登陆注册
16117400000010

第10章 WATCHES OF THE NIGHT

What is in the Brahmin's books that is in the Brahmin's heart.

Neither you nor I knew there was so much evil in the world.

Hindu Proverb.

This began in a practical joke;but it has gone far enough now,and is getting serious.

Platte,the Subaltern,being poor,had a Waterbury watch and a plain leather guard.

The Colonel had a Waterbury watch also,and for guard,the lip-strap of a curb-chain.Lip-straps make the best watch guards.

They are strong and short.Between a lip-strap and an ordinary leather guard there is no great difference;between one Waterbury watch and another there is none at all.Every one in the station knew the Colonel's lip-strap.He was not a horsey man,but he liked people to believe he had been on once;and he wove fantastic stories of the hunting-bridle to which this particular lip-strap had belonged.Otherwise he was painfully religious.

Platte and the Colonel were dressing at the Club--both late for their engagements,and both in a hurry.That was Kismet.The two watches were on a shelf below the looking-glass--guards hanging down.That was carelessness.Platte changed first,snatched a watch,looked in the glass,settled his tie,and ran.Forty seconds later,the Colonel did exactly the same thing;each man taking the other's watch.

You may have noticed that many religious people are deeply suspicious.They seem--for purely religious purposes,of course--to know more about iniquity than the Unregenerate.Perhaps they were specially bad before they became converted!At any rate,in the imputation of things evil,and in putting the worst construction on things innocent,a certain type of good people may be trusted to surpass all others.The Colonel and his Wife were of that type.But the Colonel's Wife was the worst.She manufactured the Station scandal,and--TALKED TO HER AYAH!Nothing more need be said.The Colonel's Wife broke up the Laplace's home.The Colonel's Wife stopped the Ferris-Haughtrey engagement.The Colonel's Wife induced young Buxton to keep his wife down in the Plains through the first year of the marriage.Whereby little Mrs.

Buxton died,and the baby with her.These things will be remembered against the Colonel's Wife so long as there is a regiment in the country.

But to come back to the Colonel and Platte.They went their several ways from the dressing-room.The Colonel dined with two Chaplains,while Platte went to a bachelor-party,and whist to follow.

Mark how things happen!If Platte's sais had put the new saddle-pad on the mare,the butts of the territs would not have worked through the worn leather,and the old pad into the mare's withers,when she was coming home at two o'clock in the morning.She would not have reared,bolted,fallen into a ditch,upset the cart,and sent Platte flying over an aloe-hedge on to Mrs.Larkyn's well-kept lawn;and this tale would never have been written.But the mare did all these things,and while Platte was rolling over and over on the turf,like a shot rabbit,the watch and guard flew from his waistcoat--as an Infantry Major's sword hops out of the scabbard when they are firing a feu de joie--and rolled and rolled in the moonlight,till it stopped under a window.

Platte stuffed his handkerchief under the pad,put the cart straight,and went home.

Mark again how Kismet works!This would not happen once in a hundred years.Towards the end of his dinner with the two Chaplains,the Colonel let out his waistcoat and leaned over the table to look at some Mission Reports.The bar of the watch-guard worked through the buttonhole,and the watch--Platte's watch--slid quietly on to the carpet.Where the bearer found it next morning and kept it.

Then the Colonel went home to the wife of his bosom;but the driver of the carriage was drunk and lost his way.So the Colonel returned at an unseemly hour and his excuses were not accepted.If the Colonel's Wife had been an ordinary "vessel of wrath appointed for destruction,"she would have known that when a man stays away on purpose,his excuse is always sound and original.The very baldness of the Colonel's explanation proved its truth.

See once more the workings of Kismet!The Colonel's watch which came with Platte hurriedly on to Mrs.Larkyn's lawn,chose to stop just under Mrs.Larkyn's window,where she saw it early in the morning,recognized it,and picked it up.She had heard the crash of Platte's cart at two o'clock that morning,and his voice calling the mare names.She knew Platte and liked him.That day she showed him the watch and heard his story.He put his head on one side,winked and said:--"How disgusting!Shocking old man!with his religious training,too!I should send the watch to the Colonel's Wife and ask for explanations."Mrs.Larkyn thought for a minute of the Laplaces--whom she had known when Laplace and his wife believed in each other--and answered:--"I will send it.I think it will do her good.But remember,we must NEVER tell her the truth."Platte guessed that his own watch was in the Colonel's possession,and thought that the return of the lip-strapped Waterbury with a soothing note from Mrs.Larkyn,would merely create a small trouble for a few minutes.Mrs.Larkyn knew better.She knew that any poison dropped would find good holding-ground in the heart of the Colonel's Wife.

The packet,and a note containing a few remarks on the Colonel's calling-hours,were sent over to the Colonel's Wife,who wept in her own room and took counsel with herself.

If there was one woman under Heaven whom the Colonel's Wife hated with holy fervor,it was Mrs.Larkyn.Mrs.Larkyn was a frivolous lady,and called the Colonel's Wife "old cat."The Colonel's Wife said that somebody in Revelations was remarkably like Mrs.Larkyn.

