The History of Little Bernard Low
Bessy was very sorry to leave her young friends]
The rest of Mrs. Goodriche's visit passed off very quietly and verypleasantly. Bessy became from day to day more manageable, and Lucy andEmily began to love her very much.
Mrs. Goodriche was inquiring everywhere for a house close by, and therewas none which seemed as if it could be made to suit her. She and Bessyreturned home therefore at the end of a fortnight, and Bessy was verysorry to leave her young friends.
It was four or five days after Mrs. Goodriche had left them before Mr.Fairchild proposed that they should read that famous book which Henrytalked so much about.
"But where shall we go to read it?" he asked.
"Oh! to the hut in the wood, papa, if you please," answered Lucy; andin less than an hour everybody was ready to set out: and when everybodywas seated as they had been the time before, the book was opened, andLucy waited to read only till Henry and Emily had seen the picture atthe beginning. I will tell you what the picture was when we come to theplace of it in the story.
The History of Little Bernard Low
_THE STORY IN HENRY'S BOOK_
"Mr. Low was a clergyman, and had a good living in that part of thiscountry where the hills of Wales extend towards the plains of England,forming sweet valleys, often covered with woods, and rendered fruitfuland beautiful by rills which have their sources in the distant hills.
"Mr. Low never had but one brother; this brother had been a wild boy,and had run away many years before, and never had been heard of since.
"The name of the valley in which Mr. Low's living was situated wasRookdale; his own house stood alone amongst woods and waterfalls, butthere was a village nearer to the mouth of the valley, and in thatvillage, besides some farmers and many cottagers, lived anotherclergyman of the name of Evans. He was a worthy humble man, and camefrom the very wildest parts of Wales. He was a needy man, and wasforced to work hard to get a decent living for himself, his sister,Miss Grizzy Evans, and an orphan nephew, Stephen Poppleton. Mr. Lowgave him fifty pounds a year to help him in the care of his parish,which spread far and wide over the high grounds which surroundedRookdale; and he added something to his gains by teaching the childrenof the farmers in the parish, and by taking in two or three boys asboarders; he could not take many, because his house was small andinconvenient. We shall know more of Mr. Evans when we have read the fewnext pages.
"Mr. Low's living was a very good one, and brought in much money. Thehouse too was good, and he kept several servants, and livedhandsomely. He had had four children, but two of them were dead. Mr.Low had but one daughter, her name was Lucilla; and the two eldest weresons, Alfred and Henry. Henry died a baby, but Alfred lived till he waseight years old, and then died, and was buried by the side of hisinfant brother. The fourth and last child of Mr. and Mrs. Low wasBernard; he was more than five years younger than Lucilla.
"When Bernard was born, it seemed as if no one could make too much ofhim. The old woman, Susan Berkley, who had been Mr. Low's own nurse,and had always lived in the family, was so fond of Bernard that shecould not refuse him anything; and Mrs. Low was what people call sowrapped up in her boy, that she could never make enough of him. In thisrespect she was very weak, but those who have lost children well knowhow strong the temptation is to over-indulge those who are left. Atfirst Mr. Low did not observe how far these plans of indulgence werebeing carried; indeed, he did not open his eyes fully to the mischieftill Bernard was become one of the most troublesome, selfish boys inthe whole valley. At five years old he was the torment of the wholehouse, though even then he was cunning enough to hide some of his worsttempers from his father. He had found out that when he pretended to beill, mother, nurse, and sister were all frightened out of their senses,and that at such times he could get his way in everything, howeverimproper. He did not care what pain he gave them if he could get whathe wanted.
"His father, however, did at length find out the mischief that wasgoing on; and as he feared that his wife and nurse would not have thefirmness to check the boy if he remained always at home, he proposedthat Bernard should be sent as a day boarder to Mr. Evans. His fatherwished that he should go every morning after breakfast, dine at school,and return to tea.
"'I have been much to blame,' said Mr. Low, 'in not speaking before ofthe way in which Bernard has been managed. I blame myself greatly forthis neglect, and I now feel that no more time must be lost; and Ithink it will be easier for us to part with him for a few hours everyday, than to send him to a distance.'
"Mrs. Low was a gentle person, and wished to do right; she shed tears,but made no resistance. Lucilla thought that her papa was right; shehad lately seen how naughty Bernard was getting; so Mr. Low had noopposition either from his wife or daughter. When nurse, however, wastold that her darling was to go to school to Parson Evans, she was veryangry; and though she did not dare to speak her mind to her master, shehad no fear of telling it to her mistress and the young lady.
