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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/17083-8.txt b/17083-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..459df97 --- /dev/null +++ b/17083-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,853 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Adventures of a Sixpence in Guernsey by A +Native, by Anonymous + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Adventures of a Sixpence in Guernsey by A Native + +Author: Anonymous + +Release Date: November 17, 2005 [EBook #17083] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ADVENTURES OF A SIXPENCE *** + + + + +Produced by Steven Gibbs, Martin Pettit and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + +ADVENTURES OF A SIXPENCE IN GUERNSEY. + +BY + +A NATIVE. + +SEELEY, JACKSON, AND HALLIDAY, FLEET STREET; + +AND B. SEELEY, HANOVER STREET. + +LONDON. MDCCCLVII. + +Printed by G. BARCLAY, Castle St. Leicester Sq. + +[Illustration: Frontispiece] + + + + +ADVENTURES OF A SIXPENCE IN GUERNSEY. + + +The breakfast was ready laid on the table, and a gentleman was standing +by the fire waiting for the rest of the family, when the door burst +open, and two little girls ran in. + +"A happy new year, papa!--a happy new year!" shouted each as she was +caught up to be kissed, and found herself on the floor once more after a +sudden whirl to the ceiling. + +"Now catch," said their father, as he started aside and flung a sixpence +to each. + +Of course they did not catch, for little girls have a strange +propensity for turning just the wrong way on such occasions; but the +bright new sixpences were none the duller for their fall, and called +forth none the less admiration from their proud owners. + +Many were the calculations which passed through those curly heads during +breakfast-time as to what a sixpence could buy; and it was with many +bright visions that they darted away to be dressed to go into the town +with their mother. + +It was New-year's day; but there was no snow, no bitter cold wind, no +beggars shivering in their scanty clothing, none of the scenes of +poverty which those accustomed only to an English winter might expect to +cast a gloom over the enjoyment of the day. It was a bright sunny +morning, every leaf sparkling with dew-drops; groups of neatly-dressed +people were to be seen flocking in from the country in every direction; +and though the air was fresh enough to incline them to walk briskly +along, their hands were not hidden away in muffs and coat-pockets, but +were ready for the friendly shake which, with "all the good wishes of +the season," awaited them at every step. + +Mrs. Campbell and her little girls, after many a greeting of this kind, +found their way into the town at last; and the children soon forgot +everything in the twelfth-cakes which adorned the pastry-cooks' windows, +till the sixpence, which was tightly clasped in each little hand, +recalled them to their errand, and they joined the busy crowd in the +toy-shop. Who does not know what it is to take a child into these abodes +of Noah's arks, cats, dogs, mice, and dolls, and all that is so +charming? How each toy is seized on in its turn, to be relinquished in a +moment for one more beautiful! It was no easy task that Mrs. Campbell +had undertaken; but at last, in a moment of ecstasy over two blue-eyed +dolls, the sixpences were paid, and the young purchasers drawn away from +further temptation. And we, too, must wish them good-by, with the hope +that the next new year may find them bright and happy still, and that +before many more have passed over them they will have learnt a wiser and +a better way of spending their father's gift; a way in which their +sixpence, though it be but a sixpence, will be returned in tenfold +blessings on their heads. + +It is with one of the little pieces of silver which have just rung in +the till that we have to do. It had lain there for about two hours, the +same scenes going on around it which we have witnessed with its owner of +the morning, when a tall moustachioed young man entered the shop, which +was not exclusively devoted to toys, and asked to be shown some gold +pencil-cases. His choice was soon made, the money paid, and our friend +the Sixpence received in change. Ah, Sixpence! what sort of hands have +you fallen into now? We have undertaken to follow your fortunes for a +time, and therefore, uncomfortable as our quarters may be, we must take +up our abode with you in Captain Crawford's waistcoat-pocket, and go +where he pleases to lead us. Up High Street and Smith Street to Grange +Road, where we mount and away from houses and streets and the +fashionable world; among the fields and hedges, just decking themselves +with Daisies and Celandines, and every now and then, at the top of the +many little hills which the road crosses, comes a peep of the bright +blue sea, from which, go where we will, we can never get very far away +in Guernsey. After a short ride, Captain Crawford pulled up his horse, +and giving it into the care of a boy who answered his call, he walked +down an avenue to a pretty rose-covered house, which he entered, and +made his way to the drawing-room. + +"Well, my little one, what have you been about all the morning?" was his +greeting as he opened the door to a delicate-looking girl who lay on the +sofa. + +"Oh, Edward!" she answered, "I was just wishing for you. I feel rather +better than usual to-day, and mamma says I may take a turn in the +garden. I was only waiting for your arm. Will you ring for my bonnet?" + +"Look, here is a New-year's gift for you, Ellen," said her brother, +taking the gold pencil-case out of his pocket and hanging it on her +chain. + +"Oh! thanks--thanks, Edward!" she said warmly, as she pulled his head +down to her, and threw her arms round his neck; "My own brother, how +good of you! this is just what I wanted." + +"I never yet knew you have anything which was not _just_ what you +wanted, Ellen. Is there anything in the world you wish for now?" + +"No, I am very happy. You none of you give me an opportunity of wishing +for anything; as soon as I wish, I have it. You all spoil me." + +"I know what I wish," said her brother; "and that is, that I had your +secret of finding everything so very comfortable. What is it, little +one?" + +He had seated himself by her side, and was stroking the hair back from +her forehead, while she lay in quiet enjoyment of his gentle touch; but +on hearing his last question she raised her large dark eyes, fixing them +earnestly on his face for one moment, but without speaking. She was soon +ready for her walk, and, leaning on her brother's arm, let him half +carry half lead her out. + +"Let us go to the gate, Edward," she said, when they reached the door; +"the children will be coming out of school, and I may see some of my +little friends." + +They walked very slowly, and neither spoke for a few moments, till Ellen +said, in rather a hurried tone, "I was wrong just now when I told you I +never wished for anything; there is one thing I want very much, and +which you can never give me." + +"What is it?" asked her brother. + +"To be able to live over again the twenty years of health which have +just passed from me, and to have again all the money I spent in that +time." + +"Why, my dear Ellen," said Captain Crawford gaily, "you are the last +person in the world to say anything of the sort. I am sure the greatest +pleasure of your days of health was to take puddings and sixpences to +old women; and if that is not a satisfactory way of spending one's time +and money, I don't know what is. But really, Ellen," he said, more +seriously, as he saw her grave face, "I do not see what reason you have +to blame yourself, after such a life as yours has been. I should have +thought the recollection of it would now have been your greatest +comfort; and that, after taking care of others for so long, you might +enjoy being taken care of yourself now. But, my little one! what is the +matter?" + +Ellen had stopped, and, with her head resting on his shoulder, was +sobbing violently. + +"Edward, don't!" she said, as soon as she could command herself; "I +can't bear it! Think of the handsome allowance papa makes me, and how +little of it has been well spent! And then, what was given away did not +do a quarter of the good it might have done, because I did not go and +give it myself, and kind words with it, which are far more comforting +than food or money. And if you will believe me, Edward, extravagance +has become such a habit with me, that though I resolved last quarter to +be economical and save up something for the new church, I had hardly +anything left at the end of it. It is true I did teach at the school a +little, and visit a few people, but what is that compared to what I +ought to have done?" + +By this time they had reached the gate, and Ellen, drying her tears, was +soon talking almost merrily with the children, who ran up eagerly at the +sight of their former teacher. Edward had forgotten the little Guernsey +French he had once known, and stood by, glad to see his favourite sister +so happy; but wondering what pleasure she could find in talking to a set +of dirty little things like those. Captain Crawford called them dirty, +because most officers in her Majesty's service, if they think on the +subject at all, think rags and dirtiness necessary attendants on poor +children; but if Captain Crawford had looked, he would have seen as +clean and _neat_ a flock of little ones around his sister as the United +Kingdom could produce. + +Just as they were going to return to the house a man passed by, and +touched his hat to Miss Crawford in the somewhat off-hand manner which +(we must confess it) our fellow-countrymen usually employ. Ellen stopped +a moment to make some inquiries of him about his wife and children, and +then turned home-wards, saying, as she took her brother's