Mike Fletcher - George Moore (best books to read now TXT) 📗
- Author: George Moore
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After, Had Succeeded In Rousing The Ire Of Both Adjutant And Colonel.
It Was Impossible To Teach Him Any Drill; What He Was Taught To-Day
He Forgot To-Morrow; When The General Came Down To Inspect, The
Confusion He Created In The Barrack-Yard Had Proved So Complex, That
For A Second It Had Taxed The Knowledge Of The Drill-Sergeant To Get
The Men Straight Again.
Mr. Stokes Was Late At All Times And All Occasions: He Was Late For
Drill, He Was Late For Mess, He Was Late For Church; And When Sent
For He Was Always Found In His Room, Either Learning A Part Or
Writing A Play. His One Passion Was Theatricals; And Wherever The
Regiment Was Stationed, He Very Soon Discovered Those Who Were
Disposed To Get Up A Performance Of A Farce.
When He Left The Army He Joined The Indian Bar, And There He Applied
Himself In His Own Absent-Minded Fashion To The Study Of Sanscrit,
Neglecting Hindustani, Which Would Have Been Of Use To Him In His
Profession. Through India, China, And America He Had Drifted. In New
York He Had Edited A Newspaper; In San Francisco He Had Lectured, And
He Returned Home With An English Nobleman Who Had Engaged Him As
Private Secretary.
When He Passed Out Of The Nobleman's Service He Took Chambers In The
Temple, And Devoted His Abundant Leisure To Writing His Memoirs, And
The Pleasantest Part Of His Life Began. The Temple Suited Him
Perfectly, Its Bohemianism Was Congenial To Him, The Library Was
Convenient, And As No Man Likes To Wholly Cut Himself Adrift From His
Profession, The Vicinity Of The Law Courts, And A Modicum Of Legal
Conversation In The Evening, Sufficed To Maintain In His
Absent-Minded Head The Illusion That He Was Practising At The Bar.
His Chambers Were Bare And Dreary, Unadorned With Spoils From India
Or China. Mr. Stokes Retained Nothing; He Had Passed Through Life
Like A Bird. He Had Drifted, And All Things Had Drifted From Him; He
Did Not Even Possess A Copy Of His _Cradleland Of Arts And Creeds_.
He Had Lost All Except A Small Property In Kent, And Appeared To Be
Quite Alone In The World.
Mr. Stokes Talked Rarely Of His Love Affairs, And His Allusions Were
So Partial That Nothing Exact Could Be Determined About Him. It Was,
However, Noticed That He Wore A Gold Bracelet Indissolubly Fastened
Upon His Right Wrist, And It Was Supposed That An Indian Princess Had
Given Him This, And That A Goldsmith Had Soldered It Upon Him In Her
Presence, As She Lay On Her Death-Bed. It Was Noticed That A Young
Girl Came To See Him At Intervals, Sometimes Alone, Sometimes
Accompanied By Her Aunt. Mr. Stokes Made No Secret Of This Young
Person, And He Spoke Of Her As His Adopted Daughter. Mr. Stokes Dined
At A Theatrical Club. All Men Liked Him; He Was Genial And Harmless.
