READY – MONEY MORTIBOY. A MATTER-OF-FACT STORY.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIII, Issue 1565, 11 August 1873, Page 4

READY - MONEY MORTIBOY. A MATTER-OF-FACT STORY.

Chapter XXlX.— Continued.

The Inexpressible sang. He was encored. He; sangjagain. They; wanted to encore him again. It was a charming pastoral, relating'how he, the I: J., had been walk- ; ing one. evening in the fields with an umbrella, and had there met a young lady ; belonging to the same exalted rank among • the aristocracy as himself ; how he had 1 held a conversation with her under his : umbrella ; how she had promised to meet ; him the next evening, 1 provided he came | with his umbrella ; how he had kept his j appointment, with his umbrella, and how , she had not. It was a comic song, acted ; with, an umbrella, so true to life that the | loonatics shrieked with laughter. When the laughter had quite siibsided, ■ it was Frank's turn to go on. Mr Leweson was below among theaudience, contemplating his patrons with an air of undisguised contempt. He was the first person- Frank saw in the mass of heads beneath and in front of him. For a moment, he trembled and lost his nerve. Only for a moment. As the piano struck up, he managed to see the words that were , swimming before him, and. plunged at .once into his ballad of the domestic affections. The chorus was more than admirableit was superb : an invisible chorus, in soft voices, murmuring the refrain like an echo — •''■■■ For his mother — for his mother— for his mother j" and the people cried at the pathos. . ' ' The loonatics," he heard the manager growling to himself. The applause was tremendous. He retired amid a general yell of "'core— 'core !" and ieappeared a moment after with flushed cheeks — for even the approbation of , " loonatics "is something— to sing " The : Death of Nelson." Frank went home that night satisfied, if not happy. He was a success at last — if only a success 'at three gnineas a-week. He prayed fevently that no old friends would come to detect him^. If only he could preserve his incognito, all would be well. ■■■:■ . ■ -.! He reckoned only on old friends. He had forgotten new acquaintances. • i The very next day, at dinner, after a general whispering at the upper end of the table, wMcli Mr Eddrup interpreted to mean an organized attack upon himself, Captain Hamilton turned to him, and openly congratulated him on his success ; the preceding evening at the North Lonl don Palace of Amusement. .

" Of course," said the gallant officer, " it was an unexpected pleasure to see, in the person of Signor Cipriano, a gentleman who does us the favour to dine at our humble table: " : :: ■ Frank reddened, and could find nothing to say. Mr Eddrup ansAvered for him. It was the first time the old man had ever been known to speak. li : I congraulate you," he said to Frank, "on the possession of a talent which enables you to take honest work. Believe me, sir, all work is honest." "Bravo, old Eddrup," shouted the medical student. " We ? ve made him speak at last. I always knew he was one of the most eloquent orators going. " . Frank turned with flushing cheeks, "At all events," he said, "it is better to sing at a public place than to — to — " "To what, sir ?" said the student.:. "Monkey!" escaped the captain's lips, in tones very clearly audible. Frank half rose from his seat, and turned towards the Captain. "Better than loafing about in billiardrooms, and on .surburban racecourses, Captain Hamilton." ',;•■'; There was a dead silence. "After dinner, sir," said Captain Hamilton, after a pause, "we must have v, Avord together." "And me too." said themedical student, with disregard for grammar. : "Stick to 'em," whispered Captain "Bowker. " Stick ioi 'em. They're only curs. I'll see fair play." After dinner, Captain Hamilton, none of the rest leaving the room, came up to Frank as he stood in the window. " Sir, you have insulted me." "Probably." . It was said caLnly, but Frank's lips were trembling. . . " Sir, you must give satisfaction." "Take it, then," shouted the young man, striking out with his left arm. . The Captain fell— and did not get up again., "Oh! gentlemen— gentlemen," cried Mrs Skimp, running before Frank — " don't fight— -oh ! pray don't fight ! He owes me for six weeks." " I said he was a loafer— a welshier. I know he is. I have seen him ducked in a horsepond before to-day," said Frank, i who was recovering his calmness. I The others all burst out laughing, except the medical student, who thought that perhaps his turn was coming next. The Captain rose slowly, but with dignity. .:•.•'■ ■•■.;•■• i "This," he said, " will not end here. You will hear from me to-morrow." He-was leaving the room, the medical student going -with him. " Stop;" said Frank, " There is something else to be said. Both yesterday and to-day — and,, l believe,;always— there has been a series of attacks, personal, insulting, andcadish, on an old gentleman of perfectly inoffensive habits— Mr. Eddrup. The two principal offenders are you two — Captain Hamilton and you — whatever your name is"— he pointed to the medical student. " Now, as I, for one, decline to belong to those who, wilfully insult an old man, I intend to take his quarrel upon myself. Whoever insults Mr Eddriip, henceforth msults me. Now, Captain Hamilton, and you . other, you may go the devil." They went out. Mrs Skimp was ;the only one- who regretted the incidents ■■-.'■' " Six weeks due from the Captain," she moaned, "and four from the other." " Sir," sai<2 Captain Bowker, wringing Frank's hand, "I'm ,proud of you. You're a good'fellow, sir— a good fellow. I wish I could do something for you." Frank laughed. . ' " You can," he said. "You can come and here me sing « The Death of Nelson, if you like." ' ■ the Lord I wiU," said the Captain; " I haven't been 1 to a place of Amusement for ten years. I'll go to-night."

