The Railway Man and His ChildrenOliphant, Mrs. (Margaret)
General
The Railway Man and His Children
Oliphant, Mrs. (Margaret)
Children of the rich -- Fiction; Families -- Fiction; Forgery -- Fiction; Scotland -- Fiction; Social classes -- Fiction
The luncheon on the hill-side would have been probably as successful as
these parties ever are, had it not been for one incident. In the train
of the little pony cart, which carried the food, and which had to be led
over the rougher parts by Sandy the groom, there appeared a stranger
whom Mrs. Rowland and her visitors had seen at two or three corners on
the way, so long as it was possible to drive: supposed a tourist--which
was a being very little esteemed at Rosmore, where tourists were divided
into two sections, one labelled as being “from Glasgow,” who was at once
the most innocent and the most objectionable; while the other, in the
slang of the district, was called B.T. or British tourist, and was
presumably “from the south,” a flattering appellation which means
England in these regions. This man had been persistently making his way
with much toil, but apparent inoffensiveness to the top of the hill, and
the ladies had not interfered with his freedom. I may say, however
(which is a view not perhaps popularly taken), that there are two ways
of regarding the indiscriminate presence of tourists everywhere as
exemplified in the question of foot-paths. The tourist ought to know
that wherever he appears he is objectionable to the natives of a
country, save to those who sell him provisions, and take him in to
lodge; and that his undesired presence upon private property, is
regarded by all who possess any, whether it be a grass plot or a
hillside, with unmitigated aversion. It is at least as hard for the
proprietor to put up with him, as it is for him to be shut out from one
particular view--which is no better than other views which are to be
procured on other people’s property, or even from the highroad. If it
were then fully understood that there was a hardship on both sides, it
might be easier to come to an understanding. Mrs. Rowland and the young
ladies regarded the figure of the tourist toiling upwards with natural
hostility. “What right has any man on our hill!” Marion said; and there
was one occasion on which Rosamond had actually extended a foot, with
the intention of jumping out of the pony carriage and warning off the
intruder.
“I do not mind in the least telling him that he is on private property,
if you wish it, Mrs. Rowland.”
“My dear, though it is private property, it is only the wild side of a
mountain,” said Evelyn; “the poor man is doing harm to nothing but our
feelings.”
“If he was to be shot,” said the persistent Marion, “we would be blamed
for not warning him.”
Perhaps Mrs. Rowland thought it would not be a bad thing if the
stranger was shot (very slightly), as the best way of proving the peril
of such unauthorised wanderings. But she said nothing and drove on,
until the path was lost in the moor, and the ladies had to get out and
walk.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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