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diff --git a/old/22271-h.htm.2021-01-25 b/old/22271-h.htm.2021-01-25 new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1dcaac5 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/22271-h.htm.2021-01-25 @@ -0,0 +1,1542 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + Schwartz: a History, by David Christie Murray + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Schwartz: A History, by David Christie Murray + +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: Schwartz: A History + From "Schwartz" by David Christie Murray + +Author: David Christie Murray + +Release Date: August 8, 2007 [EBook #22271] +Last Updated: September 16, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SCHWARTZ: A HISTORY *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + SCHWARTZ: A HISTORY + </h1> + <h2> + By David Christie Murray + </h2> + <h4> + Author Of ‘Aunt Rachel,’ ‘The Weaker Vessel,’ Etc. + </h4> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + Contents + </h2> + <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto"> + <tr> + <td> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> <b>SCHWARTZ: A HISTORY</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> I </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> II </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> III </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> IV </a> + </p> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + SCHWARTZ: A HISTORY + </h1> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + I + </h2> + <p> + I was expatriated by a man with an axe. The man and the axe were alike + visionary and unreal, though it needed a very considerable effort of the + will to hold them at mental arm’s length. I had work on hand which + imperatively demanded to be finished, and I was so broken down by a long + course of labour that it was a matter of actual difficulty with me when I + sat down at my desk of a morning to lay hold of the thread of last night’s + work, and to recall the personages who had moved through my manuscript + pages for the past three or four months. The day’s work always began with + a fog, which at first looked impenetrable, but would brighten little by + little until I could see my ideal friends moving in it, and could + recognise their familiar lineaments. Then the fog would disperse + altogether, and a certain indescribable, exultant, feverish brightness + would succeed it, and in this feverish brightness my ideal friends would + move and talk as it were of their own volition. + </p> + <p> + But one morning—it was in November, and the sand-tinged foam flecks + caught from the stormy bay were thick on the roadway before my window—the + fog was thicker and more obdurate than common. I read and re-read the work + of the day before, and the written words conveyed no meaning. In a dim + sort of way this seemed lamentable, and I remember standing at the window, + and looking out to where the white crests of the waves came racing + shorewards under a leaden-coloured sky, and saying to myself over and over + again, ‘Oh, that way madness lies!’ but without any active sentiment of + dismay or fear, and with a clouded, uninterested wonder as to where the + words came from. Quite suddenly I became aware of a second presence in the + chamber, and turned with an actual assurance that some one stood behind + me. I was alone, as a single glance about the room informed me, but the + sense of that second presence was so clearly defined and positive that the + mere evidence of sight seemed doubtful. + </p> + <p> + The day’s work began in the manner which had of late grown customary, and + in a while the fog gave way to a brilliance unusually flushed and hectic. + The uninvited, invisible personage kept his place, until, even with the + constant fancy that he was there looking over my shoulder, and so close + that there was always a risk of contact, I grew to disregard him. All day + long he watched the pen travelling over the paper, all day long I was + aware of him, featureless, shadowy, expressionless, with a vague cheek + near my own. During the brief interval I gave myself for luncheon he stood + behind my chair, and, being much refreshed and brightened by my morning’s + work, I mocked him quite gaily. + </p> + <p> + ‘Your name is Nerves,’ I told him within myself, ‘and you live in the land + of Mental Overwork. I have still a fortnight’s stretch across the country + you inhabit, and if you so please you may accompany me all the way. You + may even follow me into the land of Repose which lies beyond your own + territory, but its air will not agree with you. You will dwindle, peak, + and pine in that exquisite atmosphere, and in a very little while I shall + have seen the last of you.’ + </p> + <p> + After luncheon I took a constitutional on the pier, not without a hope + that my featureless friend might be blown away by the gusty wind, which + came bellowing up from the Firth of Forth, with enough stinging salt and + vivifying freshness in it, one might have fancied, to shrivel up a host of + phantoms. I tramped him up and down the gleaming planks in the keen salt + wind for half an hour, and he shadowed me unshrinkingly. With the worst + will in the world I took him home, and all afternoon and all evening he + stuck his shadowy head over my shoulder, and watched the pen as it spread + its cobweb lines over the white desert of the paper. He waited behind my + chair at dinner, and late at night, when the long day’s work at last was + over, he hung his intrusive head over my shoulder and stared into the + moderate glass of much-watered whisky which kept a final pipe in company. + </p> + <p> + He had grown already into an unutterable bore, and when he insisted upon + passing the night with me I could—but for the obvious inutility of + the thing—have lost my temper fairly. He took his place at the + bed-head, and kept it till I fell asleep. He was there when I awoke in the + night, and probably because the darkness, the quiet, and the sense of + solitude were favourable to him he began to grow clearer. Quite suddenly, + and with a momentary but genuine thrill of fear, I made a discovery about + him. He carried an axe. This weapon was edged like a razor, but was + unusually solid and weighty at the back. From the moment at which I first + became aware of it to that happy hour when my phantom bore departed and + took his weapon with him, there was never a conscious second in which the + axe was not in act to fall, and yet it never fell. It was always going to + strike and never struck. + </p> + <p> + ‘You cannot be supposed to know it, my phantom nuisance,’ I said, being + ready to seek any means by which I might discredit the dreadful rapidity + with which he seemed to be growing real;’ you cannot be supposed to know + it, but one of these days you will furnish excellent copy. As a literary + man’s companion you are not quite without your uses. One of these days I + will haunt a rascal with you, and he shall sweat and shiver at you, as I + decline to sweat and shiver. You observe I take you gaily. I am very much + inclined to think that if I took you any other way that axe might fall, + and sever something which might be difficult to mend. So long as you + choose to stay, I mean to make a study of you.’ + </p> + <p> + Most happily I was able to adhere to that resolve, but I solemnly declare + it made him no less dreadful. Sometimes I tried to ignore him, but that + was a sheer impossibility. Very often I flouted him and jeered at him, + mocked him with his own unreality, and dared him to carry out his constant + threat and strike. But all day and every day, and in all the many + sleepless watches of my nights, he kept me company, and every hour the + threatened blow of the razor-edged axe seemed likelier to fall. But at + last—thank Heaven—the work was done, I touched the two or + three hundred pounds which paid for it, and I was free to take a holiday. + </p> + <p> + We had grown too accustomed to each other to part on a sudden, even then. + I never saw him, for he was always behind me (and even when I stood before + a mirror he was invisible but <i>there</i>), but he was no longer + featureless. His eyes shone through a black vizard with one unwinking, + glittering, ceaseless threat. He wore a slashed doublet with long hose + reaching to the upper thigh, and he had a rosette on each instep. I can + see quite clearly now the peculiar dull cold gleam the razor-edged axe + wore as he stood in some shadowed place behind me, and the brighter gleam + it had in daylight in the streets. + </p> + <p> + When I had borne with him until I felt that I could bear with him no + longer, I took him, being back in town again, to a London physician of + some eminence. The doctor took him somewhat gravely, insisted upon + absolute mental rest, prescribed a tonic, laid down certain rules about + diet, certain restrictions upon wine and tobacco, and ordered immediate + change of scene. + </p> + <p> + To begin with I went to Antwerp, thence to Brussels, and thence, by the + merest chance in the world, to Janenne, a little village in the Belgian + Ardennes, at no great distance from the French frontier. I had no idea of + staying there, and on the surface of things there was no reason why I + should have prolonged my stay beyond a day or two. People visit Janenne in + the summer time, and suppose themselves to have exhausted its limited + attractions in four-and-twenty hours. There is nothing at first sight to + keep the stranger longer, but if he will only stay for a week he will + inevitably want to stay for a fortnight, and if once he has stayed for a + fortnight, his business is done, and he is in love with Janenne for the + rest of his natural life. Rural quiet has made her home in Janenne, and + contentment dwells with her, sleepy-eyed. + </p> + <p> + Even in the first week of December, the russet and amber-coloured leaves + still cling to the branches of the huge old lime-trees of Lorette, and my + lonely feet on the thick carpet of dead leaves below made the sole sound I + heard there except the ceaseless musical tinkle of chisel and stone from + the distant granite quarries—a succession of notes altogether rural + in suggestion—like the tinkle of many sheep-bells. Even in that + first week of December I could sit in the open air there, where the mild + winter sunlight flashed the huge crucifix and the colossal Christ of + painted wood, which poise above the toy chapel carved out of the live + rock. The chapel and the crucifix are at one end of a lime-tree avenue a + third of a mile long, and the trees are aged beyond strict local + knowledge, gnarled and warty and bulbous and great of girth. You climb to + Lorette by a gentle ascent, and below the rock-carved chapel lies a + precipice—not an Alpine affair at all, but a reasonable precipice + for Belgium—say, two or even three hundred feet, and away and away + and away, the golden-dimpled hills go changing from the yellowish green of + winter grass to the variously-toned grays of the same grass in + mid-distance, and then to a blue which grows continually hazier until it + melts at the sky-line, and seems half to blend with the dim pallid + sapphire of a December sky. + </p> + <p> + Here, ‘with an ambrosial sense of over-weariness falling into sleep,’ + would I often sit at the foot of the great crucifix, and would smoke the + pipe of idleness, a little unmindful, perhaps, of the good London doctor’s + caution against the misuse of tobacco. It was here that I awoke to the + fact one day that the man with the axe was absent. He had slipped away + with no good-byes on either side, and I was blissfully alone again. The + sweet peace of it, and the quiet of it no tongue or pen can tell. The air + was balsamic with the odours of the pines which clothed the hillsides for + miles and miles and miles in squares and oblongs and a hundred irregular + forms of blackish green, sometimes snaking in a thin dark line, sometimes + topping a crest with a close-cropped hog-mane, and sometimes clustering + densely over a whole slope, but always throwing the neighbouring yellows + and greens and grays into a wonderful aerial delicacy of contrast. The + scarred lime trunks had a bluish gray tone in the winter sunlight, and the + carpet at their feet was of Indian red and sienna and brown, of fiercest + scarlet and gold and palest lemon colour, of amber and russet and dead + green. And everywhere, and in my tired mind most of all, was peace. + </p> + <p> + I had been a fortnight at Janenne when my intrusive phantom left me on + Lorette. I had made no acquaintances, for I was but feeble at the + language, and did not care to encounter the trouble of talking in it. The + first friendship I made—I have since spent three years in the + delightful place, and have made several friendships there—was begun + within five minutes of that exquisite moment at which I awoke to the fact + that my phantom was away. + </p> + <p> + There was not a living creature in sight, and there was not a sound to be + heard except the distant tinkle of chisel and stone, and the occasional + rustle of a falling leaf, until Schwartz, the subject of this history, + walked pensively round a corner eighty yards down the avenue, and paused + to scratch one ear with a hind foot. He stood for a time with a thoughtful + air, looked up the avenue and down the avenue, and then with slow + deliberation, and an occasional pause for thought, he walked towards me. + When within half a dozen yards he stopped and took good stock of me, with + brown eyes overhung by thick grizzled eyebrows. Then he offered a short, + interrogative, authoritative bark, a mere monosyllable of inquiry. + </p> + <p> + ‘A stranger,’ I responded. ‘An invalid stranger.’ He seemed not only + satisfied, but, for some unknown reason, delighted. He wagged the cropped + stump of a gray tail, and writhed his whole body with a greeting that had + an almost slavish air of charmed propitiation; and then, without a word on + his side or on mine, he mounted the steps which led to the great crucifix, + sate down upon the topmost step beside me, and nestled his grizzled head + in my lap. I confess that he could have done nothing which would have + pleased me more. I have always thought the unconditional and immediate + confidence of a dog or a child a sort of certificate to character, though + I know well that there is a kind of dog whose native friendliness + altogether outruns his discretion, and who is doomed from birth to fall + into error, and to encounter consequent rebuffs which must be grievous to + be borne. + </p> + <p> + My new companion wore a collar, and had other signs that distinguished him + from the mere mongrel of the village street, but he was of no particular + breed. His coat was of a bluish gray, and though soft enough to the touch, + had a harsh and spiky aspect. He came nearer to being a broken-haired + terrier than anything else, but I seemed to discern half a dozen crosses + in him, and a lover of dogs who asked for breed would not have offered + sixpence for him. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II + </h2> + <p> + Somewhere about the year 1560 this tranquil and beautiful country was + devastated by a plague which carried off hundreds of its sparse + inhabitants, and left many villages desolate. The legends of the + countryside tell of places in which no human life remained. + </p> + <p> + The people of Janenne, headed by the <i>doyen</i>, made a pilgrimage in + procession to the shrine of Our Lady of Lorette, and offered to strike a + bargain. They promised that if Janenne should be spared from the plague + they and their descendants for ever would each year repeat that procession + in honour of Our Lady of Lorette, and that once in seven years they would + appear under arms and fire a salvo. Whether in consequence of this + arrangement or not, Janenne escaped the plague, and from that year to this + the promised procession has never been forgotten. In course of time it + became less the local mode than it had been to carry arms, and nowadays + the great septennial procession can only be gone through after a + prodigious deal of drilling and preparation. + </p> + <p> + A week or two after my arrival the villagers began to train, under the + conduct of a stout military-looking personage, who had been in the Belgian + cavalry and <i>gendarmerie</i>, and was now in honourable retirement from + war’s alarms as a grocer. He traded under the name of Dorn-Casart—the + wife’s maiden name being tacked to his own, after the manner of the + country. This habit, by the way, gives a certain flavour of aristocracy to + the trading names over even the smallest shop windows. + ‘Coqueline-Walhaert, <i>negotiant</i>,’ is the sign over the establishment + wherein a very infirm old woman sells centimes’ worth of sweetstuff to the + <i>jeunesse</i> of Janenne, whilst her husband works at the quarries. + </p> + <p> + Monsieur Dorn is a man with a huge moustache, fat cheeks streaked with + scarlet lines on a bilious groundwork, and a voice raspy with much Geneva + and the habit of command. He rides with the unmistakable seat of an old + cavalry man, and his behaviour on horseback was a marked contrast to that + of the mounted contingent he drilled every day in the open place in front + of the hotel. His steed, artfully stimulated by the spur, caracoled, + danced, and lashed out with his hind feet, and Monsieur Dorn, with one + fist stuck against his own fat ribs, swayed to the motion with admirable + nonchalance. His voice, which has the barky tone inseparable from military + command, would ring about the square like the voice of a + commander-in-chief, and by the exercise of a practised imagination, I + could almost persuade myself that I stood face to face with the horrid + front of war. + </p> + <p> + When Monsieur Dorn was not drilling his brigade he was generally to be + found at the Café de la Regence, smoking a huge meerschaum with a cherry + wood stem and sipping Geneva. Even in this comparative retirement the halo + of his office clung about him, and seemed to hold men oflf from a too + familiar intercourse; but one afternoon I saw him unbending there. He was + nearly always accompanied by a dog, spotlessly white, the most ladylike of + her species I remember to have seen. Her jet-black beady eyes and + jet-black glittering nose set oflf the snowy whiteness of her coat, and + were in turn set off by it. She had a refined, coquettish, mincing walk, + which alone was enough to bespeak the agreeable sense she had of her own + charms. Perhaps a satiric observer of manners might have thought her more + like a lady’s-maid than a lady. A suggestion of pertness in her beady + eyes, and a certain superciliousness of bearing were mingled with a + coquetry not displeasing to one who surveyed her from the human height. To + look important is pretty generally to feel important, but is, by no means, + to be important. We discern this fact with curious clearness when we look + at other people, but it is nowhere quite so evident as in what we call the + brute creation. (As if we didn’t belong to it!) Perhaps there are + intelligences who look at us with just such a pitying amusement and + analysis—<i>our</i> prosperous relatives, who started earlier in the + race of life than we did, and met with better chances. + </p> + <p> + In spite of airs and graces, natural and acquired, Lil’s claims to purity + of race were small, though, like my older acquaintance, Schwartz, she was + more a broken-haired terrier than anything else. Schwartz was simply and + purely <i>bourgeois</i>. He had no airs and no pretensions; but Lil, + whatever her genuine claims may have been, was of another stamp and + fashion. + </p> + <p> + It was Lil who was the cause of Monsieur Dorn’s unbending. The fat old <i>gendarme</i> + was putting her through a set of tricks, which she executed with complete + <i>aplomb</i> and intelligence. There was nothing violent in these + exercises; nothing a dog of the best breeding in the world could have felt + to derogate from dignity. She was much petted and applauded for her + performances, and was rewarded by two or three lumps of sugar, which she + ate without any of the vulgar haste characteristic of most dogs in their + dealings with sweetmeats. + </p> + <p> + The language of the peasantry hereabouts is that same Walloon tongue in + which old Froissart wrote his <i>Chronicles</i>. It is little more + comprehensible to the average Frenchman than to the average Englishman, + but its vocabulary is restricted, and the people who talk it have enriched + (or corrupted) it with many words of French. When the loungers in the <i>café</i> + began to talk, as they did presently, it amused me to listen to this + unknown tongue; and whenever I heard ‘<i>la procession</i>’ named, I + enjoyed much the kind of refreshment Mr. Gargery experienced when he + encountered a J.O., Jo, in the course of his general reading. <i>La + procession</i> was not merely the staple of the village talk, but the warp + and woof of it, and any intruding strand of foreign fancy was cut short at + the dips of him who strove to spin it into the web of conversation. I + myself ventured an inquiry or two, for all but the most ignorant speak + French of a sort. Monsieur Dorn accepted a glass of <i>pequet</i> at my + request (a fire-water, for a dose of which one halfpenny is charged, and + upon which the unaccustomed stranger may intoxicate himself madly at an + outlay of five-pence), and the fat and stately old fellow told me all + about the origin and meaning of the pious form the village was then + preparing to fulfil. He made the kindest allowance for my limited powers + of speech, and bounteously fed my native sense of retiring humility with + patronage. + </p> + <p> + The door of the <i>café</i> was open to the mild, fir-scented December + air, though a crackling fire burnt noisily in the thin-ribbed stove. Lil + made occasional excursions to the open doorway, looking out upon the + passers-by with a keen alertness. She had some time returned from one of + these inspections, and had curled herself at her master’s feet, when I + heard a singular and persistent tapping upon the unclothed floor, and + looking round caught sight of my friend Schwartz, who was making a + crouching and timid progress toward us, and was wagging his cropped tail + with such vehemence that it sounded on the boards like a light hammer on a + carpeted flooring. At first I fancied that he recognised me, and I held + out to him an encouraging hand, of which he took no notice. That air of + propitiatory humility which I had seen in him when we had first + encountered on Lorette was exaggerated to a slavish adulation. There is no + living creature but a dog who would not have been ashamed to show such a + mixture of transport and self-depreciation. He fawned, he writhed, he + rapped his tail upon the floor in a sustained <i>crescendo</i>. The dumb + heart had no language for its own delight and humility. Anybody who takes + pleasure in dogs has seen the <i>sort</i> of thing scores and scores of + times. It was the quality of intensity which made it remarkable in + Schwartz. + </p> + <p> + Lil, for whom this display of joy and humbleness was made, was altogether + unmoved by it. She was not merely regardless of it, but ostentatiously + disdainful. She took a coquettish lady’s-maidish amble to the door, + passing Schwartz by the way, and yawned as she looked out upon the street. + Schwartz fawned after her to the door, and with a second yawn she repassed + him, and returned to lie at the feet of the fat old <i>gendarme</i>. The + absurd little drama of coquetry and worship went on until the old fellow + arose with a friendly <i>bon jour</i>, to me, and a whistle to Lil, who + followed him with a supercilious nose in the air. The despised Schwartz + stood a while, and then set out after her at a ridiculous three-legged + run, but before he had gone ten yards he stopped short, looked after the + retreating fair in silence, and then walked off with a dispirited