Dusty Diamonds Cut and Polished: A Tale of City Arab Life and Adventure

by R. M. Ballantyne

  CHAPTER EIGHT.

  A GREAT AND MEMORABLE DAY.

  When young Stephen Welland was conducted by John Seaward the missionaryinto a large field dotted with trees, close to where his accident hadhappened, he found that the children and their guardians were busilyengaged in making arrangements for the spending of an enjoyable day.

  And then he also found that this was not a mere monster excursion ofordinary Sunday-schools, but one of exceedingly poor children, whosegarments, faces, and general condition, told too surely that theybelonged to the lowest grade in the social scale.

  "Yes," said the missionary, in reply to some question from Welland, "theagency at George Yard, to which I have referred, has a wide-embracinginfluence--though but a small lump of leaven when compared with the massof corruption around it. This is a flock of the ragged and utterlyforlorn, to many of whom green fields and fresh air are absolutely new,but we have other flocks besides these."

  "Indeed! Well, now I look at them more carefully, I see that theirgarments do speak of squalid poverty. I have never before seen such aragged crew, though I have sometimes encountered individuals of theclass on the streets."

  "Hm!" coughed the missionary with a peculiar smile. "They are not soragged as they were. Neither are they as ragged as they will be in anhour or two."

  "What do you mean?"

  "I mean that these very rough little ones have to receive peculiartreatment before we can give them such an outing as they are havingto-day. As you see, swings and see-saws have been put up here, toys arenow being distributed, and a plentiful feast will ere long beforthcoming, through the kindness of a Christian gentleman whose heartthe Lord has inclined to `consider the poor,' but before we couldventure to move the little band, much of their ragged clothing had to bestitched up to prevent it falling off on the journey, and we had to makethem move carefully on their way to the train--for vans have brought usonly part of the way. Now that they are here, our minds are somewhatrelieved, but I suspect that the effect of games and romping will undomuch of our handiwork. Come, let us watch them."

  The youth and the missionary advanced towards a group of the children,whose souls, for the time being, were steeped in a see-saw. Thisinstrument of delight consisted of a strong plank balanced on the trunkof a noble tree which had been recently felled, with many others, tothin the woods of the philanthropist's park. It was an enormoussee-saw! such as the ragged creatures had never before seen--perhapsnever conceived of, their experiences in such joys having been hithertoconfined to small bits of broken plank placed over empty beer barrels,or back-yard fences. No fewer than eight children were able to findaccommodation on it at one and the same time, besides one of the biggerboys to straddle in the centre; and it required the utmost vigilance onthe part of a young man teacher at one end of the machine, and HettyFrog at the other end, to prevent the little ragamuffins at eitherextremity from being forced off.

  Already the missionary's anticipation in regard to the undoing of theirlabour had begun to be verified. There were at least four of the eightwhose nether garments had succumbed to the effort made in mounting theplank, and various patches of flesh-colour revealed the fact that thepoor little wearers were innocent of flannels. But it was summer-time,and the fact had little effect either on wearers or spectators. Themissionary, however, was not so absorbed in the present but that he feltimpelled to remark to Welland: "That is their winter as well as summerclothing."

  The bicyclist said nothing in reply, but the remark was not lost uponhim.

  "Now, Dick Swiller," said the young man teacher, "I see what you're upto. You mustn't do it!"

  Richard Swiller, who was a particularly rugged as well as ragged boy ofabout thirteen, not being in the habit of taking advice, did do it.That is, he sent his end of the plank up with such violence that theother end came to the ground with a shock which caused those who satthere to gasp, while it all but unseated most of those who were on thehigher end. Indeed one very small and pinched but intelligent littleboy, named by his companions Blobby, who looked as if Time, through theinfluence of privation and suffering, had been dwindling instead ofdeveloping him,--actually did come off with a cry of alarm, which,however, changed into a laugh of glee when he found himself in histeacher's arms, instead of lying "busted on the ground," as heafterwards expressed it when relating the incident to an admiringaudience of fellow ragamuffins in the slums of Spitalfields.

  Blobby was immediately restored to his lost position, and Swiller wasdegraded, besides being made to stand behind a large tree for a quarterof an hour in forced inaction, so that he might have time to meditate onthe evil consequences of disobedience.

  "Take care, Robin," said Hetty, to a very small but astonishinglyenergetic fellow, at her end of the see-saw, who was impressed with thenotion that he was doing good service by wriggling his own body up anddown, "if you go on so, you'll push Lilly Snow off."

