The Old Curiosity Shop

by Dickens, Charles

  ornamented by cunning architects, and still retaining, in its

  beautiful groined roof and rich stone tracery, choice remnants of

  its ancient splendour. Foliage carved in the stone, and emulating

  the mastery of Nature's hand, yet remained to tell how many times

  the leaves outside had come and gone, while it lived on unchanged.

  The broken figures supporting the burden of the chimney-piece,

  though mutilated, were still distinguishable for what they had

  been--far different from the dust without--and showed sadly by the

  empty hearth, like creatures who had outlived their kind, and

  mourned their own too slow decay.

  In some old time--for even change was old in that old place--a

  wooden partition had been constructed in one part of the chamber to

  form a sleeping-closet, into which the light was admitted at the

  same period by a rude window, or rather niche, cut in the solid

  wall. This screen, together with two seats in the broad chimney,

  had at some forgotten date been part of the church or convent; for

  the oak, hastily appropriated to its present purpose, had been

  little altered from its former shape, and presented to the eye a

  pile of fragments of rich carving from old monkish stalls.

  An open door leading to a small room or cell, dim with the light

  that came through leaves of ivy, completed the interior of this

  portion of the ruin. It was not quite destitute of furniture. A

  few strange chairs, whose arms and legs looked as though they had

  dwindled away with age; a table, the very spectre of its race: a

  great old chest that had once held records in the church, with

  other quaintly-fashioned domestic necessaries, and store of

  fire-wood for the winter, were scattered around, and gave evident

  tokens of its occupation as a dwelling-place at no very distant

  time.

  The child looked around her, with that solemn feeling with which we

  contemplate the work of ages that have become but drops of water in

  the great ocean of eternity. The old man had followed them, but

  they were all three hushed for a space, and drew their breath

  softly, as if they feared to break the silence even by so slight a

  sound.

  'It is a very beautiful place!' said the child, in a low voice.

  'I almost feared you thought otherwise,' returned the schoolmaster.

  'You shivered when we first came in, as if you felt it cold or

  gloomy.'

  'It was not that,' said Nell, glancing round with a slight shudder.

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  'Indeed I cannot tell you what it was, but when I saw the outside,

  from the church porch, the same feeling came over me. It is its

  being so old and grey perhaps.'

  'A peaceful place to live in, don't you think so)' said her friend.

  'Oh yes,' rejoined the child, clasping her hands earnestly. 'A

  quiet, happy place--a place to live and learn to die in!' She

  would have said more, but that the energy of her thoughts caused

  her voice to falter, and come in trembling whispers from her lips.

  'A place to live, and learn to live, and gather health of mind and

  body in,' said the schoolmaster; 'for this old house is yours.'

  'Ours!' cried the child.

  'Ay,' returned the schoolmaster gaily, 'for many a merry year to

  come, I hope. I shall be a close neighbour--only next door--but

  this house is yours.'

  Having now disburdened himself of his great surprise, the

  schoolmaster sat down, and drawing Nell to his side, told her how

  he had learnt that ancient tenement had been occupied for a very

  long time by an old person, nearly a hundred years of age, who kept

  the keys of the church, opened and closed it for the services, and

  showed it to strangers; how she had died not many weeks ago, and

  nobody had yet been found to fill the office; how, learning all

  this in an interview with the sexton, who was confined to his bed

  by rheumatism, he had been bold to make mention of his

  fellow-traveller, which had been so favourably received by that

  high authority, that he had taken courage, acting on his advice, to

  propound the matter to the clergyman. In a word, the result of his

  exertions was, that Nell and her grandfather were to be carried

  before the last-named gentleman next day; and, his approval of

  their conduct and appearance reserved as a matter of form, that

  they were already appointed to the vacant post.

  'There's a small allowance of money,' said the schoolmaster. 'It

  is not much, but still enough to live upon in this retired spot.

  By clubbing our funds together, we shall do bravely; no fear of

  that.'

  'Heaven bless and prosper you!' sobbed the child.

  'Amen, my dear,' returned her friend cheerfully; 'and all of us, as

  it will, and has, in leading us through sorrow and trouble to this

  tranquil life. But we must look at MY house now. Come!'

  They repaired to the other tenement; tried the rusty keys as

  before; at length found the right one; and opened the worm-eaten

  door. It led into a chamber, vaulted and old, like that from which

  they had come, but not so spacious, and having only one other

  little room attached. It was not difficult to divine that the

  other house was of right the schoolmaster's, and that he had chosen

  for himself the least commodious, in his care and regard for them.

  Like the adjoining habitation, it held such old articles of

  furniture as were absolutely necessary, and had its stack of

  fire-wood.

