CHAPTER XI.BETTER THOUGHTS AND DEEDS.I left the house more to conceal my own emotions than for any other reason. I had been imprudent. My father was not only dependent upon Colonel Wimpleton for the excellent situation he held, which had enabled him to live well, to give me a good education, and to save money to buy his place, though there was a mortgage on the little estate that would expire in a few days; so far as liberality in financial matters was concerned, no one could find any fault with the magnate of Centreport.I was accused of a crime—not merely of a piece of mischief, as the colonel was pleased to regard it, but of a crime whose penalty was imprisonment. By merely admitting the truth of the charge, I could escape all disagreeable consequences, and retain for my father and myself the favor of the mightyman in whose smile we had prospered and grown rich. Doubtless, in the worldly sense, I had been very imprudent. It would have been safer for me not to deny the accusation, and not to resent the hard names applied to me.As a matter of policy, I had always permitted Waddie to have his own way in his dealings with me. If he ordered me to do anything, I did it. If he called me names, I did not retort upon him. It galled me sorely to permit the puppy to ride over me in this manner; to be insulted, kicked, and cuffed at his royal pleasure; but while it was simply a sacrifice of personal pride, or even of self-respect, it did not so much matter. When, however, Waddie and his father wished to brand me as a criminal, and to browbeat me because I would not confess myself guilty of a deed in which I had no hand, my nature revolted. In my indignation, I had made use of some expressions which I had better not have used, and which I should not have used if I had not been suffering under the weight of that sad day’s trials.I did not care for myself under the displeasure ofthe mighty man. My mother was a timid woman, and the cloud of misfortunes which was rising over us filled her with dismay. The displeasure of Colonel Wimpleton, the loss of the money, and above all the fear that my father would return to his old habits, were terrors enough for one day, and I wept for her. But what could I do? To confess myself guilty of a crime when I was innocent was the greatest wrong I could do to her and to myself. I would not do that, whatever else I did; and there was no other way to win back the favor of the colonel.After I had cooled off, I returned to the house, and found my mother more calm than I expected. She had resumed her work; but she looked very sad and troubled. My two sisters had gone to the village, and as yet knew nothing of the misfortunes that were settling down upon our house.“Wolfert, I am sorry you were so rash,” said my mother, as I seated myself in the kitchen.“I am sorry myself; but I don’t think it would have made any difference with the colonel if I had been as gentle as a lamb,” I replied.“Perhaps it would.”“The colonel wished me to take upon my shoulders the blame, or part of it, of blowing up the canal boat. Nothing less than that would have satisfied them. You can’t wonder that I was mad, after what you heard him say to me. I have eaten dirt before the colonel and his son for years, and I don’t think we have made anything by it; but whether we have or not, I won’t be called a villain and a scoundrel, or confess a thing I didn’t do.”“Mr. Wimpleton is a very powerful man in Centreport,” added my mother, shaking her head in deprecation of any rash steps.“I know he is, mother; and I will do anything I can to please him, except sell my own soul; and he hasn’t got money enough to buy that. I’m not going to put my nose into the dirt for him.”“He may ruin us, Wolfert.”“What can he do?”“He can discharge your father.”“Father can get as much wages in another place as he can here. Perhaps he will be wanted on the Ruoara, now Christy has run away.”“But his house is here, and he meant to stay in Centreport. Besides, Mr. Wimpleton can turn us out of the house if we don’t pay the money, which will be due in a few days.”“I hope Mr. Mortimer will catch Christy, and get the money. If he don’t, there is a man in town who offered thirty-five hundred dollars for the place; and that is more than it cost, and father won’t lose anything.”“You don’t know Mr. Wimpleton, Wolfert. He is a terrible man when he is offended. If the place were sold at auction, as it would be, he has influence enough to prevent any one from bidding on it; and your father might lose every cent he has left in the world.”“What would you have me do, mother?” I asked, rising from my chair, considerably excited. “Shall I say that I helped Waddie blow up the canal boat?”“No, certainly not, Wolfert, unless you did help him.”“Do you think I did, mother?”“No, I can’t think so, after what you have said.”“I had nothing more to do with it than you had.”“But you can be a little more gentle with him.”