The O'Ruddy: A Romance

by Stephen Crane

  CHAPTER XXVIII

  It was a beautiful day, as lovely as any an indulgent Providence hadever bestowed upon an unthankful generation.

  Although I wished I had had an hour or two to spend with Marywandering up and down that green alley through which we had rushedwith such indecent haste, all because two aged and angry members ofthe nobility might have come upon us, yet I walked through the streetsof London as if I trod on the air, and not on the rough cobble-stonesof the causeway. It seemed as if I had suddenly become a boy again,and yet with all the strength and vigour of a man, and I was hard putto it not to shout aloud in the sunlight, or to slap on the back theslow and solemn Englishmen I met, who looked as if they had neverlaughed in their lives. Sure it's a very serious country, this sameland of England, where their dignity is so oppressive that it bowsdown head and shoulders with thinking how grand they are; and yet I'llsay nothing against them, for it was an Englishwoman that made me feellike a balloon. Pondering over the sobriety of the nation, I foundmyself in the shadow of a great church, and, remembering what my dearMary had said, I turned and went in through the open door, with myhat in my hand. It was a great contrast to the bright sunlight I hadleft, and to the busy streets with their holiday-making people. Therewere only a few scattered here and there in the dim silence of thechurch, some on their knees, some walking slowly about on tiptoe, andsome seated meditating in chairs. No service was going forward, so Iknelt down in the chapel of Saint Patrick himself; I bowed my head andthanked God for the day and for the blessing that had come with it. AsI said, I was like a boy again, and to my lips, too long held fromthem, came the prayers that had been taught me. I was glad I had notforgotten them, and I said them over and over with joy in my heart. AsI raised my head, I saw standing and looking at me a priest, and,rising to my feet, I made my bow to him, and he came forward,recognizing me before I recognized him.

  "O'Ruddy," he said, "if you knew the joy it gives to my old heart tomeet you in this sacred place and in that devout attitude, it wouldbring some corresponding happiness to yourself."

  "Now by the piper that played before Moses, Father Donovan, and isthis yourself? Sure I disrecognized you, coming into the darkness, andme just out of the glare beyond,"--and I took his hand in both of mineand shook it with a heartiness he had not met since he left the oldturf. "Sure and there's no one I'd rather meet this day thanyourself,"--and with that I dropped on one knee and asked for hisblessing on me and mine.

  As we walked out of the church together, his hand resting on myshoulder, I asked how such a marvel came to pass as Father Donovan,who never thought to leave Ireland, being here in London. The old mansaid nothing till we were down the steps, and then he told me what hadhappened.

  "You remember Patsy O'Gorman," he said.

  "I do that," I replied, "and an old thief of the world and atight-fisted miser he is."

  "Whist," said Father Donovan, quietly crossing himself. "O'Gorman isdead and buried."

  "Do you tell me that!" said I, "then rest his soul. He would be a warmman and leave more money than my father did, I'm thinking."

  "Yes, he left some money, and to me he left three hundred pounds, withthe request that I should accomplish the desire of my life and takethe pilgrimage to Rome."

  "The crafty old chap, that same bit of bequestration will help himover many a rough mile in purgatory."

  "Ah, O'Ruddy, it's not our place to judge. They gave a harder name toO'Gorman than he deserved. Just look at your own case. The storiesthat have come back to Ireland, O'Ruddy, just made me shiver. I heardthat you were fighting and brawling through England, ready to runthrough any man that looked cross-eyed at you. They said that you hadtaken up with a highwayman; that you spent your nights in drink andbreathing out smoke; and here I find you, a proper young man, doingcredit to your country, meeting you, not in a tavern, but on yourknees with bowed head in the chapel of Saint Patrick, giving the lieto the slanderer's tongue."

  The good old man stopped in our walk, and with tears in his eyes shookhands with me again, and I had not the heart to tell him the truth.

  "Ah well," I said, "Father Donovan, I suppose nobody, except yourself,is quite as good as he thinks, and nobody, including myself, is as badas he appears to be. And now, Father Donovan, where are you stopping,and how long will you be in London?"

