nasty ;  it's  not  precisely 
nice. 

Happy  Thought. — Epicures  say  that,  to  make  a  perfect 
salad,  you  ought  first  to  soupcomier  the  bowl  with  a  shalot. 
Mineral  JVasse?-  to  the  taste  is  as  if  you'd  cleaned  out  the 
tumbler  with  lucifer  matches  of  the  old  blue-tip  school.  It's 
what  I  should  expect  that  water  at  the  Polytechnic  to  be  like 
after  it  has  been  flavoured  by  an  experimental  blowing  up  of 
the  Royal  George  under  water  by  the  Diving  Professor,  or 
somxe  other  scientific  gentleman  connected  with  the  establish- 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  215 

ment.     (I  don't  know  whether  this  goes  on  now  ;  it  used  to. 
But  that's  the  idea.) 

Happy  Thought. — Got  half  through  tumbler.  Nothing 
happened  to  me  as  yet.  Nothing's  happened  to  any  one  that 
I  can  see.  All  chattering  in  little  knots  and  groups  and 
coteries.     Regardless  of  their  doom,  the  little  victims  drink. 

Happy  Thought. — Finished  tumbler,  all  but  a  quarter  of 
an  inch  depth  of  water  at  the  bottom.  Dont  know  what  to 
do  with  it.  Wonder  why  I've  an  objection  to  the  last  drop  ? 
Instinct,  somehow. 

Happy  Thought. — Go  and  hear  the  band. 

I  see  everyone  leaving  a  quarter  of  an  inch,  or  so,  of  water 
in  their  tumblers,  and  then  turning  it  out  into  two  little 
receptacles,  like  the  lower  part  of  umbrella  stands,  placed  at 
the  corner  of  the  stairs.  Do  this  also.  Just  as  if  I'd  been 
doing  it  all  my  life. 

Happy  Thought. — That's  where  I  feel  myself  beyond 
Dyngwell  or  Cazell  or  Chilvern  and  Milburd,  and  so  forth.  I 
am,  I  feel,  cosmopolitan.  In  a  second,  by  just  turning  this 
tumbler  topsy-turvy,  I  feel  myself,  as  it  were,  free  of  the  place. 
A  walk  in  the  garden,  hear  the  band,  another  tumbler  (this 
sounds  like  dissipation  and  the  bottle,  but  it  isn't — it's  only 
high,  airy,  breezy  spirits  before  breakfast,  and  sulphur  mixed), 
and  I  shall  be  naturalised. 

Somehow  I  feel,  having  finished  my  glass,  that  I  am  de  trop 


2i6  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

here ;  for   ever)-one    is    talking    to    everyone    else  —quite   a 
family  party.     All  know  one  another,  and  are  perpetually 
nodding    and    bowing,    and     smiling    and    smirking,    and 
inquiring  after  healths,  and  'Svhat  you  did  last  night  after 
we  left,'"  and  "''  whether  you're  going  to    So-and-so   to-day," 
and  so  forth.     I  feel  that   I   am  isolated.     Wish  Fridoline 
was  here.     Should  like  to  have  her  here — to  talk  to.     {Mem. 
Isn't   this    selfish.'      Is  the   real  use  of  a  wife  only  to   be 
talked  to  when   you  don't   know  anybody  else  ?     A'ofe  /or 
psychological  itiqjiiry.      Plenty   of   time   for    psychological 
inquiries,  if  I  don't  know  anyone  here  except  Dyng\vell.)  I  feel, 
besides  this  sense  of  isolation,  a  desire  to  speak  to  somebody 
— to  throw  myself  into  their  arms,  and  unbosom  my  pent-up 
emotions.     I  haven't  an  idea,  on  reflection,  what  my  pent-up 
emotions    are   like,    or   what    I    should    say   if  anyone — for 
instance,  that  little  Frenchman  (who's  taken  three  tumblers 
to  my  one  in  the  same  time) — stepped  fon\'ard  and  said, 
'■'■Me  void.'  unbosom  yourself!"  I  don't  think  I  should  knoAv 
what  to  do.     I  should  set  him  down,  speaking  rationally, 
as  mad.     Stop  I     I  pull  up.     This  burning  desire  for  con- 
versation,   this   hysterical   yearning,    of  course,  I  see,  it  is 
the  effect  of  the  sulphiir.     Sulphur.     I   must   tone   myself 
down  again. 

Happy  Thought. — Bow  to  Miss  Elisa  'who  seems  to  notice 
it  as  an  impertinence ;  sulphur  again — I  suppose  there  was  a 
lurking  something  in  my  eye),  and  ascend  steps.  Stroll  into 
the  garden.  People  walking  up  and  down  rather  fast,  I 
walk  up  and  down,  round  and  round.    There's  only  one  path. 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  217 

and  you  do  it  in  different  ways.  There  are  two  others,  I 
discover  afterwards,  but  they  are  short  and  retired.  It  is 
very  exhilarating :  it  isn't  Cremorne ;  it  isn't  A'auxhall ;  it 
isn't  Mabille;  it  isn't  Hyde  Park;  it  isn't  the  seaside;  it 
evidently  isn't  Tivoli  (where  I've  never  been);  but  it's — ■ 
Happy  Thought — it's  exactly  what  the  indosiire  in  Leicester 
Square  7night  be  jnade  i?ito,  without  the  present  ruined 
statue,  and  with  mineral  waters  coming  out  of  the  pump. 

Me7n. — Recommend  this  to  the  Board  of  Works.  My 
statue,  equestrian,  as  a  benefactor. 

•  I  feel  inclined  to  suggest  supper  somewhere,  and  regret 
stopping  up  so  late.  I  also  have  a  sort  of  notion  that  later 
in  the  day  the  thousand  additional  lamps  will  be  hung  up. 
(Sulphur  again.)  There  is  a  pond  with  two  sorts  of  fish,  red, 
and  not  red.  Sulphur  water,  I  suppose,  and  sulphur  has 
taken  the  colour  out  of  some  of  the  weaker  ones,  or  those 
that  have  been  in  the  longest.  Good  band.  Pretty  faces. 
There  is  a  Dutch  young  lady  (I  hear  some  one  say  she  is 
Dutch)  to  whom  I  should  like  to  talk — only  because  she  is 
Dutch.  Is  this  incipient  libertinism,  or  only  sulphur  ?  Or  is 
the  former  the  effect,  the  latter  the  cause  ? 

Happy  Thought. — Don  Juan  ended,  operatically,  in  sulphur. 
Good.  "  Ofphee  aux  Efifers''  Quadrilles  just  played.  Ap- 
propriate. Will  go  down  during  the  enfracte  (it  is  a  quarter 
to  eight  A.M.),  and  take  another  sulphur.  Descend.  Fewer 
people  there.  I  want  another  tumbler,  please.  More  difficult 
to  ask  when  there's  not  a  crowd,  as  what  you  say  can  be 
heard.     Approach  Elisa.     She  is  very  pretty.     (Sulphur.) 


2i8  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

Happy  Thought. — Say  '' Mair  luasser''  Scotch  is  an 
excellent  substitute  for  German.  After  all,  it  isn't  so  much 
the  language  itself,  but  the  spirit  of  it,  which  is  the  great 
thing  to  catch. 

Xote. — That  idea  of  the  difficulty  of  inventing  a  language 
is  worth  enlarging  upon.  Suppose  one  had  to  do  it.  What 
should  I  have  called  a  cup  ?  I  don't  think  anything  would 
have  suggested  '•'  cup "'  to  me,  unless  it  was  done  suddenly  by 
a  happy  thought.  Or  e.g.,  hat,  or  handkerchief,  or  neck,  or 
head.  "Head"  seems  really  difficult.  Who  would  have 
thought,  without  having  a  name  for  it  ready  to  hand,  of 
calling  a  head  a  '•  head '"  ? 

A  man  couldn't  have  called  his  own  head  a  head  ;  but 
another  man — a  friend,  for  instance, — must  haA'e  done  it. 
Perhaps  he  did  it  offensively  at  first,  and  meant  it  as  an 
insult ;  and  then  gradually  it  settled  down  into  an  ever)--day 
name.  Odd  occupation,  when  you  come  to  think  of  it,  for 
two  people,  sitting  down,  and  having  nothing  else  to  do, 
saying  to  each  other,  "Now  what  shall  we  call  this f' — a 
hand,  for  instance, — like  a  game  of  forfeits.  Then,  after 
some  deliberation,  friend  says, 

Happy  Thought.— C^W  it  hand. 

Happy  Thought. — People  who  call  a  spade  a  spade.  I 
never  thought  of  it  before,  but  he  must  have  been  a  ver}' 
clever  fellow  who  did  first  call  a  spade  a  spade.  He  might 
have  called  it  a  bonnet,  and  he  wouldn't  have  been  ^^Tong 
then  ;  that  is,  if  bonnets  weren't  made  before  spades. 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  219 

*4{.*  I  review  this  at  night  in  my  note-book,  and  set  it 
down  to  sulphur  acting  suddenly  on  the  system.  Dyngwell 
said  "  the  waters  would  bring  it  out  of  me.  whatever  it  was.'^ 
Something's  coming  out.  But  what  is  it  ?  I  can't  help  being 
nervous.  Shall  tell  Caspar  to-morrow,  and  write  down  my 
symptoms. 


CHAPTER   XXX. 


THE  BATHS — THALERS — DESCENT  —  EATH-MAX— CELLS- 
SUGGESTIVE  —  CONVERSATION  —  TROUBLE  —  BOOK  - 
DIRTY   AND   THIRTY — SOLVITUR. 


T^^S9  IRST  Visit  to  the  Baths.— \  choose  the  nearest 

b;^' L_/'b.r^-    baths,  not  the  Kaiserbad,  which  is  the  larg-est 

f  i  P^^^-:    and  grrandest,  and  where  the  baths  form  part  of 

^^^^y^  the  hotel. 

Am  received  by  a  courteous  elderly  lady  and  her  daughter, 

who  look  as  if  I  was  the  last  person  they  had  expected  to  see. 


Happy  Thought. — Say  what  I've  come  for.  A  few  baths. 
AVill  I  take  them  all  at  once,  which  is  cheaper,  or  not  ?  I 
don't  quite  understand  :  possibly  because  I  am  talking 
French  (in  English),  and  they  are  speaking  the  same  lan- 
guage (in  German).  Becoming  intelligible  to  one  another,  I 
ascertain  that  their  question  is  one  of  tickets.  I  take  a  lot, 
recklessly,  paying  I  dont  know  quite  how  much,  in  thalers. 
Elderly  lady  smiles  encouragingly  on  me,  and  asks  me  if  I 
will  descend  the  steps  ?  If  they  lead  to  the  baths,  yes.  They 
do.  Elderly  lady  sounds  a  bell.  I  descend,  and  pass  through 
the  glass  folding-doors  into  a  passage  with  whitewashed 
ivalls  and  ceiling,  and  a  row  of  small  doors  on  either  side. 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS,  221 

First  hnpression. — Prison  on  the  Silent  System. 

A  small,  fresh-faced  man,  in  a  chronic  state  of  mild 
perspiration,  looking,  in  his  white  jacket  and  apron,  some- 
thing like  a  superior  French  cook  without  a  cap,  appears 
before  me,  and  says — 

''  Good  morning,  sare." 

HapPy  Thought. — Bath-man  speaks  English  :  in  case  the 
bath  shouldn't  agree  with  me,  useful.  '"Which  bard?"  he 
asks,  laconically,  and  allows  me  to  look  in  at  the  doors  of 
several  cells.  No  prisoners  in  just  now.  Attendant  shakes 
his  head.  "  Late  for  bard  {bath),''  he  says.  "  Twenty,  dirty, 
men  season."  From  which  I  readily  gather,  that  in  the 
season,  which  is  now  almost  past  (there  are  three  days  more 
of  it)  the  baths  are  full. 

Finding  that  I  don't  make  up  my  mind  on  the  subject,  he 
settles  it  for  me  peremptorily,  and  showing  me  into  a  cell, 
observes,  "  Nice  bard,"  and  shakes  his  head  solemnly,  as 
much  as  to  say,  "  You  couldn't  get  a  better  than  this,  if  you 
tried  ever  so  much."  The  compartment  I  am  in,  is  a  small 
undressing-room  of  the  very  plainest  description  :  either  a 
cell,  as  struck  me  at  first,  in  a  prison,  or  in  the  monaster}-  of 
a  ver}^  ascetic  order. 

Happy  Thought. — The  Bathing  Monks.  Never  were  any, 
I  fancy.  Good  idea.  Might  suggest  it  to  ecclesiastical 
authorities. 

The  bath  is  where  the  sitting-room  would  be  if  these  v.cre 
lodgings  with  apartments  en  suite. 


222  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

At  first  sight  there  appears  to  be  a  sort  of  scum  on  the 
water,  which  suggests  my  remark  to  the  attendant.    "Dirty !'"' 

He  smiles.  "  Goot,"  he  repHes.  "  Dirty  ;  goot,"  and  dips 
a  large  thermometer  into  the  bath. 

This  doesn't  satisfy  me  as  to  its  cleanliness.  On  the  wall 
is  a  notice,  informing  the  visitor  that  he  has  a  right  to  insist 
upon  seeing  the  bath  prepared  in  his  presence,  by  order  of 
the  Committee, 

I  draw  the  attendant's  attention  to  this,  and  then  pointing 
to  the  bath,  I  shake  my  head,  and  say  emphatically,  and  with 
an  air  of  disgust,  "  Dirty  ! "' 

Happy  Thought. — Wish  Mr.  Payne,  the  pantomimist,  were 
here.  Wonder  how  he'd  explain  my  meaning  to  the 
attendant. 

The  man  nods  in  reply,  '•  J  ah  so  ;  dirty,  hot,"  which  is  not 
a  cheering  view.  I've  seen  "  Third  Class '"'  written  up  over 
the  doors  of  Baths  and  Washhouses  in  London.  It  strikes 
me  that  mine  will  be  something  of  this  sort  unless  I  can  ex- 
plain that  I  do  insist  upon  its  being  prepared  in  my  presence. 

Happy  Thought. — My  Conversation-Book  is  in  my  pocket. 
Difficult  to  find  the  correct  place  at  once,  so  as  to  exactly  suit 
the  occasion. 

Open  quickly  and  come  upon. 

The  Chandler        ....     Der  Lichtzieker. 
The  Chimney  Sweeper      ,         .     .     Der  Kaminfeger. 

No  :  that  won't  do.     Still  it  will  be  useful  to  know  where  to 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  223 

find  the  Chandler  and  Chimney-Sweeper  when  I  do  want  them 
another  time. 

Happy  Thought. — Mark  the  place.^  Look  at  Index  for 
'■'•  Bath,"  "  Dirty,"  and  "  Clean." 

Is  the  Index  at  the  end  or  beginning  ? 

Look  at  the  end.  No.  Only  '•  IModels  for  Notes." 
"  Note  on  not  finding  a  person  at  home."  "  Note  of  invita- 
tion."    "  Note  of  apology." 

Happy  Thought, — Mark  these.-  Useful  another  time. 
Index  in  beginning.  Under  what  heading .''  Don't  know. 
Begin  at  the  beginning,  Bother  :  it's  not  alphabetical,  and 
it  occupies  four  pages  of  small  print. 

The  attendant  is  busy  preparing  my  bath. 

I  run  my  eye  and  finger  quickly  down  the  first  page  of 
"  Contents." 

Happy  Thought. — It  ought  to  be  dis-contents.  (N.B. 
Work  this  up  ;  do  for  something  of  Sheridan's  or  Sydney 
Smith's  ;  more  like  Smith.) 

'"''Fractions^  Army.,  AmmunitiojiP  Hang  ammunition  ! 
"  Time,  Man.^^     I  pause  here.     aMciu. 

Happy  Thought. — Look  out  Man.  Perhaps  find  "  Bath- 
man"  under  that  heading.  No;  on  reflection,  it's  " rt^zW/ " 
and  "  clean''^  that  I  want.  Go  on  again  with  Index  :  ^^ Reptiles, 
Insects,  Maladies,  Kitchen,  Cellar,  Servants,  Mountains, 
Rivers,   Agricultural  ImplementsT     Hang    these    things  ! 


224  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

Where  are  Adjectives,  good  strong  Adjectives  ?  '■''  Affirmative 
Phrases.  Xegative  Phrases"'  This  is  nearer,  luann,  as 
children  say  in  hide-and-seek.  '■'Ecclesiastical  Dignities.'^ 
Cold  again.  ''Musics  Absolutely  chilly.  '' Field  Sports:' 
Oh,  bother  !  Ha  !  ^^  Imperative  Phrases.''  \\2irmer.  ''With 
a  Woollen  Draper.''  Lost  it  once  more.  "  A  Lady  at  her 
Toilet."  Toilet  may  be  of  some  use  to  me  now.  '•'  The 
Master  before  getting  up.'' 

Happy  Thought. — Look  out  hnperative  Phrases.  Lady  at 
Toilet,  and  Before  getting  up.  Combine  some  words  for 
present  use. 

The  attendant  has  finished.  The  bath  is  steaming.  "•  Nice 
bard,"'  he  says.  "  Nice  ;  hot  ;  dirty."  Here  he  points  to  30'' 
Reaumur  on  the  thermometer. 

Happy  Thought. — I  understand  him  at  last.  He  thought  1 
wanted  the  bath  at    thirty,  what  he  calls  dirty. 

No  :  Dr.  Caspar  particularly  said  27°,  and,  from  what  I've 
heard,  you  can't  do  better  than  follow  Dr.  Caspar's  advice 
implicitly. 

Happy  Thought. — Point  to  that  number  on  Thermometer. 
Hit  myself  on  the  chest,  frown,  say  "  No,  no,  Xei7i  Xein,  Ich 
-iviinsch  (I    mean  I  want)  twenty-seven.     Doctor  order." 

"  Not  dirt}-  .^  "  he  asks,  in  astonishment. 

"  Nein,  Nein,"  I  reply,  we  are  beginning  to  understand  one 
another  beautifully.  '*  I  said  rt'irty,  not  Thirty  " — pause  to  let 
him  digest  this.     He  is  intelligent.     He  smiles.     "  Ah  I '"  he 


MOxRE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  225 

says,  and  pulls  a  huge  wooden  plug  out  of  the  bath,  I  suppose 
to  alter  the  temperature. 

