Government makes man a despot, and relentlessly he reigns; MISS BULGORE'S BAG. (Continued from April Number.) "HAVE you expressed your opinion, my dear?" enquired the Nawab, when she gave him a chance. "I have fully She was going on, but he interrupted her. The most judicious worm at times will turn. "Then all I have to say," observed the Nawab calmly, "is that I sincerely trust it may get lost as the bag has. There is this difference however between the two cases: the bag has a value. Damages may be sued for and recovered; - but " He paused significantly. Oh! it was cruel. It was not so much what was said as the tone, the manner, and - what was left unsaid; the implication; the undistributed context, to take a phrase and squeeze it till it actually squeals with meaning. Soon after this, night, sable night let fall its sombre curtain, star broidered, over all the city; covering rich and poor alike; alike to the hovels and the Nawabal palaces; enfolding in its dismal mantle guilt and innocence; but no bag. At ten (by his watch, the kitchen clock stood at nine-twenty) the Nawab put out the gas in the front parlor. At eleven (by the kitchen clock alone) the chamberlain, the grand equerry, the chef de cuisine, the menial, the domestic had retired-Hannah went to bed; but no bag. Morning broke. Aurora came with footsteps light; the milk was delivered; the paper boy came; life began anew in the Nawab's palace, Hannah rang the get-up bell. But no bag. "There must be a reason for this delay," said Mrs. Bulgore at the breakfast table. "Probably," replied the Nawab, as he buttered his buckwheat cakes; "I do not, as a religious man, ignore faith; but I incline to the opinion that there is, not to generalize too much, let us say almost always, a reason for things." Pretty; oh! you Then Miss Bulgore entered the breakfast room. can't imagine how pretty. But of what use is prettiness if its sweetness is to be wasted upon the desert father and mother? She was late at the table, but that had no significance. She was perfectly regular and systematic in her habits she was invariably late. "You are late," said the Nawab grimly. Kaleida began to cry. She sat down at the table and helped herself liberally to the sausage, but the pearly tears bedewed her fair cheek. At first, doing her utmost to humor her unnatural father, she maintained a stoical silence, but when he, with his base business habits thick upon him, remarked again, "you are late," Kaleida, feeling that there were some burdens too grievous to be borne, retorted with a show of spirit"you are forever picking at me, papa. Why can't you leave me alone?" "I only said that you were late," said the Nawab. He felt that it was an unkind thing to be accused of "picking at " when he had, in a manner, only told a "fact at." "Do, for gracious sake," interposed the Nawabess, "leave the poor child alone. You are as cruel as the grave." "Admitting that," said the Nawab, "admitting that to its fullest extent, now tell me how about the bag." Kaleida, nibbling delicately at a piece of sausage meanwhile, dried her tears. "It hasn't come," said her mother shortly. Then the Nawab, who, as the reader may have discovered, was nothing if not business-like, went on to tell of a purpose that he had in view. He did not come right out, and say that what he wanted was revenge upon the express company. No indeed, he was far too deep-dyed and wily for that. He put it in a different way, as if his methods were the ones to insure Kaleida's attendance at the hop. "And if it is all left to you as you suggest," said the Nawabess, “what is it that you propose to do?" "It is time," answered her husband, "high time that the express company was brought to its senses." "And it is time that Kaleida got her bag," ejaculated the lady; "you seem to forget that. Why can't you listen to reason? If she doesn't get her things, of course she cannot go to the hop; and if she does not go to the hop how is young Rajah Hutchinson to propose?-Oh! how can you be so utterly indifferent to your daughter's happiness? You are not fitted to be a father." The Nawab sighed. "Well, my dear," said he gently, "it is quite within the compass of your powers to give me fits." 66 "You do not appear to take the slightest interest in Kaleida's welfare," continued Mrs. Bulgore, with remarkable tact for one so middle-aged, paying no attention to that brutal speech, you seem bent upon being a blight upon her life. You permit her no pleasure, no relaxation. The Rajah Hutchinson is a match that every one would regard as entirely suitable, and now you Madam!" interrupted the Nawab, "this has gone far enough. If you are so lost to all sense of what is right and proper as to take the ground that marriage with young Hutchinson, or any other gentleman, or indeed marriage of any kind is pleasure or relaxation, all I have to say is, we differ." "Leave all that matter of the bag to me," he added, turning to