  Robin, unlike Dick, was obedient. He ceased his efforts, and therebysaved the last button which held his much too small waistcoat across hisbare bosom.

  "What a sweet face the child she calls Lilly Snow has--if it were onlyclean," observed Welland. "A little soap and water with a hair brushwould make her quite beautiful."

  "Yes, she is very pretty," said the missionary and the kindly smile withwhich he had been watching the fun vanished, as he added in a sorrowfulvoice, "her case is a very sad one, dear child. Her mother is a poorbut deserving woman who earns a little now and then by tailoring, butshe has been crushed for years by a wicked and drunken husband who hasat last deserted her. We know not where he is, perhaps dead. Fivetimes has her home been broken up by him, and many a time has she withher little one been obliged to sit on doorsteps all night, whenhomeless. Little Lilly attends our Sunday-school regularly, and Hettyis her teacher. It is not long since Hetty herself was a scholar, and Iknow that she is very anxious to lead Lilly to the Lord. The sufferingsand sorrows to which this poor child has been exposed have told upon herseverely, and I fear that her health will give way. A day in thecountry like this may do her good perhaps."

  As the missionary spoke little Lilly threw up her arms and uttered a cryof alarm. Robin, although obedient, was short of memory, and hisenergetic spirit being too strong for his excitable little frame he hadrecommenced his wriggling, with the effect of bursting the last buttonoff his waistcoat and thrusting Lilly off the plank. She was received,however, on Hetty's breast, who fell with her to the ground.

  "Not hurt, Hetty!" exclaimed the missionary, running forward to help thegirl up.

  "Oh! no, sir," replied Hetty with a short laugh, as she rose and placedLilly on a safer part of the see-saw.

  "Come here, Hetty," said John Seaward, "and rest a while. You have doneenough just now; let some one else take your place."

  After repairing the buttonless waistcoat with a pin and giving its ownera caution, Hetty went and sat down on the grass beside the missionary.

  "How is Bobby?" asked the latter, "I have not found a moment to speak toyou till now."

  "Thank you, sir, he's better; much better. I fear he will be well toosoon."

  "How so? That's a strange remark, my girl."

  "It may seem strange, sir, but--you know--father's very fond of Bobby."

  "Well, Hetty, that's not a bad sign of your father."

  "Oh but, sir, father sits at his bedside when he's sober, an' has suchlong talks with him about robberies and burglaries, and presses him veryhard to agree to go out with him when he's well. I can't bear to hearit, for dear Bobby seems to listen to what he says, though sometimes herefuses, and defies him to do his worst, especially when he--"

  "Stay, dear girl. It is very very sad, but don't tell me anything moreabout your father. Tell it all to Jesus, Hetty. He not onlysympathises with, but is able to save--even to the uttermost."

  "Yes, thank God for that `uttermost,'" said the poor girl, clasping herhands quickly together. "Oh, I understood that when He saved _me_, andI will trust to it no
w."

  "And the gentleman who called on you,--has he been again?" asked themissionary.

  "No, sir, he has only come once, but he has sent his butler three orfour times with some money for us, and always with the message that itis from Miss Diana, to be divided between Bobby and me. Unfortunatelyfather chanced to be at home the first time he came and got it all, sowe got none of it. But he was out the other times. The butler is anoldish man, and a very strange one. He went about our court crying."

  "Crying! Hetty, that's a curious condition for an oldish butler to bein."

  "Oh, of course I don't mean cryin' out like a baby," said Hetty, lookingdown with a modest smile, "but I saw tears in his eyes, and sometimesthey got on his cheeks. I can't think what's the matter with him."

  Whatever Mr Seaward thought on this point he said nothing, but asked ifBobby was able to go out.

  Oh yes, he was quite able to walk about now with a little help, Hettysaid, and she had taken several walks with him and tried to get him tospeak about his soul, but he only laughed at that, and said he had toomuch trouble with his body to think about his soul--there was timeenough for that!

  They were interrupted at this point by a merry shout of glee, and,looking up, found that young Welland had mounted the see-saw, takenLilly Snow in front of him, had Dick Swiller reinstated tocounterbalance his extra weight, and was enjoying himself in a mosthilarious manner among the fluttering rags. Assuredly, the flutteringrags did not enjoy themselves a whit less hilariously than he.

  In this condition he was found by the owner of the grounds, GeorgeBrisbane, Esquire, of Lively Hall, who, accompanied by his wife, and atall, dignified friend with a little girl, approached the see-saw.

  "I am glad you enjoy yourself so much, my young friend," he said toWelland; "to which of the ragged schools may you belong?"

