A Voyage Of Consolation - Sara Jeannette Duncan (namjoon book recommendations .txt) 📗
- Author: Sara Jeannette Duncan
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Over Her Dead Body.
I Forget Where We Were At The Time, But I Know That We Had Only To Walk
Through The Perpetual Motion Of Paris, Across A Bridge, And Down A Few
Steps On The Other Side, To Find The Little Steamer That Took Us By The
River To The Tower. We Might Have Gone By Omnibus Or By Fiacre, But If
We Had We Should Never Have Known What A Street The Seine Is, Sliding
Through Paris, Brown In The Open Sun, Dark Under The Shadowing Arches Of
The Bridges, Full Of Hastening Comers And Goers From Landing-Place To
Landing-Place, Up And Down. It Gave Us Quite A New Familiarity With The
River, Which Had Been Before Only A Part Of The Landscape, And One Of
The Things That Made Paris Imposing. We Saw That It Was A Highway Of
Traffic, And That The Little, Brisk, Business-Like Steamers Were Full Of
People, Who Went About In Them Because It Was The Cheapest And Most
Convenient Way, And Not At All For The Pleasure Of A Trip By Water. We
Noticed, Too, A Difference In These River-Going People. Some Of Them
Carried Baskets, And Some Of Them Read The _Petit Journal_, And They All
Comfortably Submitted To The Good-Natured Bullying Of The Mariner In
Charge. There Were Elderly Women In black, With A Button Or Two Off
Their Tight Bodices, And Children With Patched Shoes Carrying An
Assortment Of Vegetables, And Middle-Aged Men In Slouch Hats, Smoking
Tobacco That Would Have Been Forbidden By Public Statute Anywhere Else.
They All Treated Us With A Respect And Consideration Which We Had Not
Observed In The Avenue De L'Opera, And I Noticed The Senator Visibly
Expanding In It. There Was Also A Man And A Little Boy, And A Dog, All
Lunching Out Of The Same Basket. Afterward, On Being Requested To Do So,
The Dog Performed Tricks--French Ones--To The Enjoyment And Satisfaction
Of All Three. There Was A Great Deal Of Politeness And Good Feeling, And
If They Were Not Capi And Remi And Vitalis In "_Sans Famille_," It Was
Merely Because Their Circumstances Were Different.
As We Stood Looking At The Eiffel Tower, Poppa Said He Thought If He
Were In My Place He Wouldn'T Describe It. "It'S Old News," He Said, "And
There'S Nothing The General Public Dislike So Much As That. Every
Hotel-Porter In chicago Knows That It'S Three Hundred Metres High, And
That You Can See Through It All The Way Up. There It Is, And I Feel As
If I'D Passed My Boyhood In Its Shadow. That Way I Must Say It'S A
Disappointment. I Was Expecting It To Be More Unexpected, If You
Understand."
Momma And I Quite Agreed. It Had The Familiarity Of A Demonstration Of
Euclid, And To The Non-Engineering Mind Was About As Interesting. The
Senator Felt So Well Acquainted With It That He Hesitated About Buying A
Descriptive Pamphlet. "They Want To Sell A Stranger Too Much Information
In This Country," He Said. "The Meanest American Intelligence Is Equal
To Stepping Into An Elevator And Stepping Out Again." But He Bought One
Nevertheless, And Was Particularly Pleased With It, Not Only Because It
Was The Cheapest Thing In Paris At Five Cents, But Because, As He Said
Himself, It Contained An Amount Of Enthusiasm Not Usually Available At
Any Price.
The Senator Thought, As We Entered The Elevator At The First Story, That
The Accommodation Compared Very Well Indeed With Anything In His
Experience. He Had Only One Criticism--There Was No Smoking-Room. We Had
A Slight Difficulty With Momma At The Second Story--She Did Not Wish To
Change Her Elevator. Inside She Said She Felt Perfectly Secure, But The
Tower Itself She Knew _Must_ Waggle At That Height When Once You Stepped
Out. In The End, However, We Persuaded Her Not To Go Down Before She Had
Made The Ascent, And She Rose To The Top With Her Eyes Shut. When We
Finally Got Out, However, The Sight Of Numbers Of Young Ladies Selling
Eiffel Tower Mementoes Steadied Her Nerves. She Agreed With Poppa That
Business Premises Would Never Let On Anything But The Most Stable Basis.
"It'S Exactly As Bramley Said," Remarked The Senator. "You'Re Up So High
That The Scenery, So Far As Paris Is Concerned, Becomes Perfectly
Ridiculous. It Might As Well Be A Map."
"_Don'T_ Look Over, Alexander," Said Momma. "It Will Fill You With A
Wild Desire To Throw Yourself Down. It Is Said _Always_ To Have That
Effect."
