Japhet, In Search Of A Father Part 1, Frederick Marryat [best non fiction books of all time .txt] 📗
- Author: Frederick Marryat
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You, For Running Against A _Gentleman_."
He Of The Rubicund Hair Had Retreated, Because So Violent Was The Blow
He Could Not Help So Doing, And We All Must Yield To Fate. But It Was
Not From Fear. Seizing A Vile Potation That Was Labelled "To Be Taken
Immediately," And Hurling It With Demoniacal Force Right On The Chops Of
The Courageous Timothy, "Take That!" Cried He, With A Rancorous Yell.
This Missile, Well Directed As The Spears Of Homer'S Heroes, Came Full
Upon The Bridge Of Timothy'S Nose, And The Fragile Glass Shivering,
Inflicted Divers Wounds Upon His Physiognomy, And At The Same Time
Poured Forth A Dark Burnt-Sienna Coloured Balsam, To Heal Them, Giving
Part 1 Chapter 6 Pg 28Pain Unutterable. Timothy, Disdaining To Lament The Agony Of His Wounds,
Followed The Example Of His Antagonist, And Hastily Seizing A Similar
Bottle Of Much Larger Dimensions, Threw It With Such Force That It Split
Between The Eyes Of His Opponent. Thus With These Dreadful Weapons Did
They Commence The Mortal Strife.
The Lovers Of _Good Order_, Or At Least Of Fair Play, Gathered Round The
Combatants, Forming An Almost Impregnable Ring, Yet Of Sufficient
Dimensions To Avoid The Missiles. _"Go It, Red-Head!" "Bravo! White
Apron!"_ Resounded On Every Side. Draughts Now Met Draughts In Their
Passage Through The Circumambient Air, And Exploded Like Shells Over A
Besieged Town. Bolusses Were Fired With The Precision Of Cannon Shot,
Pill-Boxes Were Thrown With Such Force That They Burst Like Grape And
Canister, While Acids And Alkalies Hissed, As They Neutralised Each
Other'S Power, With All The Venom Of Expiring Snakes, "Bravo! White
Apron!" "Red-Head For Ever!" Resounded On Every Side As The Conflict
Continued With Unabated Vigour. The Ammunition Was Fast Expending On
Both Sides, When Mr Ebenezer Pleggit, Hearing The Noise, And Perhaps
Smelling His Own Drugs, Was So Unfortunately Rash And So Unwisely
Foolhardy, As To Break Through The Sacred Ring, Advancing From Behind
With Uplifted Cane To Fell The Redoubtable Timothy, When A Mixture Of
His Own, Hurled By His Own Red-Haired Champion, Caught Him In His Open
Mouth, Breaking Against His Only Two Remaining Front Teeth, Extracting
Them As The Discharged Liquid Ran Down His Throat, And Turning Him As
Sick As A Dog. He Fell, Was Taken Away On A Shutter, And It Was Some
Days Before He Was Again To Be Seen In His Shop, Dispensing Those
Medicines Which, On This Fatal Occasion, He Would But Too Gladly Have
Dispensed With.
Reader, Have You Not Elsewhere Read In The Mortal Fray Between Knights,
When The Casque Has Been Beaten Off, The Shield Lost, And The Sword
Shivered, How They Have Resorted To Closer And More Deadly Strife With
Their Daggers Raised On High? Thus It Was With Timothy: His Means Had
Failed, And Disdaining Any Longer To Wage A Distant Combat, He Closed
Vigorously With His Panting Enemy, Overthrew Him In The First Struggle,
Seizing From His Basket The Only Weapons Which Remained, One Single
Vial, And One Single Box Of Pills. As He Sat Upon His Prostrate Foe,
First He Forced The Box Of Pills Into His Gasping Mouth, And Then With
The Lower End Of The Vial He Drove It Down His Throat, As A Gunner Rams
Home The Wad And Shot Into A Thirty-Two Pound Carronade. Choked With The
Box, The Fallen Knight Held Up His Hands For Quarter; But Timothy
Continued Until The End Of The Vial Breaking Out The Top And Bottom Of
The Pasteboard Receptacle, Forty-And-Eight Of Antibilious Pills Rolled
In Haste Down Red-Head'S Throat. Timothy Then Seized His Basket, And
Amid The Shouts Of Triumph, Walked Away. His Fallen-Crested Adversary
Coughed Up The Remnants Of The Pasteboard, Once More Breathed, And Was
Led Disconsolate To The Neighbouring Pump; While Timothy Regained Our
Shop With His Blushing Honours Thick Upon Him.
But I Must Drop The Vein Heroical. Mr Cophagus, Who Was At Home When
Timothy Returned, Was At First Very Much Inclined To Be Wroth At The
Loss Of So Much Medicine; But When He Heard The Story, And The Finale,
He Was So Pleased At Tim'S Double Victory Over Mr Pleggit And His
Messenger, That He Actually Put His Hand In His Pocket, And Pulled Out
Half-A-Crown.
Mr Pleggit, On The Contrary, Was Any Thing But Pleased; He Went To A
Part 1 Chapter 6 Pg 29Lawyer, And Commenced An Action For Assault And Battery, And All The
Neighbourhood Did Nothing But Talk About The Affray Which Had Taken
Place, And The Action At Law Which It Was Said Would Take Place In The
Ensuing Term.
