The Parent's Assistant Part 34

'Well, then, thank you, sir,' said Hal; 'I think I had better have the uniform, because, if I have not the uniform, now, directly, it will be of no use to me, as the archery meeting is the week after next, you know; and, as to the greatcoat, perhaps between this time and the _very_ cold weather, which, perhaps, won't be till Christmas, papa will buy a greatcoat for me; and I'll ask mamma to give me some pocket-money to give away, and she will, perhaps.' To all this conclusive, conditional reasoning, which depended upon the word _perhaps_, three times repeated, Mr. Gresham made no reply; but he immediately bought the uniform for Hal, and desired that it should be sent to Lady Diana Sweepstakes' son's tailor, to be made up. The measure of Hal's happiness was now complete.

'And how am I to lay out the three guineas for you, Ben?' said Mr.

Gresham; 'speak, what do you wish for first?' 'A greatcoat, uncle, if you please.' Mr. Gresham bought the coat; and, after it was paid for, five-and-twenty s.h.i.+llings of Ben's three guineas remained. 'What next, my boy?' said his uncle. 'Arrows, uncle, if you please; three arrows.'

'My dear, I promised you a bow and arrows.' 'No, uncle, you only said a bow.' 'Well, I meant a bow and arrows. I'm glad you are so exact, however. It is better to claim less than more than what is promised. The three arrows you shall have. But go on; how shall I dispose of these five-and-twenty s.h.i.+llings for you?' 'In clothes, if you will be so good, uncle, for that poor boy who has the great black patch on his eye.'

'I always believed,' said Mr. Gresham, shaking hands with Ben, 'that economy and generosity were the best friends, instead of being enemies, as some silly, extravagant people would have us think them. Choose the poor, blind boy's coat, my dear nephew, and pay for it. There's no occasion for my praising you about the matter. Your best reward is in your own mind, child; and you want no other, or I'm mistaken. Now, jump into the coach, boys, and let's be off. We shall be late, I'm afraid,'

continued he, as the coach drove on; 'but I must let you stop, Ben, with your goods, at the poor boy's door.'

When they came to the house, Mr. Gresham opened the coach door, and Ben jumped out with his parcel under his arm.

'Stay, stay! you must take me with you,' said his pleased uncle; 'I like to see people made happy as well as you do.' 'And so do I, too,' said Hal; 'let me come with you. I almost wish my uniform was not gone to the tailor's, so I do.' And when he saw the look of delight and grat.i.tude with which the poor boy received the clothes which Ben gave him, and when he heard the mother and children thank him, Hal sighed, and said, 'Well, I hope mamma will give me some more pocket-money soon.'

Upon his return home, however, the sight of the _famous_ bow and arrow, which Lady Diana Sweepstakes had sent him, recalled to his imagination all the joys of his green and white uniform; and he no longer wished that it had not been sent to the tailor's. 'But I don't understand, Cousin Hal,' said little Patty, 'why you call this bow a _famous_ bow.

You say _famous_ very often; and I don't know exactly what it means; a _famous_ uniform--_famous_ doings. I remember you said there are to be _famous_ doings, the first of September, upon the Downs. What does _famous_ mean?' 'Oh, why, _famous_ means--now, don't you know what _famous_ means? It means--it is a word that people say--it is the fas.h.i.+on to say it--it means--it means _famous_.' Patty laughed, and said, '_This_ does not explain it to me.'

'No,' said Hal, 'nor can it be explained: if you don't understand it, that's not my fault. Everybody but little children, I suppose, understands it; but there's no explaining _those sort_ of words, if you don't _take them_ at once. There's to be _famous_ doings upon the Downs, the first of September; that is grand, fine. In short, what does it signify talking any longer, Patty, about the matter? Give me my bow, for I must go out upon the Downs and practise.'

Ben accompanied him with the bow and the three arrows which his uncle had now given to him; and, every day, these two boys went out upon the Downs and practised shooting with indefatigable perseverance. Where equal pains are taken, success is usually found to be pretty nearly equal. Our two archers, by constant practice, became expert marksmen; and before the day of trial, they were so exactly matched in point of dexterity, that it was scarcely possible to decide which was superior.