"'The Past Ends In This Plain At Your Feet,'" Quoted Poppa Critically
From The Guide-Book, "'The Future Will There Be Fulfilled.' I Suppose
They Did Feel A Bit Uppish When They'D Got As High As This--But You'D
Think France Was About The Only Republic At Present Doing Business,
Wouldn'T You?"
I Pointed Out The Pantheon Down Below And St. Etienne Du Mont, And Poppa
Was Immediately Filled With A Poignant Regret That We Had Spent So Much
Time Seeing Public Buildings On Foot. "Whereas," Said He, "From Our
Present Point Of View We Could Have Done Them All In Ten Minutes. As It
Is, We Shall Be In a Position To Say We'Ve Seen Everything There Is To
Be Seen In Paris. Bramley Won'T Be Able To Tell Us It'S A Pity We'Ve
Missed Anything. However," He Continued, "We Must Be Conscientious About
It. I'Ve No Desire To Play It Low Down On Bramley. Let Us Walk Round And
Pick Out The Places Of Interest He'S Most Likely To Expect To Catch Us
On, And Look At Them Separately. I Should Hate To Think I Wasn'T Telling
The Truth About A Thing Like That."
We Walked Round And Specifically Observed The "Ecole Des Beaux Arts,"
The "Palais D'Industrie," "Liberty Enlightening The World," And Other
Objects, Poppa Carefully Noting Against Each Of Them "Seen From Eiffel
Tower." As We Made Our Way To The River Side We Noticed Four Other
People, Two Ladies And Two Gentlemen, Looking At The Military Balloon
Hanging Over Meudon. They All Had Their Backs To Us, And There Was To Me
Something Dissimilarly Familiar About Three Of Those Backs. While I Was
Trying To Analyse It One Of The Gentlemen Turned, And Caught Sight Of
Poppa. In another Instant The Highest Elevation Yet Made By Engineering
Skill Was The Scene Of Three Impetuous American Handclasps, And Four
Impulsive American Voices Were Saying, "Why How _Do_ You Do!" The
Gentleman Was Mr. Richard Dod Of Chicago, Known To Our Family Without
Interruption Since He Wore Long Clothes. Mr. Dod Had Come Into His
Patrimony And Simultaneously Disappeared In The Direction Of Europe Six
Months Before, Since When We Had Only Heard Vaguely That He Had Lost
Most Of It, But Was Inalterably Cheerful; And There Was Nobody,
Apparently, He Expected So Little Or Desired So Much To See In Paris As
The Senator, Momma And Me. Poppa Called Him "Dick, My Boy," Momma Called
Him "My Dear Dicky," I Called Him Plain "Dick," And When This Had Been
Going On For, Possibly, Five Minutes, The Older And Larger Of The Two
Ladies Of The Party Swung Round With A Majesty I At Once Associated With
My Earlier London Experiences, And Regarded Us Through Her _Pince Nez_.
There Was No Mistaking Her Disapproval. I Had Seen It Before. We Were
Americans And She Was Mrs. Portheris Of Half Moon-Street, Piccadilly. I
Saw That She Recognised Me And Was Trying To Make Up Her Mind Whether,
In View Of The Complication Of Mr. Dod, To Bow Or Not. But The Woman Who
Hesitates Is Lost, Even Though She Be A British Matron Of Massive
Prejudices And A Figure To Match. In Mrs. Portheris'S Instant Of
Vacillation, I Stepped Forward With Such Enthusiasm That She Was
Compelled To Take Down Her _Pince Nez_ And Hold Out A Superior Hand. I
Took It Warmly, And Turned To My Parents With A Joy Which Was Not In The
Least Affected. "Momma," I Exclaimed, "Try To Think Of The Very Last
Person Who Would Naturally Cross Your Mind--Our Relation, Mrs.
Portheris. Poppa, Allow Me To Introduce You To Your Aunt--Mrs.
Portheris. Your Far Distant Nephew From Chicago, Mr. Joshua Peter Wick."
It Was A Moment To Be Remembered--We All Said So Afterwards. Everything
Hung Upon Mrs. Portheris'S Attitude. But It Was Immediately Evident That
Mrs. Portheris Considered Parents Of Any Kind Excusable, Even
Commendable! Her Manner Said As Much--It Also Implied, However, That She
Could Not Possibly Be Held Responsible For Transatlantic Connections By
A Former Marriage. Momma Was Nervous, But Collected. She Bowed A Distant
Wastgaggle Bow, An Heirloom In The Family, Which Gave Mrs. Portheris To
Understand That If Any Cordiality Was To Characterise The Occasion, It
Would Have To Emanate From Her. Besides, Mrs. Portheris Was Poppa'S
Relation, And Would Naturally Have To Be Guarded Against. Poppa, On The
Other Hand, Was Cordiality Itself--He Always Is.
