MONSIEUR VIOLET (FISCLE PART-IV), FREDERICK MARRYAT [easy novels to read .txt] 📗

I

Had Seen The Blazing Of A Bridle-Path; But As He Had Announced a

Military Road, I Expected, What It Imported, A Military Road. I Resumed

My Journey And Entered the Prairie. The Rays Of The Sun Were Very

Powerful, And, Wishing To Water My Horse, I Hailed with Delight A

Miserable Hut, Sixteen Feet Square, Which I Saw At About Half A Mile

From The Trail. In a Few Minutes I Was Before The Door, And Tied my

Horse To A Post, Upon Which Was A Square Board Bearing Some Kind Of

Hieroglyphics On Both Sides. Upon A Closer Inspection, I Saw Upon One

Side "Ice," And Upon The Other, "Postoff."

 

 

 

"A Russian, A Swede, Or A Norwegian," Thought I, Knowing That Iowa

Contained eight Or Ten Thousand Emigrants Of These Countries.

"Ice--Well, That Is A Luxury Rarely To Be Found By A Traveller In the

Prairie, But It Must Be Pretty Dear; No Matter, Have Some I Must."

 

 

 

I Entered the Hut, And Saw A Dirty Woman Half-Naked, And Slumbering Upon

A Stool, By The Corner Of The Chimney.

 

 

 

"Any Milk?" I Inquired, Rousing Her Up.

 

 

 

She Looked at Me And Shook Her Head; Evidently She Did Not Understand

Me; However, She Brought Me A Stone Jug Full Of Whisky, A Horn Tumbler,

And A Pitcher Of Water.

 

 

 

"Can You Give My Horse A Pail Of Water?" I Asked again.

 

 

 

The Woman Bent Down Her Body, And Dragging From Under The Bed a Girl Of

Fourteen, Quite Naked, And With A Skin As Tough As That Of An Alligator,

Ordered her To The Well With A Large Bucket. Having Thus Provided for My

Beast, I Sat Upon A Stump That Served for A Chair, And Once More

Addressed my Hostess.

 

 

 

"Now, My Good Woman, Let Us Have The Ice."

 

 

 

"The What?" She Answered.

 

 

 

As I Could Not Make Her Understand What I Wanted, I Was Obliged to Drink

The Whisky With Water Almost Tepid, And My Horse Being Refreshed, I Paid

My Fare And Started.

 

 

 

I Rode For Three Hours More, And Was Confident Of Having Performed twice

The Distance Named by Mine Host Of The Morning, And Yet The Prairie

Still Extended as Far As The Eye Could Reach, And I Could Not Perceive

The City Of Caledonia. Happily, I Discovered a Man At A Distance Riding

Towards Me: We Soon Met.

 

 

 

"How Far," Said I, "To Caledonia City?"

 

 

 

"Eighteen Miles," Answered the Traveller.

 

 

 

"Is There No Farm On The Way?" I Rejoined, "For My Horse Is Tired."

 

 

 

The Horseman Stared at Me In amazement "Why, Sir," He Answered, "You

Turn Your Back To It; You Have Passed it Eighteen Miles Behind."

 

 

 

"Impossible!" I Exclaimed: "I Never Left The Trail, Except To Water My

Horse At A Little Hut."

 

 

 

"Well," He Answered, "That Was At General Hiram Washington Tippet'S; He

Keeps The Post-Office--Why, Sir, That Was Caledonia City."

 

 

 

I Thanked him, Unsaddled my Horse, And Bivouacked where I Was, Laughing

Heartily At My Mistake In having asked for _Ice_, When The Two Sides Of

The Board Made _Post-Office._

 

 

 

But I Must Return To Boston And Its Court-House. As It Was The Time Of

The Assizes, Some Fifty Or Sixty Individuals Had Come From Different

Quarters, Either To Witness The Proceedings, Or To Swap Their Horses,

Their Saddles, Their Bowie-Knife, Or Anything; For It Is While Law Is

Exercising Its Functions That A Texan Is Most Anxious To Swap, To Cheat,

To Gamble, And To Pick Pockets And Quarrel Under Its Nose, Just To Show

His Independence Of All Law.

 

 

 

The Dinner-Bell Rang A Short Time After Our Arrival, And For The First

Time In my Life I Found Myself At An American _Table-D'Hote_. I Was

Astonished, As An Indian Well Might Be. Before My Companions And Self

Had Had Time To Sit Down And Make Choice Of Any Particular Dish, All Was

Disappearing Like A Dream. A General Opposite To Me Took Hold Of A

Fowl, And In the Twinkling Of An Eye, Severed the Wings And Legs. I

Thought It Was Polite Of Him To Carve For Others As Well As Himself, And

Was Waiting For Him To Pass Over The Dish After He Had Helped himself,

When, To My Surprise, He Retained all He Had Cut Off, And Pushed the

Carcase Of The Bird Away From Him. Before I Had Recovered from My

Astonishment, His Plate Was Empty. Another Seized a Plate Of

Cranberries, A Fruit I Was Partial To, And I Waited for Him To Help

Himself First And Then Pass The Dish Over To Me; But He Proved to Be

More Greedy Than The General, For, With An Enormous Horn Spoon, He

Swallowed the Whole.

