CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
ARRIVING IN ENGLAND, MARTIN WITNESSES A CEREMONY, FROM WHICH HE DERIVESTHE CHEERING INFORMATION THAT HE HAS NOT BEEN FORGOTTEN IN HIS ABSENCE
It was mid-day, and high water in the English port for which the Screwwas bound, when, borne in gallantly upon the fullness of the tide, shelet go her anchor in the river.
Bright as the scene was; fresh, and full of motion; airy, free, andsparkling; it was nothing to the life and exultation in the breasts ofthe two travellers, at sight of the old churches, roofs, and darkenedchimney stacks of Home. The distant roar that swelled up hoarsely fromthe busy streets, was music in their ears; the lines of people gazingfrom the wharves, were friends held dear; the canopy of smoke thatoverhung the town was brighter and more beautiful to them than if therichest silks of Persia had been waving in the air. And though the watergoing on its glistening track, turned, ever and again, aside to danceand sparkle round great ships, and heave them up; and leaped from offthe blades of oars, a shower of diving diamonds; and wantoned withthe idle boats, and swiftly passed, in many a sportive chase, throughobdurate old iron rings, set deep into the stone-work of the quays;not even it was half so buoyant, and so restless, as their flutteringhearts, when yearning to set foot, once more, on native ground.
A year had passed since those same spires and roofs had faded from theireyes. It seemed to them, a dozen years. Some trifling changes, hereand there, they called to mind; and wondered that they were so few andslight. In health and fortune, prospect and resource, they came backpoorer men than they had gone away. But it was home. And though home isa name, a word, it is a strong one; stronger than magician ever spoke,or spirit answered to, in strongest conjuration.
Being set ashore, with very little money in their pockets, and nodefinite plan of operation in their heads, they sought out a cheaptavern, where they regaled upon a smoking steak, and certain flowingmugs of beer, as only men just landed from the sea can revel inthe generous dainties of the earth. When they had feasted, as twograteful-tempered giants might have done, they stirred the fire, drewback the glowing curtain from the window, and making each a sofa forhimself, by union of the great unwieldy chairs, gazed blissfully intothe street.
Even the street was made a fairy street, by being half hidden in anatmosphere of steak, and strong, stout, stand-up English beer. For onthe window-glass hung such a mist, that Mr Tapley was obliged to riseand wipe it with his handkerchief, before the passengers appeared likecommon mortals. And even then, a spiral little cloud went curling upfrom their two glasses of hot grog, which nearly hid them from eachother.
It was one of those unaccountable little rooms which are never seenanywhere but in a tavern, and are supposed to have got into taverns byreason of the facilities afforded to the architect for getting drunkwhile engaged in their construction. It had more corners in it than thebrain of an obstinate man; was full of mad closets, into which nothingcould be put that was not specially invented and made for that purpose;had mysterious shelvings and bulkheads, and indications of staircases inthe ceiling; and was elaborately provided with a bell that rung inthe room itself, about two feet from the handle, and had no connectionwhatever with any other part of the establishment. It was a littlebelow the pavement, and abutted close upon it; so that passengers gratedagainst the window-panes with their buttons, and scraped it with theirbaskets; and fearful boys suddenly coming between a thoughtful guestand the light, derided him, or put out their tongues as if he were aphysician; or made white knobs on the ends of their noses by flatteningthe same against the glass, and vanished awfully, like spectres.
Martin and Mark sat looking at the people as they passed, debating everynow and then what their first step should be.
'We want to see Miss Mary, of course,' said Mark.
'Of course,' said Martin. 'But I don't know where she is. Not having hadthe heart to write in our distress--you yourself thought silence mostadvisable--and consequently, never having heard from her since we leftNew York the first time, I don't know where she is, my good fellow.'
'My opinion is, sir,' returned Mark, 'that what we've got to do is totravel straight to the Dragon. There's no need for you to go there,where you're known, unless you like. You may stop ten mile short of it.I'll go on. Mrs Lupin will tell me all the news. Mr Pinch will give meevery information that we want; and right glad Mr Pinch will be to doit. My proposal is: To set off walking this afternoon. To stop when weare tired. To get a lift when we can. To walk when we can't. To do it atonce, and do it cheap.'
'Unless we do it cheap, we shall have some difficulty in doing it atall,' said Martin, pulling out the bank, and telling it over in hishand.
'The greater reason for losing no time, sir,' replied Mark. 'Whereas,when you've seen the young lady; and know what state of mind the oldgentleman's in, and all about it; then you'll know what to do next.'
'No doubt,' said Martin. 'You are quite right.'
They were raising their glasses to their lips, when their hands stoppedmidway, and their gaze was arrested by a figure which slowly, veryslowly, and reflectively, passed the window at that moment.