aspect + in the opposite direction. + </p> + <p> + So far as I could tell, my shadowy enemy with the axe had taken himself + away for good and all, but I was so fearful of recalling him that I kept + altogether idle, and in other respects nursed and coddled myself with a + constant assiduity. But it is a hard thing for a man who has accustomed + himself to constant mental employment to go without it, and in the absence + of pens, ink, and paper, books and journals, the procession bade fair to + be a perfect godsend. Even when the inhabitants of the village took to + rising at four o’clock in the morning, and fanfaronaded with ill-blown + bugles, and flaring torches, and a dreadful untiring drum about the + street, I forbore to grumble, and when on Sundays they turned out in a + body after mass to see their own military section drilled in the <i>Place</i> + of the Hotel de Ville, one bored valetudinarian welcomed them heartily. + The military section had got down uniforms from one of the Brussels + theatres,—busbies and helmets, and the gloriously comic hats of the + <i>garde civile</i>,—dragoon tunics, hussar jackets, infantry + shell-jackets, cavalry stable-jackets, foresters’ boots, dragoon + jack-boots, stage piratical boots with wide tops to fit the thigh that + drooped about the ankles,—trousers of every sort, from blue + broadcloth, gold-striped, to the homely fustian,—and a rare show + they made. They went fours right or fours left with a fine military + jangle, and sometimes went fours right and fours left at the same time, + with results disastrous to military order. Then it was good to see and + hear the fat Dorn as he caracoled in a field-marshal’s uniform, and barked + his orders at the disordered crowd like a field-marshal to the manner + born. + </p> + <p> + Monsieur Dorn being thus gloriously lifted into the range of the public + eye, Lil seemed to take added airs of importance. I say <i>seemed</i>, but + that is only because of the foolish and ignorant habit into which I was + born and educated. Ever since I can remember, people have been telling + stories to prove that dogs have some sort of intelligence, as if—except + to the most stupid and the blindest—the thing had ever stood in need + of proof. There is nothing much more fatal to the apprehension of a fact + than the constant causeless repetition of it. And then the tales of the + intelligence of dogs are told as a general thing with a sort of wide-eyed + wonder, so that the dog’s very advocates contrive to impress their readers + with the belief that their commonplace bit of history is remarkable. + </p> + <p> + Of course there are clever dogs and dull dogs, just as there are sages and + idiots, but any dog who was not a fool would have known and recognised his + master’s splendour and importance if he had belonged at this epoch to + Monsieur Dorn. Lil saw him sitting up there in vivid colours, heard him + shouting in a voice of authority, and saw people answer to that voice + There was not a Christian in the crowd who had a better understanding of + the situation. To see her running in and out amongst the horses’ feet, + ordering the sham dragoons and hussars about in her own language, was to + know she understood the thing, and had invested herself with some of her + master’s glory. Wherever she went, in and out and about, Schwartz, with + his meek spikes raging in all directions, followed, close at heel. Almost + everybody has seen the loud aggressive swaggering boy with the meek + admiring small boy in his train. The small boy glorifies the other in his + mind, setting him on a level with Three-Fingered Jack, or Goliath’s + conqueror, and the aggressive boy, feeling rather than understanding the + other’s reverence, does his best to look as if he deserved it. To see Lil + swagger and to hear her bark, and to see the foolish humble Schwartz + follow her, admiring her, believing in her, utterly borne away by her + insolent pretence that the whole show was got up by her orders—to + observe this was to see one half the world in little. + </p> + <p> + On other days Lil was as other dogs, except, perhaps, to the love-blinded + eyes of Schwartz, but on Sundays, so long as the drills for the procession + lasted, the field was all her own. One or two of her companions, carried + away by her example, dared to run amongst the horses’ feet and bark. They + were promptly kicked into the ring of spectators, and Lil was left alone + in her glory. Of course it all went with his own confiding nature, and the + state of complete slavery in which he lived, to persuade Schwartz of her + greatness. She deserves at least that one truth should be admitted. She + never gave her admirer the least encouragement so far as I could see. She + never in a chance encounter in the street paused to exchange good-morrow. + She never so much as turned a head in his direction. She tolerated his + presence and that was all. But wherever she went he shadowed her. He was + not obtrusive, but was content to keep at heel, and to be permitted to + admire. I have seen him sit for half an hour on a doorstep, a canine + monument of patience, waiting for her to come out, and I have seen her + travel about the <i>Place</i> in apparently purposeless zigzags and + circles for the mere pride and vanity of knowing how closely he would + follow her least reasonable movements. + </p> + <p> + A week or two before the grand event came off there was a prodigious + excitement in Janenne. An idea, originating in the military spirit of + Monsieur Dorn, had been industriously put about, a subscription had been + set on foot for it, a committee had been appointed to superintend its + working, and now the glorious fancy was actually translated into fact. The + procession was to be supplemented by artillery, and now here was a + time-eaten old gun, mounted on a worm-eaten old carriage, and trailed in + harness of rope by two stalwart Flemish horses. Here also was gunpowder + enough to wreck the village, and the Janennois, who for a moral people + have a most astounding love of noise, were out at earliest dawn of light + on Sunday morning to see the gun fired. The first firing was supposed to + be an experiment, and everybody was warned to a safe distance when the gun + was loaded, whilst Monsieur Dorn arranged a train of powder, and set a + slow match in connection with it. When the bang came and the old iron + stood the strain everybody went wild with joy, and even Monsieur Dorn + himself was so carried away by the general enthusiasm that he tested the + piece all morning. It was finally discovered that the powder was + exhausted, and the hat had to be sent round again for a new subscription. + </p> + <p> + The annual procession is far and away the greatest event of the year at + Janenne, and the septennial procession would of itself be enough to + satisfy any resident in the village that he had lived if he had but seen + it once. Nobody dreamed of spoiling the procession for the sake of a + cart-load or so of gunpowder, and the hat was soon filled. Next Sunday + Janenne enjoyed a new series of experiments on the big gun, and what with + the banging of the drum, and the blowing of the bugle, and the flaming of + torches in the dark morning, and the banging of the big gun from dawn till + noon, and the clatter and glitter of the drill in the after part of the + short winter day, the atmosphere of the village was altogether warlike. + </p> + <p> + The big gun gave Lil an added claim on the veneration of her admirer. On + the morning of the second firing she came demurely down to the field in + which the artillery experiments were conducted, with an air of knowing all + about it, and Schwartz, as usual, pursued her. The gun was sponged and + loaded, and the charge was rammed home under Monsieur Dorn’s supervision, + Lil standing gravely by, and Schwartz grovelling in her neighbourhood. + Then the old <i>gendarme</i> himself primed the piece, and taking a torch + from a boy who stood near him applied it to the touch-hole. Out at the + muzzle sprang the answering flame and roar, and away went Schwartz as if + he had been projected by the force of the powder. Panic declared itself in + every hair, and his usual foolish three-legged amble was exchanged for a + pace like that of a greyhound. He had gone but a hundred yards at most, + when reason resumed her seat. He stopped and turned, and after a little + pause came back with an evident shamefacedness. Lil had stood her ground + without the slightest sign of fear, and when Schwartz returned she took to + looking so triumphantly, and superintended the subsequent operations with + so much authority, that I am profoundly convinced of her intent to + persuade her slavish follower that this was some new and astonishing form + of bark of which she alone possessed the secret. + </p> + <p> + Schwartz was most probably willing to believe anything she told him. It is + the way of some natures to confide, and it is the way of others to presume + upon their confidence. