Mike Fletcher - George Moore (best books to read now TXT) 📗
- Author: George Moore
Book online «Mike Fletcher - George Moore (best books to read now TXT) 📗». Author George Moore
"Well, Don't Let's Say Anything More About It. When Will You Come And
See Us?"
"What Day Will Suit You--Some Day Next Week?"
"Yes, I'm Always In In The Evening; Will You Come To Dinner?"
Mike Replied Evasively, Anxious Not To Commit Himself To A Promise
For Any Day. Then Seeing That Frank Thought He Did Not Care To Dine
With Him, He Said--
"Very Well, Let Us Say Wednesday."
He Bade His Friend Good-Night, And Stood On The Edge Of The Pavement
Watching Him Make His Way Across The Street To Catch The Last
Omnibus. Mike's Mind Filled With Memories Of Frank. They Came From
Afar, Surging Over The Shores Of Youth, Thundering Along The Cliffs
Of Manhood. Out Of The Remote Regions Of Boyhood They Came, White
Crests Uplifted, Merging And Mingling In The Waters Of Life. It
Seemed To Mike That, Like Sea-Weed, He And Frank Had Been Washed
Together, And They Then Had Been Washed Apart. That Was Life, And
That Was The Result Of Life, That And Nothing More. And Of Every
Adventure Frank Was The Most Distinctly Realizable; All Else, Even
Lily, Was A Little Shadow That Had Come And Gone. John Had Lost
Himself In Religion, Frank Had Lost Himself In His Wife And Child. To
Lose Yourself, That Is The End To Strive For; Absorption In Religion
Or In The Family. They Had Attained It, He Had Failed. All The Love
And All The Wealth Fortune Had Poured Upon Him Had Not Enabled Him To
Stir From Or Change That Entity Which He Knew As Mike Fletcher. Ten
Years Ago He Had Not A Shilling To His Credit, To-Day He Had Several
Thousands, But The Irreparable Had Not Altered--He Was Still Mike
Fletcher. He Had Wandered Over The World; He Had Lain In The Arms Of
A Hundred Women, And Nothing Remained Of It All But Mike Fletcher.
There Was Apparently No Escape; He Was Lashed To Himself Like The
Convict To The Oar. For Him There Was Nothing But This Oar, And All
The Jewelry That Had Been Expended Upon It Had Not Made It Anything
But An Oar. There Was A Curse Upon It All.
He Saw Frank's Home--The Little Parlour With Its Bits Of Furniture,
Scraggy And Vulgar, But Sweet With The Presence Of The Wife And Her
Homely Occupations; Then The Children--The Chicks--Cooing And
Chattering, Creating Such Hope And Fond Anxiety! Why Then Did He Not
Have Wife And Children? Of All Worldly Possessions They Are The
Easiest To Obtain. Because He Had Created A Soul That Irreparably
Separated Him From These, The Real And Durable Prizes Of Life; They
Lay Beneath His Hands, But His Soul Said No; He Desired, And Was
Powerless To Take What He Desired.
For A Moment He Stood, In Puzzled Curiosity, Listening To The Fate
That His Thoughts Were Prophesying; Then, As If In Answer Antiphonal,
Terrible As The Announcing Of The Chorus, Came A Quick Thought, Quick
And Sharp As A Sword, Fatal As A Sword Set Against The Heart. He
Strove To Turn Its Point Aside, He Attempted To Pass It By, But On
Every Side He Met Its Point, Though He Reasoned In Jocular And
Serious Mood. Then His Courage Falling Through Him Like A Stone
Dropped Into A Well, He Crossed The Street, Seeking The Place Flossy
Had Told Him Of, And Soon After Saw Her Walking A Little In Front Of
Him With Another Girl. She Beckoned Him, Leading The Way Through
Numerous By-Streets. Something In The Sound Of Certain Footsteps Told
Him He Was Being Followed; His Reason Warned Him Away, Yet He Could
Not But Follow. And In The Shop Below And On The Stairs Of The Low
Eating-House Where They Had Led Him, Loud Voices Were Heard And
Tramping Of Feet. Instantly He Guessed The Truth, And Drew The
Furniture Across The Doorway. The Window Was Over Twenty Feet From
The Ground, But He Might Reach The Water-Butt. He Jumped From The
Window-Sill, Falling Into The Water, Out Of Which He Succeeded In
Drawing Himself; Hence He Crawled Along The Wall, Dropped Into The
Lane, Hearing His Pursuers Shouting To Him From The Window. There
Were Only A Few Children In The Lane; He Sped Quickly Past, Gained A
Main Street, Hailed A Cab, And Was Driven Safely To The Temple.
Chapter 10 Pg 139
He Flung Off His Shoes, Which Were Full Of Water; His Trousers Were
Soaking, And Having Rid Himself Of Them, He Wrapped Himself In A
Dressing-Gown, And Went Into The Sitting-Room In His Slippers. It Was
The Same As When It Was Frank's Room. There Was The Grand Piano And
The Slender Brass Lamps; He Had Lit None, But Stood Uncertain, His
Bed-Room Candle In His Hand. And Listening, He Could Hear London
Along The Embankment--All Occasional Cry, The Rattle Of A Cab, The
Hollow Whistle Of A Train About To Cross The Bridge At Blackfriars,
The Shrill Whistle Of A Train Far Away In The Night. He Had Escaped
From His Pursuers, But Not From Himself.
"How Horribly Lonely It Is Here," He Muttered. Then He Thought Of How
Narrowly He Had Escaped Disgraceful Exposure Of His Infamy. "If Those
Fellows Had Got Hold Of My Name It Would Have Been In The Papers The
Day After To-Morrow. What A Fool I Am! Why Do I Risk So Much? And For
What?" He Turned From The Memory As From Sight Of Some Disgustful
Deformity Or Disease. Going To The Mirror He Studied His Face For
Some Reflection Of The Soul; But Unable To Master His Feelings, In
Which There Was At Once Loathing And Despair, He Threw Open The
Window And Walked Out Of The Suffocating Room Into The Sultry
Balcony.