"'Well, to be sure,' she said, 'master has curious notions, to think ofsending such a delicate babe as Master Bernard to be kicked about by aparcel of boys, and to be made to eat anything that's set before him,whether he likes it or not. So good a child as he is too: so meek andso tender, that if he but suspects a cross word, he is ready to jumpout of himself, and falls a-crying and quaking, and won't be appeasedanyhow, till the fit's over with him. Indeed, mistress, if you give himup in this point, I won't say what the consequences may be.'
"'But, nurse,' said Lucilla, 'really Bernard does want to be kept alittle in order.'
"'And that from you, Miss?' answered the nurse; 'what would you feel,was you to see him laid in his grave beside his precious littlebrothers?'
"Lucilla could not answer this question, and Mrs. Low could not speakfor weeping; so nurse was left to say all she chose; and as Bernardcame in before she had cooled herself down, she told him what wasproposed, and said it would break her heart to part with him only for afew hours every day.
"On hearing this, Bernard thought it a proper occasion to show off hismeek spirit, and so much noise did he make, and so rebellious andstubborn was his behaviour, that his father, who heard him from adistance, made up his mind to go that very evening to speak about himto Mr. Evans. Mr. Low did not find the worthy man at home; he hadwalked out with his nephew and three boys who boarded in the house; butMr. Low found Miss Evans in a small parlour, dressed, as she always wasin an evening, with some pretensions to fashion and smartness: she wasvery busy with a huge basket of stockings, which she was mending.
"When Mr. Low told her his business, she was quite delighted, for shehad lived in that humble village till she thought Mr. Low one of thegreatest men in the world, because she never saw any greater. Sheanswered for her brother that he would receive Master Bernard and givehim every care; 'and for me, sir,' she added, 'I promise you that theyoung gentleman shall have the best of everything our poor table willafford.'
"'I wish,' replied Mr. Low, 'that he may be treated exactly as theother boys, my good madam, and no bustle whatever made with him.'
"Soon after Mr. Low was gone, Mr. Evans and his nephew, and threepupils, passed the parlour window. Miss Grizzy tapped on the glass, andbeckoned to her brother to come to her, which he did, immediatelyfollowed by his nephew.
"'Who do you think has been here, brother, whilst you have been out?'said she; 'who but Mr. Low?' and she told him what Mr. Low had comefor, and that she had undertaken that Master Bernard should bereceived.
"'Very good, sister,' replied Mr. Evans, 'all is well;' and he went outagain at the parlour door, seeming to be much pleased. Stephen remainedbehind, and the moment the door was shut, he said:
"'You seem to be much set up, Aunt Grizzy, at the thought of this boy'scoming; you must know, surely, that he is a shocking spoiled child, andthat there will be no possibility of pleasing him.'
"'We must try, however,' answered Miss Evans; 'I know, as well as youcan do, what he is, a little pr
oud, petted, selfish thing: for is henot the talk of the parish? I have often wondered how Mr. Low couldhave been so long blind to the need of sending him to school; but thenthink, nephew, Mr. Low offers as much as if the boy boarded hereentirely, and he is only to dine; and I doubt not but that there willbe pretty presents too--you know that both Mr. and Mrs. Low are verythoughtful in that way.'
"'But if you can't keep the little plague in good humour,' answeredStephen, 'instead of presents we may have disputes and quarrels; andwhere will you be then, aunt?'
"'I hope, Stephen, that you will not be creating these quarrels; thatyou will bear and forbear, and pay Master Low proper respect, and seethat Meekin and Griffith and Price do the same: you know well that notone of them are of such high families as Master Low.'
"'You had best not say that to Griffith, aunt,' answered Stephen; 'hehas a very high notion, I can tell you, of his family, though hisfather is only a shopkeeper.'
"Miss Evans put up her lip and said:
"'Well, mind me, Stephen, no quarrelling, I say, with Master Low, atleast on your part; so now walk off to your place.'
"When nurse had said all that was in her mind, she became more calmupon the subject of Bernard's going to school; and so thoroughly didthe child tease during the few days that passed before he went, thatshe was almost obliged to confess to herself that it was not altogethera very bad thing that he was to have lessons to learn, and someemployment from home during part of every day.
