Japhet, In Search Of A Father Part 1 - Frederick Marryat (polar express read aloud .txt) 📗

Was Very Glad That Other People Should Suffer From

Mad Bulls,  And Come To Be Cured,  Viewed The Case In a Very Different

Light When The Bull Thought Proper To Toss Him,  And Having Now Realised

A Comfortable Independence,  He Had Resolved To Retire From Business,  And

From A Site Attended With So Much Danger. A Hint Of This Escaping Him

When Mr Pleggit Was Attending Him On The Third Day After His Accident,

The Latter,  Who Knew The Value Of The _Locale_,  Also Hinted That If Mr

Cophagus Was Inclined So To Do,  That He Would Be Most Happy To Enter

Into An Arrangement With Him. Self-Interest Will Not Only Change

Friendship Into Enmity,  In This Rascally World,  But Also Turn Enmity

Into Friendship. All Mr Pleggit'S Enormities,  And All Mr Cophagus'

Shameful Conduct,  Were Mutually Forgotten. In Less Than Ten Minutes It

Part 1 Chapter 7 Pg 32

Was,  "_My Dear Mr Pleggit_,  And So On," And "_My Dear Brother

Cophagus_."

 

In Three Weeks Every Thing Had Been Arranged Between Them,  And The Shop,

Fixtures,  Stock In Trade,  And Good Will,  Were All The Property Of Our

Ancient Antagonist. But Although Mr Pleggit Could Shake Hands With Mr

Cophagus For His Fixtures And _Good Will_,  Yet As Timothy And I Were Not

Included In The _Good Will_,  Neither Were We Included Among The

_Fixtures_,  And Mr Cophagus Could Not,  Of Course,  Interfere With Mr

Pleggit'S Private Arrangements. He Did All He Could Do In The Way Of

Recommendation,  But Mr Pleggit Had Not Forgotten My Occasional

Impertinences Or The Battle Of The Bottles. I Really Believe That His

_Ill Will_ Against Timothy Was One Reason For Purchasing The _Good Will_

Of Mr Cophagus,  And We Were Very Gently Told By Mr Pleggit That He Would

Have No Occasion For Our Services.

 

Mr Cophagus Offered To Procure Me Another Situation As Soon As He Could,

And At The Same Time Presented Me With Twenty Guineas,  As A Proof Of

His Regard And Appreciation Of My Conduct--But This Sum Put In My Hand

Decided Me: I Thanked Him,  And Told Him I Had Other Views At Present,

But Hoped He Would Let Me Know Where I Might Find Him Hereafter,  As I

Should Be Glad To See Him Again. He Told Me He Would Leave His Address

For Me At The Foundling Hospital,  And Shaking Me Heartily By The Hand,

We Parted. Timothy Was Then Summoned. Mr Cophagus Gave Him Five Guineas,

And Wished Him Good Fortune.

 

"And Now,  Japhet,  What Are You About To Do?" Said Timothy,  As He

Descended Into The Shop.

 

"To Do," Replied I; "I Am About To Leave You,  Which Is The Only Thing I

Am Sorry For. I Am Going,  Timothy,  In Search Of My Father."

 

"Well," Replied Timothy,  "I Feel As You Do,  Japhet,  That It Will Be Hard

To Part; And There Is Another Thing On My Mind--Which Is,  I Am Very

Sorry That The Bull Did Not Break The Rudimans (Pointing To The Iron

Mortar And Pestle); Had He Had But Half The Spite I Have Against It,  He

Would Not Have Left A Piece As Big As A Thimble. I'Ve A Great Mind To

Have A Smack At It Before I Go."

 

"You Will Only Injure Mr Cophagus,  For The Mortar Will Not Then Be Paid

For."

 

"Very True; And As He Has Just Given Me Five Guineas,  I Will Refrain

From My Just Indignation. But Now,  Japhet,  Let Me Speak To You. I Don'T

Know How You Feel,  But I Feel As If I Could Not Part With You. I Do Not

Want To Go In Search Of My Father Particularly. They Say It'S A Wise

Child That Knows Its Own Father--But As There Can Be No Doubt Of My

Other Parent--If I Can Only Hit Upon Her,  I Have A Strong Inclination To

Go In Search Of My Mother,  And If You Like My Company,  Why I Will Go

With You--Always,  My Dear Japhet," Continued Tim,  "Keeping In My Mind

The Great Difference Between A Person Who Has Been Feed As An M.D.,  And

A Lad Who Only Carries Out His Prescriptions."

 

"Do You Really Mean To Say,  Tim,  That You Will Go With Me?"

 

"Yes,  To The End Of The World,  Japhet,  As Your Companion,  Your Friend,

Part 1 Chapter 7 Pg 33

And Your Servant,  If You Require It. I Love You,  Japhet,  And I Will

Serve You Faithfully."

 

"My Dear Tim,  I Am Delighted; Now I Am Really Happy: We Will Have But

One Purse,  And But One Interest; If I Find Good Fortune,  You Shall Share

It."

 

"And If You Meet With Ill Luck,  I Will Share That Too--So The Affair Is

Settled--And As Here Come Mr Pleggit'S Assistants With Only One Pair Of

Eyes Between Them,  The Sooner We Pack Up The Better."