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + III + </h2> + <p> + Janenne is on the outskirts of the Forest Country, and in the shooting + season the <i>chasseur</i> is a familiar personage. He arrives by evening + train or diligence, half a dozen strong. He sups and betakes himself to + the singing of comic songs with choruses, moistening and mellowing his + vocal chords with plenteous burgundy. Long after everybody else has gone + to bed, he tramps in chorus along the echoing unclothed corridor, and he + and his chums open bedroom doors to shout Belgian scraps of <i>facetio</i> + at each other, or to cast prodigious boots upon the sounding boards. Then + long before anybody else has a mind to rise, he is up again promenading + the corridor like a multiplied copy of the giant in the <i>Castle of + Otranto</i>. He rolls away in the darkness with the cracking of whips and + jingling of bells, and sleep and silence settle down again. At night he is + back to supper with tales of big game multitudinous as Laban’s flocks, and + a bag unaccountably empty. That same evening he is away to desk or counter + or studio in Brussels, Antwerp, or Liège, and Janenne falls back into its + normal peace. + </p> + <p> + It was mid-December, and the snow was falling in powdery flakes, when a + sportsman alighted at the Hotel des Postes, and at the first glance I knew + him for a countryman. He was a fine, frank, free-hearted young fellow, one + of the most easily likable of youngsters, and we were on friendly terms + together before the first evening was over. He knew a number of people in + the neighbourhood, had received a dozen invitations to shoot, or + thereabouts, and meant to put up three weeks at Janenne, so he told me, + shooting when sport was to be had, and on other days tramping about the + country. He was accompanied by a bull-terrier, who answered to the name of + Scraper, a handsome creature of his kind, with one eye in permanent + mourning. + </p> + <p> + ‘Of course he’s no good,’ said the young fellow, in answer to an + observation of mine, ‘but then he’s perfectly tamed, and therefore he’s no + harm. He’ll stay where he’s told; and I believe the poor beggar would + break his heart if I left him behind. Wouldn’t you, old chap?’ + </p> + <p> + The young sportsman went away to the chase next morning, taking his + bull-terrier with him, and returning at night reported Scraper’s perfect + good behaviour. In the course of that evening’s talk I spoke of certain + peculiarities I had noticed in the formation of the country, and my new + acquaintance proposed that on an idle day of his next week we should take + a walk of exploration. When the day came we started together, and I showed + him some of the curiosities of nature I had noticed. + </p> + <p> + Round and about Janenne the world is hollow. The hills are mere bubbles, + and the earth is honeycombed with caverns. By the side of the road which + leads to Houssy a river accompanies the traveller’s steps, purling and + singing, and talking secrets (as shallow pebbly-bedded streams have a way + of doing), and on a sudden the traveller misses it. There, before him, is + a river bed, wide, white, and stony, but where is the river? If he be a + curious traveller he will retrace his steps, and will find the stream + racing with some impetuosity towards a bend, where it dwindles by apparent + miracle into nothing. The curious traveller, naturally growing more + curious than common in the presence of these phenomena, will, at some risk + to his neck, descend the bank, and make inquiry into the reason for the + disappearance of the stream. He will see nothing to account for it, but he + will probably arrive at the conclusion that there are fissures in the + river’s bed, through which the water falls to feed the subterranean + stream, of which he is pretty certain to have heard or read. If he will + walk back a mile, against the course of the stream, will cross the main + street of Janenne, strike the Montcourtois Road there, and cross the river + bridge, he will see a cavern lipped by the flowing water, and in that + cavern, only a foot or so below the level of the open-air stream, he will + find its subterranean continuation. It has worked back upon itself in this + secret way, by what strange courses no man knows or can guess. But that + the stream is the same has been proved by a device at once ingenious and + simple. Colouring matter of various sorts has from time to time been + thrown into the water at its place of disappearance, and the tinted stream + has poured, hours and hours afterwards, through the cavern, which is only + a mile away, and stands so near the earlier stream that in times of rain + the waters mingle there. + </p> + <p> + On the sides of the hills, and in the brushwood which clothes their feet, + one finds all manner of holes and caves and crevices, some of them very + shallow, and some of them of unknown depth. In the Bois de Janenne alone + there are four or five of them. + </p> + <p> + All this has strictly to do with the history of Schwartz, as will by and + by be seen. + </p> + <p> + When heavy rains fall the river is so swollen that the underground call + upon its resources fails to drain it, and it foams above the fissures in + full volume, so wild and deep that a passer-by would never guess of the + curious trick of nature which is here being played. But the season being + exceptionally dry, I was able to show my find, and from the spot of the + stream’s disappearance I led my acquaintance to the cavern. Here prowling + about in a light-footed and adventurous fashion the young Englishman found + a hole in the wall of stone, and, venturing into it, discovered to his + great delight a passage which seemed to lead into the very entrails of the + hill. He proposed instantly to explore this, and I having that morning + purchased of the local tobacconist a box of Italian vestas, each three or + four inches long, and calculated to burn for several minutes, and having + the same in my pocket at the moment, we set out together on a journey of + adventure. The passage varied in width from six to three feet, and in + height from eight feet upwards. The faint illumination of the big wax + vestas often failed to touch the roof. The way was sometimes over ankle + deep in a thick mud, and sometimes strewn with fragments of rock which had + fallen from the roof; but we went on gaily until we came to a great + slippery boulder, which blocked the passage for some three feet in height. + My companion was in act to clamber over this, when the light I carried + pinched my thumb and finger with sudden heat, and I dropped it on to the + ground. I struck another, and found the youngster perched upon the + boulder. + </p> + <p> + ‘Wait a moment,’ said I, ‘and let us see what is beyond. There may be a + deepish hole there.’ + </p> + <p> + We leaned over, and could see nothing. My companion got down from the + boulder with a grave look. + </p> + <p> + ‘I was just going to jump when you spoke,’ he said. ‘Lucky I didn’t. I + wonder how deep it is?’ + </p> + <p> + We hunted about for a stone, and by and by found one about the size of a + man’s head. This the youngster tossed over the boulder into the darkness, + and we stood looking at each other, by the little clear-burning light of + the wax match. I do not know how long we stood there, for time has a knack + of magnifying itself beyond belief in such conditions, but it was long, + long before an awful hollow boom came rolling to our ears from the depth. + We turned without a word, and stumbled back towards the daylight, and when + we reached it I looked at the young Englishman and saw that all the roses + had faded from his healthy young cheeks, and that he was as gray as ashes. + </p> + <p> + ‘I was going to jump when you spoke,’ he said. ‘Precious lucky for me I + didn’t.’ + </p> + <p> + I congratulated him very heartily on not having jumped, and our search for + natural wonders being ended we went back to the hotel. We made inquiry + there—at first in vain—about this inner cavern, but at last we + came across the Garde Champêtre of the district, who told us that the + depth was unknown. He and some of his friends had had the curiosity to try + to measure it, but they never had rope enough. + </p> + <p> + It befell on the morning of the next day that I wandered out alone, and in + the course of the first score yards encountered Schwartz, who was + demonstrative of friendly civilities. I returned his salutations, and he + gave me to understand in his own too-humble manner that he would like to + accompany me. I let him know that I should be delighted by his society, + and away we went together. The ground was firm with last night’s frost and + musical to the sabots of peasants and the iron-shod feet of horses. The + hills and fields were covered with a powdery snow that threw their grays + into a dark relief, and the air was so still that I could hear the + bell-like tinkle of chisel and stone from the quarry nearly a mile away. + We entered the Bois de Janenne together, and wandered through its branchy + solitudes by many winding pathways. There is a main road running through + this wood, cut by order of the commune for the pleasure of visitors, and + the middle of this road was white with a thin untrodden snow. On either + side this ribbon of white lay a narrower ribbon of gold where the pines + had shed their yellow needles and the overhanging boughs had guarded them + from the falling snow. The ground ivy was of all imaginable colours, but + only yielded its secrets on a close examination, and did not call upon the + eye like some of the louder reds and yellows which still clung to the + trees. Here and there the <i>fusain</i> burned like a flame with its vivid + scarlet berries—<i>chapeau de curé</i> the country people call them, + though the colour is a little too gay for less than a cardinal’s wearing. + For the most part the undergrowth was bare, and the branches were either + purple or of the tone of a ripe filbert, so that the atmosphere, with the + reflected dull golds and bluish-reds and reddish-blues, was in a swimming + maze like that of a sunset distance, though the eye could scarcely pierce + twenty yards into the thick-grown tangle. + </p> + <p> + Schwartz and I rambled along, now and then exchanging a sign of friendly + interest, and in a while we left the main path and wandered where we + would. Suddenly Schwartz began to hunt and sniff and bark on what I + supposed to be the recent trace of a rabbit or a hare, and I stood still + to watch him. He worried industriously here and there until he disappeared + behind a clump of brushwood, and then I heard a sudden ‘Yowk!’ of + unmistakable terror. After this there was dead silence. I called, but + there was not even the rustle of a leaf in answer. I waited a while and + called again, but still no answer came. Not in the least guessing what had + befallen the dog, I mounted the hillside and came to the clump of bushes + behind which he had disappeared. There I found a hole some three feet wide + and two in height, a hole with sides of moist earth, formed like an + irregularly-shaped funnel, and affording at its farther end little more + than room enough for a creature of Schwartz’s size to pass. At the narrow + end the earth was freshly disturbed. + </p> + <p> + I shouted down this reversed trumpet of a hole. I listened after every + call I explored the place so far as I could with a six-foot wand cut from + a near tree. I heard no movement, no whine of distress, and I touched + nothing with the wand except the roof of the cavern into which poor + Schwartz had fallen. At length I gave him up for dead, remembering the + adventure of the day before, the terrible space of time which had elapsed + before the echo of the fallen boulder came booming from the abyss, and + thinking it as likely as not that Schwartz had fallen to an equal depth. + When I got back to the hotel I told the tale as well as I could, and one + of the servants took the news to Schwartz’s master. + </p> + <p> + When once this lamentable accident had happened, it became surprising to + learn how frequently its like had happened before. There was scarcely a + sportsman in the village who had not his story of some such disappearance + of a dog whilst out shooting. The poor beast would become excited in + pursuit of game, would dash headlong into a set of bushes and emerge no + more. Then a moment’s examination would reveal the fatal cave. I am + certain that I heard a good half-score of such histories. The cave, by the + way, was not always fatal, for I heard of cases in which the dog had been + known to find his way out of the underground labyrinth, and return home + dreadfully thin and hungry, but otherwise undamaged. These cases gave me + some faint hope for Schwartz, but as day after day went by the hope faded, + and I made up my mind that I had seen the last of him. I was sorry to + think so, for he had been very much a friend and a companion. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IV + </h2> + <p> + It was curious to notice how that unquestioning allegiance and admiration + which the missing Schwartz had been used to bestow on Lil was now bestowed + by her on the new-comer who answered to the name of Scraper, and how in + answer to all her advances and endearments Scraper remained scornful and + unreceptive. One knows a hundred poems and legends in which this form of + vengeance is taken upon the cruel fair; in which the proud lady who has + scorned the humble and faithful heart lives to be scorned in turn. + Scraper, probably unconscious of his mission as avenger, fulfilled it none + the less on that account. + </p> + <p> + His master, being an Englishman, had the common English reverence for the + Sunday, and would not shoot on that day, though by his conscientious + abstention he missed, undoubtedly, the best battue the country-side + afforded. We had a brief discussion as to the morality and propriety of + the procession, and I pointed out to him that notwithstanding the military + element by which it was so strongly marked, it was purely sacerdotal in + origin and pious in intent, but he merely replied that as a form of + religious exercise for a Sunday it struck him as being jolly rum. He added + shortly afterwards that whether he looked at it or not the coves would do + it, and that he therefore felt at liberty to watch them. + </p> + <p> + Scraper displayed the profoundest interest in the business, and took upon + himself the organisation of the whole affair, barking with so much + authority, and careering about the cavalry squadron with such untiring + energy that he threw Lil’s efforts in that way into the shade, and in the + course of a mere half-hour had superseded her. Then, just as Schwartz had + been used, with every evidence of faith, to follow Lil, regarding her as + the very mainspring of the military movement, Lil followed Scraper. Mr. + Herbert Spencer has shown that, in spite of the apparent unreasonableness + of the fact, humbug and credulity are sworn companions. The savage mystery + man, who knows what a humbug he