But With The Exception Of This Fracas, Which Ended In The Action Not
Holding Good, Whereby The Animosity Was Increased, I Have Little To
Recount During The Remainder Of The Time I Served Under Mr Cophagus. I
Had Been More Than Three Years With Him When My Confinement Became
Insupportable. I Had But One Idea, Which Performed An Everlasting Cycle
In My Brain--Who Was My Father? And I Should Have Abandoned The
Profession To Search The World In The Hope Of Finding My Progenitor, Had
It Not Been That I Was Without The Means. Latterly, I Had Hoarded Up All
I Could Collect; But The Sum Was Small, Much Too Small For The Proposed
Expedition. I Became Melancholy, Indifferent To The Business, And
Slovenly In My Appearance, When A Circumstance Occurred Which Put An End
To My Further Dispensing Medicines, And Left Me A Free Agent.
Part 1 Chapter 7 Pg 30
Looking Out For Business Not Exactly Minding Your Own Business--The
Loss Of The Scales Occasions The Loss Of Place To Timothy And Me,
Who When Weighed In Other Scales Were Found Wanting--We Bundle Off
With Our Bundles On.
It Happened One Market-Day That There Was An Overdriven, Infuriated
Beast, Which Was Making Sad Havoc. Crowds Of People Were Running Past
Our Shop In One Direction, And The Cries Of "Mad Bull!" Were Re-Echoed
In Every Quarter. Mr Cophagus, Who Was In The Shop, And To Whom, As I
Have Before Observed, A Mad Bull Was A Source Of Great Profit, Very
Naturally Looked Out Of The Shop To Ascertain Whether The Animal Was
Near To Us. In Most Other Countries, When People Hear Of Any Danger,
They Generally Avoid It By Increasing Their Distance; But In england, It
Is Too Often The Case, That They Are So Fond Of Indulging Their
Curiosity, That They Run To The Danger. Mr Cophagus, Who Perceived The
People Running One Way, Naturally Supposed, Not Being Aware Of The
Extreme Proximity Of The Animal, That The People Were Running To See
What Was The Matter, And Turned His Eyes In That Direction, Walking Out
On The Pavement That He Might Have A Fairer View. He Was Just Observing,
"Can'T Say--Fear--Um--Rascal Pleggit--Close To Him--Get All The
Custom--Wounds--Contusions--And"--When The Animal Came Suddenly Round
The Corner Upon Mr Cophagus, Who Had His Eyes The Other Way, And Before
He Could Escape, Tossed Him Through His Own Shop Windows, And Landed Him
On The Counter. Not Satisfied With This, The Beast Followed Him Into The
Shop. Timothy And I Pulled Mr Cophagus Over Towards Us, And He Dropped
Inside The Counter, Where We Also Crouched, Frightened Out Of Our Wits.
To Our Great Horror The Bull Made One Or Two Attempts To Leap The
Counter; But Not Succeeding, And Being Now Attacked By The Dogs And
Butcher Boys, He Charged At Them Through The Door, Carrying Away Our
Part 1 Chapter 7 Pg 31Best Scales On His Horns As A Trophy, As He Galloped Out Of The Shop In
Pursuit Of His Persecutors. When The Shouts And Hallooes Were At Some
Little Distance, Timothy And I Raised Our Heads And Looked Round Us; And
Perceiving That All Was Safe, We Proceeded To Help Mr Cophagus, Who
Remained On The Floor Bleeding, And In a State Of Insensibility. We
Carried Him Into The Back Parlour And Laid Him On The Sofa. I Desired
Timothy To Run For Surgical Aid As Fast As He Could, While I Opened A
Vein; And In a Few Minutes He Returned With Our Opponent, Mr Ebenezer
Pleggit. We Stripped Mr Cophagus, And Proceeded To Examine Him. "Bad
Case This--Very Bad Case Indeed, Mr Newland--Dislocation Of The Os
Humeri--Severe Contusion On The Os Frontis--And I'M Very Much Afraid
There Is Some Intercostal Injury. Very Sorry, Very Sorry, Indeed, For My
Brother Cophagus." But Mr Pleggit Did Not Appear To Be Sorry; On The
Contrary, He Appeared To Perform His Surgical Duties With The Greatest
Glee.
We Reduced The Dislocation, And Then Carried Mr Cophagus Up To His Bed.
In An Hour He Was Sensible, And Mr Pleggit Took His Departure, Shaking
Hands With Mr Cophagus, And Wishing Him Joy Of His Providential Escape.
"Bad Job, Japhet," Said Mr Cophagus To Me.
"Very Bad Indeed, Sir; But It Might Have Been Worse."
"Worse--Um--No, Nothing Worse--Not Possible."
"Why, Sir, You Might Have Been Killed."
"Pooh!--Didn'T Mean That--Mean Pleggit--Rascal--Um--Kill Me If He
Can--Sha'N'T Though--Soon Get Rid Of Him--And So On."
"You Will Not Require His Further Attendance Now That Your Shoulder Is
Reduced. I Can Very Well Attend Upon You."
"Very True, Japhet;--But Won'T Go--Sure Of That--Damned Rascal--Quite
Pleased--I Saw It--Um--Eyes Twinkled--Smile Checked--And So On."
That Evening Mr Pleggit Called In as Mr Cophagus Said That He Would,
And The Latter Showed A Great Deal Of Impatience; But Mr Pleggit
Repeated His Visits Over And Over Again, And I Observed That Mr Cophagus
No Longer Made Any Objection; On The Contrary, Seemed Anxious For His
Coming, And Still More So, After He Was Convalescent, And Able To Sit At
His Table. But The Mystery Was Soon Divulged. It Appeared That Mr
Cophagus, Although He
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