Fathers and daughters -- Fiction; Social classes -- England -- Fiction
The delightful time had to come to an end, and Lizarann found herself
compelled to say good-bye. Daddy would have it so, although darkness
was a long way off yet awhile. So she departed, bidden first to go to
Mrs. Hacker's, and say to that good lady, that she was on no account
to be in any tirrit to come away from her own supper to attend to
Jim's, for that he had got his pipe, Lizarann having helped him to
light it,--a thing to rejoice at, after that one defective usage of
an Institution otherwise perfect--and wasn't in any driving hurry.
This message Lizarann gave fairly honestly, in an interview with Mrs.
Hacker, which--being repeated to Jim--may be held responsible for some
borrowed phrases used lately to describe impressions on her mind of his
surroundings. But she was not uneasy about him; her faith in Mr. Yorick
was too great for that.
Having given her message, it did not strike her as a serious
transgression to pay a visit to Bridgetticks. The injunction to go
straight home covered the line of road--did not deal with continuity of
movement. That seemed to her a just interpretation of it. But of course
not stopping only five minutes!
So she went to the door of Bridgetticks, and shouted through its
keyhole, in preference to knocking or ringing. But Bridget was
assisting her mother at the washtub, and up to her elbers in suds; so
she sent an emissary to the door instead of going herself. He was very
young, and was eating an apple; he was, in fact, too young and crude
to be trusted to do like he was told; and he put a false construction
on his mission, endeavouring to spit some of his apple through the
keyhole, with a mistaken hospitality. His name was, as pronounced,
Halexandericks. His bursts of laughter at each new failure of his
attempts on the keyhole obscured the voice that was calling through it.
He had a vacuous though not unpleasant laugh.
"I'll let you know directly, if you don't open that door," shouted
his sister. She gave close particulars of the means she would resort
to, but without effect. So she onsoapied the suds off of her arms,
which she then placed akimbo, and went herself; not without a certain
dancing effect, in consonance with a rhythmic utterance difficult to
class as either song or recitation. Its words were certainly, "Waxy
diddle-iddle-iddle, high-gee-wo!" ending in a pounce on Alexander, who
spat his last piece of apple in his captor's face with a fiendish crow
of delight. She wiped if off on his costume without comment.
"I seen my Daddy," said Lizarann, beaming, when the door was opened.
"I seen him afore ever you did," said Bridget, not to be outdone. "I
seen him fetched along in a cab, last night just on seven-thirty. I
seen him holped into the house."
"You story!" said Lizarann, hurt. "He can help himself, he can. He
don't call for no help. Who was helping him?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account