"But when Bernard was actually to go, there was such a to-do about it,that he might just as well have stayed at home, as to any good whichmight be expected from it in the way of making him think less ofhimself.
"_But when Bernard was actually to go there was such ato-do about it._"--Page 332.]
"Lucilla had had a little pony for several years; this pony was to besaddled for Bernard, and he was to ride to and from school, whilst aservant attended him. His mother took the occasion to send a present offruit and nice vegetables by this servant to Miss Grizzy; and there wasa note written to Mr. Evans all about Bernard, and a great deal said init about getting his feet wet; and shoes were sent that he might changethem when he came in from play. Nurse also was sent down about twohours after him, with some messages to Miss Evans and to hear how thedarling got on.
"Bernard was very sulky all that first morning. He was quite eightyears old; Mr. Evans therefore was much surprised at his being a verypoor reader. Indeed he could not in any way stammer out the firstchapter in the Bible, and Mr. Evans was obliged to put him into thespelling-book at the first page. He called him up between each Latinlesson he gave, but found that each time he called him, he read ratherworse than the time before. The simple truth is that he did not chooseto do better.
"Griffith whispered to Meekin, the last time Bernard was up, 'Mind whatI say, he is no better than a fool;' and Meekin passed the same wordsto Price, and then it was a settled thing with these three boys, thatBernard Low was a fool, and a very proper person to play any fun upon.
"But whilst these boys were settling this matter amongst them, MissGrizzy had sent for Stephen into the parlour, and given him some of thefine pears and walnuts which Mrs. Low had sent.
"'Here, nephew,' she said, 'is the earnest of many more little presentswhich we may expect; but everything depends on your behaviour to theboy. We must keep him in good humour--we must show him every possiblefavour in a quiet way, and you must not let Griffith and the otherstease him.'
"'This is an uncommon good pear,' said Stephen, as he bit a great pieceout of one of them.
"'Is it not?' replied his aunt; 'but, Stephen, do you hear me? you mustnot let Griffith be playing his tricks on Master Low.'
"'I understand,' answered Stephen, taking another bite at the pear.'Don't you think I know on which side my bread is buttered yet, aunt?'he asked; 'though I am near fifteen years of age, and half throughHomer? but you must allow that Bernard Low is an abominablydisagreeable fellow, and one that one should like to duck in ahorse-pond--a whining, puling, mother-spoiled brat; however, I will seethat he shan't be quizzed to his face, and I suppose that's all yourequire, is not it?'
"So he put all that remained of what his aunt had given him of thefruit into his pocket, for himself, and left the room. He went straightto the yard where the boys played, and scarcely got there in time tohinder Griffith from beginning his tricks with Bernard, for he had gota piece of whipcord, and was insisting that the boy should be tied withit between Meekin and Price, and that they should be the team and hethe driver; and a pretty run would the first and last horse have giventhe middle one, had Griffith's plan been executed.
"Bernard was already beginning to whine and put his finger in his eye,when Stephen came in and called out:
"'Eh, what's that there? David Griffith, let the child alone; he hasnot been used to your horseplay.'
"And as Stephen was much bigger and stronger than the other boys, theyall thought it best to give way.
"Bernard was let off, and he walked away, not in the best of tempers,into the house, and into Miss Evans's own parlour, where she was seatedat her usual employment, darning stockings.
"'Well, Master Low,' she said, 'I hope you find everything agreeable; Iam sure it shall not be my fault if you do not; you have only to saythe word and anything you don't like shall be changed, if it is in mypower.'
"'I don't like that boy,' answered Bernard; 'that David Griffith.'
"'Never mind him, never mind him, Master Low,' replied Miss Evans; 'anytime that he don't make himself agreeable, only come to me; I am alwaysglad to see you here to sit in my parlour, and warm yourself if it iscold. You know how much I respect your papa and mamma; there is nothingI would not do for them.'
"Bernard had been so much used to flattery and fond words, that he didnot value them at all; he thought that they were only his due; and hedid not so much as say 'Thank you' to Miss Evans, nor even look smilingnor pleasant; but he walked up to her round table, and curiously eyedthe large worsted stocking which she was darning--'Whose is that?' hesaid.
"'My brother's, Master Low,' she answered.
"'Does he wear such things as those?' said Bernard; 'but I suppose hemust, because he is poor, and a curate, and a schoolmaster--my papawears silk.'
