by Thomas Hardy
CHAPTER III: A TURN IN THE DISCUSSION
"I'm afraid Dick's a lost man," said the tranter.
"What?--no!" said Mail, implying by his manner that it was a far commonerthing for his ears to report what was not said than that his judgmentshould be at fault.
"Ay," said the tranter, still gazing at Dick's unconscious advance. "Idon't at all like what I see! There's too many o' them looks out of thewinder without noticing anything; too much shining of boots; too muchpeeping round corners; too much looking at the clock; telling aboutclever things she did till you be sick of it; and then upon a hint tothat effect a horrible silence about her. I've walked the path once inmy life and know the country, neighbours; and Dick's a lost man!" Thetranter turned a quarter round and smiled a smile of miserable satire atthe setting new moon, which happened to catch his eye.
The others became far too serious at this announcement to allow them tospeak; and they still regarded Dick in the distance.
"'Twas his mother's fault," the tranter continued, "in asking the youngwoman to our party last Christmas. When I eyed the blue frock and lightheels o' the maid, I had my thoughts directly. 'God bless thee, Dicky mysonny,' I said to myself; 'there's a delusion for thee!'"
"They seemed to be rather distant in manner last Sunday, I thought?" Mailtentatively observed, as became one who was not a member of the family.
"Ay, that's a part of the zickness. Distance belongs to it, slynessbelongs to it, queerest things on earth belongs to it! There, 'tmay aswell come early as late s'far as I know. The sooner begun, the soonerover; for come it will."
"The question I ask is," said Mr. Spinks, connecting into one thread thetwo subjects of discourse, as became a man learned in rhetoric, andbeating with his hand in a way which signified that the manner ratherthan the matter of his speech was to be observed, "how did Mr. Mayboldknow she could play the organ? You know we had it from her own lips, asfar as lips go, that she has never, first or last, breathed such a thingto him; much less that she ever would play."
In the midst of this puzzle Dick joined the party, and the news which hadcaused such a convulsion among the ancient musicians was unfolded to him."Well," he said, blushing at the allusion to Miss Day, "I know by somewords of hers that she has a particular wish not to play, because she isa friend of ours; and how the alteration comes, I don't know."
"Now, this is my plan," said the tranter, reviving the spirit of thediscussion by the infusion of new ideas, as was his custom--"this is myplan; if you don't like it, no harm's done. We all know one another verywell, don't we, neighbours?"
That they knew one another very well was received as a statement which,though familiar, should not be omitted in introductory speeches.
"Then I say this"--and the tranter in his emphasis slapped down his handon Mr. Spinks's shoulder with a momentum of several pounds, upon whichMr. Spinks tried to look not in the least startled--"I say that we allmove down-along straight as a line to Pa'son Mayble's when the clock hasgone six to-morrow night. There we one and all stand in the passage,then one or two of us go in and spak to en, man and man; and say, 'Pa'sonMayble, every tradesman d'like to have his own way in his workshop, andMellstock Church is yours. Instead of turning us out neck and crop, letus stay on till Christmas, and we'll gie way to the young woman, Mr.Mayble, and make no more ado about it. And we shall always be quitewilling to touch our hats when we meet ye, Mr. Mayble, just as before.'That sounds very well? Hey?"
"Proper well, in faith, Reuben Dewy."
"And we won't sit down in his house; 'twould be looking too familiar whenonly just reconciled?"
"No need at all to sit down. Just do our duty man and man, turn round,and march out--he'll think all the more of us for it."
"I hardly think Leaf had better go wi' us?" said Michael, turning to Leafand taking his measure from top to bottom by the eye. "He's so terriblesilly that he might ruin the concern."
"He don't want to go much; do ye, Thomas Leaf?" said William.
"Hee-hee! no; I don't want to. Only a teeny bit!"
"I be mortal afeard, Leaf, that you'll never be able to tell how manycuts d'take to sharpen a spar," said Mail.
"I never had no head, never! that's how it happened to happen, hee-hee!"
They all assented to this, not with any sense of humiliating Leaf bydisparaging him after an open confession, but because it was an acceptedthing that Leaf didn't in the least mind having no head, that deficiencyof his being an unimpassioned matter of parish history.
"But I can sing my treble!" continued Thomas Leaf, quite delighted atbeing called a fool in such a friendly way; "I can sing my treble as wellas any maid, or married woman either, and better! And if Jim had lived,I should have had a clever brother! To-morrow is poor Jim's birthday.He'd ha' been twenty-six if he'd lived till to-morrow."
"You always seem very sorry for Jim," said old William musingly.
"Ah! I do. Such a stay to mother as he'd always ha' been! She'd neverhave had to work in her old age if he had continued strong, poor Jim!"
"What was his age when 'a died?"
"Four hours and twenty minutes, poor Jim. 'A was born as might be atnight; and 'a didn't last as might be till the morning. No, 'a didn'tlast. Mother called en Jim on the day that would ha' been hischristening day if he had lived; and she's always thinking about en. Yousee he died so very young."
"Well, 'twas rather youthful," said Michael.
"Now to my mind that woman is very romantical on the matter o' children?"said the tranter, his eye sweeping his audience.
"Ah, well she mid be," said Leaf. "She had twelve regular one afteranother, and they all, except myself, died very young; either before theywas born or just afterwards."
"Pore feller, too. I suppose th'st want to come wi' us?" the trantermurmured.
"Well, Leaf, you shall come wi' us as yours is such a melancholy family,"said old William rather sadly.
"I never see such a melancholy family as that afore in my life," saidReuben. "There's Leaf's mother, poor woman! Every morning I see hereyes mooning out through the panes of glass like a pot-sickwinder-flower; and as Leaf sings a very high treble, and we don't knowwhat we should do without en for upper G, we'll let en come as a trate,poor feller."
"Ay, we'll let en come, 'a b'lieve," said Mr. Penny, looking up, as thepull happened to be at that moment.
"Now," continued the tranter, dispersing by a new tone of voice thesedigressions about Leaf; "as to going to see the pa'son, one of us mightcall and ask en his meaning, and 'twould be just as well done; but itwill add a bit of flourish to the cause if the quire waits on him as abody. Then the great thing to mind is, not for any of our fellers to benervous; so before starting we'll one and all come to my house and have arasher of bacon then every man-jack het a pint of cider into his inside;then we'll warm up an extra drop wi' some mead and a bit of ginger; everyone take a thimbleful--just a glimmer of a drop, mind ye, no more, tofinish off his inner man--and march off to Pa'son Mayble. Why, sonnies,a man's not himself till he is fortified wi' a bit and a drop? We shallbe able to look any gentleman in the face then without shrink or shame."
Mail recovered from a deep meditation and downward glance into the earthin time to give a cordial approval to this line of action, and themeeting adjourned.