arm,-- + +"I dare say a good dinner would do that man's daughter a world of good; +she is ill, and they are very poor: but then there is no way of sending +it." + +"Where do they live?" asked Edward. + +"Oh, it is half-an-hour's walk: they live close to the beach." + +"I'll take it," said he; and added, by way of apology, "I should rather +like a walk before dinner." + +A happy gleam passed over Ellen's face, but she only said,-- + +"Thank you, Edward," and gave him one very bright look, when he left her +on her sofa and went to fetch some meat for the sick girl. + +It was with feelings of amusement, rather than anything else, that +Edward set out on what was probably the first errand of mercy he had +ever undertaken. He had done it merely to please his sister, and could +not help laughing at the idea of what some of his brother-officers would +say if they could see Crawford of the ---- Regiment carrying food to a +sick girl. But his conversation with Ellen soon returned to his mind, +and the thought struck him, "If my good, unselfish little sister, thinks +her time and money have been wasted, what have mine been? According to +her, the sixpence which I have occasionally thrown to a beggar to quiet +my conscience was only half charity, because I did not add 'kind words,' +as she would say. But I wonder what people would say if I were to +inquire after the birth, parentage, and education of every +street-sweeper I came across? No, my vocation is to defend my Queen and +country, and not to act the charitable." Something whispered, "Cannot +you do both?" but Edward would not listen, and soon arrived at his +destination. The door was opened by the sick girl's mother, who, with +her "_Bon jour, monsieur! Entrez, s'il vous plait_," took Edward rather +by surprise, and would by no means hear of receiving the gift outside +the door. This was more than he had bargained for; he had come on a +message from Ellen, not for a charitable visit on her own account: but +there was no alternative, and go in he must. The woman spoke a little +English; and while she poured forth her gratitude to Miss Crawford, +together with a long account of her daughter's maladies, saying so much +in one breath that it became a question whether she would ever breathe +again, Captain Crawford looked at the sick girl lying pale and thin by +the fire; and when he thought how miserable her lot was compared even +with his sister's, whose sufferings were soothed by all that affection +could suggest or that money could buy, his heart--for he had a heart, +and a warm one too--was touched, and his hand went to the waistcoat +pocket where the sixpence had been deposited in the morning. He was +disappointed to find so little there, and wondered whether it was worth +giving her. "If Ellen were here to add some of her 'kind words,'" he +thought, it might do very well; "however, I'll try." + +Next time Mrs. Tourtel stopped to take breath he went and stood by the +poor girl, and said,-- + +"Miss Crawford is ill too and cannot come to see you, but she often +thinks of you. Perhaps this will buy you a small loaf of white bread, as +your mother says you cannot eat brown." + +She only said, "_Mercie, monsieur_;" but the bright colour, which spread +itself over her pale face at the mention of Ellen's thought of her, told +Edward that he had said the right thing; and with a gentle "Good-by, I +hope you will soon be better," he left the cottage. He walked fast with +his head bent, as if to hide his face; but we must run after him, and +have a peep at it. He is smiling, and--can it be?--he is blushing! +Captain Crawford, who never turned pale before the Russians at Alma or +Inkermann, is now blushing scarlet before his own approving conscience +and the gratitude of a sick girl. The smile and blush were not gone when +he reached home, and Ellen saw both and smiled too, but wisely said +nothing. The ice on Edward's heart was broken; a few "kind words" had +flowed out and melted it. He went to sleep that night, and dreamed that +angels were saying "kind words" to him; Ellen went to sleep, too, and +dreamed of her brother reading the Bible to the dying on a battle-field; +and the sick girl lay awake all night, thinking how good it was of Miss +Crawford to think of her, and how good of the Captain to tell her so. + +The Sixpence had done a good day's work; had a shilling been in its +place, it would probably have failed in accomplishing it; and Captain +Crawford, thinking money the best way to the heart of the poor, would +never have tasted the joy of soothing sad hearts by kindness. Alas! +little Sixpence, that you who have been such a blessing to-day, should +become a curse to-morrow; that you who have gone forth on errands of +mercy to-day, should dwell in scenes of drunkenness and theft to-morrow! + +Early next morning Mrs. Tourtel went to market, and left the Sixpence +at a baker's shop in payment for a white loaf for her daughter. There it +spent the day--a quiet day--broken by few events. It might have seen the +fresh bread taken out of the oven, and packed in the cart which waited +at the door to receive it; and it might have seen many people bustle in +and out of the shop, from the little child to buy a penny loaf, to the +gentleman's housekeeper to pay the week's bill; but it remained +undisturbed till the shutters were taken down on the following morning, +when a man came to buy a small loaf for his breakfast, and received the +Sixpence in change. Appearances were far more against it this time than +they had been before. John Barker had an unshaved beard, a scowling eye, +and a red face; his dress consisted of a blue woollen shirt, coarse blue +trousers grimed in mud, and a low-crowned black hat; on his shoulder he +carried a spade and pickaxe. As he walked along he was joined by others +of an equally unprepossessing appearance, and found many more already +assembled at the scene of their labours--the new harbour. + +The sun was not yet risen, and a mist hung over the sea, through which +the signal-post at Castle Cornet, and the masts of the vessels in the +roads, were the only objects visible; but there was a faint red streak +in the sky, which grew brighter and brighter every moment, till the +sunrise gun fired; and then the mist changed into a golden veil, which +floated insensibly away, leaving every geranium-leaf outside the windows +white with hoar-frost, just to tantalise the townsfolk more distant +islands became just visible, mingling the blue of the sea and the violet +of the sky so mysteriously in their delicate colouring, that they were +scarcely distinguishable from either. And then the carts began to roll +along the quay, and work commenced on board the ships in the harbour, +and the sailors' cry as they hoisted the sails, mingled with the +rattling of chains and the creaking of the cranes outside the stores. At +about nine o'clock up ran the ball at the signal-post, which announced +the approach of the mail-boat, and as she steamed behind the Castle, and +anchored in the roads, there were hasty embraces and shakes of the hand +on the pier, and the passengers were rowed out to embark. A few minutes, +and the tinkling of a bell was heard from the shore; another--one more; +her wheels were turning, she was off for Southampton, and the passengers +from Jersey were landing at the quay. + +All this, and much more, might John Barker have seen, and probably he +did see it, but found nothing beautiful or exciting in it. He did not +hold his breath as that cutter approached and ran between the +pier-heads, her sail dipping in the wave which bore her in. He saw it a +dozen times that day, and had seen it a hundred times before, but never +cared to see it again. He worked sullenly on, exchanging few words with +his fellow-labourers, till the twilight compelled them to shoulder their +tools; and they then made their way, alas! to the many public-houses +near, and one of them we must enter with John Barker, and see the +Sixpence, that little messenger of good--that talent committed to his +care--far worse than wasted by its responsible owner. Happily, the +payment was not long delayed, and glad shall we be to hide our eyes and +stop our ears from all that goes on without in the till with our little +friend. + +It is about midnight, the noisy guests are gone, the people of the house +are in bed, and we may now venture forth from our hiding-place to look +through the chink in the door. It is a clear frosty night. The moon, +just rising, is brightly reflected in the water. The stars are looking +silently down on the sleeping town. Castle Cornet rises gloomily out of +the sea. The moonlit sky, which shows us its outline only, leaves much +to the imagination. We may fancy it a frowning fortress of modern days; +or we may go back two hundred years, and think we see the ruin which +told of its nine-years' siege. But we would rather think of Castle +Cornet as we know it now, with its old keep standing as a monument of +bygone days; or better still, we would thank the rising moon for veiling +it in such solemn mystery, and would let our fancy share the rest which +seems to pervade all around, while we enjoy the perfect stillness. There +is not a sound, except the ripple of the water. Houses, streets, ships, +men, women, and children, all seem resting peacefully in the silent +night. But, hark! there was a sound of cracking from the window! Again +and again we hear it, and whispering too outside. A few moments more, +and the window is opened, and two men have crept in. They are some of +the guests of the evening come to recover thus what they and their +companions have wasted here to-night, that they may have it to waste +once more. The till was quickly rifled, and at a slight noise overhead +the thieves beat a precipitate retreat, and, in their haste, dropped our +Sixpence in the street outside. Happy little Sixpence! to have escaped +such