himself is, is the first to yield + allegiance and faith to the abler humbug, who has more tricks or bolder + invention than he. So, Lil’s groundless pretensions of a week ago did not + seem in the least to prevent her from being imposed upon by the groundless + pretensions of Scraper, much as one might have thought her own career of + imposture would have set her upon her guard. She had caught that very + fawning method of appeal for a kind regard which had once distinguished + Schwartz, and it was obvious that Scraper could make no claim to which she + would not be ready to give adhesion. It is in the very nature of poetical + justice that it satisfies the emotions, and I was not displeased to see + affairs take this sudden turn, to view the hard and despiteful heart thus + humbled. + </p> + <p> + It was on a Friday that Schwartz’s chase had ended so disastrously. It was + on the following Sunday that Lil laid down the honours of command at the + feet of the new-comer. It was on the Sunday following, the ninth day clear + from the date of the mischance, that the great event of the seven years + took place. My young acquaintance had two or three days free of + engagements, and he spent these in watching the preparations for the + procession. He spoke French with a fluency and purity which excited my + envy, and he spent most of his spare time among the village people, who + talked and thought and dreamed of nothing but the procession. Wherever he + went Scraper accompanied him, and wherever Scraper went Lil was to be seen + following in fascinated admiration. + </p> + <p> + For a whole week the drum had known but little rest. I never learned the + purpose of the proceeding, but every day and all day, from long before + daylight till long after dark, somebody marched about the village and + rattled unceasingly upon the drum. It could not possibly have been one man + who did it all, for the energies of no one man that ever lived could have + been equal to the task. Most of the time it was far away, and it only made + two daily promenades past the hotel, but whenever I listened for it I + could hear it, beating the same unweary rataplan. Then at intervals all + day and every day, the big gun boomed and the clarion blared until I used + to dream that I was back at Plevna or the Shipka Pass, and could not get + my “copy” to London and New York because Monsieur Dorn had filled the + Houssy Wood with Cossacks from Janenne. It may be supposed that all this + <i>charivari</i> was but an evil thing for a man as much in need of rest + as I was, but I verily believe that the noise and bustle of the + preparations, though they robbed me now and then of an hour of morning + sleep, were almost as useful to me as the idleness I enjoyed, and the + tranquil country air into which I could drive or wander afoot whenever the + fancy for perfect quiet came upon me. + </p> + <p> + At last the great day dawned, and the great event dawned earlier than the + day. At five o’clock the noise of drum and clarion began, and the light of + torches flared on the painted fronts of houses—yellow and pink and + blue—in the quaint old village street. A little later a band came by + with shattering brass and booming drum, and for an hour or so the whole + place was in a ferment. The cavalry came clattering into the <i>Place</i>, + the hoarse voice of Monsieur Dorn barked through the orders which had by + this time grown conventional, and his squadron jingled for the last time + for seven years through the movements he had taught them at the expense of + so much time and lung power. Then a strange foreboding sort of quiet, an + unnatural tranquillity, settled upon everything and continued until near + upon the hour of ten. A long waggon drawn by four oxen excited, by the + freight it bore, a momentary curiosity, and brought faces to doors and + windows. The air was keen to-day, and we were at the very season of + mid-winter, but in the waggon which the four slow oxen dragged through the + streets of Janenne were a dozen lofty shrubs reaching to a height of eight + or nine feet at least, the which shrubs were one mass of exotic-looking + blossom. I discovered later on that they were nothing more than a set of + young pines with artificial paper flowers attached to every twig, but the + effect as they went down the wintry street in their clothing of gold and + rose and white with the live green of the fir peeping through the wealth + of bloom was quite an astonishment in its way. These decorated shrubs were + set at the church porch, and seemed to fill the whole of that part of the + street with colour and light. + </p> + <p> + When the procession came at last there was one curious thing about it. + Such a crowd of people—for Janenne took part in it—that there + was scarcely anybody left to look at it. But then the processionists had + the pleasure of looking at each other. The band came first, in blue blouse + and clean white trousers. Then came the soldiery, a motley crew, with + Monsieur Dorn at their head, drawn sword in hand, and next to him a + personage who might have been translated clean from Astley’s—a + gentleman in long hose, with a flower on each shoe, and a hat of red + velvet shaped like a bread tray, decorated with prodigious coloured + feathers, and a slashed doublet gay with many knots of bright ribbon. + Years and years ago Janenne had a Count and a <i>château</i>. The ruins of + the <i>château</i> still kept gray guard over the village street; but + there is not even a ruin left of the old family. But in the day when Our + Lady of Lorette stayed the local pestilence the existing Count of Janenne + was pious enough to ride in the promised procession; and for a century or + so the magnate of the village and its neighbourhood was never absent from + the demonstration of thanksgiving. In a while, however, the Counts of + Janenne took to wildish ways, and, leaving the home of their ancestors, + went away to Paris and led extravagant lives there, gambling and drinking, + and squandering their substance in other and even more foolish fashions, + and at last there ceased to be estates of Janenne to draw upon, or even + Counts of Janenne to draw. But before things came to this pass the + absentee Counts had always sent a representative to join the procession to + the shrine of Our Lady of Lorette; and it has come about that the legend + has clung in the popular fancy even unto the present day. Somebody—anybody—gets + himself up in theatrical guise, and rides at the head of the military + forces, between the first rank and the commander-in-chief, as the + representative of that extinct great house. On this occasion it was a + red-cheeked shy young man, cousin to the chambermaid of the Hotel des + Postes, a peasant proprietor who farmed, and still farms, some ten or a + dozen hectares of sour land on the road to Montcourtois. The red-cheeked + shy young man’s female cousin exchanged a red-cheeked, shame-faced, rustic + grin with him as he rode by, and the young man, in imitation of Monsieur + Dorn, made his horse caracole, but being less versed in horsemanship than + the old <i>gendarme</i>, had to hold on ignominiously by the mane in + payment for his own temerity. + </p> + <p> + Following the military came a long array of little girls in white muslin, + with sashes blue or red. Half a dozen nuns kept watch over them, pacing + sombre in white head-dresses and black gowns by the side of all that + smiling troop of glad hearts and childish faces. All the little girls + carried bannerets of bright colour, and all went bareheaded, after the + manner of the district, where no woman, short of the highest fashion, ever + permits herself to wear hat or bonnet, except when going to mass or upon a + railway journey. White childish locks, braided and shining, red locks, + brown locks, black locks, with bright faces under all, went streaming by, + and then a solemn priest or two headed a rambling host of lads with + well-scrubbed cheeks and clean collars, and decent raiment of church-going + Sunday black. Then came