CHAPTER XLVI
SQUIRE FAGGUS MAKES SOME LUCKY HITS
Through that season of bitter frost the red deer of the forest, havingnothing to feed upon, and no shelter to rest in, had grown accustomed toour ricks of corn, and hay, and clover. There we might see a hundredof them almost any morning, come for warmth, and food, and comfort, andscarce willing to move away. And many of them were so tame, that theyquietly presented themselves at our back door, and stood there withtheir coats quite stiff, and their flanks drawn in and panting,and icicles sometimes on their chins, and their great eyes fastenedwistfully upon any merciful person craving for a bit of food, and adrink of water; I suppose that they had not sense enough to chew thesnow and melt it; at any rate, all the springs being frozen, and rivershidden out of sight, these poor things suffered even more from thirstthan they did from hunger.
But now there was no fear of thirst, and more chance indeed of drowning;for a heavy gale of wind arose, with violent rain from the south-west,which lasted almost without a pause for three nights and two days. Atfirst the rain made no impression on the bulk of snow, but ran fromevery sloping surface and froze on every flat one, through the coldnessof the earth; and so it became impossible for any man to keep his legswithout the help of a shodden staff. After a good while, however, theair growing very much warmer, this state of things began to change, anda worse one to succeed it; for now the snow came thundering down fromroof, and rock, and ivied tree, and floods began to roar and foam inevery trough and gulley. The drifts that had been so white and fair,looked yellow, and smirched, and muddy, and lost their graceful curves,and moulded lines, and airiness. But the strangest sight of all to mewas in the bed of streams, and brooks, and especially of the Lynn river.It was worth going miles to behold such a thing, for a man might neverhave the chance again.
Vast drifts of snow had filled the valley, and piled above theriver-course, fifty feet high in many places, and in some as much as ahundred. These had frozen over the top, and glanced the rain away fromthem, and being sustained by rock and tree, spanned the water mightily.But meanwhile the waxing flood, swollen from every moorland hollowand from every spouting crag, had dashed away all icy fetters, andwas rolling gloriously. Under white fantastic arches, and long tunnelsfreaked and fretted, and between pellucid pillars jagged with noddingarchitraves, the red impetuous torrent rushed, and the brown foamwhirled and flashed. I was half inclined to jump in and swim throughsuch glorious scenery; for nothing used to please me more than swimmingin a flooded river. But I thought of the rocks, and I thought of thecramp, and more than all, of Lorna; and so, between one thing andanother, I let it roll on without me.
It was now high time to work very hard; both to make up for thefarm-work lost during the months of frost and snow, and also to be readyfor a great and vicious attack from the Doones, who would burn us in ourbeds at the earliest opportunity. Of farm-work there was little yet foreven the most zealous man to begin to lay his hand to; because when theground appeared through the crust of bubbled snow (as at last it did,though not as my Lorna had expected, at the first few drops of rain)it was all so soaked and sodden, and as we call it, 'mucksy,' that tomeddle with it in any way was to do more harm than good. Nevertheless,there was yard work, and house work, and tendence of stock, enough tosave any man from idleness.
As for Lorna, she would come out. There was no keeping her in the house.She had taken up some peculiar notion that we were doing more for herthan she had any right to, and that she must earn her living by thehard work of her hands. It was quite in vain to tell her that she wasexpected to do nothing, and far worse than vain (for it made her crysadly) if any one assured her that she could do no good at all. She evenbegan upon mother's garden before the snow was clean gone from it, andsowed a beautiful row of peas, every one of which the mice ate.
But though it was very pretty to watch her working for her very life,as if the maintenance of the household hung upon her labours, yet I wasgrieved for many reasons, and so was mother also. In the first place,she was too fair and dainty for this rough, rude work; and though itmade her cheeks so bright, it surely must be bad for her to get herlittle feet so wet. Moreover, we could not bear the idea that she shouldlabour for her keep; and again (which was the worst of all things)mother's garden lay exposed to a dark deceitful coppice, where a manmight lurk and watch all the fair gardener's doings. It was true thatnone could get at her thence, while the brook which ran between pouredso great a torrent. Still the distance was but little for a gun tocarry, if any one could be brutal enough to point a gun at Lorna. Ithought that none could be found to do it; but mother, having moreexperience, was not so certain of mankind.