  In much confusion--for he was rather shy--Welland made several abortiveefforts to check the see-saw, which efforts Dick Swiller resisted to theuttermost, to the intense amusement of a little girl who held MrsBrisbane's hand. At last he succeeded in arresting it and leaped off.

  "I beg pardon," he said, taking off his cap to the lady as he advanced,"for intruding uninvited on--"

  "Pray don't speak of intrusion," interrupted Mr Brisbane, extending hishand; "if you are here as Mr Seaward's friend you are a welcome guest.Your only intrusion was among the little ones, but as they seem not toresent it neither do I."

  Welland grasped the proffered hand. "Thank you very much," he returned,"but I can scarcely lay claim to Mr Seaward's friendship. The fact is,I am here in consequence of an accident to my bicycle."

  "Oh! then you _are_ one of the poor unfortunates after all," said thehost. "Come, you are doubly welcome. Not hurt much, I hope. No?That's all right. But don't let me keep you from your amusements.Remember, we shall expect you at the feast on the lawn. You see, SirRichard," he added, turning to his dignified friend, "when we go in forthis sort of thing we don't do it by halves. To have any lastingeffect, it must make a deep impression. So we have got up all sorts ofamusements, as you observe, and shall have no fewer than two good feeds.Come, let us visit some other--Why, what are you gazing at sointently?"

  He might well ask the question, for Sir Richard Brandon had justobserved Hetty Frog, and she, unaccustomed to such marked attention, wasgazing in perplexed confusion on the ground. At the same time littleDi, having caught sight of her, quitted Mrs Brisbane, ran towards herwith a delighted scream, and clasping her hand in both of hers,proclaimed her the sister of "my boy!"

  Hetty's was not the nature to refuse such affection. Though among thepoorest of the poor, and clothed in the shabbiest and most patchy ofgarments, (which in her case, however, were neat, clean and wellmended), she was rich in a loving disposition; so that, forgettingherself and the presence of others, she stooped and folded the littlegirl in her arms. And, when the soft brown hair and pale pretty face ofPoverty were thus seen as it were co-mingling with the golden locks androsy cheeks of Wealth, even Sir Richard was forced to admit to himselfthat it was not after all a very outrageous piece of impropriety!

  "Oh! I'm _so_ glad to hear that he's much better, and been out too! Iwould have come to see him again long long ago, but p--"

  She checked herself, for Mrs Screwbury had carefully explained to herthat no good girl ever said anything against her parents; and little Dihad swallowed the lesson, for, when not led by passion, she wasextremely teachable.

  "And oh!" she continued, opening her great blue lakelets to their wideststate of solemnity, "you haven't the smallest bit of notion how I havedreamt about my boy--and my policeman too! I never can get over thefeeling that they might both have been killed, and if they had, youknow, it would have been me that did it; only think! I would have--been--a murderer! P'raps they'd have hanged me!"

  "But they weren't killed, dear," said Hetty, unable to restrain a smileat the awful solemnity of the child, and the terrible fate referred to.

  "No--I'm _so_ glad, but I can't get over it," continued Di, while thosenear to her stood quietly by unable to avoid overhearing, even if theyhad wished to do so. "And they do such strange things in my dreams,"continued Di, "you can't think. Only last night I was in ourbasket-cart--the dream-one, you know, not the real one--and thedream-pony ran away again, and gave my boy such a dreadful knock that hefell flat down on his back, tumbled over two or three times, and roseup--a policeman! Not _my_ policeman, you know, but quite another onethat I had never seen before! But the very oddest thing of all was thatit made me so angry that I jumped with all my might on to his breast,and when I got there it wasn't the policeman but the pony! and it wasdead--quite dead, for I had killed it, and I wasn't sorry at all--not abit!"

  This was too much for Hetty, who burst into a laugh, and Sir Richardthought it time to go and see the games that were going on in otherparts of the field, accompanied by Welland and the missionary, whileHetty returned to her special pet Lilly Snow.

  And, truly, if "one touch of nature makes the whole world kin," therewere touches of nature enough seen that day among these outcasts ofsociety to have warranted their claiming kin with the whole world.

  Leap-frog was greatly in favour, because the practitioners could abandonthemselves to a squirrel-and-cat sort of bound on the soft grass, whichthey had never dared to indulge in on the London pavements. It was atrying game, however, to the rags, which not only betrayed theircharacter to the eye by the exhibition of flesh-tints through numerousholes, but addressed themselves also to the ears by means of frequentand explosive rendings. Pins, however, were applied to the worst ofthese with admirable though temporary effect, and the fun became fasterand more furious,--especially so when the points of some of the pinstouched up the flesh-tints unexpectedly.