  To make these dwellings as habitable and full of comfort as they

  could, was now their pleasant care. In a short time, each had its

  cheerful fire glowing and crackling on the hearth, and reddening

  the pale old wall with a hale and healthy blush. Nell, busily

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  plying her needle, repaired the tattered window-hangings, drew

  together the rents that time had worn in the threadbare scraps of

  carpet, and made them whole and decent. The schoolmaster swept and

  smoothed the ground before the door, trimmed the long grass,

  trained the ivy and creeping plants which hung their drooping heads

  in melancholy neglect; and gave to the outer walls a cheery air of

  home. The old man, sometimes by his side and sometimes with the

  child, lent his aid to both, went here and there on little patient

  services, and was happy. Neighbours, too, as they came from work,

  proffered their help; or sent their children with such small

  presents or loans as the strangers needed most. It was a busy day;

  and night came on, and found them wondering that there was yet so

  much to do, and that it should be dark so soon.

  They took their supper together, in the house which may be

  henceforth called the child's; and, when they had finished their

  meal, drew round the fire, and almost in whispers--their hearts

  were too quiet and glad for loud expression--discussed their

  future plans. Before they separated, the schoolmaster read some

  prayers aloud; and then, full of gratitude and happiness, they

  parted fo
r the night.

  At that silent hour, when her grandfather was sleeping peacefully

  in his bed, and every sound was hushed, the child lingered before

  the dying embers, and thought of her past fortunes as if they had

  been a dream And she only now awoke. The glare of the sinking

  flame, reflected in the oaken panels whose carved tops were dimly

  seen in the dusky roof--the aged walls, where strange shadows came

  and went with every flickering of the fire--the solemn presence,

  within, of that decay which falls on senseless things the most

  enduring in their nature: and, without, and round about on every

  side, of Death--filled her with deep and thoughtful feelings, but

  with none of terror or alarm. A change had been gradually stealing

  over her, in the time of her loneliness and sorrow. With failing

  strength and heightening resolution, there had sprung up a purified

  and altered mind; there had grown in her bosom blessed thoughts and

  hopes, which are the portion of few but the weak and drooping.

  There were none to see the frail, perishable figure, as it glided

  from the fire and leaned pensively at the open casement; none but

  the stars, to look into the upturned face and read its history.

  The old church bell rang out the hour with a mournful sound, as if

  it had grown sad from so much communing with the dead and unheeded

  warning to the living; the fallen leaves rustled; the grass stirred

  upon the graves; all else was still and sleeping.

  Some of those dreamless sleepers lay close within the shadow of the

  church--touching the wall, as if they clung to it for comfort and

  protection. Others had chosen to lie beneath the changing shade of

  trees; others by the path, that footsteps might come near them;

  others, among the graves of little children. Some had desired to

  rest beneath the very ground they had trodden in their daily walks;

  some, where the setting sun might shine upon their beds; some,

  where its light would fall upon them when it rose. Perhaps not one

  of the imprisoned souls had been able quite to separate itself in

  living thought from its old companion. If any had, it had still

  felt for it a love like that which captives have been known to bear

  towards the cell in which they have been long confined, and, even

  at parting, hung upon its narrow bounds affectionately.

  It was long before the child closed the window, and approached her

  bed. Again something of the same sensation as before--an

  involuntary chill--a momentary feeling akin to fear--but

  vanishing directly, and leaving no alarm behind. Again, too,

  dreams of the little scholar; of the roof opening, and a column of

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  bright faces, rising far away into the sky, as she had seen in some

  old scriptural picture once, and looking down on her, asleep. It

  was a sweet and happy dream. The quiet spot, outside, seemed to

  remain the same, saving that there was music in the air, and a

  sound of angels' wings. After a time the sisters came there, hand

  in hand, and stood among the graves. And then the dream grew dim,

  and faded.

  With the brightness and joy of morning, came the renewal of

  yesterday's labours, the revival of its pleasant thoughts, the

  restoration of its energies, cheerfulness, and hope. They worked

  gaily in ordering and arranging their houses until noon, and then

  went to visit the clergyman.

  He was a simple-hearted old gentleman, of a shrinking, subdued

  spirit, accustomed to retirement, and very little acquainted with

  the world, which he had left many years before to come and settle

  in that place. His wife had died in the house in which he still

  lived, and he had long since lost sight of any earthly cares or

  hopes beyond it.

  He received them very kindly, and at once showed an interest in

  Nell; asking her name, and age, her birthplace, the circumstances

  which had led her there, and so forth. The schoolmaster had

  already told her story. They had no other friends or home to

  leave, he said, and had come to share his fortunes. He loved the

  child as though she were his own.

