Mr Midshipman Easy (48 page)

“One thing is certain, my good fellow,” observed the governor to our hero, as he gave him back his letters at the breakfast table the next morning; “that your father is as mad as a March hare. I agree with that doctor, who appears a sensible man, that you had better go home immediately.”

“And leave the service altogether, sir?” replied Jack.

“Why, I must say, that I do not think you exactly fitted for it. I shall be sorry to lose you, as you have a wonderful talent for adventure, and I shall have no more yarns to hear when you return; but, if I understand right from Captain Wilson, you were brought into the profession because he thought that the service might be of use in eradicating false notions, rather than from any intention or necessity of your following it up as a profession.”

“I suspect that was the case, sir,” replied Jack; “as, for my own part, I hardly know why I entered it.”

“To find a mare's nest, my lad; I've heard all about it; but never mind that: the question is now about your leaving it, to look after your own property, and I think I may venture to say, that I can arrange all that matter at once, without referring to admiral or captain. I will be responsible for you, and you may go home in the packet, which sails on Wednesday for England.”

“Thank you, Sir Thomas, I am much obliged to you,” replied Jack.

“You, Mr Gascoigne, I shall, of course, send out by the first opportunity to rejoin your ship.”

“Thank you, Sir Thomas, I am much obliged to you,” replied Gascoigne, making a bow.

“You'll break no more arms, if you please, sir,” continued the governor; “a man in love may have some excuse in breaking his leg, but you had none.”

“I beg your pardon, sir; if Mr Easy was warranted in breaking his leg out of love, I submit that I could do no less than break my arm out of friendship.”

“Hold your tongue, sir, or I'll break your head from the very opposite feeling,” replied the governor, good-humouredly. “But observe, young man, I shall keep this affair secret, as in honour bound; but let me advise you, as you have only your profession to look to, to follow it up steadily. It is high time that you and Mr Easy were separated. He is independent of the service, and you are not. A young man possessing such ample means will never be fitted for the duties of a junior officer. He can do no good for himself, and is certain to do much harm to others: a continuance of his friendship would probably end in your ruin, Mr Gascoigne. You must be aware, that if the greatest indulgence had not been shown to Mr Easy by his captain and first lieutenant, he never could have remained in the service so long as he has done.”

As the governor made the last remark in rather a severe tone, our two midshipmen were silent for a minute. At last Jack observed, very quietly,—

“And yet, sir, I think, considering all, I have behaved pretty well.”

“You have behaved very well, my good lad, on all occasions in which your courage and conduct, as an officer, have been called forth. I admit it; and had you been sent to sea with a mind properly regulated, and without such an unlimited command of money, I have no doubt but that you would have proved an ornament to the service. Even now I think you would, if you were to remain in the service under proper guidance and necessary restrictions, for you have, at least, learnt to obey, which is absolutely necessary before you are fit to command. But recollect, what your conduct would have brought upon you, if you had not been under the parental care of Captain Wilson. But let us say no more about that: a midshipman with the prospect of eight thousand pounds a-year is an anomaly which the service cannot admit, especially when that midshipman is resolved to take to himself a wife.”

“I hope that you approve of that step, sir.”

“That entirely depends upon the merit of the party, which I know nothing of, except that she has a pretty face, and is of one of the best Sicilian families. I think the difference of religion a ground of objection.”

“We will argue that point, sir,” replied Jack.

“Perhaps it will be the cause of more argument than you think for, Mr Easy; but every man makes his own bed, and as he makes it, so must he lie down in it.”

“What am I to do about Mesty, sir? I cannot bear the idea of parting with him.”

“I am afraid that you must; I cannot well interfere there.”

“He is of little use to the service, sir; he has been sent to sick quarters as my servant: if he may be permitted to go home with me, I will procure his discharge as soon as I arrive, and send him on board the guard-ship till I obtain it.”

“I think that, on the whole, he is as well out of the service as in it, and therefore I will, on consideration, take upon myself the responsibility, provided you do as you say.”

