Speaker 1: This is section twenty two of The Gilded Age. This
Speaker 1: LibriVox recording is in the public domain. The Gilded Age,
Speaker 1: A Tale of to Day by Mark Twain and C. D. Warner,
Speaker 1: Chapter twenty two. In midwinter, an event occurred of unusual
Speaker 1: interest to the inhabitants of the Montague House and to
Speaker 1: the friends of the young ladies who sought their society.
Speaker 1: This was the arrival at the Sassaqua Hotel of two
Speaker 1: young gentlemen from the West. It is the fashion in
Speaker 1: New England to give Indian names to the public houses.
Speaker 1: Not that the late lamented Savage knew how to keep
Speaker 1: a hotel, but that his warlike name may impress the
Speaker 1: traveler who humbly crave shelter there, and make him grateful
Speaker 1: to the noble and gentlemanly clerk if he is allowed
Speaker 1: to depart with his scalp safe. The two young gentlemen
Speaker 1: were neither students for the Fall Kill Seminary, nor lecturers
Speaker 1: on physiology, nor yet life assurance solicitors. Three suppositions that
Speaker 1: almost exhausted the guessing power of the people at the hotel.
Speaker 1: In respect to the names of Philip Stirling and Henry Brierly,
Speaker 1: Missouri on the register. They were handsome enough fellows that
Speaker 1: was evident, browned by outdoor exposure, and with a free
Speaker 1: and lordly way about them that almost awed the hotel
Speaker 1: clerk himself. Indeed, he very soon set down mister Brierly
Speaker 1: as a gentleman of large fortune with enormous interests on
Speaker 1: his shoulders. Harry had a way of casually mentioning Western
Speaker 1: investments through lines the freighting business and the route through
Speaker 1: the Indian Territory to Lower California, which was calculated to
Speaker 1: give an importance to his lightest word. You've a pleasant
Speaker 1: town here, sir, and the most comfortable looking hotel I've
Speaker 1: seen out of New York, said Harry to the clerk.
Speaker 1: We shall stay here a few days if you can
Speaker 1: give us a roomy suite of apartments. Harry usually had
Speaker 1: the best of everything wherever he went, as such fellows
Speaker 1: always do have in this accommodating world. Philip would have
Speaker 1: been quite content with less expensive quarters, but there was
Speaker 1: no resisting Harry's generosity in such matters. Railroad surveying and
Speaker 1: real estate operations were at a standstill during the winter
Speaker 1: in Missouri, and the young men had taken advantage of
Speaker 1: the lull to come east Philip to see if there
Speaker 1: was any disposition in his friends the railway contractors to
Speaker 1: give him a share in the Salt Lick Union Pacific Extension,
Speaker 1: and Harry to open out to his uncle the prospects
Speaker 1: of the new city at Stone's Landing, and to procure
Speaker 1: congressional appropriations for the harbor and for making Goose Run navigable.
Speaker 1: Harry had with him a map of that noble stream
Speaker 1: and of the harbor, with a perfect network of railroads
Speaker 1: centering in it, pictures of wharves crowded with steamboats, and
Speaker 1: of huge grain elevators on the bank, all of which
Speaker 1: grew out of the combined imaginations of Colonel Sellers and
Speaker 1: mister Brierly. The Colonel had entire confidence in Harry's influence
Speaker 1: with wall Street and with Congressmen to bring about the
Speaker 1: consummation of their scheme, and he waited his return in
Speaker 1: the empty house at Hawkeye, feeding his pinched family upon
Speaker 1: the most gorgeous expectations with a reckless prodigality. Don't let
Speaker 1: him into the thing more than is necessary, says the
Speaker 1: Colonel to Harry. Give him a small interest, a lot
Speaker 1: of peace in the suburbs of the landing ought to
Speaker 1: do a congressman, But I reckon you'll have to mortgage
Speaker 1: a part of the city itself to the brokers. Harry
Speaker 1: did not find that eagerness to lend money on Stone's
Speaker 1: landing in Wall Street, which Colonel Sellers had expected. It
Speaker 1: had seen too many such maps as he exhibited. Although
Speaker 1: his uncle and some of the brokers looked with more
Speaker 1: favor on the appropriation for improving the navigation of Columbus River,
Speaker 1: and were not disinclined to form a company for that purpose.
