The Astonishing History of Troy TownQuiller-Couch, Arthur
General
The Astonishing History of Troy Town
Quiller-Couch, Arthur
Cornwall (England : County) -- Fiction
"That, sir, if a misfortune, is one which you share with a number of
your fellow-men. And permit me to tell you, sir," continued Mr.
Goodwyn-Sandys, with unaccountable change of mood, "that I consider
your treatment of my friend Admiral Buzza unworthy of a gentleman,
sir--unworthy of a gentleman. Come, Doctor; come, Pellow--I want a
word or two more with you about this Club."
And Mr. Goodwyn-Sandys ruffled away, followed by his two slightly
puzzled companions.
For the space of two minutes Mr. Fogo gazed up the road after them.
Then he sighed, took off his spectacles, and wiped them carefully.
"So _that_," he said slowly, "is the man she married."
"Iss, sir."
Mr. Fogo started, turned round on the barrow, and beheld the urchin
from the "Man-o'-War."
"Little boy," he said sternly, "your conduct is unworthy of a--I
mean, what are you doing here?"
"You've a-been an' squashed a cake," said the boy.
Mr. Fogo gave him a shilling, and hurried away down the road; but
stopped once or twice on his homeward way to repeat to himself--
"So _that_--is the man--she married."
It took Admiral Buzza several days to recover his composure; but when
he did, the project of the new Club grew with the conjugal
disintegration of Troy, and at a rate of progress scarcely inferior.
Within a week or two a house was hired in Nelson Row, a brass-plate
bearing the words "Trojan Club" affixed to the door, and Admiral
Buzza installed in the Presidential Chair. The Presidential Chair
occupied the right-hand side of the reading-room window, which
overlooked the harbour; and the Presidential duties consisted mainly
in conning the morning papers and discussing their contents with Mr.
Goodwyn-Sandys, who usually sat, with a glass of whiskey and the Club
telescope, on the left-hand side of the window. Indeed, it would be
hard to say to which of the two, the whiskey or the telescope, the
Honourable Frederic more sedulously devoted himself: it is certain,
at least, that under the Admiral's instruction he soon developed a
most amazing familiarity with nautical terms, was a mine of
information (almost as soon as the Club invested in a Yacht Register)
on the subject of Lord Sinkport's yacht, the auxiliary screw _Niobe_,
and swept the horizon with a persistence that made his fellow-members
stare.
But the most noticeable feature in this nautical craze was the
disproportionate attention which the Honourable Frederic lavished on
barques. It was the first rig that he learnt to distinguish, and his
early interest developed before long into something like a passion.
One morning, for instance, Sam Buzza lounged into the reading-room
and observed--
"I say, have you seen that American barque that came in last night--
the _Maritana?_"
"What name?" asked Mr. Goodwyn-Sandys, looking up suddenly.
"The _Maritana_, or the _Mariana_, or _Mary Ann_, or something of
the--Hullo! what's wrong?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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