hands; better to lie on the cold, hard pavement, curtained by the +freezing air, than stay to be used as the fruits of theft invariably +are. + +It was only just light when a little girl, whose rosy cheeks told that +the country air had kissed them that morning, passed by with a basket on +her arm nearly as big as herself. Her bright eyes soon spied the little +piece of money, and with a dart she caught it up; but, like an honest +girl, looked round to see if any one had dropped it. There was nobody +near but a dirty, good-tempered-looking coalheaver, who, seeing her +perplexity, said, "It must have been there all night, for nobody but me +has passed this morning; so you may keep it, if you like." Quite +content, she tripped away with her basket to join her mother in the +market, and tell of her good fortune. + +Being a wise little maiden, Mary Falla did not spend her money that day, +but took it home all safe and sound, to gain time for consideration on +so important a subject. No selfish thoughts mingled with her +calculations, and therefore she very soon came to the decision that it +should go towards a pair of stockings for her grandmother; and happy in +the hope of giving pleasure, she only longed for the accumulation of a +little store sufficient to buy the necessary materials, and enable her +to begin her work. But even sixpences are not to be picked up every day, +and when a month had passed, only one penny had been added to the fund. +Just at this time there was a sermon one Sunday morning for the same new +church of which Miss Crawford had spoken to her brother. Mrs. Falla was +one of the few who were to be found regularly in their places in +church; and Mary, who was always with her mother, heard the sermon. We +cannot boast of our little heroine that she always listened to the +sermon; sometimes she did not understand it, sometimes she did not find +it interesting; but this sermon she did find interesting, and liked very +much, for it was about a church which she saw every day of her life; and +it told how much the church was wanted by sick and old people who could +not reach the parish church; and Mary knew she liked to go to church, +and was very sorry for her old grandmother, and many others whom she had +heard regret the distance. As they walked home she seemed to have +something very interesting to think about, for she dropped behind, and +kept her eyes fixed on the ground in a manner most unusual with this +merry little maiden; at last, however, she settled the question to her +own satisfaction, and ran up to her mother,-- + +"_Ma mère_, don't you think I had better give my sixpence to the new +church? Grandmother would rather have a church near to go to, than a +pair of stockings next winter, I'm sure; and it would do good to so many +other people besides." + +"As you like, _ma chère_," answered her mother: "it is your own money." + +Not many days after this, there was a knock at the door after Mary had +returned from school, and Captain Crawford entered, now no stranger in +the cottages round, for the last few weeks had worked a wonderful change +in this respect. The first time he did a kindness to the poor, it was +because he could not help it; the second time it was because he had +found it pleasant; but the third time there was a shade of another +motive mingling with it. Ellen had told him why she was always happy; +she had told him where he might learn the way to be happy too better +than she could teach him. He had taken her advice, had read the Bible, +and now was humbly endeavouring to obey its commands; and in conformity +to his sister's entreaty, not to misspend his days of health, scarcely a +day was now permitted to pass without his doing something for the good +of his fellow-creatures. He always told the poor that he was come on a +message from his sister, lest they should be inclined to be grateful to +him, and make him blush, as the sick girl had done. Some questioned, +however, whether Miss Crawford told him always to add a franc or two to +the gift which she sent; or whether Miss Crawford dictated to him all +the "kind words" which now made him so welcome a visitor; and when the +old blind man complained of having no one to read to him, and Captain +Crawford took the Bible and read him "_deux superbes chapitres_," he was +quite sure that Miss Crawford had nothing at all to do with it. + +His present visit to Mary's grandmother was to tell her that ten pounds +had been collected the Sunday before for the new church; and that as +some handsome contributions had been since received, he hoped she would +soon see it finished. Mary ran away as soon as she had let him in, and +soon came back with cheeks as red as fire, eyes cast down, and something +clasped very tight in her hand, looking altogether much more like a +thief than the good, honest little Mary that she was. But when Captain +Crawford got up to go away, she went to him, and as he stooped to hear +what she had to say, she repeated very quick, in a very low voice, the +little speech she had prepared in her best English: "Please to give dat +to Miss Crawford, to go for the new church dat's being builded." Happy +Mary! how full of love that little heart was! how it rejoiced in giving +pleasure! and how she did wish that she was rich, that she might make +everybody comfortable! + +"Here is a contribution to the church, my little one," said Edward, when +he reached home, "which I think you will agree with me is worth more +than all the five-pound notes we have received. Sixpence from Mary +Falla!" + +"Dear little Mary! Put it into the church-bag, Edward. If our church +could be all built with such sixpences as those--" + +And in the church-bag we must leave the Sixpence, resting a little while +before it goes forth again on its errands of joy and sorrow, of blessing +and cursing. + +There was a little stone in the church-tower far more precious than all +the rest. It was not a cut stone; it did not sparkle in the bright sun +which shone on the consecration-day; none of the colours of the ruby, +emerald, or amethyst, beamed from it; it was a richer gem than they--the +gift of a willing heart. + + + + +London:--Printed by G. BARCLAY, Castle St. Leicester Sq. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Adventures of a Sixpence in Guernsey +by A Native, by Anonymous + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ADVENTURES OF A SIXPENCE *** + +***** This file should be named 17083-8.txt or 17083-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/0/8/17083/ + +Produced by Steven Gibbs, Martin Pettit and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Adventures of a Sixpence in Guernsey by A Native + +Author: Anonymous + +Release Date: November 17, 2005 [EBook #17083] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ADVENTURES OF A SIXPENCE *** + + + + +Produced by Steven Gibbs, Martin Pettit and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h1>ADVENTURES OF A SIXPENCE IN GUERNSEY.</h1> + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<h2>A NATIVE.</h2> + +<p class='center'>SEELEY, JACKSON, AND HALLIDAY, FLEET STREET;<br /> +AND B. SEELEY, HANOVER STREET.<br /> +LONDON. MDCCCLVII.</p> + +<p class='center'>Printed by <span class="smcap">G. Barclay</span>, Castle St. Leicester Sq.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="center"><img src="images/frontispiece.jpg" width='700' height='473' alt="frontispiece" /></p> + + +<h2>ADVENTURES OF A SIXPENCE IN GUERNSEY.</h2> + + +<p>The breakfast was ready laid on the table, and a gentleman was standing +by the fire waiting for the rest of the family, when the door burst +open, and two little girls ran in.</p> + +<p>"A happy new year, papa!—a happy new year!" shouted each as she was +caught up to be kissed, and found herself on the floor once more after a +sudden whirl to the ceiling.</p> + +<p>"Now catch," said their father, as he started aside and flung a sixpence +to each.</p> + +<p>Of course they did not catch, for little girls have a strange +propensity for turning just the wrong way on such occasions; but the +bright new sixpences were none the duller for their fall, and called +forth none the less admiration from their proud owners.</p> + +<p>Many were the calculations which passed through those curly heads during +breakfast-time as to what a sixpence could buy; and it was with many +bright visions that they darted away to be dressed to go into the town +with their mother.</p> + +<p>It was New-year's day; but there was no snow, no bitter cold wind, no +beggars shivering in their scanty clothing, none of the scenes of +poverty which those accustomed only to an English winter might expect to +cast a gloom over the enjoyment of the day. It was a bright sunny +morning, every leaf sparkling with dew-drops; groups of neatly-dressed +people were to be seen flocking in from the country in every direction; +and though the air was fresh enough to incline them to walk briskly +along, their hands were not hidden away in muffs and coat-pockets, but +were ready for the friendly shake which, with "all the good wishes of +the season," awaited them at every step.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Campbell and her little girls, after many a greeting of this kind, +found their way into the town at last; and the children soon forgot +everything in the twelfth-cakes which adorned the pastry-cooks' windows, +till the sixpence, which was tightly clasped in each little hand, +recalled them to their errand, and they joined the busy crowd in the +toy-shop. Who does not know what it is to take a child into these abodes +of Noah's arks, cats, dogs, mice, and dolls, and all that is so +charming? How each toy is seized on in its turn, to be relinquished in a +moment for one more beautiful! It was no easy task that Mrs. Campbell +had undertaken; but at last, in a moment of ecstasy over two blue-eyed +dolls, the sixpences were paid, and the young purchasers drawn away from +further temptation. And we, too, must wish them good-by, with the hope +that the next new year may find them bright and happy still, and that +before many more have passed over them they will have learnt a wiser and +a better way of spending their father's gift; a way in which their +sixpence, though it be but a sixpence, will be returned in tenfold +blessings on their heads.