Mr Eddrup said nothing. In his usual quiet and methodical manner, he stepped out of the room, and went upstairs. In many cheap boarding-houses there is a Pere Goriot, young or old. In very few is there a man to be found with courage to stand up and protect a butt from the assaults of his enemies. That night, Captain Hamilton went out, and came back no more. His effects, when examined, were found to consist of one trunk, locked — filled with stones wrapped in newspapers.

Chapter XXX,

The morning after his " first appearance," Frank awoke with strangely mingled f eelings of disgust and pride. Mr Leweson's loonatics had cheered him to the skies : that was something. On the other hand, to have been' cheered by loonatics was not in itself, after the first surprise, an exhilarating memory. He got up, cursing his fate. He .A^ent down to the Palace, after breakfast, in the gloomiest frame of mind. He found the same ballet rehearsal going on, only the second time it was not by any means so refreshing, having lost its novelty. Ballet girls, he was able to remark, romantic as the profession appears to outsiders, possess much of the commonplace nature of the most untutored feminine animal. He si eculated on their probable ambition, on the subjects which occupied their minds, and exercised their intellects. Subsequent investigation, followed by discovery, taught him in time that they, never do think at all, except about the means of getting dress, and have no intellects to exercise. Mr Leweson was in his office, but too busy to see him, only sending out a note that the performance of last night might be repeated if he, wished ;if not, he only had to select his own song. Frank felt quite' indifferent as to what songs he sung, and so was turning away to leave the place, when he saw the pretty girl to whom he been introduced the day before— the Divine Giulia. She Avas with her father, superintending the arrangement .of certain trapeze ropes for a new | feat they were to perform that evening. Her dress was changed. She had on the singular costume which was invented, I suppose, Avhen female gymnasts first came into fashion — something like the "page" dress of the .; stage. The Divine Giulia; was attired in Turkish trousers— which disappeared at. night — a crimson scarf, and what I have reason to believe is called chemisette. Herhair— brown, full, and wavy — Avas gathered up at the back of her head in such rich masses that no .chignon was necessary. Her father was also dressed in the uniform of his profession, but -without the spangles Avhich covered hira in the evening. With them was a little boy, the youthful Joey, also attired in the family costume. Frank stayed to look. "May I look on while you practise?" he asked, shaking hands Avith the acrobat and his daughter. : "Of course you may, Mr — Signor." " Signor Cipranio, father," said Patty. : "My name is Melliship," said Frank, reddening. "You. may help us," too," said the girl. " Set this mattress straight. So. Now lay this one along the tables. That is right. Ready father?" One of the men regularly employed stood at the bar, to set it sAvinging. They were to fly, one after the other— the girl first— across the house, swinging from one trapeze to the : next, and landing on a little platform at the end : a common feat enough, complicated by what the playbills called a summersault in " mid-air " by the father. ; / Silvani, pbre, was a stout, strong-built man, about forty years of age, or a little over. The muscles showed through his tight fleshing like rope bands "Fancy having to assist your governor in turning summersaults," thought It Avas a question whether the ropes should not be lenghted by a foot or so, .which Avpuld naturally increase the distance to be traversed, but lessen the danger. Mr Silver gave against the longer length. "But you may ; kill yourself/- said Frank, "for want of that foot." " I don't think so. After all, a man can only die once. Patty, my dear, you're not afraid ?" „'■•■■ She shook her head merrily, and mounted the ladder. Frank trembled as shestood at the top— slight, graceful, slender— poising herself like a bird on the wing. Her father mounted after her, and took another pair of ropes, standing behind her. She gave a sign : the man set the trapeze swinging, and Patty let herself go. The instant she touched the first bar, her father followed, catching it as it swung back when she left it. In a moment, they Avere standing side by side on a platform in front of the first circle. " Not quite steady enough. We must do it again." , " No, don't," , cried Frank—" don't. Surely once is enough." The girl laughed, and climbed again. Frank was standing on the mattress at the far end of the house, nearly under the landing-place— that is to say, close under the dress circle. The feat looked a great deal more dangerous in an empty theatre, by daylight, than Avhen the gas was lit. and the place crammed with spectators. Now, whether his nervousness communicated itself to Patty, I know not ; but when she , left the two rings, and should have caught the first bar, she mis- J sed it Frank rushed forward, and caught her by the shoulders; ! just as she would have fallen heavily on the mattresses.