Mr Pecksniff. Placid, calm, but proud. Honestly proud. Dressed withpeculiar care, smiling with even more than usual blandness, ponderingon the beauties of his art with a mild abstraction from all sordidthoughts, and gently travelling across the disc, as if he were a figurein a magic lantern.
As Mr Pecksniff passed, a person coming in the opposite directionstopped to look after him with great interest and respect, almost withveneration; and the landlord bouncing out of the house, as if he hadseen him too, joined this person, and spoke to him, and shook his headgravely, and looked after Mr Pecksniff likewise.
Martin and Mark sat staring at each other, as if they could not believeit; but there stood the landlord, and the other man still. In spite ofthe indignation with which this glimpse of Mr Pecksniff had inspiredhim, Martin could not help laughing heartily. Neither could Mark.
'We must inquire into this!' said Martin. 'Ask the landlord in, Mark.'
Mr Tapley retired for that purpose, and immediately returned with theirlarge-headed host in safe convoy.
'Pray, landlord!' said Martin, 'who is that gentleman who passed justnow, and whom you were looking after?'
The landlord poked the fire as if, in his desire to make the most ofhis answer, he had become indifferent even to the price of coals; andputting his hands in his pockets, said, after inflating himself to givestill further effect to his reply:
'That, gentlemen, is the great Mr Pecksniff! The celebrated architect,gentlemen!'
He looked from one to the other while he said it, as if he were ready toassist the first man who might be overcome by the intelligence.
'The great Mr Pecksniff, the celebrated architect, gentlemen.' said thelandlord, 'has come down here, to help to lay the first stone of a newand splendid public building.'
'Is it to be built from his designs?' asked Martin.
'The great Mr Pecksniff, the celebrated architect, gentlemen,'returned the landlord, who seemed to have an unspeakable delight inthe repetition of these words, 'carried off the First Premium, and willerect the building.'
'Who lays the stone?' asked Martin.
'Our member has come down express,' returned the landlord. 'No scrubswould do for no such a purpose. Nothing less would satisfy our Directorsthan our member in the House of Commons, who is returned upon theGentlemanly Interest.'
'Which interest is that?' asked Martin.
'What, don't you know!' returned the landlord.
It was quite clear the landlord didn't. They always told him at electiontime, that it was the Gentlemanly side, and he immediately put on histop-boots, and voted for it.
'When does the ceremony take place?' asked Martin.
'This day,' replied the landlord. Then pulling out his watch, he added,impressively, 'almost this minute.'
Martin hastily inquired whether there was any possibility of gettingin to witness it; and finding that there w
ould be no objection to theadmittance of any decent person, unless indeed the ground were full,hurried off with Mark, as hard as they could go.
They were fortunate enough to squeeze themselves into a famous corner onthe ground, where they could see all that passed, without much dread ofbeing beheld by Mr Pecksniff in return. They were not a minute too soon,for as they were in the act of congratulating each other, a great noisewas heard at some distance, and everybody looked towards the gate.Several ladies prepared their pocket handkerchiefs for waving; and astray teacher belonging to the charity school being much cheered bymistake, was immensely groaned at when detected.
'Perhaps he has Tom Pinch with him,' Martin whispered Mr Tapley.
'It would be rather too much of a treat for him, wouldn't it, sir?'whispered Mr Tapley in return.
There was no time to discuss the probabilities either way, for thecharity school, in clean linen, came filing in two and two, so much tothe self-approval of all the people present who didn't subscribe toit, that many of them shed tears. A band of music followed, led bya conscientious drummer who never left off. Then came a great manygentlemen with wands in their hands, and bows on their breasts, whoseshare in the proceedings did not appear to be distinctly laid down, andwho trod upon each other, and blocked up the entry for a considerableperiod. These were followed by the Mayor and Corporation, all clusteringround the member for the Gentlemanly Interest; who had the great MrPecksniff, the celebrated architect on his right hand, and conversedwith him familiarly as they came along. Then the ladies waved theirhandkerchiefs, and the gentlemen their hats, and the charity childrenshrieked, and the member for the Gentlemanly Interest bowed.
Silence being restored, the member for the Gentlemanly Interest rubbedhis hands, and wagged his head, and looked about him pleasantly; andthere was nothing this member did, at which some lady or other did notburst into an ecstatic waving of her pocket handkerchief. When he lookedup at the stone, they said how graceful! when he peeped into the hole,they said how condescending! when he chatted with the Mayor, theysaid how easy! when he folded his arms they cried with one accord, howstatesman-like!
Mr Pecksniff was observed too, closely. When he talked to the Mayor,they said, Oh, really, what a courtly man he was! When he laid hishand upon the mason's shoulder, giving him directions, how pleasant hisdemeanour to the working classes; just the sort of man who made theirtoil a pleasure to them, poor dear souls!