Now in spite of the floods, and the sloughs being out, and the state ofthe roads most perilous, Squire Faggus came at last, riding his famousstrawberry mare. There was a great ado between him and Annie, as youmay well suppose, after some four months of parting. And so we left themalone awhile, to coddle over their raptures. But when they were tired ofthat, or at least had time enough to do so, mother and I went in to knowwhat news Tom had brought with him. Though he did not seem to want usyet, he made himself agreeable; and so we sent Annie to cook the dinnerwhile her sweetheart should tell us everything.
Tom Faggus had very good news to tell, and he told it with such force ofexpression as made us laugh very heartily. He had taken up his purchasefrom old Sir Roger Bassett of a nice bit of land, to the south of themoors, and in the parish of Molland. When the lawyers knew thoroughlywho he was, and how he had made his money, they behaved uncommonly wellto him, and showed great sympathy with his pursuits. He put them up to athing or two; and they poked him in the ribs, and laughed, and said thathe was quite a boy; but of the right sort, none the less. And so theymade old Squire Bassett pay the bill for both sides; and all he got forthree hundred acres was a hundred and twenty pounds; though Tom had paidfive hundred. But lawyers know that this must be so, in spite of alltheir endeavours; and the old gentleman, who now expected to find a billfor him to pay, almost thought himself a rogue, for getting anything outof them.
It is true that the land was poor and wild, and the soil exceedingshallow; lying on the slope of rock, and burned up in hot summers. Butwith us, hot summers are things known by tradition only (as this greatwinter may be); we generally have more moisture, especially in July,than we well know what to do with. I have known a fog for a fortnightat the summer solstice, and farmers talking in church about it when theyought to be praying. But it always contrives to come right in the end,as other visitations do, if we take them as true visits, and receivethem kindly.
Now this farm of Squire Faggus (as he truly now had a right to becalled) was of the very finest pasture, when it got good store of rain.And Tom, who had ridden the Devonshire roads with many a reeking jacket,knew right well that he might trust the climate for that matter. Theherbage was of the very sweetest, and the shortest, and the closest,having perhaps from ten to eighteen inches of wholesome soil between itand the solid rock. Tom saw at once what it was fit for--the breeding offine cattle.
Being such a hand as he was at making the most of everything, both hisown and other people's (although so free in scattering, when thehumour lay upon him) he had actually turned to his own advantage thatextraordinary weather which had so impoverished every one around him.For he taught his Winnie (who knew his meaning as well as any childcould, and obeyed not only his word of mouth, but every glance hegave her) to go forth in the snowy evenings when horses are seekingeverywhere (be they wild or tame) for fodder and for shelter; and towhinny to the forest ponies, miles away from home perhaps, and leadthem all with rare appetites and promise of abundance, to her master'shomestead. He shod good Winnie in such a manner that she could not sinkin the snow; and he clad her over the loins with a sheep-skin dyed toher own colour, which the wild horses were never tired of coming up andsniffing at; taking it for an especial gift, and proof of inspiration.And Winnie never came home at night without at least a score of poniestrotting shyly after her, t
ossing their heads and their tails in turn,and making believe to be very wild, although hard pinched by famine. Ofcourse Tom would get them all into his pound in about five minutes,for he himself could neigh in a manner which went to the heart of thewildest horse. And then he fed them well, and turned them into his greatcattle pen, to abide their time for breaking, when the snow and frostshould be over.
