HOW THE SECOND FLOOR KEPT A DOG.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 8, Issue 606, 4 May 1865, Page 2

HOW THE SECOND FLOOR KEPT A DOG.

IFrom " Mrs. Lirriper'a Lodgings" in All the Year RoUnd.j Mrs. Lirriper rather objects to dogs, you say, Major? Very natural iv a London house. ShalJ I tell you why I hope she will not object to my dog, major? Help yourself. So I will. " Ab, but, to goodness, look you, will her bite?" exclaimed ah old Welshwoman, as she pulled her big hat further on her head, and looked askance at the big black dog which the man sitting next her had just hauled on to the coach-roof. '•' It isn't a her, and he won't bite," was the sententious reply of the doy's master. Not a pleasant-looking man, this ; tall and thin, whiskerless and sallow laced ; his head looking more like a bladder of lard surmounted by a soi u lob- wig, than anything humau : dressed all iv black, with-a stiff shiny hat, heaver gloves, and thick lustreless Wellington boots. He had enormous collars encircliug his face and growing peakedly out of a huge black silk cravat ; he had a black satin waistcoat and a silver watch-guard, and an umbrella in a shiny oilskin case, und a hard Slippery cold black cowskin bag, with J. M. upon it in staring white letters ; und he looked very much like what he was— Mi*. Johu Mortiboy, junior partner iv the house of Crump and Mortiboy, Manchester warehousemen, Friday-street, Cheapside, London. What brought Mr. John Mortiboy into Wales to spend his holiday, or what induced such a pillar of British commerce to encumber himself with a dog, is no busiuess of ours, Major. AU I know, is, that he had been set down at the Barberth-road station, had dragged the black cowskin bag from under his seat, had released the dog from a square bare receptacle which the animal had filled with howls, and. had mounted himself and his dog on to the top of the coach travelling toward the little watering-place of < Penethly. The dog, a big black retriever, lay on the coach-roof with his fine head erect, now gazing round the laudsoape, novv dropping his cold muzzle between his paws and taking snatches ot sleep. His master sat on the extreme edge of the seat, with one Wellington boot very much displayed and daugling in the air, and he, the Wellington boot's owner, apparently deriving much enjoyment from the suction of his umbrellahandle. He cast his big eyes round him now and then at certain portions of the scenery pointed out by the coachman, and expressed bis opiniou that it was "haudsome," bui boyond that never vouchsafed a word until the coach drew up at the Koyal Inn at Penethly, when he went at once tound to the stables and superintended the preparation of a meal for his dog, then ordered a " point steak well beat, potatoes, aud a pint of sherry," to be ready for him in an hour's time ; inquired the way to Albion Villa ; aud set off lor Albion Villa accompanied by his dog lleppo, I don't think Mr. John Mortiboy was much wanted at Albion Villa, nor that he was exactly the kind of man who would have suited its inmates. They were little conscious of the approach of his hard creaking boots, striding over the illpaved high-street of the little town, and were enjoying themselves after their own simple fashion. The blinds were down, the candles were lighted, and Mrs. Barford was pretending to be knitting, but really enjoying a placid sleep ; Ellen, her eldest daughter, was reading a magazine ; Kate, her youngest, was making some sketches under the observant tuition of a slim gentleman with a light beard, who apparently took the greatest interest in his pupil. Upon this little group the clang of the gate bell, the creaking of Mr. John Mortiboy's boots, and the strident tones of Mr. John Mortiboy's voice, fell uncomfortably. " Say Mr. John Mortiboy, of London," he exclaimed, while yet in the little passage outside. The startled Welsh servant having obeyed him, he followed close upon her heels into the room. "Servant, ladies I" said he, with a short circular nod, " servant, Mrs. Barford I Best to explain matters wholesale. You wonder who I am. You're sister-in-law to my uncle, Jonas Crump. I'm my uncle's partner iv Friday-street. Done too much . rather baked in the head — heavy consignments and sitting up late at night poring over figures. The doctor recommended change of air ; uncle Crump < recommended Penethly, and mentioned you. I came down here, and have taken the liberty of calling. Down, Beppo I Don't mind him, miss, he won't hurt you." " Oh I I'm not afraid of the dog /" said Ellen, with a slight start at Mr. Mortiboy's general manner, and at his calling her " Miss." Kate looked on in wonder, and the slim gentleman with the light beard couiided to the said beard, the word " Brute." " We're — very — pleased to see you, Mr. Mortiboy," said Mrs. Barford, " and— aud hope that you will soon recover your health in our quiet village. I'm sure anything that we can — can do — my daughters, Mi.