But now a silver trowel was brought; and when the member for theGentlemanly Interest, tucking up his coat-sleeve, did a little sleightof hand with the mortar, the air was rent, so loud was the applause.The workman-like manner in which he did it was amazing. No one couldconceive where such a gentlemanly creature could have picked theknowledge up.
When he had made a kind of dirt-pie under the direction of the mason,they brought a little vase containing coins, the which the memberfor the Gentlemanly Interest jingled, as if he were going to conjure.Whereat they said how droll, how cheerful, what a flow of spirits! Thisput into its place, an ancient scholar read the inscription, whichwas in Latin; not in English; that would never do. It gave greatsatisfaction; especially every time there was a good long substantivein the third declension, ablative case, with an adjective to match; atwhich periods the assembly became very tender, and were much affected.
And now the stone was lowered down into its place, amidst the shoutingof the concourse. When it was firmly fixed, the member for theGentlemanly Interest struck upon it thrice with the handle of thetrowel, as if inquiring, with a touch of humour, whether anybody was athome. Mr Pecksniff then unrolled his Plans (prodigious plans they were),and people gathered round to look at and admire them.
Martin, who had been fretting himself--quite unnecessarily, as Markthought--during the whole of these proceedings, could no longer restrainhis impatience; but stepping forward among several others, lookedstraight over the shoulder of the unconscious Mr Pecksniff, at thedesigns and plans he had unrolled. He returned to Mark, boiling withrage.
'Why, what's the matter, sir?' cried Mark.
'Matter! This is MY building.'
'Your building, sir!' said Mark.
'My grammar-school. I invented it. I did it all. He has only put fourwindows in, the villain, and spoilt it!'
Mark could hardly believe it at first, but being assured that it wasreally so, actually held him to prevent his interference foolishly,until his temporary heat was past. In the meantime, the member addressedthe company on the gratifying deed which he had just performed.
He said that since he had sat in Parliament to represent the GentlemanlyInterest of that town; and he might add, the Lady Interest, he hoped,besides (pocket handkerchiefs); it had been his pleasant duty to comeamong them, and to raise his voice on their behalf in Another Place(pocket handkerchiefs and laughter), often. But he had never come amongthem, and had never raised his voice, with half such pure, such deep,such unalloyed delight, as now. 'The present occasion,' he said, 'willever be memorable to me; not only for the reasons I have assigned, butbecause it has afforded me an opportunity of becoming personally knownto a gentleman--'
Here he pointed the trowel at Mr Pecksniff, who was greeted withvociferous cheering, and laid his hand upon his heart.
'To a gentleman who, I am happy to believe, will reap both distinctionand profit from this field; whose fame had previously penetrated tome--as to whose ears has it not!--but whose intellectual countenance Inever had the distinguished honour to behold until this day, and whoseintellectual conversation I had never before the improving pleasure toenjoy.'
Everybody seemed very glad of this, and applauded more than ever.
'But I hope my Honourable Friend,' said the Gentlemanly member--ofcourse he added "if he will allow me to call him so," and of course MrPecksniff bowed--'will give me many opportunities of cultivating theknowledge of him; and that I may have the extraordinary gratification ofreflecting in after-time that I laid on this day two first stones, bothbelonging to structures which shall last my life!'
Great cheering again. All this time, Martin was cursing Mr Pecksniff uphill and down dale.
'My friends!' said Mr Pecksniff, in reply. 'My duty is to build, notspeak; to act, not talk; to deal with marble, stone, and brick; notlanguage. I am very much affected. God bless you!'
This address, pumped out apparently from Mr Pecksniff's very heart,brought the enthusiasm to its highest pitch. The pocket handkerchiefswere waved again; the charity children were admonished to grow upPecksniffs, every boy among them; the Corporation, gentlemen with wands,member for the Gentlemanly Interest, all cheered for Mr Pecksniff. Threecheers for Mr Pecksniff! Three more for Mr Pecksniff! Three more forMr Pecksniff, gentlemen, if you please! One more, gentlemen, for MrPecksniff, and let it be a good one to finish with!
In short, Mr Pecksniff was supposed to have done a great work and wasvery kindly, courteously, and generously rewarded. When the processionmoved away, and Martin and Mark were left almost alone upon the ground,his merits and a desire to acknowledge them formed the common topic. Hewas only second to the Gentlemanly member.
'Compare the fellow's situation to-day with ours!' said Martin bitterly.
'Lord bless you, sir!' cried Mark, 'what's the use? Some architects areclever at making foundations, and some architects are clever at buildingon 'em when they're made. But it'll all come right in the end, sir;it'll all come right!'
'And in the meantime--' began Martin.
'In the meantime, as you say, sir, we have a deal to do, and far to go.So sharp's the word, and Jolly!'
'You are the best master in the world, Mark,' said Martin, 'and I willnot be a bad scholar if I can help it, I am resolved! So come! Best footforemost, old fellow!'
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