CHAPTER VIII
AN APPOINTMENT AND A CHALLENGE
Solomon Binkus had left the city with Preston to visit Sir JeffreyAmherst in his country seat, near London. Sir Benjamin had taken Jackto dine with him at two of his clubs and after dining they had gone tosee the great actor Robert Bensley as Malvolio and the Comedian Dodd asSir Andrew Aguecheek. The Britisher had been most polite, but hadseemed studiously to avoid mention of the subject nearest the heart ofthe young man. After that the latter was invited to a revel and a cockfight, but declined the honor and went to spend an evening with hisfriend, the philosopher. For days Franklin had been shut in with gout.Jack had found him in his room with one of his feet wrapped in bandagesand resting on a chair.
"I am glad you came, my son," said the good Doctor. "I am in need ofbetter company than this foot. Solitude is like water--good for a dip,but you can not live in it. Margaret has been here trying to give mecomfort, although she needs it more for herself."
"Margaret!" the boy exclaimed. "Why does she need comfort?"
"Oh, largely on your account, my son! Her father is obdurate and thecause is dear to me. This courtship of yours is taking aninternational aspect."
He gave his young friend a full account of the night at Lord Howe's andthe interviews which had followed it.
"All London knows how I stand now. They will not try again to bribeme. The displeasure of Sir Benjamin will react upon you."
"What shall I do if he continues to be obdurate?"
"Shove my table this way and I'll show you a problem in prudentialalgebra," said the philosopher. "It's a way I have of setting down allthe factors and striking out those that are equal and arriving at thevisible result."
With his pen and a sheet of paper he set down the factors in theproblem and his estimate of their relative value as follows:
The Problem.
A father=1 Margaret, her mother and Jack= 3+ 1 A patrimony=10 Happiness for Jack and Margaret= 100+ 90 Margaret's old friends=1 Margaret's new friends= 1 A father's love=1 A husband's love= 10+ 9 A father's tyranny=-1 Your respect for human rights= 5+ 6 ------- 106
[Transcriber's note: In the original printed book, some of the words in this table have slashes (strike-outs) through them, and are not renderable in text format. At the end of the HTML version of this book is an image of the table, showing these strike-outs.]
"Now there is the problem, and while we may differ on the estimates, Ithink that most sane Americans would agree that the balance isoverwhelmingly in favor of throwing off the yoke of tyranny, andasserting your rights, established by agreement as well as by nature.In a like manner I work out all my important problems, so that everyfactor is visible and subject to change.
"I only fear that I may not be able to provide for her in a suitablemanner," said Jack.
"Oh, you are well off," said the philosopher. "You have some capitaland recognized talent and occupation for it. When I reachedPhiladelphia I had an empty stomach and also a Dutch dollar, a fewpennies, two soiled shirts and a pair of dirty stockings in my pockets.Many years passed and I had a family before I was as well off as youare."
Dinner was brought in and Jack ate with the Doctor and when the tablewas cleared they played with magic squares--an invention of thephilosopher with which he was wont to divert himself and friends of anevening. When Jack was about to go, the Doctor asked:
"Will you hand me that little red book? I wish to put down a creditmark for my conscience. This old foot of mine has been rather impudentto-day. There have been moments when I could have expressed my opinionof it with joyous violence. But I did not. I let it carry on like atinker in a public house, and never said a word."
He showed the boy an interesting table containing the days of the week,at the head of seven columns, and opposite cross-columns below were thevirtues he aimed to acquire--patience, temperance, frugality and thelike. The book contained a table for every week in the year. It hadbeen his practise, at the end of each day, to enter a black markopposite the virtues in which he had failed.
It was a curious and impressive document--a frank, candid record inblack and white of the history of a human soul. To Jack it had asacred aspect like the story of the trials of Job.
"I begin to understand how you have built up this wonderful structurewe call Franklin," he said.
"Oh, it is but a poor and shaky thing at best, likely to tumble in ahigh wind--but some work has gone into it," said the old gentleman."You see these white pages are rather spotted, but when I look over thehistory of my spirit, as I do now and then, I observe that the pagesare slowly getting cleaner. There is not so much ink on them as thereused to be. You see I was once a free thinker. I had no gods tobother me, and my friends were of the same stripe. In time Idiscovered that they were a lot of scamps and that I was little better.I found myself in the wrong road and immediately faced about. Then Ibegan keeping these tables. They have been a help to me."
