The Romany Rye

by George Borrow

  CHAPTER XXXI

  NOVEL SITUATION--THE ELDERLY INDIVIDUAL--THE SURGEON--A KINDOFFER--CHIMERICAL IDEAS--STRANGE DREAM

  How long I remained senseless I cannot say; for a considerable time Ibelieve; at length, opening my eyes, I found myself lying on a bed in amiddle-sized chamber, lighted by a candle, which stood on a table; anelderly man stood near me, and a yet more elderly female was holding aphial of very pungent salts to my olfactory organ. I attempted to move,but felt very stiff--my right arm appeared nearly paralyzed, and therewas a strange dull sensation in my head. 'You had better remain still,young man,' said the elderly individual, 'the surgeon will be herepresently; I have sent a message for him to the neighbouring village.''Where am I?' said I, 'and what has happened?' 'You are in my house,'said the old man, 'and you have been flung from a horse. I am sorry tosay that I was the cause. As I was driving home, the lights in my gigfrightened the animal.' 'Where is the horse?' said I. 'Below, in mystable,' said the elderly individual. 'I saw you fall, but knowing thaton account of my age I could be of little use to you, I instantly hurriedhome; the accident did not occur more than a furlong off, and procuringthe assistance of my lad, and two or three neighbouring cottagers, Ireturned to the spot where you were lying senseless. We raised you up,and brought you here. My lad then went in quest of the horse, who hadrun away as we drew nigh. When we saw him first, he was standing nearyou; he caught him with some difficulty, and brought him home. What areyou about?' said the old man, as I strove to get off the bed. 'I want tosee the horse,' said I. 'I entreat you to be still,' said the old man;'the horse is safe, I assure you.' 'I am thinking about his knees,' saidI. 'Instead of thinking about your horse's knees,' said the old man, 'bethankful that you have not broke your own neck.' 'You do not talkwisely,' said I; 'when a man's neck is broke he is provided for; but whenhis horse's knees are broke he is a lost jockey, that is if he hasnothing but his horse to depend upon. A pretty figure I should cut atHorncastle, mounted on a horse blood-raw at the knees.' 'Oh, you aregoing to Horncastle,' said the old man seriously, 'then I can sympathizewith you in your anxiety about your horse, being a Lincolnshire man, andthe son of one who bred horses. I will myself go down into the stableand examine into the condition of your horse, so pray remain quiet till Ireturn; it would certainly be a terrible thing to appear at Horncastle ona broken-kneed horse.'

  He left the room and returned at the end of about ten minutes, followedby another person. 'Your horse is safe,' said he, 'and his knees areunblemished; not a hair ruffled. He is a fine animal, and will do creditto Horncastle; but here is the surgeon come to examine into your owncondition.' The surgeon was a man about thirty-five, thin and rathertall; his face was long and pale, and his hair, which was light, wascarefully combed back as much as possible from his forehead. He wasdressed very neatly, and spoke in a very precise tone. 'Allow me to feelyour pulse, friend?' said he, taking me by the right wrist. I uttered acry, for at the motion which he caused a thrill of agony darted throughmy arm. 'I hope your arm is not broke, my friend,' said the surgeon;'allow me to see. First of all, we must divest you of this cumbrousfrock.'

  The frock was removed with some difficulty, and then the upper vestmentsof my frame, with more difficulty still. The surgeon felt my arm, movingit up and down, causing me unspeakable pain. 'There is no fracture,'said he, at last, 'but a contusion--a violent contusion. I am told youwere going to Horncastle: I am afraid you will be hardly able to rideyour horse thither in time to dispose of him; however, we shall see; yourarm must be bandaged, friend; after which I will bleed you, andadminister a composing draught.'