  "I am stopping with an old college friend, who is a priest in thechurch where I found you. I expect to leave in a few days' time andjourney down to the seaport of Rye, where I am to take ship that willland me either in Dunkirk or in Calais. From there I am to make my wayto Rome as best I can."

  "And are you travelling alone?"

  "I am that, although, by the blessing of God, I have made many friendson the journey, and every one I met has been good to me."

  "Ah, Father Donovan, you couldn't meet a bad man if you travelled theworld over. Sure there's some that carry such an air of blessednesswith them that every one they meet must, for very shame, show the bestof his character. With me it's different, for it seems that wherethere's contention I am in the middle of it, though, God knows, I'm aman of peace, as my father was before me."

  "Well," said Father Donovan slowly, but with a sweet smile on his lip,"I suppose the O'Ruddys were always men of peace, for I've known thembefore now to fight hard enough to get it."

  The good father spoke a little doubtfully, as if he were not quiteapproving of our family methods, but he was a kindly man who alwaystook the most lenient view of things. He walked far with me, and thenI turned and escorted him to the place where he resided, and, biddinggood-bye, got a promise from him that he would come to the "Pig andTurnip" a day later and have a bite and sup with me, for I thoughtwith the assistance of the landlord I could put a very creditable mealbefore him, and Father Donovan was always one that relished his meals,and he enjoyed his drink too, although he was set against too much ofit. He used to say, "It's a wise drinker that knows when genialityends and hostility begins, and it's just as well to stop before youcome to the line."

  With this walking to and fro the day was near done with when I gotback to the "Pig and Turnip" and remembered that neither a bit of pignor a bit of turnip had I had all that long day, and now I wasravenous. I never knew anything make me forget my appetite before; buthere had I missed my noonday meal, and not in all my life could Iovertake it again. Sure there was many an experience crowded togetherin that beautiful Sunday, so, as I passed through the entrance to theinn I said to the obsequious landlord:

  "For the love of Heaven, get placed on my table all you have in thehouse that's fit to eat, and a trifle of a bottle or two, to wash itdown with."

  So saying, I passed up the creaking old oaken stair and came to myroom, where I instantly remembered there was something else I hadforgotten. As I opened the door there came a dismal groan from Paddy,and something that sounded like a wicked oath from Jem Bottles. Poorlads! that had taken such a beating that day, such a cudgelling for mysake; and here I stood at my own door in a wonder of amazement, andsomething of fright, thinking I had heard a banshee wail. The twomisused lads had slipped out of my memory as completely as the devilslipped off Macgillicuddy Reeks into the pond beneath when SaintPatrick had sent the holy words after him.

  "Paddy," said I, "are you hurted? Where is it you're sore?"

  "Is it sore?" he groaned. "Except the soles of my feet, which theycouldn't hit with me kickin' them, there isn't an inch of me thatdoesn't think it's worse hurted than the rest."

  "It's sorry I am to hear that," I replied, quite truthfully, "and you,Jem, how did you come off?"

  "Well, I gave a better account of myself than Paddy here, for I mademost of them keep their distance from me; but him they got on the turfbefore you could say Watch me eye, and the whole boiling of them wason top of him in the twinkling of the same."

  "The whole boiling of them?" said I, as if I knew nothing of theoccurrence, "then there was more than Strammers to receive you?"

  "More!" shouted Jem Bottles, "there was forty if there was
one."

  Paddy groaned again at the remembrance, and moaned out:

  "The whole population of London was there, and half of it on top of mebefore I could wink. I thought they would strip the clothes off me,and they nearly did it."

  "And have you been here alone ever since? Have you had nothing to eator drink since you got back?"

  "Oh," said Jem, "we had too much attention in the morning, and toolittle as the day went on. We were expecting you home, and so took theliberty of coming up here and waiting for you, thinking you might begood enough to send out for some one who would dress our wounds; butluckily that's not needed now."

  "Why is it not needed?" I asked. "I'll send at once.

  "Oh, no," moaned Paddy, "there was one good friend that did not forgetus."