He had gotten more than three hundred now, in this sagacious manner; andhe said it was the finest sight to see their mode of carrying on, howthey would snort, and stamp, and fume, and prick their ears, and rushbackwards, and lash themselves with their long rough tails, and shaketheir jagged manes, and scream, and fall upon one another, if a strangeman came anigh them. But as for feeding time, Tom said it was betterthan fifty plays to watch them, and the tricks they were up to, to cheattheir feeders, and one another. I asked him how on earth he had managedto get fodder, in such impassable weather, for such a herd of horses;but he said that they lived upon straw and sawdust; and he knew that Idid not believe him, any more than about his star-shavings. And this wasjust the thing he loved--to mystify honest people, and be a great dealtoo knowing. However, I may judge him harshly, because I myself telleverything.
I asked him what he meant to do with all that enormous lot of horses,and why he had not exerted his wits to catch the red deer as well. Hesaid that the latter would have been against the laws of venery, andmight have brought him into trouble, but as for disposing of his stud,it would give him little difficulty. He would break them, when thespring weather came on, and deal with them as they required, and keepthe handsomest for breeding. The rest he would despatch to London, wherehe knew plenty of horse-dealers; and he doubted not that they wouldfetch him as much as ten pounds apiece all round, being now in greatdemand. I told him I wished that he might get it; but as it provedafterwards, he did.
Then he pressed us both on another point, the time for his marriage toAnnie; and mother looked at me to say when, and I looked back at mother.However, knowing something of the world, and unable to make any furtherobjection, by reason of his prosperity, I said that we must even do asthe fashionable people did, and allow the maid herself to settle, whenshe would leave home and all. And this I spoke with a very bad grace,being perhaps of an ancient cast, and over fond of honesty--I mean, ofcourse, among lower people.
But Tom paid little heed to this, knowing the world a great deal betterthan ever I could pretend to do; and being ready to take a thing, uponwhich he had set his mind, whether it came with a good grace, or whetherit came with a bad one. And seeing that it would be awkward to provokemy anger, he left the room, before more words, to submit himself toAnnie.
Upon this I went in search of Lorna, to tell her of our cousin'sarrival, and to ask whether she would think fit to see him, or to dineby herself that day; for she should do exactly as it pleased her ineverything, while remaining still our guest. But I rather wished thatshe might choose not to sit in Tom's company, though she might beintroduced to him. Not but what he could behave quite as well as could,and much better, as regarded elegance and assurance, only that hishonesty had not been as one might desire. But Lorna had some curiosityto know what this famous man was like, and declared that she would byall means have the pleasure of dining with him, if he did not object toher company on the ground of the Doones' dishonesty; moreover, she saidthat it would seem a most foolish air on her part, and one which wouldcause the greatest pain to Annie, who had been so good to her, if sheshould refuse to sit at table with a man who held the King's pardon, andwas now a pattern of honesty.
Against this I had not a word to say; and could not help acknowledgingin my heart that she was right, as well as wise, in her decision. Andafterwards I discovered that mother would have been much displeased, ifshe had decided otherwise.
Accordingly she turned away, with one of her very sweetest smiles (whosebeauty none can describe) saying that she must not meet a man of suchfashion and renown, in her common gardening frock; but must try to lookas nice as she could, if only in honour of dear Annie. And truth totell, when she came to dinner, everything about her was the neatestand prettiest that can possibly be imagined. She contrived to matchthe colours so, to suit one another and her own, and yet with a certaindelicate harmony of contrast, and the shape of everything was so nice,so that when she came into the room, with a crown of winning modestyupon the consciousness of beauty, I was quite as proud as if the Queenof England entered.
My mother could not help remarking, though she knew that it was notmannerly, how like a princess Lorna looked, now she had her best thingson but two things caught Squire Faggus's eyes, after he had made amost gallant bow, and received a most graceful courtesy; and he kept hisbright bold gaze upon them, first on one, and then on the other, untilmy darling was hot with blushes, and I was ready to knock him down if hehad not been our visitor. But here again I should have been wrong, as Iwas apt to be in those days; for Tom intended no harm whatever, and hisgaze was of pure curiosity; though Annie herself was vexed with it. Thetwo objects of his close regard, were first, and most worthily, Lorna'sface, and secondly, the ancient necklace restored to her by Sir EnsorDoone.