Happy  Thought. — While  he  is  busy  look  out  The  Master 
before  getting  up.  Here  it  is — "Peter  what  o'clock  is  it?' 
"  Will  you  shave  ? '''  No.  Ah,  here,  "  You  must  give  me  my 
cotton  stockings  with  my  boots  and  my  kerseymere  trousers  " 
— pretty  dress  I  "  Give  me  my  boots,  as  the  streets  must  be 
dirty."  /?/>/>'— here  we  are.  [X.B.  German  manners  and 
customs  deduced  from  Conversation-Book  ;  ex.  gr.  if  the 
weather  hadn't  been  dirty,  he'd  have  gone  out  without 
his   boots.]     "  Dirty  ''  is  Schi7uczig. 

Happy  Thought.  —  '^  Das  JVasser  in  deui  Bad  is 
Schviusig? 

He  is  indignant.  To  prove  his  assertion  of  its  cleanliness 
he  takes  a  handful  and  drinks  it.  Solvitur  bibendo.  I  am 
satisfied. 

The  bath  is  ready  —and  so  am  I.  A  voice,  resounding^ 
beneath  the  small  dome,  whence  daylight  comes  in,  calls  out 
something. 

"  Koniuien^'  replies  the  attendant  and  leaves  me  to  my 
bath.  I  am  to  stop  in  half  an  hour,  and  forty  minutes  if  1 
can  do  so.     Now  to  commence. 


CHAPTER   XXXI. 

A  DIP  BY  DAYLIGHT — THOUGHTS— WHAT  TO  DO — A  SINGER 
— ASSISTANCE— DER  HERR— EIX  LIED — DER  AXDERE 
MANX  —  BOX  AXD  COX — A  THEORY — THE  IXDEX — 
SULPHUR. 

HAT  can  you  do  in  a  bath?  How  slowly  the 
time  goes  !  Forty  minutes  in  26^  Reaumur. 
You  can't  read  with  comfort.  You  can't  talk, 
unless  to  yourself,  which  is,  I  believe,  the  sure 
forerunner  of  madness.  If  you  have  some  one  in  the  next 
bath,  you  can  talk  to  him,  if  you're  acquainted  ;  but  even 
then  your  conversation  is  heard  by  everybody  else.  No,  it's 
the  sulphur  silent  system  and  water.  But  one  can't  positively 
lose  forty  minutes  of  the  day.     What  can  one  do  in  a  bath  ? 

Happy  Thought.— T\{mk. 

This  reminds  me  of  the  celebrated  Parrot.  Besides  you 
can  think  just  as  well  out  of  the  bath  ;  better.  Might  learn 
German  in  my  bath,     flight,  and  also  mightn't. 

The  Bath  is  a  good  place  for  ''wondering."  You  can 
wonder  what  good  it  will  do  you  ?  ^Vonder  what's  the  matter 
with  you  ?  Wonder  who's  in  the  next  bath  ?  Wonder  what 
the  time  is  ?     Wonder,  if  vou  had  a  fit,  whether  vou'd  be  able 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  227 

to  seize  the  bell  in  time  ?  Wonder  if  it  isn't  all  humbug  ? 
Wonder  if  it  is  ?  Wonder  if  the  Bath-man  flew  at  you  with 
a  knife  and  attacked  you,  what  chance  you'd  have  ?  Wonder 
if  you  might  sleep  in  the  bath?  Wonder  what  possible 
pleasure  the  Romans  found  in  always  bathing  ?  &c.,  «S:c.,  &c. 

The  Bath-man  suddenly  looks  in.  '•  Time,"'  he  says,  as  if 
I  were  going  in  for  another  round  at  a  prize-fight.  I  look  at 
my  watch :  no,  I  don't  think  so.  "  NeinP  I  add,  with 
courage,  ''  Filnf  Mi7iuten  inair,''  I  mean  fi\-e  minutes  more  : 
viai?'  being,  of  course,  Scotch. 

He  understands  me.  I  am  sure  there  is  nothing  like 
dashing  boldly  into  a  language. 

The  gentleman  either  in  the  bath  next  me,  or  a  few  doors 
off,  doesn't  find  any  difficulty  in  amusing  himself  in  the  bath. 
I  never  heard  such  a  row  as  he  makes.  He  sings  snatches 
of  songs,  chiefly  Operatic,  and  7iever  correct,  in  a  stentorian 
voice.  Wish  I  could  silence  him.  I  noiu  have  something  to 
do  in  my  bath  ;  to  silence  this  dreadful  noise. 

The  question  is,  hasn't  a  man  a  right  to  do  what  he  likes 
in  his  own  bath  ?     Yes.     If  /  may  think,  he  may  sing  ;  but, 

on  the  other  hand [I  always  like  to  put  the  other  side  of 

the  question  fairly  to  myself :  by  the  way,  I  generally  see  the 
other  side  better  than  my  own]  he  may  not  sing  to  the 
obvious  prevention  of  my  thinking.  ]My  thinking  doesn't 
interfere  with  anybody  ;  his  singing  does.  Stop,  though  ;  if 
/  interfere  now,  the  result  of  my  thinking  is  evidently  that  I 
do  interfere  with  his  singing.  This  assumes  quite  a  casuis- 
tical appearance.  He  is  beginning  an  air  from  Norma  that 
I   know  by  heart.     When   I   say  singing,    I  mean  roaring 

Q    2 


228  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

He  gets  to   the  seventh  bar.  and  then  pauses,  evidently  in 
doubt. 

Happy  Thoiight. — To  finish  it  for  him. 

I  do  so,  with  diffidence,  and  not  so  loudly  as  he  has  been 
giving  it.  Pause.  This  will  evidently  lead  to  a  struggle, 
unless  he  has  caved  in  at  the  first  shot  from  my  battery — I 
should  say,  bath-en.-,  I  am  allowed  to  think  in  peace  for 
about  a  minute.  Then  he  breaks  out  again.  I  believe  he 
has  been  collecting  a  reperioii'e  during  the  silence.  '*'  Void 
le  sabre,  le  sabre^  le  sabre  I^''  &c.  He  gets  into  difficulties  at 
the  high  part — about  the  fourteenth  bar,  I  should  say. 

Happy  Thought. — His  weakness  is  my  opportunity.  I 
come  in  at  the  finish,  whistling  this  time.  Without  waiting, 
he  begins,  '■'  Ah^  que  faime  les  Militaires  .'^'' 

Happy  Thought. — Puzzle  him.  Sing  the  quick  movement 
in  Italiano  in  Algeria,^  slightly  adapted  by  myself,  on  the 
spur  of  the  moment,  to  the  occasion. 

He  now  sings  Largo  al factotu77i  hoarsely,  but  not  merrily  ; 
for  I  detect  a  certain  ferocity  in  his  voice.  I  must  be  careful; 
because,  if  he  is  a  Prussian  officer,  he  will  call  me  out  when 
he  meets  me  outside. 

Happy  Thought. — Can  say  what  the  Clown  does  when  he's 
caught  by  a  shopkeeper,  "  Please,  Sir,  t wasn't  me." 
Bath-man  appears  with  towels. 
"  Fiinf  Minuteur  says  he.     I  should  rather  say  it  was  ; 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  229 

twenty-hve  minutes,  more  likely.  "Towel:  nice  varm,"  he 
continues,  and  having  dried  me  carefully  in  one,  he  wraps  me 
in  another,  and  leaves  me. 

Classic  dress  this.  Think  of  Socrates.  The  Singing  Man 
has  holloaed  for  the  bath-attendant,  and  is  evidently  pre- 
paring to  leave. 

Happy  Thought. — Ring  for  Bath-man,  and  (after  consult- 
ing Conversation-Book  and  combining  my  question)  ask  him 
who  the  singing  bather  is.  Can't  find  "  singing "  in  Con- 
versation-Book.    I  find  "a  song  :  "  i.e.^  ein  Lied.     Der  Herr 

is  "  the  gentleman." 

Happy  Thought. — Recollect  having  seen  in  playbills  the 
part  of  So-and-So,  Mr.  Blank  {with  a  song).  That's  the  idea. 
The  Bath-mian  enters.     "  You  ring  ?  " 

"  Yah.      Wer  ist  der  Herr  mit  ein  Lied ?^' 

Triumph  !  only  I  wish  he  wouldn't  answer  me  in  German. 
Hov.ever,  I  make  out  that  he  doesn't  know.  He  merely 
speaks  of  him  as  ^'' Der  aiidere  Mannj'-  that  is,  with  a  con- 
cession to  my  language,  "the  other  man."  There  are  two 
men,  then,  in  the  bath  ;  one  is  myself,  and  the  other  is  Der 
andere  Maiin. 

Fifth  Bath  Day. — Der  andere  Man?i  is  in  the  bath  every 
day.  I  hear  him.  I  never  see  him.  He  comes  in  either 
just  before  me,  or  just  after  me,  and  leaves  in  the  same 
relative  proportion  of  time. 

Happy  Thought. — The  Bathing  Box  and  Cox.     Similar  in 


230  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

situation,  except  that  we  never  meet  anpvhere.  I  discover 
that  this  is  one  consequence  of  the  Season  being  terminated. 
Der  andere  Manii  and  myself  are  the  only  two  remaining  to 
bathe  in  the  Xew  Baths.  Other  bathers  go  to  the  Kaiserbad, 
or  to  other  springs ;  for  there  are  sulphur  springs  everywhere 
in,  out  of,  and  round  and  about  Aix. 

Sunday. — Msit  the  Cathedral  in  the  morning.  It  is 
crammed  full,  as,  by  the  v\-ay,  are  all  the  Churches,  appa- 
rently at  any  hour,  in  Aachen.     I  am  here  struck  by  a  most 

Tremejidous  Happy  Thought. — A  new  idea  for  Popgood 
and  GrooUy.  It  is  a  Theojy  of  Origination.  It  comes  to 
me  all  at  once.  It  will  astonish  Colenso,  upset  Descartes, 
scatter   Darwinian  theories,  and   perhaps  create  an  entire 

revolution  in  philosophy  and  science. 

Happy  Thought. — Perhaps  become  a  Heresiarch.  Xew 
sect :  Happy  Thinkei's.,  not  Free-Thinkers.  Be  condemned 
by  the  Pope,  be  collated  (or  something,  whatever  it  is)  by  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbur>',  denounced  by  the  Chief  Imaum, 
held  up  to  execration  by  Dr.  Adler  and  the  principal  Rabbis, 
pronounced  contumacious  by  the  Alexandrine  Patriarch,  and 
be  anathematised  as  dangerous  by  the  Grand  Lama  of 
Thibet ;  and,  finally,  the  Book  placed  on  the  Index  by  the 
Roman  Congregation. 

Happy  Thou  gilt. — Splendid  advertisement  :  in  large  t>-pe. 
New  Book,  just  published,  on  the  Index.  Might  get  Typical 
Developmoits  on  the  Index ;    and  then,  if  both  could  be 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  231 

excluded  from  INIudie's  Circulating  Liibrar}',  its  fortune  and 
mine,  and  Popgood  and  Groolly's,  would  be  made. 

Happy  Thought. — Write  to  them,  or  telegraph  at  once. 
Shall  give  up  my  baths,  and  run  over  to  England.  Tell 
Doctor  Caspar  so.  He  says,  '"  No  ;  on  no  account.  We 
must  get  it  out  of  you.''  I  tell  him  I  feel  that  it  is  coming 
out  of  me  :  apparently  in  the  shape  of  a  new  heresy,  but  I 
don't  add  this. 

Capital  fellow  Caspar.  Speaks  English  so  well.  Dyng- 
well  observes,  "  I  wish  I  had  as  many  sovereigns  as  Caspar 
speaks  English,"  which  is  vague,  but  expresses  D}'ngweirs 
intense  admiration  of  the  Doctor's  culture. 


CHAPTER   XXXII. 

CATHEDRAL  —  AACHEN  —  HIGH  MASS  —  THE  HERETICAL 
THEORY  —  TELEGRAM  —  DYXGV»-ELL''S  PRESCRIPTION  — 
KAGELSPIEL  —  LETTER— THE  VAPOUR— DER  ANDERE 
MANN. 


^^^^p  A'ISIT  the  cathedral  again,  and  I  am  confirmed  in 
my  first  impression.     I\Iy  theor\-  (the  heretical  theory 
mentioned  before)  is,  that  Man  is  made  in  moulds; 
not  ^ mould,  but  in  moulds. 
Now  I  arrive  at  this,  thus  :  — 

On  going  into  the  Cathedral,  High  Mass  is  just  commencing. 
I  struggle  into  a  good  place.  We  are  all  standing,  and  seats 
are  an  impossibility.  Duchesses  and  draymen  elbowing  one 
another,  but  this  by  the  way  ;  only  I  do  approve  of  this 
religious  equality,  and  think  it  vrorth  noticing. 

Before  mass,  all  the  canons,  choristers,  deans,  and  pre- 
centors walk  into  the  body  of  the  church,  and  commence 
versicles  and  responses.  What  they  are  I  do  not  know,  nor 
can  I  attend  to  the  service,  for.  to  my  utter  amazement,  I 
find  that,  from  the  chief  dean  or  head  canon,  or  whatever  he 
is,  to  the  smallest  man  chorister  (not  boy),  all  are  thoroughly 
luell  kno'W7i  to  me.  Yes,  I  recognise  every  one  of  their  faces. 
They  are  as  familiar  to  me  as  possible.     Yet  I  have  never 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  233 

been  to  Aachen  before.  Never.  I  have  never  been  inside 
this  Cathedral  prior  to  this  occasion.  No.  But  I  knou- 
every  one  of  the  ecclesiastics  here  by  sight. 

I  find  myself  staring  at  one  in  particular.  He  is  short  and 
sharp-looking,  with  a  large  mouth.  He  catches  my  eye  :  he 
cant  help  it ;  nor  can  I  help  keeping  mine  fixed  on  him. 
We  are  mesmerising  each  other.  I  feel  that  he  is  chanting 
his  verses  mechanically,  and,  as  it  were,  addressing  them 
chiefly  to  me.  I  wonder  whether  he  is  too  much  mesmerised 
to  move  with  the  procession  when  it  gets  in  motion  again. 
But  luho  is  he  ?  Who  are  they  ?  I  have  known  only  one 
foreign  priest  in  my  life,  and  he  Avas  a  Frenchman,  and  not 
a  bit  hke  any  of  these.  It  breaks  upon  me,  on  my  second 
visit,  all  at  once.  They  are  well-lcnown  theatrical  faces,  some 
familiar  to  me  from  childhood,  and  indelibly  engraved  on  my 
m.emon,',  and  others  known  to  me  in  later  years. 

This  small  mesmerised  priest  (a  minor  canon  he  is),  in  a 
short  surplice  and  a  tippet,  is  Mr.  Dominick  Murray— neither 
more  nor  less.  The  Chief  Dean  is  Mr.  Paul  Bedford,"^  in  a 
cope,  assisted  by  Mr.  Buckstone  of  the  Haymarket,  and 
Mr.  Rogers  of  the  same  company,  who  hold  two  candles  for 
him  to  read  small  print  by.  Mr.  Barr>'  Sullivan,  in  a  collar 
with  lace,  is  scowling  at  his  breviary ;  and  Mr.  Honey,  with 
his  hair  cut,  is  chanting,  hard  at  it,  at  the  bottom  of  his  voice. 
The  others  are  all  well  known  to  me,  only  I  can't  remember 
their  names,  except,  by  the  way,  Mr.  Horace  Wigan,  who 

*  I  regret  to  say,  the  late  Mr.  Paul  Bedford.  There  were  few- 
faces  more  familiar  to  the  Theatre-going  public,  than  was  this  genial 
Comedian's. 


234  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

Stands  out  from  the  rest,  because  he  has  lost  his  place  in  a 
large  book  he  is  carr}-ing,  and  has  got  into  difficulties  with 
his  spectacles. 

Hence  my  theor}-  of  Moulds.  I  iind  ^Ir.  Dominick 
Murray  (let  us  say,  for  example,  as  he  was  my  chief  attrac- 
tion :  he  did  sing  so  energetically,  and  knew  his  part  without 
a  book  I)  in  Germany  as  a  Minor  Canon,  in  England  as  an 
excellent  comedian.  The  same  with  Mr.  Buckstone,  Wigan, 
Sec.  Well,  why  not  in  India  find  the  same  type  of  man 
amongj  the  Brahmins  ? — that  is  anothc}-  lot  out  of  the  same 
viould. 

.  *^*  Dr.  Caspar  has  just  called  in  late  at  night,  and  finding 
me  at  my  notes  (above)  on  my  new  theor)-,  has  ordered  me 
not  to  v.Tite  any  more  for  a  day  or  two,  and  to  go  to  bed  at 
once.  Caspar  is  an  excellent  fellow,  and  really  takes  a  per- 
sonal friendly  interest  in  a  patient.  He  is  much  struck  with 
my  theory  of  "'moulds,'"^  and  says  he  will  call  in  and  talk  it 
over  in  the  morning.  In  the  meantime  (that  is,  between  this 
and  breakfast)  I  am  to  go  in  for  a  hotter  bath  up  to  28^ 
Reaumur,  be  ver>-  careful  in  diet,  rely  upon  Friedrichshaller- 
bitterivasscr,  and  not  write  a  line  about  this  new  theor}'  till 
he  gives  me  permission.  Should  like  to  telegraph  to  my  wife 
and  tell  her.  Have  sent  to  Popwood  and  Groolly  a  telegram 
to  this  effect : — 

^^  New  theory.  Moulds.  Upset  every thiiig.  Great  Idea. 
Write  again.     Will  you  ptiblish  .?" 

Dr.  Caspar  insists  on  seeing  me  into  bed.  He  says  ''the 
sulphur  is  doing  its  work  well."^  Something  is  coming  out  of 
me.     What  ? 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  235 

Uyngwell  looks  in.  "Well,  old  Cockalorum,  got  the 
papsylalls,  after  all,  eh  ?  Doctor  given  you  something  golop- 
shus.  Rub  it  in."  This  is  his  general  idea  of  a  prescription. 
"  Good  night." 

Dr.  Caspar  prescribes  douche  and  vapour  baths.  Itll  be  all 
out  of  me,  whatever  it  is,  in  another  week  or  so.  I  ask  him 
if  I  may  employ  my  leisure  in  writing  Typical  Developments 
and  the  Theory  of  Origination^  for  Popgood  and  Groolly. 

He  says  "  Xo,  decidedly  not."  That  instead  I  must 
devote  myself  to  kagelspiel — Kagelspiel  is  skittles.  I  re- 
member that  Dr.  Whately  used  to  relax  his  mind  by  sv\-ing- 
ing  on  the  chains  of  the  post  in  front  of  the  archiepiscopal 
palace.  Caspar  is  right.  He  is,  I  find,  invariably  right  ; 
being  a  thoroughly  scientific  doctor,  without  a  grain  of  hum- 
bug. Baths  in  the  morning,  dinner  mid-day,  kagelspiel  in 
the  afternoon  ;  tea  in  the  evening,  and  attendance  at  a  con- 
cert or  any  musical  meeting. 

