Self-Raised; Or, From the DepthsSouthworth, Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte
General
Self-Raised; Or, From the Depths
Southworth, Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte
Fiction
"Law, Mr. Worth--I couldn't have slept, sir, if I had gone to bed.
I'm rising sixty years old, but I am just as much excited over this
voyage to England as if I was a boy of sixteen. To think I shall see
St. Paul's Cathedral, sir! Aint the thought of that enough to keep a
man's eyes open all night? And to think it is all through you, young
Ish--Mr. Worth. If it wasn't for you, I might be vegetating on, in
that cabin, in old St. Mary's, with no more chance of improving my
mind than the cattle that browse around it. God bless you, sir!"
"Ah, professor, if at your age I have such a fresh, young, evergreen
heart, and such an aspiring, progressive spirit as yours, I shall
think the Lord has blessed me. But now go to bed, old friend, and
recruit your strength for the journey. Though 'the spirit is
willing, the flesh is weak,' you know. The soul is immortal, but the
body is perishable; so you must take care of it."
"Yes, sir, I will, just because you tell me. But I want to show you
first what preparations I have made for the voyage, to see if you
approve them. You see, sir, when you went off to St. Mary's so
sudden, and left me to pack up your clothes, it just struck me that
there must be many things wanted on a sea-voyage as is not wanted on
land; but of course I didn't know exactly what they were. So after
cogitating a while, I remembered that the judge had been to Europe
several times, and would know all about it, and so I just made bold
to go and ask him. And he told me what you would require. And I went
and got it, sir. Please, look here," said the professor, raising the
lid of a trunk.
"You are very thoughtful, Morris. You are a real help to me," said
Ishmael, smiling.
"You see, here are the warm, fine, dark flannel shirts, to be worn
instead of linen ones on the voyage. And here is a thick woolen
scarf. And here is your sea cap. And oh, here is your sea suit--of
coarse pepper and salt. And if you believe me, sir, I went and gave
the order to your tailor on Saturday morning, and told him the
necessity for haste, and he sent the clothes home before twelve
o'clock at night. I'm only afraid they'll hang like a bag on you,
sir, as the tailor had nothing but your business suit to measure
them by, though, to be sure, the fit of a sea suit isn't much
matter, sir."
"Certainly not. You are a treasure to me, Morris; but if you do not
go to bed now and recruit your strength, my treasure may be
endangered."
"I'm going now, sir; only I want to call your attention to the books
I have put into your trunk, sir. I thought as we could only take a
very few, I had better put in the Bible, and Shakspeare, and Milton,
sir."
"An admirable selection, Morris. Good-night, dear old friend."
"Good-night, sir; but please take notice I have put in a chess board
and set of chessmen."
"All right, professor. Good-night," repeated Ishmael
"Yes, sir; good-night! And there's a first-rate spy-glass, as I
thought you'd like to have to see distant objects."
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