She mentioned other Scripture people as well.From the Old Testament.[But the Colonel's Wife was the only person who cared or dared to say anything against Mrs.Larkyn.Every one else accepted her as an amusing,honest little body.]Wherefore,to believe that her husband had been shedding watches under that "Thing's"window at ungodly hours,coupled with the fact of his late arrival on the previous night,was...

At this point she rose up and sought her husband.He denied everything except the ownership of the watch.She besought him,for his Soul's sake,to speak the truth.He denied afresh,with two bad words.Then a stony silence held the Colonel's Wife,while a man could draw his breath five times.

The speech that followed is no affair of mine or yours.It was made up of wifely and womanly jealousy;knowledge of old age and sunken cheeks;deep mistrust born of the text that says even little babies'hearts are as bad as they make them;rancorous hatred of Mrs.Larkyn,and the tenets of the creed of the Colonel's Wife's upbringing.

Over and above all,was the damning lip-strapped Waterbury,ticking away in the palm of her shaking,withered hand.At that hour,Ithink,the Colonel's Wife realized a little of the restless suspicions she had injected into old Laplace's mind,a little of poor Miss Haughtrey's misery,and some of the canker that ate into Buxton's heart as he watched his wife dying before his eyes.The Colonel stammered and tried to explain.Then he remembered that his watch had disappeared;and the mystery grew greater.The Colonel's Wife talked and prayed by turns till she was tired,and went away to devise means for "chastening the stubborn heart of her husband."Which translated,means,in our slang,"tail-twisting."You see,being deeply impressed with the doctrine of Original Sin,she could not believe in the face of appearances.She knew too much,and jumped to the wildest conclusions.

But it was good for her.It spoilt her life,as she had spoilt the life of the Laplaces.She had lost her faith in the Colonel,and--here the creed-suspicion came in--he might,she argued,have erred many times,before a merciful Providence,at the hands of so unworthy an instrument as Mrs.Larkyn,had established his guilt.

He was a bad,wicked,gray-haired profligate.This may sound too sudden a revulsion for a long-wedded wife;but it is a venerable fact that,if a man or woman makes a practice of,and takes a delight in,believing and spreading evil of people indifferent to him or her,he or she will end in believing evil of folk very near and dear.You may think,also,that the mere incident of the watch was too small and trivial to raise this misunderstanding.It is another aged fact that,in life as well as racing,all the worst accidents happen at little ditches and cut-down fences.In the same way,you sometimes see a woman who would have made a Joan of Arc in another century and climate,threshing herself to pieces over all the mean worry of housekeeping.But that is another story.

Her belief only made the Colonel's Wife more wretched,because it insisted so strongly on the villainy of men.Remembering what she had done,it was pleasant to watch her unhappiness,and the penny-farthing attempts she made to hide it from the Station.But the Station knew and laughed heartlessly;for they had heard the story of the watch,with much dramatic gesture,from Mrs.Larkyn's lips.

Once or twice Platte said to Mrs.Larkyn,seeing that the Colonel had not cleared himself:--"This thing has gone far enough.I move we tell the Colonel's Wife how it happened."Mrs.Larkyn shut her lips and shook her head,and vowed that the Colonel's Wife must bear her punishment as best she could.Now Mrs.Larkyn was a frivolous woman,in whom none would have suspected deep hate.So Platte took no action,and came to believe gradually,from the Colonel's silence,that the Colonel must have "run off the line"somewhere that night,and,therefore,preferred to stand sentence on the lesser count of rambling into other people's compounds out of calling hours.Platte forgot about the watch business after a while,and moved down-country with his regiment.Mrs.Larkyn went home when her husband's tour of Indian service expired.She never forgot.

But Platte was quite right when he said that the joke had gone too far.The mistrust and the tragedy of it--which we outsiders cannot see and do not believe in--are killing the Colonel's Wife,and are making the Colonel wretched.If either of them read this story,they can depend upon its being a fairly true account of the case,and can "kiss and make friends."Shakespeare alludes to the pleasure of watching an Engineer being shelled by his own Battery.Now this shows that poets should not write about what they do not understand.Any one could have told him that Sappers and Gunners are perfectly different branches of the Service.But,if you correct the sentence,and substitute Gunner for Sapper,the moral comes just the same.