The weight of a girl .of eighteen, though she be a trapezist in full training, is no small matter— particularly when the velocity of her flight is taken into consideration. The momentum of a body in motion is\ represented, in applied mathematics, as a quantity composed of the mass multiplied by the' velocity — which is, to the outer world, much as if one were to say pigs multiplied by candles. Frank fell back, with Patty upon him. She was up in an instant, unhurt. Her father, seeing the accident as he flew through the air, kept tight hold of his rings and swung backwards and forwards until he could safely alight. " Why, Patty," he cried; " I've never known, you do such a thing before." The girl was up iv a moment— shaken, but not hurt. Frank was not so fortunate. Her head butting full upon his nose caused that member to bleed: a prosaic ending to a deed of some herosim and skill— for he caught her like a cricket ball, only with the softest and most delicate

handling possible, just as if lie had always been practising the art of catching trapeze girls so as not to hurt them. Mr Leweson,- too, came running up. He was just in time to witness the accident. " Are you hurt, Patty — are you hurt V " Not a bit — not a bit :" her lips was trembling in the effort to suppress an hysterical sob. " I should have been if it had not been for Mr Melliship, though. We ought to ask him if he is hurt." Frank was holding his handkerchief to his nose, and only shook his head, to intimate that the damage done; was such as could easily be repaired. " Good Heavens .'"cried Mr Leweson ; "and you might have fl wn straight against the woodwork. Mr Melliship, : it Avas splendid— splendidly d ne, sir." "Well," said Mr Silv r, "as nobody's hurt, and we've got to do it to-night,^. l suppose we'd better try it again, Patty." "No— no," began F ank. "Young gentleman,, said Mr Silver, "please don't interfee with our j>rofessional work." " You are not too much shaken, Patty?" interposed the manager. ■ ; ' " Not shaken a bit. Now, father we'll do it this time." She ran up the ladder lightly -with her rings, flew through the air from bar to bar, and arrived at the landing stage with the precision of a bird, followed by her sire. . : " Now, there," said Mr Leweson, "is a splendid creature for you. Now you see why I wanted you to go on the trapeze with Giulia. Think of the Triple Act that I had in my •- mind— Signor Silvani holding the rings ; three bars, : each two feet lower than the other ; on the Signor's shoulders you would stand, Giulia on yours. The flight through the air : the first bar for Giulia, the second for you, the third for the father of the family. The most magnificent idea in acrobatism ever conceived. But there, if it can't be, it can't, of course. Now, then, Patty, hoist up the boy, and get your practice done." He walked aside, with his hand in Frank's arm, while the child went through his performances. "Mr Melliship," he said, abruptly, " you are a gentleman^ that is clear. I dare say an army man, now." "No — I told you — I am a Cambridge man." ; " Ah !— well. But there are different sorts of gentlemen, you see. Now, I think more goes to make a gentleman than knowing how to eat, and talk, and dress, and behave. I know the breed is rare ; but there is a sort of gentleman in this country who does not run after every pretty face he meets, fancing every pretty girl is Ms natural prey. I say there is that sort of gentleman in the world f and I should be very glad to think you belong to the kind, Mr Melliship. That's a long preamble ; but what I mean is this—excuse niy plain speaking— but I don't want my little Patty humbugged, and I Avon't have it, sir, I say— l won't have, it, by any one. There — there— l'm a fool."