Kaleida; "I will attend to it. Whatever happens I shall see that you are enabled to go to the hop to-night." "Very well," responded Kaleida through her tears. I wonder that she had the means at hand to talk at all. And for my part Here at last was a full consent for the Nawab to take such a course as seemed to him proper. He had bound himself to put Kaleida in a position to go to the hop, and he was also free to pursue his scheme of vengeance. He had his plans. He was fertile in resources. Mr. Mathews, with whom he had consulted, was learned in the law. He was resolved what to do, and that was to give his daughter sufficient money to go to an apparel store and purchase an entirely new outfit. According to the law, as it then stood respecting common carriers, that was the correct course. But now, when it behooved him to take the decisive step of actually handing over the requisite eight thousand florins, he was misgiven by his heart. He felt that he needed time to think the matter over. He was not what would be called a stingy man; but for centuries the motto of the Nawabal house whose honors he wore had been, more time than money, and more patience than either." So, to compose himself he made an excuse and left the breakfast saloon. 66 If he had not done this who can tell what complications might have arisen? But he did it, and I can tell such complications as did arise. He went to the window, and while he stood there musing, looking out upon the sparkling Wet river, all of a once around a turn appeared a barge. It needed no second glance to enable the Nawab to perceive that it was an express barge. It drew near and nearer, and at last stopped at the Nawabal door. Out hurried the Nawab, anticipating the expressman's ring, and (of course) Hannah. It behooved him to do this, for the ring would have percolated to the recesses of the breakfast saloon, and Hannah, had the chance been afforded, would have divulged everything. The Nawab's fell purpose was to refuse to accept delivery. But for all that he did accept delivery. There, sure enough, was the bag, and, after a good deal of conversation, he took it, and foregoing all thoughts of revenge, signed the receipt. I think he was very goodnatured. Don't you? But suppose he had acted otherwise. Suppose he had held to his resolution? do you know what would have been the result? No; I thought not. How could you be expected to know? Your experience is probably limited to New York, or Boston, or Chicago (I was going to add PhiladeÏphia, till I came to reflect that few experiences of any sort occur there), and all you could by any possibility say would be that there was a lawsuit, and that in all likelihood the Nawab got beaten. Shows how wrong you would have been. No. The poor messenger explained it all to the Nawab. He told a most pitiful tale: that on account of the re-naming and re-numbering, things had got all mixed at the central office, and in consequence he was in a frightful predicament. If the Nawab refused to accept delivery at was only a question for that unhappy express agent of a few brief hours of life. The man's lip trembled as he told it all, and I am sure I do not wonder. Habram Irascible I. may have been a benign monarch; I am not disposed to go to the length of saying that he was not; but I do say that he was strict in his notions of duty. as a law Of course we must admit that the law was just. It took the very proper ground that the express company was liable for all detention of luggage. But was it merciful of Habram to usurp the prerogative of equity? Now I think not. He was a learned king. He had read Blackstone, and knew that most laws (by reason of their universality) are deficient. The trouble with him was as it is with so many not that he did not recognize the uses of equity, but that he did not know what equity was. As I said previously, I think he was too severe in his notions of duty when he commanded that every express agent who failed to deliver a parcel should be mulcted in his head. It was the knowledge that this edict was in force that caused the man to weep. It is not every one who will forego a prospect of revenge to save the life of an expressman. That the Nawab did forego shows to some extent that he was not lost to all the finer impulses of humanity. And he not only forwent his revenge, but he actually gave the man a quarter, which the king would have denied him. The scene that followed impoverishes description; on that account alone not to mention my own inadequacies - let me hurry with the Nawab inside the Nawabal doors, and thence, in a minute or so, into the banqueting hall. There sat the Nawabess and her daughter dallying over the table; Hannah was in the butler's pantry. To the Nawab the time seemed propitious to teach his daughter a lesson. 