It Was Hardly Night; The Transparent Obscurity Of The Summer Midnight
Was Dissolving; The Slight Film Of Darkness Which Had Wrapped The
World Was Evanescent. "Is It Day Or Night?" He Asked. "Oh, It Is Day!
Another Day Has Begun; I Escaped From My Mortal Enemies, But Not From
The Immortal Day. Like A Gray Beast It Comes On Soft Velvet Paws To
Devour. Stay! Oh, Bland And Beautiful Night, Thou That Dost So
Charitably Hide Our Misfortunes, Stay!
"I Shudder When I Think Of The New Evils And Abominations That This
Day Will Bring. The World Is Still At Rest, Lying In The Partial
Purity Of Sleep. But As A Cruel Gray Beast The Day Comes On Soundless
Velvet Paws. Light And Desire Are One; Light And Desire Are The Claws
That The Gray Beast Unsheathes; A Few Hours' Oblivion And The World's
Torment Begins Again!" Then Looking Down The Great Height, He Thought
How He Might Spring From Consciousness Into Oblivion--The Town And
The River Were Now Distinct In Ghastly Pallor--"I Should Feel
Nothing. But What A Mess I Should Make; What A Horrible Little Mess!"
After Breakfast He Sat Looking Into Space, Wondering What He Might
Do. He Hoped For A Visitor, And Yet He Could Not Think Of One That He
Desired To See. A Woman! The Very Thought Was Distasteful. He Rose
And Went To The Window. London Implacable Lay Before Him, A Morose
Mass Of Brick, Fitting Sign And Symbol Of Life. And The Few Hours
That Lay Between Breakfast And Dinner Were Narrow And Brick-Coloured;
And Longing For The Vast Green Hours Of The Country, He Went To
Belthorpe Park. But In A Few Weeks The Downs And Lanes Fevered And
Exasperated Him, And Perforce He Must Seek Some New Distraction.
Henceforth He Hurried From House To House, Tiring Of Each Last Abode
More Rapidly Than The One That Had Preceded It. He Read No Books, And
He Only Bought Newspapers To Read The Accounts Of Suicides; And His
Friends Had Begun To Notice The Strange Interest With Which He Spoke
Of Those Who Had Done Away With Themselves, And The Persistency With
Which He Sought To Deduce Their Motives From The Evidence; And He
Seemed To Be Animated By A Wish To Depreciate All Worldly Reasons,
And To Rely Upon Weariness Of Life As Sufficient Motive For Their
Action.
The Account Of Two Young People Engaged To Be Married, Who Had Taken
Tickets For Some Short Journey And Shot Themselves In The Railway
Carriage. "Here," He Said, "Was A Case Of Absolute Sanity, A Quality
Almost Undiscoverable In Human Nature. Two Young People Resolve To
Rid Themselves Of The Burden; But They Are More Than Utilitarians,
They Are Poets, And Of A High Order; For, Not Only Do They Make Most
Public And Emphatic Denial Of Life, But They Add To It A Measure Of
Aristophanesque Satire--They Engage Themselves To Marry. Now Marriage
Is Man's Approval And Confirmation Of His Belief In Human
Existence--They Engage Themselves To Marry, But Instead Of Putting
Their Threat Into Execution, They Enter A Railway Carriage And Blow
Out Their Brains, Proving Thereby That They Had Brains To Blow Out."
Chapter 10 Pg 140
When, However, It Transpired That Letters Were Found In The Pockets
Of The Suicides To The Effect That They Had Hoped To Gain Such
Notoriety As The Daily Press Can Give By Their Very Flagrant
Leave-Taking Of This World, Mike Professed Much Regret, And Gravely
Assured His Astonished Listeners That, In The Face Of These Letters
Which Had Unhappily Come To Light, He Withdrew His Praise Of The
Quality Of The Brains Blown Out. In Truth He Secretly Rejoiced That
Proof Of The Imperfect Sanity Of The Suicides Had Come To Light And
Assured Himself That When He Did Away With Mike Fletcher, That He
Would Revenge Himself On Society By Leaving Behind Him A Document
Which Would Forbid The Usual Idiotic Verdict, "Suicide While In A
State Of Temporary Insanity," And Leave No Loophole Through Which It
Might Be Said That He Was Impelled To Seek Death For Any Extraneous
Reasons Whatever. He Would Go To Death In The Midst Of The Most
Perfect Worldly Prosperity The Mind Could Conceive, Desiring Nothing
But Rest, Profoundly Convinced Of The Futility Of All Else, And The
Perfect Folly Of Human Effort.
In Such Perverse And Morbid Mind Mike Returned To London. It Was In
The Beginning Of August, And The Temple Weltered In Sultry Days And
Calm Nights. The River Flowed Sluggishly Through Its Bridges; The
Lights Along Its Banks Gleamed Fiercely In The Lucent Stillness Of A
Sulphur-Hued Horizon. Like A Nightmare The Silence Of The Apartment
Lay Upon His Chest; And There Was A Frightened Look In His Eyes As He
Walked To And Fro. The Moon Lay Like A Creole Amid The Blue Curtains
Of The Night; The Murmur Of London Hushed In Stray Cries, And Only
The Tread Of The Policeman Was Heard Distinctly. About The River The
Night Was Deepest, And Out Of The Shadows Falling From The Bridges
The Lamps Gleamed With Strange Intensity, Some Flickering Sadly In
The Water. Mike Walked Into The Dining-Room. He Could See The Sward
In The Darkness That The Trees
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