The conversation was here ended, as the governor had business to attend to, and Jack and Gascoigne went to their rooms to make their arrangements.

“The governor is right,” observed Gascoigne; “it is better that we part, Jack. You have half unfitted me for the service already; I have a disgust of the midshipmen's berth; the very smell of pitch and tar has become odious to me. This is all wrong; I must forget you and all our pleasant cruises on shore, and once more swelter in my greasy jacket. When I think that, if our pretended accidents were discovered, I should be dismissed the service, and the misery which that would cause to my poor father, I tremble at my escape. The governor is right, Jack; we must part, but I hope you never will forget me.”

“My hand upon it, Ned. Command my interest, if ever I have any—my money—what I have, and the house, whether it belongs to me or my father—as far as you are concerned at least, I adhere to my notions of perfect equality.”

“And abjure them, I trust, Jack, as a universal principle.”

“I admit, as the governor asserts, that my father is as mad as a March hare.”

“That is sufficient; you don't know how glad it makes me to hear you say that.”

The two friends were inseparable during the short time that they remained together. They talked over their future prospects, their hopes and anticipations, and when the conversation flagged, Gascoigne brought up the name of Agnes.

Mesty's delight at leaving the service, and going home with his patron was indescribable. He laid out a portion of his gold in a suit of plain clothes, white linen shirts, and in every respect the wardrobe of a man of fashion; in fact, he was now a complete gentleman's gentleman; was very particular in frizzing his woolly hair—wore a white neck-cloth, gloves, and cane. Every one felt inclined to laugh when he made his appearance; but there was something in Mesty's look, which, at all events, prevented their doing so before his face. The day for sailing arrived. Jack took leave of the governor, thanking him for his great kindness, and stating his intention of taking Malta in his way out to Palermo in a month or two. Gascoigne went on board with him, and did not go down the vessel's side till it was more than a mile clear of the harbour.

AT LAST the packet anchored in Falmouth Roads. Jack, accompanied by Mesty, was soon on shore with his luggage, threw himself into the mail, arrived in London, and, waiting there two or three days, to obtain what he considered necessary from a fashionable tailor, ordered a chaise to Forest Hill. He had not written to his father to announce his arrival, and it was late in the morning when the chaise drew up at his father's door.

Jack stepped out and rang the bell. The servants who opened the door did not know him; they were not the same as those he left.

“Where is Mr Easy?” demanded Jack.

“Who are you?” replied one of the men, in a gruff tone.

“By de powers, you very soon find out who he is,” observed Mesty.

“Stay here, and I'll see if he is at home.”

“Stay here? stay in the hall like a footman? What do you mean, you rascal?” cried Jack, attempting to push by the man.

“O, that won't do here, master; this is Equality Hall; one man's as good as another.”

“Not always,” replied Jack, knocking him down. “Take that for your insolence, pack up your traps, and walk out of the house tomorrow morning.”

Mesty, in the meantime, had seized the other by the throat.

“What I do with this fellow, Massa Easy?”

“Leave him now, Mesty: we'll settle their account tomorrow morning. I presume I shall find my father in the library.”

“His father!” said one of the men to the other; “he's not exactly a chip off the old block.”

“We shall have a change, I expect,” replied the other, as they walked away.

“Mesty,” cried Jack, in an authoritative tone, “bring those two rascals back to take the luggage out of the chaise; pay the postilion, and tell the housekeeper to show you my room, and yours. Come to me for orders as soon as you have done this.”

“Yes, sir,” replied Mesty. “Now come here, you d——n blackguard, and take tings out of chaise, or by de holy poker I choak your luff, both of you.”

