Читать книгу The Birdikin Family - Arthur Hammond Marshall - Страница 4
ОглавлениеA WALK WITH PAPA
'Come, children,' said Mrs. Birdikin, entering the breakfast-parlour where the four young Birdikins were plying their tasks under the supervision of Miss Smith, 'your good Papa is now able to resume walking exercise and wishes that you should all accompany him on this fine morning, if Miss Smith will kindly consent to release you half an hour earlier than customary.'
Miss Smith, who occupied the position of governess at Byron Grove, the country seat of Mr. Birdikin, was a woman of decent but not lofty parentage, whom her employers treated almost as they would have done if her birth had been equal to her integrity. This toleration, which so well became persons of a superior station, was exhibited on this occasion by Mrs. Birdikin's asking permission of Miss Smith to cut short the hours devoted to study instead of issuing a command. Miss Smith was deeply conscious of the condescension thus displayed and replied in a respectful tone, 'Indeed, ma'am, the advantages that my little charges will gain from the converse of my esteemed employer, while engaging in the healthful exercise of perambulation, would be beyond my powers to impart'.
Mrs. Birdikin inclined her head in token of her appreciation of the propriety of Miss Smith's utterance and said, 'Then go at once to your rooms, children, and prepare yourselves for the treat in store for you'.
The four children trooped obediently out of the room, the two boys, Charles and Henry, politely making way for their sisters, Fanny and Clara; for, although their superiors in age, they had been taught to give place to the weaker sex, and invariably did so when either of their parents were by.
It did not take the little girls long to array themselves in their bonnets and tippets, nor their brothers to prepare themselves in a suitable manner for the excursion. When they were assembled in the hall Mr. Birdikin made his appearance from the library. John, the footman, who was in attendance, handed him his hat, gloves, and walking-cane, and the condescending word of thanks with which he was rewarded sent him back to the domestic quarters of the house in a thankful spirit at having taken service with so excellent a master, who seldom raised his hand in anger against a menial and had never been known to enforce his instructions by an oath. Small wonder then that Mr. Birdikin received willing service from those in his employ, who were assured of a comfortable home and such moral instruction as was suited to those of an inferior order, unless some serious delinquency should bring about their dismissal or illness render them no longer capable of performing the duties of their station.
It was Mr. Birdikin's custom in these delightful walks with his children to question them upon the course of study they were pursuing with Miss Smith and to distribute commendation or censure according as they acquitted themselves well or ill in his examination. But he was well aware that allowance must be made for the natural exuberance of young children, and that you could not expect old heads to grow on young shoulders. He was thus always ready to listen to their remarks as long as they were addressed to him in a proper and respectful manner.
'I am rejoiced, dear Papa,' said Charles, a bright-faced lad of some eleven summers, whose natural high spirits caused him to leap and caper as they walked down the handsome carriage-drive, 'that you are now able to use both your feet. At the same time I should prefer to keep one of my own feet on a rest rather than engage in uncongenial occupations.'
'I am rejoiced, dear Papa, that you are now able to use both your feet'
'So would not I,' said Henry, whose more thoughtful disposition seemed to mark him out even at that early age for the clerical profession, in which his maternal uncle held Episcopal office and had preferments of considerable emolument in his bestowal, to one of which Henry might well look forward. 'To my mind a life of benevolent activity is preferable to one of idleness, and I would invite our dear Papa to judge between us in this matter.'
'I have no hesitation, my dear Henry, in pronouncing in your favour,' said Mr. Birdikin, 'and if your brother will consent to use the two members of which he has so lightly expressed himself anxious to pretermit the use of one, instead of bounding about in what I can only refer to as a caprine manner, I will endeavour——'
Here he was interrupted by Fanny, a child of a somewhat sullen and intractable disposition, who inquired, 'Is it true, Papa, that an attack of gout is brought on by overindulgence in the pleasures of the table?'
'And pray where, Fanny,' inquired Mr. Birdikin in his turn, 'did you acquire an idea so unsuited to the intelligence of one of your years?'
His countenance displayed signs which Clara, who was known in the family as the Little Peacemaker, interpreted as indicative of annoyance. Anxious that the harmony of the expedition should be preserved, she hastened to say, 'My sister inquired of Dr. Affable the cause of your ailment, dear Papa, and he informed her that it was sometimes brought on by partaking to an excessive extent of port wine; but——'
Here she was interrupted by Charles who remarked, 'When I grow to manhood I shall drink three bottles of port wine with my dinner every day.'
'So shall not I,' interpolated Henry, 'for do we not read that wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging?'
This apposite remark caused Mr. Birdikin's brow to relax. 'I am glad,' he said, 'that at least one of my children has learnt to express himself with propriety on a question somewhat beyond childish intelligence. Our good Dr. Affable has no doubt had experience of ill-regulated lives where excess has led to bodily ailments. In my case the malady with which I have lately been visited is the result of a possibly over-anxious regard to the performance of my duties and a consequent disregard for my own health.
'But, come, children, let not our walk be wasted in idle discourse. You have the advantage of the instructions of a preceptress whose lack of breeding must not blind you to the admirable use she has made of her understanding. You, Charles, subdue your spirits to a reasonable degree of quietude and inform me to what subject of study your attention was directed this morning.'
Charles, thus admonished, put a curb upon his tendency to leap and curvet and replied with propriety that he and his brother and sisters had been instructed in the use of the Globes. This gave Mr. Birdikin the opportunity of putting various questions suited to the intelligence of his young hearers and administering correction and reproof in such a way that the limits of the walk were attained with profit to all and enjoyment to some.
Fanny, however, whose answers to her father's questions had betrayed a lack of application to the subject in hand that had brought her within measurable degree of a threat of punishment, did not show that spirit of gratitude for the condescension of a kind parent in devoting himself to the instruction and entertainment of his children that could have been wished. As she and Clara were removing their outer garments upon their return from the expedition Clara said to her, 'Are we not fortunate, sister, in the possession of a Papa who, with a mind so well stocked with knowledge, is anxious to put it at the disposal of his children?'
'I apprehend,' replied Fanny, 'that my Papa does not know so much as he thinks he does.'
'Disrespectful child,' ejaculated Clara, the blush of indignation mantling her cheek, 'to speak thus of a kind and indulgent parent! Fie! For shame!'
'Fie to you!' replied the unrepentant Fanny.
And there we must leave our young friends for the present.