Plenty  of  music  in  Aix.  I  have  now  been  here  long 
enough  to  observe  that  my  first  impressions  were  remarkably 
superficial. 

I  note  down  that  for  recovery  of  health,  and  generally  for 
getting  anything  out  of  you,  there  is  no  better  place,  I  should 
imagine,  than  Aachen. 

Happy  Thought. — To  write  to  Milburd  and  forestall  him 
in  the  joke  which  I  know  he  will  make  when  I  return  about 
leaving  my  Aches  (Aix)  behind  me. 

Second  Happy  Thonght  on  Same  Subject. — Set  the  idea  to 


236  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

music,  "  The  Girl  I  left  Behind  Me;  i.e.  "  The  Aches  I  left 
Behind Me'^     Sav  to  Milburd  in  mv  letter, — 


If  you  sec  any  one  who  asks  for  me, 
And  doesn't  know  where  to  find  me; 

You  may  say  that  I've  gone  across  the  sea, 
And  left  mv  Aix  behind  me." 


Copy  this  into  three  letters  to  other  people,  including  one 
to  Friddy.  The  other  people  don't  know  Milburd,  so  it  will 
be  all  right. 

The  Vapour  Bath. — Shown  into  a  bed-room  at  the  Neubad, 
whitewashed  walls  and  window  near  the  ceiling.  Idea. 
Prisoners  dormitory,  still  on  the  Silent  System.  Bath-rnan 
presently  returns  looking  warmer  than  usual,  and  says  some- 
thing that  sounds  like  Der  Damp  Shift  is  fertish,  which 
I  am  right  in  taking  to  mean  that  the  Vapour  Bath  is  ready. 
I  follow  him,  in  what  I  may  term,  delicately,  my  popular 
character  of  Unfallen  Adam,  across  a  paved  passage,  cell- 
doors  on  either  side  (from  which  I  imagine  people  suddenly 
looking  out  and  saying  "  Hallo  ! "  as  Milburd  would,  if  he 
were  here)  to  a  small  jam-closet  without  any  shelves,  but 
with  a  skylight  above. 

In  this  closet  is  the  case  of.  as  it  were,  a  small  quaint  old- 
fashioned  piano,  only  v.ithout  the  works  and  key-board. 
This  is  the  Vapour  Bath.  The  Bath-man  opens  it :  I  see  at 
once  that  I  am  to  step  in.  I  step  in.  I  see  that  I  am  to  sit 
dov/n  over  where  the  steam  is  coming  up.  I  do,  nerv^ously. 
The  Bath-man  then  boxes  me  in  by  closing  the  frcJnt,  and 
putting  up  a  sort  of  slanting  shutter,  which  only  leaves  my 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 


237 


head  cut  of  a  hole  at  the  top,  hke  some  sort  of  Chinese 
punishment  of  which  I  remember  a  picture.  I  fancy  the 
Bath -man  rather  enjoys  this,  as  his  only  chance  of  a  practical 
joke.  Hope  he  won't  think  it  fun,  or  do  something  stupid. 
He  hangs  my  watch  on  a  nail  opposite  me  and  says,  '•  fifteen 
minuten  in  der  bad.*' 

Happy  Thought. — ''  Nein.     FilufP 

He  won't  hear  of  such  a  thing.  I  don't  like  being  left 
alone.  He  smiles  and  nods,  "Nice  varm?"'  he  asks,  and 
shuts  the  door  on  me.  It  is  var?n,  but  it  is  ?iot  nice.  How 
horribly  slow  the  time  passes.  Yes,  it  is  like  a  Chinese  punish- 
ment. I  tn'  to  distract  my  mind.  Let  me  see  what  can 
I  think  about  ?  Odd,  I  can't  think  of  anything  except  the 
time  and  the  bath.  Yes,  one  thing,  ''  Can  any  one  see 
through  this  skylight?"  Xo — gi'ound  glass.  Suddenly  I 
become  avN-are  of  myriads  of  little  insects  on  the  wall  by 
my  watch.  Ants.  They  are  nowhere  else.  —  They  arc 
very  busy.  Suppose  they  were  to  forsake  the  wall,  and 
Tun  all  over  my  face  and  hair  ?  I  can't  do  anything. 
What  is  Ant  in  German  ?  I  will  complain  when  Bath-man 
re-appears. 

He  does  re-appear  on  the  instant — that  is  his  head  re- 
appears smilingly,  and  asks  ''Nice  varm?"  I  reply  "  ^^z//." 
He  adds,  "  Time,  no?"  and  retires. 

I  have  forgotten  the  Ants.  \Vho  was  it,  Bruce  or  \Yallace 
who  became  King  of  Scotland  by  watching  a  spider? 
Galileo  mad-;  a  scientific  discovery  about  the  pendulum 
while   watching   a   church-lamp    during    a    stupid    sermon. 


238  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

These  Ants  might  lead  me  to  turn  my  attention  to  natural 
histor}^,  if  I  stay  here  long  enough. 

Odd:  the  Vapour  Bath  doesn't  seem  to  be  taking  anything 
out  of  me.  I  thought  it  would  be  something  fearful,  and 
that  I  should  yell,  half  suffocated  and  parboiled,  for  help. 

Bath-man's  head  again.  '■  Nice  varm  ?  Time,  no?'^  and 
disappears. 

At  the  expiration  of  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  he  enters  with  a 
warm  linen  mantle.  He  unpacks  the  box  (I  could  have 
travelled  from  here  to  London  in  this  case,  labelled  "  with 
care,"'  and  "  this  side  uppermost ")  and  I  come  out,  like  a 
character  in  a  pantomime,  when  a  watch-box  or  something 
is  struck  by  harlequin's  wand  and  out  steps  a  boy  dressed 
like  Napoleon  (only  I'm  dressed  like  Nobody  and  in  nothing), 
and  am  immediately  clothed  in  the  wann  garment. 

Then  I  follow^  Bath-man  back  to  bed-room. 

Here  I  am  tumbled  into  a  hot  bed  at  once.  Bath-man 
savagely  tucks  me  up.  "Nice  varm?'"'  he  asks  again, 
"  Heiss,'^  I  reply.  '•'  So  ist  goot,'^  he  answers.  He  sur\-eys 
me  in  bed.  I  am  helpless.  '■^  De?-  a?idere  Manii^^''  he  informs 
me,  "  take  dampf  bad  to-day." 

He  says  this  in  an  encouraging  tone,  as  much  as  to 
impress  upon  me  that  in  all  matters  connected  with  the 
baths  I  can't  do  better  than  follow  the  example  of  Dcr  andeye 
Mann. 


CHAPTER   XXXIII. 

DER  ANDERE  MANX — COMPARISOXS — DISGUST — END  OF 
VAPOUR  —  THE  FAILURE — THE  DOUCHE — HAMLET'S 
GHOST  —  PROCEDURE  — DOUCHING  — CONVERSATION  — 
BON   MOT — NIAGARA. 


^  FEEL  that  I  ought  to  be  dreadfully,  unbearably 
hot,  but  I'm  not.  There  seems,  as  I  lie  on  my  back, 
bound  down  by  sheets  under  a  huge  feather  bed  or 
two,  to  be  a  sort  of  infernal  jingle  of  a  rhyme  in  my 


head. 


I  ought  to  be  hot, 
But  I'm  not,  I'm  not. 
I  will  if  I  can, 
Like  Der  andere  Mann. 


Who  ?>  this  Andere  Mann?  I've  never  seen  him.  Perhaps 
he  is  in  the  next  cell  to  me.  Wish  I  could  sleep.  Should 
like  to,  but  mustn't ;  at  least  Caspar  says  it's  bad  to  do  so. 
Must  stay  in  for  forty  minutes.  Impossible  to  read,  even  if 
one  had  a  book.  Why  don't  they  invent  some  plan  of  fixing 
up  a  book  before  you  'i  Wish  Friddy  were  here  :  she'd  read 
to  me.  Devoted  wife,  reading  to  vapour-bathed  husband. 
I  am  not  very  warm.  Wonder  if  it's  doing  me  good.'*  or 
harm? 


240  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

Bath-man  looks  in.  He  takes  a  towel,  and  wipes  my 
forehead  :  apparently  without  any  satisfactor}-  result,  as  he 
is  more  disgusted  with  me  than  ever. 

"  .A >/>/,"  he  says,  '"'  iiix  vannP  Then  in  a  tone  of  expos- 
tulation, "  Dcr  andere  Mann  vwch  va?-nt :  sveat  dcr  andcrc 
Mannr 

I  am  getting  angry  :  I  feel  it.  I  am  annoyed.  What  do 
I  care  about  Der  andere  Mann's  state  of  heat  ?  I  wish  I 
knew  the  German  for  "  comparisons  are  odious,''  I'd  say  it. 
All  I  do  is  to  restrain  my  impatience,  and  merely  say,  ''Oh, 
ver}-  odd.  Twenty  minutes,"  by  Avhich  I  mean  that  in  that 
time  I  will  leave  this  bed,  whatever  happens,  "  much  varm  " 
or  not.     Begin  to  think  I've  had  enough  of  it. 

Ten  Minutes  after  the  above.  —  Inten'al  of  thinking 
of  nothing,  except  trying  to  recollect  poetry,  and  failing. 
Bath -man  enters.  He  is  puzzled  by  my  comparative 
frigidity. 

"  Der  andere  Majin,'^  he  begins  again,  '*  mueh  va7'7n  :  sveat, 
der  andere  Manji^  much  sveatP  This  in  a  loud  tone,  and  as 
if  at  a  loss  to  find  terms  to  m.ake  me  comprehend  the  admir- 
able conduct  of  this  infernal  Andere  Mann;  "but,"  he  goes 
on,  more  in  sorrov,-  than  in  anger  at  my  utter  failure,  ^^you, 
nix  varm,  nix  sveat ;  nutting,''  and  he  consequently  comes 
with  towels  rather  before  his  time,  having  decided  upon 
giving  me  up  as  a  bad  job.  He  shakes  his  head  dejectedly, 
as  he  goes  through  the  mere  formality  of  wrapping  me  up, 
and  rubbing  me  down,  to  preserve  me  from  sudden  chill,  and 
soon  leaves  me  as  unworthy  of  further  attention,  probably  to 
report  my  extraordinary  conduct  to  the  Andere  ^Nlann,  and 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  241 

to  praise  him  in  fulsome  language  for  his  exemplary  bearing 
in  and  out  of  the  vapour  bath. 

"  Try  again  another  day,"  I  say  to  Bath-man  as  I  leave. 
But  he  has  no  reply  for  me  :  he  is  dejected.  There  are  only 
two  men,  who,  now  the  season  is  over,  come  to  these  baths. 
One  is  myself,  and  the  other  is  Der  andere  Mann,  and  the 
first  is,  in  the  Bath-man's  opinion,  beneath  contempt  as  a 
"  Dampf-shifter." 

English  party  here,  small  by  degrees,  and  beautifully  less  ; 
which  quotation  also  applies  to  the  gouts,  and  rheumatisms, 
and  other  ills  the  flesh  is  heir  to,  under  Dr.  Caspar's  treat- 
ment and  application  of  sulphur  waters. 

System  in  my  case  undergoes  a  change.  Besides  the 
vapour  bath,  where  after  several  ineffectual  attempts  I  never 
can  come  up  to  the  temperature  of  Der  andere  Mann,  I  am 
now  douched. 

The  Douche. — The  Doucheman,  I  mean  the  man  who  gives 
you  the  douche,  appears  dressed  in  a  sort  of  nightgown  and 
nightcap.  I  get  out  of  his  way  at  first,  under  the  impression 
that  he  is  an  elderly  lady,  who  has  mistaken  her  compartment 
in  the  bath.  He  beckons  me,  I  hesitate  under  the  above- 
mentioned  impression,  naturally.  He  smiles,  and  beckons 
me  again. 

Happy  Thought. — Not  unlike  Hamlefs  Fathoms  Ghost. 
"  His  custom  always  of  an  afternoon." 

Another  Happy  Thought  in  the  same  line. — "  Lead  on, 
I  follow."     He  does  lead  on,  and  I  do  follow.     To  a  cell  with 

R 


242  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

bath,  similar  to  the  others,  only  with  a  large  water-pipe  in  it, 
coming  down  the  back  wall,  above  where  your  head  vrould 
be  if  you  sat  under  it. 

We  are  both  silent.  He  shuts  the  door.  There  is  some- 
thing unpleasantly  mysterious  in  these  movements.  Feel 
that  I  must  be  on  the  defensive.  (Nervous  system  a  little 
out  of  order,  or  else  why  be  afraid  of  a  Doucheman,  who,  I 
know,  will  not  do  me  any  harm  ?  Shall  refer  this  to  Caspar, 
who  will  feel  my  pulse,  which  of  itself  is  an  operation  that 
disturbs  me  considerably  until  the  Doctor  speaks,  v\-hen  I 
invariably  feel  relieved,  whatever  he  says.)  Doucheman 
suddenly  takes  off  his  bathing-gown  and  appears  something 
like  an  acrobat  who  is  going  to  support  another  acrobat  on 
a  pole.  I  am  the  other  acrobat.  Wish  I  knew  the  Gennan 
for  '"acrobat."  He  speaks  French,  so  I  trj"- "Acrobar."'  I 
say,  "  We  are  two  Ac robars,'' pleasantly.  He  nods  (he  is  nov.- 
standing  in  the  bath,  doing  something  with  the  mouth  of  the 
pipe),  smiles,  and  turns  the  water  on  to  himself,  just  to  see 
how  he  likes  it  before  he  tries  it  on  jhc. 

He  is  satisfied  with  the  watenvorks,  and  again  imitates 
the  Ghost  in  '•  Hanilttr  I  descend  the  steps.  '"  Speak  I  111 
go  no  farther." 

He  speaks  ;  '■'plus  bas-'  he  says,  whereupon,  after  thinking 
for  a  few  seconds  what  he  means,  I  take  up  my  position 
one  step  lower.  I  can  imagine  a  very  nervous  man  being 
thoroughly  frightened  by  the  next  proceeding,  which  is  to 
take  you,  quite  unawares,  by  the  leg.  Somehow  it's  the  last 
thing  any  one  would  think  of.  It  seems  to  me  that  the 
Doucheman  has  no  settled  plan,  but  that  after  considering 


^lORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  243 

the    patients    for   a   few  minutes,   he    is    suddenly    seized 
by  a — 

Happy  Thought. — "  Take  him  by  the  left  leg  "  {j.'tdc  poem 
about  the  infidel  Longlegs)  and  pummel  his  foot. 

The  noise  of  the  water  rushing  through  the  pipe  on  to  my 
leg  prevents  conversation  (it  is  Niagara  in  miniature),  other- 
wise I  should  like  to  talk  to  him  about  the  art  of  douching, 
and  what  is  ]iis  idea  of  the  particular  benefit  to  the  subject. 
In  a  moment's  pause,  that  is,  before  he  gets  hold  of  my  other 
leg,  I  collect  myself  for  a  question  in  French,  "  Why  do  you 
do  this?"'  It  sounds  piteous,  I  fancy,  as  if  I  had  added,  "  I 
never  did  anything  unkind  to  you  ! " 

He  answers  that  it  is  '■''pour  faire  rouler  le  sang,''  and 
begins  kneading  my  instep. 

Happy  Thought.  —A  kneaded  friend  is  a  friend  indeed,  or, 
a  friend  who  kneads  is  a  friend  indeed. 

Think  it  out,  and  put  it  down  to  Sydney  Smith. 
Douche  on  my  hands,  arms,  chest,  ever)-where. 

Happy  Thought. — All  round  my  hat.  Happier  thought, 
on  expanding  my  chest  to  the  full  force  of  the  water,  ''  All 
round  my  heart."  Niagara  on  my  back.  Squirt,  rush,  whizz, 
sky-rockets  of  water  at  me.  I  am  catching  it  heavily  over 
the  shoulders. 

Happy  Thought. — Should  like  to  turn  round  suddenly, 
and  see  if  the  Doucheman  is  laughing.     I  daresay  it's  very 

R  2 


244  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

good  fun  for  him.     Sort  of  perpetual  practical  joke.     Capital 
employment  for  IVIilburd  if  he  ever  wants  a  situation. 
In  twenty  minutes  it  is  all  over. 

Happy  Thought. — Write  a  description  of  it  all  in  some 
cheap  form.  Call  it  '•  Twenty  minutes  with  a  Douchcman." 
Telegraph  the  idea  to  Popgood  and  Groolly.  They  haven^t 
replied  to  my  other  telegram. 

Fresh  sulphur  water  is  turned  on  up  to  30"  Reaumur,  and 
I  sit  calmly  meditating  on  the  stirring  events  of  the  last  half 
hour  in  the  tranquillity  of  the  ordinary  bath,  the  Doucheman 
having  resumed  his  nightgown  and  wished  me  boii  JGur. 

Happy  Thought.—  "  Oh  that  a  Doucheman's  draught  should 
be,'"'  &c.  Sing  it  myself.  Stop  on  remembering  that  if  Der 
andere  Mann  is  in  the  building,  this  will  encourage  him  to 
begin  his  operatic  selections. 

Back  1)1  my  Room  at  Hotel. — Never  felt  so  well.  Premoni- 
tory- sym.ptoms  of  gout  have  come  out  and  gone.  Caspar 
right.  Telegraph  to  Popgood  and  Groolly.  Say,  "  Premoni- 
tory-symptoms  gone.  How  about  theory — origination?  Will 
you  ?    Wire  back." 


CHAPTER   XXXIV. 

TABLE  D'HoTE— OUR  PARTY — COXVERSATIOX — CLASSICS — 
NAVAL  TOPICS— CUTTING  IN — FOURTH  WEEK — LETTER 
FROM  HOME  —  OUR  PROFESSOR  —  COCKALORUMS  — 
DYNGWELL — A  CLUB — GERMAN  EXERCISES— GERMAN 
LETTER — RESTORATION. 

UR  table-cThoie  party  is  very  select.  At  the 
head  of  the  table  sits  distinguished  guest  ;  sort 
of  oldest  inhabitant.  He  knov.s  Madame  the 
proprietress  of  the  Hotel,  a  lively  and  agreeable 
French  lady  of  commanding  figure,  and  with,  I  should  say, 
an  eye  to  business.  Xear  her  are  her  son  (who  is,  of  course, 
a  soldier,  and  sits  at  his  desk  in  his  bureau,  attending  to  the 
Hotel  accounts,  dressed  in  full  uniform;  and  daughter,  and 
there  is  no  pleasanter  party  at  the  table  than  this  most 
united  family. 

