Personal reminiscences of Henry IrvingStoker, Bram
General
Personal reminiscences of Henry Irving
Stoker, Bram
Actors -- Great Britain -- Biography; Irving, Henry, Sir, 1838-1905
Another story was of a little boy, one of a large family. This little
chap on one occasion asked to be allowed to go to bed at the children’s
tea time, a circumstance so unique as to puzzle the domestic
authorities. The mother refused, but the child whimpered and persevered—
and succeeded. The father was presently in his study at the back of the
house looking out on the garden when he saw the child in his little
night-shirt come secretly down the steps and steal to a corner of the
garden behind some shrubs. He had a garden fork in his hand. After a
lapse of some minutes he came out again and stole quietly upstairs. The
father’s curiosity was aroused, and he too went behind the shrubs to see
what had happened. He found some freshly turned earth, and began to
investigate. Some few inches down was a closed envelope which the child
had buried. On opening it he found a lucifer match and a slip of paper
on which was written in pencil in a sprawling hand:
“DEAR DEVIL,—Please take away Aunt Julia.”
IV
Another story related to a little baby child, the first in the
household. There was a dinner party, and the child, curious as to what
was going on, lay awake with torturing thoughts. At last, when a
favourable opportunity came through the nurse’s absence, she got quietly
from her cot and stole downstairs just as she was. The dining-room door
was ajar, and before the agonised nurse could effect a capture she had
slipped into the room. There she was, of course, made much of. She was
taken in turn on each one’s knees and kissed. Mother frowned, of course,
but father gave her a grape and a wee drop of wine and water. Then she
was kissed again and taken to the waiting nurse. Safe in the nursery her
guardian berated her:
“Oh, Miss Angy, this is very dreadful. Going down to the dining-room!—
And in your nighty!—And before strangers!—_Before Gentlemen!_ You must
never let any gentleman see you in your nighty!—Never! Never! Never!
That is Wicked!—Awful!” And so on!
A few nights afterwards the father, when going from his dressing-room
for dinner, went into the nursery to say another “good-night” to baby.
When he went in she was saying her prayers at nurse’s knees, in long
night-robe and with folded hands like the picture of the Infant Samuel.
Hearing the footstep she turned her head round, and on catching sight of
her father jumped up crying: “Nau’ty—nau’ty—nau’ty!” and ran behind a
screen. The father looked at the nurse puzzled:
“What is it, nurse?”
“I don’t know, sir! I haven’t the faintest idea!” she answered, equally
puzzled.
“I’ll wait a few minutes and see,” he said, as he sat down. Half a
minute later the little tot ran from behind the screen, quite naked, and
running over to him threw herself on his knee. She snuggled in close to
him with her arms round his neck, and putting her little rosebud of a
mouth close to his ear whispered wooingly:
“Pap-pa, me dood girl now!”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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