同类推荐
  • 霓裳续谱

    霓裳续谱

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 法华宗要

    法华宗要

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 佛说大轮金刚总持陀罗尼经

    佛说大轮金刚总持陀罗尼经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 七国春秋平话

    七国春秋平话

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 进旨

    进旨

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
热门推荐
  • 赵立修仙传

    赵立修仙传

    赵立穿越后,在玉佛空间帮助下,一路练功,一路搞笑,一路克敌制胜,最终登上巅峰。
  • 月曜轩辕

    月曜轩辕

    当现实世界的杀手遇见奇幻大陆的皇帝,谁能知道他们将擦出怎样的火花?当前世的寂寞孤独变成今生的包容宠溺,谁能否认他们共同努力过的年华?“父皇...”“不要叫我父皇,叫我榭。”“不要”“为什么?”“父皇,你不觉得叫‘父皇’充满了禁忌感吗?”穿越架空HE
  • 悍妃嫁到:邪皇宠妻一对一

    悍妃嫁到:邪皇宠妻一对一

    200万作为聘礼?还能出国做阔太?最主要的是对方是一个超级无敌的大帅哥?最最关键的是,绝对是明媒正娶!这主意听起来确实不错,相信也是很多爱做美梦的花季少女都梦寐以求的大好事吧?然而事实真的就是如此吗?你以为,天上掉下来的就一定是馅饼而不是铁饼吗?木茉,一个再普通不过的高中女生,就真的被这样的糖衣炮弹砸中,但是事与愿违,原来帅哥娶她回来的真正目的竟然是因为她长得像极了他死去的母亲,不仅如此,他带她来到这个叫做墟无的世界的真正目的竟然是要把她训练成一名杀手,去刺杀一个叫神马冷皇的人!可恶,我木茉虽然单纯却不是小白,虽然花痴却更惜命,这样有去无回的买卖,你以为我当真会去做吗?
  • 剑与羁绊

    剑与羁绊

    母亲疾病缠身,临死之前告诉杨凡一段身世,原来杨凡是杨家唯一的独子,为了避免卷进“杨柳之争”,杨凡的爷爷安排母子在小村子过着平凡的生活,从此和杨家断绝关系。杨凡得母亲之命,千辛万苦寻回杨家,却发现杨家已经是覆灭,只有一位老人和一个小孩。老人是杨凡的叔叔,他给了杨凡一封信,里面是杨凡父亲的临终嘱托......
  • 天傲奇侠

    天傲奇侠

    明朝朱棣时代的一些隐匿江湖的人士,一段几对青年的悲欢相遇,经历了江湖磨练,见识了神话般的的七彩灵兽,最终这些主角浪迹江湖。
  • 小城细雨

    小城细雨

    成兰和身边的人的故事,一群平淡而真实的人故事。他们也有并不伟大的理想和追求,也有刻骨铭心的爱或者恨,也有笑和泪,挨打也会痛喝酒也会醉。成兰和父母以及成兰某些成长中不得不提的故事。比方成兰尿床挨打以后痛不欲生的悔恨和死不悔改,比方成兰在涂改考卷分数后被用发现并被父母混合双打用后,用泪眼朦胧且仇恨的有着双眼皮的眼睛看着舔着奶油冰棍幸灾乐祸的弟弟和妹妹。第一个是因为作为老大在手下面前的羞愤,第二个因为作为老大被手下出卖的愤怒。总之,成兰就这样和他的家人一起幸福地生活着。成兰和他的老婆以及历任女友的情感戏剧。这些女人里不包括成兰小学扯过头发的学习委员和暗恋过的中学音乐老师,也不包括让成兰让梦遗的成兰母亲的朋友。以及,成兰的朋友们和同事们之间的某些故事。
  • 蔡礼旭大学演讲录

    蔡礼旭大学演讲录

    本书是蔡礼旭老师在北京大学、清华大学、北京邮电大学、北京交通大学、北京科技大学、汕头大学等地的演讲集。按内容分一生圆满的智慧、创造人生好因缘、建立和谐的人际关系等几大部分,深入浅出,将圣贤教育用生动活泼的语言和事例讲解出来,深受听众欢迎。本次结集出版,删除了重复部分,保留了每次演讲的精华,是一本针对青年读者进行品德教育的好书。
  • 霸世神路

    霸世神路

    一场关于玛雅人的预言,一次关于天地大劫的推演,一回肩负使命的穿越,李若凡穿越一世,在另一个世界上演与前世不同的命运。妖孽,天才,在我眼中犹如粪土,我才是王,是天才的收割者。
  • 福妻驾到

    福妻驾到

    现代饭店彪悍老板娘魂穿古代。不分是非的极品婆婆?三年未归生死不明的丈夫?心狠手辣的阴毒亲戚?贪婪而好色的地主老财?吃上顿没下顿的贫困宭境?不怕不怕,神仙相助,一技在手,天下我有!且看现代张悦娘,如何身带福气玩转古代,开面馆、收小弟、左纳财富,右傍美男,共绘幸福生活大好蓝图!!!!快本新书《天媒地聘》已经上架开始销售,只要3.99元即可将整本书抱回家,你还等什么哪,赶紧点击下面的直通车,享受乐乐精心为您准备的美食盛宴吧!)
  • 梦魇帝国

    梦魇帝国

    “他必须回来!”“时候没到。”“管不了那么多了,这片大陆正在分崩离析,既然他缔造了这一切,就有责任挽回这一切。”“确切的说,是他的家族。”“呵,长老,都什么时候了,您还有功夫跟我咬文嚼字,我真不明白为什么你们就这么无动于衷。”“……”“算了,我自己来办。我带他回来。”长老摇了摇头,闭上了眼睛。