 

In Half An Hour All Was Ready; A Bundle Each,  Contained Our Wardrobes.

We Descended From Our Attic,  Walked Proudly Through The Shop Without

Making Any Observation,  Or Taking Any Notice Of Our Successors; All The

Notice Taken Was By Timothy,  Who Turned Round And Shook His Fist At His

Old Enemies,  The Iron Mortar And Pestle; And There We Were,  Standing On

The Pavement,  With The Wide World Before Us,  And Quite Undecided Which

Way We Should Go.

 

"Is It To Be East,  West,  North,  Or South,  Japhet?" Said Timothy.

 

"The Wise Men Came From The East," Replied I.

 

"Then They Must Have Travelled West," Said Tim; "Let Us Show Our Wisdom

By Doing The Same."

 

"Agreed."

 

Passing By A Small Shop,  We Purchased Two Good Sticks,  As Defenders,  As

Well As To Hang Our Bundles On--And Off We Set Upon Our Pilgrimage.

 

Part 1 Chapter 8 Pg 34

     We Take A Coach,  But The Driver Does Not Like His Fare And Hits Us

     Foul--We Change Our Mode Of Travelling Upon The Principle Of Slow

     And Sure,  And Fall In With A Very Learned Man.

 

 

 

 

I Believe It To Be A Very General Custom,  When People Set Off Upon A

Journey,  To Reckon Up Their Means--That Is,  To Count The Money Which

They May Have In Their Pockets. At All Events,  This Was Done By Timothy

And Me,  And I Found That My Stock Amounted To Twenty-Two Pounds

Eighteen Shillings,  And Timothy'S To The Five Guineas Presented By Mr

Cophagus,  And Three Halfpence Which Were In The Corner Of His Waistcoat

Pocket--Sum Total,  Twenty-Eight Pounds Three Shillings And Three

Halfpence; A Very Handsome Sum,  As We Thought,  With Which To Commence

Our Peregrinations,  And,  As I Observed To Timothy,  Sufficient To Last Us

For A Considerable Time,  If Husbanded With Care.

Part 1 Chapter 8 Pg 35

 

"Yes," Replied He,  "But We Must Husband Our Legs Also,  Japhet,  Or We

Shall Soon Be Tired,  And Very Soon Wear Out Our Shoes. I Vote We Take A

Hackney Coach."

 

"Take A Hackney Coach,  Tim! We Mustn'T Think Of It; We Cannot Afford

Such A Luxury; You Can'T Be Tired Yet,  We Are Now Only Just Clear Of

Hyde Park Corner."

 

"Still I Think We Had Better Take A Coach,  Japhet,  And Here Is One

Coming. I Always Do Take One When I Carry Out Medicines,  To Make Up For

The Time I Lose Looking At The Shops,  And Playing Peg In The Ring."

 

I Now Understood What Timothy Meant,  Which Was,  To Get Behind And Have A

Ride For Nothing. I Consented To This Arrangement,  And We Got Up Behind

One Which Was Already Well Filled Inside. "The Only Difference Between

An Inside And Outside Passenger In a Hackney Coach,  Is That One Pays,

And The Other Does Not," Said I,  To Timothy,  As We Rolled Along At The

Act Of Parliament Speed Of Four Miles Per Hour.

 

"That Depends Upon Circumstances: If We Are Found Out,  In all

Probability We Shall Not Only Have Our Ride,  But Be _Paid_ Into The

Bargain."

 

"With The Coachman'S Whip,  I Presume?"

 

"Exactly." And Timothy Had Hardly Time To Get The Word Out Of His Mouth,

When Flac,  Flac,  Came The Whip Across Our Eyes--A Little Envious Wretch,

With His Shirt Hanging Out Of His Trousers,  Having Called Out,  _Cut

Behind!_ Not Wishing To Have Our Faces,  Or Our Behinds Cut Any More,  We

Hastily Descended,  And Reached The Footpath,  After Having Gained About

Three Miles On The Road Before We Were Discovered.

 

"That Wasn'T A Bad Lift,  Japhet,  And As For The Whip I Never Mind That

With _Corduroys_. And Now,  Japhet,  I'Ll Tell You Something; We Must Get

Into A Wagon,  If We Can Find One Going Down The Road,  As Soon As It Is

Dark."

 

"But That Will Cost Money,  Tim."

 

"It'S Economy,  I Tell You; For A Shilling,  If You Bargain,  You May Ride

The Whole Night,  And If We Stop At A Public-House To Sleep,  We Shall

Have To Pay For Our Beds,  As Well As Be Obliged To Order Something To

Eat,  And Pay Dearer For It Than If We Buy What We Want At Cooks' Shops."

 

"There Is Sense In What You Say,  Timothy; We Will Look Out For A Wagon."

 

"Oh! It'S No Use Now--Wagons Are Like Black Beetles,  Not Only In Shape

But In Habits,  They Only Travel By Night--At Least Most Of Them Do. We

Are Now Coming Into Long Dirty Brentford,  And I Don'T Know How You Feel,

Japhet,  But I Find That Walking Wonderfully Increases The

Appetite--That'S Another Reason Why You Should Not Walk When You Can

Ride--For Nothing."

 

"Well,  I'M Rather Hungry Myself; And Dear Me,  How Very Good That Piece