by G. A. Henty
CHAPTER XXXI.
CONCLUSION.
Three years more of progress and Stokebridge had become the modelvillage of the Black Country. The chief employer of labour, his manager,the vicar, and schoolmaster all worked together for this end. Thelibrary had been a great success, and it was rare, indeed, for a drunkenman to be seen in the streets even of a Saturday night. Many of thepublic-houses had closed their doors altogether; and in addition to thelibrary a large and comfortable club-house had been built.
The men of an evening could smoke their pipes, play at bagatelle, chess,draughts, or cards, and take such beer as they required, any man gettingdrunk or even noisy to be expelled the club. This, however, was a rulenever requiring to be called into force. The building was conducted onthe principle of a regimental canteen. The beer was good and cheap butnot strong, no spirits were sold, but excellent tea, coffee, andchocolate could be had at the lowest prices.
The building was closed during the day, but beer was sent out both fordinners and suppers to those who required it. There was a comfortableroom where women could sew, knit, and talk as they pleased, or theycould, if they liked, sit in the general room with their husbands.Entertainments and lectures were of frequent occurrence, and theestablishment, supplemented by the library and wash-house, did wondersfor Stokebridge.
The promise made by Mr. Brook at the fete had been carried out. Achoir-master came over twice a week from Birmingham, and the youngpeople entered into the scheme with such zest that the choir had carriedaway the prize three years in succession at Birmingham. The night-schoolwas now carried on on a larger scale than ever, and the school forcooking and sewing was so well attended that Mrs. Dodgson had now asecond assistant. To encourage the children and young people an annualshow was held at which many prizes were given for gardening, needlework,dressmaking, carpentering, and a variety of other subjects. It wasseldom, indeed, that an untidy dress was to be seen, still more uncommonthat a foul word was heard in the streets of Stokebridge. Nothing couldmake the rows of cottages picturesque as are those of a rural village;but from tubs, placed in front, creepers and roses climbed over thehouses, while the gardens behind were gay with flowers.
No young woman needed to remain single in Stokebridge longer than shechose, for so noteworthy were they for their housewifely qualities thatthe young pitmen of the villages round thought themselves fortunateindeed if they could get a wife from Stokebridge. Bill Cummings, FredWood, and several others of Jack's boy friends, were viewers orunder-managers of the Vaughan, and many had left to take similarsituations elsewhere.
Jack Simpson was popular with all classes. With the upper class hissimple straightforwardness, his cheerfulness and good temper, made him agreat favourite, although they found it hard to understand how so quietand unassuming a young fellow could be the hero of the two rescues atthe Vaughan, for, now when the fact was known, Jack no longer made asecret of his share in the attack by the rioters on the engine-house.Among the pitmen his popularity was unbounded. Of an evening he wouldsometimes come down to the club-room and chat as unrestrainedly andintimately as of old with the friends of his boyhood, and he never lostan opportunity of pushing their fortunes.
Once a week he spent the evening with Bill Haden and his wife, whoalways came up and passed Sunday with him when he was at home. At thistime all ceremony was dispensed with, the servants were sent out of theroom, and when the pitman and his wife became accustomed to theirsurroundings they were far more at their ease than they had at firstthought possible.
On the evenings when he went down to his mother he always dropped infor an hour's talk with his friend Nelly. There was no shadow of changein their relations. Nelly was his friend firm and fast, to whom he toldall his thoughts and plans. Harry was assistant master in a school atBirmingham, and was, as he told Jack, still waiting patiently.
Jack was now often over at Birmingham, and one night he said to Nelly:
"Nelly, I promised you long ago that I would tell you if I ever fell inlove."
"And you have come to tell me now?" she asked quietly.
"Yes," he said, "if it can be called falling in love; for it has been sogradual that I don't know how it began. Perhaps three years ago, whenshe refused another man. I was glad of it, and of course asked myselfwhy I was glad. There came no answer but one--I wanted her myself."
"I suppose it is Alice Merton?" Nelly said as quietly as before.