Speaker 1: An appropriation was a tangible thing if you could get
Speaker 1: hold of it, and it made little difference what it
Speaker 1: was appropriated for, so long as you got hold of it.
Speaker 1: Pending these weighting negotiations, Philip has persuaded Harry to take
Speaker 1: a little run up to Fallkill, a not difficult task,
Speaker 1: for that young man would at any time have turned
Speaker 1: his back upon all the land in the west at
Speaker 1: sight of a new and pretty face. And he had,
Speaker 1: it must be confessed, a facility in love making, which
Speaker 1: made it not at all an interference with the more
Speaker 1: serious business of life. He could not be sure conceive
Speaker 1: how Philip could be interested in a young lady who
Speaker 1: was studying medicine, but he had no objection to going,
Speaker 1: for he did not doubt that there were other girls
Speaker 1: in Fallkill who were worth a week's attention. The young
Speaker 1: men were received at the house of the Montagues with
Speaker 1: the hospitality which never failed there. We are glad to
Speaker 1: see you again, exclaimed the squire heartily. You are welcome,
Speaker 1: mister Bryer. Any friend of Phil's is welcome at our house.
Speaker 1: It's more like home to me than any place except
Speaker 1: my own home, cried Philip as he looked about the
Speaker 1: cheerful house and went through a general hand shaking. It's
Speaker 1: a long time, though, since you have been here to
Speaker 1: say so, Alice said, with her father's frankness of manner,
Speaker 1: and I suspect we owe the visit now to your
Speaker 1: sudden interest in the fall Kills seminary. Philip's color came
Speaker 1: as it had an awkward way of doing in his
Speaker 1: tell tale face, But before he could stammer reply, Harry
Speaker 1: came in with that accounts for Phil's wish to build
Speaker 1: a seminary at Stone's Landing our place in Missouri. When
Speaker 1: Colonel Sellers insisted it should be a university. Philippears to
Speaker 1: have a weakness for seminaries. It would have been better
Speaker 1: for your friend's Sellars, retorted Philip if he had had
Speaker 1: a weakness for district schools. Colonel Sellers, Miss Alice is
Speaker 1: a great friend of Harry's, who is always trying to
Speaker 1: build a house by beginning at the top. I suppose
Speaker 1: it's as easy to build a university on paper as
Speaker 1: a seminary, and it looks better, was Harry's reflection, at
Speaker 1: which the Squire laughed and said he quite agreed with him.
Speaker 1: The old gentleman understood stones Landing a good deal better
Speaker 1: than he would have done after an hour's talk with
Speaker 1: either of its expectant proprietors. At this moment, and while
Speaker 1: Philip was trying to frame a question that he found
Speaker 1: it exceedingly difficult to put into words, the door opened
Speaker 1: quietly and Ruth entered, taking in the group. With a
Speaker 1: quick glance, her eye lightened up, and with a merry smile,
Speaker 1: she advanced and shook hands with Philip. She was so
Speaker 1: unconstrained and sincerely cordial that it made that hero of
Speaker 1: the West feel somehow young and very ill at ease.
Speaker 1: For months and months. He had thought of this meeting
Speaker 1: and pictured it to himself a hundred times, but he
Speaker 1: had never imagined it would be like this. He should
Speaker 1: meet Ruth unexpectedly as she was walking alone from the school,
Speaker 1: perhaps or entering the room where he was waiting for her,
Speaker 1: and she would cry, oh, phil and then check herself
Speaker 1: and perhaps blush, and Philip, calm but eager and enthusiastic,
Speaker 1: would reassure her by his warm manner, and he would
Speaker 1: take her hand impressively, and she would look up timidly,
Speaker 1: and after his long absence, perhaps he would be permitted
Speaker 1: to good heavens, how many times had he come to
Speaker 1: this point and wondered if it could happen so well? Well,
Speaker 1: he had never supposed that he should be the one embarrassed,
Speaker 1: and above all by a sincere and cordial welcome. We
Speaker 1: heard you were at the Sassaka's house, were Ruth's first words.