“And let him browbeat and bully me as much as he pleases? I think, mother, if I stand up squarely for my own rights, he will respect me all the more. For my own part, I am about tired of Centreport, for all the people bow down and toady to Colonel Wimpleton. If he takes snuff, everybody sneezes. All the fellows treat Waddie as though he was a prince of the blood. I have been ashamed and disgusted with myself a hundred times after I have let him bully me and put his foot on my neck. I have been tempted to thrash him, a dozen times, for his impudence; and if I didn’t do so, it was not because I didn’t want to.”“You must try to have a Christian spirit, Wolfert,” said the mother, mildly.“I do try to have a Christian spirit, mother. I haven’t anything against Waddie or his father. If I could do a kindness to either one of them this minute, I would do it. But I don’t think a fellow must be a milksop in order to be a Christian. Idon’t think the gospel requires me to be a toady, or even to submit to injustice when I can help myself. I don’t ask to be revenged, or anything of that sort; I only desire to keep my head out of the dirt. I am going to try to be a man, whatever happens to me.”“If you will only be a Christian, Wolfert, I can ask no more.”“I will try to be; but do you think yourself, mother, that I ought to stand still and allow myself to be kicked?”“You must not provoke your enemies.”“I will not, if I can help it; but I think it is pretty hard to keep still when you are called a rascal and a villain. If you think I ought to confess that I helped blow up the canal boat when I did not, I will”—I was going to say I would do it, but the words choked me, and I could not utter them.“I don’t wish you to say so, Wolfert.”“Then I am satisfied; and I will try to be gentle while they abuse me.”At this moment Waddie Wimpleton bolted intothe room, without taking the trouble to announce himself beforehand.“My father says you must come up and see him at once,” said the scion in his usual bullying and offensive tone.“Where is he?” I asked, as quietly as I could speak, under the influence of my good mother’s lesson.“At the house. Where do you suppose he is?” pouted Waddie. “And he says, if you don’t come, he’ll send a constable after you.”“What does he want of me?”“None of your business what he wants. All you’ve got to do is to go.”“If I conclude to go, I will be there in a few moments,” I added.“If you conclude to go!” exclaimed Waddie. “Well, that is cool! Do you mean to say you won’t go?”“No, I don’t mean to say that.”“Well, I want to know whether you are going or not,” demanded the scion.“Shall I go, mother?” I asked, appealing to her.“I think you had better go, Wolfert.”“Then I will go.”“You had better,” continued Waddie, who could not help bullying even after his point was gained.The gentlemanly young man left the house, and my mother admonished me again not to be saucy, and to return good for evil. I hoped I should be able to do so. If I failed, it would not be for the want of a good intention. I walked up the road towards the mansion of the great man, thinking what I should say, and how I could best defend myself from the charge which was again to be urged against me. The situation looked very hopeless to me as I jumped over the fence in the grove, through which there was a path which led to the house of the colonel.“Here he is,” said Waddie, accompanying the remark with a yell not unlike an Indian war-whoop.I halted and turned around. Behind me stood the scion of the great house of Centreport, with a club in his hand, and attended by half a dozen of the meanest fellows of the Institute, armed in like manner. They had been concealed behind the fence;and of course I instantly concluded that the colonel’s message was a mere trick to decoy me into the grove.“Do you wish to see me?” I asked as coolly as I could; and the circumstances under which we appeared to meet were not favorable to a frigid demeanor.“Yes, I want to see you,” replied Waddie, moving up to me, and flourishing his stick. “You must settle my account before you see my governor.”“What do you want of me?” I demanded, as I edged up to a big tree, which would protect me from an assault in the rear.“You told my father I was the biggest liar in town,” blustered Waddie. “I’m going to give you the biggest licking for it you ever had in your life.”“Go in, Waddie!” shouted Sam Peppers. “We’ll stand by, and see fair play.”“Are you ready to take your licking?” bullied Waddie, who did not seem to be quite ready to commence the operation.“No, I am not,” I answered, quietly; and I never spoke truer words in my life.“You called me the biggest liar in town—didn’t you?”“I did.”“Have you anything to say about it?”“I have,” I replied, still moved by the gentle words of gospel wisdom which my mother had spoken to me.“If you have, say it quick.”“I was angry when I spoke the words, and I am sorry for uttering them.”“Ha, ha! humph!” yelled the half-dozen ruffians in concert.“Get down on your knees and beg my pardon, then,” said Waddie.“No, I will not do that,” I replied, firmly.
BETTER THOUGHTS AND DEEDS.
