"Poor,honest souls!"said he,wiping his brows--I am not sure that it was only his brows--"Hang me if I'll be at this trick again,Yates.""It was a trick then,sir,"said John,advancing."I am sorry for it.""So am I,young man,"returned the other,no way disconcerted;indeed,he seemed a person whose frank temper nothing could disconcert."But starvation is--excuse me,--unpleasant;and necessity has no law.It is of vital consequence that I should reach Coltham to-night;and after walking twenty miles one cannot easily walk ten more,and afterwards appear as Macbeth to an admiring audience.""You are an actor?"
"I am,please your worship--
'A poor player,That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,And then is seen no more.'"There was inexpressible pathos in his tone,and his fine face looked thin and worn--it did not take much to soften both John's feelings and mine towards the "poor player."Besides,we had lately been studying Shakspeare,who for the first time of reading generally sends all young people tragedy-mad.
"You acted well to-day,"said John;"all the folk here took you for a methodist preacher.""Yet I never meddled with theology--only common morality.You cannot say I did."John thought a moment,and then answered--
"No.But what put the scheme into your head?""The fact that,under a like necessity,the same amusing play was played out here years ago,as I told you,by John Philip--no,I will not conceal his name,the greatest actor and the truest gentleman our English stage has ever seen--John Philip Kemble."And he raised his hat with sincere reverence.We too had heard--at least John had--of this wonderful man.
I saw the fascination of Mr.Charles's society was strongly upon him.
It was no wonder.More brilliant,more versatile talent I never saw.
He turned "from grave to gay,from lively to severe"--appearing in all phases like the gentleman,the scholar,and the man of the world.
And neither John nor I had ever met any one of these characters,all so irresistibly alluring at our age.
I say OUR,because though I followed where he led,I always did it of my own will likewise.
The afternoon began to wane,while we,with our two companions,yet sat talking by the brook-side.Mr.Charles had washed his face,and his travel-sore,blistered feet,and we had induced him,and the man he called Yates,to share our remnants of bread and cheese.
"Now,"he said,starting up,"I am ready to do battle again,even with the Thane of Fife--who,to-night,is one Johnson,a fellow of six feet and twelve stone.What is the hour,Mr.Halifax?""Mr.Halifax"--(I felt pleased to hear him for the first time so entitled)--had,unfortunately,no watch among his worldly possessions,and candidly owned the fact.But he made a near guess by calculating the position of his unfailing time-piece,the sun.--It was four o'clock.
"Then I must go.Will you not retract,young gentlemen?Surely you would not lose such a rare treat as 'Macbeth,'with--I will not say my humble self--but with that divine Siddons.Such a woman!
Shakspeare himself might lean out of Elysium to watch her.You will join us?"John made a silent,dolorous negative;as he had done once or twice before,when the actor urged us to accompany him to Coltham for a few hours only--we might be back by midnight,easily.
"What do you think,Phineas?"said John,when we stood in the high-road,waiting for the coach;"I have money--and--we have so little pleasure--we would send word to your father.Do you think it would be wrong?"I could not say;and to this minute,viewing the question nakedly in a strict and moral sense,I cannot say either whether or no it was an absolute crime;therefore,being accustomed to read my wrong or right in "David's"eyes,I remained perfectly passive.
We waited by the hedge-side for several minutes--Mr.Charles ceased his urging,half in dudgeon,save that he was too pleasant a man really to take offence at anything.His conversation was chiefly directed to me.John took no part therein,but strolled about plucking at the hedge.
When the stage appeared down the winding of the road I was utterly ignorant of what he meant us to do,or if he had any definite purpose at all.
It came--the coachman was hailed.Mr.Charles shook hands with us and mounted--paying his own fare and that of Yates with their handful of charity-pennies,which caused a few minutes'delay in counting,and a great deal of good-humoured joking,as good-humouredly borne.
Meanwhile,John put his two hands on my shoulders,and looked hard into my face--his was slightly flushed and excited,I thought.
"Phineas,are you tired?"
"Not at all."
"Do you feel strong enough to go to Coltham?Would it do you no harm?Would you LIKE to go?"To all these hurried questions I answered with as hurried an affirmative.It was sufficient to me that he evidently liked to go.
"It is only for once--your father would not grudge us the pleasure,and he is too busy to be out of the tan-yard before midnight.We will be home soon after then,if I carry you on my back all the ten miles.Come,mount,we'll go.""Bravo!"cried Mr.Charles,and leaned over to help me up the coach's side.John followed,and the crisis was past.
But I noticed that for several miles he hardly spoke one word.