  "Well," said Jem, "he seemed mighty afeerd of coming in. I suppose hethought it was on his advice that we went where we did, and he wasafeerd we thought badly of him for it; but of course we had no blameto put on the poor little man."

  "In Heaven's name, who are you talking of?" said I.

  "Doctor Chord," answered Jem. "He put his head inside the door andinquired for us, and inquired specially where you were; but that, ofcourse, we couldn't tell him. He was very much put out to find usmis-handled, and he sent us some tankards of beer, which are nowempty, and we're waiting for him because he promised to come back andattend to our injuries."

  "Then you didn't see Doctor Chord in the gardens?"

  "In what gardens?" asked Bottles.

  "You didn't see him among that mob that set on you?"

  "No fear," said Jem, "wherever there is a scrimmage Doctor Chord willkeep away from it."

  "Indeed and in that you're wrong," said I. "Doctor Chord has been theinstigator of everything that has happened, and he stood in thebackground and helped to set them on."

  Paddy sat up with wild alarm in his eyes.

  "Sure, master," says he, "how could you see through so thick a wall asthat?"

  "I did not see through the wall at all; I was in the house. When youwent through the back door, I went through the front gate, and what Iam telling you is true. Doctor Chord is the cause of the wholecommotion. That's why he was afraid to come in the room. He thoughtperhaps you had seen him, and, finding you had not, he'll be back hereagain when everything is over. Doctor Chord is a traitor, and you maytake my word for that."

  Paddy rose slowly to his feet, every red hair in his head bristlingwith scorn and indignation; but as he stood erect he put his hand tohis side and gave a howl as he limped a step or two over the floor.

  "The black-hearted villain," he muttered through his teeth. "I'll havehis life."

  "You'll have nothing of the sort," said I, "and we'll get some goodattendance out of him, for he's a skillful man. When he has done hisduty in repairing what he has inflicted upon you, then you can givehim a piece of your mind."

  "I'll give him a piece of my boot; all that's left of it," growled JemBottles, scowling.

  "You may take your will of him after he has put some embrocation onyour bruises," said I; and as I was speaking there came a timorouslittle knock at the door.

  "Come in," I cried, and after some hesitation the door opened, andthere stood little Doctor Chord with a big bottle under his arm. I wasglad there was no supper yet on the table, for if there had been Imust have asked the little man to sit down with me, and that he woulddo without a second's hesitation, so I could not rightly see himmaltreated who had broken a crust with me.

  He paid no attention to Jem or Paddy at first, but kept his cunninglittle eye on me.

  "And where have you been to-day, O'Ruddy?" he asked.

  "Oh," said I, "I accompanied these two to the door in the wall, andwhen they got through I heard yells fit to make a hero out of anigger; but you know how stout the bolts are and I couldn't get tothem, so I had just to go out of hearing of their bellowings. On theway back I happened to meet an old friend of mine, Father Donovan,and--"

  Here Paddy, forgetting his good manners, shouted out:

  "Thank God there's a holy father in this hole of perdition; for I knowI'm goin' t' die to-morrow at the latest."

  "Stop your nonsense," said I. "You'll have to hold on to life at leasta day longer; for the good father is not coming here until two daysare past. You're more frightened than hurt, and the Doctor here has alotion that will make you meet the priest as a friend and not as alast counsellor."

  "As I was saying, Doctor Chord, I met Father Donovan, and we strolledabout the town, so that I have only now just come in. The father is astranger in London, on a pilgrimage to Rome. And sure I had to showhim the sights."

  "It was a kindly action of you," said Doctor Chord, pulling the corkof the medicine-bottle. "Get those rags off," he called to Paddy,"and I'll rub you down as if you were the finest horse that everfollowed the hounds."

  There was a great smell of medicine in the air as he lubricated Paddyover the bruised places; then Jem Bottles came under his hands, andeither he was not so much hurt as Paddy was, or he made less fussabout it, for he glared at the Doctor all the time he was attendinghim, and said nothing.