</p> + +<p>It is with one of the little pieces of silver which have just rung in +the till that we have to do. It had lain there for about two hours, the +same scenes going on around it which we have witnessed with its owner of +the morning, when a tall moustachioed young man entered the shop, which +was not exclusively devoted to toys, and asked to be shown some gold +pencil-cases. His choice was soon made, the money paid, and our friend +the Sixpence received in change. Ah, Sixpence! what sort of hands have +you fallen into now? We have undertaken to follow your fortunes for a +time, and therefore, uncomfortable as our quarters may be, we must take +up our abode with you in Captain Crawford's waistcoat-pocket, and go +where he pleases to lead us. Up High Street and Smith Street to Grange +Road, where we mount and away from houses and streets and the +fashionable world; among the fields and hedges, just decking themselves +with Daisies and Celandines, and every now and then, at the top of the +many little hills which the road crosses, comes a peep of the bright +blue sea, from which, go where we will, we can never get very far away +in Guernsey. After a short ride, Captain Crawford pulled up his horse, +and giving it into the care of a boy who answered his call, he walked +down an avenue to a pretty rose-covered house, which he entered, and +made his way to the drawing-room.</p> + +<p>"Well, my little one, what have you been about all the morning?" was his +greeting as he opened the door to a delicate-looking girl who lay on the +sofa.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Edward!" she answered, "I was just wishing for you. I feel rather +better than usual to-day, and mamma says I may take a turn in the +garden. I was only waiting for your arm. Will you ring for my bonnet?"</p> + +<p>"Look, here is a New-year's gift for you, Ellen," said her brother, +taking the gold pencil-case out of his pocket and hanging it on her +chain.</p> + +<p>"Oh! thanks—thanks, Edward!" she said warmly, as she pulled his head +down to her, and threw her arms round his neck; "My own brother, how +good of you! this is just what I wanted."</p> + +<p>"I never yet knew you have anything which was not <i>just</i> what you +wanted, Ellen. Is there anything in the world you wish for now?"</p> + +<p>"No, I am very happy. You none of you give me an opportunity of wishing +for anything; as soon as I wish, I have it. You all spoil me."</p> + +<p>"I know what I wish," said her brother; "and that is, that I had your +secret of finding everything so very comfortable. What is it, little +one?"</p> + +<p>He had seated himself by her side, and was stroking the hair back from +her forehead, while she lay in quiet enjoyment of his gentle touch; but +on hearing his last question she raised her large dark eyes, fixing them +earnestly on his face for one moment, but without speaking. She was soon +ready for her walk, and, leaning on her brother's arm, let him half +carry half lead her out.</p> + +<p>"Let us go to the gate, Edward," she said, when they reached the door; +"the children will be coming out of school, and I may see some of my +little friends."</p> + +<p>They walked very slowly, and neither spoke for a few moments, till Ellen +said, in rather a hurried tone, "I was wrong just now when I told you I +never wished for anything; there is one thing I want very much, and +which you can never give me."</p> + +<p>"What is it?" asked her brother.</p> + +<p>"To be able to live over again the twenty years of health which have +just passed from me, and to have again all the money I spent in that +time."</p> + +<p>"Why, my dear Ellen," said Captain Crawford gaily, "you are the last +person in the world to say anything of the sort. I am sure the greatest +pleasure of your days of health was to take puddings and sixpences to +old women; and if that is not a satisfactory way of spending one's time +and money, I don't know what is. But really, Ellen," he said, more +seriously, as he saw her grave face, "I do not see what reason you have +to blame yourself, after such a life as yours has been. I should have +thought the recollection of it would now have been your greatest +comfort; and that, after taking care of others for so long, you might +enjoy being taken care of yourself now. But, my little one! what is the +matter?"</p> + +<p>Ellen had stopped, and, with her head resting on his shoulder, was +sobbing violently.</p> + +<p>"Edward, don't!" she said, as soon as she could command herself; "I +can't bear it! Think of the handsome allowance papa makes me, and how +little of it has been well spent! And then, what was given away did not +do a quarter of the good it might have done, because I did not go and +give it myself, and kind words with it, which are far more comforting +than food or money. And if you will believe me, Edward, extravagance +has become such a habit with me, that though I resolved last quarter to +be economical and save up something for the new church, I had hardly +anything left at the end of it. It is true I did teach at the school a +little, and visit a few people, but what is that compared to what I +ought to have done?"</p> + +<p>By this time they had reached the gate, and Ellen, drying her tears, was +soon talking almost merrily with the children, who ran up eagerly at the +sight of their former teacher. Edward had forgotten the little Guernsey +French he had once known, and stood by, glad to see his favourite sister +so happy; but wondering what pleasure she could find in talking to a set +of dirty little things like those. Captain Crawford called them dirty, +because most officers in her Majesty's service, if they think on the +subject at all, think rags and dirtiness necessary attendants on poor +children; but if Captain Crawford had looked, he would have seen as +clean and <i>neat</i> a flock of little ones around his sister as the United +Kingdom could produce.</p> + +<p>Just as they were going to return to the house a man passed by, and +touched his hat to Miss Crawford in the somewhat off-hand manner which +(we must confess it) our fellow-countrymen usually employ. Ellen stopped +a moment to make some inquiries of him about his wife and children, and +then turned home-wards, saying, as she took her brother's arm,—</p> + +<p>"I dare say a good dinner would do that man's daughter a world of good; +she is ill, and they are very poor: but then there is no way of sending +it."</p> + +<p>"Where do they live?" asked Edward.</p> + +<p>"Oh, it is half-an-hour's walk: they live close to the beach."</p> + +<p>"I'll take it," said he; and added, by way of apology, "I should rather +like a walk before dinner."</p> + +<p>A happy gleam passed over Ellen's face, but she only said,—</p> + +<p>"Thank you, Edward," and gave him one very bright look, when he left her +on her sofa and went to fetch some meat for the sick girl.</p> + +<p>It was with feelings of amusement, rather than anything else, that +Edward set out on what was probably the first errand of mercy he had +ever undertaken. He had done it merely to please his sister, and could +not help laughing at the idea of what some of his brother-officers would +say if they could see Crawford of the —— Regiment carrying food to a +sick girl. But his conversation with Ellen soon returned to his mind, +and the thought struck him, "If my good, unselfish little sister, thinks +her time and money have been wasted, what have mine been? According to +her, the sixpence which I have occasionally thrown to a beggar to quiet +my conscience was only half charity, because I did not add 'kind words,' +as she would say. But I wonder what people would say if I were to +inquire after the birth, parentage, and education of every +street-sweeper I came across? No, my vocation is to defend my Queen and +country, and not to act the charitable." Something whispered, "Cannot +you do both?" but Edward would not listen, and soon arrived at his +destination. The door was opened by the sick girl's mother, who, with +her "<i>Bon jour, monsieur! Entrez, s'il vous plait</i>," took Edward rather +by surprise, and would by no means hear of receiving the gift outside +the door. This was more than he had bargained for; he had come on a +message from Ellen, not for a charitable visit on her own account: but +there was no alternative, and go in he must. The woman spoke a little +English; and while she poured forth her gratitude to Miss Crawford, +together with a long account of her daughter's maladies, saying so much +in one breath that it became a question whether she would ever breathe +again, Captain Crawford looked at the sick girl lying pale and thin by +the fire; and when he thought how miserable her lot was compared even +with his sister's, whose sufferings were soothed by all that affection +could suggest or that money could buy, his heart—for he had a heart, +and a warm one too—was touched, and his hand went to the waistcoat +pocket where the sixpence had been deposited in the morning. He was +disappointed to find so little there, and wondered whether it was worth +giving her. "If Ellen were here to add some of her 'kind words,'" he +thought, it might do very well; "however, I'll try."</p> + +<p>Next time Mrs. Tourtel stopped to take breath he went and stood by the +poor girl, and said,—</p> + +<p>"Miss Crawford is ill too and cannot come to see you, but she often +thinks of you. Perhaps this will buy you a small loaf of white bread, as +your mother says you cannot eat brown."