The long-expected 1st of September at length arrived. 'What sort of a day is it?' was the first question that was asked by Hal and Ben the moment that they wakened. The sun shone bright, but there was a sharp and high wind. 'Ha!' said Ben, 'I shall be glad of my good greatcoat to-day; for I've a notion it will be rather cold upon the Downs, especially when we are standing still, as we must, whilst all the people are shooting.' 'Oh, never mind! I don't think I shall feel it cold at all,' said Hal, as he dressed himself in his new green and white uniform; and he viewed himself with much complacency.

'Good morning to you, uncle; how do you do?' said he, in a voice of exultation, when he entered the breakfast-room. How do you do? seemed rather to mean 'How do you like me in my uniform?' And his uncle's cool 'Very well, I thank you, Hal,' disappointed him, as it seemed only to say, 'Your uniform makes no difference in my opinion of you.'

Even little Patty went on eating her breakfast much as usual, and talked of the pleasure of walking with her father to the Downs, and of all the little things which interested her; so that Hal's epaulettes were not the princ.i.p.al object in any one's imagination but his own.

'Papa,' said Patty, 'as we go up the hill where there is so much red mud, I must take care to pick my way nicely; and I must hold up my frock, as you desired me, and, perhaps, you will be so good, if I am not troublesome, to lift me over the very bad place where are no stepping-stones. My ankle is entirely well, and I'm glad of that, or else I should not be able to walk so far as the Downs. How good you were to me, Ben, when I was in pain the day I sprained my ankle! You played at jack straws and at cat's cradle with me. Oh, that puts me in mind--here are your gloves which I asked you that night to let me mend.

I've been a great while about them; but are not they very neatly mended, papa? Look at the sewing.'

'I am not a very good judge of sewing, my dear little girl,' said Mr.

Gresham, examining the work with a close and scrupulous eye; 'but, in my opinion, here is one st.i.tch that is rather too long. The white teeth are not quite even.' 'Oh, papa, I'll take out that long tooth in a minute,'

said Patty, laughing; 'I did not think that you would observe it so soon.'

'I would not have you trust to my blindness,' said her father, stroking her head fondly; 'I observe everything. I observe, for instance, that you are a grateful little girl, and that you are glad to be of use to those who have been kind to you; and for this I forgive you the long st.i.tch.' 'But it's out, it's out, papa,' said Patty; 'and the next time your gloves want mending, Ben, I'll mend them better.'

'They are very nice, I think,' said Ben, drawing them on; 'and I am much obliged to you. I was just wis.h.i.+ng I had a pair of gloves to keep my fingers warm to-day, for I never can shoot well when my hands are benumbed. Look, Hal; you know how ragged these gloves were; you said they were good for nothing but to throw away; now look, there's not a hole in them,' said he, spreading his fingers.

'Now, is it not very extraordinary,' said Hal to himself, 'that they should go on so long talking about an old pair of gloves, without saying scarcely a word about my new uniform? Well, the young Sweepstakes and Lady Diana will talk enough about it; that's one comfort. Is not it time to think of setting out, sir?' said Hal to his uncle. 'The company, you know, are to meet at the Ostrich at twelve, and the race to begin at one, and Lady Diana's horses, I know, were ordered to be at the door at ten.'

Mr. Stephen, the butler, here interrupted the hurrying young gentleman in his calculations. 'There's a poor lad, sir, below, with a great black patch on his right eye, who is come from Bristol, and wants to speak a word with the young gentlemen, if you please. I told him they were just going out with you; but he says he won't detain them more than half a minute.'

'Show him up, show him up,' said Mr. Gresham.

'But, I suppose,' said Hal, with a sigh, 'that Stephen mistook, when he said the young _gentlemen_; he only wants to see Ben, I daresay; I'm sure he has no reason to want to see me.'

'Here he comes--O Ben, he is dressed in the new coat you gave him,'

whispered Hal, who was really a good-natured boy, though extravagant.

'How much better he looks than he did in the ragged coat! Ah! he looked at you first, Ben--and well he may!'

The boy bowed, without any cringing civility, but with an open, decent freedom in his manner, which expressed that he had been obliged, but that he knew his young benefactor was not thinking of the obligation.

He made as little distinction as possible between his bows to the two cousins.