Now wishing to save my darling's comfort, and to keep things quiet, Ishouted out that dinner was ready, so that half the parish could hearme; upon which my mother laughed, and chid me, and despatched her guestsbefore her. And a very good dinner we made, I remember, and a veryhappy one; attending to the women first, as now is the manner of eating;except among the workmen. With them, of course, it is needful thatthe man (who has his hours fixed) should be served first, and make theutmost of his time for feeding, while the women may go on, as much asever they please, afterwards. But with us, who are not bound to time,there is no such reason to be quoted; and the women being the weakervessels, should be the first to begin to fill. And so we always arrangedit.
Now, though our Annie was a graceful maid, and Lizzie a very learnedone, you should have seen how differently Lorna managed her dining; shenever took more than about a quarter of a mouthful at a time, and shenever appeared to be chewing that, although she must have done so.Indeed, she appeared to dine as if it were a matter of no consequence,and as if she could think of other things more than of her business. Allthis, and her own manner of eating, I described to Eliza once, when Iwanted to vex her for something very spiteful that she had said; andI never succeeded so well before, for the girl was quite outrageous,having her own perception of it, which made my observation ten times asbitter to her. And I am not sure but what she ceased to like poor Lornafrom that day; and if so, I was quite paid out, as I well deserved, formy bit of satire.
For it strikes me that of all human dealings, satire is the very lowest,and most mean and common. It is the equivalent in words of what bullyingis in deeds; and no more bespeaks a clever man, than the other does abrave one. These two wretched tricks exalt a fool in his own low esteem,but never in his neighbour's; for the deep common sense of our naturetells that no man of a genial heart, or of any spread of mind, can takepride in either. And though a good man may commit the one fault or theother, now and then, by way of outlet, he is sure to have compunctionssoon, and to scorn himself more than the sufferer.
Now when the young maidens were gone--for we had quite a high dinner offashion that day, with Betty Muxworthy waiting, and Gwenny Carfax at thegravy--and only mother, and Tom, and I remained at the white deal table,with brandy, and schnapps, and hot water jugs; Squire Faggus said quitesuddenly, and perhaps on purpose to take us aback, in case of our hidinganything,--'What do you know of the history of that beautiful maiden,good mother?'
'Not half so much as my son does,' mother answered, with a soft smile atme; 'and when John does not choose to tell a thing, wild horses will notpull it out of him.'
'That is not at all like me, mother,' I replied rather sadly; 'you knowalmost every word about Lorna, quite as well as I do.'
'Almost every word, I believe, John; for you never tell a falsehood. Butthe few unknown may be of all the most importa
nt to me.'
To this I made no answer, for fear of going beyond the truth, or elseof making mischief. Not that I had, or wished to have, any mystery withmother; neither was there in purest truth, any mystery in the matter;to the utmost of my knowledge. And the only things that I had kept back,solely for mother's comfort, were the death of poor Lord Alan Brandir(if indeed he were dead) and the connection of Marwood de Whichehalsewith the dealings of the Doones, and the threats of Carver Doone againstmy own prosperity; and, may be, one or two little things harrowing morethan edifying.
'Come, come,' said Master Faggus, smiling very pleasantly, 'you twounderstand each other, if any two on earth do. Ah, if I had only had amother, how different I might have been!' And with that he sighed,in the tone which always overcame mother upon that subject, and hadsomething to do with his getting Annie; and then he produced his prettybox, full of rolled tobacco, and offered me one, as I now had joined thegoodly company of smokers. So I took it, and watched what he did withhis own, lest I might go wrong about mine.