 

 

 

The Table Was Now Deserted by All Except By Me And My Companions, Who,

With Doleful Faces, Endeavoured to Appease Our Hunger With Some Stray

Potatoes. We Called the Landlord, And Asked him For Something To Eat; It

Was With Much Difficulty That We Could Get Half A Dozen Of Eggs And As

Many Slices Of Salt Pork. This Lesson Was Not Thrown Away Upon Me; And

Afterwards, When Travelling In the States, I Always Helped myself Before

I Was Seated, Caring Nothing For My Neighbours. Politeness At Meals May

Be And Is Practised in europe, Or Among The Indians, But Among The

Americans It Would Be Attended with Starvation.

 

 

 

After Dinner, To Kill Time, We Went To The Court-House, And Were

Fortunate Enough To Find Room In a Position Where We Could See And Hear

All That Was Going On.

 

 

 

The Judge Was Seated upon A Chair, The Frame Of Which He Was Whittling

With Such Earnestness That He Appeared to Have Quite Forgotten Where He

Was. On Each Side Of Him Were Half A Dozen Of Jurymen, Squatted upon

Square Blocks, Which They Were Also Whittling, Judge And Jurymen Having

Each A Cigar In the Mouth, And A Flask Of Liquor, With Which Now And

Then They Regaled themselves. The Attorney, On His Legs, Addressing The

Jury, Was Also Smoking, As Well As The Plaintiff, The Defendant, And All

The Audience. The Last Were Seated, Horseback-Fashion, Upon Parallel Low

Benches, For Their Accommodation, Twenty Feet Long, All Turned towards

The Judge, And Looking Over The Shoulders Of The One In front Of Him,

And Busily Employed in carving at The Bench Between His Thigh And That

Of His Neighbour. It Was A Very Singular _Coup D'Oeil,_ And A New-Comer

From Europe Would Have Supposed the Assembly To Have Been A

"Whittling Club."

 

 

 

[Illustration: "The Attorney, On His Legs, Addressing The Jury, Was Also

Smoking."]

 

 

 

Having Surveyed the Company, I Then Paid Attention To The Case On Trial,

And, As I Was Just Behind The Defendant, I Soon Learned how Justice Was

Executed in texas, Or, At Least, In texan Boston. It Appeared that The

Defendant Was The Postmaster And General Merchant Of The Country. Two Or

Three Weeks Back, The Son Of The Plaintiff Had Entered his Shop To

Purchase His Provision Of Coffee, Sugar, And Flour, And Had Given Him To

Change A Good One-Hundred-Dollar Bill Of One Of The New Orleans Banks.

The Merchant Had Returned to Him A Fifty-Dollar Note And Another Of Ten.

Two Hours Afterwards, The Young Man, Having Swapped his Horse, Carriole,

And Twenty Dollars, For A Waggon And Two Couple Of Oxen, Presented the

Fifty-Dollar Note, Which Was Refused as Being Counterfeited. The Son Of

The Plaintiff Returned to The Merchant, And Requested him To Give Him A

Good Note. The Merchant, However, Would Not: "Why Did You Take It?" Said

He; "I Be D----D If I Give You Any Other Money For It." Upon Which The

Young Man Declared it Was Shameful Swindling, And The Merchant, Throwing

At Him An Iron Weight Of Nine Pounds, Killed him On The Spot.

 

 

 

The Attorney, Who Was Now Pleading For The Defendant, Was Trying To

Impress Upon The Jury That The Murder Had Been Merely Accidental,

Inasmuch As The Merchant Had Thrown The Missile Only In sport, Just To

Scare Away The Fellow Who Was Insulting Him In his Own House; But,

Strange To Say, No Mention Was Made At All Of The Note, Though Everybody

Knew Perfectly Well That The Merchant Had Given It, And That It Was A

Part Of His Trade To Pass Forged notes Among His Inexperienced

Customers. As Soon As The Lawyer Had Ended the Defence, The Merchant Was

Called upon By The Judge To Give His Own Version Of What Occurred.