"Why, Is That So?" Said Poppa, Looking Earnestly At Mrs. Portheris And
Firmly Retaining Her Hand. "Is This My Very Own Aunt Caroline?"
"At One Time," Responded Mrs. Portheris With A Difficult Smile, "And, I
Fear, By Marriage Only."
"Ah, To Be Sure, To Be Sure! Poor Uncle Jimmy Gave Place To Another. But
We Won'T Say Anything More About That. Especially As You'Ve Been Equally
Unfortunate With Your Second," Said Poppa Sympathetically. "Well, I'M
Sure I'M Pleased To Meet You--Glad To Shake You By The Hand." He Gave
That Member One More Pressure As He Spoke And Relinquished It.
"It Is Extremely Unlooked For," Replied His Aunt Caroline, And Looked At
Mr. Dod, Who Quailed, As If He Were In Some Way Responsible For It. "I
Confess I Am Not In The Habit Of Meeting My Connections Promiscuously
Abroad." When We Came To Analyse The Impropriety Of This It Was
Difficult, But We Felt As A Family Very Disreputable At The Time. Mr.
Dod Radiated Sympathy For Us. Poppa Looked Concerned.
"The Fact Is," Said He, "We Ought To Have Called On You At Your London
Residence, Aunt Caroline. And If We Had Been Able To Make A More
Protracted Stay Than Just About Long Enough, As You Might Say, To See
What Time It Was, We Would Have Done So. But You See How It Was."
"Pray Don'T Mention It," Said Mrs. Portheris. "It Is Very Unlikely That
I Should Have Been At Home."
"Then _That'S_ All Right," Poppa Replied With Relief.
"London Has So Many Monuments," Murmured Dicky Dod, Regarding Mrs.
Portheris'S Impressive Back. "It Is Quite Impossible To Visit Them All."
"The View From Here," Our Relation Remarked In a Leave-Taking Tone, "Is
Very Beautiful, Is It Not?"
"It'S Very Extensive," Replied Poppa, "But I Notice The Inhabitants
Round About Seem To Think It Embraces The Biggest Part Of Civilisation.
I Admit It'S A Good-Sized View, But That'S What I Call Enlarging Upon
It."
"Come, Mr. Dod," Commanded Mrs. Portheris, "We Must Rejoin The Rest Of
Our Party. They Are On The Other Side."
"Certainly," Said Dicky. "But You Must Give Me Your Address, Mrs. Wick.
Thanks. And There Now! I'Ve Been Away From Illinois A Good Long Time,
But I'M Not Going To Forget To Congratulate Chicago On Getting You Once
More Into The United States Senate, Mr. Wick. I Did What I Could In My
Humble Way, You Know."
"I _Know_ You Did, Richard," Returned Poppa Warmly, "And If There'S Any
Little Consulship In Foreign Parts That It Would Amuse You To Fill----"
Mrs. Portheris, In The Act Of Exchanging Unemotional Farewells With
Mamma, Turned Round. "Do I Understand That You Are Now A _Senator_?" She
Inquired. "I Had No Idea Of It. It Is Certainly A Distinction--An
American Distinction, Of Course--But You Can'T Help That. It Does You
Credit. I Trust You Will Use Your Influence To Put An End To The
Mormons."
"As Far As That Goes," Poppa Returned With Deprecation, "I Believe My
Business Does Take Me To The Capitol Pretty Regularly Now. But I'D Be
Sorry To Think Any More Of Myself On That Account. Your Nephew, Aunt
Caroline, Is Just The Same Plain American He Was Before."
"I Hope You Will Vote To Exterminate Them," Continued Mrs. Portheris
With Decision. "Dear Me! A Senator--I Suppose You Must Have A Great Deal
Of Influence In Your Own Country! Ah, Here Are The Truants! We Might All
Go Down In The Lift Together."
The Truants Appeared Looking Conscious. One Of Them, When He Saw Me,
Looked Astonished As Well, And I Cannot Say That I Myself Was Perfectly
Unmoved When I Realised That It Was Mr. Mafferton! There Was No Reason
Why Mr. Mafferton Should Not Have Been At The Top Of The Eiffel Tower In
The Society Of Mrs. Portheris, Mr. Dod, And Another, That Afternoon, But
For The Moment It Seemed To Me Uniquely Amazing. We Shook Hands,
However--It Was The Only Thing To Do--And Mr. Mafferton Said This Was
Indeed A Surprise As If It Were The Most Ordinary Thing Possible. Mrs.
Portheris Looked On At Our Greeting With
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