  It seemed an inhospitable thing to misuse a man who had acted the goodSamaritan so arduously as the little Doctor with three quarters of hisbottle gone, but as he slapped the cork in it again I stepped to thedoor and turned the key. Paddy was scowling now and then, and groaningnow and again, when the cheerful Doctor said to him, as is the waywith physicians when they wish to encourage a patient:

  "Oh, you're not hurt nearly as bad as you think you are. You'll be alittle sore and stiff in the morning, that's all, and I'll leave thebottle with you."

  "You've never rubbed me at all on the worst place," said Paddyangrily.

  "Where was that?" asked Doctor Chord,--and the words were hardly outof his mouth when Paddy hit him one in the right eye that sent himstaggering across the room.

  "There's where I got the blow that knocked me down," cried Paddy.

  Doctor Chord threw a wild glance at the door, when Jem Bottles, with alittle run and a lift of his foot, gave him one behind that caused theDoctor to turn a somersault.

  "Take that, you thief," said Jem; "and now you've something thatneither of us got, because we kept our faces to the villains that seton us."

  Paddy made a rush, but I cried:

  "Don't touch the man when he's down."

  "Sure," says Paddy, "that's when they all fell on me."

  "Never strike a man when he's down," I cried.

  "Do ye mean to say we shouldn't hit a man when he's down?" asked JemBottles.

  "You knew very well you shouldn't," I told him. "Sure you've been inthe ring before now."

  "That I have," shouted Bottles, pouncing on the unfortunate Doctor. Hegrabbed him by the scruff of the neck and flung him to his feet, thengave him a bat on the side of the head that sent him reeling up towardthe ceiling again.

  "That's enough, Jem," I cautioned him.

  "I'm not only following the Doctor," said Jem, "but I'm following theDoctor's advice. He told us to take a little gentle exercise and itwould allay the soreness."

  "The exercise you're taking will not allay the soreness on theDoctor's part. Stop it, Jem! Now leave him alone, Paddy; he's hadenough to remember you by, and to learn that the way of the traitor isthe rocky road to Dublin. Come now, Doctor, the door is open; get outinto the passage as quick as you can, and I hope you have anotherbottle of that excellent lotion at home."

  The threatening attitude of both Jem and Paddy seemed to paralyse thelittle man with fear, and he lay on the boards glaring up at them withterror in his eyes.

  "I'm holding the door open for you," said I, "and remember I may notbe able to hold Paddy and Jem as easily as I hold the door; so makeyour escape before they get into action again."

  Doctor Chord rolled himself over quickly, but, not daring to get onhis feet, trotted out into the passage like a big dog on his hands andknees; and just then a waiter, coming up with a tray and not countingon this sudde
n apparition in the hallway, fell over him; and if itwere not for my customary agility and presence of mind in grasping thebroad metal server, a good part of my supper would have been on thefloor. The waiter luckily leaned forward when he found himselffalling, holding the tray high over his head, and so, seizing it, Isaved the situation and the supper.

  "What are ye grovelling down there for, ye drunken beast?" shouted theangry waiter, as he came down with a thud. "Why don't you walk on yourtwo feet like a Christian?"

  Doctor Chord took the hint and his departure, running along thepassage and stumbling down the stairway like a man demented. When hegot down into the courtyard he shook his fist at my window and sworehe would have the law of us; but I never saw the little man again,although Paddy and Jem were destined to meet him once more, as I shalltell later on.

  The supper being now laid, I fell at it and I dis-remember having everenjoyed a meal more in my life. I sent Paddy and Jem to their quarterswith food and a bottle of good wine to keep them company, and I thinkthey deserved it, for they said the lotion the Doctor had put on theoutside of them was stinging, so they thought there should besomething in the inside to counteract the inconvenience.

  I went to sleep the moment I touched the pillow, and dreamed I was inthe most umbrageous lover's walk that ever was, overhung with greenbranches through which the sunlight flickered, and closed in withshrubbery. There I chased a flying nymph that always just eluded me,laughing at me over her shoulder and putting her finger to her lips,and at last, when I caught her, it turned out to be Doctor Chord,whereupon I threw him indignantly into the bushes, and then saw to mydismay it was the Countess. She began giving her opinion of me sovigorously that I awoke and found it broad daylight.