The filed teeth, the savage look, and determination of Mesty, had the due effect. The men sullenly returned, and unloaded the chaise. In the meantime, Jack walked into his father's study; his father was there—the study was lighted up with Argand lamps, and Jack looked with astonishment. Mr Easy was busy with a plaster cast of a human head, which he pored over, so that he did not perceive the entrance of his son. The cast of the skull was divided into many compartments, with writing on each; but what most astonished our hero was the alteration in the apartment. The book-cases and books had all been removed, and in the centre, suspended from the ceiling, was an apparatus which would have puzzled any one, composed of rods in every direction, with screws at the end of them, and also tubes in equal number, one of which communicated with a large air-pump, which stood on a table. Jack took a short survey, and then walked up to his father and accosted him.

“What!” exclaimed Mr Easy, “is it possible?—yes, it is my son John! I'm glad to see you, John,—very glad, indeed,” continued the old gentleman, shaking him by both hands—“very glad that you have come home; I wanted you—wanted your assistance in my great and glorious project, which, I thank Heaven, is now advancing rapidly. Very soon shall equality and the rights of man be proclaimed everywhere. The pressure from without is enormous, and the bulwarks of our ridiculous and tyrannical constitution must give way. King, lords, and aristocrats; landholders, tithe-collectors, church and state, thank God, will soon be overthrown, and the golden age revived—the millennium—the true millennium—not what your poor mother talked about. I am at the head of twenty-nine societies, and if my health lasts, you will see what I will accomplish now that I have your assistance, Jack;” and Mr Easy's eyes sparkled and flashed in all the brilliancy of incipient insanity.

Jack sighed, and to turn the conversation he observed, “You have made a great change in this room, sir. What may all this be for? Is it a machine to improve equality and the rights of man?”

“My dear son,” replied Mr Easy, sitting down and crossing his legs complacently, with his two hands under his right thigh, according to his usual custom, when much pleased with himself,—“why, my dear son, that is not exactly the case, and yet you have shown some degree of perception even in your guess; for if my invention succeeds (and I have no doubt of it), I shall have discovered the great art of rectifying the mistakes of nature, and giving an equality of organisation to the whole species, of introducing all the finer organs of humanity, and of destroying the baser. It is a splendid invention, Jack, very splendid. They may talk of Gall and Spurzheim, and all those; but what have they done? nothing but divided the brain into sections, classed the organs, and discovered where they reside, but what good result has been gained from that? the murderer by nature remained a murderer—the benevolent man a benevolent man—he could not alter his organisation. I have found out how to change all that.”

“Surely, sir, you would not interfere with the organ of benevolence.”

“But indeed I must, Jack. I, myself, am suffering from my organ of benevolence being too large: I must reduce it, and then I shall be capable of greater things, shall not be so terrified by difficulties, shall overlook trifles, and only carry on great schemes for universal equality and the supreme rights of man. I have put myself into that machine every morning for two hours, for these last three months, and I feel now that I am daily losing a great portion.”

“Will you do me the favour to explain an invention so extraordinary, sir?” said our hero.

“Most willingly, my boy. You observe that in the centre there is a frame to confine the human head, somewhat larger than the head itself, and that the head rests upon the iron collar beneath. When the head is thus firmly fixed, suppose I want to reduce the size of any particular organ, I take the boss corresponding to where that organ is situated in the cranium, and fix it on it. For you will observe that all the bosses inside of the top of the frame correspond to the organs as described in this plaster cast on the table. I then screw down pretty tight, and increase the pressure daily, until the organ disappears altogether, or is reduced to the size required.”

“I comprehend that part perfectly, sir,” replied Jack; “but now explain to me by what method you contrive to raise an organ which does not previously exist.”

“That,” replied Mr Easy, “is the greatest perfection of the whole invention, for without I could do that, I could have done little. I feel convinced that this invention of mine will immortalise me. Observe all these little bell-glasses which communicate with the air-pump; I shave my patient's head, grease it a little, and fix on the bell-glass, which is exactly shaped to fit the organ in length and breadth. I work the air-pump, and raise the organ by an exhausted receiver. It cannot fail. There is my butler, now; a man who escaped hanging last spring assizes on an undoubted charge of murder. I selected him on purpose; I have flattened down murder to nothing, and I have raised benevolence till it's like a wen.”