He Rose:

 

 

 

"Why," Said He, "It Was Just So As Has Been Said. I Wished not To Hurt

The Fellow; But He Called me A Swindler. Well, I Knew The Man Was In a

Passion, And I Did Not Care. I Only Said, 'How Dare You, Sir?' And I

Threw The Piece Of Iron Just To Frighten Him. Well, To Be Sure, The

Blackguard Fell Down Like A Bull, And I Thought It Was A Humbug. I

Laughed and Said, 'None Of Your Gammon;' But He Was Dead. I Think The

Thing Must Have Struck Something On The Way, And So Swerved against His

Head. I Wished not To Kill The Fellow--I Be Damned if I Did."

 

 

 

The Jurymen Looked at Each Other With A Significant And Approving air,

Which Could Be Translated as Accidental Death. Gabriel Touched the

Merchant Upon The Shoulder, "You Should Have Said To Him, That You

Merely Wished to Kill A Musquito Upon The Wall."

 

 

 

"Capital Idea," Cried the Defendant "I Be D----D If It Was Not A

Musquito Eating My Molasses That I Wished to Kill, After All."

 

 

 

At That Moment One Of The Jurymen Approached the Merchant, And Addressed

Him In a Low Voice; I Could Not Hear What Passed, But I Heard The

Parting Words Of The Juryman, Which Were, "All'S Right!" To This

Dispenser Of Justice Succeeded another; Indeed, All The Jurymen Followed

In Succession, To Have A Little Private Conversation With The Prisoner.

At Last The Judge Condescended to Cease His Whittling, And Come To Make

His Own Bargain, Which He Did Openly:

 

 

 

"Any Good Saddles, Fielding? Mine Looks Rather Shabby."

 

 

 

"Yes, By Jingo, A Fine One, Bound With Blue Cloth, And Silver

Nails--Philadelphia-Made--Prime Cost Sixty Dollars."

 

 

 

"That Will Do," Answered the Judge, Walking Back To His Seat.

 

 

 

Ten Minutes Afterwards The Verdict Of Manslaughter Was Returned against

The Defendant, Who Was Considered, In a Speech From The Judge,

Sufficiently Punished by The Affliction Which Such An Accident Must

Produce To A Generous Mind. The Court Broke Up, And Fielding, Probably

To Show How Deep Was His Remorse, Gave Three Cheers, To Which The Whole

Court Answered with A Hurrah, And The Merchant Was Called upon To Treat

The Whole Company: Of Course He Complied, And They All Left The

Court-House. Gabriel And I Remained behind. He Had Often Tried to

Persuade Me To Abandon My Ideas Of Going To The States And Europe,

Pointing Out To Me That I Should Be Made A Dupe And Become A Prey To

Pretended well-Wishers. He Had Narrated to Me Many Incidents Of His Own

Life, Of His Folly And Credulity, Which Had Thrown Him From An Eminent

Station In civilized society, And Had Been The Cause Of Our Meeting In

The Western World. He Forewarned me That I Should Be Disappointed in my

Expectations, And Reap Nothing But Vexation And Disappointment. He Knew

The World Too Well. I Knew Nothing Of It, And I Thought That He Was

Moved by Bitterness Of Spirit To Rail So Loud Against It. He Would Fain

Persuade Me To Return With Him To My Own Tribe Of Shoshones, And Not Go

In Search Of What I Never Should Obtain. He Was Right, But I Was

Obstinate. He Did Not Let Pass This Opportunity Of Giving Me A Lesson.

 

 

 

"You Have Now Witnessed," Said He, "A Sample Of Justice In this

_Soi-Disant_ Civilized country. Two Hundred dollars Perhaps, Have

Cleared a Murderer; Ten Millions Would Not Have Done It Among The

Shoshones."

 

 

 

"But Texas Is Not Europe," Replied i.

 

 

 

"No," Said Gabriel, "It Is Not; But In europe, As In texas, With Money

You Can Do Anything, Without Money Nothing."

 

 

 

At That Moment We Perceived a Man Wrapt In his Blanket, And Leaning

Against A Tree.

 

 

 

He Surveyed the Group Receding To The Tavern, And The Deepest Feelings

Of Hatred and Revenge Were Working Evidently Within Him. He Saw Us Not,

So Intense Were His Thoughts. It Was The Plaintiff Whose Son Had Been

Murdered. Gabriel Resumed.

 

 

 

"Now, Mark That Man; He Was The Plaintiff, The Father Of The Young

Fellow So Shamefully Plundered and Murdered; He Is Evidently A Poor

Farmer, Or The Assassin Would Have Been Hung. He Is Now Brooding Over

Revenge; The Law Gave Not Justice, He Will Take It Into His Own Hands,

And He Will Probably Have It To-Night, Or To-Morrow. Injustice Causes

Crime, And Ninety-Nine Out Of A Hundred are Forced into It By The

Impotency Of The Law; They Suffer Once, And Afterwards Act Towards

Others As They Have Been Acted by. That Man May Have Been Till This Day

A Good, Industrious,