'As I was sent with a message, by the clerk of our parish, to Redland chapel out on the Downs, to-day, sir,' said he to Mr. Gresham, 'knowing your house lay in my way, my mother, sir, bid me call, and make bold to offer the young gentlemen two little worsted b.a.l.l.s that she has worked for them,' continued the lad, pulling out of his pocket two worsted b.a.l.l.s worked in green and orange-coloured stripes. 'They are but poor things, sir, she bid me say, to look at; but, considering she has but one hand to work with, and _that_ her left hand, you'll not despise 'em, we hopes.' He held the b.a.l.l.s to Ben and Hal. 'They are both alike, gentlemen,' said he. 'If you'll be pleased to take 'em, they're better than they look, for they bound higher than your head. I cut the cork round for the inside myself, which was all I could do.'

'They are nice b.a.l.l.s, indeed: we are much obliged to you,' said the boys as they received them, and they proved them immediately. The b.a.l.l.s struck the floor with a delightful sound, and rebounded higher than Mr.

Gresham's head. Little Patty clapped her hands joyfully. But now a thundering double rap at the door was heard.

'The Master Sweepstakes, sir,' said Stephen, 'are come for Master Hal.

They say that all the young gentlemen who have archery uniforms are to walk together, in a body, I think they say, sir; and they are to parade along the Well Walk, they desired me to say, sir, with a drum and fife, and so up the hill by Prince's Place, and all to go upon the Downs together, to the place of meeting. I am not sure I'm right, sir; for both the young gentlemen spoke at once, and the wind is very high at the street door; so that I could not well make out all they said; but I believe this is the sense of it.'

'Yes, yes,' said Hal eagerly, 'it's all right. I know that is just what was settled the day I dined at Lady Diana's; and Lady Diana and a great party of gentlemen are to ride----'

'Well, that is nothing to the purpose,' interrupted Mr. Gresham. 'Don't keep these Master Sweepstakes waiting. Decide--do you choose to go with them or with us?' 'Sir--uncle--sir, you know, since all the _uniforms_ agreed to go together----' 'Off with you, then, Mr. Uniform, if you mean to go,' said Mr. Gresham.

Hal ran downstairs in such a hurry that he forgot his bow and arrows.

Ben discovered this when he went to fetch his own; and the lad from Bristol, who had been ordered by Mr. Gresham to eat his breakfast before he proceeded to Redland Chapel, heard Ben talking about his cousin's bow and arrows. 'I know,' said Ben, 'he will be sorry not to have his bow with him, because here are the green knots tied to it, to match his c.o.c.kade; and he said that the boys were all to carry their bows, as part of the show.'

'If you'll give me leave, sir,' said the poor Bristol lad, 'I shall have plenty of time; and I'll run down to the Well Walk after the young gentleman, and take him his bow and arrows.'

'Will you? I shall be much obliged to you,' said Ben; and away went the boy with the bow that was ornamented with green ribands.

The public walk leading to the Wells was full of company. The windows of all the houses in St. Vincent's Parade were crowded with well-dressed ladies, who were looking out in expectation of the archery procession.

Parties of gentlemen and ladies, and a motley crowd of spectators, were seen moving backwards and forwards, under the rocks, on the opposite side of the water. A barge, with coloured streamers flying, was waiting to take up a party who were going upon the water. The bargemen rested upon their oars, and gazed with broad face of curiosity upon the busy scene that appeared upon the public walk.

The archers and archeresses were now drawn up on the flags under the semicircular piazza just before Mrs. Yearsley's library. A little band of children, who had been mustered by Lady Diana Sweepstakes' _spirited exertions_, closed the procession. They were now all in readiness. The drummer only waited for her ladys.h.i.+p's signal; and the archers' corps only waited for her ladys.h.i.+p's word of command to march.

'Where are your bow and arrows, my little man?' said her ladys.h.i.+p to Hal, as she reviewed her Lilliputian regiment. 'You can't march, man, without your arms?'

Hal had despatched a messenger for his forgotten bow, but the messenger returned not. He looked from side to side in great distress--'Oh, there's my bow coming, I declare!' cried he; 'look, I see the bow and the ribands. Look now, between the trees, Charles Sweepstakes, on the Hotwell Walk; it is coming!' 'But you've kept us all waiting a confounded time,' said his impatient friend. 'It is that good-natured poor fellow from Bristol, I protest, that has brought it me; I'm sure I don't deserve it from him,' said Hal to himself, when he saw the lad with the black patch on his eye running, quite out of breath, towards him, with his bow and arrows.