Speaker 1: And this, I suppose is your friend. I beg your pardon.
Speaker 1: Philip at length blundered out, this is mister Brierly, of
Speaker 1: whom I have written you. And Ruth welcomed Harry with
Speaker 1: a friendliness that Philip thought was due to his friend
Speaker 1: to be sure, but which seemed to him too level
Speaker 1: with her reception of himself, but which Harry received as
Speaker 1: his due. The other sex. Questions were asked about the
Speaker 1: journey and about the west, and the conversation became a
Speaker 1: general one, until Philip at length found himself talking with
Speaker 1: the squire in relation to land and railroads and things
Speaker 1: he couldn't keep his mind on, especially as he heard
Speaker 1: Ruth and Harry in an animated discourse and caught the
Speaker 1: words New York and opera and reception, and knew that
Speaker 1: Harry was giving his imagination full range in the world
Speaker 1: of fashion. Harry knew all about the opera Green rom
Speaker 1: and all, at least he said so, and knew a
Speaker 1: good many of the operas, and could make very entertaining
Speaker 1: stories of their plots, telling how the soprano came in
Speaker 1: here and the basso here, humming the beginning of their
Speaker 1: heirs tumty tumtity, suggesting the profound dissatisfaction of the baso
Speaker 1: recitative down among the dead men, and touching off the
Speaker 1: whole with an airy grace. Quite captivating, though he couldn't
Speaker 1: have sung a single ear through to save himself, and
Speaker 1: he hadn't an ear to know whether it was sung correctly.
Speaker 1: All the same, he doated on the opera and kept
Speaker 1: a box there into which he lounged occasionally to hear
Speaker 1: a favorite scene and meet his society friends. If Ruth
Speaker 1: was ever in the city, he should be happy to
Speaker 1: place his box at the disposal of Ruth and her friends.
Speaker 1: Needless to say that she was delighted with the offer.
Speaker 1: When she told Philip of it, that discreet young fellow
Speaker 1: only smiled and said that he hoped she would be
Speaker 1: fortunate enough to be in New York. Some evening, when
Speaker 1: Harry had not already given the use of his private
Speaker 1: box to some other friend, the Squire pressed the visitors
Speaker 1: to let him send for their trunks, and urged them
Speaker 1: to stay at his house. And Alice joined in the invitation,
Speaker 1: but Philip had reasons for declining. They stayed to supper, however,
Speaker 1: and in the evening Philip had a long talk apart
Speaker 1: with Ruth, a delightful hour to him, in which she
Speaker 1: spoke freely of herself as of old, of her study
Speaker 1: at Philadelphia, and of her plans, and she entered into
Speaker 1: his adventures and prospects in the West with a genuine
Speaker 1: and almost sisterly interest, an interest, however, which did not
Speaker 1: exactly satisfy Philip. It was too general and not personal
Speaker 1: enough to suit him. And with all her freedom in
Speaker 1: speaking of her own hopes, Philip could not detect any
Speaker 1: reference to himself in them. Whereas he never undertook anything
Speaker 1: that he did not think of Ruth in connection with it,
Speaker 1: he never made a plan that had not reference to her,
Speaker 1: and he never thought of anything as complete if she
Speaker 1: could not share it. Fortune, reputation, these had no value
Speaker 1: to him except in Ruth's eyes, and there were times
Speaker 1: when it seemed to him that if Ruth was not
Speaker 1: on this earth, he should plunge off into some remote
Speaker 1: wilderness and live in a purposeless seclusion. I hoped, said Philip,
Speaker 1: to get a little start in connection with this new
Speaker 1: railroad and make a little money so that I could
Speaker 1: come east and engage in something more suited to my tastes.