</p> + +<p>She only said, "<i>Mercie, monsieur</i>;" but the bright colour, which spread +itself over her pale face at the mention of Ellen's thought of her, told +Edward that he had said the right thing; and with a gentle "Good-by, I +hope you will soon be better," he left the cottage. He walked fast with +his head bent, as if to hide his face; but we must run after him, and +have a peep at it. He is smiling, and—can it be?—he is blushing! +Captain Crawford, who never turned pale before the Russians at Alma or +Inkermann, is now blushing scarlet before his own approving conscience +and the gratitude of a sick girl. The smile and blush were not gone when +he reached home, and Ellen saw both and smiled too, but wisely said +nothing. The ice on Edward's heart was broken; a few "kind words" had +flowed out and melted it. He went to sleep that night, and dreamed that +angels were saying "kind words" to him; Ellen went to sleep, too, and +dreamed of her brother reading the Bible to the dying on a battle-field; +and the sick girl lay awake all night, thinking how good it was of Miss +Crawford to think of her, and how good of the Captain to tell her so.</p> + +<p>The Sixpence had done a good day's work; had a shilling been in its +place, it would probably have failed in accomplishing it; and Captain +Crawford, thinking money the best way to the heart of the poor, would +never have tasted the joy of soothing sad hearts by kindness. Alas! +little Sixpence, that you who have been such a blessing to-day, should +become a curse to-morrow; that you who have gone forth on errands of +mercy to-day, should dwell in scenes of drunkenness and theft to-morrow!</p> + +<p>Early next morning Mrs. Tourtel went to market, and left the Sixpence +at a baker's shop in payment for a white loaf for her daughter. There it +spent the day—a quiet day—broken by few events. It might have seen the +fresh bread taken out of the oven, and packed in the cart which waited +at the door to receive it; and it might have seen many people bustle in +and out of the shop, from the little child to buy a penny loaf, to the +gentleman's housekeeper to pay the week's bill; but it remained +undisturbed till the shutters were taken down on the following morning, +when a man came to buy a small loaf for his breakfast, and received the +Sixpence in change. Appearances were far more against it this time than +they had been before. John Barker had an unshaved beard, a scowling eye, +and a red face; his dress consisted of a blue woollen shirt, coarse blue +trousers grimed in mud, and a low-crowned black hat; on his shoulder he +carried a spade and pickaxe. As he walked along he was joined by others +of an equally unprepossessing appearance, and found many more already +assembled at the scene of their labours—the new harbour.</p> + +<p>The sun was not yet risen, and a mist hung over the sea, through which +the signal-post at Castle Cornet, and the masts of the vessels in the +roads, were the only objects visible; but there was a faint red streak +in the sky, which grew brighter and brighter every moment, till the +sunrise gun fired; and then the mist changed into a golden veil, which +floated insensibly away, leaving every geranium-leaf outside the windows +white with hoar-frost, just to tantalise the townsfolk more distant +islands became just visible, mingling the blue of the sea and the violet +of the sky so mysteriously in their delicate colouring, that they were +scarcely distinguishable from either. And then the carts began to roll +along the quay, and work commenced on board the ships in the harbour, +and the sailors' cry as they hoisted the sails, mingled with the +rattling of chains and the creaking of the cranes outside the stores. At +about nine o'clock up ran the ball at the signal-post, which announced +the approach of the mail-boat, and as she steamed behind the Castle, and +anchored in the roads, there were hasty embraces and shakes of the hand +on the pier, and the passengers were rowed out to embark. A few minutes, +and the tinkling of a bell was heard from the shore; another—one more; +her wheels were turning, she was off for Southampton, and the passengers +from Jersey were landing at the quay.</p> + +<p>All this, and much more, might John Barker have seen, and probably he +did see it, but found nothing beautiful or exciting in it. He did not +hold his breath as that cutter approached and ran between the +pier-heads, her sail dipping in the wave which bore her in. He saw it a +dozen times that day, and had seen it a hundred times before, but never +cared to see it again. He worked sullenly on, exchanging few words with +his fellow-labourers, till the twilight compelled them to shoulder their +tools; and they then made their way, alas! to the many public-houses +near, and one of them we must enter with John Barker, and see the +Sixpence, that little messenger of good—that talent committed to his +care—far worse than wasted by its responsible owner. Happily, the +payment was not long delayed, and glad shall we be to hide our eyes and +stop our ears from all that goes on without in the till with our little +friend.</p> + +<p>It is about midnight, the noisy guests are gone, the people of the house +are in bed, and we may now venture forth from our hiding-place to look +through the chink in the door. It is a clear frosty night. The moon, +just rising, is brightly reflected in the water. The stars are looking +silently down on the sleeping town. Castle Cornet rises gloomily out of +the sea. The moonlit sky, which shows us its outline only, leaves much +to the imagination. We may fancy it a frowning fortress of modern days; +or we may go back two hundred years, and think we see the ruin which +told of its nine-years' siege. But we would rather think of Castle +Cornet as we know it now, with its old keep standing as a monument of +bygone days; or better still, we would thank the rising moon for veiling +it in such solemn mystery, and would let our fancy share the rest which +seems to pervade all around, while we enjoy the perfect stillness. There +is not a sound, except the ripple of the water. Houses, streets, ships, +men, women, and children, all seem resting peacefully in the silent +night. But, hark! there was a sound of cracking from the window! Again +and again we hear it, and whispering too outside. A few moments more, +and the window is opened, and two men have crept in. They are some of +the guests of the evening come to recover thus what they and their +companions have wasted here to-night, that they may have it to waste +once more. The till was quickly rifled, and at a slight noise overhead +the thieves beat a precipitate retreat, and, in their haste, dropped our +Sixpence in the street outside. Happy little Sixpence! to have escaped +such hands; better to lie on the cold, hard pavement, curtained by the +freezing air, than stay to be used as the fruits of theft invariably +are.</p> + +<p>It was only just light when a little girl, whose rosy cheeks told that +the country air had kissed them that morning, passed by with a basket on +her arm nearly as big as herself. Her bright eyes soon spied the little +piece of money, and with a dart she caught it up; but, like an honest +girl, looked round to see if any one had dropped it. There was nobody +near but a dirty, good-tempered-looking coalheaver, who, seeing her +perplexity, said, "It must have been there all night, for nobody but me +has passed this morning; so you may keep it, if you like." Quite +content, she tripped away with her basket to join her mother in the +market, and tell of her good fortune.</p> + +<p>Being a wise little maiden, Mary Falla did not spend her money that day, +but took it home all safe and sound, to gain time for consideration on +so important a subject. No selfish thoughts mingled with her +calculations, and therefore she very soon came to the decision that it +should go towards a pair of stockings for her grandmother; and happy in +the hope of giving pleasure, she only longed for the accumulation of a +little store sufficient to buy the necessary materials, and enable her +to begin her work. But even sixpences are not to be picked up every day, +and when a month had passed, only one penny had been added to the fund. +Just at this time there was a sermon one Sunday morning for the same new +church of which Miss Crawford had spoken to her brother. Mrs. Falla was +one of the few who were to be found regularly in their places in +church; and Mary, who was always with her mother, heard the sermon. We +cannot boast of our little heroine that she always listened to the +sermon; sometimes she did not understand it, sometimes she did not find +it interesting; but this sermon she did find interesting, and liked very +much, for it was about a church which she saw every day of her life; and +it told how much the church was wanted by sick and old people who could +not reach the parish church; and Mary knew she liked to go to church, +and was very sorry for her old grandmother, and many others whom she had +heard regret the distance. As they walked home she seemed to have +something very interesting to think about, for she dropped behind, and +kept her eyes fixed on the ground in a manner most unusual with this +merry little maiden; at last, however, she settled the question to her +own satisfaction, and ran up to her mother,—</p> + +<p>"<i>Ma mère</i>, don't you think I had better give my sixpence to the new +church? Grandmother would rather have a church near to go to, than a +pair of stockings next winter, I'm sure; and it would do good to so many +other people besides."</p> + +<p>"As you like, <i>ma chère</i>," answered her mother: "it is your own money."