I left the house more to conceal my own emotions than for any other reason. I had been imprudent. My father was not only dependent upon Colonel Wimpleton for the excellent situation he held, which had enabled him to live well, to give me a good education, and to save money to buy his place, though there was a mortgage on the little estate that would expire in a few days; so far as liberality in financial matters was concerned, no one could find any fault with the magnate of Centreport.
I was accused of a crime—not merely of a piece of mischief, as the colonel was pleased to regard it, but of a crime whose penalty was imprisonment. By merely admitting the truth of the charge, I could escape all disagreeable consequences, and retain for my father and myself the favor of the mightyman in whose smile we had prospered and grown rich. Doubtless, in the worldly sense, I had been very imprudent. It would have been safer for me not to deny the accusation, and not to resent the hard names applied to me.
As a matter of policy, I had always permitted Waddie to have his own way in his dealings with me. If he ordered me to do anything, I did it. If he called me names, I did not retort upon him. It galled me sorely to permit the puppy to ride over me in this manner; to be insulted, kicked, and cuffed at his royal pleasure; but while it was simply a sacrifice of personal pride, or even of self-respect, it did not so much matter. When, however, Waddie and his father wished to brand me as a criminal, and to browbeat me because I would not confess myself guilty of a deed in which I had no hand, my nature revolted. In my indignation, I had made use of some expressions which I had better not have used, and which I should not have used if I had not been suffering under the weight of that sad day’s trials.
I did not care for myself under the displeasure ofthe mighty man. My mother was a timid woman, and the cloud of misfortunes which was rising over us filled her with dismay. The displeasure of Colonel Wimpleton, the loss of the money, and above all the fear that my father would return to his old habits, were terrors enough for one day, and I wept for her. But what could I do? To confess myself guilty of a crime when I was innocent was the greatest wrong I could do to her and to myself. I would not do that, whatever else I did; and there was no other way to win back the favor of the colonel.
After I had cooled off, I returned to the house, and found my mother more calm than I expected. She had resumed her work; but she looked very sad and troubled. My two sisters had gone to the village, and as yet knew nothing of the misfortunes that were settling down upon our house.
“Wolfert, I am sorry you were so rash,” said my mother, as I seated myself in the kitchen.
“I am sorry myself; but I don’t think it would have made any difference with the colonel if I had been as gentle as a lamb,” I replied.
“Perhaps it would.”
“The colonel wished me to take upon my shoulders the blame, or part of it, of blowing up the canal boat. Nothing less than that would have satisfied them. You can’t wonder that I was mad, after what you heard him say to me. I have eaten dirt before the colonel and his son for years, and I don’t think we have made anything by it; but whether we have or not, I won’t be called a villain and a scoundrel, or confess a thing I didn’t do.”
“Mr. Wimpleton is a very powerful man in Centreport,” added my mother, shaking her head in deprecation of any rash steps.
“I know he is, mother; and I will do anything I can to please him, except sell my own soul; and he hasn’t got money enough to buy that. I’m not going to put my nose into the dirt for him.”
“He may ruin us, Wolfert.”
“What can he do?”
“He can discharge your father.”
“Father can get as much wages in another place as he can here. Perhaps he will be wanted on the Ruoara, now Christy has run away.”
“But his house is here, and he meant to stay in Centreport. Besides, Mr. Wimpleton can turn us out of the house if we don’t pay the money, which will be due in a few days.”
“I hope Mr. Mortimer will catch Christy, and get the money. If he don’t, there is a man in town who offered thirty-five hundred dollars for the place; and that is more than it cost, and father won’t lose anything.”
“You don’t know Mr. Wimpleton, Wolfert. He is a terrible man when he is offended. If the place were sold at auction, as it would be, he has influence enough to prevent any one from bidding on it; and your father might lose every cent he has left in the world.”
“What would you have me do, mother?” I asked, rising from my chair, considerably excited. “Shall I say that I helped Waddie blow up the canal boat?”
“No, certainly not, Wolfert, unless you did help him.”
“Do you think I did, mother?”
“No, I can’t think so, after what you have said.”
“I had nothing more to do with it than you had.”
“But you can be a little more gentle with him.”