Speaker 1: I shouldn't like to live in the West, would you.
Speaker 1: It never occurred to me whether I would or not,
Speaker 1: was the unembarrassed reply. One of our graduates went to
Speaker 1: Chicago and has a nice practice there. I don't know
Speaker 1: where I shall go it would mortify mother dreadfully to
Speaker 1: have me driving about Philadelphia in a doctor's gig. Philip
Speaker 1: laughed at the idea of it. And does it seem
Speaker 1: as necessary to you to do it as it did
Speaker 1: before you came to Fallkill. It was a home question
Speaker 1: and went deeper than Philip knew. For Ruth at once
Speaker 1: thought of practicing her profession among the young gentlemen and
Speaker 1: ladies of her acquaintance in the village, But she was
Speaker 1: reluctant to admit to herself that her notions of a
Speaker 1: career had undergone any change. Oh, I don't think I
Speaker 1: should come to fall Kill to practice, but I must
Speaker 1: do something when I am through school. And why not medicine?
Speaker 1: Philip would like to have explained why not, but the
Speaker 1: explanation would be of no use if it were not
Speaker 1: already obvious to Ruth. Harry was equally in his element,
Speaker 1: whether instructing Squire Montague about the investment of capital in Missouri,
Speaker 1: the improvement of Columbus River, the project he and some
Speaker 1: gentleman in New York had for making a shorter Pacific
Speaker 1: connection with the Mississippi than the present one, or diverting
Speaker 1: Missus Montague with his experience in cooking and camp or
Speaker 1: drawing from miss Alice an amusing picture of the social
Speaker 1: contrasts of New England and the border where he had been.
Speaker 1: Harry was a very entertaining fellow, having his imagination to
Speaker 1: help his memory, and telling his stories as if he
Speaker 1: believed them, as perhaps he did. Alice was greatly amused
Speaker 1: with Harry and listened so seriously to his romancing that
Speaker 1: he exceeded his usual limits chance. Allusions to his bachelor
Speaker 1: establishment in town and the place of his family on
Speaker 1: the Hudson could not have been made by a millionaire
Speaker 1: more naturally, I should think, queried Alice, you would rather
Speaker 1: stay in New York than to try the rough life
Speaker 1: at the West you have been speaking of. Oh adventure,
Speaker 1: says Harry. I got tired of New York, and besides,
Speaker 1: I got involved in some operations that I had to
Speaker 1: see through. Parties in New York only last week wanted
Speaker 1: me to go down into Arizona in a big diamond interest.
Speaker 1: I told them, no, no speculation for me. I've got
Speaker 1: my interest in Missouri, and I wouldn't leave Philip as
Speaker 1: long as he stays there. When the young gentlemen were
Speaker 1: on their way back to the hotel, Mister Philip, who
Speaker 1: was not in a very good humor, broke out, what
Speaker 1: the deuce, Harry, did you go on in that style
Speaker 1: to the Montague's for go on? Cried Harry, Why shouldn't
Speaker 1: I try to make a pleasant evening? And besides, ain't
Speaker 1: I going to do those things? What difference does it
Speaker 1: make about the mood and tents of a mere verb?
Speaker 1: Didn't Uncle tell me only last Saturday that I might
Speaker 1: as well go down to Arizona and hunt for diamonds.