</p> + +<p>Not many days after this, there was a knock at the door after Mary had +returned from school, and Captain Crawford entered, now no stranger in +the cottages round, for the last few weeks had worked a wonderful change +in this respect. The first time he did a kindness to the poor, it was +because he could not help it; the second time it was because he had +found it pleasant; but the third time there was a shade of another +motive mingling with it. Ellen had told him why she was always happy; +she had told him where he might learn the way to be happy too better +than she could teach him. He had taken her advice, had read the Bible, +and now was humbly endeavouring to obey its commands; and in conformity +to his sister's entreaty, not to misspend his days of health, scarcely a +day was now permitted to pass without his doing something for the good +of his fellow-creatures. He always told the poor that he was come on a +message from his sister, lest they should be inclined to be grateful to +him, and make him blush, as the sick girl had done. Some questioned, +however, whether Miss Crawford told him always to add a franc or two to +the gift which she sent; or whether Miss Crawford dictated to him all +the "kind words" which now made him so welcome a visitor; and when the +old blind man complained of having no one to read to him, and Captain +Crawford took the Bible and read him "<i>deux superbes chapitres</i>," he was +quite sure that Miss Crawford had nothing at all to do with it.</p> + +<p>His present visit to Mary's grandmother was to tell her that ten pounds +had been collected the Sunday before for the new church; and that as +some handsome contributions had been since received, he hoped she would +soon see it finished. Mary ran away as soon as she had let him in, and +soon came back with cheeks as red as fire, eyes cast down, and something +clasped very tight in her hand, looking altogether much more like a +thief than the good, honest little Mary that she was. But when Captain +Crawford got up to go away, she went to him, and as he stooped to hear +what she had to say, she repeated very quick, in a very low voice, the +little speech she had prepared in her best English: "Please to give dat +to Miss Crawford, to go for the new church dat's being builded." Happy +Mary! how full of love that little heart was! how it rejoiced in giving +pleasure! and how she did wish that she was rich, that she might make +everybody comfortable!</p> + +<p>"Here is a contribution to the church, my little one," said Edward, when +he reached home, "which I think you will agree with me is worth more +than all the five-pound notes we have received. Sixpence from Mary +Falla!"</p> + +<p>"Dear little Mary! Put it into the church-bag, Edward. If our church +could be all built with such sixpences as those—"</p> + +<p>And in the church-bag we must leave the Sixpence, resting a little while +before it goes forth again on its errands of joy and sorrow, of blessing +and cursing.</p> + +<p>There was a little stone in the church-tower far more precious than all +the rest. It was not a cut stone; it did not sparkle in the bright sun +which shone on the consecration-day; none of the colours of the ruby, +emerald, or amethyst, beamed from it; it was a richer gem than they—the +gift of a willing heart.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<h3>London:—Printed by <span class="smcap">G. Barclay</span>, Castle St. Leicester Sq.</h3> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Adventures of a Sixpence in Guernsey +by A Native, by Anonymous + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ADVENTURES OF A SIXPENCE *** + +***** This file should be named 17083-h.htm or 17083-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/0/8/17083/ + +Produced by Steven Gibbs, Martin Pettit and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Adventures of a Sixpence in Guernsey by A Native + +Author: Anonymous + +Release Date: November 17, 2005 [EBook #17083] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ADVENTURES OF A SIXPENCE *** + + + + +Produced by Steven Gibbs, Martin Pettit and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + +ADVENTURES OF A SIXPENCE IN GUERNSEY. + +BY + +A NATIVE. + +SEELEY, JACKSON, AND HALLIDAY, FLEET STREET; + +AND B. SEELEY, HANOVER STREET. + +LONDON. MDCCCLVII. + +Printed by G. BARCLAY, Castle St. Leicester Sq. + +[Illustration: Frontispiece] + + + + +ADVENTURES OF A SIXPENCE IN GUERNSEY. + + +The breakfast was ready laid on the table, and a gentleman was standing +by the fire waiting for the rest of the family, when the door burst +open, and two little girls ran in. + +"A happy new year, papa!--a happy new year!" shouted each as she was +caught up to be kissed, and found herself on the floor once more after a +sudden whirl to the ceiling. + +"Now catch," said their father, as he started aside and flung a sixpence +to each. + +Of course they did not catch, for little girls have a strange +propensity for turning just the wrong way on such occasions; but the +bright new sixpences were none the duller for their fall, and called +forth none the less admiration from their proud owners. + +Many were the calculations which passed through those curly heads during +breakfast-time as to what a sixpence could buy; and it was with many +bright visions that they darted away to be dressed to go into the town +with their mother. + +It was New-year's day; but there was no snow, no bitter cold wind, no +beggars shivering in their scanty clothing, none of the scenes of +poverty which those accustomed only to an English winter might expect to +cast a gloom over the enjoyment of the day. It was a bright sunny +morning, every leaf sparkling with dew-drops; groups of neatly-dressed +people were to be seen flocking in from the country in every direction; +and though the air was fresh enough to incline them to walk briskly +along, their hands were not hidden away in muffs and coat-pockets, but +were ready for the friendly shake which, with "all the good wishes of +the season," awaited them at every step. + +Mrs. Campbell and her little girls, after many a greeting of this kind, +found their way into the town at last; and the children soon forgot +everything in the twelfth-cakes which adorned the pastry-cooks' windows, +till the sixpence, which was tightly clasped in each little hand, +recalled them to their errand, and they joined the busy crowd in the +toy-shop. Who does not know what it is to take a child into these abodes +of Noah's arks, cats, dogs, mice, and dolls, and all that is so +charming? How each toy is seized on in its turn, to be relinquished in a +moment for one more beautiful! It was no easy task that Mrs. Campbell +had undertaken; but at last, in a moment of ecstasy over two blue-eyed +dolls, the sixpences were paid, and the young purchasers drawn away from +further temptation. And we, too, must wish them good-by, with the hope +that the next new year may find them bright and happy still, and that +before many more have passed over them they will have learnt a wiser and +a better way of spending their father's gift; a way in which their +sixpence, though it be but a sixpence, will be returned in tenfold +blessings on their heads. + +It is with one of the little pieces of silver which have just rung in +the till that we have to do. It had lain there for about two hours, the +same scenes going on around it which we have witnessed with its owner of +the morning, when a tall moustachioed young man entered the shop, which +was not exclusively devoted to toys, and asked to be shown some gold +pencil-cases. His choice was soon made, the money paid, and our friend +the Sixpence received in change. Ah, Sixpence! what sort of hands have +you fallen into now? We have undertaken to follow your fortunes for a +time, and therefore, uncomfortable as our quarters may be, we must take +up our abode with you in Captain Crawford's waistcoat-pocket, and go +where he pleases to lead us. Up High Street and Smith Street to Grange +Road, where we mount and away from houses and streets and the +fashionable world; among the fields and hedges, just decking themselves +with Daisies and Celandines, and every now and then, at the top of the +many little hills which the road crosses, comes a peep of the bright +blue sea, from which, go where we will, we can never get very far away +in Guernsey. After a short ride, Captain Crawford pulled up his horse, +and giving it into the care of a boy who answered his call, he walked +down an avenue to a pretty rose-covered house, which he entered, and +made his way to the drawing-room. + +"Well, my little one, what have you been about all the morning?" was his +greeting as he opened the door to a delicate-looking girl who lay on the +sofa. + +"Oh, Edward!" she answered, "I was just wishing for you. I feel rather +better than usual to-day, and mamma says I may take a turn in the +garden. I was only waiting for your arm. Will you ring for my bonnet?" + +"Look, here is a New-year's gift for you, Ellen," said her brother, +taking the gold pencil-case out of his pocket and hanging it on her +chain. + +"Oh! thanks--thanks, Edward!" she said warmly, as she pulled his head +down to her, and threw her arms round his neck; "My own brother, how +good of you! this is just what I wanted." + +"I never yet knew you have anything which was not _just_ what you +wanted, Ellen. Is there anything in the world you wish for now?" + +"No, I am very happy. You none of you give me an opportunity of wishing +for anything; as soon as I wish, I have it. You all spoil me." + +"I know what I wish," said her brother; "and that is, that I had your +secret of finding everything so very comfortable. What is it, little +one?" + +He had seated himself by her side, and was stroking the hair back from +her forehead, while she lay in quiet enjoyment of his gentle touch; but +on hearing his last question she raised her large dark eyes, fixing them +earnestly on his face for one moment, but without speaking. She was soon +ready for her walk, and, leaning on her brother's arm, let him half +carry half