  'Well, well,' said the clergyman. 'Let it be as you desire. She

  is very young.'

  'Old in adversity and trial, sir,' replied the schoolmaster.

  'God help her. Let her rest, and forget them,' said the old

  gentleman. 'But an old church is a dull and gloomy place for one

  so young as you, my child.'

  'Oh no, sir,' returned Nell. 'I have no such thoughts, indeed.'

  'I would rather see her dancing on the green at nights,' said the

  old gentleman, laying his hand upon her head, and smiling sadly,

  'than have her sitting in the shadow of our mouldering arches. You

  must look to this, and see that her heart does not grow heavy among

  these solemn ruins. Your request is granted, friend.'

  After more kind words, they withdrew, and repaired to the child's

  house; where they were yet in conversation on their happy fortune,

  when another friend appeared.

  This was a little old gentleman, who lived in the parsonage-house,

  and had resided there (so they learnt soon afterwards) ever since

  the death of the clergyman's wife, which had happened fifteen years

  before. He had been his college friend and always his close

  companion; in the first shock of his grief he had come to console

  and comfort him; and from that time they had never parted company.

  The little old gentleman was the active spirit of the place, the

  adjuster of all differences, the promoter of all merry-makings, the

  dispenser of his friend's bounty, and of no small charity of his

  own besides; the universal mediator, comforter, and friend. None

  of the simple villagers had cared to ask his name, or, when they

  knew it, to store it in their memory. Perhaps from some vague

  rumour of his college honours which had been whispered abroad on

  his first arrival, perhaps because he was an unmarried,

  unencumbered gentleman, he had been called the bachelor. The name

  pleased him, or suited him as well as any other, and the Bachelor

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  he had ever since remained. And the bachelor it was, it may be

  added, who with his own hands had laid in the stock of fuel which

  the wanderers had found in their new habitation.

  The bachelor, then--to call him by his usual appellation--lifted

  the latch, showed his little round mild face for a moment at the

  door, and stepped into the room like one who was no stranger to it.

  'You are Mr Marton, the new schoolmaster?' he said, greeting Nell's

  kind friend.

  'I am, sir.'

  'You come well recommended, and I am glad to see you. I should

  have been in the way yesterday, expecting you, but I rode across

  the country to carry a message from a sick mother to her daughter

  in service some miles off, and have but just now returned. This is

  our young church-keeper? You are not the less welcome, friend, for

  her sake, or for this old man's; nor the worse teacher for having

&
nbsp; learnt humanity.'

  'She has been ill, sir, very lately,' said the schoolmaster, in

  answer to the look with which their visitor regarded Nell when he

  had kissed her cheek.

  'Yes, yes. I know she has,' he rejoined. 'There have been

  suffering and heartache here.'

  'Indeed there have, sir.'

  The little old gentleman glanced at the grandfather, and back again

  at the child, whose hand he took tenderly in his, and held.

  'You will be happier here,' he said; 'we will try, at least, to

  make you so. You have made great improvements here already. Are

  they the work of your hands?'

  'Yes, sir.'

  'We may make some others--not better in themselves, but with

  better means perhaps,' said the bachelor. 'Let us see now, let us

  see.'

  Nell accompanied him into the other little rooms, and over both the

  houses, in which he found various small comforts wanting, which he

  engaged to supply from a certain collection of odds and ends he had

  at home, and which must have been a very miscellaneous and

  extensive one, as it comprehended the most opposite articles

  imaginable. They all came, however, and came without loss of time;

  for the little old gentleman, disappearing for some five or ten

  minutes, presently returned, laden with old shelves, rugs,

  blankets, and other household gear, and followed by a boy bearing

  a similar load. These being cast on the floor in a promiscuous

  heap, yielded a quantity of occupation in arranging, erecting, and

  putting away; the superintendence of which task evidently afforded

  the old gentleman extreme delight, and engaged him for some time

  with great briskness and activity. When nothing more was left to

  be done, he charged the boy to run off and bring his schoolmates to

  be marshalled before their new master, and solemnly reviewed.

  'As good a set of fellows, Marton, as you'd wish to see,' he said,

  turning to the schoolmaster when the boy was gone; 'but I don't let

  'em know I think so. That wouldn't do, at all.'

  The messenger soon returned at the head of a long row of urchins,

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  great and small, who, being confronted by the bachelor at the house

  door, fell into various convulsions of politeness; clutching their

  hats and caps, squeezing them into the smallest possible

  dimensions, and making all manner of bows and scrapes, which the