Speaker 1: A fellow might as well make a good impression as
Speaker 1: a poor one. Nonsense, you'll get to believing your own
Speaker 1: romancing by and by. Well, you'll see when Sellers and
Speaker 1: I get that appropriation, I'll show you an establishment in town,
Speaker 1: and another on the Hudson, and a box at the opera. Yes,
Speaker 1: it will be like Colonel Seller's plantation at Hawkeye? Did
Speaker 1: you ever see that? Now, don't be cross, phil She's
Speaker 1: just superb. That little woman you never told me, who's
Speaker 1: just superb? Growled Philip, fancying this turn of the conversation
Speaker 1: less than the other. Well, missus Montague, if you must know,
Speaker 1: and Harry stopped to light a cigar, and then puffed
Speaker 1: on in silence. The little quarrel didn't last overnight, for
Speaker 1: Harry never appeared to cherish any ill will half a second,
Speaker 1: and Philip was too sensible to continue a row about nothing,
Speaker 1: and he had invited Harry to come with him. The
Speaker 1: young gentlemen stayed in fall Kill a week, and were
Speaker 1: every day at the Montague's, and took part in the
Speaker 1: winter gaieties of the village. There were parties here and
Speaker 1: there to which the friends of Ruth and the Montagues
Speaker 1: were of course invited, and Harry, and the ja generosity
Speaker 1: of his nature, gave in return a little supper at
Speaker 1: the hotel, very simple, indeed, with dancing in the hall
Speaker 1: and some refreshments passed around, and Philip found the whole
Speaker 1: thing in the bill when he came to pay it.
Speaker 1: Before the week was over, Philip thought he had a
Speaker 1: new light on the character of Ruth. Her absorption in
Speaker 1: the small gaieties of the society there surprised him. He
Speaker 1: had few opportunities for serious conversation with her. There was
Speaker 1: always some butterfly or another flitting about, And when Philip
Speaker 1: showed by his manner that he was not pleased. Ruth
Speaker 1: laughed merrily enough and rallied him on his soberness. She
Speaker 1: declared he was getting to be grim and unsociable. He talked,
Speaker 1: indeed more with Alice than with Ruth, and scarcely concealed
Speaker 1: from her the trouble that was in his mind. It needed,
Speaker 1: in fact, no word from him, for she saw clearly
Speaker 1: enough what was going forward, and knew her sex well
Speaker 1: enough to know there was no remedy for it. But time.
Speaker 1: Ruth is a dear girl, Philip, and has as much
Speaker 1: firmness of purpose as ever. But don't you see she
Speaker 1: has just discovered that she is fond of society. Don't
Speaker 1: you let her see you are selfish about it? Is
Speaker 1: my advice. The last evening they were to spend in
Speaker 1: fall Kill, they were at the Montague's, and Philip hoped
Speaker 1: that he would find Ruth in a different mood. But
Speaker 1: she was never more gay, and there was a spice
Speaker 1: of mischief in her eye and in her laugh. Confound it,
Speaker 1: said Philip to himself, She's in a perfect twitter. He
Speaker 1: would have liked to quarrel with her and fling himself
Speaker 1: out of the house in tragedy style, going perhaps so
Speaker 1: far as to blindly wander off miles into the country
Speaker 1: and bathe his throbbing brow in the chilling rain of
Speaker 1: the stars, as people do in novels. But he had
Speaker 1: no opportunity, for Ruth was as serenely unconscious of mischief
Speaker 1: as women can be at times, and fascinated him more
Speaker 1: than ever with her little demurenesses and half confidences. She
Speaker 1: even said THEE to him once in reproach for a
Speaker 1: cutting speech he made, and the sweet little word made
Speaker 1: his heart beat like a trip hammer. For never in
Speaker 1: all her life had she said THEE to him before.
Speaker 1: Was she fascinated with Harry's careless bonamy and gay assurance.
Speaker 1: Both chatted away in high spirits and made the evening
Speaker 1: whirl along in the most mirthful manner. Ruth sang for Harry,
Speaker 1: and that young gentleman turned the leaves for her at
Speaker 1: the piano and put in a bass note now and
Speaker 1: then where he thought it would tell. Yes, it was
Speaker 1: a merry evening, and Philip was heartily glad when it
Speaker 1: was over, and the long leave taking with the family
Speaker 1: was through. With farewell Philip, good night, mister Brierly. Ruth's
Speaker 1: clear voice sounded after them as they went down the walk,
Speaker 1: and she thought Harry's name last thought Philip, end of
Speaker 1: chapter twenty two.