CHAPTER FIVE.
"Oh, dear!" groaned Aleck. "How am I to face him?" and he went on tillonly a few steps divided him from the cultivated garden, where hestopped again. "I wonder where he is. In the study, I suppose--write,write, write, at that great history. Can't I leave it and get into myroom with a bad headache? It's only true. It aches horribly. I'llsend word by Jane that I'm too poorly to come down. Bah!" muttered theboy. "What nonsense; he'd come up to me directly with something for meto take. I wonder whether he is in his room or out in the garden. Hemustn't see me till I've been up into my room and done something to myhair. Perhaps he's in the summer-house and I can get in and upstairswithout his seeing me. Oh, if I only--"
"Hullo! Aleck, lad, what are you doing there? Why are you so late?Dinner has been ready quite an hour."
The captain had suddenly appeared from behind a great clump of wavingtamarisk, and stood looking down at the lad.
"I was coming to see if you were in sight, and--why, what in the name ofwonder is the matter with you? Where have you been? Why, by all that'swonderful, you've been fighting!"
"Yes, uncle," said the lad, with a gasp of relief, for it seemed to himas if, instead of taking the bold plunge, swimming fashion, he had beensuddenly dragged in.
"I thought so," cried the captain, angrily. "Here--no, stop; come up tothe house, to my room. We can't talk here."
"I don't see why not," thought the lad, dismally. "There's plenty ofroom, and we could get it over more easily, even if he does get into afurious passion with me."
But the captain had wheeled round at once and began to stump back alongover the shell and crunching spar-gravel path, his chin pressed downupon his chest, and not uttering a word, only coughing slightly now andthen, as if to clear his voice for the fierce tirade of angry words thatwas to come.
He did not glance round nor speak, but strode on, evidently growing moreand more out of temper, the lad thought, for as he walked he kept onkicking the loose shelly covering of the path over the flower beds,while the silence kept up seemed to Aleck ominous in the extreme.
"But, never mind," he thought; "it must soon be over now. What a sightI must look, though! He seemed to be astonished."
Culprit-like, the lad followed close at his uncle's heels till the sideentrance was reached, where, with what seemed to be another sign of hisangry perturbation, the old officer stopped short, rested one hand uponthe door-post to steady himself, and began to very carefully do what wasnot the slightest degree necessary, to wit: he scraped his shoes mostcarefully over and over again--for there was not even a scrap of dust toremove.
"Stand back a moment, sir," cried the captain, suddenly. "Jane hasheard us, and is carrying in the dinner. Don't let her see you in thatstate."
Aleck shrank to one side, and then as a door was heard to close, startedforward again in obedience to his uncle's order.
"Now in, quick--into the study."
He led the way sharply, and Aleck sprang after him, but the ascent of somany steps gave the maid time to re-open the little dining-room door,from which point of vantage she was able to catch a glimpse of the lad'sface, which looked so startling that she uttered an involuntary "Oh,my!" before letting her jaw drop and pausing, her mouth wide open and apair of staring eyes.
"Come in!" roared the captain, angrily, as Aleck paused to turn for amoment at the door; and instead of entering, stood shaking his headdeprecatingly at the maid, while his lips moved without a sound escapingthem as he tried to telegraph to one who took much interest in hisappearance: "Not hurt much. I couldn't help it!"
He started violently then at his uncle's stern command, uttered like anorder to a company of men to step into some deadly breach, and the nextmoment the door was closed and the old man was scowling at him from thechair into which he had thrown himself, sending it back with the legs,giving forth a sound like a harsh snort as they scraped over the bareoaken floor.
Aleck drew a long deep breath and tried to tighten up his nerves, readyfor what he felt was going to be a desperate encounter with thefierce-looking old man whom from long experience he knew to be harsh,stern, and troubled with a terrible temper, which made him morose andstrange at times, his fits lasting for days, during which periods hewould hardly speak a word to his nephew, leaving him to himself savewhen he came upon him suddenly to see that he was not wasting time, butgoing on with one or other of the studies which the old man supervised,or working in the garden.
"I want you, though you lead this lonely life with me, Aleck," he wouldsay, frowning heavily the while, "to grow up fairly learned in what isnecessary for a young man's education, so that some day, when I am deadand gone out of this weary world, you may take your place as agentleman--not an ornamental gentleman, whose sole aim is to find outhow he can best amuse himself, but a quiet, straightforward, honourablegentleman, one whom, if people do not admire because his ways are notthe same as theirs, they will find themselves bound to respect."
These strange fits of what Aleck, perhaps instigated by Jane, their oneservant, called "master's temper," would be followed by weeks of mentalblue sky, when the black clouds rolled away and the sun of a genialdisposition shone out, and the old man seemed as if he could not lavishenough affection upon his nephew. The result of all this was that theboy's feelings towards the old man, who had always occupied the positionof father to him as well as preceptor, were a strange mingling of fearof his harshness, veneration of his learning and power of instructinghim in everything he learned, and love. For there were times when Aleckwould say, gloomily, to himself, "I'm sure uncle thoroughly hates me andwishes me away," while there were times when he was as happy as the dayswere long, and ready to feel certain that the old man loved him as muchas if he were his own child.
