by Hugh Walpole
And then, on the other side, the thought that Mary and Helen were at this very moment witnessing the coloured history of Dick Whittinglon, the history that he had pursued ceaselessly during all these days and nights — that picture of them all in the lighted theatre — once more nearly overcame him. But he pulled himself together.
He sniffed, left his dirty handkerchief, and went slowly and sorrowfully to drag out his toy village from its corner and see whether anything could be done with it.... After all, he was going to school in September. His punishment could not be quite limitless. Hamlet had just shown his approval of this manly conduct by strolling up and sniffing at the Noah family, who were, as usual, on their way to church, when the door suddenly opened, and in came Uncle Samuel.
Jeremy had forgotten his uncle, and now blinked up at him from the floor, where he was squatting, rather ashamed of his swollen eyes and red nose.
Uncle Samuel, however, had no time for details; he was apparently in a hurry. He did not wear his blue painting-smock, but was in a comparatively clean black suit, and on the back of his head was a squashy brown hat.
“Come on,” he said, “or we shall be too late.”
Jeremy choked. “Too late?” he repeated.
“You’re coming, aren’t you — to the Pantomime? They sent me back for you.”
The room suddenly got on to its legs, like the food and the families during Alice’s feast in the “Looking Glass,” and swung round, lurching from side to side, and causing the fire to run into the gas and the gas to fly out of the window.
“I — don’t — understand,” Jeremy stammered.
“Well, if you don’t understand in half a shake,” said Uncle Samuel, “you won’t see any of the show at all. Go on. Wash your face. There are streaks of dirt all down it as though you were a painted Indian; stick on your cap and coat and boots and come along.”
Exactly as one moves in sleep so Jeremy now moved. He had once had a wonderful dream, in which he had been at a meal that included every thing that he had most loved — fish-cakes, sausages, ices, strawberry jam, sponge-cake, chocolates, and scrambled eggs — and he had been able to eat, and eat, and had never been satisfied, and had never felt sick — a lovely dream.
He often thought of it. And now in the same bewildering fashion he found his boots and cap and coat and then, deliberately keeping from him the thought of the Pantomime lest he should suddenly wake up, he said:
“I’m ready, Uncle.”
Samuel Trefusia looked at him.
“You’re a strange kid,” he said; “you take everything so quietly — but, thank God, I don’t understand children.”
“There’s Hamlet,” said Jeremy, wondering whether perhaps the dream would extend to his friend. “I suppose he can’t come too.”
“No, he certainly can’t,” said Uncle Samuel grimly.
“And there’s Rose. She’ll wonder where I’ve gone.”
“I’ve told her. Don’t you worry. What a conscientious infant you are. Just like your father. Anything else?”
“No,” said Jeremy breathlessly, and nearly murdered himself going downstairs because he shut his eyes in order to continue the dream so long as it was possible. Then in the cold night air, grasping his uncle’s hand with a feverish hold, he stammered:
“Is it really true? Are we going — really?”
“Of course we’re going. Come on — step out or you’ll miss the Giant.”
“But — but — oh!” he drew a deep breath. “Then they don’t think me a liar any more?”
“They — who?”
“Father and Mother and everyone.”
“Don’t you think about them. You’d better enjoy yourself.”
“But you said you wouldn’t go to the Pantomime — not for anything?”
“Well, I’ve changed my mind. Don’t talk so much. You know I hate you children chattering. Always got something to say.”
So Jeremy was silent. They raced down Orange Street, Jeremy being almost carried off his feet. This was exactly like a dream. This rushing movement and the way that the lamp-posts ran up to you as though they were going to knock you down, and the way that the stars crackled and sputtered and trembled overhead. But Uncle Samuel’s hand was flesh and blood, and the heel of Jeremy’s right shoe hurt him and he felt the tickle of his sailor-collar at the back of his neck, just as he did when he was awake.
Then there they were at the Assembly Rooms door, Jeremy having become so breathless that Uncle Samuel had to hold him up for a moment or he’d have fallen.
