I.
TROTTY VECK AND HIS DAUGHTER MEG.
"TROTTY" seems a strange name for an old man, but it was given to TobyVeck because of his always going at a trot to do his errands; for he wasa ticket porter or messenger and his office was to take letters andmessages for people who were in too great a hurry to send them by post,which in those days was neither so cheap nor so quick as it is now. Hedid not earn very much, and had to be out in all weathers and all daylong. But Toby was of a cheerful disposition, and looked on the brightside of everything, and was grateful for any small mercies that came inhis way; and so was happier than many people who never knew what it isto be hungry or in want of comforts. His greatest joy was his dear,bright, pretty daughter Meg, who loved him dearly.
One cold day, near the end of the year, Toby had been waiting a longtime for a job, trotting up and down in his usual place before thechurch, and trying hard to keep himself warm, when the bells chimedtwelve o'clock, which made Toby think of dinner.
"There's nothing," he remarked, carefully feeling his nose to make sureit was still there, "more regular in coming round than dinner-time, andnothing less regular in coming round than dinner. That's the greatdifference between 'em." He went on talking to himself, trotting up anddown, and never noticing who was coming near to him.
"Why, father, father," said a pleasant voice, and Toby turned to findhis daughter's sweet, bright eyes close to his.
"Why, pet," said he, kissing her and squeezing her blooming face betweenhis hands, "what's to-do? I didn't expect you to-day, Meg."
"Neither did I expect to come, father," said Meg, nodding and smiling."But here I am! And not alone, not alone!"
"Why you don't mean to say," observed Trotty, looking curiously at thecovered basket she carried, "that you----"
"Smell it, father dear," said Meg. "Only smell it!"
Trotty was going to lift up the cover at once, in a great hurry, whenshe gaily interposed her hand.
"No, no, no," said Meg, with the glee of a child. "Lengthen it out alittle. Let me just lift up the corner; just a lit-tle, ti-ny cor-ner,you know," said Meg, suiting the action to the word with the utmostgentleness, and speaking very softly, as if she were afraid of beingoverheard by something inside the basket. "There, now; what's that?"
Toby took the shortest possible sniff at the edge of the basket, andcried out in rapture:
"Why, it's hot," he said.
But to Meg's great delight he could not guess what it was that smelt sogood.
"Polonies? Trotters? Liver? Pigs' feet? Sausages?" he tried one afterthe other. At last he exclaimed in triumph. "Why, what am I a-thinkingof? It's tripe."
And it was.
"And so," said Meg, "I'll lay the cloth at once, father; for I havebrought the tripe in a basin, and tied the basin up in apocket-handkerchief; and if I like to be proud for once, and spread thatfor a cloth, and call it a cloth, there's nobody to prevent me, is therefather?"
"Not that I know of, my dear," said Toby; "but they're always a-bringingup some new law or other."
"And according to what I was reading you in the paper the other day,father, what the judge said, you know, we poor people are supposed toknow them all. Ha, ha! What a mistake! My goodness me, how clever theythink us!"
"Yes, my dear," cried Trotty; "and they'd be very fond of any one of usthat _did_ know 'em all. He'd grow fat upon the work he'd get, that man,and be popular with the gentlefolks in his neighborhood. Very much so!"
"He'd eat his dinner with an appetite, whoever he was, if it smelt likethis," said Meg cheerfully. "Make haste, for there's a hot potatobesides, and half a pint of fresh-drawn beer in a bottle. Where will youdine, father--on the post or on the steps? Dear, dear, how grand we are!Two places to choose from!"
"The steps to-day, my pet," said Trotty. "Steps in dry weather, post inwet. There's greater conveniency in the steps at all times, because ofthe sitting down; but they're rheumatic in the damp."
"Then, here," said Meg, clapping her hands after a moment's bustle;"here it is all ready! And beautiful it looks! Come, father. Come!"
"They Broke in Like a Grace, My Dear."
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And just as Toby was about to sit down to his dinner on the door-stepsof a big house close by, the chimes rang out again, and Toby took offhis hat and said, "Amen."
"Amen to the bells, father?"
"They broke in like a grace, my dear," said Trotty; "they'd say a goodone if they could, I'm sure. Many's the kind thing they say to me. Howoften have I heard them bells say, 'Toby Veck, keep a good heart, Toby!'A million times? More!"
"Well, I never!" cried Meg.
"When things is very bad, then it's 'Toby Veck, Toby Veck, job comingsoon, Toby!'"
"And it comes--at last, father," said Meg, with a touch of sadness inher pleasant voice.
"Always," answered Toby. "Never fails."
While this discourse was holding, Trotty made no pause in his attackupon the savory meat before him, but cut and ate, and cut and drank, andcut and chewed, and dodged about from tripe to hot potato, and from hotpotato back again to tripe, with an unfailing relish. But happening nowto look all round the street--in case anybody should be beckoning fromany door or window for a porter--his eyes, in coming back again, saw Megsitting opposite him, with her arms folded, and only busy in watchinghis dinner with a smile of happiness.
"Why, Lord forgive me!" said Trotty, dropping his knife and fork. "Mydove! Meg! why didn't you tell me what a beast I was?"