"Of course," Jack said; "it could be no one else. I suppose I like herbecause she is the reverse of myself. She is gentle but lively and fullof fun, she is made to be the light of a hard working man's home. I amnot at all gentle, and I have very little idea of fun. Alice is made tolean on some one. I suppose I am meant to be leant upon. I suppose it isalways the case that opposite natures are attracted towards one another,the one forms the complement of the other."
Nelly sat thinking. This then was the reason why she had never attractedJack. Both their natures were strong and firm. Both had full controlover themselves, although both of a passionate nature; both had thecapability of making great sacrifices, even of life if necessary; bothhad ambition and a steady power of work. No wonder Jack had thought ofher as a comrade rather than as a possible wife; while Harry, gentlerand easily led, patient rather than firm, leaned upon her strong nature.
"I think, dear Jack," she said, "that Miss Merton is the very woman tomake you happy. You have known each other for twelve years, and can makeno mistake. I need not say how truly and sincerely I wish you everyhappiness." There was a quiver in her voice as she spoke, but her facewas as firm and steadfast as ever; and Jack Simpson, as he walkedhomewards, did not dream that Nelly Hardy was weeping as if her heartwould break, over this final downfall of her life's dream. It was notthat she had for the last seven years ever thought that Jack would askher to be his wife, but she would have been content to go on to the endof her life as his first and dearest friend. Then she said at last,"That's done with. Jack and I will always be great friends, but not aswe have been. Perhaps it is as well. Better now than ten years on."
Then her thoughts went to Harry, to whom, indeed, during the last fewyears they had gone oftener than she would have admitted to herself. "Heis very faithful and kind and good, and I suppose one of these days Ishall have to give in. He will not expect much, but he deserves all Icould give him."
In after years, however, Nelly Shepherd learned that she could give herhusband very true and earnest love; and the headmaster and mistress ofthe largest school at Wolverhampton are regarded by all who know them,and by none less than by Jack Simpson and his wife, as a perfectly happycouple.
It is ten years since Jack married Alice Merton, who had loved him foryears before he asked her to be his wife. Jack is now part proprietor ofthe Vaughan pit, and is still its real manager, although he has anominal manager under him. He cannot, however, be always on the spot, ashe lives near Birmingham, and is one of the greatest authorities onmining, and the first consulting engineer, in the Black Country. At Mr.Brook's death he will be sole proprietor of the Vaughan, that gentlemanhaving at Jack's marriage settled its reversion upon his wife.
Dinner is over, and he is sitting in the garden, surrounded by those hemost cares for in the world. It is the 1st of June, a day upon which asmall party always assembles at his house. By his side is his wife, andnext to her are Harry Shepherd and Nelly. Between the ladies a warmfriendship has sprung up of late years, while that between the threefriends has never diminished in the slightest. On Jack's other hand sitsan artist, bearing one of the most honoured names in England, whosehealth Jack always proposes at this dinner as "the founder of hisfortune." Next to the artist sits Mr. Brook, and beyond him Mrs.Simpson's father, a permanent resident in the house now, but some yearsback a professor of mathematics in Birmingham. Playing in the garden aresix children, two of whom call the young Simpsons cousins, althoughthere is no blood relationship between them; and walking with them arean old couple, who live in the pretty cottage just opposite to theentrance of the grounds
, and whom Jack Simpson still affectionatelycalls "dad" and "mother."
THE END.
Transcriber's Note
Punctuation has been standardized. Inconsistent hyphenation has not beenchanged.
This book includes a lot of dialect, which often looks misspelled butwas intentionally written that way. Therefore, some irregularities thatmight be errors have not been corrected in order to preserve authorintent.
On page 83, the name Ratcliffe was misspelled in the original text. Thishas been corrected.
In the paragraph beginning "There was a movement in the crowd," the nextsentence in the original text is, '"The soldiers be coming" run frommouth to mouth.' As this is likely an error in the text, "run" has beenchanged to "ran."
In the formula given by Jack, the original text has an extraneous 1.This seems to be an error by the author and has been removed.
Italics in the original text are indicated by _ in the text version,with one exception: the above-mentioned formula was originally initalics, but the _ characters have been removed for clarity.