This reminded Jack of the evil words of the melancholy Mr. Pinhornwhich had been so promptly rebuked by his friend John Adams on the rideto Philadelphia. The young man made a copy of one of the tables andwas saying good night to his venerable friend when the latter remarked:
"I shall go to Sir John Pringle's in the morning for advice. He is anoted physician. My man will be having a day off. Could you go withme at ten?"
"Gladly," said Jack.
"Then I shall pick you up at your lodgings. You will see your rival atPringle's. He is at home on leave and has been going to Sir John'soffice every Tuesday morning at ten-thirty with his father. GeneralClarke, a gruff, gouty old hero of the French and Indian wars and anaggressive Tory. He is forever tossing and goring the Whigs. It maybe the only chance you will have to see that rival of yours. He is ahandsome lad."
Doctor Franklin, with his crutch beside him in the cab, called for hisyoung friend at the hour appointed.
"I go to his office when I have need of his advice," said the Doctor."If ever he came to me, the wretch would charge me two guineas. Wehave much argument over the processes of life in the human body, ofwhich I have gained some little knowledge. Often he flatters me byseeking my counsel in difficult cases."
The office of the Doctor Baronet was on the first floor of a largebuilding in Gough Square, Fleet Street. A number of gentlemen sat incomfortable chairs in a large waiting room.
"Sir John will see you in a moment, sir," an attendant said to DoctorFranklin as they entered. The moment was a very long one.
"In London there are many people who disagree with the clock," Franklinlaughed. "In this office, even the moments have the gout. They limpalong with slow feet."
It was a gloomy room. The chairs, lounges and tables had a venerablelook like that of the men who came there with warped legs and oldmahogany faces. The red rugs and hangings suggested "the effect of oldport on the human countenance, being of a hue like unto that of manycheeks and noses in the waiting company," as the young man wrote. Thedoor to the private room of the great physician creaked on its hingeswith a kind of groan when he came out accompanied by a limping patient.
"Wait here for a minute--a gout minute," said Franklin to his youngfriend. "When Pringle dismisses me, I will present you."
Jack sat and waited while the room filled with ruddy, crotchetygentlemen supported by canes or crutches--elderly, old and of middleage. Among those of the latter class was a giant of a man, erect anddignified, accompanied by a big blond youngster in a lieutenant'suniform. He sat down and began to talk with another patient of thetroubles in America.
"I see the damned Yankees have thrown another cargo of tea overboard,"said he in a tone of anger.
"This time it was in Cape Cod. We must give those Yahoos a lesson."
Jack surmised now that here was the
aggressive Tory General of whom theDoctor had spoken and that the young man was his son.
"I fear that it would be a costly business sending men to fight acrossthree thousand miles of sea," said the other.
"Bosh! There is not one Yankee in a hundred that has the courage of arabbit. With a thousand British grenadiers, I would undertake to gofrom one end of America to another and amputate the heads of the males,partly by force and partly by coaxing."
A laugh followed these insulting words. Jack Irons rose quickly andapproached the man who had uttered them. The young American was angry,but he managed to say with good composure:
"I am an American, sir, and I demand a retraction of those words or achance to match my courage against yours."
A murmur of surprise greeted his challenge.
The Britisher turned quickly with color mounting to his brow andsurveyed the sturdy form of the young man.
"I take back nothing that I say," he declared.
"Then, in behalf of my slandered countrymen, I demand the right tofight you or any Britisher who has the courage to take up your quarrel."
Jack Irons had spoken calmly like one who had weighed his words.
The young Lieutenant who had entered the room with the fiery,middle-aged Britisher, rose and faced the American and said:
"I will take up his quarrel, sir. Here is my card."
"And here is mine," said Jack. "When will you be at home?"
"At noon to-morrow."
"Some friend of mine will call upon you," Jack assured the other.
A look of surprise came to the face of the Lieutenant as he surveyedthe card in his hand. Jack was prepared for the name he read which wasthat of Lionel Clarke.
Franklin wrote some weeks later in a letter to John Irons of Albany:"When I came out of the physician's office I saw nothing in Jack's faceand manner to suggest the serious proceeding he had entered upon. If Ihad, or if some one had dropped a hint to me, I should have done what Icould to prevent this unfortunate affair. He chatted with Sir John amoment and we went out as if nothing unusual had happened. On the wayto my house we talked of the good weather we were having, of the latenews from America and of my summons to appear before the Privy Council.He betrayed no sign of the folly which was on foot. I saw him onlyonce after he helped me into the house and left me to go to hislodgings. But often I find myself thinking of his handsome face andheroic figure and gentle voice and hand. He was like a loving son tome."