“And let him browbeat and bully me as much as he pleases? I think, mother, if I stand up squarely for my own rights, he will respect me all the more. For my own part, I am about tired of Centreport, for all the people bow down and toady to Colonel Wimpleton. If he takes snuff, everybody sneezes. All the fellows treat Waddie as though he was a prince of the blood. I have been ashamed and disgusted with myself a hundred times after I have let him bully me and put his foot on my neck. I have been tempted to thrash him, a dozen times, for his impudence; and if I didn’t do so, it was not because I didn’t want to.”
“You must try to have a Christian spirit, Wolfert,” said the mother, mildly.
“I do try to have a Christian spirit, mother. I haven’t anything against Waddie or his father. If I could do a kindness to either one of them this minute, I would do it. But I don’t think a fellow must be a milksop in order to be a Christian. Idon’t think the gospel requires me to be a toady, or even to submit to injustice when I can help myself. I don’t ask to be revenged, or anything of that sort; I only desire to keep my head out of the dirt. I am going to try to be a man, whatever happens to me.”
“If you will only be a Christian, Wolfert, I can ask no more.”
“I will try to be; but do you think yourself, mother, that I ought to stand still and allow myself to be kicked?”
“You must not provoke your enemies.”
“I will not, if I can help it; but I think it is pretty hard to keep still when you are called a rascal and a villain. If you think I ought to confess that I helped blow up the canal boat when I did not, I will”—
I was going to say I would do it, but the words choked me, and I could not utter them.
“I don’t wish you to say so, Wolfert.”
“Then I am satisfied; and I will try to be gentle while they abuse me.”
At this moment Waddie Wimpleton bolted intothe room, without taking the trouble to announce himself beforehand.
“My father says you must come up and see him at once,” said the scion in his usual bullying and offensive tone.
“Where is he?” I asked, as quietly as I could speak, under the influence of my good mother’s lesson.
“At the house. Where do you suppose he is?” pouted Waddie. “And he says, if you don’t come, he’ll send a constable after you.”
“What does he want of me?”
“None of your business what he wants. All you’ve got to do is to go.”
“If I conclude to go, I will be there in a few moments,” I added.
“If you conclude to go!” exclaimed Waddie. “Well, that is cool! Do you mean to say you won’t go?”
“No, I don’t mean to say that.”
“Well, I want to know whether you are going or not,” demanded the scion.
“Shall I go, mother?” I asked, appealing to her.
“I think you had better go, Wolfert.”
“Then I will go.”
“You had better,” continued Waddie, who could not help bullying even after his point was gained.
The gentlemanly young man left the house, and my mother admonished me again not to be saucy, and to return good for evil. I hoped I should be able to do so. If I failed, it would not be for the want of a good intention. I walked up the road towards the mansion of the great man, thinking what I should say, and how I could best defend myself from the charge which was again to be urged against me. The situation looked very hopeless to me as I jumped over the fence in the grove, through which there was a path which led to the house of the colonel.
“Here he is,” said Waddie, accompanying the remark with a yell not unlike an Indian war-whoop.
I halted and turned around. Behind me stood the scion of the great house of Centreport, with a club in his hand, and attended by half a dozen of the meanest fellows of the Institute, armed in like manner. They had been concealed behind the fence;and of course I instantly concluded that the colonel’s message was a mere trick to decoy me into the grove.
“Do you wish to see me?” I asked as coolly as I could; and the circumstances under which we appeared to meet were not favorable to a frigid demeanor.
“Yes, I want to see you,” replied Waddie, moving up to me, and flourishing his stick. “You must settle my account before you see my governor.”
“What do you want of me?” I demanded, as I edged up to a big tree, which would protect me from an assault in the rear.
“You told my father I was the biggest liar in town,” blustered Waddie. “I’m going to give you the biggest licking for it you ever had in your life.”
“Go in, Waddie!” shouted Sam Peppers. “We’ll stand by, and see fair play.”
“Are you ready to take your licking?” bullied Waddie, who did not seem to be quite ready to commence the operation.
“No, I am not,” I answered, quietly; and I never spoke truer words in my life.
“You called me the biggest liar in town—didn’t you?”
“I did.”
“Have you anything to say about it?”
“I have,” I replied, still moved by the gentle words of gospel wisdom which my mother had spoken to me.
“If you have, say it quick.”
“I was angry when I spoke the words, and I am sorry for uttering them.”
“Ha, ha! humph!” yelled the half-dozen ruffians in concert.
“Get down on your knees and beg my pardon, then,” said Waddie.
“No, I will not do that,” I replied, firmly.