“Bit too fast for you, was it? Well, you shouldn’t be so fat. You eat too much. Now we’re not going to sit with your father and mother — there isn’t room for you there. So don’t you go calling out to them or anything. We’re sitting in the back and you’d better be quiet or they’ll turn you out.”
“I’ll be quiet,” gasped Jeremy.
Uncle Samuel paused at a lighted hole in the wall and spoke to a large lady in black silk who was drinking a cup of tea. Jeremy caught the jingle of money. Then they moved forward, stumbling in the dark up a number of stone steps, pushing at a heavy black curtain, then suddenly bathed in a bewildering glow of light and scent and colour.
Jeremy’s first impression, as he fell into this new world, was of an ugly, harsh, but funny voice crying out very loudly indeed: “Oh, my great aunt! Oh, my great aunt! Oh, my great aunt!” A roar of laughter rose about him, almost lifting him off his feet, and close to his car a Glebeshire voice sobbed: “Eh, my dear. Poor worm! Poor worm!”
He was aware then of a strong smell of oranges, of Uncle Samuel pushing him forward, of stumbling over boots, knees, and large hands that were clapping in his very nose, of falling into a seat and then clinging to it as though it was his only hope in this strange puzzling world. The high funny voice rose again: “Oh, my great aunt! Oh, my great aunt!” And again it was followed by the rough roar of delighted laughter.
He was aware then that about him on every side gas was sizzling, and then, as he recovered slowly his breath, his gaze was drawn to the great blaze of light in the distance, against which figures were dimly moving, and from the heart of which the strange voice came. He heard a woman’s voice, then several voices together; then suddenly the whole scene shifted into focus, his eyes were tied to the light; the oranges and the gas and the smell of clothes and heated bodies slipped back into distance — he was caught into the world where he had longed to be.
He saw that it was a shop — and he loved shops. His heart beat thickly as his eyes travelled up and up and up over the rows and rows of shelves; here were bales of cloth, red and green and blue; carpets from the East, table-covers, sheets and blankets. Behind the long yellow counters young men in strange clothes were standing. In the middle of the scene was a funny old woman, her hat tumbling off her head, her shabby skirt dragging, large boots, and a red nose. It was from this strange creature that the deep ugly voice proceeded. She had, this old woman, a number of bales of cloth under her arms, and she tried to carry them all, but one slipped, and then another, and then another; she bent to pick them up and her hat fell off; she turned for her hat and all the bales tumbled together. Jeremy began to laugh — everyone laughed; the strange voice came again and again, lamenting, bewailing, she had secured one bale, a smile of cautious triumph began to spread over her ugly face, then the bales all fell again, and once more she was on her knees. It was then that her voice or some movement brought to Jeremy’s eyes so vividly the figure of their old gardener, Jordan, that he turned round to Uncle Samuel, and suddenly grasping that gentleman’s fat thigh, exclaimed convulsively: “Why, she’s a man!”
What a strange topsy-turvy world this was in which women were men, and shops turned (as with a sudden creaking and darkness and clattering did this one) into gardens by the sea. Jeremy drew his breath deeply and held on. His mouth was open and his hair on end.. .
It is impossible to define exactly Jeremy’s ultimate impression as the entertainment proceede
d. Perhaps he had no ultimate impression. It cannot in reality have been a very wonderful Pantomime. Even at Drury Lane thirty years back there were many things that they did not know, and it is not likely that a touring company fitted into so inadequate an old building as our Assembly Rooms would have provided anything very fine. But Jeremy will never again discover so complete a realisation for his illusions. Whatever failures in the presentation there were, he himself made good.
As a finale to the first half of the entertainment there was given Dick’s dream at the Cross-Roads. He lay on the hard ground, his head upon his bundle, the cat as large as he watching sympathetically beside him. In the distance were the lights of London, and then, out of the half dusk, fairies glittering with stars and silver danced up and down the dusky road whilst all the London bells rang out “Turn again, Whittington, Lord Mayor of London.”