But when our cylinders were both lighted, and I enjoying minewonderfully, and astonishing mother by my skill, Tom Faggus told us thathe was sure he had seen my Lorna's face before, many and many years ago,when she was quite a little child, but he could not remember where itwas, or anything more about it at present; though he would try to do soafterwards. He could not be mistaken, he said, for he had noticed hereyes especially; and had never seen such eyes before, neitheragain, until this day. I asked him if he had ever ventured into theDoone-valley; but he shook his head, and replied that he valued his lifea deal too much for that. Then we put it to him, whether anything mightassist his memory; but he said that he knew not of aught to do so,unless it were another glass of schnapps.
This being provided, he grew very wise, and told us clearly and candidlythat we were both very foolish. For he said that we were keeping Lorna,at the risk not only of our stock, and the house above our heads, butalso of our precious lives; and after all was she worth it, although sovery beautiful? Upon which I told him, with indignation, that her beautywas the least part of her goodness, and that I would thank him for hisopinion when I had requested it.
'Bravo, our John Ridd!' he answered; 'fools will be fools till the endof the chapter; and I might be as big a one, if I were in thy shoes,John. Nevertheless, in the name of God, don't let that helpless child goabout with a thing worth half the county on her.'
'She is worth all the county herself,' said I, 'and all England puttogether; but she has nothing worth half a rick of hay upon her; for thering I gave her cost only,'--and here I stopped, for mother was looking,and I never would tell her how much it had cost me; though she had triedfifty times to find out.
'Tush, the ring!' Tom Faggus cried, with a contempt that moved me: 'Iwould never have stopped a man for that. But the necklace, you greatoaf, the necklace is worth all your farm put together, and your UncleBen's fortune to the back of it; ay, and all the town of Dulverton.'
'What,' said I, 'that common glass thing, which she has had from herchildhood!'
'Glass indeed! They are the finest brilliants ever I set eyes on and Ihave handled a good many.'
'Surely,' cried mother, now flushing as red as Tom's own cheeks withexcitement, 'you must be wrong, or the young mistress would herself haveknown it.'
I was greatly pleased with my mother, for calling Lorna 'the youngmistress'; it was not done for the sake of her diamonds, whether theywere glass or not; but because she felt as I had done, that Tom Faggus,a man of no birth whatever, was speaking beyond his mark, in calling alady like Lorna a helpless child; as well as in his general tone, whichdisplayed no deference. He might have been used to the quality, in theway of stopping their coaches, or roystering at hotels with them; but henever had met a high lady before, in equality, and upon virtue; and weboth felt that he ought to have known it, and to have thanked us for theopportunity, in a word, to have behaved a great deal more humbly than hehad even tried to do.
'Trust me,' answered Tom, in his loftiest manner, which Annie saidwas 'so noble,' but which seemed to me rather flashy, 'trust me, goodmother, and simple John, for knowing brilliants, when I see them. Iwould have stopped an eight-horse coach, with four carabined out-riders,for such a booty as that. But alas, those days are over; those were daysworth living in. Ah, I never shall know the like again. How fine it wasby moonlight!'
'Master Faggus,' began my mother, with a manner of some dignity, suchas she could sometimes use, by right of her integrity, and thoroughkindness to every one, 'this is not the tone in which you have hithertospoken to me about your former pursuits and life, I fear that thespirits'--but here she stopped, because the spirits were her own, andTom was our visitor,--'what I mean, Master Faggus, is this: you havewon my daughter's heart somehow; and you won my consent to the matterthrough your honest sorrow, and manly undertaking to lead a differentlife, and touch no property but your own. Annie is my eldest daughter,and the child of a most upright man. I love her best of all on earth,next to my boy John here'--here mother gave me a mighty squeeze, to besure that she would have me at least--'and I will not risk my Annie'slife with a man who yearns for the highway.'
Having made this very long speech (for her), mother came home upon myshoulder, and wept so that (but for heeding her) I would have taken Tomby the nose, and thrown him, and Winnie after him, over our farm-yardgate. For I am violent when roused; and freely hereby acknowledge it;though even my enemies will own that it takes a great deal to rouse me.But I do consider the grief and tears (when justly caused) of my dearestfriends, to be a great deal to rouse me.
Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor Page 47