Just sufficient snow had fallen during the night to give that semblance of winter to the house-tops and hedge-rows, with a faint white powdering of the roadway and pavement, which adds so much to the quondam season of family gatherings, merrymakings, and plum-pudding; and this, King Frost had hardened by his patent adamantine process, so that it might not cause any inconvenience to foot pa.s.sengers or lose its virgin freshness; while, at the same time, he decked and bedizened each separate twig and branch of the poor, leafless, skeleton trees with rare festal jewels and ear-drops of glittering icicles; besides weaving fantastic devices of goblin castles and airy, feathery foliage on the window panes, fairy armies in martial array and delicate gnome-tracery--transforming their appearance from that of ordinary gla.s.s into brilliantly-embroidered flakes of transparent, lucent crystal. Ah me! Jack Frost is a cunning enchanter: his will is all-powerful, his taste wondrous.
The clanging church bells were merrily ringing in "the day of glad tidings," as our good vicar styled it, when I jumped out of bed and looked out to see what the weather was like. It was exactly as I could have wished--if I had had any choice in the matter--Christmas all over!
A little robin acquaintance, who never omitted his daily call at my window-ledge for his matutinal crumbs, was stretching his tiny crimson throat to its fullest extent, with quivering heart-notes of choral song, from a solitary poplar-tree in the adjacent garden on which my room out- looked, making the still air re-echo with his melody; my old retriever, Catch, a good dog and true, was pawing and scratching at the door to be admitted, in his customary way, and sniffing a cordial welcome, as he wondered and grumbled, in the most intelligible doggy language, at my being so late in taking him out for his preprandial walk--when it was such a fine morning, too! I heard the maid wishing me a cheery "Merry Christmas, sir!" as she left my hot water; so, it is not to be wondered that, after I had had the moral courage to plunge into my cold tub, dressing afterwards in a subsequent glow, I became infected with the buoyant spirit of all these social surroundings; and felt as light- hearted and "seasonable" as Santa Claus and his wintry comrades, the church bells, little robin redbreast, dog Catch, and Bridget the maid, could either inspire or expect.
Dog Catch and I sallied forth for our walk--I, cheerful, and drinking in healthy draughts of the fresh, frosty aether; he with great red tongue lolling out, as he trotted along in front of me, coming back every second step and looking up into my face with a broad grin on his jaws and a roguish glance in his brown eyes--I suppose at some funny canine joke or other, which he could not permit me to share--or else, darting backwards and forwards, gleefully barking and making sundry feints and dashes at me; or, prancing up in his elephantine bounds, with felonious intentions regarding my walking stick, which he considered he had a much better right to carry than myself.
We had lots of meetings and greetings when strolling along.
First, there was the gardener"s dog at the corner, an old chum of Catch"s, who pa.s.sed the time of day to us with a cheerful bow-wow; although I was surprised to see that he had not "a posy tied to his tail," according to the orthodox adage of typical smartness. Then there was the milkman"s dog, a gaunt retriever like mine, but of a very bad disposition, and a surly brute withal. He and Catch were deadly foes, as is frequently the case with dogs of the same breed; so, of course, they could never meet without quarrelling: on this occasion they exchanged ferocious challenges, and parted with signs and symptoms of unmitigated contempt on both sides, expressed by growls and barks, tail risings, and mane upliftings.
Further on, we encountered Mrs O"Flannagan, an Irish lady, who kept the fruit stall at the corner by the cross roads. She was dressed, as neatly as a new pin, in an "illigant" Connemara cloak, which seemed to be donned for the first time, besides a bran new bonnet; and, thanks to "elbow grease," her peachy, soap-scrubbed cheeks shone again. She was returning from early chapel, whither she had gone to ma.s.s and confession; and where I trust she had received absolution for her little peccadilloes. I"ve no doubt she _did_ get absolution, for she told me that Father Macma.n.u.s was "a raal gintleman."
Then Catch chased a roving cat until it got within the neighbouring shelter of its domiciliary railings, whence it me-ai-ouwed to him, through all the vowels of p.u.s.s.y"s vocabulary, a Christmas compliment-- with, probably, a curse tacked on to the tail of it, or that "phoo!
phoo! phiz!" meant nothing. But the feline expletives were all thrown away; for Catch was only "full of fun and with n.o.body to play with him,"
like Peter Mooney"s goose, and had only chased p.u.s.s.y in the natural exuberance of his spirits, having no "hard feelings" towards her, or any desire, I know, to injure her soft tabby fur.
We next came across old Shuffler, the house-agent, waddling along, with his sound eye rolling buoyantly on its axis, while the artificial orb glared steadily forward in a fixed, gla.s.sy stare.
"Bootiful weether!" said he, cordially, to me, touching his hat--"bootiful weether, sir!"
"It _is_ a fine day," I responded. "A merry Christmas to you, Mr Shuffler."
"Same to you, sir, and many on "em," he replied, courteously.
"Thank you, Shuffler," I said, satisfied with the colloquy, "but I must now say good day!"
"Good day, and a "appy noo year to you," answered he, pa.s.sing on his way. Really, everybody appeared to be very civil and good natured to- day; and everything joyous and rose-coloured! Was it owing to the bright morning, or to the fact of its being Christmas, or to the sweet feelings I had lying hidden in my heart anent my darling?
I cannot tell: can you?