Had Jeremy been of the age and wisdom of Uncle Samuel he would have discovered that Dick was a stout lady and probably the mother of a growing family; that the fairies knew as much about dancing as the Glebeshire wives sitting on the bench behind; that the London bells were two hand instruments worked by a youth in shirt sleeves behind the scenes so energetically that the High Road and the painted London blew backwards and forwards in sympathy with his movements. Jeremy, happily, was not so worldly wise as his uncle. This scene created for him then a tradition of imperishable beauty that would never fade again. The world after that night would be a more magical place than it had ever been before. “Turn again, Whittington” continued the education that the Toy Village and Hamlet had already advanced.
When the gas rose once again, sizzling like crackling bacon, he was white with excitement. The only remark that he made was: “It’s much better than the pictures outside Martin’s, isn’t it, Uncle Samuel?” to which Uncle Samuel, who had been railing for weeks at the deflowering of Polchester by those abominable posters, could truthfully reply, “Much better.” Little by little he withdrew himself from the other world and realised his own. He could see that he and his uncle were certainly not amongst the Quality. Large ladies, their dresses tucked up over their knees, sucked oranges. Country farmers with huge knobbly looking sticks were there, and even some sailors, on their way probably to Drymouth. He recognised the lady who kept charge of the small Orange Street post-office, and waved to her with delighted excitement. The atmosphere was thick with gas and oranges, and I’m afraid that Uncle Samuel must have suffered a great deal. I can only put it on record that he, the most selfish of human beings, never breathed a word of complaint.
They were all packed very closely together up there in the gallery, where seventy years before an orchestra straight from Jane Austen’s novels had played to the dancing of the contemporaries of Elizabeth Bennett, Emma Woodhouse, and the dear lady of “Persuasion.” Another thirty-two years and that same gallery would be listening to recruiting appeals and echoing the drums and fifes of a martial band. The best times are always the old times. The huge lady in the seat next to Jeremy almost swallowed him up, so that he peered out from under her thick arm, and heard every crunch and crackle of the peppermints that she was enjoying. He grew hotter and hotter, so that at last he seemed, as once he had read in some warning tract about a greedy boy that Aunt Amy had given him, “to swim in his own fat.” But he did not mind. Discomfort only emphasised his happiness. Then, peering forward beneath that stout black arm, he suddenly perceived, far below in the swimming distance, the back of his mother, the tops of the heads of Mary and Helen, the stiff white collar of his father, and the well-known coral necklace of Aunt Amy. For a moment dismay seized him, the morning’s lie which he had entirely forgotten suddenly jumping up and facing him. But they had forgiven him.
“Shall I wave to them?” he asked excitedly of Uncle Samuel.
“No, no,” said his uncle very hurriedly. “Nonsense. They wouldn’t see you if you did. Leave them alone.”
He felt immensely superior to them up where he was, and he wouldn’t have changed places with them for anything. He gave a little sigh of satisfaction. “I could drop an orange on to Aunt Amy’s head,” he said. “Wouldn’t she jump!”
“You must keep quiet,” said Uncle Samuel. “You’re good enough as you are.”
“I’d rather be here,” said Jeremy. “It’s beautifully hot here and there’s a lovely smell.”
“There is,” said Uncle Samuel.
Then the gas went down, and the curtain went up, and Dick, now in a suit of red silk with golden buttons, continued his adventures. I have not space here to describe in detail the further events of his life — how, receiving a telegram from the King of the Zanzibars about the plague of rats, he took ship with his cat and Alderman Fitzwarren and his wife, how they were all swallowed by a whale, cast up by a most lucky chance on the Zanzibars, nearly cooked by the natives, and rescued by the King of the Zanzibars’ beautiful daughter, killed all the rats, were given a huge feast, with dance and song, and finally Dick, although tempted by the dusky Princess, refused a large fortune and returned to Alice of Eastcheap, the true lady of his heart. There were, of course, many other things, such as the aspirations and misadventures of Mrs. Fitzwarren, the deep-voiced lady who had already so greatly amused Jeremy. And then there was a Transformation Scene, in which roses turned into tulips and tulips into the Hall of Gold, down whose blazing steps marched stout representatives of all the nations.