Mr. Joseph Silk Was The Son Of A London Clergyman. He Was A Tall,
Spare Young Man, Who Was Often Met About The Temple, Striding Towards
His Offices Or The Library. He Was Comically Careful Not To Say
Anything That Might Offend, And Nervously Concerned To Retreat From
All Persons And Things Which Did Not Seem To Him To Offer
Possibilities Of Future Help; And His Assumed Geniality And
Good-Fellowship Hung About Him Awkwardly, Like The Clothes Of A
Broad-Chested, Thick-Thighed Man About Miserable Limbs. For Some Time
Silk Had Been Seriously Thinking Of Cutting Himself Adrift From All
Acquaintanceship With Hall. He Had, Until Now, Borne With His
Acquaintanceship Because Hall Was Connected With A Society Journal
That Wrote Perilously Near The Law Of Libel; Several Times The Paper
Had Been Threatened With Actions, But Had Somehow, Much To Silk's
Chagrin, Managed To Escape. All The Actionable Paragraphs Had Been
Discussed With Silk; On Each Occasion Hall Had Come Down To His
Chambers For Advice, And He Felt Sure That He Would Be Employed In
Chapter 7 Pg 78The Case When It Did Come Off. But Unfortunately This Showed No Signs
Of Accomplishment. Silk Read The Paper Every Week For The Paragraph
That Was To Bring Him Fame; He Would Have Given Almost Anything To Be
Employed "In A Good Advertising Case." But He Had Noticed That
Instead Of Becoming More Aggressive And Personal, That Week By Week
The Newspaper Was Moderating Its Tone. In The Last Issue Several
Paragraphs Had Caught His Eye, Which Could Not Be Described Otherwise
Than As Complimentary; There Were Also Several New Pages Of
Advertisements; And These Robbed Him Of All Hope Of An Action. He
Counted The Pages, "Twelve Pages Of Advertisements--Nothing Further
Of A Questionable Character Will Go Into That Paper," Thought He, And
Forthwith Fell To Considering Hall's Invitation To "Come In That
Evening, If He Had Nothing Better To Do." He Had Decided That He
Would Not Go, But At The Last Moment Had Gone, And Now, As He Sat
Drinking Whiskey-And-Water, He Glanced Round The Company, Thinking It
Might Injure Him If It Became Known That He Spent His Evenings There,
And He Inwardly Resolved He Would Never Again Be Seen In Hall's
Rooms.
Silk Had Been Called To The Bar About Seven Years. The First Years He
Considered He Had Wasted, But During The Last Four He Applied Himself
To His Profession. He Had Determined "To Make A Success Of Life,"
That Was How He Put It To Himself. He Had, During The Last Four
Years, Done A Good Deal Of "Devilling"; He Had Attended At The Old
Bailey Watching For "Soups" With Untiring Patience. But Lately,
Within The Last Couple Of Years, He Had Made Up His Mind That Waiting
For "Soups" At The Old Bailey Was Not The Way To Fame Or Fortune. His
First Idea Of A Path Out Of His Present Circumstances Was Through
Hall And The Newspaper; But He Had Lately Bethought Himself Of An
Easier And Wider Way, One More Fruitful Of Chances And Beset With
Prizes. This Broad And Easy Road To Success Which He Had Lately Begun
To See, Wound Through His Father's Drawing-Room. London Clergymen
Have, As A Rule, Large Salaries And Abundant Leisure, And Young Silk
Determined To Turn His Father's Leisure To Account. The Reverend Silk
Required No Pressing. "Show Me What Line To Take, And I Will Take
It," Said He; And Young Silk, Knowing Well The Various Firms Of
Solicitors That Were Dispensing Such Briefs As He Could Take,
Instructed His Father When And Where He Should Exercise His Tea-Table
Agreeabilities, And Forthwith The Reverend Gentleman Commenced His
Social Wrigglings. There Were Teas And Dinners, And Calls, And Lying
Without End. Over The Wine Young Silk Cajoled The Senior Member Of
The Firm, And In The Drawing-Room, Sitting By The Wife, He Alluded To
His Father's Philanthropic Duties, Which He Relieved With Such
Sniggering And Pruriency As He Thought The Occasion Demanded.
About Six Months Ago, Mr. Joseph Silk Had Accidentally Learnt, In The
Treasurer's Offices, That The Second Floor In No. 5, Paper Buildings
Was Unoccupied. He Had Thought Of Changing His Chambers, But A Second
Floor In Paper Buildings Was Beyond His Means. But Two Or Three Days
After, As He Was Walking From His Area In King's Bench Walk To The
Library, He Suddenly Remembered That The Celebrated Advocate, Sir
Arthur Haldane, Lived On The First Floor In Paper Buildings. Now At
His Father's House, Or In One Of The Houses His Father Frequented, He
Might Meet Sir Arthur; Indeed, A Meeting Could Easily Be Arranged.