a flock of young women in white muslin, very + starched and stiff, with blue bows and blue sashes. In front of these two + stalwart wenches bore a flapping banner, inscribed ‘La Jeunesse de + Janenne’; and closing up the rank of Janenne’s youth and rustic beauty + came half a dozen chosen damsels, big limbed and strong, bearing on their + shoulders a huge waxen statue of Our Lady of Lorette, and in her arms a + crowned child, she herself being crowned with glittering tinsel, and robed + in a glowing and diaphanous stuff, which only half revealed the white + satin and spangles of the dress below it. Then a number of chubby-cheeked + little boys in semi-ecclesiastical costume, improvised—no doubt + under clerical supervision—by careful hands at home. Each little boy + carried a fuming censer, and it was not difficult to see that they were + well pleased with themselves and their office. After them came the <i>doyen</i> + in full ecclesiastical costume, a little tawdry perhaps, for the village + is but poor and with the best heart in the world can only imitate the real + splendours from afar. Then following the <i>doyen</i> (who, by the way, + marched under a canopy like the roof of an old-fashioned four-post + bedstead) came the male choir of the church, chanting a musical service, + which harmonised indifferently with the strains of the military band in + front. Then the big gun, drawn by the two big Flemish horses. Then + Jacques, Jules, André, François, Chariot, Pierre, Joseph, Jean, and all + the rest, in sabots, short trousers, and blue blouses, marching bareheaded + with reverent air, and with them Julie, and Fifine, and Nana, and Adèle, + and other feminine relatives, all in their Sunday best, and all devout in + mien. Then, at a little distance—the most astonishing and + unlooked-for tail to all this village splendour and devoutness—Schwartz. + </p> + <p> + Schwartz himself, but Schwartz so changed, so lean, so woebegone, as + hardly to be recognisable, even to the eye of friendship. Of all his + diverse-raging hairs not one to assert itself, but all plastered close + with an oily sleekness by a slimy clinging mud, the thin ribs showing + plainly, and the hinder part of the poor wretch’s barrel a mere + hand-grasp. His very tail, which had used to look like an irregular + much-worn bottle-brush, was thin and sleek like a rat’s, and he tucked it + away as if he were ashamed of it. His feet were clotted with red earth, + and he walked as if his head were a burden to him, he hung it so + mournfully and carried it so low. + </p> + <p> + My young English acquaintance, who, like myself, had been watching the + procession, had posted himself a little farther down the road, with + Scraper near at hand. Near to him, employing all the ingratiatory + insinuating arts she knew, and so absorbed in Scraper that she forgot even + to direct the procession, was Lil. To her, fawning and whining in such an + excess of feeble joy as can be rarely known to dogs or man, came the + half-starved, half-drowned creature. I was already halfway to Schwartz’s + rescue, with immediate milk, to be followed by soap and water, in my mind, + but I stopped to see how Lil would receive the returned companion of old + days. It is scarcely probable that dogs believe in ghosts, and yet it + would have been easy to fancy that she saw in him at first some purely + supernatural apparition, she recoiled with so obvious a surprise and + terror when she first beheld him. The wretched, propitiatory, + humbly-ecstatic Schwartz advanced, but she showed her gleaming teeth, and + growled aversion. He stopped stock-still, and whined a little, and Lil + responded furiously. I took the returned wanderer up in both hands, and + carried him into the hotel scullery, and got milk for him. He lapped it + with tears running down his muddy nose; and when I had had him washed and + tucked away into an old railway rug, beside a stove in the little room, he + lay there winking and blinking, and licked at his own tears with an + expression altogether broken-hearted. I should have liked to have known + something of the history of his subterranean wanderings, but that was only + to be left to conjecture. I bade him be of better cheer, and went outside + to wait for the return of the procession, and to smoke a cigar in the open + air, and an hour later found that Schwartz had again disappeared. This + time, however, he had merely gone home, and though for a day or two he was + quite an invalid, he was soon about the streets again, completely + rehabilitated. + </p> + <p> + And now I come to the relation of the one tragic fact which seemed to me + to make this simple history worth writing. I hope that nobody will regard + it as an invention, or will suppose that I am trading upon their + sympathies on false pretences. + </p> + <p> + On the day of the young Englishman’s departure I accompanied him to the + railway station. Lil came down in attendance upon Scraper, and barked + fiercely at the departing train which bore him away. Schwartz followed in + humble pursuit of Lil, who, so far as I could understand affairs, had + never forgiven him for intruding himself in so unpresentable a guise, and + claiming acquaintance whilst she was engaged in conversation with a swell + like Scraper. From that hour she had refused to hold the slightest + communion with him, showing her teeth and growling in the cruellest way + whenever he approached her. In spite of this, Schwartz seemed to be + persuaded that, in the absence of his rival, he still stood a chance, and + day after day he followed her with the old fawning humbleness, and day + after day she received him with the same anger and disdain. + </p> + <p> + On a certain Wednesday afternoon the air was wonderfully mild and dry. It + was early in January, but the weather was so fine that I had not even need + of an overcoat, as I sat in the sunshine smoking and reading. I had seen + Monsieur Dorn enter the opposite house, taking Lil with him, and Schwartz + had settled himself on the doorstep, as usual, to await her exit. I called + him to me, and he crossed over, but soon returned and resumed his place, + and sat there waiting still. After a considerable time the door opened, + and Monsieur Dorn and Lil emerged together. I looked up at that moment, + and saw Lil make a savage dart at her too-persistent worshipper. Monsieur + Dorn beat them apart, but Schwartz had attempted no resistance. He was + rather badly bitten, and when I picked him up the tears were running fast + down his nose, and he was feebly licking at them, and whining to himself + in a way which indicated the extremest weakness of spirit. I sat down with + him, and comforted the poor-hearted creature, and he seemed grateful, for + he licked my hand repeatedly, but he did not cease to whine and weep. + </p> + <p> + By and by I heard, though I did not notice it at the time, the warning + whistle of the approaching train. The station is little more than a + stone’s throw from the hotel. Schwartz made a leap, licked my face, jumped + from the bench, and ambled away. I never saw him alive again, for, on the + testimony of the signalman, he ran down to the railway line, stretched + himself upon one of the rails, and, in spite of a stone the man threw at + him when the train had advanced dangerously near to him, he held his place + until the wheels passed over his body. + </p> + <p> + His remains were buried in his master’s back garden. I know that he knew + full well what he was doing when he stretched himself upon the rail, and I + know that his feeble and affectionate heart was broken before he did it. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg’s Schwartz: A History, by David Christie Murray + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SCHWARTZ: A HISTORY *** + +***** This file should be named 22271-h.htm or 22271-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/2/7/22271/ + +Produced by David Widger + +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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