  On these occasions the touches of nature became strongly pronounced--expressing themselves generally in a yell. Another evidence of worldlykinship was, that the touched-up ones, instead of attributing themisfortune to accident, were prone to turn round with fierce scowl anddoubled fists under the impression that a guilty comrade was in rear!

  The proceedings were totally arrested for one hour at mid-day, whenunlimited food was issued, and many of the forlorn ones began to feelthe rare sensation of being stuffed quite full and rendered incapable ofwishing for more! But this was a mere interlude. Like little giantsrefreshed they rose up again to play--to swing, to leap, to wrestle, toramble, to gather flowers, to roll on the grass, to bask in thegladdening sunshine, and, in some cases, to thank God for all Hismercies, in spite of the latent feeling of regret that there was solittle of all that enjoyment in the slums, and dark courts, and filthyback-streets of the monster city.

  Of course all the pins were extracted in this second act of the play,and innumerable new and gaping wounds were introduced into the clothing,insomuch that all ordinary civilised people, except philanthropists,would have been shocked with the appearance of the little ones.

  But it was during the third and closing act o
f the play that the affairculminated. The scene was laid on the lawn in front of Mr Brisbane'smansion.

  Enter, at one end of the lawn, a band of small and dirty but flushed andhappy boys and girls, in rags which might appropriately be styledribbons. At the other end of the lawn a train of domestics bearingtrays with tea, cakes, buns, pies, fruits, and other delectable things,to which the ragged army sits down.

  Enter host and hostess, with Sir Richard, friends and attendants.

  (_Host_.)--after asking a blessing--"My little friends, this afternoonwe meet to eat, and only one request have I to make--that you shall doyour duty well." (Small boy in ribbons.--"Von't I, just!") "No plattershall return to my house till it be empty. No little one shall quitthese premises till he be full; what cannot be eaten must be carriedaway."

  (The ragged army cheers.)

  (_Host_.)--"Enough. Fall-to."

  (They fall-to.)

  (_Little boy_ in tatters, pausing.)--"_I_ shan't fall two, I'll fallthree or four."

  (_Another little boy_, in worse tatters.)--"So shall I."

  (_First little boy_.)--"I say, Jim, wot would mother say if she washere?"

  (_Jim_.)--"She'd say nothin'. 'Er mouth 'ud be too full to speak."

  (Prolonged silence. Only mastication heard, mingled with a few cases ofchoking, which are promptly dealt with.)

  (_Blobby_, with a sigh.)--"I say, Robin, I'm gettin' tight."

  (_Robin_, with a gasp.)--"So am I; I'm about bustin'."

  (_Blobby_, coming to another pause.)--"I say, Robin, I'm as full as Ican 'old. So's all my pockits, an' there's some left over!"

  (_Robin--sharply_.)--"Stick it in your 'at, then."

  (Blobby takes off his billycock, thrusts the remnant of food therein,and puts it on.)

  Enter the brass band of the neighbouring village, (the bandsmen beingboys), which plays a selection of airs, and sends a few of the smallerragamuffins to sleep.

  (_Sir Richard Brandon_, confidentially to his friend.)--"It is anamazing sight."

  (_Host_.)--"Would that it were a more common sight!"

  Enter more domestics with more tea, buns, and fruit; but the army isglutted, and the pockets are brought into requisition: much pinningbeing a necessary consequence.

  (_Lilly Snow_, softly.)--"It's like 'eaven!"

  (_Hetty_, remonstratingly.)--"Oh! Lilly, 'eaven is quite different."

  (_Dick Swiller_.)--"I'm sorry for it. Couldn't be much 'appier to mymind."

  (_Host_.)--"Now, dear boys and girls, before we close the proceedings ofthis happy day, my excellent friend, your missionary, Mr Seaward, willsay a few words."

  John Seaward steps to the front, and says a few words--says them sowell, too, so simply, so kindly, yet so heartily, that the army isroused to a pitch of great enthusiasm; but we leave this speech to thereader's imagination: after which--_Exeunt Omnes_.

  And, as the curtain of night falls on these ragged ones, scattered now,many of them, to varied homes of vice, and filth, and misery, the heavyeyelids close to open again, perchance, in ecstatic dreams of food, andfun and green fields, fresh air and sunshine, which impress them more orless with the idea embodied in the aphorism, that "God made the country,but man made the town."