Here Mr. Silk's Sallow Face Almost Flushed With A Little Colour, And
His Heart Beat As His Little Scheme Pressed Upon His Mind. Dreading
An Obstacle, He Feared To Allow The Thought To Formulate; But After A
Moment He Let It Slip, And It Said--"Now If I Were To Take The Second
Floor, I Should Often Meet Sir Arthur On The Doorstep And Staircase.
What An Immense Advantage It Would Be To Me When Stoggard And Higgins
Learnt That I Was On Terms Of Friendship With Sir Arthur. I Know As A
Positive Fact That Stoggard And Higgins Would Give Anything To Get
Sir Arthur For Some Of Their Work.... But The Rent Is Very Heavy In
Paper Buildings. I Must Speak To Father About It." A Few Weeks After,
Mr. Joseph Transferred His Furniture To No. 2, Paper Buildings; And
Not Long After He Had The Pleasure Of Meeting Sir Arthur At Dinner.
Mr. Silk's Love Affairs Were Neither Numerous Nor Interesting. He Had
Spent Little Of His Time With Women, And Little Of His Money Upon
Women, And His Amativeness Had Led Him Into No Wilder Exploit Than
The Seduction Of His Laundress's Daughter, By Whom He Had Had A
Chapter 7 Pg 79Child. Indeed, It Had Once Been Whispered That The Mother, With The
Child In Her Arms, Had Knocked At King's Bench Walk And Had Insisted
On Being Admitted. Having Not The Slightest Knowledge Or Perception
Of Female Nature, He Had Extricated Himself With Difficulty From The
Scandal By Which He Was Menaced, And Was Severely Mulcted Before The
Girl Was Induced To Leave London. About Every Three Months She Wrote
To Him, And These Letters Were Read With Horror And Burnt In
Trembling Haste; For Mr. Joseph Silk Was Now Meditating For
Matrimonial And Legal Purposes One Of The Daughters Of One Of The
Solicitors He Had Met In Paper Buildings, And Being An Exceedingly
Nervous, Ignorant, And Unsympathetic Man In All That Did Not Concern
His Profession, Was Vastly Disturbed At Every Echo Of His
Indiscretion.
Harding, In Reply To A Question As To What He Thought Of Silk, Said--
"What Do I Think Of Silk? Cotton Back" ... And Every One Laughed,
Feeling The Intrinsic Truth Of The Judgement.
Mr. George Cooper Was Mr. Joseph Silk's Friend. Cooper Consulted Silk
On Every Point. Whenever He Saw A Light In Silk's Chambers He
Thrilled A Little With Anticipation Of The Pleasant Hour Before Him,
And They Sat Together Discussing The Abilities Of Various Eminent
Judges And Barristers. Silk Told Humorous Anecdotes Of The Judges;
Cooper Was Exercised Concerning Their Morality, And Enlarged
Anxiously On The Responsibility Of Placing A Man On The Bench Without
Having Full Knowledge Of His Private Life. Silk Listened, Puffing At
His Pipe, And To Avoid Committing Himself To An Opinion, Asked Cooper
To Have Another Glass Of Port. Before They Parted Allusion Was Made
To The Law-Books That Cooper Was Writing--Cooper Was Always Bringing
Out New Editions Of Other People's Books, And Continually Exposed The
Bad Law They Wrote In His Conversation. He Had Waited His Turn Like
Another For "Soups" At The Bailey, And Like Another Had Grown Weary
Of Waiting; Besides, The Meditative Cast Of His Mind Enticed Him
Towards Chamber Practice And Away From Public Pleading Before Judge
And Jury. Silk Sought "A Big Advertising Case"; He Desired The
Excitement Of Court, And, Though He Never Refused Any Work, He
Dreaded The Lonely Hours Necessary For The Perfect Drawing Up Of A
Long Indictment. Cooper Was Very Much Impressed With Silk's
Abilities; He Thought Him Too Hard And Mechanical, Not Sufficiently
Interested In The Science Of Morals; But These Defects Of Character
Were Forgotten In His Homage To His Friend's Worldly Shrewdness. For
Cooper Was Unendowed With Worldly Shrewdness, And, Like All Dreamers,
Was Attracted By A Mind Which Controlled While He Might
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