"He must," thought the boy, "or he wouldn't have nursed and coddled meup so when I had that fever and the doctor told Jane that he had doneall he could, and that I should die--go out with the tide next day.That's what I like in uncle," he mused, "when he isn't out of temper--he's so clever. Knew ever so much better than the doctor. What did hesay then? `Doctors are all very well, Aleck, but there are times whenthe nurse is the better man--that is, when it's a cock nurse and not ahen. You had a cock nurse, boy, and I pulled you through.'"
But the love was in abeyance on this particular morning at the Den, asthe old man had named his out-of-the-way solitary dwelling, and Aleckfelt that the place was rightly named as he stood ready to face thesavage-looking denizen of the place, who, after staring him down with apair of fiercely glowing eyes, suddenly opened upon him with:
"Now, then, sir! So you've been fighting?"
"Yes, uncle," said the boy, meekly.
"Who with?"
"Some of the Rockabie boys, uncle."
"Hah! And in the face of all that I have said and taught you about yourbeing different by your birth and education from the young ragamuffinrout of Rockabie harbour! Cannot you run over there in your boat and dowhat business you have to carry out without being mixed up in somebroil?"
"No, uncle."
"Disgraceful, sir! A gentleman's education should teach him that hisweapons are words properly applied, and not tooth and nail, blows andkicks."
"I never bit or kicked, uncle," said Aleck, sullenly.
"Of course not, sir; and don't retort upon me in that insolent way. Youknow perfectly well that I was speaking metaphorically. Did you for amoment imagine I thought you used your teeth and claws like a savagedog?"
"No, uncle."
"Then don't reply to me like that. Of course I would know you would useyour fists. Look at your knuckles!" thundered the old man.
Aleck looked at those parts of his person dismally, and they looked bad.For the skin was damaged in three places, and the nail of his leftthumb was split in a painful way.
"Disgusting," said the old man. "I trusted you to go over there, andyou come back a disreputable wreck. All my teaching seems to be thrownaway upon a pugnacious untrustworthy boy."
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"I'm not pugnacious, uncle, if they'd let me alone."
"Bah! You ought to be above noticing the scum of the place."
"I am, uncle, and I don't notice them," pleaded the boy; "it's they whowill notice me."
"How, pray?"
"I can't go into the place without their mobbing me and calling menames."
"Contemptible! And pray, sir," cried the old man, in harsh, sarcastictones, "what do they call you?"
"All sorts of things," replied the boy, confusedly. "I can't recollectnow. Yes, I know; sometimes they shout `Fox' or `Foxy' after me."
"And pray why?"
"Because they say I've just come out of the Den."
"Rubbish."
"At other times it's `Spider.'"
"Spider?"
"Yes, uncle; because I've got such long legs."
"Worse and worse," cried the old man. "To fight for that! It ischildish."
"Oh, I didn't fight for that, uncle!"
"What for, then, pray, sir?"
"Sometimes they lay wait for me and hide behind a smack or the harbourwall, and pelt me with shells and the nasty offal left about by thefishermen."
"Disgusting! The insolent young dogs! They deserve to be flogged. Sothat is why you fought this morning?"
"Sometimes they throw pebbles and cobble stones, uncle," said the boy,evasively. "And they're so clever with them; they throw so well. Idon't like to be hit and hurt, uncle. I suppose I've got a bad temper.I do keep it under so long as they call me names and throw nasty, softthings, but when a stone hits me and hurts, something inside my chestseems to get loose, and I feel hot and burning. I want to hurt whoeverthrew as much as he hurt me."
"What!" cried the old man. "Haven't I taught you, sir, that you must beabove resenting the attacks of the vulgar herd?"
"Yes, uncle."
"Of course. I have always had to bear those assaults, boy. And so theyoung ruffians threw stones at you?"
Aleck hesitated.
"It was heads and bits of fish to-day, uncle."
"The scum! The insolent scum! And some of the offal hit you?"
"Well, no; nothing hit me, uncle. They followed me about all throughthe place, and shouted at me every time I came out of a shop."
"Bah! And because some young ragamuffins were insolent to you, mynephew must lower himself to their level. This is not the first time,sir. You have complained to me before, and you remember what I said toyou one day when you came back after engaging in a most degradingscuffle."
"Yes, uncle."
"You promised me that should never occur again, after I had pointed outto you what your conduct ought to be, and how that the more you noticedthese young rascals' proceedings the worse it would be."
"Yes, uncle, but I couldn't remember it to-day. You can't tell how badit was, and how hard to bear."
"I? Not tell? Not know?" cried the old man, passionately. "I not knowwhat it is to be the butt of a few boys? You talk in your ignorance,sir, like a fool talketh. Why, for long years past I have been the markfor the contumely and insult of civilised England. Don't make yourpaltry excuses to me. I say your conduct has been disgraceful. Youwere trusted to go. I made no objection, sir, save that for your sakeand protection you should have an experienced boatman to help manageyour boat on the way back, and you come home in this degraded state--hands and face bruised, your lips cut, and your eyes swollen up ready toturn black with horrible bruises. Aleck, it is blackguardly. You makeme feel as if I ought to treat you as you deserve--take down that dustyold riding whip and flog you soundly."
