The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle

by T. Smollett

  Peregrine reconciles himself to the Lieutenant, and renews hisConnection with Society--Divers Plans are projected in his behalf, andhe has occasion to exhibit a remarkable Proof of Self-denial.

  The captain, with reluctance, yielded the preference in this particularto Jack, who was immediately invited to a conference, by a notesubscribed with Pickle's own hand. He was found at the prison-gatewaiting for Gauntlet, to know the issue of his negotiation. He no soonerreceived this summons, than he set all his sails, and made the best ofhis way to his friend's apartment; being admitted by the turnkey, inconsequence of Peregrine's request, communicated by the messenger who,carried the billet. Pipes followed close in the wake of his shipmate;and, in a few minutes after the note had been despatched, Peregrine andGauntlet heard the sound of the stump, ascending the wooden staircasewith such velocity, that they at first mistook it for the application ofdrumsticks to the head of an empty barrel. This uncommon speed, however,was attended with a misfortune; he chanced to overlook a small defect inone of the steps, and his prop plunging into a hole, he fell backwards,to the imminent danger of his life. Tom was luckily at his back, andsustained him in his arms, so as that he escaped without any otherdamage than the loss of his wooden leg, which was snapped in the middle,by the weight of his body in falling; and such was his impatience, thathe would not give himself the trouble to disengage the fractured member.Unbuckling the whole equipage in a trice, he left it sticking in thecrevice, saying, a rotten cable was not worth heaving up, and, inthis natural state of mutilation, hopped into the room with infiniteexpedition.

  Peregrine, taking him cordially by the hand, seated him upon one side ofhis bed; and, after having made an apology for that reserve of which hehad so justly complained, asked if he could conveniently accommodatehim with the loan of twenty guineas. The lieutenant, without openinghis mouth, pulled out his purse; and Pipes, who overheard the demand,applying the whistle to his lips, performed a loud overture, in token ofhis joy. Matters being thus brought to an accommodation, our hero toldthe captain, that he should be glad of his company at dinner, with theircommon friend Hatchway, if he would in the meantime leave him to theministry of Pipes; and the soldier went away for the present, in orderto pay a short visit to his uncle, who at that time languished in adeclining state of health, promising to return at the appointed hour.

  The lieutenant, having surveyed the dismal appearance of his friend,could not help being moved at the spectacle, and began to upbraidhim with his obstinate pride, which, he swore, was no better thanself-murder. But the young gentleman interrupted him in the course ofhis moralizing, by telling him he had reasons for his conduct, which,perhaps, he would impart in due season; but, at present, his design wasto alter that plan of behaviour, and make himself some amends for themisery he had undergone. He accordingly sent Pipes to redeem his clothesfrom the pawnbroker's wardrobe, and bespeak something comfortable fordinner. When Godfrey came back, he was very agreeably surprised to seesuch a favourable alteration in his externals; for, by the assistance ofhis valet, he had purified himself from the dregs of his distress, andnow appeared in a decent suit, with clean linen, while his face wasdisencumbered of the hair that overshadowed it, and his apartmentprepared for the reception of company.

  They enjoyed their meal with great satisfaction, entertaining oneanother with a recapitulation of their former adventures at thegarrison. In the afternoon, Gauntlet taking his leave, in order to writea letter to his sister, at the desire of his uncle who, finding his endapproaching, wanted to see her without loss of time, Peregrine made hisappearance on the Bare, and was complimented on his coming abroad again,not only by his old messmates, who had not seen him for many weeks, butby a number of those objects whom his liberality had fed, before hisfunds were exhausted. Hatchway was, by his interest with the warden,put in possession of his former quarters, and Pipes despatched to makeinquiry about Crabtree at his former lodging, where he learned thatthe misanthrope, after a very severe fit of illness, was removed toKensington Gravel-pits, for the convenience of breathing a purer airthan that of London.

