"Oh! I know him,--or, rather, I know of him."
"What and how, Dinah? I am very curious to hear this."
"Simply, that while young Conyers was at the cottage he showed me a letter from that gentleman, asking him in the Admiral"s name, to Cobham, and containing, at the same time, a running criticism on the house and his guests far more flippant than creditable."
"Men do these things every day, Dinah, and there is no harm in it."
"That all depends upon whom the man is. The volatile gayety of a high-spirited nature, eager for effect and fond of a sensation, will lead to many an indiscretion; but very different from this is the well-weighed sarcasm of a more serious mind, who not only shots his gun home, but takes time to sight ere he fires it. I hear that Captain Stapylton is a grand, cold, thoughtful man, of five or six-and-thirty.
Is that so?"
"Perhaps he may be. He "s a splendid fellow to look at, and all the soldier. But you shall see for yourself, and I "ll warrant you "ll not harbor a prejudice against him."
"Which means, you have asked him on a visit, brother Peter?"
"Scarcely fair to call it on a visit, Dinah," blundered he out, in confusion; "but I have said with what pleasure we should see him under our roof when we returned."
"I solemnly declare my belief, that if you went to a cattle-show you "d invite every one you met there, from the squire to the pig-jobber, never thinking the while that nothing is so valueless as indiscriminate hospitality, even if it were not costly. n.o.body thanks you,--no one is grateful for it."
"And who wants them to be grateful, Dinah? The pleasure is in the giving, not in receiving. You see your friends with their holiday faces on, when they sit round the table. The slowest and dreariest of them tries to look cheery; and the stupid dog who has never a jest in him has at least a ready laugh for the wit of his neighbor."
"Does it not spoil some of your zest for this pleasantry to think how it is paid for, brother?"
"It might, perhaps, if I were to think of it; but, thank Heaven! it"s about one of the last things would come into my head. My dear sister, there"s no use in always treating human nature as if it was sick, for if you do, it will end by being hypochondriac!"
"I protest, brother Peter, I don"t know where you meet all the good and excellent people you rave about, and I feel it very churlish of you that you never present any of them to _me!_" And so saying, she gathered her knitting materials hastily together, and reminding him that it was past eleven o"clock, she uttered a hurried good-night, and departed.
CHAPTER XXVI. A VERY SAD GOOD-BYE
Conyers sat alone in his barrack-room, very sad and dispirited.
Hunter had left that same morning, and the young soldier felt utterly friendless. He had obtained some weeks" leave of absence, and already two days of the leave had gone over, and he had not energy to set out if he had even a thought as to the whither. A variety of plans pa.s.sed vaguely through his head. He would go down to Portsmouth and see Hunter off; or he would nestle down in the little village of Inistioge and dream away the days in quiet forgetfulness; or he would go over to Paris, which he had never seen, and try whether the gay dissipations of that brilliant city might not distract and amuse him. The mail from India had arrived and brought no letter from his father, and this, too, rendered him irritable and unhappy. Not that his father was a good correspondent; he wrote but rarely, and always like one who s.n.a.t.c.hed a hurried moment to catch a post. Still, if this were a case of emergency, any great or critical event in his life, he was sure his father would have informed him; and thus was it that he sat balancing doubt against doubt, and setting probability against probability, till his very head grew addled with the labor of speculation.
It was already late; all the usual sounds of barrack life had subsided, and although on the opposite side of the square the brilliant lights of the mess-room windows showed where the convivial spirits of the regiment were a.s.sembled, all around was silent and still. Suddenly there came a dull heavy knock to the door, quickly followed by two or three others.
Not caring to admit a visitor, whom, of course, he surmised would be some young brother-officer full of the plans and projects of the mess, he made no reply to the summons, nor gave any token of his presence. The sounds, however, were redoubled, and with an energy that seemed to vouch for perseverance; and Conyers, partly in anger, and partly in curiosity, went to the door and opened it. It was not till after a minute or two that he was able to recognize the figure before him. It was Tom Dill, but without a hat or neckcloth, his hair dishevelled, his face colorless, and his clothes torn, while from a recent wound in one hand the blood flowed fast, and dropped on the floor. The whole air and appearance of the young fellow so resembled drunkenness that Conyers turned a stern stare upon him as he stood in the centre of the room, and in a voice of severity said, "By what presumption, sir, do you dare to present yourself in this state before me?"
"You think I"m drunk, sir, but I am not," said he, with a faltering accent and a look of almost imploring misery.
"What is the meaning of this state, then? What disgraceful row have you been in?"