Happy  Thought. — Sit  with  them,  and  practise  my  French. 
Mention  this  to  Dyngwell,  who  replies,  "  Nobody  axed  you, 
sir,  she  said,"'  which  is  true. 

Oiw  end  of  the  table  is  the  inquisitive  and  critical  depart- 
ment. We  are  ab.vays  asking  "Who  that  is.^"  meaning 
some  new  arrival,  and,  generally  have,  amongst  us,  an  Eye 
for  Eeautv. 


246  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

Beauty,  however,  seldom  having  an  Eye  for  us  in  return. 

Dr.  Caspar  takes  the  chair  at  our  end,  and  vre  are  very 
sociable  and  cheery. 

There  are  tvro  gentlemen  in  a  state  of  progressive  convales- 
cence who  compare  notes  as  to  health  across  the  table.  A 
nervous  person  who  eats  preserved  peas  with  a  knife,  and 
has  a  jerky  way  like  an  automaton-diner,  with  his  fork  and 
a  bit  of  bread  when  eating  fish.  There  are  two  naval  gentle- 
men, one  a  Commander  and  the  other  a  Lieutenant.  The 
Commander  has  been  all  over  the  world,  and  has  a  great 
story  about  a  Mongoose.  No  one  has  heard  the  end  of  it, 
as  he  generally  forgets  a  date  or  somebody's  name  essential 
to  the  denouement  of  the  Mongoose.  Always  thought,  till 
nov.-,  that  a  ?^Iongoose  was  humbug,  like  the  Phcenix.  The 
Lieutenant  contradicts  the  Commander  on  most  naval 
matters,  but  has  never  seen  a  Mongoose.  There  is  a  chann- 
ing  old  gentleman  who  has  translated  ^schylus  and  Euri- 
pides into  English  verse  ;  he  has  been  complimented  by  the 
greatest  scholars  of  the  day,  and  his  publishers  have  just 
sent  him  in  his  bill  for  printing,  and  a  letter  to  know  what 
the  deuce  they  shall  do  with  the  first  thousand.  We  talk 
together  about  Greek  poets. 

Happy  Thought. — Take  up  Greek  again.  Read  Homer, 
Old  gentleman  quotes  passages.  Of  course  I  remember,  he 
says  to  me,  the  passage  in  the  Iliad,  commencing 
^^  Dinamenos potty  "  &c.     Of  course  I  don't. 

Happy  Thought.  ■  To  encourage  him,  say  as  if  cogitating, 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  247 

"  Yes/'  dubiously,  "  I  fancy  I  recollect  the  gist  of  the 
passage.-'  "Ah  I "'  he  replies,  "  and  what  would  }'ou  make  of 
the  epithet  there  :  an  epithet  used  only  once,  as  I  beheve.  in 
that  sense  by  Homer,  or  any  later  Greek  poet  ?  "  I  can  make 
nothing  of  it,  and  leave  it  to  him.  What  does  /le  makes  of  it  ? 
"  T/iaf,"  he  returns,  ''has  ahvays  been  /lis  difficulty.'"'  Don't 
like  to  ask  what  epithet  he  means. 

Happy  Though f. — To  quote  carelessly  ^^  Poluphoisboio 
Thalasses,^^  and  say  with  enthusiasm,  "Ah,  there's  3.11  epithet ! 
How  grand  and  full  is  the  Greek  language  !  "  Luckily  at  this 
moment  the  Commander  asks  me  if  I've  heard  what  he  was 
telhng  the  Doctor  about  the  Mongoose,  and  the  waiter  hands 
the  sauer-kraut  (excellent  dish !  !)  to  the  translator  of 
-•Eschylus. 

When  we  sit  late  and  have  Champagne,  as  is  the  case  on 
Sundays  or  on  the  departure  of  a  friend  or  a  birthday,  we  all 
get  into  philosophical  discussion,  all  except  the  Commander 
and  the  Lieutenant,  who  nearly  come  to  high  words 
(invariably)  on  points  of  seamanship,  as  to  whether  it  is 
better  or  not,  in  a  storm,  to  rig  the  boom  taffrail,  or  pay  out 
the  gafl.  The  Commander  appeals  to  our  common  sense,  in 
behalf  of  the  boom  taffrail,  and  the  Lieutenant  observes 
scornfully,  that  "  Any  one  who  knows  how  to  sail  a  vessel 
would  immediately  pay  out  the  gaff." 

Happy  Thought. — To  say  conciliatingly,  "  Well,  I  suppose 
it  doesn't  much  matter."' 

They    retort,    "  Oh,   doesn't    it  I "    and   explain.       More 


248  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

Champagne.  The  Commander  afterwards  takes  me  aside 
and  depreciates  the  Lieutenant's  theories  in  confidence.  The 
Lieutenant  takes  Dyng^vell  apail,  and  says  he  should  be  ver}- 
sorr}'  to  be  saiHng  under  his  (the  Commanders)  orders. 
Dyngwell  observes,  "  That  both  the  nautical  Cockalorums 
have  been  going  on  the  scoop,  and  are  slightly  moppy."  By 
which  v.e  understand  him  to  mean,  that  the  two  naval  officers 
have  had  as  much  as  is  bad  for  them. 

Happy  TJi ought. — A  naval  officer  half-seas  over.  (Think 
this  out,  and  put  it  down  to  Sydney  Smith.) 

First  Day  of  Fourth  Week  at  Aix. — I  am  quite  well. 
Three  more  douches,  two  vapours,  and  four  ordinar}-  baths 
will  settle  the  question. 

Happy  ThougJit. — Present  Dr.  Caspar  with  a  testimonial ; 
say  the  first  volume  of  Typical DevelopmeJits.  when  it  appears, 
with  plates.     "  Anatom\  "  (under  A)  will  interest  him. 

Letter  from  Friddy.     I  must  come  back,  she  says 

Happy  Thought. — Nice  to  be  v.-ritten  to  affectionately. 

I  turn  over  the  page :  she  continues,  ''—or  send  a  cheque.^'' 
It  appears  I  have  stayed  away  longer  than  she  expected. 
The  baby  is  less  rashy  than  he  was.  Regret  that  I  must  go 
home  before  I've  got  on  with  my  German. 

A  German  Lesson. — My  Professor  of  languages  is  the  most 
amiable,  patient,  and  persevering  gentleman.  He  is  much 
tried  by  Captain  Dyngwell,  to  whom  he  has  been  for  some 
time  giving  lessons.     Dvngwell  invariablv  salutes  him — he  is 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  249 

Doctor-of-Law  or  some  degree  or  other,  and  a  man  with 
whom  anyone  of  a  philosophic  turn  would  at  once  commence 
discussing  German  metaphysics  or  deep  and  interesting 
psychological  questions  ;  but  Dyngwell  invariably  salutes 
him  with  a  slap  on  the  back,  a  hearty  slap  on  the  back,  or 
with  a  pretended  lunge  of  his  walking-stick  into  the  pro- 
fessor's fifth  rib,  making  him  \vince  but  smile,  and  ad- 
dressing him  as  '•  Hullo  !  old  Cockalorum  I  SprccJien-Sie 
Detitsch  ?  " 

At  first  I  ascertain  the  Professor  went  home  and  looked 
out  "  Cockalorum  "  in  the  dictionary — he  is  a  great  man  for 
roots  and  derivations,  and  knows  Beaumont  and  Fletcher, 
Massinger,  Shakspeare,  and  most  old  standard  authors  by 
heart.  Not  finding  Cockalorum  in  any  known  glossary,  he 
gets  near  it  as  a  probable  genitive  plural  of  Cock-a-leekie, 
and  humbly  sets  this  down  to  his  ignorance  of  Scotch  dialects. 
Later  on,  he  determines,  after  a  night's  deep  thought,  that  it 
is  a  compounded  form  of  Custos  Rotulonun^  and  announces 
this  as  an  interesting  philological  discovery  to  Dyngwell,  who 
receives  the  information  with  his  glass  in  his  eye  and  the 
remark,  that  it's  ''  Whatever  you  please,  my  little  dear,  only 
blow  your  nose  and  don't  breathe  upon  the  glasses."  To 
which  he  gives  an  air  of  authority,  very  confusing  to  the 
Professor,  by  adding,  "  hem  !  Shakspeare,"  which  causes  the 
good  Herr  another  sleepless  night  in  his  library. 

Happy  Thought. — Explain  Dyngwell  to  him. 
We  have  an  interesting  discussion  on  ancient  and  modern 
slang.      To   assist   me   in    reading    German,    the    Professor 


250  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

kindly  takes  me  to  his  Ckib  ;  an  excellent  social  club  with 
a  reading-room  full  of  newspapers,  German,  French,  and 
English. 

I  take  up  the  something  Zeifinig,  and  am  helpless.  End 
by  reading  the  Times. 

Commence  German  Lesson,  Read  and  translate  out  of 
German  into  English,  and  back  again.  The  principal 
characters  in  the  exercise  are  the  shoemaker  and  the  tailor, 
and,  of  course,  my  father  and  my  mother.  Dyngwell  is 
satisfied  with  this  sort  of  thing,  and  copies  out  reams  of 
examples. 

Happy  Thought. — Make  my  own  examples  and  gradually 
compile  a  new  exercise-book.  ]\Iy  Professor  is  pleased  with 
the  idea  as  original.  I  make  selections  on  paper,  modelling 
them  on  Aim's  La  Langue  Alleniande. 

ExaiJiples  fo7'  the  Use  of  Students  (might  include  these  in 
Typ.  Devel.) — The  shoemaker  is  sad.  The  father  of  the 
shoemaker  is  fat.  The  wife  of  the  gardener  has  given  an 
umbrella  to  the  shoemaker.  The  mother  of  the  carpenter 
was  often  in  my  garden.  Will  you  fight  the  gardener  ?  No, 
Henry  will  fight  the  gardener,  because  the  shoemaker  is  ill 
[kra7ik).  Here  is  Ferdinand  !  Have  you  washed  your 
boots  ?  Yes,  my  mother,  I  have  also  washed  the  boots  of 
the  gardener. 

For  more  Advanced  Students.  —At  what  hour  do  you  sup  ? 
I  sup  at  nine  o'clock  with  the  wife  of  the  shoemaker.  Have 
you  seen  my  brother  ?  No  :  but  I  have  written  to  my  uncle 
and  mv  aunt.     Will  vou  eat  some  ham  ?     Xo  :   I  will  not 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  251 

eat  some  ham.  The  Hon  is  ill.  The  shoemaker  laughs  at 
the  gardeners  aunt  (/.  e.,  the  aunt  of  the  gardener).  Your 
cousin  was  looking  for  his  hat  while  the  merchant  was 
dancing.  The  hound  is  not  so  fat  as  the  cat  {ais  die 
Katse). 

I  dance  better  than  you,  but  you  do  your  exercises  better 
than  I.  Your  father  was  playing  in  the  garden  with  your 
uncle  when  the  Hon  came.  The  industrious  schoolboy  is 
loved  by  ever}-body.  I\Iy  neighbour  has  sold  his  chickens  to 
the  lion.  The  coachman  is  eating  plums  and  apples,  and 
we  have  wine  and  beer.  Give  me  some  soup,  some  wine, 
some  beer,  some  sugar,  some  vegetables,  and  some  ink, 
and  do  not  call  me  till  four  in  the  morning.  The  tailor 
is  here,  so  is  the  shoemaker,  but  the  lion  has  eaten  the 
gardener. 

Happy  Thought. — (Finishing  sentence  to  the  exercise.) 
The  big  hon  has  eaten  the  tailor,  the  shoemaker,  the  gar- 
dener, their  aunts  and  uncles,  the  brothers  and  neighbours, 
and  also  the  ink,  the  sugar,  the  tea,  the  cream,  the  ham,  the 
plums,  and  the  boots. 

Happy  Thought.— To  astonish  Friddy  with  a  letter  in 
German.  Write  home  and  say,  "  Meine  liebe  Ffatt,  I  am 
not  kra7ik  now,  but  very  much  besser j  in  fact,  quite  well. 
Hast  die  viein  cheque-buck  gefunden  ?  Ich  habe  mein  bad 
genommen.  Ich  habe  viem  cheque-buch  nicht.  Bist  du 
krank .?"  : 

Capital  exercise  the  above. 


232  MORE    HAPPY    THOl'GHTS. 

Dr.  Caspar  compliments  me  on  being  thinner.  I  feel 
pleased. 

Note  that  generally  every  one  is  pleased  at  being 
thinner. 

Go  and  get  weighed  at  Miss  Helenthalers  tobacconist 
shop.  Even.-  one  gets  weighed  here.  Wonderful  how  ^Miss 
Catherine,  who  keeps  the  shop,  speaks  English  perfectly 
without  ever  having  been  in  England.  Wonder  if  I  should 
ever  speak  German  without  going  to  Germany,  or  even  ivith 
going  to  Germany. 

Note. — A  writer  in  the  Daily  Telegraph,  whose  article  I 
see  here,  describes  two  gardens  as  existing  at  Aix.  One,  he 
says  called  after  the  faithless  spouse  of  Menelaus.  There  is 
no  such  place.  There  is  the  Elisa  Garden,  and  there  is 
Miss  //d'/tv/thaler  {i.e.,  Miss  Catherine),  who  is  much  amused 
at  being  called  a  garden. 

Happy  Thought.—  V/rite  to  Daily  T.  and  correct  mistake. 

Happy  Thought. — Leave  it  alone. 

I  shall  be  sorry  to  leave.  The  longer  one  stays  in  Aachen, 
the  more  you  learn  of  the  people,  the  pleasanter  it  is. 

But  Popgood  and  Groolly  call ;  or  rather,  as  they  haven't 
answered  my  telegrams,  I  really  must  go  and  see  what's  the 
matter. 

Happy  Thought. — Return  home  by  Paris.  Ask  Friddy  to 
meet  me  there  with  her  mother.  On  thinking  this  out 
(nothing  like  thinking  a  thing  out),   decide  that  it's  better 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  253 

{besser)  not  to  ask  her.     Shall  like  a  fe\v  days'  holiday  in 
Paris. 

Happy  Thought. — Celebrate  my  convalescence  by  a  dinner 
given  to  the  Professor,  Caspar,  and  Dyngwell. 


CHAPTER   XXXV. 


MUSIC— dyngwell's    notion -economy— the    party — 

THE  CONCERT — HERR  SOMEBODY — FIDDLING  —  THE 
SHI.PBOY  —  CONCERT  OVER  —  SUPPER  —  BILLIARDS  — 
MONGOOSE— commander's   STORY. 

IX  is  musical,  as  musical  as  Manchester,  and 
much  in  the  same  way  too.  Two  excellent 
bands  here;  and  once  a  visit  from  Herr  Some- 
thing-or-other  on  the  fiddle  of  world-wide  repu- 
tation, the  Commander  informs  me,  though  he's  the  last 
man  whom   I   should   suspect  of  knowing   anything   about 


Happy  Thought. — Has  sailed  round  the  world,  and  met 
Herr  Something  with  his  fiddle  everywhere. 

Dyngwell  won't  join  our  party  to  the  Concert.  He  says,  if 
the  Cockalorum  would  give  us  a  "  right-fol-iddity,  or  a  chant 
with  a  coal-box  to  it "  (he  means  chorus  when  he  says  "  coal- 
box,'"'  and  the  Professor  makes  a  mental  note  of  it,  in  order 
to  look  out  this  particular  use  of  the  word  coalbox  in  the 
Dictionary)  '"'he  would  come; '"'  but  as  there  is  no  chance  of 
his  taste  in  this  direction  being  gratified,  he  stays  in  his 
room  and  runs  through  his  German  exercises. 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  255 

Happy  Thought. — Beer  is  the  same  in  both  languages. 
Bavarian  Beer  excellent.  So  also  the  lightest  wines;  e.g. 
Zeltinger. 

Happy  Thought. — Take  home  a  cask  of  the  former  and  a 
case  of  the  latter.  I  point  out  to  Dyngwell  what  a  saving 
this  will  be,  and  how  necessary  it  is,  as  the  father  of  a  family 
(one  with  rashes)  to  be  economical.  He  sticks  his  glass  in 
his  eye,  and  exclaims,  '"'  Bravo  !  quite  the  drunkard  I "'  which 
was  not,  on  the  whole,  exactly  the  encomium  I  had  expected 
from  him. 

At  the  Concert. — Our  party  consists  of  the  amiable  and 
learned  translator  of  yEschylus  ;  the  jovial,  good-natured 
Yorkshire  Squire  'who  has  got  well  of  severe  gout,  in  a  week, 
in  consequence  of  rubbing  in  his  draught,  and  drinking  his 
lotion  by  mistake) ;  the  Lieutenant,  who  has  come  to  the 
Concert  in  the  hopes  of  there  being  a  '•  hop  '^  aftervvards, 
which  appears  to  be  his  one  great  aim  in  going  to  any  even- 
ing entertainment  of  any  kind;  the  High  Church  Anglican 
clergA-man,  whose  resemblance  to  a  Catholic  Priest  would  be 
perfect,  if  there  was  only  the  slightest  chance  of  his  being 
mistaken  for  anything  else  but  an  English  Protestant 
!Minister;  and  Dr.  Caspar,  who  knows  every  one  and  ever}-- 
thing  in  the  place,  and  is  welcome  everv'where,  and  can  go 
anywhere  now  that  Aix  is  deserted  by  strangers,  and  he  has 
time  for  shaking  hands  without  feeling  pulses.  Our  ner\'Ous 
compatriot  does  not  appear  anywhere  except  at  table  d'hote, 
having  probably  jerked  himself  into  bed  at  an  early  hour, 
and  shaken  himself  into  a  sound  sleep. 


256  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

HapPy  Thought. — Perhaps  I  shall  discover  who  Der 
Ajidere  Ma)in  is. 

First  overture  of  Concert  over.  Room  crowded.  Elegant 
toilettes;  pretty  Saxon  faces;  Prussian  officers,  in  uniform  of 
course.  Commander  has  been  listening  in  rapt  attention  to 
the  music.     We  all  listen  to  a  part-song  critically. 

Happy  Thought. — To  beat  time  with  my  head  and  hand, 
in  order  to  show  that  the  English  are  a  musical  nation. 
Commander  does  the  same.  I  ask  him  which  he  prefers, 
Rossini,  Auber,  or  Wagner.  He  hesitates.  He  asks  thought- 
fully, "  Let  me  see,  what  was  Rossini's  great  work  ?  " 

Happy  Thought. — (By  Vvay  of  reply,  while  I  think  what 
Rossini  has  written),  "'  His  great  work !  Why  he's  written 
so  many."^ 

The  Commander  says,  '"  He's  alive  still,  isn't  he  ?  "  I  own 
I  am  taken  by  surprise,  never  having  considered  the  question 
of  his  being  alive :  having,  in  fact,  generally  ranked  him 
among  the  "  Old  Masters,'"'  and  got  him  back  somewhere 
near  Shakspeare's  time. 