-s Ellen, Miss Kate Barford ; a friend of ours, Mr. Sandham— we shall be most happy to " . As Mrs. Barford's voice died away in the contemplation of the happiness before her, the young ladies and Mr. Sandham bowed, and Mr. Mortiboy favoured them with a series of short nods. Then he said, abruptly turning to the slim gentleman, "In the army, sir?" " No, sir, I am not I" retorted the slim-gentle-man, with great promptitude. " Beg pardon, no offence 1 Volunteer, perhaps ? Hair, you know, beard, et ecetera, made me think you were in the military live. Many young gents nosv-a-days are volunteers 1" " Mr. Sandham is an artist," said Mrs. Barford, interposing in dread lest there should be an outbreak. "Oh ah 1" said Mr. Mortiboy. " Bad trade that — demand not equal to supply, is it ? Too many hands employed ; barely bread and cheese, I'm told, for auy but the top-sawyers." " Sir I" said Mr. Sandham, in a loud tone of voice, and fiercely. " Edward I" said Miss Kate, beneath her breath, appealingly. " Won't you take some refreshment, Mr, Mortiboy?" asked Mrs. Barford, warningly, '• We're just going to supper." " No, thank you, mam," said Mr. Mortiboy. " I've a steak aud potatoes waiting for me at the Royal, after which I shall turn in at once, as I'm done up by my journey. Good night, ladies all 1 Good night to you, sir? I'll look you up tomorrow morning, and if any of you want to go for a turn, I shall be proud to beau you about. Oood night I" < And beckoning his dog, Mr. Mortiboy took hiß departure. Scarcely had the door closed behind him, than tbe long-restrained comments began. • " A pleasant visitor uncle Crump has sent us, mamma I" said Kate, '! Uncle Crump, indeed I Who never sent us anything before, except a five-pound note when poor papa died I" exclaimed Ellen. " But you won'i, will you, mamma, you won't be put upon iv thiß way ? You won't have this horrid man running in and out at all times and seasons, and " "Aud beau-ing us about? the vulgar wretch I" interrupted Kat< , "My deai-Bl my dears I" said Mrs. Barford, '* it strikes me that some one has been teaching you yery strong language."

■c "Not I, Mrs. Barford," /said Mr. Sandham. (j "absolve me from that; though I mußt own that if ever I saw a man who wanted kicking — " " " Nonsense, Mr. Sandham. This gentleman d is imbued with certain London peculiarities, no d doubt ; but I dare say there's good in him. c There must be, or he would never be the partner of such an upright man as Jonas Crump." " Upright man 1 Pooh !" said Kate ; and then 2" the supper came in, aud the subject dropped. >, At nine o'clock next morning, just as the c breakfast-things had been cleared, and Mrs. , Barford was going through her usual interview with the cook, Kate, who was sitting in the " little bay-window, started and exclaimed : " Oh, !. mamma I Here's this horrid man 1" Eilen peeped over her shoulder, and said, " I '' think he looks, if possible, more dreadful by daylight than by candlelight 1" Mr. John Mortiboy, utterly unconscious of the effect he was producing, unlatcbed the gardengate, and then for the first time looking up nodded shortly and familiarly at the sisters. " How . do, young ladies ;" he called from the garden. " Fine morning this ; fresh and all that sort of thing ! I feel better already. When a London man's a little overdone, nothing sets him up so soon as a sniff of the briny." [ And then he took a great gulp, as if to swallow 1 as much fresh air as possible, and entered the ' house, followed by his dog. , "Did you hear him, Nelly?" asked Kate. "The wretch 1 I'm sure /won't be seen walking with him, in his nasty black clothes, like an un--1 dei-taker ! " ' '• He has a chimney-pot hat on, and has brought his umbrella ! Fancy! At the sea?" said Ellen. " Good morning, Mrs. Barford," said Mr. Mortiboy ; "domestio arrangements, eh? I understand. If you've no objection, I'll do myself the pleasure of cutting my mutton with you to-day. And mutton it will be, I suppose I Can't get any beef here, I understand, ex-.'cpt on Friday, which is killing-day for the barracks. Bad arrangement that ; wants alteration." *' Hadn't you bettor alter it then, Mr. Mortiboy," said Kate ; "superintending the butcher will be a pleasant way of spending your holiday." "Joking, miss, eh? Well, I don't mind. But ain't you coming out, young ladies, for a mouthful of air. I suppose the old lady don't move so early." "If you refer to mamma," said Ellen, frigidly, " she never goes out until just before dinner." '• Ah, 1 thought not. Old folks must wait until the air is what they call warmed by the suu. But that won't hinder our taking a turn, I suppose. Where's Whiskeraudos ? " " If, as I presume, you mean Mr. Sandham, the gentleman who was here last night, I cannot inform you, Mr. Mortiboy," said Kate, with a very flushed face, and a slightly trembling voice ; " but I would advise you not to. let him hear you joking about him, as he is rather quick-tempered." "Ob, indeed?" exclaimed Mr. Mortiboy, "a fire-eater is he ? Well, there's no duelling now, you know. Any nonsense of that sort, — give a man in charge of a policeman, or summons him before a magistrate, and get him bound over." Just at this moment Mrs. Barford came in and told the girls to get their hats on, and show Mr. Mortiboy the prettiest spots in the village, the Castle Hill, the ruined Abbey, and the Smuggler's Leap. To these places they went, Mr. Mortiboy discoursing the whole way of the badness of the roads, aud of what improvements might be made if they hud a properly constituted local board of health at Penethly ; declaring that the cries of '• Milford oysters," and " fresh haddick," were entirely unconstitutional and illegal, as no one had a right to shout in the public streets ; that there ought to be proper stands for the cardrivers ; and that a regular police supervision was urgently demanded. He did not think much of the Abbey ruins, and he laughed in scorn at the story of the Smuggler's Leap, As they were on their homeward way, coming round the Castlehill, they met Mr. Sandham, very ruddy and fresh, and shiny, and with a couple of towels in his hand. He took off his wide-awake as he approached the ladies, and bowed slightly to Mr. Mortiboy. " Ah, Mr. Sandham I" said Ellen, with an admonitory linger, " you have been bathing again by St. Catherine's Rock, after all the warning we gave you I" " My dear Ellen," interposed Kate with a petulant air, "how can you? If Mr. Sandham chooses to risk his life after wbat he has been told, it surely is nothing to us I" "Now, Miss Kate, Miss Kate, that's not fair i" said Saudhaui ; " you know," he added, dropping his voice, " that every word of yours would have weight with me, but the tide was slack this morning, and really there is no other place where a swimmer can really enjoy a bath. You are a swimmer, Mr. Mortiboy ?" " Yes, sir," replied that gentleman. " Yes, sir, I can manage it. I've had lessons at Peerless Pool aud the Holborn Baths, and can keep up well enough. But I don't like it. I dou't see much fun in what are absurdly called the ' manly exercises.' Twenty years ago, young men used to like driving coaches ; now I can't conceive duller work than holding a bunch of thick leather reins in your hand, steering four. tired horses, silting on a hard seat, and listening to the conversation of an uneducated coachman. I never ride, because 1 hate bumping up and down on a hard saddle and rubbing the skiu off my body ; I never play cricket, because in the hot weather I like to keep quiet and cool, and uot toil iv the sun ; and as to going out shooting and stumping over miles of stubble in September, I look upon that as the pursuit of a maniac I I am a practical man I" " You are indeed 1" said Kate, as she dropped gradually behind with Mr. Sandham, and left the practical man and her sister Ellen to lead the way to the house. It is unnecessary to recount the sayings and doings of Mr. Mortiboy during the next few days. It is enough that he spent the greater portion of them with the Barford family, and that he so elaborated his ideas of practicality, ' and so inveighed against everything that was not absolutely useful in a mercantile point of view — including, in a measure, art, poetry, music, and the domestic affections — that he incurred the unmitigated hawed of the young ladies, and even fell to '/.ei'o in Mrs. Barford's estimation. It was about the fifth morning after the intrus ion of this utterly incongruous element into the sooiety of Albiou Villa, that Ellen and Kate strolled out immediately after breakfast with the 1 view of escaping the expected visit of their persecutor, and made their way to the Castle Hill, ! The night had been tempestuous, and from their 1 window they had noticed