"None, sir. I have cut my hand with the gla.s.s on the barrack-wall, and torn my trousers too; but it"s no matter, I "ll not want them long."
"What do you mean by all this? Explain yourself."
"May I sit down, sir, for I feel very weak?" but before the permission could be granted, his knees tottered, and he fell in a faint on the floor. Conyers knelt down beside him, bathed his temples with water, and as soon as signs of animation returned, took him up in his arms and laid him at full length on a sofa.
In the vacant, meaningless glance of the poor fellow as he looked first around him, Conyers could mark how he was struggling to find out where he was.
"You are with me, Tom,--with your friend Conyers," said he, holding the cold clammy hand between his own.
"Thank you, sir. It is very good of you. I do not deserve it," said he, in a faint whisper.
"My poor boy, you mustn"t say that; I am your friend. I told you already I would be so."
"But you "ll not be my friend when I tell you--when I tell you--all;"
and as the last word dropped, he covered his face with both his hands, and burst into a heavy pa.s.sion of tears.
"Come, come, Tom, this is not manly; bear up bravely, bear up with courage, man. You used to say you had plenty of pluck if it were to be tried."
"So I thought I had, sir, but it has all left me;" and he sobbed as if his heart was breaking. "But I believe I could bear anything but this," said he, in a voice shaken by convulsive throes. "It is the disgrace,--that "s what unmans me."
"Take a gla.s.s of wine, collect yourself, and tell me all about it."
"No, sir. No wine, thank you; give me a gla.s.s of water. There, I am better now; my brain is not so hot. You are very good to me, Mr.
Conyers, but it "s the last time I"ll ever ask it,--the very last time, sir; but I "ll remember it all my life."
"If you give way in this fashion, Tom, I "ll not think you the stout-hearted fellow I once did."
"No, sir, nor am I. I "ll never be the same again. I feel it here. I feel as if something gave, something broke." And he laid his hand over his heart and sighed heavily.
"Well, take your own time about it, Tom, and let me hear if I cannot be of use to you."
"No, sir, not now. Neither you nor any one else can help me now. It"s all over, Mr. Conyers,--it"s all finished."
"What is over,--what is finished?"
"And so, as I thought it would n"t do for one like me to be seen speaking to you before people, I stole away and climbed over the barrack-wall. I cut my hand on the gla.s.s, too, but it"s nothing. And here I am, and here"s the money you gave me; I"ve no need of it now."
And as he laid some crumpled bank-notes on the table, his overcharged heart again betrayed him, and he burst into tears. "Yes, sir, that"s what you gave me for the College, but I was rejected."
"Rejected, Tom! How was that? Be calm, my poor fellow, and tell me all about it quietly."
"I"ll try, sir, I will, indeed; and I"ll tell you nothing but the truth, that you may depend upon." He took a great drink of water, and went on. "If there was one man I was afraid of in the world, it was Surgeon Asken, of Mercer"s Hospital. I used to be a dresser there, and he was always angry with me, exposing me before the other students, and ridiculing me, so that if anything was done badly in the wards, he "d say, "This is some of Master Dill"s work, is n"t it?" Well, sir, would you believe it, on the morning I went up for my examination, Dr. Coles takes ill, and Surgeon Asken is called on to replace him. I did n"t know it till I was sent for to go in, and my head went round, and I could n"t see, and a cold sweat came over me, and I was so confused that when I got into the room I went and sat down beside the examiners, and never knew what they were laughing at.
""I have no doubt, Mr. Dill, you "ll occupy one of these places at some future day," says Dr. Willes, "but for the present your seat is yonder."
I don"t remember much more after that, till Mr. Porter said, "Don"t be so nervous, Mr. Dill; collect yourself; I am persuaded you know what I am asking you, if you will not be flurried." And all I could say was, "G.o.d bless you for that speech, no matter how it goes with me" and they all laughed out.
"It was Asken"s turn now, and he began. "You are destined for the navy, I understand, sir?"
""No, sir; for the army," said I.
""From what we have seen to-day, you "ll prove an ornament to either service. Meanwhile, sir, it will be satisfactory to the court to have your opinion on gun-shot wounds. Describe to us the case of a man laboring under the worst form of concussion of the brain, and by what indications you would distinguish it from fracture of the base of the skull, and what circ.u.mstances might occur to render the distinction more difficult, and what impossible?" That was his question, and if I was to live a hundred years I "ll never forget a word in it,--it"s written on my heart, I believe, for life.
""Go on, sir," said he, "the court is waiting for you."
""Take the case of concussion first," said Dr. Willes.
""I hope I may be permitted to conduct my own examination in my own manner," said Asken.