  In consequence of this information, Peregrine, who knew the narrownessof the old gentleman's fortune, next day desired his friend Gauntlet totake the trouble of visiting him, in his name, with a letter, in whichhe expressed great concern for his indisposition, gave him notice of thefortunate intelligence he had received from the Downs, and conjuredhim to make use of his purse, if he was in the least hampered in hiscircumstances. The captain took coach immediately, and set out for theplace, according to the direction which Pipes had procured.

  Cadwallader, having seen him at Bath, knew him again at first sight;and, though reduced to a skeleton, believed himself in such a fairway of doing well, that he would have accompanied him to the Fleetimmediately, had he not been restrained by his nurse, who was, by hisphysician, invested with full authority to dispute and oppose his willin everything that she should think prejudicial to his health; for hewas considered, by those who had the care of him, as an old humourist,not a little distempered in his brain. He inquired particularly aboutthe sailors, who, he said, had deterred him from carrying on hisusual correspondence with Pickle, and been the immediate cause of hisindisposition, by terrifying him into a fever. Understanding that thebreach between Pickle and Hatchway was happily cemented, and that he wasno longer in any danger from the lieutenant's resentment, he promisedto be at the Fleet with the first convenient opportunity; and, in themeantime, wrote an answer to Peregrine's letter, importing, that he wasobliged to him for his offer, but had not the least occasion for hisassistance.

  In a few days, our adventurer recovered his vigour, complexion, andvivacity; he mingled again in the diversions and parties of the place;and he received, in a little time, the money he had lent upon bottomry,which, together with the interest, amounted to upwards of eleven hundredpounds. The possession of this sum, while it buoyed up his spirits,involved him in perplexity. Sometimes he thought it was incumbenton him, as a man of honour, to employ the greatest part of it indiminishing the debt for which he suffered; on the other hand, heconsidered that obligation effaced, by the treacherous behaviour of hiscreditor, who had injured him to ten times the value of the sum; and,in these sentiments, entertained thoughts of attempting his escape fromprison, with a view of conveying himself, with the shipwreck ofhis fortune, to another country, in which he might use it to betteradvantage.

  Both suggestions were attended with such doubts and difficulties, thathe hesitated between them, and for the present laid out a thousandpounds in stock, the interest of which, together with the fruits of hisown industry, he hoped, would support him above want in his confinement,until something should occur that would point out the expediency of someother determination. Gauntlet still insisted upon having the honour ofobtaining his liberty, at the expense of taking up his notes to Gleanum,and exhorted him to purchase a commission with part of the money whichhe had retrieved. The lieutenant affirmed, that it was his privilegeto procure the release of his cousin Pickle, because he enjoyed avery handsome sum by his aunt, which of right belonged to the younggentleman, to whom he was, moreover, indebted for the use of hisfurniture, and for the very house that stood over his head; and that,although he had already made a will in his favour, he should never besatisfied, nor easy in his mind, so long as he remained deprived of hisliberty, and wanted any of the conveniences of life.

  Cadwallader, who by this time assisted at their councils, and was bestacquainted with the peculiarity and unbending disposition of the youth,proposed, that, seeing he was so averse to obligations, Mr. Hatchwayshould purchase of him the garrison with its appendages, which, at amoderate price, would sell for more money than would be sufficient todischarge his debts; that, if the servile subordination of the armydid not suit his inclinations, he might, with his reversion, buy acomfortable annuity, and retire with him to the country, where he mightlive absolutely independent, and entertain himself, as usual, with theridiculous characters of mankind.

  This plan was
to Pickle less disagreeable than any other project whichas yet had been suggested; and the lieutenant declared himself ready toexecute his part of it without delay; but the soldier was mortified atthe thoughts of seeing his assistance unnecessary, and eagerly objectedto the retirement, as a scheme that would blast the fairest promisesof fame and fortune, and bury his youth and talents in solitude andobscurity. This earnest opposition on the part of Gauntlet hinderedour adventurer from forming any immediate resolution, which was alsoretarded by his unwillingness to part with the garrison upon any terms,because he looked upon it as a part of his inheritance, which he couldnot dispose of without committing an insult upon the memory of thedeceased commodore.

  CHAPTER CIII.