Happy  Thought. — To  laugh  slily  and  say,  "  I  suppose  so.'' 
If  he  isn't,  and  was  in  Shakspeare's  time,  I  can  say  I  thought 
he  (The  Commander)  was  joking.  Mem.  Read  up  Musical 
Histor}':  odd.  I've  quite  forgotten  it:  under  "C"  (Composers) 
and  "M"  (Music)  in  Typ.  Devel.  Part  HI.  Concert 
continues. 

He7'r  So?nebcdy  on,  the  violin. — Great  applause   on   his 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  257 

appearance.  He  has  long  hair,  turn-down  collar,  and  a  pale 
face,  at  least  so  it  seems  from  this  distance.  Strange,  now  I 
come  to  think  of  it,  that  all  great  violinists,  whom  I  have 
ever  seen,  are  always  the  same,  and  I  always  see  them  from 
the  far  end  of  a  room.  He  plays  a  melody  slowly,  with 
which  he  appears  pleased:  so  do  we.  Commander  thinks  "he 
must  be  wonderfully  strong  in  the  chin  to  hold  the  instrument 
while  his  left  hand  is  jumping  up  and  down  it."  People  look 
round  at  Commander  and  say  "SsshI"  reprovingly.  Herr 
Somebody  takes  three  decided  scrapes  at  the  strings,  and 
then  as  it  were  scrambles  about  the  violin  wildly.  Three 
more  scrapes;  more  scrambling;  tune  nowhere — one,  two, 
three  (fiercely) ;  twiddley-twiddley-twiddly-iddley  (wildly), 
Down  below  like  a  double-bass,  making  a  sensitive  person, 
like  myself,  experience  a  feehng  not  unlike  that  caused  by 
the  steamboat  when  it  dives  in  between  two  waves  on  a 
rough  passage ;  then  up  again,  notes  running  one  after  the 
other  like  mice  in  a  wall,  and  his  four  fingers  and  thumb 
chasing  them  nearly  to  the  bridge  and  not  catching  them. 
Back  again  in  among  the  screws,  up  the  handle,  on  to  the 
bridge,  hand  still  tr}-ing  to  seize  on  something,  his  eyes 
watching  the  performance  intently,  and  chin  fixed.  An 
occasional  shifting  his  head  a  little  on  one  side,  just  for  a 
second,  as  if  he  was  ticklish,  but  liked  the  sensation.  Then 
a  plaintive  bit,  which  seems  to  make  him  stand  on  tip  toes, 
and  causes  me  almost  to  rise  out  of  my  seat.  Then  short 
note,  still  plaintive,  which  brings  him  down  on  his  heels 
again.  As  I  watch  him  he  seems  to  become  all  violin  and 
arms.      Sudden  appearance  of  a  little  tune,   immediately 


255  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

knocked  on  the  head  by  the  bo^v.  Up  and  down  the  chro- 
matic scale,  in  and  out  the  flats  and  sharps.  Herr  Somebody 
loses  his  way  in  a  labyrinth ;  more  mystification ;  at  last  he's 
out  of  the  maze ;  pause,  flourish  of  bow,  grand  triumphal 
movement  (no  tune  to  speak  of,  but  no  mistaking  the  time), 
chords  crisp,  and  chords  loose.  Running  up  and  down  the 
chords ;  violin  swaying  as  if  (so  to  speak)  he'd  tumble  off  it 
every  minute.  We  hold  our  breath  in  suspense.  I  almost 
feel  inclined  to  say,  "  Oh,  do  stop.  Sir !  take  care  !  for  good- 
ness sake  !  take  care  !  " 

Happy  Thought. — A  sort  of  ISIusical  Blondin.  On  consi- 
deration this  is  a  sensational  performance. 

Flourish,  scuttle,  scuttle,  scuttle,  up  and  down  wildly, 
chords  hard,  fast,  and  marked  up  the  scale  full  pelt,  ivhack! 
whacker ! !  WHACKEST  1 !  I  and  the  exhausted  performer  is 
bowing  his  acknowledgments.  A  sigh  of  relief  from  ever}'one, 
audibly,  as  if  we  congratulated  ourselves,  and  him,  on  getting 
through  such  a  dangerous  performance  without  an  accident. 
He  is  encored ;  but  only  reappears  and  bows.  He  will  not 
tempt  Providence  again.  Ever}-one  says  Admirable !  Charm- 
ing! Wonderful!  "almost  equal  to  Joachim,"  cries  Dr. 
Caspar,  enthusiastically. 

Happy  Thought.—  "  Yes,  almost." 

Caspar  is  gone,  before  I  can  add  that  I've  never  heard 
Joachim.  I  turn  to  the  Commander  to  ask  him  what  hc^ 
as  a  musical  man,  thinks  of  it.  The  Commander  is  fast 
asleep. 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  259 

Happy  Thought. — To  quote  to  him  when  he  wakes,  "  The 
Rugged  Shipboy  " — only  I  forget  the  rest ;  but  the  idea  is 
that  the  Shipboy  sleeps  tranquilly  through  all  dangers  and 
tempests  on  the  top  of  a  mast.  I  have  always  wondered 
Avhat  he  held  on  by  ?  Will  wake  the  Commander,  and  ask 
him  to  illustrate  this  passage  in  Shakspeare.  Commander 
wakes.  On  being  remonstrated  with  for  his  drowsiness,  he 
admits  confidentially  to  me,  as  a  thing  not  to  go  any  further, 
••'  that  it's  not  much  good  his  being  here,  as  he  doesn't  know 
one  tune  from  another."' 

After  Concert,  which  is  over  early  (another  excellent  thing 
in  the  Aix  arrangements,  everything  is  over  early),  we 
adjourn  to  a  cafe,  where  we  each  partake  of  a  Wiener 
Schnitzel,  some  Sauer-kraut,  and  a  tankard  of  such  beer  as 
won't  interfere  with  your  waking  in  the  morning.  The  Com- 
mander commences  (with  the  cigars)  his  usual  stor>^  about 
the  Mongoose.  The  Lieutenant  begs  his  pardon  for  a 
minute,  and  seeing  a  table  in  the  ante-room  vacant,  proposes 
billiards  as  a  wind-up.     Billiards,  by  all  means. 

We  rise,  and  go  to  the  billiard-room.  The  Commander  is 
I  see,  a  little  disappointed.  At  this  moment,  DyngAvell 
happens  to  stroll  in  with  his  professorial  friend,  who  joins  us 
in  much  the  same  spirit  that  Dr.  Johnson  did  Beauclerk  and 
the  others,  when  they  got  him  out  of  bed  for  a  frolic.  It 
appears  they've  been  to  supper  (one  of  Dyngwell's  inge- 
nious methods  of  doing  a  German  exercise)  at  KloppeVs  or 
Kruppels  (I  think  that's  what  they  call  it),  and  thought,  that 
he  (Dyngwell),  and  Old  Cockalorum  (the  Professor),  would 
find  us  here.     Dyngwell  opportunely  salutes  the  Commander 


26o  MORE    HAPPY   THOUGHTS. 

with  "  Hallo,  old  Mongoose  I "  which  puts  an  extinguisher 
on  all  chance  of  hearing  the  story  from  the  naval  onicer  to- 
night. He  has  been  trying  to  tell  it  for  weeks.  He  proposes 
to  walk  home  with  the  Professor.  Has  probably  hit  upon 
the  Happy  Thought  of  "  Tell  him  the  Mongoose  stor>-.'"' 
Professor  says  he  shall  be  delighted,  only  he  must  speak  to 
a  friend  first.  He  does  so  ;  to  some  one  at  the  other  end  of 
the  room,  and  is  not  seen  again,  except  for  a  second  by  me, 
when  I  catch  sight  of  his  hat,  which  there  is  no  mistaking. 
as  he  is  making  a  quiet  exit  by  the  front  door. 

Commander  takes  a  seat  between  two  Germans,  with 
whom  he  enters  affably  into  such  a  conversation  as  his  com- 
mand of  the  language  permits;  i.e.  at  the  rate  of  two  words 
in  five  minutes,  with  an  occasional /(^  or  ?iein.  Then  he  goes 
to  sleep  again.     Then  he  wakes  up.     Then  he  disappears. 


CHAPTER   XXXVI. 

LEAVING— THE  SCOOP— FOREIGNERS— MORE  EXERCISES- 
GERMAN  VERES— DYNGWELL'S  EXERCISE— HYMN— TO 
PARIS — POETRY— ARRANGEMENTS. 

N  five  days  I  leave  this.  Sorn- ;  for  a  pleasanter 
time  I've  seldom  spent,  and  shall  regret  leaving 
Dr.  Caspar  and  our  Professor,  but  must  get  back. 
Dyngwell  thinks,  he  says,  of  running  with  me  to 
the  ^'gay  and  festive  village,'' — he  means  Paris, — "  and  going 
on  the  scoop  for  a  short  burst  of  it."  I  represent  to  him, 
gravely,  that  I  can't  go  on  the  scoop  ;  to  which  his  answer 
is,  "  Never  mind.  Cockalorum,  we'll  bustle  'em  somehow." 

Dyngwell  asks  me  to  come  and  have  a  chat  in  his  room. 
We  fall  into  German  and  French,  I  propose  talking  in  both 
languages  as  a  capital  plan  for  foreigners.  He  says, 
"Who's  a  foreigner?"  I  reply,  ''  We  are,"  which  seems  to 
astonish  him.  He  had  thought  that  Englishmen  never 
could  be  foreigners. 

Happy  Thotight. — Suggest  that  he  was  thinking  of  Rule 
Britannia  and  chorus.  "  Never,  never,  never,  never,  never, 
shall  be  "  foreigners. 

I  say,  for  practice,  will  he  talk  Germ.an  to  me  ?     He  won't. 


262  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

For  practice,  will  I  talk  French  to  him  ?  I  will.  He  doesn't 
understand  a  word  I  say.  He  says  he  catches  one  now  and 
then.  We  read  French  to  each  other.  Getting  tired  of  this, 
he  draws  my  attention  to  his  exercises,  and  professes  to  be 
getting  "  Quite  the  German.'"^ 

Happy  Thought. — To  test  him  and  his  system.  Represent 
the  conventionality  of  his  exercises.  Get  one  of  mine 
(intended  for  my  forthcoming  "  Method  of  learning  German, 
French  and  English  simultaneously,"  if  Popgood  and  GrooUy 
"vvill  have  it.     Wish  they'd  answer  telegrams)  and  try  him. 

For  Begiimers. — I  am  fat  {gross).  You  are  poor.  We 
are  fat  and  poor.  Am  I  fat  or  poor  t  Are  you  ill  or  fat  ? 
He  is  old  and  little.  Is  he  little  or  old  ?  I  am  rich  {reich) 
and  fatigued.  Are  you  little  {klein),  and  fat  {gross),  and 
rich  and  iU  {krank)  ? 

Next  Exercise. — I  am  not  tall.  They  are  short  and  idle. 
Is  the  father  good  and  fat  ^  The  mother  is  happy  and  tall. 
The  father  and  the  mother  are  small  and  polite.  IMy  aunt  is 
with  the  shoemaker,  but  my  uncle  is  in  the  garden.  The  wife 
of  the  doctor  {des  A?'ztes)  is  in  the  fat  carpenter's  garden. 

I  have  seen  the  tailor's  uncle's  boots  {i.e.,  I  have  the  boots 
of  the  uncle  of  the  tailor  seen). 

This  is  what  Dyngwell  says  is  his  difficulty ;  viz.,  that  the 
verb  is  (so  to  speak)  round  the  corner  ;  or  comes,  as  it  were, 
at  the  end  of  the  book. 

Happy  Thought. — There  are  more  things  in  heaven  and 
earth,  Dyngwell,  than  are  dreamt  of  in  your  philosophy. 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  263^ 

Dyngwell  puts  before  me  his  idea  of  our  exercise. 

DyngwelVs  Gennaii  Exercise. — Will  the  Coekaiorum 
liquor?  The  old  Cockalorum  is  moppy.  Rub  it  in.  The 
tailor  was  bustled  a  bit  by  the  wife  of  the  Cockalorum.  The 
old  cove  went  on  the  scoop.  The  venerable  Cockalorum  ain't 
in  good  form.  The  shoemaker  is  a  Hass.  The  carpenters 
grandmother  was  quite  the  drunkard.  The  gardener  has 
the  papsylals  in  his  great  toe.  Act  on  the  square,,  boys, 
and  be  quite  the  c  rrect  card,  your  vashup.  The  carpenter 
retires  to  his  virtuous  downy.  r^Iy  Aunt  and  my  Uncle. 
The  noble  swell  was  all  there.  Well,  my  Lord  and  Marquis, 
how  was  you  to-morrow?  Hallo  I  says  the  Dook.  Quite 
the  tittup,  says  the  Duchess.  The  Cockalorum  was  on. 
I'll  have  your  German  Exercise  ! 

"Now,"  says  Dyng^vell,  "get  that  into  real  up  and  down 
German,  and  you'll  be  quite  the  scholar." 

SuJiday. — In  the  Jesuits"  Church.  Expect,  from  seeing 
the  crowd,  that  I  am  going  to  see  something  peculiarly 
grand.  Edge  myself  as  near  as  possible  to  the  front  row  of 
people  all  standing.  A  German  hymn  which  I  don't  under- 
stand. 

Happy  Thought. — Never  offend  prejudices.  Look  devo- 
tional, and  hum  as  much  of  the  tune  as  I  can  catch. 

No  ceremonial,  but  a  sermon.  After  the  first  twenty 
minutes  look  round  to  see  if  there's  any  chance  of  getting 
out  quietly.  None.  Wedged  in.  Think  of  saying  Ich  din 
sehr  Krafik,  and  getting  them  to  let  me  pass.  Say  this  to 
mv  next  neisrhbour.     He  shakes  his  head  :  either  he  won't 


254  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

believe  me,  or  doesn't  understand.     Try  it  once  more  and 
give  it  up.     Sermon  lasts  one  hour  at  least. 

Happy  Thought  {for  any  one  who  doesn't  U7iderstand  the 
language  and  is  tincej'tain  what  service  he  is  going  to  hear), 
—  Get  close  to  the  door. 

Day  of  Departure. — Early  in  the  morning  get  weighed  at 
Miss  Caroline's.     Find  I'm  considerably  less. 

Happy  Thought. — Thinner. 

Say  good-bye  to  even-body.  Dyng\vell  will  accompany 
me  to  Paris.  Ever\-body  in  hotel  suddenly  seems  to  find  an 
opportunity  for  coming  into  my  room.  Waiters,  chamber- 
maids, porters,  boots  and  people  whom  I've  never  seen  before. 
I  call  in  to  see  the  Bath-man  and  the  Doucheman.  They 
receive  their  gratuity  sorro^^'full^',  being  puzzled  at  the  non- 
success  of  the  vapour-bath  in  my  case  as  compared  with  that 
of  Der  Andere  Mann. 

The  Commander  appears  at  the  hotel  door.  He  is  also 
coming  to  Paris.  '•  Capital  fun,  we  three,"  he  says.  He 
promises  that  he'll  tell  us  the  stor}-  of  the  Mongoose  in  the 
train. 

Madame  Dremel  lends  me  a  triumphal  car  in  the  shape 
of  a  magnificent  carriage  and  pair,  and  coachman  in  livery 
(looking,  on  the  whole,  something  like  a  foreign  ambassa- 
dors equipage  in  Hyde  Park),  and  Dr.  Caspar  is  determined 
to  see  the  last  of  me,  for  the  present.  I  add  this  because  I 
really  hope  to  return,  whether  there's  anything  the  matter 
with  me  or  not.     It's  a  long  journey  to  Paris  ;  ten  hours. 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  265 

HapPy  Thought. — Take  light  wine,  chicken  sandwiches, 
and  French  hterature  to  prepare  for  the  gay  capital.  Get 
Dyngwell  to  talk  French  all  the  way  there.     Good  practice. 

Happy  Thought. — Ask  Dyngwell  and  Commander  to  get 
light  wine  and  sandwiches,  also. 

Dr.  Caspar's  interest  secures  us  a  carriage  to  ourselves — 
not  to  be  disturbed  on  any  account. 

Happy  Thought. — As  invalids. 

Before  going,  take  the  names  and  addresses  of  every  one 
I  leave  behind.  Will  write  to  them  ;  must  see  them  ;  will 
all  meet  again,  jovially — somewhere.  We  all  mean  what 
we  say. 

"  Here's  old  Cockalorum  ! "  shouts  Dyng^vell,  catching 
sight  of  our  good-humoured,  kind-hearted  Professors  hat. 
I  ask  him  to  watch  for  the  first  volume  of  my  Typ. 
Develop.  He  says,  "He  will  do  so,  with  the  greatest  pos- 
sible interest." 

Happy  Thought.— Vdiid  the  Bill. 

Happy  Thought. — Less  than  I'd  expected.  Grand  Mo- 
narque  excellent  and  moderate. 

In  making  this  note  I  feel  as  if  I  was  doing  it  for  a  Guide- 
Book.  Winter  is  beginning.  Can't  help  looking  forward, 
away  from  the  German  stoves,  to  the  wood  fires  of  France 
and  the  roaring  logs  and  coal  of  England.  Good-bye, 
sulphur  waters  !     Farewell,  Miss  Elisa  ! 


256  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

Impromptu  in  my  Pocket-book  : — 

Fairest  of  all  Aachen's  daughters, 
Thou  ^vho  gave'st  me  sulphur  waters, 
See,  I  go  to  winter  quarters  ; 

Medical  adviser 
Says  I  may,  so  fare  thee  well, 
What  I  feel  I  cannot  tell. 
No,  nor  in  thy  language  spell, 

Pretty  Miss  EUsa. 

Dyngwell  says  ''  Elisa  ■'  is  pronounced  '•'  Eksa."  Oh,  is  it? 
ver)-  well. 

Happy  Thought. — Think  of  rhymes  and  settle  Dingwall. 
L^sa — Please,  Sir — teaser — greaser — tea,  Sir — she.  Sir — we. 
Sir — Pisa,  &c. 

To  my  Friend  *  *  *  * 

' '  Youthful  friend,  say,  have  you  quaffed 
At  her  hands  the  sulphur  draught?  " 

"  11' 'Afiji?  hands,  if  you  please,  Sir?" 
Then  I  answer,  ' '  She  the  nymph 
Of  the  boiling  sulphur  lymph, 

Lovely  Miss  Elisa." 