"You can trust me," said Frank. " I am not likely, either to fall in love with her, or she with me." " Humph !" growled the man with the big head, looking curiously at him. "I don't know that. Well— well — I've said what I wanted to, and you are not angry '; so it is all right. Come and have some fizz, Patty, my girl. After your shake, it will do you good." : They all went to the manager's room, when he produced a bottle of champagne, which they discussed together. If Mr Leweson had a weakness, it was for champagne. Patty Silver shared it. Chahipagne was one thing connected with the department of the interior which Patty cared for. " Very odd," thought Frank. " Here's the manager giving champagne to a family of acrobats. Wonder if they always do it at music halls." I beleve, as a rule, that acrobats are not so well treated by managers. In this particular case there were reasons why Mr Leweson was especially land to his talented Silyani Family. It is a story Avhich hardly belongs to us. In the years gone by, there had been a forlorn, little Israelite boy, whose father and mother died in a far-off land, leaving him alone to the care of strangers. None of Ins own people were in that American town Then a Christian man, a blacksmith by trade, took him in, and housed him. The Christian man was Signor Silyani's father ; the little Jew was Mr Benjamin Leweson. Years Avent on. The Jew became a musician, a singer, a composer ; the Christians went down in the world ; and the whirlgig of time brought them together again— Harry Silver an acrobat — Benjamin Leweson the manager and part proprietor — principal shareholder—of the great North London Palace of Amusement. ■ All this is irrelevant, sa^e that it explains why the manager j>roduced his champagne, and why he gave Ins warnings to Frank in language so emphatic The family resumed the ordinary attire of humble British citizens, and Frank walked away with them. They lived in a small house, in one of those streets of gloomy small houses Avhich abound in Islington. Patty nodded good-bye to him, and ran up the steps with her brother, opening the door with a latch key. ' " Sir," said her father Avhen she had gone in, " you saved my daughter's life. What shall I say to thank you ?" ' ' Nothing. Why do you let her do it ?" "We must live. There is nothing dishonest in it. There is not hah* the irisk that you think about it. As for me, 1 feel almost as safe on the trapeze as you do on the pavement— and so does Patty, for that matter." "But— but— " Frank hesitated. "Immodest, you think it is. I don't know, sir— l don't know. There isn't a better girl than mine in all London, and I defy you to find one. No, I had a great exercise of my conscience before I let her go— only her gifts were too strong. It was a-flying in the face of Providence hot to let take a wayAvhich was opened, so to speak, unto her. I laid the matter before my friend, Mr Eddrup— " " Eddrup ! He that lives at Mrs Skimps, in Granyille-square ?" •' There is only one MrEddrup, young man. The Lord can't spare more than one at a time like him. Do you know him?" . "Hive in the same house. Tell me about him." . .- ■ "Ah, I think you had better find out about him. Well, I laid the matter before him, and he decided that if the girl liked, and I was always thereto look after her, there would be no harm. done, you live in the same hou^e as Mr Eddrulf

11 ' Pi

yoixng gentleman, you try to talk to him It was he that showed me the Light." Frank stared. "Before I knew Mr Eddrup, I was clean gone astray, and out of the way altogether. Now, I'm a differezit man. : So is Patty. Do you mean that Mr Eddrup has never said a word in season to you?" ' ' Not yet. I've only been in the house two days." " Then wait ; or — if you are not one of those who go about scoffing and sneering at good men — come with me on Sunday evening. But you're a gentleman, Mr Melliship. You go to the Establishment, I suppose." Frank was too much astonished to find religion in an acrobat to answer. "There is spiritual food of different kinds," Mr Silver went on. "L can't, get my nourishment in the Church of England. Mind yon, I'm not saying a word against! it. But I like freedom. I like to have i my say if I've got anything to say, and when my heart is full." "What denomination do . you belong to ?" asked Frank. "To none, sir, at present. Whyshould I? Every man is a priest in his own house. lam of the religion of Abraham.; First I was a Plymouth Brethren ; then I was a Primitive Methodist ;then:l was a Particular Baptists. I've tried the Huntingdon connection, and the Independents, and the Wesleyans ; but I don't like them. So I stay at home .and read the Book ; or else 1 go and hear Mr Eddrup on Sunday nights." ; . " Let me come and talk to yon," said Frank. " You shall tell me more about yourself, if you will. I promise, at least, not to scoff and sneer at good things. 7 ' ' :■,-.- --" I'm an illiterate man, sir, and you are a gentleman, with education and all that, I dare say. But come when you like." ; "Let me come next Sunday evening. You shall give me some tea," said. Frank, in his lordly way, as if he were inviting himself to a man's rooms at college. Mr Silver looked after him with a puzzled expression, and went up the steps ■ to dinner. " A gentleman," he said to Patty, "who doesn't swear and use bad' language ; who doesn't look as if he got drunk ;. who doesn't go about with a big pipe in his mouth ; who doesn't seem to mind talking about ., religious things. We don't get many such gentlemen at the Palace of Amusement, do us ?" . "But father," said Patty, laying the things out for dinner, " how does a gentleman come to be singing at the Palace ? Gentlemen don't sing, do they, in public places for money V " I never heard of it. I will ask Mr Eddrup. Here's dinner. Joey^ say grace." In these early days, Frank thought it best to go every morning to the Palace. This pleased Mr Leweson, who had conceived an immense admiration for his new tenor. He showed this by solemnly presenting him with a tenor song of his own composing, which Frank sung, after the fourth night, in place of that song of the domestic affections already quoted. It was not so popular ; but that, as Mr Leweson remarked, was clear proof of its worth. Had the loonatics applauded, he said he should have felt it his duty, as a musician, to put the song in the fire.— Once a- Week.