'Fall back, my good friend--fall back,' said the military lady, as soon as he had delivered the bow to Hal; 'I mean, stand out of the way, for your great patch cuts no figure amongst us. Don't follow so close, now, as if you belonged to us, pray.'

The poor boy had no ambition to partake the triumph; he _fell back_ as soon as he understood the meaning of the lady's words. The drum beat, the fife played, the archers marched, the spectators admired. Hal stepped proudly, and felt as if the eyes of the whole universe were upon his epaulettes, or upon the facings of his uniform; whilst all the time he was considered only as part of a show.

The walk appeared much shorter than usual, and he was extremely sorry that Lady Diana, when they were half-way up the hill leading to Prince's Place, mounted her horse, because the road was dirty, and all the gentlemen and ladies who accompanied her followed her example.

'We can leave the children to walk, you know,' said she to the gentleman who helped her to mount her horse. 'I must call to some of them, though, and leave orders where they are to _join_.'

She beckoned: and Hal, who was foremost, and proud to show his alacrity, ran on to receive her ladys.h.i.+p's orders. Now, as we have before observed, it was a sharp and windy day; and though Lady Diana Sweepstakes was actually speaking to him, and looking at him, he could not prevent his nose from wanting to be blowed: he pulled out his handkerchief and out rolled the new ball which had been given to him just before he left home, and which, according to his usual careless habits, he had stuffed into his pocket in his hurry. 'Oh, my new ball!'

cried he, as he ran after it. As he stopped to pick it up, he let go his hat, which he had hitherto held on with anxious care; for the hat, though it had a fine green and white c.o.c.kade, had no band or string round it. The string, as we may recollect, our wasteful hero had used in spinning his top. The hat was too large for his head without this band; a sudden gust of wind blew it off. Lady Diana's horse started and reared. She was a _famous_ horsewoman, and sat him to the admiration of all beholders; but there was a puddle of red clay and water in this spot, and her ladys.h.i.+p's uniform habit was a sufferer by the accident.

'Careless brat!' said she, 'why can't he keep his hat upon his head?' In the meantime, the wind blew the hat down the hill, and Hal ran after it amidst the laughter of his kind friends, the young Sweepstakes, and the rest of the little regiment. The hat was lodged, at length, upon a bank.

Hal pursued it: he thought this bank was hard, but, alas! the moment he set his foot upon it the foot sank. He tried to draw it back; his other foot slipped, and he fell prostrate, in his green and white uniform, into the treacherous bed of red mud. His companions, who had halted upon the top of the hill, stood laughing spectators of his misfortune.

It happened that the poor boy with the black patch upon his eye, who had been ordered by Lady Diana to '_fall back_,' and to '_keep at a distance_' was now coming up the hill; and the moment he saw our fallen hero, he hastened to his a.s.sistance. He dragged poor Hal, who was a deplorable spectacle, out of the red mud. The obliging mistress of a lodging-house, as soon as she understood that the young gentleman was nephew to Mr. Gresham, to whom she had formerly let her house, received Hal, covered as he was with dirt.

The poor Bristol lad hastened to Mr. Gresham's for clean stockings and shoes for Hal. He was willing to give up his uniform: it was rubbed and rubbed, and a spot here and there was washed out; and he kept continually repeating,--'When it's dry it will all brush off--when it's dry it will all brush off, won't it?' But soon the fear of being too late at the archery meeting began to balance the dread of appearing in his stained habiliments; and he now as anxiously repeated, whilst the woman held the wet coat to the fire, 'Oh, I shall be too late; indeed, I shall be too late; make haste; it will never dry; hold it nearer--nearer to the fire. I shall lose my turn to shoot; oh, give me the coat; I don't mind how it is, if I can but get it on.'

Holding it nearer and nearer to the fire dried it quickly, to be sure; but it shrank it also, so that it was no easy matter to get the coat on again. However, Hal, who did not see the red splashes, which, in spite of all these operations, were too visible upon his shoulders, and upon the skirts of his white coat behind, was pretty well satisfied to observe that there was not one spot upon the facings. 'n.o.body,' said he, 'will take notice of my coat behind, I daresay. I think it looks as smart almost as ever!'--and under this persuasion our young archer resumed his bow--his bow with green ribands, now no more!--and he pursued his way to the Downs.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _He dragged poor Hal out of the red mud._]