lead her out. + +"Let us go to the gate, Edward," she said, when they reached the door; +"the children will be coming out of school, and I may see some of my +little friends." + +They walked very slowly, and neither spoke for a few moments, till Ellen +said, in rather a hurried tone, "I was wrong just now when I told you I +never wished for anything; there is one thing I want very much, and +which you can never give me." + +"What is it?" asked her brother. + +"To be able to live over again the twenty years of health which have +just passed from me, and to have again all the money I spent in that +time." + +"Why, my dear Ellen," said Captain Crawford gaily, "you are the last +person in the world to say anything of the sort. I am sure the greatest +pleasure of your days of health was to take puddings and sixpences to +old women; and if that is not a satisfactory way of spending one's time +and money, I don't know what is. But really, Ellen," he said, more +seriously, as he saw her grave face, "I do not see what reason you have +to blame yourself, after such a life as yours has been. I should have +thought the recollection of it would now have been your greatest +comfort; and that, after taking care of others for so long, you might +enjoy being taken care of yourself now. But, my little one! what is the +matter?" + +Ellen had stopped, and, with her head resting on his shoulder, was +sobbing violently. + +"Edward, don't!" she said, as soon as she could command herself; "I +can't bear it! Think of the handsome allowance papa makes me, and how +little of it has been well spent! And then, what was given away did not +do a quarter of the good it might have done, because I did not go and +give it myself, and kind words with it, which are far more comforting +than food or money. And if you will believe me, Edward, extravagance +has become such a habit with me, that though I resolved last quarter to +be economical and save up something for the new church, I had hardly +anything left at the end of it. It is true I did teach at the school a +little, and visit a few people, but what is that compared to what I +ought to have done?" + +By this time they had reached the gate, and Ellen, drying her tears, was +soon talking almost merrily with the children, who ran up eagerly at the +sight of their former teacher. Edward had forgotten the little Guernsey +French he had once known, and stood by, glad to see his favourite sister +so happy; but wondering what pleasure she could find in talking to a set +of dirty little things like those. Captain Crawford called them dirty, +because most officers in her Majesty's service, if they think on the +subject at all, think rags and dirtiness necessary attendants on poor +children; but if Captain Crawford had looked, he would have seen as +clean and _neat_ a flock of little ones around his sister as the United +Kingdom could produce. + +Just as they were going to return to the house a man passed by, and +touched his hat to Miss Crawford in the somewhat off-hand manner which +(we must confess it) our fellow-countrymen usually employ. Ellen stopped +a moment to make some inquiries of him about his wife and children, and +then turned home-wards, saying, as she took her brother's arm,-- + +"I dare say a good dinner would do that man's daughter a world of good; +she is ill, and they are very poor: but then there is no way of sending +it." + +"Where do they live?" asked Edward. + +"Oh, it is half-an-hour's walk: they live close to the beach." + +"I'll take it," said he; and added, by way of apology, "I should rather +like a walk before dinner." + +A happy gleam passed over Ellen's face, but she only said,-- + +"Thank you, Edward," and gave him one very bright look, when he left her +on her sofa and went to fetch some meat for the sick girl. + +It was with feelings of amusement, rather than anything else, that +Edward set out on what was probably the first errand of mercy he had +ever undertaken. He had done it merely to please his sister, and could +not help laughing at the idea of what some of his brother-officers would +say if they could see Crawford of the ---- Regiment carrying food to a +sick girl. But his conversation with Ellen soon returned to his mind, +and the thought struck him, "If my good, unselfish little sister, thinks +her time and money have been wasted, what have mine been? According to +her, the sixpence which I have occasionally thrown to a beggar to quiet +my conscience was only half charity, because I did not add 'kind words,' +as she would say. But I wonder what people would say if I were to +inquire after the birth, parentage, and education of every +street-sweeper I came across? No, my vocation is to defend my Queen and +country, and not to act the charitable." Something whispered, "Cannot +you do both?" but Edward would not listen, and soon arrived at his +destination. The door was opened by the sick girl's mother, who, with +her "_Bon jour, monsieur! Entrez, s'il vous plait_," took Edward rather +by surprise, and would by no means hear of receiving the gift outside +the door. This was more than he had bargained for; he had come on a +message from Ellen, not for a charitable visit on her own account: but +there was no alternative, and go in he must. The woman spoke a little +English; and while she poured forth her gratitude to Miss Crawford, +together with a long account of her daughter's maladies, saying so much +in one breath that it became a question whether she would ever breathe +again, Captain Crawford looked at the sick girl lying pale and thin by +the fire; and when he thought how miserable her lot was compared even +with his sister's, whose sufferings were soothed by all that affection +could suggest or that money could buy, his heart--for he had a heart, +and a warm one too--was touched, and his hand went to the waistcoat +pocket where the sixpence had been deposited in the morning. He was +disappointed to find so little there, and wondered whether it was worth +giving her. "If Ellen were here to add some of her 'kind words,'" he +thought, it might do very well; "however, I'll try." + +Next time Mrs. Tourtel stopped to take breath he went and stood by the +poor girl, and said,-- + +"Miss Crawford is ill too and cannot come to see you, but she often +thinks of you. Perhaps this will buy you a small loaf of white bread, as +your mother says you cannot eat brown." + +She only said, "_Mercie, monsieur_;" but the bright colour, which spread +itself over her pale face at the mention of Ellen's thought of her, told +Edward that he had said the right thing; and with a gentle "Good-by, I +hope you will soon be better," he left the cottage. He walked fast with +his head bent, as if to hide his face; but we must run after him, and +have a peep at it. He is smiling, and--can it be?--he is blushing! +Captain Crawford, who never turned pale before the Russians at Alma or +Inkermann, is now blushing scarlet before his own approving conscience +and the gratitude of a sick girl. The smile and blush were not gone when +he reached home, and Ellen saw both and smiled too, but wisely said +nothing. The ice on Edward's heart was broken; a few "kind words" had +flowed out and melted it. He went to sleep that night, and dreamed that +angels were saying "kind words" to him; Ellen went to sleep, too, and +dreamed of her brother reading the Bible to the dying on a battle-field; +and the sick girl lay awake all night, thinking how good it was of Miss +Crawford to think of her, and how good of the Captain to tell her so. + +The Sixpence had done a good day's work; had a shilling been in its +place, it would probably have failed in accomplishing it; and Captain +Crawford, thinking money the best way to the heart of the poor, would +never have tasted the joy of soothing sad hearts by kindness. Alas! +little Sixpence, that you who have been such a blessing to-day, should +become a curse to-morrow; that you who have gone forth on errands of +mercy to-day, should dwell in scenes of drunkenness and theft to-morrow! + +Early next morning Mrs. Tourtel went to market, and left the Sixpence +at a baker's shop in payment for a white loaf for her daughter. There it +spent the day--a quiet day--broken by few events. It might have seen the +fresh bread taken out of the oven, and packed in the cart which waited +at the door to receive it; and it might have seen many people bustle in +and out of the shop, from the little child to buy a penny loaf, to the +gentleman's housekeeper to pay the week's bill; but it remained +undisturbed till the shutters were taken down on the following morning, +when a man came to buy a small loaf for his breakfast, and received the +Sixpence in change. Appearances were far more against it this time than +they had been before. John Barker had an unshaved beard, a scowling eye, +and a red face; his dress consisted of a blue woollen shirt, coarse blue +trousers grimed in mud, and a low-crowned black hat; on his shoulder he +carried a spade and pickaxe. As he walked along he was joined by others +of an equally unprepossessing appearance, and found many more already +assembled at the scene of their labours--the new harbour. + +The sun was not yet risen, and a mist hung over the sea, through which +the signal-post at Castle Cornet, and the masts of the vessels in the +roads, were the only objects visible; but there was a faint red streak +in the sky, which grew brighter and brighter every moment, till the +sunrise gun fired; and then the mist changed into a golden veil, which +floated insensibly away, leaving every geranium-leaf outside the windows +white with hoar-frost, just to tantalise the townsfolk more distant +islands became just visible, mingling the blue of the sea and the violet +of the sky so mysteriously in their delicate colouring, that they were +scarcely distinguishable from either. And then the carts began to roll +along the quay, and work