^Vhat's  a  '■  Lymph?"  says  D}ngwell. 

Happy  Thought. — To  say,  ''  My  dear  fellow,  I  suppose 
you've   never   read   any   poetry  ?  '^     Dr.    Caspar   draws   our 

attention  to  the  Station.  (If  Dyngwell's  going  to  be  un- 
pleasant on  the  journey,  I  shall  travel  in  another  compart- 
ment with  the  Commander.) 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  267 

Once  more,  adieu.  No,  not  adieu,  rather  au  plaisir  I 
Tickets.     Luggage. 

Happy  Thought. — Booked  through,  and  change  nowhere: 
so  whatever  they  say  to  us  in  German,  French,  or  Dutch,  we 
don't  stir. 

Where  is  the  Commander  ? 

Train  in  motion.  Farewell.  Au  j-evoir.  Hands  to  hats. 
The  last  hand,  the  last  hat  (the  Professor's  tall  crown),  I  can 
just  see;  and  also  sudden  appearance  of  the  Commander, 
too  late.  He  had  stopped  behind  to  tell  the  Professor  the 
^Mongoose  story  (I  hear  afterwards),  and  was  obliged  to  leave 
in  the  middle.     Aix,  farewell  ! 

Happy  Thought. — To  be  prepared  for  even,-one,  beginning 
with  Milburd  in  London  coming  up  and  saying,  ''  Well ;  left 
all  your  Aches  behind  ? "'  on  my  telling  him  that  Fve  just  come 
from  Aix.  But  have  already  settled  ///;;/  in  that  letter:  that 
is,  if  he  got  it. 

Happy  Thought. — Shall  simply  obser\-e  I've  been  staying 
at  Aachen,  which  will  lead  to  the  learned  explanation  that 
Aachen  is  the  same  as  Aix. 

Telegraph  to  Fridoline  from  Paris.  "Home,  sweet  Home  ! 
Wherever  I  wander,  there's  no  place  like  Home  !" — that  is, 
of  course,  when  the  drains  are  not  up,  and  the  Inspector  of 
Nuisances  is  not  bothering  about  the  grounds.  Via  Paris  to 
England. 


CHAPTER   XXXVII. 


RETURN  —    POETIC  —  REALISATION  —  ALTERATIONS  —  MR. 
FRESHLIE — WORKS — EXPLANATIONS — WINKS— LOGIC. 

ETURX  home.    Imagine  what  it  will  be.   Wife, 
child  in  arms,  retainers,  dogs,  all  ready  to  meet 
me.     Picture — Return  of  the  Wanderer. 
Reality. — Xobody  here.     Wonder  what's   the 
matter. 

Happy  Thought. — Ring  bell.  Xo  rushing  in  and  saying, 
"  Behold  me !  *'  On  the  contrar)-,  am  kept  waiting  at  the 
gate,  and  have  to  ring  twice.  Gardener  appears  suspiciously. 
Then  a  dog  barking.  Then  I  am  recognised ;  but  only  as  if 
rd  just  been  round  the  corner  for  five  minutes,  and  had  come 
back  again.  "  Mistress  is  up  in  town ;  wiU  be  dow^n  in  the 
evening — to  dinner,  p'raps;  if  not,  to-morrow."  See  the  cook. 
•'  There  ain't  no  dinner  ordered,  Sir."  Oh,  hang  it — here  is 
a  welcome  to  the  Weary  Traveller !  Instant  arrangements 
made  for  dinner.     Look  over  the  house. 


Happy   Thought. — Scotland  stands  where  it  did. — Shak- 
speare. 

Look  over  the  garden :  go  all  round  it.     Well,  how  about 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  269 

the  drains  ?  '"  Oh,  the  Inspector  of  Nuisances'  friend's  men 
have  been  working  here,  Sir,"  says  Gardener,  with  an  air  of 
doubt  as  to  the  result.  "  Well  ? "  I  inquire.  "  Well,  Sir,"  he 
replies,  "  I  don't  see  as  they've  done  much  good — if  you  just 
come  round  here."  I  come  round,  and  am  nearly  knocked 
over  by  an  infernal  odour  which  the  Inspector  of  Nuisances 
had  inspected  before  I  left,  and  turned  over  to  his  friend  to 
obviate  v.-ith  pipes  and  bell-traps,  and  gutters,  and  ditches, 
and  sinks,  and  a  disestablishment  of  pigstyes. 

Happy  Thought. — V\'hat  rhymes  to  ''  sinks  ?  " 

Happy  {but  angry)  Thought. — Send  for  l\Ir.  Freshlie,  i.e., 
Inspector's  friend;  builder,  &c. :  "  &c."  means  ever)-thing. 
There's  nothing  that  Tvlr.  Freshlie,  I  find  on  inquiry,  does 
not  prt)fess  to  do.  When  once  I  get  him  on  to  my  estate 
(three  acres  and  a  shrubber}-  of  uncertain  tenure)  I  find  from 
his  account  that  something  v.ants  doing  in  every  direction, 
and  that  it  all  comes  in  his  line  of  business.  Locks,  blinds, 
chimneys,  carpentry,  drains,  wire-work,  gravel  paths,  stones, 
cement,  pond  cleaning,  hedging,  ditching,  tanks,  pumps,  in 
fact,  he  makes  no  difficulty  about  anything  at  all. 

He  is  a  lively,  burly,  impressive,  honest-mannered  m.an, 
who  floors  me  with  technicalities  in  the  presence  of  my 
gardener  (who  pretends  he  understands  all  about  it  as  well 
as  Mr.  Freshlie,  and  follows  him  silently,  addressing  him 
with  an  occasional  nod  of  corroboration)  and,  when  he 
answers,  in  person,  my  message  in  the  morning,  is  for  taking 
up  the  paths  and  opening  the  brick-work,  and,  knocking  this 


270  MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS. 

down,  and  putting  that  up  in  another  place  by  way  of  a  pre- 
liminary inquiry  into  the  state  of  the  case. 

Happy  Thought. — To  say,  '•'  But  your  new  drains  which 
you  luere  to  have  put  in  before  I  left  for  Aachen  " — (Aachen 
has  no  effect  upon  him  whatever) — "  when  I  was  so  ill " — (he 
is  perfectly  undisturbed) — "they"  (the  drains)  "were  to  have 
obviated" — (''obviated"  doesn't  take  him  aback  one  bit) — 
•'  the  nuisance.  Weren't  they  ? "  I  put  this  to  him  in  a 
question  which  he  7mist  answer  honestly  in  the  affirmative. 

He  is  ready  with  his  reply.  "Just  so,  Sir" — (Gardener 
puts  his  arms  akimbo,  and  watches  the  case  for  the  defence) 
— "  only  youll  see  at  once,  Sir,  where  the  mischief  is."  He 
appeals  to  my  keen  perception  in  drainage  questions.  But  I 
won't  be  flattered,  and  am  not  to  be  put  off  the  scent,  &c. 

Happy  Thought. — Wish  I  could  be  put  off  the  scent. 

"  Well,  Sir,"  he  continues,  "  if  you'll  just  step  this  way  " — 
we  step  this  way,  he,  I,  and  the  Gardener,  and  we  find  five 
of  Freshlie's  men  at  work  with  pickaxes,  who,  having  taken 
up  a  lot  of  tiles  in  the  rear  of  the  house,  are  now  standing  in 
a  trench  of  their  own  making.  '*  Now,  Sir.  here's  the  mis- 
chief, you  see  " — he  points  with  a  tv.-o-foot  rule  down  into  the 
trench.  I  look  in  closely, — gardener  also,  less  closely.  I 
have  a  sort  of  idea  that  they  are  winking  at  one  another 
(Gardener  and  Mr.  Freshlie)  over  my  back.  I  am  sure  the 
labourers  are  grinning:  I  am  at  a  disadvantage,  unless  I 
join  them,  and  wink  too.  It  occurs  to  me  now  that  "winks  " 
rh\-mes  to  "  sinks." 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  271 

HapPy  Thought. — Stick  obstinately  to  the  fact  that  the 
horrid  nuisance  which  he  had  professed  to  remove  stiil 
exists. 

"Well?''  I  ask. 

"Well,  Sir,  if  you  look  here,"  z>.,  in  the  trench,  "you'll 
see  a  pipe."  I  do.  "  Now  this  'ere  pipe  communicates  with 
the  kitchen  somehow,  and  part  of  it  was  at  one  time  or 
another  cut  off — 'cos  I  knew  the  party  as  did  it — but  in  what 
direction  I  can't  exactly  tell,  unless  by  taking  up  the  tiles  on 
this  side,  and  opening  up  the  yard  towards  the  stable,  as  it's 
not  unlikely  that  the  running  in  may  be  from  where  the  old 
pigst)'es  were,  unless  the  slops  are  emptied  above  and  over- 
-flow  from  the  small  cistern  into  the  gutter  pipe — I've  known 
such  things  afore  now — in  which  case  o'  course  it's  \qx\ 
easily  accounted  for  ;  you  don't  know  if  they  do  that.  Sir  1 " 

No,  I  don't.  He  wants  to  throw  the  blame  on  the  servants  ; 
if  he  is  right,  that  is  if  they  do  empty  slops  into  the  cistern, 
and  if  the  pipe  does  carry  them  down,  and  if,  (Sic,  (Sic,  then 
it  follows  that  /am  to  blame.  Qui  faeit per  aliiimfaeit per 
se,  I  know  ;  so  it's  clear  that  if  my  agents  empty  slops,  it's 
the  same  thing  as  if  /  emptied  slops  ;  so  that,  according  to 
Mr.  Freshlie,  I  have  only  myself  to  blame,  not  hi/n. 

Happy  Thought. — To  call  out  to  Housemaid,  and  ask  her. 
"  Yes,"  she  answers,  "  she  do  sometimes, — she  ain't  got  no 
other  place." 

I  appeal  to  Mr.  Freshlie,  and  say,  translating  her  idiom, 
"  She  hasn't  got  any  other  place,  you  see.' 

At  once  he  has  the  best  of  it.     He  looks  grave.     "  Well," 


272  MORE    HAPPY   THOUGHTS. 

says  he,  "well  soon  get  over  that.  If  y 021  like^^ — (this  put 
emphatically,  and  meaning,  "You  give  me  the  order,  and 
111  run  you  up  a  bill  in  no  time  ") — '"  if  yoii  like,  Sir,  I'll  take 
this  tiling  up  here,  lay  down  a  regular  set  of  pipes,  which 
won't  interfere  with  the  overflow,  and  will  take  it  all  off  into 
your  ditch  at  the  side,  where  it  wont  be  no  sort  of  objection" 
— (what  is  he  talking  about  .^) — ''  and  then  we'll  stop  up  this 
place  here" — (points  with  his  two-foot  rule  to  the  trench, 
which  he  has  opened  himself) — "and  run  a  drain  right  away 
off  towards  the  lower  part,  and  by  placing  a  bell-trap  with 
clear  openings,  whichll  work  up  and  down  so  as  it'll  always 
keep  charged  with  water,  and  nothing  can  come  in  ;  it's  an 
improvement  on  the  old  sort  of  trap  you've  got  here " — 
(which  he  put  in,  by  the  way) — and  works  as  easy  as  "  can 
be,  and  then  I  think  everything  will  be  done  to  make  a  good 
job  of  it." 

HapPy  Thought. — A  good  job  for  him. 

HapPy  Tliought. — To  ask  the  Gardener,  as  a  witness  on 
my  side,  does  he  think  that  if  this — ("  this"  means  whatever 
Mr.  Freshlie  has  been  talking  about) — is  done,  we  shan't  be 
bothered  any  more  with  the  nuisance. 

Happy  Thought. — i.e.,  with  Mr.  Freshlie  and  his  bill. 

Gardener  says,  "  Yes,  he  thinks  that'll  be  all  right  ; "  but 
he  doesn't  commit  himself  more  decidedly. 

\Vhen  Fridoline  arrives  next  day,  she  complains  of  there 
being   nothing   but   nasty   men   digging,    and   sawing,   and 


MORE    HAPPY    THOUGHTS.  273 

hammering,  about  the  place.  I  point  out  that  it  is  for 
sanitary  reasons.  Then  she  returns,  "  What  ^vas  the  good 
of  your  going  to  Aix?" 

Happy  Thought. — Drop  the  subject. 


Our   Yacht. 


OUR    YACHT. 


INTRODUCTORY    CHAPTER. 


EA  UMARIS,  Wales.— Two  friends  propose  to 
me  in  the  summer,  "  Let's  have  a  Yacht  and  go 
somewhere."  I  demur,  on  account  of  probable 
expense.  They  explain  that  it  won't  be  any  more 
expense  than  being  on  shore.  Migsby  (subsequently  the 
Commodore — a  born  Commodore — )  goes  into  what  he  calls 
details  on  paper,  from  which  he  proves  to  our  satisfaction 
that  "  life  on  the  ocean  wave  is,"  so  to  speak,  "  the  cheapest 
thing  out." 

The  question  naturally  arises  where's  the  Yacht  ? 
I  have  been  always  of  opinion  up  till  now,  that  a  yacht 
must  be  bought.  I  find  it  can  be  hired.  "  What  tonnage 
v/ould  we  like,"  asks  ]\Iigsby.  I  look  at  Finndon  ("  after- 
wards," as  they  say  in  the  Pantomime  bills,  "Lieutenant") 
and  observe  that  I  don't  care  about  the  tonnage.  {Truth 
to  myself.  What  does  Migsby  mean  ? — I  own  {to  inyself)  to 
beincr  entirelv  ig^norant  of  nautical  matters,  and  haven't  an 


2,-8  OUR    YACHT. 

idea  on  the  subject  of  tonnage.     No  doubt  he  will  gradually 
explain.) 

"A  seventy-five  will  be  too  large  for  us,"'  says  Migsby. 
after  pausing  for  a  reply. 

"Yes,"  I  reply  decisively;  "besides,"'  I  am  impelled  to  add 
smilingly,  '"we  don't  want  a  man  of  war." 

This  is  taken  for  a  good  joke.  They  laugh,  I  say  '•  Well, 
but  seriously  we  don"t  want  a  seventy-five,  because  what  are 
we  to  do  with  cannons :""  They  burst  into  shouts.  I  had 
always  heard  of  a  "seventy-four"  as  one  of  the  Wooden 
Walls  of  Old  England  and  connected  with  Nelson,  the  Nile, 
Trafalgar,  and  so  forth.  Ergo:  I  thought  that  that  was 
what  Migsby  meant  by  a  sevent}'-five,  and  that  he  could  in 
consequence  of  the  invention  of  steam  and  turrets  pick  one 
up  cheap,  which,  with  the  portholes  closed,  would  do  for  a 
yacht.  He  explains  that  he  means  seventy-five  tofis,  not 
guns.     Oh ! 

Happening  to  be  talking  of  this  when  the  Postman  arrives, 
he  (the  postman)  observes  that  if  we  want  a  yacht  there's 
one  to  let  at  Bangor,  which  belongs,  he  thinks,  to  Purkiss 
the  Baker. 

What  on  earth  can  a  Baker  want  with  a  yacht,  unless  he 
goes  out  in  it  to  get  accustomed  to  the  '■'roll  of  the  sea!'' 

Migsby  and  Finndon  will  go  over  and  see  the  Baker  of 
Bangor. 

The  Baker  of  Bangor  is  inter\-iewed  and  the  affair  is 
settled. 

The  "yacht"  appears  to  me  to  be  something  between  a 
small  coal  barge  and  a  big  fishing-boat.     Instead  of  being 


OUR    YACHT.  279 

light,  elegant,  varnished  and  polished,  it  is  quite  black  out- 
side, and  a  dirty  white  inside.  However  Migsby  explains 
that  the  look  of  the  thing  doesn't  matter,  as  we  get  it  cheap 
by  the  week. 

]\Iigsby  further  discovers  that  the  Crew  can  be  hired  (also 
cheaply)  at  Bangor,  and  so  we  obtain  a  Captain  (in  thick 
boots,  a  Jersey,  and  a  tarpaulin  hat;  and  a  Cook  who  is 
recommended  to  us  as  a  *'  treasure." 

In  costume  there  is  no  difference  between  the  Cook  and 
the  Captain,  and  in  fact  their  general  appearance  is  remark- 
ably similar,  the  Captain  perhaps  being  a  trifle  dirtier  than 
the  Cook  when  off  dut}-,  and  the  Cook  when  on  duty  being  a 
trifle  dirtier  than  the  Captain. 

With  this  Crew  we  start  from  Bangor. 


CHAPTER    I. 

WE  START — BREAKFAST— THE  TREASURE— LOG  COMMENCED 
— NAUTICAL  PHRASEOLOGY  — DL\RY — A  ROW  —  MADE 
UP. 

UR  breakfast — my  first  breakfast — on  board,  is 
simple  and  unostentatious.  There  is  a  table  in 
the  cabin.  Its  legs  are  up  in  the  air  ;  that  is,  it 
is  supported  from  above  instead  of  below  by  thin 
ropes,  uhich  with  some  little  ingenuity  we  have  now  reduced 
to  equal  lengths.  It  must  be  a  xoxy  good  arrangement  this 
when  the  ship  is  in  motion,  as,  through  its  swinging  about, 
the  centre  of  gravity  (I  believe  I  speak  scientifically)  is  in- 
variably preserved.  Our  Treasure  of  a  Cook  sends  us  in 
some  capital  tea,  some  eggs  excellently  boiled,  and  some  thin 
slices  of  bacon  beautifully  grilled.  We  all  agree  that  he 
is  a  Treasure.  The  Captain  and  Crew  breakfast  together  in 
the  "  forecassel,"  or  hold  ;  the}''ve  got  no  table,  nothing  but 
the  top  of  the  stove,  and,  from  what  I  saw,  I  suppose  they 
must  lie  in  their  berths  while  taking  their  meals,  as  on  any 
other  supposition  the  disposal  of  their  legs  is  a  mathematical 
impossibility. 

The  Captain  comes  to  our  cabin  for  a  second  supply  of 
"  rations,''  which  sailors,  it  appears,  prefer  to  tea.    The  Com- 


OUR    YACHT.  281 

modore  serves  out  a  tumbler  of  brandy  betv.-een  them,  and 
tells  them  that  after  breakfast  we  would  "  get  under  way,  or 
weigh  (whichever  it  is)"  and  sail  down  the  straits.  It  is 
arranged  that  7ioiu  is  the  time  to  make  my  daily  entn.-  in  the 
Log.     I  refer  to  it. 