"Father!"
"Sitting here," said Trotty, in a sorrowful manner, "cramming, andstuffing, and gorging myself, and you before me there, never so much asbreaking your precious fast, nor wanting to, when----"
"But I have broken it, father," interposed his daughter, laughing, "allto bits. I have had my dinner."
"Nonsense," said Trotty. "Two dinners in one day! It ain't possible! Youmight as well tell me that two New Year's days will come together, orthat I have had a gold head all my life, and never changed it."
"I have had my dinner, father, for all that," said Meg, coming nearer tohim. "And if you will go on with yours, I'll tell you how and where, andhow your dinner came to be brought and--and something else besides."
Toby still appeared not to believe her; but she looked into his facewith her clear eyes, and, laying her hand upon his shoulder, motionedhim to go on while the meat was hot. So Trotty took up his knife andfork again and went to work, but much more slowly than before, andshaking his head, as if he were not at all pleased with himself.
"I had my dinner, father," said Meg, after a little hesitation,"with--with Richard. His dinner-time was early; and as he brought hisdinner with him when he came to see me, we--we had it together, father."
Trotty took a little beer and smacked his lips. Then he said "Oh!"because she waited.
"And Richard says, father--" Meg resumed, then stopped.
"What does Richard say, Meg?" asked Toby.
"Richard says, father--" Another stoppage.
"Richard's a long time saying it," said Toby.
"He says, then, father," Meg continued, lifting up her eyes at last, andspeaking in a tremble, but quite plainly, "another year is nearly gone,and where is the use of waiting on from year to year, when it is sounlikely we shall ever be better off than we are now? He says we arepoor now, father, and we shall be poor then; but we are young now, andyears will make us old before we know it. He says that if we wait,people as poor as we are, until we see our way quite clearly, the waywill be a narrow one indeed--the common way--the grave, father."
A bolder man than Trotty Veck must needs have drawn upon his boldnesslargely to deny it. Trotty held his peace.
"And how hard, father, to grow old and die, and think we might havecheered and helped each other! How hard in all our lives to love eachother, and to grieve, apart, to see each other working, changing,growing old and gray. Even if I got the better of it, and forgot him(which I never could
), oh, father, dear, how hard to have a heart sofull as mine is now, and live to have it slowly drained out every drop,without remembering one happy moment of a woman's life to stay behindand comfort me and make me better!"
Trotty sat quite still. Meg dried her eyes, and said more gaily--that isto say, with here a laugh and there a sob, and here a laugh and sobtogether:
"So Richard says, father, as his work was yesterday made certain forsome time to come, and as I love him and have loved him full threeyears--ah, longer than that, if he knew it!--will I marry him on NewYear's Day?"
Just then Richard himself came up to persuade Toby to agree to theirplan; and, almost at the same moment, a footman came out of the houseand ordered them all off the steps, and some gentlemen came out whocalled up Trotty, and asked a great many questions, and found a gooddeal of fault, telling Richard he was very foolish to want to getmarried, which made Toby feel very unhappy, and Richard very angry. Sothe lovers went off together sadly; Richard looking gloomy and downcast,and Meg in tears. Toby, who had a letter given him to carry, and asixpence, trotted off in rather low spirits to a very grand house, wherehe was told to take the letter in to the gentleman. While he waswaiting, he heard the letter read. It was from Alderman Cute, to tellSir Joseph Bowley that one of his tenants named Will Fern, who had cometo London to try to get work, and been brought before him charged withsleeping in a shed, and asking if Sir Joseph wished him to be dealtkindly with or otherwise. To Toby's great disappointment, for Sir Josephhad talked a great deal about being a friend to the poor, the answer wasgiven that Will Fern might be sent to prison as a vagabond, and made anexample of, though his only fault was that he was poor. On his way home,Toby, thinking sadly, with his hat pulled down low on his head, ranagainst a man dressed like a country-man, carrying a fair-haired littlegirl. Toby enquired anxiously if he had hurt either of them. The mananswered no, and seeing Toby had a kind face, he asked him the way toAlderman Cute's house.
"It's impossible," cried Toby, "that your name is Will Fern?"
"That's my name," said the man.
Thereupon Toby told him what he had just heard, and said, "Don't gothere."
Poor Will told him how he could not make a living in the country, andhad come to London with his orphan niece to try to find a friend of hermother's and to endeavor to get some work, and, wishing Toby a happy NewYear, was about to trudge wearily off again, when Trotty caught hishand, saying--
"Stay! The New Year never can be happy to me if I see the child and yougo wandering away without a shelter for your heads. Come home with me.I'm a poor man, living in a poor place; but I can give you lodging forone night, and never miss it. Come home with me! Here! I'll take her!"cried Trotty, lifting up the child. "A pretty one! I'd carry twentytimes her weight and never know I'd got it. Tell me if I go too quickfor you. I'm very fast. I always was!" Trotty said this, taking aboutsix of his trotting paces to one stride of his tired companion, and withhis thin legs quivering again beneath the load he bore.
