Fighting the Flames
Page 29
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE.
WILLIE WILLDERS IN DIFFICULTIES.
Mr Thomas Tippet, beaming and perspiring as of old, was standing at hisbench, chisel in hand, and Willie Willders was standing with his back tothe fire, and his legs pretty wide apart; not because he preferred that_degage_ attitude, but because Chips and Puss were asleep side by sidebetween his feet.
It must not be supposed that although Willie had changed so much sincethe first day he stood there, an equal change had taken place in MrTippet. By no means. He was a little stouter, perhaps, but in allother respects he was the same man. Not a hair greyer, nor a wrinklemore.
The workshop, too, was in exactly the same state, only a little morecrowded in consequence of numerous models having been completed andshelved during the last seven years. There was, however something newin the shape of a desk with some half-finished plans upon it; for Williehad gradually introduced a little genuine engineering into the business.
At first, naturally enough, the boy had followed his employer's lead,and, as we have said before, being very ingenious, as well asenthusiastic, had entered with all his heart and head into the absurdschemes of his patron; but as he became older he grew wiser. He appliedhimself to reading and study at home in the evenings with indomitableperseverance.
The result of his application was twofold. In the first place hediscovered that he was very ignorant and that there existed a hugeillimitable field of knowledge worth entering on seriously. His earlytraining having been conducted (thanks to his mother) "in the fear ofthe Lord," he regarded things that are spiritual, and have God and man'sduty to Him for their object, as part--the chief part--of that greatfield of knowledge; not as a separate field which may or may not beentered on according to taste. In the second place, he began todiscover that his kind-hearted employer was a monomaniac. In otherwords, that, although sane enough in all other matters, he wasabsolutely mad in regard to mechanical discoveries and inventions, andthat most of the latter were absolutely nonsensical.
This second discovery induced him to prosecute his studies with all themore energy, in order that he might be prepared for the battle of life,in case his existing connection with Mr Tippet should be dissolved.
His studies naturally took an engineering turn, and, being what istermed a thorough-going fellow, he did not rest until he had dived intomathematics so deep that we do not pretend to follow him, even in theway of description. Architecture, surveying, shipbuilding, and cognatesubjects, claimed and obtained his earnest attention; and year afteryear, on winter nights, did he sit at the side of the fire in the littlehouse at Notting Hill, adding to his stores of knowledge on thesesubjects; while his meek old mother sat darning socks or patching maleattire on the other side of the fire with full as much perseverance andassiduity. One consequence of this was that Willie Willders, havingbegun as a Jack-of-all trades, pushed on until he became aphilosopher-of-all-trades, and of many sciences too, so that it wouldhave been difficult to find his match between Charing Cross and PrimroseHill.
And Willie was not changeable. True to his first love, he clung withall the ardour of youth to fire, fire-engines, and the fire-brigade. Hewould have become a member of the latter if he could, but that was inthe circumstances impossible. He studied the subject, however, and knewits history and its working details from first to last. He did his bestto invent new engines and improve on old ones; but in such matters heusually found that his inventions had been invented, and hisimprovements made and improved upon, long before. Such checks, however,did not abate his ardour one jot. He persevered in his varied coursesuntil he worked himself into a species of business which could existonly in London, which it would be difficult to describe, and which itspractitioner styled "poly-artism" with as much boldness as if the wordwere in Johnson's Dictionary!
Standing on the hearth, as we have said, Willie related to his friendall he knew in regard to the Cattley family, and wound up with ananxious demand what was to be done for them.
Mr Tippet, leaning on his bench and looking into Willie's face with abenignant smile, said--
"Done, my boy? why, help 'em of course."
"Ay, but how?" asked Willie.
"How?" cried Mr Tippet; "why, by giving 'em money. You are aware thatI stopped their allowance because Cattley senior went and drank it assoon as he got it, and Cattley junior is able to support himself, and Iwas not until now aware that the poor daughter was killing herself tosupport her father; but as I do know it now I'll continue the allowanceand increase it, and we shall give it into the daughter's hands, so thatthe father won't be able to mis-spend it."
Mr Tippet's visage glowed with ardour as he stated this arrangement,but the glow was displaced by a look of anxiety as he observed thatWillie shook his head and looked as perplexed as ever.
"If that plan would have availed I would have tried it long ago," saidhe, with a sad smile, "for my income is a pretty good one, thanks toyou, sir--"
"Thanks to your own genius, Willie, for the remarkable and prolificoffshoots which you have caused to sprout from this dry old root," saidMr Tippet, interrupting, as he glanced round the room with an air ofaffection, which showed that he loved the root dearly, despite its ageand dryness.
"Not the less thanks to you, sir," said Willie, in the deferential tonewhich he had assumed involuntarily towards his patron almost from thecommencement of their intercourse; "but Z---a--Miss Cattley positivelyrefuses to accept of money from anyone in charity, as long as she canwork."
"Ah!" exclaimed Mr Tippet, shaking his head slowly, "pride, simplepride. Not laudable pride, observe. She deceives herself, no doubt,into the belief that it is laudable, but it is not; for, when a girlcannot work without working herself into her grave, it is her duty _not_to work, and it is the duty as well as the privilege of her friends tosupport her. Truth is truth, Willie, and we must not shrink fromstating it because a few illogical thinkers are apt to misunderstand it,or because there are a number of mean-spirited wretches who would be tooglad to say that they could not work without injuring their health ifthey could, by so doing, persuade their friends to support them. What!are those whom God has visited with weakness of body to be made to toiland moil far beyond their strength in order to prove that they do notbelong to the class of deceivers and sycophants? Yet public opinion inregard to this matter of what is called self-respect and proper pridecompels many hundreds who urgently require assistance to refuse it, anddooms many of them to a premature grave, while it does not shut the mawof a single one of the other class. Why, sir, Miss Cattley iscommitting suicide; and, in regard to her father, who is dependent onher, she is committing murder--murder, sir!"
Mr Tippet's eyes flashed with indignation, and he drove the chisel deepdown into the bench, as if to give point and force to his sentiment, aswell as an illustration of the dreadful idea with which he concluded.
Willie admitted that there was much truth in Mr Tippet's observations,but did not quite agree with him in his sweeping condemnation of Ziza.
"However," continued Mr Tippet, resuming his quiet tone and benignantaspect, "I'll consider the matter. Yes, I'll consider the matter andsee what's to be done for 'em."
He leaped from the bench with a quiet chuckle as he said this and beganto saw vigorously, while Willie went to his desk in the corner andapplied himself to an abstruse calculation, considerably relieved inmind, for he had unbounded belief in the fertility of Mr Tippet'simagination, and he knew well that whatever that old gentleman promisedhe would certainly fulfil.