"  Tuesday.  Wind  blowing  down  the  straits  ;'"  that  is,  when 
I  hold  out  my  pocket-handkerchief,  it  is  blown  out  towards 
Beaumaris,  and  my  hat  goes  in  that  direction,  while  my 
hands  are  engaged  with  the  log  and  handkerchief.  The 
Captain  had  said  it  was  blowing  freshish.  He  was  right  : 
the  Commodore  won't  let  him  go  after  my  hat  in  the  small 
boat,  which  is  unkind. 

Log  again.  "  Freshish  wind  ;  hat  overboard  ;  no  attempts 
at  a  rescue.  Getting  under  way  (or  weigh).  The  Captain 
says  he  must  take  the  tiller  (N.B.,  something  to  do  with 
steering),  and  the  Commodore  tells  me  I  must  bear  a 
hand  (N.B.,  a  nautical  phrase,  we  are  all  talking  nautically 
now,  and  I  have  given  up  wearing  braces)  and  assist  at  the 
cab-stand,  or  cap-stand.  (X.B.,  I  think  it  ivas  the  cap- 
stand  ;  I  don't  like  to  ask  the  Commodore  what  is  the  m.ean- 
ing  of  these  phrases,  because  it  makes  him  so  angry,  and  his 
explanations  are  not  as  clear  as  I  should  have  expected  from^ 
a  person  who  knows  so  much  about  these  sort  of  things ;  but 
I  gather  that  cap-stand,  which  is  a  sort  of  post  to  which  the 
anchor  is  fastened,  is  so  called  from  the  expression  a  '  capful 
of  wind,'  of  which  you  can't  take  advantage  unless  the  anchor 
is  unfastened.)" 

Private  Diary  from  Log. — I  regret  to  say  that  there 
was  a  little  disturbance  on  board,  to-day.     I  further  regret 


232  OUR    YACHT. 

to  say  that  it  was,  to  a  certain  extent,  my  fault.  I  have 
apologised,  and  peace  reigns  again.  It  was  in  reality,  the 
Lieutenant's  fault,  not  mine.  He  came  downstairs  to  talk 
to  me  soon  after  the  order  about  bearing  a  hand  at  the 
cap-stand  had  been  given,  and  we  agreed  that  the  Com- 
modore was  rather  over-bearing.  Why  should  he  call 
himself  a  Commodore  ?  Why  should  Tom  only  be  a  Lieu- 
tenant? Why,  I  added,  should  I  only  be  a  Mate?  Tom  said 
he  wouldn't  stand  it  if  he  was  in  my  place.  We  agreed  that 
something  ought  to  be  done  about  it  at  once.  We  ought  to 
speak  to  the  Commodore.  Tom  observed  that  as  I  was  going 
on  deck  I  might  at  once  speak  to  him,  and  he  would  back 
me  up.  On  consideration  I  thought  it  would  be  better  if  ^e 
spoke  to  the  Com^modore,  and  /  would  back  him  up.  I  liked 
the  idea  of  backing  him  up,  because,  as  I  have  said  before, 
the  Commodore  do£s  get  so  angry.  We  settled  that  we'd 
both  go  and  speak  together.  We  went  up  on  deck,  I  first. 
The  Commodore  was  at  the  head  of  the  Companion.  (N.B. 
The  cabin  ladder.)  I  told  him  I  wanted  to  speak  to  him. 
The  Lieutenant,  instead  of  backing  me  up,  went  down  the 
Companion  to  fetch  his  hat.  I  hate  a  fellow  who  sneaks 
away.  I  told  the  Commodore  that  I  thought  as  our  voyage 
was  only  for  fun,  that  is  putting  it  as  pleasantly  as  possible, 
I  ought  to  be  something  more  than  a  Mate.  The  Commo- 
dore wanted  to  know  what  I  meant  by  "  fun  ?  "  I  said  that 
my  meaning  was  it  was  all  a  lark.  He  replied  that  he  under- 
stood me,  and  I'd  better  bear  a  hand  forard.  I  refused  un- 
less I  Avas  something  more  than  a  Mate. 
What  would  I  be  ?  he  wanted  to  know. 


OUR    YACHT.  283 

Not  having  given  this  point  sufficient  consideration,  I  sug- 
gested that  I  should  hke  to  be  a  Cornet.  He  said  if  I  was 
going  to  play  the  fool  we'd  better  give  the  whole  thing  up. 
Did  I  know,  he  asked,  that  rank  on  board  a  gentleman's 
yacht  was  recognised  in  the  Xa\y .''  I  didn't  know  this,  but 
if  it  was  so  I  certainly  preferred  being  a  Cornet  to  anything. 

He  said  Cornets  weren't  nautical,  being  dragoons.  The 
Lieutenant  joined  us  here,  and  said  (by  way  of  backing  me 
up)  that  I  had  better  get  a  Commission  in  the  Mounted 
Marine  Force.  I  asked  if  these  were  recognised  in  the 
Xa\y?  The  Commodore  answered  decidedly,  recognised 
ever}- where.  It  struck  m.e  that  this  was  a  very  good  idea  as 
a  pacific  compromise.  It  was  agreed  that  I  should  apply  for 
a  Commission  to  the  Admiralty  by  letter ;  they  grant  these 
to  yachtsmen  like  commissions  to  Volunteers,  and  that  I 
should  write  up  to  Town  for  a  uniform.  They  told  me  that 
if  I  wanted  to  save  expense,  I'd  better  write  to  Mr,  May,  the 
costumier  of  Bow  Street,  who  had  plenty  of  these  uniforms 
second-hand  as  good  as  new,  and  at  a  ven-  moderate  figure. 
We  couldn't  wait  for  it,  but  the  parcel  might  be  addressed  to 
me  on  board  the  Saucy  Nautilus  in  the  Docks,  Liverpool, 
where  we  should  be  in  a  few  days.  The  Lieutenant  wrote 
the  letter  while  I  was  bearing  a  hand. 

Log.—^^  The  anchor  is  weighed,  and  precious  heavy  it  was. 
It  took  three  of  us  and  a  strong  chain  to  get  it  on  board. 
The  mainsail  is  up  ;  we  all  bore  hands  in  hauling  her  up. 
The  foresails  are  up  ;  we  cried,  '  Tally-ho  ! '  all  the  time,  and 
shouted, '  Now  together  \  Tally-ho  !  ho  !  ho  ! '  We  are  moving 
as  I   write,  so  /  can't  write  any  more.     Wind  ffeshisher  ; 


284  OUR    YACHT. 

latitude  and  longitude  uncertain  at  present ;  compass  on 
board  to  tell  us  all  about  that.  We're  fairly  off.  A  Life  on 
the  Ocean  V/ave,  Tally-ho  !  " 

P.S.  I  reopen  this  to  say  I've  made  a  mistake.  The  Cap- 
stand  isn't  a  Cap-stand ;  we  haven't  got  such  a  thing  on  deck. 
I  thought  that  the  thing  by  which  the  anchor  is  weighed  was 
the  Cap-stand  ;  it  isn't,  that's  the  windlass.  I've  often  heard 
of  a  windlass.  Directly  they  told  me  I  said,  "  Oh,  that's  it, 
of  course,"  as  if  Td  only  forgot  ten  the  name.  That's  my  art- 
fulness.    Ta:lv-ho  ! 


CHAPTER    11. 

A  DIFFERENXE  —  PUFFIN— THE  C.  T.— LOG— BEAUMARIS— 
GUNS — THE  ROVER — WADS — DIFFICULTIES— THE  RAM- 
ROD— LOG  AGAIN — ROW  THE  THIRD. 

ELAY  !  We've  had  another  row.  It  was  not 
my  fault  this  time.  I  am  disappointed.  Puffin 
Island  I  knew  wasn't  anywhere  near  America, 
but  I  was  not  prepared  to  find  it  within  a  mile 
or  so  of  Bangor — just,  in  fact,  at  the  entrance  of  the  Straits. 
I  joined  in  the  cruise  under  the  impression  we  should  go 
somewhere  a  long  way  off — Niagara,  for  instance,  or  at  all 
events,  the  coast  of  France.  My  companions  (I  don't  mean 
the  ladders,  but  the  Commodore  and  Lieutenant)  say  that 
they  came  to  shoot  Puffins.  I  am  not  naturally  irascible, 
but  when  I  heard  this  I  said,  "  Blow  Puffins  ! "  They  have, 
however,  promised  to  go  on  a  voyage,  and  we're  to  victual 
and  take  in  stores  at  Liverpool. 

A  Puffim  is  a  bird ;  the  Lieutenant  described  it  as  a  sort 
of  a  C.  J.,  and  I  said,  "  Oh,  indeed  ! "  [Xofe.  It  strikes  me 
suddenly,  while  jotting  this  down  in  my  diar}-,  that  he  meant 
a  Sea-Jay,  of  course.]  By  the  way,  "  Tallyho "  is  «(?/  a 
nautical  expression  ;  it's  "  Yeo  ho  "  I  meant.  I  am  getting 
no  end  of  a  hand  at  a  Log.     Here's  an  entry  : — 


235  OUR    YACHT. 

"  Tuesday.  After  breakfast. — Wind  blowing  Any  way. 
[The  Lieutenant  put  this  in  for  a  joke  :  it  means  N,E,  way. 
When  the  Commodore  saw  it,  he  said  if  we  were  going  to 
make  idiots  of  ourselves,  we'd  better  give  the  whole  thing  up. 
We  promised  not  to  be  idiots.  Order  restored.]  Piped  all 
hands  to  belay.  (I  really  must  get  a  pipe,  and  learn  how  to 
belay.)  Belayed  from  8  till  9  A.M.  (This  means  that  we  lay 
on  deck  and  read,  or  talked  and  smoked.  The  Captain  was 
not  belaying — he  was  steering.  The  Treasure,  i.e.  the  Cook, 
was  in  the  forecassel,  that  is,  his  head  and  shoulders  were  in 
the  forecassel,  washing  up.) 

"  9  A.M. — Passing  Beaumaris.  Guns  brought  out  to  shoot 
Puffins  with.  The)''ve  given  me  a  gun.  I  am  lying  on  deck, 
noting  dov.n  in  my  Log.  The/ve  given  me  powder,  shot, 
wads,  and  caps,  and  I've  got  to  shoot  Puffins.  This  is 
delightful.  The  boat  has  scarcely  any  motion,  and,  contrary 
to  my  wildest  expectation,  I  feel  quite  well.  I  sing  for  sheer 
joy,  The  Rover  is  free  1 '  I  don't  know  any  more  than  that 
line,  and  haven't  a  notion  of  its  tune.  We  sight  the  Island 
of  Puffin,  and  the  sea.  How  ver>'  rough  the  sea  looks  about 
Puffin  1 — quite  different  to  the  Straits.     The  Captain  says  it 

is  roughish  there.     I  begin  to  wonder  whether but  no, 

'  The  Rover  is  free  I  the  Rover  is  free  I '  But  it  does  look 
rough.  Wind  blowing.  Guns  going  to  be  loaded.  Puffins, 
tremble.     Log  closed  for  the  present."' 

Diary. — I  told  the  Commodore  I  wasn't  much  of  a  shot 
(no  more  I  am,  as  I  have  subsequently  discovered)  when  on 
board  a  yacht,     \\'hat  I  may  be  on  shore,  I  don't  know,  as  I 


OUR    YACHT.  287 

have  never  had  the  opportunity  of  trying.  I  knew  something 
about  it,  though,  having  luckily  practised,  years  ago,  at  a 
penny  a  shot,  or  so  much  a  dozen,  on  a  wooden  blackbird 
tied  to  a  pendulum  in  a  gallery  of  Savile  House.  Then  there 
was  a  dirty  man,  in  shirt-sleeves,  to  load  for  me,  so  that  I 
never,  as  it  happened,  observed  that  process.  What  puzzled 
me  was  the  wads.  I  thought  I'd  copy  the  other  fellows  in 
loading,  but  couldn't,  as  they'd  both  got  rifles  that  didn't 
require  ramrods  and  wads,  &c. 

To  load  a  gun  by  the  light  of  nature,  is  not  so  easy  as  I 
had  imagined  from  seeing  the  man  at  Leicester  Square.  All 
I  ever  noticed  him  doing  was  to  put  a  cap  on.  So  I  laugh 
it  off  (I  don't  mean  I  laugh  the  gun  off,  but  the  awkward- 
ness of  the  situation),  by  saying  to  the  Lieutenant,  "  Hal  ha ! 
ha !  Y021  don't  know  whether  powder,  or  shot,  or  wads  go 
in  first,  eh.?"  He  is  evidently  annoyed  at  this  charge  of 
mine,  though  playfully  made,  and  replied,  "  Wads,  of  course." 
(I  recommend  this  method  of  gaining  information  in  prefer- 
ence to  any  unnecessary  display  of  ignorance.)  He  says 
"wads."  I'll  use  two  to  begin  with.  I  must  here  remark 
what  an  ill-constructed  affair  is  a  powder-flask;  I  never 
seemed  to  be  getting  any  out  at  all,  and  yet  after  eight  or 
nine  attempts  I  found  the  barrel  full  almost  to  the  brim — I 
mean  muzzle.  This  delays  me,  and  I  have  to  begin  again. 
We  now  get  in  full  view  of  Puffin  Island,  and  into  the  rough 
water.  I  go  below  to  load,  where  I  can  be  quiet.  I 
find  the  Treasure  in  the  cabin,  aft.  I  don't  know  what 
associates  him  in  my  mind  immediately  with  brandy  and 
rations.      He    is   very    ci^■il,  and    offers    to    load   my  gun. 


288  OUR    YACHT. 

I  tell  him  that  the  wads  are  already  in,  and  he  takes  them 
out.  I  say,  "  Oh,  you  don't  use  them,  eh  ? "  So  I  gather 
there  are  more  ways  than  one  of  loading  a  gun.  The  cabin 
is  very  stuffy  and  hot,  and  getting  up  the  companion  with 
a  gun  in  my  hand  is  very  difficult.  Standing  on  deck  with 
it  is  more  difficult.  I  now  refer  to  an  entr\',  evidently 
made  in  short  hand,  on  account  of  the  motion  of  the 
vessel : — 

"  lo  A.M.— Rough.  On  deck.  Difficult  to  write.  Com^"''^ 
says  note  Puf.  Isle.  Put  gun  down  take  log.  Com^  says 
what  long,  and  lat.  Map.  School  Atlas.  Puf.  Isle  not 
down.  Long,  and  lat.  53  by  4.  Map  2.  INIiles  or  feet? 
Rough.  Waves.  Treasure  at  bow.  Waves  hat.  For  help. 
To  fright  Pufs.  Pufs  fright^.  Flock  flying.  Comm^^^ 
shoots.  Lieut,  shoots.  Not  well  to-day.  Cap°  says  calm 
outside  :  wish  it  was  inside." 

Diary  fro7n  Recollection.  At  NigJit.—  \  recollect  when 
my  turn  came  I  made  a  shot.  Not  a  bad  one  as  a  shot. 
It  must  have  hit  something.  In  loading  rather  hastily  and 
jauntily,  for  I  was  pleased  with  my  execution,  which  had 
quite  taken  away  my  qualmishness  (X.B.,  nothing  like  firing 
off  a  gun  as  a  remedy  against  sea-sickness),  I  jerked  the 
ramrod  sharply  down  the  barrel,  and  it  striking  against  the 
wads,  or  something,  jerked  itself  sharply  into  the  air,  ever 
so  high,  and  fell  into  the  sea.  I  proposed  going"  out  in  the 
little  boat  and  recovering  it.  The  Captain  said,  better  get 
a  diver  to  do  that.     Mv  shooting  v/as  over  for  the  season. 


OUR    YACHT.  ^39 

Log. — *'  1 1  A.M. — Passing  Puffin.  Calmer.  Pipe  all  hands 
to  second  breakfast  or  first  dinner.  Rations  No.  3  for  Captain 
and  Treasure.     Hungr\-.     Latitude  and  longitude  as  before.'"' 

At  this  meal,  the  waves  being  still  boisterous,  we  have  to 
hold  the  swinging  table  with  one  hand  and  eat  with  the  other. 
We  then  adopt  the  plan  of  two  holding  while  the  third 
eats.  As  this  would  prolong  the  dinner  indefinitely  and 
spoil  the  third  person's  dinner,  we  let  the  table  go  and  dine 
as  we  can.  We  sit  against  our  berths.  At  the  third  helping 
of  soup  the  Commodore's  plate  makes  a  rush  at  his  mouth, 
and  I  find  m.yself  sprawling  over  the  Lieutenant.  The 
Commodore  says  I  might  have  helped  it  if  I'd  liked.  I  reply 
I  mightn't,  angrily.  He  returns,  that  if  I  can't  help  play- 
ing the  fool  ever}-where,  we'd  better  give  the  whole  thing  up. 
After  he  has  said  this,  he  and  the  Lieutenant,  accompanied 
by  two  plates  and  the  soup  tureen  and  the  table,  come  right 
over  me  all  in  a  lump.  I  catch  hold  of  the  Commodore's  hair. 
The  rest  of  the  dinner  may  be  described  as  the  Treasure 
staggering  in  with  hot  tins  holding  hotch-potch  and  sea- 
pies,  and  we  alternately  sprawling  over  one  another  with  soup 
plates  until  one  of  the  ropes  break,  when  we  are  all  on  the 
floor  together — tins,  mugs,  tureens,  plates,  hotch-potch,  sea- 
pies,  my  gun,  log  book,  and  powder-flask. 


CHAPTER    III. 

i^^GCaVT-AV^-^/?— BECALMED— BOOKS-— TIME— FORGETFUL- 
NE53  —  LAZINESS  —  UNPLEASANTNESS  —  BLACK  EYE'D 
SUSAN— WILLIAM— BILLIARDS  —  FIDDLES— DANCING- 
EFFECT   OF    CALM— THE   CAPTAIN — A   SUSPICION. 

^  OG.  '-'Out  at  sea.  Between  Puffin  and  Liverpool. 
Both  places  invisible.  Wind,  none.  Long,  and 
lat.  uncertain.  Been  uncertain  for  two  days. 
Wish  we  could  get  on." 