commenced on board the ships in the harbour, +and the sailors' cry as they hoisted the sails, mingled with the +rattling of chains and the creaking of the cranes outside the stores. At +about nine o'clock up ran the ball at the signal-post, which announced +the approach of the mail-boat, and as she steamed behind the Castle, and +anchored in the roads, there were hasty embraces and shakes of the hand +on the pier, and the passengers were rowed out to embark. A few minutes, +and the tinkling of a bell was heard from the shore; another--one more; +her wheels were turning, she was off for Southampton, and the passengers +from Jersey were landing at the quay. + +All this, and much more, might John Barker have seen, and probably he +did see it, but found nothing beautiful or exciting in it. He did not +hold his breath as that cutter approached and ran between the +pier-heads, her sail dipping in the wave which bore her in. He saw it a +dozen times that day, and had seen it a hundred times before, but never +cared to see it again. He worked sullenly on, exchanging few words with +his fellow-labourers, till the twilight compelled them to shoulder their +tools; and they then made their way, alas! to the many public-houses +near, and one of them we must enter with John Barker, and see the +Sixpence, that little messenger of good--that talent committed to his +care--far worse than wasted by its responsible owner. Happily, the +payment was not long delayed, and glad shall we be to hide our eyes and +stop our ears from all that goes on without in the till with our little +friend. + +It is about midnight, the noisy guests are gone, the people of the house +are in bed, and we may now venture forth from our hiding-place to look +through the chink in the door. It is a clear frosty night. The moon, +just rising, is brightly reflected in the water. The stars are looking +silently down on the sleeping town. Castle Cornet rises gloomily out of +the sea. The moonlit sky, which shows us its outline only, leaves much +to the imagination. We may fancy it a frowning fortress of modern days; +or we may go back two hundred years, and think we see the ruin which +told of its nine-years' siege. But we would rather think of Castle +Cornet as we know it now, with its old keep standing as a monument of +bygone days; or better still, we would thank the rising moon for veiling +it in such solemn mystery, and would let our fancy share the rest which +seems to pervade all around, while we enjoy the perfect stillness. There +is not a sound, except the ripple of the water. Houses, streets, ships, +men, women, and children, all seem resting peacefully in the silent +night. But, hark! there was a sound of cracking from the window! Again +and again we hear it, and whispering too outside. A few moments more, +and the window is opened, and two men have crept in. They are some of +the guests of the evening come to recover thus what they and their +companions have wasted here to-night, that they may have it to waste +once more. The till was quickly rifled, and at a slight noise overhead +the thieves beat a precipitate retreat, and, in their haste, dropped our +Sixpence in the street outside. Happy little Sixpence! to have escaped +such hands; better to lie on the cold, hard pavement, curtained by the +freezing air, than stay to be used as the fruits of theft invariably +are. + +It was only just light when a little girl, whose rosy cheeks told that +the country air had kissed them that morning, passed by with a basket on +her arm nearly as big as herself. Her bright eyes soon spied the little +piece of money, and with a dart she caught it up; but, like an honest +girl, looked round to see if any one had dropped it. There was nobody +near but a dirty, good-tempered-looking coalheaver, who, seeing her +perplexity, said, "It must have been there all night, for nobody but me +has passed this morning; so you may keep it, if you like." Quite +content, she tripped away with her basket to join her mother in the +market, and tell of her good fortune. + +Being a wise little maiden, Mary Falla did not spend her money that day, +but took it home all safe and sound, to gain time for consideration on +so important a subject. No selfish thoughts mingled with her +calculations, and therefore she very soon came to the decision that it +should go towards a pair of stockings for her grandmother; and happy in +the hope of giving pleasure, she only longed for the accumulation of a +little store sufficient to buy the necessary materials, and enable her +to begin her work. But even sixpences are not to be picked up every day, +and when a month had passed, only one penny had been added to the fund. +Just at this time there was a sermon one Sunday morning for the same new +church of which Miss Crawford had spoken to her brother. Mrs. Falla was +one of the few who were to be found regularly in their places in +church; and Mary, who was always with her mother, heard the sermon. We +cannot boast of our little heroine that she always listened to the +sermon; sometimes she did not understand it, sometimes she did not find +it interesting; but this sermon she did find interesting, and liked very +much, for it was about a church which she saw every day of her life; and +it told how much the church was wanted by sick and old people who could +not reach the parish church; and Mary knew she liked to go to church, +and was very sorry for her old grandmother, and many others whom she had +heard regret the distance. As they walked home she seemed to have +something very interesting to think about, for she dropped behind, and +kept her eyes fixed on the ground in a manner most unusual with this +merry little maiden; at last, however, she settled the question to her +own satisfaction, and ran up to her mother,-- + +"_Ma mere_, don't you think I had better give my sixpence to the new +church? Grandmother would rather have a church near to go to, than a +pair of stockings next winter, I'm sure; and it would do good to so many +other people besides." + +"As you like, _ma chere_," answered her mother: "it is your own money." + +Not many days after this, there was a knock at the door after Mary had +returned from school, and Captain Crawford entered, now no stranger in +the cottages round, for the last few weeks had worked a wonderful change +in this respect. The first time he did a kindness to the poor, it was +because he could not help it; the second time it was because he had +found it pleasant; but the third time there was a shade of another +motive mingling with it. Ellen had told him why she was always happy; +she had told him where he might learn the way to be happy too better +than she could teach him. He had taken her advice, had read the Bible, +and now was humbly endeavouring to obey its commands; and in conformity +to his sister's entreaty, not to misspend his days of health, scarcely a +day was now permitted to pass without his doing something for the good +of his fellow-creatures. He always told the poor that he was come on a +message from his sister, lest they should be inclined to be grateful to +him, and make him blush, as the sick girl had done. Some questioned, +however, whether Miss Crawford told him always to add a franc or two to +the gift which she sent; or whether Miss Crawford dictated to him all +the "kind words" which now made him so welcome a visitor; and when the +old blind man complained of having no one to read to him, and Captain +Crawford took the Bible and read him "_deux superbes chapitres_," he was +quite sure that Miss Crawford had nothing at all to do with it. + +His present visit to Mary's grandmother was to tell her that ten pounds +had been collected the Sunday before for the new church; and that as +some handsome contributions had been since received, he hoped she would +soon see it finished. Mary ran away as soon as she had let him in, and +soon came back with cheeks as red as fire, eyes cast down, and something +clasped very tight in her hand, looking altogether much more like a +thief than the good, honest little Mary that she was. But when Captain +Crawford got up to go away, she went to him, and as he stooped to hear +what she had to say, she repeated very quick, in a very low voice, the +little speech she had prepared in her best English: "Please to give dat +to Miss Crawford, to go for the new church dat's being builded." Happy +Mary! how full of love that little heart was! how it rejoiced in giving +pleasure! and how she did wish that she was rich, that she might make +everybody comfortable! + +"Here is a contribution to the church, my little one," said Edward, when +he reached home, "which I think you will agree with me is worth more +than all the five-pound notes we have received. Sixpence from Mary +Falla!" + +"Dear little Mary! Put it into the church-bag, Edward. If our church +could be all built with such sixpences as those--" + +And in the church-bag we must leave the Sixpence, resting a little while +before it goes forth again on its errands of joy and sorrow, of blessing +and cursing. + +There was a little stone in the church-tower far more precious than all +the rest. It was not a cut stone; it did not sparkle in the bright sun +which shone on the consecration-day; none of the colours of the ruby, +emerald, or amethyst, beamed from it; it was a richer gem than they--the +gift of a willing heart. + + + + +London:--Printed by G. BARCLAY, Castle St. Leicester Sq. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Adventures of a Sixpence in Guernsey +by A Native, by Anonymous + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ADVENTURES OF A SIXPENCE *** + +***** This file should be named 17083.txt or 17083.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/0/8/17083/ + +Produced by Steven Gibbs, Martin Pettit and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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