that a heavy sea was ' running : they consequently were no tsurprised to . see a little group of people gathered on the heights looking towards St. Catherine's Rock ; a huge mass of granite surmounted by an old ruin, round which, when it was insulated at high water, the tide always swept with peculiar and dangerous 1 swirl. But when they joined the group, among ' which was several of their friends, they found that the concourse were regarding, with interest mingled with fright, the movements of a swim--1 mer who had rounded the extremity of Catherine's, and was seen making for the shore. " He'll never do it," said Captain Calthorp, an old half-pay dragoon, who had been tempted by the oheapnuss of Penethly to pitch his tent there ; " he'll never do it, by Jove 1 Yes I Well struggled, sir ; he made a point there— hold on, now, and he's in." " Who is it ?" asked the ooast-guard lieutenant, who was standing by. " Any one we know ?" " I can't tell at this distanoe I" said Captain Calthorp, " though it looks like • stay 1 There's oue of your look-out men on tho height, with a glass ; give him a hail 1" i " Yoho 1 Morgan I" cried the lieutenant. " Ay, i ay, sir 1" was the man's ready response, though the glass was never moved. " Bring that glass down here I" " Ay, ay, Bir ;" and in two minutes the old coast-guard-man was by his officer's side. He saluted and handed the glass, but aB he did so he said, in an under tone, " God help the gentle- : man, he's done ! Ah look you now, poor thing, nothing can save him,"

Whatl (cries the lieutenant), clapping the glass to his eye. By Jove, you're right 1 he's in a bad way, and it- why it is the artist chap, that friend of the Barf ords' l Who ? (screamed Kate), rushing up at the* moment. Who did you .say, Mr. Lawford ? Oh 1 for God's sake, save him. Save him I Mr. Lawford. Save him, Captain Calthorp I My dear young lady, (said the last named gentleman), I sure Lawford didn't know you were here, or he wouldn't ■'"" This is no time for ceremony, Captain Calthorp, (said Ellen) ; for Heaven's sake, let some effort be made to save my sister's to save Mr. Sandham l | My dear Miss Barford, (said Lawford), who had been whispering with Morgan, I fear no mortal aid can avail the poor dear fellow now. Before we could descend the rock, and launch a boat, with the tide ebbing at the rate it now is Hur would have been swep' round Catherine's, and away out to sea I said Morgan. Oh, help him I (screamed Kate). Oh, how cruel I how cowardly I Oh, help him, Mr. Lawford I She lifted up her hands piteously to the lieutenant. Oh, Mr. Mortiboy, she exclaimed, as - that gentleman came slowly sauntering up the hill with Beppo at his heels, for God's sake, save Mr. Sandham! Save— Mr. Sandham — my dear young lady ; I don't exactly comprehend t began Mr. Mortiboy, looking vaguely in the direction of her outstretch.cd hand ; then suddenly, Good Lord I is that his head ? There I Down there I "Yes l " whispered Ellen Barford ; "yes 1 They say he will be whirled away before a boat could be launched— they say he is lost now 1 " '• Not at all I Not yet, at least 1 " replied Mortiboy, excited, but without much perceptible alteration of manner. " While there's life- there's hope, you know, Miss 8., and even yet we may Here, Beppo 1 Hi, man I hi I Good boy 1 " The dog came, leaping round his master. "Hi 1 ho I Not here I There I there I Look, boy I" catching him by tbo collar, and pointing down to where Sandham's head was a mere speck on the water. " Look, man I Look, old boy I He sees it, by Jove I " as the dog uttered a low growl, and became restive, •' In old man I In, fine fellow 1 In, Beppo 1 Look I Noble dog, in he goes I " In he went, with one bound over the low stone wall, then quickly down the sloping slippery boulders, then with a plunge into the sea — lost sight of for a moment, rising to view again, paddling off straight for the drowning man. Tbe swift current whirled him in eddies here and there, but still the bvave dog persevered ; the spectators held their breath, as they saw him bearing dowu upon the black speck, which was every second growing smaller and smaller, and receding further and further from the land. But the dog made grand progress, the strong sucking under-current helped him, .and he- arrived at Sandham's side just in time foi* the drowning man to fling his arm round the dog's neck, and to feel his shoulder seized by the dog's teeth. They saw this from the shore, and then Kate Barford > fainted. But tbe work was only half done : the dog turned round, and battled bravely for the