66 Kaleida," he said, "here is your bag." If he had said that and stopped, all might have been well; but — intent upon doing his strict duty, fully as much so as the King on a larger scale - he went on, and delivered an harangue upon the general subject of faith, incidentally intimating that Kaleida had but little of the article, or she would have trusted her father entirely from the beginning. In their delight at seeing the restored bag neither Kaleida nor the Nawabess resented these remarks of the father and husband; but when, to enforce the lesson - he permitted them to infer that the bag had been in his possession all along, I do wish that you had been there to observe the effect. If I had the capacity (which you do not need to be told is lacking), I could at this juncture give description a "boom." I would tell how quickly those two ladies bounced up; how their eyes blazed; and how with one impulse they denounced the unnatural Nawab. Oh! I wish I could tell it real graphically. But I can't, so I refrain. And right here permit me to say that it is an immense advantage to a person who knows when he can't, and in addition refrains. To be of much use these two capacities ought to go together; but for some reason they do not often; at least this has been my experience. Either Miss Bulgore or the Nawabess usually assisted Hannah, by dusting the bric-a-brac, or some such matter; but after this revelation of what they deemed Mr. Bulgere's perfidy, they both felt completely unfitted for toil; so they swept out of the breakfast saloon (how much better to have remained and dusted it!) up the stately stair-way; later, down again, ordered a horse-car, spent four hours, and walked about twelve miles to purchase eighteen cents worth of three-eighths raspberry roan ribbon. And I say that they were justified. Would you have had Kaleida go ill clad to the hop? Poor things! I am sure they needed relaxation. Of course they had the ribbon sent home, and I am happy to say it came in ample time. Good reason, for the King's edict in a way of equity had become noised abroad, and more than one person in all that vast city felt behooved to act in strict accord with the law. At the hop that night the Rajah Hutchinson was present; Kaleida did look too sweet in her new sash. Even she was sober, not that she knew exactly why, but that sobriety was prevalent; no one could tell whose turn would come next. Some are so constituted as to make incidents, trivial or even disastrous in themselves, serve their purposes. Miss Bulgore appears to have been one of this sort, for with rare good judgment she fished for compliments with bated breath from the Rajah, and not only got them; but what is more, deserved them. Of the utter discomfiture of the Nawab need I speak? I am sure I do not want to; it is too harrowing. But it shows that a gentleman may go too far with even so excellent a thing as equity. The king (you remember we agreed as to that) did not understand the nature of equity. Therein he differed from the Nawab, who understood, as I gather, only too well. How curiously this world is constituted! Did that thought ever occur to you? It has to me. But all my worrying about it, and all my efforts to reconstitute things on a basis of good sense will probably amount to nothing. I do not like obsolete names for things, nor do I like obsolete things themselves. But, on the other hand, neither do I like sudden abolitions of any sort. Such invariably tend to create con fusion. The name "Metempsychosis" is both long and obsolete, and the name "Wet," though brief, is not sufficiently accurate or descriptive. Between the two might not Habram Irascible, "the Only," have found a fitter name? I think he could. I may But Miss Bulgore's bag, in spite of all obstacles, arrived in due season. also mention that on the way home from the hop the Rajah Hutchinson proposed, and now cards are out for the wedding. What more could be asked? It may be given to the Nawabs to be literal, and cruel, and businesslike, and to the Habram Irascibles to subdue the world to their ways of thinking; but there is an equally important duty devolving upon the human race, which, as I gather, the Rajah and his bride have undertaken. HUDOR GENONE. The men who WE often hear the phrase "truth does not go in this world." make this complaint are, for the most part, those who have sought to teach some new theory and have failed therein. Now there are doubtless many worthy movements which fail for lack of support, but are we warranted in saying that they fail, simply because they are true? I think not. We find that the exponents of the most antipodal views readily find audiences. Our ablest clergymen, and our ablest "infidels" alike enjoy a large following. Looking at the subject from the impartial stand-point of experience, it would certainly appear as if anyone could get a hearing if he had anything to say, and thousands secure audience who have not a shadow of a message to give to the world. When the world turns a deaf ear to a man, there is generally an insuperable reason for it. (Ed.) |