  To be short, the surgeon did as he proposed, and when he had administeredthe composing draught, he said, 'Be of good cheer; I should not besurprised if you are yet in time for Horncastle.' He then departed withthe master of the house, and the woman, leaving me to my repose. I soonbegan to feel drowsy, and was just composing myself to slumber, lying onmy back, as the surgeon had advised me, when I heard steps ascending thestairs, and in a moment more the surgeon entered again, followed by themaster of the house. 'I hope we don't disturb you,' said the former; 'myreason for returning is to relieve your mind from any anxiety withrespect to your horse. I am by no means sure that you will be able,owing to your accident, to reach Horncastle in time; to quiet you,however, I will buy your horse for any reasonable sum. I have been downto the stable, and approve of his figure. What do you ask for him?''This is a strange time of night,' said I, 'to come to me aboutpurchasing my horse, and I am hardly in a fitting situation to be appliedto about such a matter. What do you want him for?' 'For my own use,'said the surgeon; 'I am a professional man, and am obliged to becontinually driving about; I cover at least one hundred and fifty milesevery week.' 'He will never answer your purpose,' said I; 'he is not adriving horse, and was never between shafts in his life; he is forriding, more especially for trotting, at which he has few equals.' 'Itmatters not to me whether he is for riding or driving,' said the surgeon;'sometimes I ride, sometimes drive; so if we can come to terms, I willbuy him, though remember it is chiefly to remove any anxiety from yourmind about him.' 'This is no time for bargaining,' said I, 'if you wishto have the horse for a hundred guineas, you may; if not--' 'A hundredguineas!' said the surgeon. 'My good friend, you must surely belight-headed; allow me to feel your pulse,' and he attempted to feel myleft wrist. 'I am not light-headed,' said I, 'and I require no one tofeel my pulse; but I should be light-headed if I were to sell my horsefor less than I have demanded; but I have a curiosity to know what youwould be willing to offer.' 'Thirty pounds,' said the surgeon, 'is all Ican afford to give, and that is a great deal for a country surgeon tooffer for a horse.' 'Thirty pounds,' said I, 'why he cost me nearlydouble that sum. To tell you the truth, I am afraid you want to takeadvantage of my situation.' 'Not in the least, friend,' said thesurgeon--'not in the least; I only wished to set your mind at rest aboutyour horse; but as you think he is worth more than I can afford to offer,take him to Horncastle by all means; I will do my best to cure you intime. Good night, I will see you again on the morrow.' Thereupon heonce more departed with the master of the house. 'A sharp one,' I heardhim say, with a laugh, as the door closed upon him.