shore, but he was encumbered by his burden, and now the current was against him. He strove and strove, but the way he made was small, and every foot was gained with intense struggling aud exertion. "By Jovel He'll never do it,", cried Lieutenant Lawford, with the glass at his eye ; and, as he said the words, old Morgan, the pre-ventive-man, added through his teeth, "Hur must be helped, at any cost," and sped away down the rock, shaping his course to where a : small pleasure-boat lay high and dry on the sand. " I'm with you, governor," cried John Mortiboy ; . " I can't feather, but I pull a strongish oar ; " and he followed the old man as best he could. The boat was reached, and pushed by main force to the water's edge, where Mortiboy entered it, and old Morgan ran in, waist-deep, to give it the starting shove, and then leaped in to join his comrade. On they pulled, Morgan with a measured steady stroke, Mortiboy with fevered strong jerks that sent the boat's head now to the right, now to the left : when old Morgan, suddenly looking over his shoulder, called out " Hur's done 1 Hur's sinking now, both on 'era 1 " Mortiboy looked round too ; they were still some ten boats' length from the objects of their pursuit, and both dog and man were vanishing. " Not yet 1 " cried he; and in an instant he had torn off the black coat and the Wellington boots, and had flung himself, as nobly as his own dog, into the sea. A very few strokes brought him to Sandham ; he seized him by the hair of his head, and battled bravely with the waves : the dog recognising his master, seemed to take fresh courage, and the trio floated until old Morgan dragged them in one hy one into the boat. When they reached the shore, all Penethly was on the beach, cheering with all its might : they lifted out Mr. Sandham, insensible but likely to recover, and they administered a very stiff glass of grog to Mr. Mortiboy, who was shivering like an asperileaf, but who received even greater warmth from a warm pressure of Ellen Barford 's hand, and a whispered " God bless you,. Mr. Mortiboy 1" than from the grog— though he took that, too, like a man whom it comforted. As for Beppo, I don't know what tbe fishing population would ,not have done for him, but that he positively refused to stir from Sandham's side. As they carried the artist up to his lodgings the dog buried his nose in the pendent hand, and did not leave until he had seen his charge safely placed in bed. Mr. Sandham was, in his own words, "All right" next day but Mr. Mortiboy, unaccustomed to exercise and damp, fell ill, and was confined to his bed for several weeks : — would have never left it, I think, but for the care and attention of his three nurses from Albion Villa. Of these, Ellen was the most constant and the most regular, and the patient always seemed better under her care, He is making progress, Kate, (she said one night to her sister.) He is a good patient. You know, as he would say himself, he is so practical. God bless his practicality, Nell, said Kate, with tears in her eyes. Think what it did for us I Three years have passed since then, Major, and a family group is going to be gathered in a large square room built as a kind of excrescence to a very pretty villa in Keusington. This is to be the studio of Mr. Sandham, A. R. A. But as the mortar and plaster are extraordinarily slow in drying (when were they not, Major ?), Mr. Sandham, A. R. A., come up from Wales with the family group, to take possession, has established the group at the excellent Lodgings of the excellent Mrs. Lirriper, and he, the owner of said studio, is smoking a pipe with a worthy Major, and smoothing with his slippered foot the rough curly hack of his dog Beppo, who is stretched in front of the fire. Mrs. Sandham, formerly Kate Barford, is working at a baby's frock, and asking now and then the advice of her sister, who is frilling a little cap. (There they are, Major. Don't tell them that I said so.) " How late John is to-night, Ellen," says old Mrs. Barford, from her place in the chimneycorner. (You hear her, Major ?) " Always at Christmas-time, dear mother,' says Ellen. (There she is, Major.) "Since unole Crump's death, you know, John's business is trebled, and it all hangs on him, dear old fellow 1 He will bo late for supper, Nelly, says Sandham. (—Excuse me, Major.) No he wont, Ned I cries a cheery voice at the door as John Mortiboy appears ; no he wont, He's never late for anything good. Don't you know, he's a practical man ? —Mr. Mortiboy, Major Jackman, Major, Mr. | Mortiboy. i ■-■---■"■"— *^ ___ -