It was in the middle of this last thrilling spectacle, when Jeremy’s heart was in his mouth and he was so deeply excited that he did not know whether it were he or the lady next to him who was eating peppermints, that his uncle plucked him by the sleeve and said in his ear: “Come on. It’s close on the end. We must go.”
Jeremy very reluctantly got up, and stumbled out over knees and legs and exclamations like:
“There’s Japan!” “No, it ain’t; it’s Chiney!” “You’s a fine, hearty young woman!” and so on. He was dragged through the black curtain, down the stone steps, and into the street.
“But it wasn’t the end,” he said.
“It will be in one minute,” said his uncle. “And I want us to get home first.”
“Why?” said Jeremy.
“Never you mind. Come on; we’ll race it.”
They arrived home breathless, and then, once again in the old familiar hall, Uncle Samuel said:
“Now you nip up to the nursery, and then they’ll never know you’ve been out at all.”
“Never know?” said Jeremy. “But you said they’d sent for me.”
“Well,” said Uncle Samuel, “that wasn’t exactly true. As a matter of fact, they don’t know you were there.”
“Oh!” said Jeremy, the corner of his mouth turning down. “Then I’ve told a lie again!”
“Nonsense!” said Uncle Samuel impatiently. “It wasn’t you; it was I.”
“And doesn’t it matter your telling lies?” asked Jeremy.
The answer to this difficult question was, happily for Uncle Samuel, interrupted by the arrival of the household, who had careened up Orange Street in a cab.
When Mr. and Mrs. Cole saw Jeremy standing in the hall, his great coat still on and his muffler round his neck, there was a fine scene of wonder and amazement.
Uncle Samuel explained. “It was my fault. I told him you’d forgiven him and sent for him to come, after all. He’s in an awful state now that you shouldn’t forgive him.”
Whatever they thought of Uncle Samuel, this was obviously neither the time nor the place to speak out. Mrs. Cole looked at her son. His body defiant, sleepy, excited. His mouth was obstinate, but his eyes appealed to her on the scene of the common marvellous experience that they had just enjoyed.
She hugged him.
“And you won’t tell a lie again, will you, Jeremy, dear?”
“Oh, no!” And then, hurrying on: “And when the old woman tumbled down the steps, Mother, wasn’t it lovely? And the fairies in Dick Whittington’s sleep, and when the furniture all fell all over the place—”
He went slowly upstairs to the nursery, the happiest boy in the kingdom. But through all his happiness there was this puzzle: Uncle Samuel had told a lie, and no one had thought that it mattered. There were good lies and bad ones then. Or was it that grown-up people could tell lies and children mustn’t?...
He tumbled into the warm, lighted nursery half asleep. There was Hamlet watching in front of the Jampot’s sewing machine.
He would have things to think about for years and years and years...
There was the Jampot.
“I’m sorry I called you a beastly woman,” he said.
She sniffed.
“Well, I hope you’ll be a good boy now,” she said.
“Oh, I’ll be good,” he smiled. “But, Nurse, are there some people can tell lies and others mustn’t?”
“All them that tell lies goes to Hell,” said the Jampot. “And now, Master Jeremy, come along and take your things off. It’s past eleven, and what you’ll be like to-morrow—”
CHAPTER IV. MISS JONES
I
The coming of the new year meant the going of the Jampot, and the going of the Jampot meant the breaking of a life-time’s traditions. The departure was depressing and unsettling; the weather was — as it always is during January in Glebeshire — at its worst, and the Jampot, feeling it all very deeply, maintained a terrible Spartan composure, which was meant to show indifference and a sense of injustice. She had to the very last believed it incredible that she should really go. She had been in the old Orange Street house for eight years, and had intended to be there until she died. She was forced to admit that Master Jeremy was going beyond her; but in September he would go to school, and then she could help with the sewing and other things about the house. The real truth of the matter was that she had never been a very good servant, having too much of the Glebeshire pride and independence and too little of the Glebeshire fidelity.