"Why, she's as light," said Trotty, trotting in his speech as well as inhis gait--for he couldn't bear to be thanked, and dreaded a moment'spause--"as light as a feather. Lighter than a peacock's feather--a greatdeal lighter. Here we are and here we go!" And, rushing in, he set thechild down before his daughter. The little girl gave one look at Meg'ssweet face and ran into her arms at once, while Trotty ran round theroom, saying, "Here we are and here we go. Here, Uncle Will, come to thefire. Meg, my precious darling, where's the kettle? Here it is and hereit goes, and it'll bile in no time!"
"Why, father!" said Meg, as she knelt before the child and pulled offher wet shoes, "you're crazy to-night, I think. I don't know what thebells would say to that. Poor little feet, how cold they are!"
"Oh, they're warmer now!" exclaimed the child. "They're quite warm now!"
"No, no, no," said Meg. "We haven't rubbed 'em half enough. We're sobusy. And when they're done, we'll brush out the damp hair; and whenthat's done, we'll bring some color to the poor pale face with freshwater; and when that's done, we'll be so gay and brisk and happy!"
The child, sobbing, clasped her round the neck, saying, "O Meg, O dearMeg!"
"Good gracious me!" said Meg presently, "father's crazy. He's put thedear child's bonnet on the kettle, and hung the lid behind the door!"
Trotty hastily repaired this mistake, and went off to find some tea anda rasher of bacon he fancied "he had seen lying somewhere on thestairs."
He soon came back and made the tea, and before long they were allenjoying the meal. Trotty and Meg only took a morsel for form's sake(for they had only a very little, not enough for all), but their delightwas in seeing their visitors eat, and very happy they were--thoughTrotty had noticed that Meg was sitting by the fire in tears when theyhad come in, and he feared her marriage had been broken off.
After tea Meg took Lilian to bed, and Toby showed Will Fern where he wasto sleep. As he came back past Meg's door he heard the child saying herprayers, remembering Meg's name and asking for his. Then he went to sitby the fire and read his paper, and fell asleep to have a wonderfuldream, so terrible and sad, that it was a great relief when he woke.
"And whatever you do, father," said Meg, "don't eat tripe again withoutasking some doctor whether it's likely to agree with you; for how you_have_ been going on! Good gracious!"
She was working with her needle at the little table by the fire,dressing her simple gown with ribbons for her wedding--so quietly happy,so blooming and youthful, so full of beautiful promise that he uttered agreat cry as if it were an angel in his house, then flew to clasp her inhis arms.
But he caught his feet in the newspaper, which had fallen on the hearth,and somebody came rushing in between them.
"No!" cried the voice of this same somebody. A generous and jolly voiceit was! "Not even you; not even you. The first kiss of Meg in the NewYear is mine--mine! I have been waiting outside the house this hour tohear the bells and claim it. Meg, my precious prize, a happy year! Alife of happy years, my darling wife!"
And Richard smothered her with kisses.
You never in all your life saw anything like Trotty after this, I don'tcare where you have lived or what you have seen; you never in your lifesaw anything at all approaching him! He kept running up to Meg, andsqueezing her fresh face between his hands and kissing it, going fromher backwards not to lose sight of it, and running up again like afigure in a magic lantern; and whatever he did, he was constantlysitting himself down in his chair, and never stopping in it for onesingle moment, being--that's the truth--beside himself with joy.
"And to-morrow's your wedding-day, my pet!" cried Trotty. "Your real,happy wedding-day!"
"To-day!" cried Richard, shaking hands with him. "To-day. The chimes areringing in the New Year. Hear them!"
They _were_ ringing! Bless their sturdy hearts, they _were_ ringing!Great bells as they were--melodious, deep-mouthed, noble bells, cast inno common metal, made by no common founder--when had they ever chimedlike that before?
Trotty was backing off to that wonderful chair again, when the child,who had been awakened by the noise, came running in half-dressed.
"Why, here she is!" cried Trotty, catching her up. "Here's littleLilian! Ha, ha, ha! Here we are and here we go. Oh, here we are and herewe go again! And here we are and here we go! And Uncle Will, too!"
Before Will Fern could make the least reply, a band of music burst intothe room, attended by a flock of neighbors, screaming, "A Happy NewYear, Meg!" "A happy wedding!" "Many of 'em!" and other fragmentarygood-wishes of that sort. The Drum (who was a private friend ofTrotty's) then stepped forward and said:
"Trotty Veck, my boy, it's got about that your daughter is going to bemarried to-morrow. There ain't a soul that knows you that don't wish youwell, or that knows her and don't wish her well. Or that knows you both,and don't wish you both all the happiness the New Year can bring. Andhere we are to play it in and dance it in accordingly."
Then Mrs. Chickenstalker came in (a good-humored, nice-l
ooking womanwho, to the delight of all, turned out to be the friend of Lilian'smother, for whom Will Fern had come to look), with a stone pitcher fullof "flip," to wish Meg joy, and then the music struck up, and Trotty,making Meg and Richard second couple, led off Mrs. Chickenstalker downthe dance, and danced it in a step unknown before or since, founded onhis own peculiar trot.
Dickens' Stories About Children Every Child Can Read Page 2
