The House on the Beach: A Realistic Tale

a word of it, and when he did he had no time to spare for such incidents, for he was reading to his widowed sister Martha, in an impressive tone, at a t

f yours, eh, matey? "Even the communication of Phippun & Co. concerning the chiwal- glass, failed to divert him from his particular task. It was indeed a public duty; and the chiwal-glass, though pertaining to it, was a private business. He that has broken the glass, let that man pay for it, he pr

t Crickledon's," he wrote, apparently expecting the bailiff

lear in a Palace, before a Throne. Oh! the nature of reading is distorted in a trice, and as Tinman said to his worthy sister: "I can do it, but I must

ear on him in the terrible hour of the delivery of the Address. It was no small task moreover to be compelled to listen right through to the end of the Address, before the very gentlest word of criticism was allowed. She did not exactly complain of the renewal of the rehearsal: a fatigue can be endured when it is a joy. What vexed her was her failing memory for the points of objection, as in her imagined High Seat she conceived them; for, in painful truth, the instant her brother had finished she entirely lost her acuteness of ear, and w

hod, and disputes, verifications and triumphs on one side and the other ensued between brother and sister. In his heart the agitated man believed his sister to be a misleading guide. He dared not say it, he thought it, and previous to his African travel through the Dictionary he had thought his sister i

m Mr. Van Diemen Smith bearing

has had the audacity to return to this country? I think," he added,

that he should take n

d Tinman. With a "Now then, d

orce of circumstances, to go and shake his old friend by the hand. Otherwise one could clearly see the man might be off: he might be off at any minute, leaving a legal contention behind him. On the other hand, supposing he had come to Crikswich for assistance in money? Friendship is a good thing, and so is hospitality, which is an essentially English thing, and consequently one that it behoves an Englishman to think it his d

nce of a trotting regiment of champagne. That affair of the chiwal-glass had temporarily damped his enthusiasm. The absence of a reply to his double transmission of cards had wounded him; and something in the look of Tinman disgusted his rough taste. But the well-known features recalled the days of youth. Tinman was his one living link to the country he admired as the conqueror of the world, and imaginatively delighted in as the seat of pleasures, and he could not discard

ce made a sound of metal in his throat, and his air was that of a man buttoned up to the pal

ou like," said the o

!" Tinman tempe

o it is. It stri

of name,"

ture, t

u been long

ne, and on here. You've

he

go. Do you think of

e about a glass I

Yes, I fear there will

he damage. You'll have

n smiled

, as Crickledon had said of him, no fool on practical points, and Van Diemen's mention of the half-payment rea

llow named Fellingham, whose acquaintance we made on the voyage, and has n't left us long to ourselves. Will

s per dozen on his table instead of the ceremonial wine at twenty-five shi

ou'll shake my fis

man. "It was your change

rtune, for Van Diemen Smith to enjoy life, as he never did, poor fellow, when he was alive. The money was got honestly, by hard labour at a store. He did evil once, and repented after. But, by Heaven!"-Van

expected of him, he shook his limbs to some briskness, and continued, "Well, yes, we

don's dinners to try. You're as go

f of the town,"

ng to Court

Tinman, "will soon be made. I

of life there is Exp

here is Envy. Mr. Tinm

xpectation, and sunnin

the appointed day. It

ent, a momentary

for the present, that he might go an

en. And almost before the creak of Tinman's heels was deadened on the roa

," Crickled

e to have a go in at

stretched

ommended the t

r, and turned back abruptly. "H

light," Crickledon replied; "

ealthy an

to comp

appe

ty re

r take a

pt Su

e to be wo

't say

ad to be up Mo

heerfuller

ntering's

k I may

s thigh. "There's lif

beach to look for his daughter, and conceived