After a time Catch and I reached the river. It was not now rolling by, a muddy, silent, whilom sluggish, whilom busy stream. It was quite transformed in its appearance and resembled more some frozen arctic stream than the old Thames which I knew so well. Far as the eye could reach, it was covered with sheets of broken ice, again congealed together and piled up with snow--so many little bergs, that had been born at Great Marlow and Hampton, and other spots above the locks; gradually increasing in size and bulk as they span round and swept by on the current, until they should reach the bridges below. Then, they would, perhaps, be formed into one great icefield, stretching from bank to bank, whereon a grand bullock-roasting festival might be held, or a fancy fair inst.i.tuted, as happened in the reign of James, the king, "of ever pious memory:" that is, if my chronology be right and my memory not at fault, as may very possibly be the case.
Doggy did not mind the ice a bit, however. He plunged in, time after time, to fetch out my in-thrown stick, with a frisky bound; emerging after the performance with ice-pendants to his glossy, silken ears and coat smartly curled, as if he had just paid a visit to Truefitt"s, and been manipulated by the dexterous hands of one of the a.s.sistants at that celebrated establishment, armed with the crinal tongs and anybody"s best maca.s.sar.
By-and-by we returned; and whom should I then meet on my way home but, positively, my eye-gla.s.s acquaintance of Downing Street. Fancy his being out before nine o"clock in the morning! It was an unparalleled occurrence.
"Hullo, Horner!" I sang out, ""morning, old fellow. Compliments of the season!"
"Bai-ey Je-ove! Lorton, how you stawtled me--"do!"
"You don"t mean to say," I asked, on getting closer to him, "that you"ve actually taken to early rising?"
"No, "pon honah, I a.s.shaw you, my deah fellah, no!" he replied, quite excitedly. "No, I a.s.shaw you, no," he repeated.
"Well, then, what on earth makes you come out at this early unearthly hour?" I said.
"Oh--ah! you see--ah, my deah fellah," he answered, "it was all those confawnded little bahds and the bells kicking up such a raow; that, "pon honah, I couldn"t sleep and so I came out. I a.s.shaw you it was all those bweastwy little bahds and the bells!"
"At all events, I must congratulate you on your reformation," I said.
"Yaas? But it was all those bweastwy little bahds and the bells, you know; and it"s only once a ye-ah you know, Lorton," he added.
"So you will never do so again till next time--is that what you mean, Horner?" I asked.
"Yaas! But, bai-ey Je-ove, I say, Lorton, my deah fellah, were the Clydes those ladies in hawf-mawning, eh?" said he, smiling feebly in his usual suave manner. He thought he had got hold of a grand joke at my expense.
However, I was not in the least angry with him. I felt too happy to have lost my temper with any one, especially Horner, whom I generally regarded as a poor creature to be tolerated rather than blamed.
"Did you ever hear, Horner," said I, "how Peabody made his first fortune?"
"No, "pon honah, I a.s.shaw you, no."
"Well, then, I"ll tell you, Horner," said I. "It was by minding his own business, my dear fellow."
"Bai-ey Je-ove!" he e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed, adding, after a pause, "Weally, Lorton, you dawn"t mean it?"
"I suppose," I continued, "that you are also just as ignorant again how Mr Peabody made his second and greater fortune, eh?"
"Yaas," he drawled out.
"Ah," said I, "he got _that_ by letting other people"s business alone!"
"Bai-ey Je-ove!" said Horner, quite staggered at this second blow.
"Vewy amusing anecdote, indeed! Thank you, Lorton. Much obwiged, and all that sawt of thing, for the in-fawmation. Yaas, bai-ey Je-ove! And so I"ll say good day. Good day, Lorton; good day to you!" and he started off, with a quick step, in the very opposite direction to that which he had been previously going. I went on homeward, with Catch following obediently at my heels.
Which way did we go?
Can you not guess, or must I have to tell you?
How very obtuse some persons are!
Why, by The Terrace, of course. Was it not there that Min lived; and might I not chance to get a glance from her love-speaking, soft grey eyes? Only one glance--and I would be amply repaid!
I pa.s.sed by her house. Yes, there she was at the window, attending to her flowers and carefully shielding a much-prized little maidenhair fern with a bell gla.s.s from the rays of the sun, which beamed as though Phoebus had mistaken the season and thought it a summer day.
She saw me as I sauntered by, recognising me with a little nod and smile and a sudden heightening of colour; and came to the door. Of course I went up the steps and spoke to her. _You_ would have proceeded on your way with a pa.s.sing bow? Oh, yes!
"Good morning, Mr Lorton," she said. "How very early you are out to be sure! I thought gentlemen were always lazy, but you"re an exception to the rule, it seems;" and her soft grey eyes sparkled.
"Well, I don"t know that, Miss Clyde," I said. "I suppose I"m just as lazy as the rest. I only came out to give my old doggy a walk and a dip, as I generally do every morning before breakfast. If it were not for him, I do not believe I would get up sooner than anybody else; but he"s such a pertinacious fellow that he won"t be denied his walk, always rousing me up at eight o"clock "sharp." Would you believe it, he brings my boots up to my door, and it is a trick he taught himself!"
"Dear old doggy," she said, stooping down and patting his head. "What a nice sagacious fellow you are! Come here, sir, and give me your paw!
Now, shake hands. Doggy, do you like me?" Catch could tell a friend at once; so looking up, he licked her hand, expressing, as intelligently as possible, that he was pleased to make her acquaintance. "How I love dogs!" she e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed, rising up again.
"Do you!" said I. "Ah, Miss Clyde! "Love me, love my dog.""
"What nonsense, Mr Lorton!" she said, with a warm blush tinting her cheek. "But, I declare you haven"t wished me the compliments of the season yet. How very ungallant you are! I will set you an example--a merry Christmas, Mr Lorton!"