In  fact,  a  dead  calm.  For  one  whole  day  not  a  Ava\-e, 
not  a  ripple,  to  be  seen  anywhere.  The  sails  won't 
act,  the  rudder  can't  act,  ive  cant  act.  We  have  nothing 
to  read,  and  have,  as  the  notices  of  weddings  run,  "no 
cards."  When  I  say  vre  have  nothing  to  read,  I  do  not 
mean  that  there  is  a  scarcity  of  books ;  no,  on  the  contrary, 
the  Commodore  had  three  shilling  volumes — The  Gainblei^s 
something,  The  Forger's  something  else,  and  Revelatiotis  of 
a  somebody.  These  we  had  read,  and  hard  work  it  was.  The 
Lieutenant  possessed  an  Almanack,  an  Index  to  an  Atlas 
(Atlas  wanting),  and  part  of  a  Catalogue  of  the  South 
Kensington  Museum.  I  had  two  old  letters  unanswered,  a 
collection   of    small    bills    unpaid,   a   metallic   pocket-book 


OUR    YACHT.  291 

without  a  pencil,  and  a  book  of  Douglas  ]Qrro\^^s  Black-Eyed 
St/san  with  the  cover  off,  and  defective  in  pages  towards  the 
chmax.  This  last,  and  the  Almanack,  afford  us  some  amuse- 
ment in  the  earlier  part  of  the  day,  from,  I  should  say,  7  A.M. 
till  10;  after  which  hour  commenced  an  uncertainty  about 
time  in  general.  The  Lieutenant  hasn't  got  a  watch,  the 
Commodore  has  lost  his  key,  and  I  have  forgotten  to  wind 
mine  up.  The  Commodore  says  he  never  saw  such  a  fellow 
as  I  am  for  forgetting  a  thing.  Having  nothing  to  do,  we 
breakfast  for  the  third  time,  and  the  Lieutenant  gives  out 
double  rations  to  the  Crew.  We  then  lie  on  our  backs  at 
the  stern  and  smoke.  We  begin  by  saying  that  this  is  very 
jolly.  In  the  course  of  an  hour,  I  observe  that  I  don't  think 
it  z's  so  ver}'  jolly,  which  provokes  the  Commodore  into 
remarking  that  I  know  nothing  about  yachting,  and  that  if 
I  am  getting  tired  of  it,  I'd  better  give  the  whole  thing  up. 

If  ever  I  have  a  yacht  of  my  own,  Til  have  a  billiard  table 
on  board.  That's  what  we  want,  a  billiard  table.  The 
Commodore  and  Lieutenant  smoke  incessantly:  I  try  to, 
but  never  can  manage  more  than  two  pipes  and  a  half; 
and  the  half's  a  little  uncertain.  I  endeavour  to  get  up  a 
conversation  on  a  sailors  resources  when  there's  a  calm. 
Billiards  for  instance.  They  observe,  Billiards!  contempt- 
uously. I  refer  to  Black-Eyed  Susan  as  an  authority. 
William,  I  recollect,  used  to  swear  pretty  considerably,  call 
people  on  shore  "  swabs,  land-lubbers,"  his  wife's  relations 
''grampuses,"  and  a  ploughman,  from  whom  he  wished  to  gain 
some  information,  '•  a  dying  dolphin ;  "  while  on  board  he'd 
reef  in  yards,  pipe  broadsides  to  quarters,  stride  like  a  lion 

L-  2 


292  OUR    YACHT. 

with  surf  in  his  face,  whispering  '•  Susan,"'  to  himself  during 
an  action,  bring  other  people  on  their  beam-ends,  heave 
a  head,  charge  an  elderly  gentleman  of  loose  character 
with  "  cutting  the  painter  of  a  pretty  pinnace,  and  sending  it 
(the  pinnace)  drifting  without  a  compass,''  and  so  forth  ;  but 
what  he  did  when  there  was  a  calm  doesn't  appear  ;  unless 
at  the  end,  which  is  torn  out  in  my  book,  and  then,  if  I 
recollect  right,  the  only  time  there  was  a  calm,  the  Admiral 
took  advantage  of  it  to  \.rx  William  by  court-martial,  and 
have  him  hanged  before  it  got  rough  again.  I  suggest  to 
the  Commodore  that  sailors  generally  have  a  fiddle  on 
board,  and  dance.  The  Commodore  says  grumpily,  that 
there  isn't  a  fiddle,  and  if  there  was  he  wouldn't  dance. 
The  Lieutenant  calls  upon  me  (he  is  l>4ng  stretched  out 
like  a  star-fish)  for  a  song.  Being  unable  to  oblige,  I  offer 
to  read  Willia?n.  Offer  declined  without  thanks.  I  say  I 
am  sure  I'd  heard  something  about  dancing  round  the 
caboose,  or  spinning  yarns  over  the  galley  fire.  I  know  I've 
seen  a  picture  somewhere  of  "  Saturday  night  at  sea."  The 
answer  to  this,  on  the  part  of  the  Commodore,  is,  that  it 
isn't  Saturday  night.  As  to  sitting  round  the  galley  fire 
in  the  caboose,  \vhich  is  where  the  Treasure  cooks,  it  is 
evident  that,  as  there  is  only  room  for  the  Treasure's  head 
and  shoulders,  three  people  attempting  to  dance  there,  or 
spin  yarns,  would  find  themselves  inconveniently  crowded. 
The  subject  drops.  The  Captain  here  appears  and  re- 
quests rations.  Considering  that  it  is  calm,  and  that  the 
Captain  is  an  Old  Salt,  he  seems  to  keep  his  legs  ver\' 
badly.    On  his  request  not  being  immediately  acceded  to,  he 


OUR    YACHT.  293 

repeats  the  word  several  times  with  variations,  as  if  he  had 
not,  in  the  first  instance,  succeeded  in  making  himself  suffi- 
ciently intelligible. 

The  course  he  chooses  to  adopt  (these  sailors  are  the 
queerest  people  !)  doesn't  improve  matters,  as  he  slips  from 
"Rations"'  down  to  ''Rachel/'  and  from  that  to  '"  Rayshe,' 
when  he  catches  hold  of  a  rope,  and  then  begins  to  laugh 
as  if  he'd  done  something  clever.  As  he  has  evidently 
come  up  to  amuse  us,  I  laugh  too,  just  to  humour  him, 
whereat  he  becomes  suddenly  grave,  and  frowns  upon  me 
rather  rebukingly. 

It  strikes  me  at  the  same  time  that  it  evidently  does  the 
Commodore,  that  this  is  the  effect  of  a  calm  upon  the 
Captain.  The  Lieutenant  thinks  that  rations  have  had  some- 
thing to  do  with  it.  I  should  perhaps  have  been  inclined  to 
his  opinion,  but  for  the  Captain  himself  saying  it  was  the 
calm. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

LOG-DIARY  RESUMED — THE  TREASURE  — TESTIMONIALS — 
INTOXICATIOX — DIFFERENXES — STEERING — THE  COM- 
PASS— RAIN— THE  LIEUTENANT  DISAGREEABLE — MORE 
ROW— CAPTAIN  HIMSELF  AGAIN — THE  TREASURE — A 
FIGHT. 


fFs^^jj  UR-vaclitin^  is  over  for  this  vear.  I  note  down 
i  i^^^Wi  t-e  account  of  our  last  few  days.  After  the  calm 
n  ^3!-.'-^^.  came  a  storm.     The  Captain  and  the  Treasure 


became  so  hopelessly  intoxicated  that  we  had  to 
manage  the  vessel  ourselves.  We  first  found  it  out  in  con- 
sequence of  a  delay  on  the  part  of  the  Treasure  in  bringing 
in  dinner.  \Ve  found  him  in  the  caboose  boiling  our  compass 
in  a  steu-pan,  while  the  Captain  was  doubled  up  in  a  comer 
nodding  and  smiling  like  a  Mandarin.  On  remonstrating 
with  the  Treasure  he  became  obstinately  polite,  and  clung  to 
the  repetition  of  one  word,  '•  tessermonels/'  by  which  we 
gradually  understood  him  to  mean  that  he  could  refute  the 
present  charge  of  intoxication  by  reference  to  his  testimonials. 
The  Captain  only  shook  his  head  and  muttered  '"'rations.''  I 
called  to  mind  the  Mutiny  of  the  Bounty,  and  thought  what 
a  horrible  thing  it  would  be  if  our  crew  suddenly  broke  out 


OUR    YACHT.  295 

into  open  defiance  of  authority.  However  they  didn't  mutiny, 
but  went  fast  asleep. 

The  Commodore  was  now  obliged  to  take  the  steering  in 
hand.  We,  that  is  the  Lieutenant  and  myself,  managed  the 
sails  ;  and  it  is  really  as  easy  as  possible  to  haul  in  the 
mainsail-gaff,  and  the  top  jib-boom  and  so  forth,  although  it 
sounds  difficult.  The  question  arose  as  to  where  the  land 
svas  ?  I  thought  that  it  was  on  the  right.  The  Commodore 
asked  how  far  off?  I  referred  to  the  index  of  my  map,  but 
as  there  was  no  map  with  it,  this  proceeding  did  not  help  us 
to  any  great  extent. 

WHien  night  set  in  should  we  still  go  on  sailing  ?  the  Lieu- 
tenant asked.  The  Commodore  said,  why  not  ?  I  agreed 
with  him,  why  not  ?  Because,  the  Lieutenant  reminded  us, 
the  compass  was  broken,  and  how  could  we  steer  without  a 
compass  ?  I  agreed  with  him,  and  put  this  question  to  the 
Commodore  as  a  poser.  He  was  ready  for  the  emergency. 
''  How,"  he  asked,  "  did  people  steer  when  they  Jiadn't 
compasses,  eh  ?"  I  gave  it  up ;  so  did  the  Lieutenant  at  first, 
though  as  an  after-thought  he  said,  "  By  the  stars."  "  Very 
well,"  returned  the  Commodore,  "then  we'll  steer  by  the 
stars," and  thought  he'd  settled  the  matter.  I  asked,  '•  By  what 
stars  ? "  and  the  Commodore  said,  that  "  if  I  was  going  to  play 
the  fool  and  upset  all  his  arrangements,  we'd  better  give  the 
whole  thing  up."  I  wanted  to  make  a  few  further  inquiries, 
but  the  Commodore  said  he  7nust  steer,  and  I  oughtn't  to 
speak  to  the  man  at  the  wheel.  Taking  advantage  of  his 
inability  to  quit  his  post,  the  Lieutenant  and  myself  went 
for'ard,  and  after  a  short  conversation,  settled  that  steering 


296  OUR    YACHT. 

by  the  stars  was  humbug.  The  Captain  and  Treasure  were 
still  heavily  asleep.  Towards  evening  it  began  to  rain.  I 
didn't  know  that  it  did  rain  at  sea ;  I  thought  it  v/as  only  on 
land  to  make  vegetables  grow.  It  rained  until  it  was 
dusk,  and  then  a  bit  of  a  wand  sprung  up.  Ivlost  extraordinary- 
thing,  as  I  told  the  Lieutenant,  that  I  always  thought  the 
wind  went  down  at  night.  The  Lieutenant,  who  had  been 
getting  more  and  more  disagreeable  ever  since  the  insubor- 
dination of  the  Crew,  said,  ''Down  where?"  If  the 
Commodore  hadn't  asked  him  to  take  a  turn  at  the  wheel  we 
should  have  quarrelled.  He  didn't  manage  the  steering  well, 
and  took,  the  Commodore  informed  me,  all  the  wdnd  out  of 
our  sails.  I  know  they  began  to  flap  about  in  a  vacillating 
manner,  and  the  Commodore  remonstrated.  The  Lieutenant 
who  was  ver\'  grumpy,  said,  "  He'd  better  do  it  himself,  if  he 
was  so  clever."  I  tried  to  pacify  them  by  saying  what  did  it 
matter  ?  On  which  they  both  replied,  "  Oh,  didn't  it 
matter  ? "  sarcastically.  Luckily  the  Captain  was  suddenly 
restored  to  consciousness,  and  came  aft  with  a  rather  dazed 
expression.  He  said  he  couldn't  make  out  what  had  been 
the  matter  with  him.  He  hoped  we  didn't  think  it  was  any- 
thing like  intoxication.  We  confessed  that  we  thought  the 
symptoms  somewhat  similar,  but  he  explained  to  us  that  in 
/lis  case  it  was  a  sort  of  a  something  that  he'd  once  had  when 
he  was  a  child,  and  the  doctors  said  it  wouldn't  come  again ; 
but,  having  come  again,  it  had,  he  explained,  took  him  quite 
unawares  like.  He  believed  he'd  never  quite  got  over  the 
measles.  He  strongly  reprehended  the  conduct  of  the  Trea- 
sure ;  and  proposed  that  he  should  be  discharged  at  Liverpool. 


OUR    YACHT. 


257 


He  took  the  helm,  and  we  were  all  silent  and  sulky.  I 
made  up  my  mind  that  I'd  desert  when  I  got  on  shore,  and  I 
think  we  all,  when  we  did  speak,  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
we  wanted  a  larger  yacht.  The  Treasure  woke  up,  and 
became  obstreperous  and  quarrelsome  at  midnight.  He  en- 
gaged in  a  single-handed  combat  with  the  Captain,  but  on  his 
foot  slipping,  he  was  luckily  knocked  down  the  companion 
and  shut  up  in  our  cabin,  where  he  abused  us  through  the 
skylight  until  he  went  to  sleep  again.  His  imprisonment 
prevented  us  from  taking  our  natural  rest  below.  So  we  sat 
on  deck  and  tried  to  pretend  we  were  enjoying  ourselves. 
The  Commodore  looked  glum,  and  smoked.  The  Lieutenant 
squatted  with  his  chin  on  his  knees  and  grumbled  :  while  I 
spent  my  hours  in  drowsily  meditating  on  IVilliajn,  Susan, 
the  nautical  drama,  my  costume  waiting  for  me  at  L'pool,  and 
the  probable  expenses  of  our  trip.  Loi^. — Morning  broke : 
grey  J  duU,  and  drizzling,  wind  anyhozi'. 


CHAPTER   V. 

THE  MERSEY — DISCUSSION" — QUESTION —  NEGATIVED— THE 
IDEAL — THE  REAL — ROLLING  GAIT — SALTS  ASHORE— 
THE   HOTEL— COMFORT — BED. 


MAKE  my  last  extract  from  the  Log. 

'•'  Entered  the  Z^Iersey  this  morning.  Low  water. 
Stuck  on  the  bar.  Wind  E.  Latitude  and  longi- 
tude, vide  map  of  England  ;  place.  Liverpool.  The 
Treasure  penitent  and  apologetic.  Intend  to  send  yacht 
back  to  Bangor,  by  Captain  and  Treasure.  Commodore  and 
Lieutenant  think  that  it  hasn't  been  such  bad  fun,  after  all ; 
ihey  say  I  can't  rough  it.  I  say  I  can.  They  ask  me  then 
will  I  go  to  Nonvay?  I  reply  no,  decidedly.  High  tide. 
We  are  off  the  bar,  and  are  going  into  L'pool.  Just  in. 
Wind  changed." 

I  had  always  thought  that  the  arrival  of  a  yacht  was  a 
picturesque  sight.  I  imagined,  from  what  I  had  gathered, 
that  you  pulled  up  alongside  of  the  Quay,  where  there  were 
Officers  and  Yachtsmen  to  meet  you  :  that  they  cheered  you 
all  the  way  wherever  you  went,  cr}-ing  "  Hurrah  !  Bravo  ! '" 
or  anything  else  that  came  into  their  heads.  I  also  had 
an  idea,  that,  before  landing,  you  sailed  majestically  into 
Quarantine,  and  were  saluted  by  a  Flag-ship.     But  nothing 


OUR    YACHT.  299 

of  this  sort  is  done  ;  at  least  at  Liverpool.  We  couldn't  get 
up  to  the  kerb,  I  mean  the  Quay,  but  had  to  go  ashore  in  our 
small  boat.  We  paid  off  the  Captain  and  Crew,  who  neither 
cheered  us,  nor  offered  to  carry  our  luggage  to  the  cab.  It 
seems  so  absurd  to  talk  of  a  cab,  now,  after  being  a  son  of 
the  Ocean  for  nearly  three  weeks.  Sailors  always  roll  about 
when  they  come  on  shore  :  so  we  all  rolled  about  ;  at  least  I 
did.  The  Commodore  pretended  that  it  made  no  difference 
to  him.  It  did  to  m.e  ;  walking  properly  was  really  difficult, 
and  by  the  aid  of  a  little  art,  I  made  lots  of  people  think  I 
was  a  sailor.  The  Lieutenant  suggested  enviously  that  they 
thought  I  was  a  fool.  But  this  was  only  said  because  he 
couldn't  roll  from  one  side  to  the  other.  When  a  salt  is  on 
land  he  spends  all  his  money  :  I  did  this  with  great  facility, 
beginning  with  a  warm  bath,  a  basin  of  turtle  at  the  Adelphi 
Hotel,  and  a  box  of  cigars  at  the  first  Tobacconist's. 

To-night  I  sleep  in  a  comfortable  bed  :  I  write  this  from 
my  room  in  the  Adelphi.  O  the  luxury  of  sheets  !  The 
Commodore  has  just  come  into  my  room  to  smoke  a  cigar 
with  me  before  turning  in.  He  still  talks  about  keeping 
watch,  and  one  bell.  He  says  he  wishes  that  we  had  had 
the  Saucy  Nautilus  during  the  American  war,  we  might 
have  been  a  blockade  runner,  and  made  our  fortunes. 

To  this  obser^-ation,  which  he  made  when  I  was  in  bed 
and  had  shut  up  my  diar>^,  I  replied  that  /  shouldn't  have 
run  blockades,  and  I  made  some  joke  about  blockade  and 
blockhead,  which  this  morning  I  can't  call  to  mind.  I 
recollect  his  answering,  that  he  was  going  to  have  proposed 
another  voyage,  soon,  for  smuggling  or  whaling  (or  some- 


300  OUR    YACHT. 

thing  which  he  thought  amusing),  but  that  if  I  turned  ever)-- 
thing  into  ridicule,  why  of  course  he"d  better  give  up  the 
whole  thing  at  once. 

As  I  don't  remember  anything  of  the  Commodore  after 
this,  I  fancy  I  must  have  fallen  off  to  sleep. 

Morning. — They  have  both  gone  :  and  have  left  me  to 
settle  the  hotel  bill.  They'll  ''make  it  all  right"  (this  in 
a  letter)  "  when  we  meet  in  town."  I  am  now  off  to  town, 
to  make  it  all  right. 

After  Note. — The  Treasure  and  Captain  on  being  left  to 
themselves,  must  have  taken  freely  to  "  rations  "  as  they  ran 
the  yacht  aground  somewhere  in  the  straits  (having  luckily 
got  as  far  as  that),  and  then  decamped  with  the  small  boat, 
leaving  the  Nautilus  to  take  care  of  itself  and  be  found  by 
the  Baker  of  Bangor  (as  it  subsequently  was)  grounded  and 
lying  helplessly  on  its  side. 

Proceedings  threatened  against  us. 

Last  Note. — Baker  of  Bangor  pacified.  Damages  settled. 
End  of  Cruise. 


THE  END. 


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