Aleck started violently, and his eyes flashed through the narrow slitsof lids.
"But I can't treat you, an educated, thoughtful lad, in such a degradingway. The lash is only for those whose nature is low and vile--whoseeducation has never placed them upon a level with such as you. It wouldbe the right punishment for the lads who continually annoy and assaultyou. But as for you--Aleck, I am hurt and disappointed. To come backlike this because a few boys pelted you!"
"No, uncle, it was not because of that," cried the lad, warmly.
"Then, why was it, sir?"
Aleck was silent, and the sailor's advice suddenly came to mind: "Tellhim you won and thrashed your man."
But the words would not come, and while he remained silent Captain Donnespoke again, very sternly now:
"Do you hear me, sir?"
"Yes, uncle," said the boy, desperately.
"Then answer my question. You say it was not because you were peltedand called names. Why, then, did you degrade yourself like this andfight?"
"It was because--no, no, uncle," cried the boy, through his teeth, whichwere compressed tightly as if he was afraid that the simple truth wouldescape; "I--I can't tell you."
"Then there is something more?"
"Yes, uncle."
"What is it, then?" cried the old man, whose own temper was rapidlygetting the mastery. "Speak out, sir, and let me hear whether you haveany decent excuse to offer for your conduct. Do you hear?"
"Yes, uncle," faltered the lad.
"Then speak, sir."
"I--I can't, uncle. Don't ask me, please."
"What! I will and do ask you, sir," cried the old man, furiously: "andwhat is more, I will be told. I am the proper judge of your conduct.How dare you refuse to speak--how dare you tell me almost to my facethat you will not answer my question?"
"I don't tell you that, uncle," cried the boy, passionately. "I onlysay I can't tell you."
"You obstinate young scoundrel! How dare you!" roared the old man, nowalmost beside himself with rage. "Tell me this instant. Why, then, didyou engage in this disgraceful encounter?"
Aleck darted an imploring look at the old man, which seemed to bebegging him piteously not to press for the answer, but in his furiousoutbreak the old man could not read it aright--could only set it down tostubbornness--and, completely overcome by the passion bubbling up to hisbrain, he started to his feet and pointed to the door, but only to dashhis hand down upon the table the next moment.
"No," he cried, "if you forget your duty to me, Aleck, I will not forgetmine to you. I'll not be angry, but quite cool. Now, sir," he cried,with his face looking congested and his heavy grey brows drawn down overhis glowing eyes, while his voice sounded hoarse and strange. "Aleck,tell me at once. I'll have an answer before you leave this room. Whydid you engage in that disgraceful fight?"
"I can't tell you, uncle," said the boy, in a hoarse whisper.
"Ha! That means, sir, that you are obstinately determined not tospeak?"
"It isn't obstinacy, uncle."
"Don't contradict me, sir. I say it is obstinacy. Now, once more, forthe last time, will you answer my question?"
Aleck drew in a long, low, hissing breath and stood fast for a fewmoments, before saying, in a low tone, his voice quivering the while:
"I can't tell you, uncle."
There was a dead silence in the room for a few moments then; so dead wasthe silence, in fact, that if the proverbial pin had dropped it wouldhave sounded loudly on the polished oaken boards.
Then the old man spoke, in a curiously suppressed tone of voice.
"Very well," he said, huskily; "it is what was bound to come sooner orlater. I see I have made another of the mistakes which have blasted myexistence. I must have time to think out what I shall do. One thing isvery evident--you have rebelled against my rule, Aleck, and arestruggling to get away to think and act, sir, for yourself. I have donemy best for you, but in my isolation I have doubtless been blind andnarrow. It is the natural result of our solitary life here--the youngspirit seeking to soar."
"Oh, no, uncle--" began the boy.
"Silence, sir!" thundered the old man. "Hear me out. I say it is so,and I know. You resent my holding the tether longer, but you are tooyoung yet to fly unheld. I have my duty to do for your mother's sakeand for yours. I must have time to think out my plans, but in themeantime prepare yoursel
f to go to some school or institution for a yearor two before entering upon your profession."
"But, uncle!"
"That will do, sir," said the old man, sternly. "You have struck yourblow against my authority, and this painful episode in my life mustend."
"If you'd only let me speak, uncle!" cried the boy, passionately.
"I begged of you to speak, sir," said the old man, coldly. "I orderedyou to speak; but in each case you refused. Well, now then, tell mesimply--I ask again on principle--why did you fight those boys?"
Aleck set his teeth and hung his head.
"That will do," said the old man, in deep, husky tones. "Go to yourroom and get rid of as much of the traces of your encounter as you canbefore going down to your dinner. You need not interrupt me here againtill I send for you. There--go."
The old man once more raised his hand to point towards the door, and,unable to contain himself longer, Aleck rushed out, made for his room,and shut and bolted himself in.