  Left to myself, I again essayed to compose myself to rest, but for sometime in vain. I had been terribly shaken by my fall, and hadsubsequently, owing to the incision of the surgeon's lancet, beendeprived of much of the vital fluid; it is when the body is in such astate that the merest trifles affect and agitate the mind; no wonder,then, that the return of the surgeon and the master of the house for thepurpose of inquiring whether I would sell my horse, struck me as beinghighly extraordinary, considering the hour of the night, and thesituation in which they knew me to be. What could they mean by suchconduct--did they wish to cheat me of the animal? 'Well, well,' said I,'if they did, what matters, they found their match; yes, yes,' said I,'but I am in their power, perhaps'--but I instantly dismissed theapprehension which came into my mind, with a pooh, nonsense! in a littletime, however, a far more foolish and chimerical idea began to disturbme--the idea of being flung from my horse? was I not disgraced for everas a horseman by being flung from my horse? Assuredly, I thought; andthe idea of being disgraced as a horseman, operating on my nervoussystem, caused me very acute misery. 'After all,' said I to myself, 'itwas perhaps the contemptible opinion which the surgeon must have formedof my equestrian powers, which induced him to offer to take my horse offmy hands; he perhaps thought I was unable to manage a horse, andtherefore in pity returned in the dead of night to offer to purchase theanimal which had flung me; and then the thought that the surgeon hadconceived a contemptible opinion of my equestrian powers, caused me theacutest misery, and continued tormenting me until some other idea (I haveforgot what it was, but doubtless equally foolish) took possession of mymind. At length, brought on by the agitation of my spirits, there cameover me the same feeling of horror that I had experienced of old when Iwas a boy, and likewise of late within
the dingle; it was, however, notso violent as it had been on those occasions, and I struggled manfullyagainst it, until by degrees it passed away, and then I fell asleep; andin my sleep I had an ugly dream. I dreamt that I had died of theinjuries I had received from my fall, and that no sooner had my souldeparted from my body than it entered that of a quadruped, even my ownhorse in the stable--in a word, I was, to all intents and purposes, myown steed; and as I stood in the stable chewing hay (and I remember thatthe hay was exceedingly tough), the door opened, and the surgeon who hadattended me came in. 'My good animal,' said he, 'as your late master hasscarcely left enough to pay for the expenses of his funeral, and nothingto remunerate me for my trouble, I shall make bold to take possession ofyou. If your paces are good, I shall keep you for my own riding; if notI shall take you to Horncastle, your original destination.' He thenbridled and saddled me, and, leading me out, mounted, and then trotted meup and down before the house, at the door of which the old man, who nowappeared to be dressed in regular jockey fashion, was standing. 'I likehis paces well,' said the surgeon; 'I think I shall take him for my ownuse.' 'And what am I to have for all the trouble his master caused me?'said my late entertainer, on whose countenance I now observed, for thefirst time, a diabolical squint. 'The consciousness of having done yourduty to a fellow-creature in succouring him in a time of distress, mustbe your reward,' said the surgeon. 'Pretty gammon, truly,' said my lateentertainer; 'what would you say if I were to talk in that way to you?Come, unless you choose to behave jonnock, {189} I shall take the bridleand lead the horse back into the stable.' 'Well,' said the surgeon, 'weare old friends, and I don't wish to dispute with you, so I'll tell youwhat I will do; I will ride the animal to Horncastle, and we will sharewhat he fetches like brothers.' 'Good,' said the old man, 'but if yousay that you have sold him for less than a hundred, I shan't consider youjonnock; remember what the young fellow said--that young fellow--.' Iheard no more, for the next moment I found myself on a broad roadleading, as I supposed, in the direction of Horncastle, the surgeon stillin the saddle, and my legs moving at a rapid trot. 'Get on,' said thesurgeon, jerking my mouth with the bit; whereupon, full of rage, Iinstantly set off at a full gallop, determined, if possible, to dash myrider to the earth. The surgeon, however, kept his seat, and, so farfrom attempting to abate my speed, urged me on to greater efforts with astout stick, which methought he held in his hand. In vain did I rear andkick, attempting to get rid of my foe; but the surgeon remained assaddle-fast as ever the Maugrabin sorcerer in the Arabian tale what timehe rode the young prince transformed into a steed to his enchanted palacein the wilderness. At last, as I was still madly dashing on, panting andblowing, and had almost given up all hope, I saw at a distance before mea heap of stones by the side of the road, probably placed there for thepurpose of repairing it; a thought appeared to strike me--I will shy atthose stones, and if I can't get rid of him so, resign myself to my fate.So I increased my speed, till arriving within about ten yards of theheap, I made a desperate start, turning half round with nearly thevelocity of a millstone. Oh, the joy I experienced when I felt my enemycanted over my neck, and saw him lying senseless in the road. 'I haveyou now in my power,' I said, or rather neighed, as, going up to myprostrate foe, I stood over him. 'Suppose I were to rear now, and let myfore feet fall upon you, what would your life be worth? that is,supposing you are not killed already; but lie there, I will do you nofarther harm, but trot to Horncastle without a rider, and when there--'and without further reflection off I trotted in the direction ofHorncastle, but had not gone far before my bridle, falling from my neck,got entangled with my off fore foot. I felt myself falling, a thrill ofagony shot through me--my knees would be broken, and what should I do atHorncastle with a pair of broken knees? I struggled, but I could notdisengage my off fore foot, and downward I fell, but before I had reachedthe ground I awoke, and found myself half out of bed, my bandaged arm inconsiderable pain, and my left hand just touching the floor.

  With some difficulty I readjusted myself in bed. It was now earlymorning, and the first rays of the sun were beginning to penetrate thewhite curtains of a window on my left, which probably looked into agarden, as I caught a glimpse or two of the leaves of trees through asmall uncovered part at the side. For some time I felt uneasy andanxious, my spirits being in a strange fluttering state. At last my eyesfell upon a small row of tea-cups, seemingly of china, which stood on amantelpiece exactly fronting the bottom of the bed. The sight of theseobjects, I know not why, soothed and pacified me; I kept my eyes fixedupon them, as I lay on my back on the bed, with my head upon the pillow,till at last I fell into a calm and refreshing sleep.