"'Your papa,' said Miss Evans, 'is a rich man, Master Low, and arector; and he can afford many things we must not think of.'
"'When shall we dine?' asked the boy.
"'Very soon, my dear,' answered Miss Evans.
"And then Master Bernard turned off to some other question, asimpertinently expressed as those he had put before.
"The dinner was set out in the room used for a schoolroom; anill-shaped room, with walls that had been washed with salmon colour,but which were all scratched and inked. Each boy had a stool to situpon; the cloth was coarse, though clean, and all the things set uponthe table were coarse also.
"When called to dinner by a rough maidservant, Miss Evans led Bernardin by the hand, and set him by herself on a chair at the _head_ of thetable.
"'Sister,' said Mr. Evans, in a low voice, 'last come, lastserved--Master Low should sit below Price.'
"'Leave me to judge for myself, brother,' answered Miss Evans; 'you maydepend on my judgment.'
"And Bernard kept his seat, and had the nicest bits placed on hisplate.
"Bernard would have been quite as well contented, or, perhaps we maysay, not in the least more discontented, had he been set down at oncein his proper place, and served after the other boys.
"Then the other boys were not quite pleased; but Stephen was told totell them that Master Low was a parlour-boarder; and though they didnot quite understand what a parlour-boarder meant, they thought itmeant something, and that Bernard was to have some indulgences whichthey were not to have.
"Many a trick would they have played him, no doubt, if Stephen had notwatched them. But as Stephen hated the spoiled child as much as theydid, he never hindered their speaking ill of him, and quizzing him,when he did not hear or under
stand.
"Griffith soon gave him a nickname--this name was Noddy; there was nowit in it, but the boys found great amusement in talking of this Noddy,and of all his faults and follies, before the face of Bernard himself.When he asked who this Noddy was, they told him that they were sure hemust have seen him very often, for his family lived at Rookdale.
"Mr. Evans himself was the only person in the family at school whoreally strove to do his duty by Bernard--he gave his heart to improvehim; and he did get him on in his learning more than might have beenexpected. But there were too many things against the poor child to makeit possible for him to improve his temper and his character.
"He went to school from the autumn until Christmas: at Christmas he wasat home for a month, and made even his nurse long for the end of theholidays; and then he went again after the holidays, and continued togo every day till the spring appeared again. There was no intentionthen of changing the plan, though Mr. Low was not at all satisfied withhim.
"Bernard was now become so cunning that he did not show the worst ofhis tempers before his father, nor even before his mother; but to hissister he appeared just as he was, and he often made her very, verysad by his naughty ways.
"Lucilla was one of those young people who love God and all theirfellow-creatures, and desire to do them good. She had always lovedBernard, and she loved him still, though she saw him getting more andmore naughty from day to day. She believed, however, that he stillloved her as well as he could love any person besides himself, and shethought a long time of some way which she might take to make himsensible of his faults.
"During that winter she had often spoken to him in her kind and gentleway, and shown him the certain end of evil behaviour; but she felt thathe paid no more attention to her than he would have done to the buzzingof a fly; but now that the spring was come, and they could get outtogether into the fields and gardens and woods, before and afterschool-time, and on half-holidays, she thought she might have a betterchance with him, and she formed a thousand plans for making the timethey might thus pass together pleasant, before she could hit upon onewhich she thought might do.
"In a shadowy and sweet nook of the garden was an artificial piece ofrock-work, which her mother, when first married, had caused to be madethere, the fragments of rock having been brought from a littledistance. There Lucilla, with the gardener's assistance, scooped ahollow place, a few feet square, and arranged a pretty littlehermitage: dressing a doll like an old man, and painting a piece ofglass to fix in the back of the hermitage, to look like the window of achapel. She next sent and bought a few common tools, and thought, asBernard was very fond of clipping and cutting, she could tempt him towork to help finish this hermitage. There was a root-house close to theplace, where she thought they might set to work at this business. 'Andif I can but engage Bernard,' she said to herself, 'to use his fingers,I might perhaps now and then say something to soften him, and make himfeel it is wrong to go on as he does.'
"Mr. Evans always gave a week's holiday at Whitsuntide, and Lucillathought that this should be her time for trying what she could do withBernard."
But when Bernard was actually to go there was such ato-do]
The Fairchild Family Page 35
