1
00:00:01,120 --> 00:00:07,839
Speaker 1: An Old Fashioned Christmas by Richard marsh An old fashioned Christmas,

2
00:00:08,240 --> 00:00:11,400
A lively family will accept a gentleman as paying guest

3
00:00:11,599 --> 00:00:14,640
to join them in spending an old fashioned Christmas in

4
00:00:14,679 --> 00:00:19,719
the heart of the country. That was the advertisement. It

5
00:00:19,839 --> 00:00:23,320
had its points. I was not sure what in this

6
00:00:23,519 --> 00:00:28,239
case an old fashioned Christmas might happen to mean. I imagine

7
00:00:28,359 --> 00:00:32,119
there were several kinds of old fashioned Christmases, but it

8
00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:35,399
could hardly be worse than a chop in my chambers,

9
00:00:35,920 --> 00:00:40,560
or horror of horrors at the club, or my cousin

10
00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:46,840
Lucy's notion of what she calls the festive season. Festive. Yes,

11
00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:51,799
she and her husband who suffers from melancholia, and all

12
00:00:51,920 --> 00:00:56,039
the other complaints which flesh is heir to. And I

13
00:00:56,479 --> 00:01:00,200
dragging through what I call a patent medicine dinner and

14
00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:04,120
talking of everybody who is dead and gone or else going,

15
00:01:04,799 --> 00:01:09,959
and of nothing else. So I wrote to the advertiser.

16
00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:14,480
The reply was written in a sprawling feminine hand. It

17
00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:18,280
was a little vague. It appeared that the terms would

18
00:01:18,319 --> 00:01:21,159
be five guineas, but there was no mention of the

19
00:01:21,239 --> 00:01:25,719
length of time which that fee would cover I might arrive.

20
00:01:25,799 --> 00:01:28,959
It seemed on Christmas Eve, but there was no hint

21
00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:32,920
as to when I was to go. If ever, the

22
00:01:32,959 --> 00:01:36,400
whole thing was a trifle odd. There was nothing said

23
00:01:36,439 --> 00:01:40,599
about the sort of accommodation which would be provided, nothing

24
00:01:40,640 --> 00:01:44,680
about the kind of establishment which was maintained, or the

25
00:01:44,799 --> 00:01:49,519
table which was kept. No references were offered or asked for.

26
00:01:50,599 --> 00:01:54,599
It was merely stated that we're a very lively family,

27
00:01:54,959 --> 00:01:59,079
and that if you're lively yourself, you'll get on uncommonly well.

28
00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:05,400
The letter was signed Madge Wilson. Now it is a

29
00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:09,520
remarkable thing that I have always had an extraordinary predilection

30
00:02:09,919 --> 00:02:13,919
for the name Madge. I do not know why I

31
00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:17,639
have never known a Madge, and yet from my boyhood

32
00:02:17,719 --> 00:02:22,280
upward I have desired to meet one. Here was an

33
00:02:22,319 --> 00:02:27,159
opportunity offered. She was apparently the careworn mother of a

34
00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:32,360
lively family. Under such circumstances, she was hardly likely to

35
00:02:32,439 --> 00:02:37,240
be lively herself. But her name was Madge, and it

36
00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:40,800
was the accident of a Christian name which decided me

37
00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:46,159
to go. I had no illusions, no doubt the five

38
00:02:46,199 --> 00:02:50,840
guineas were badly wanted. Even a lively family would be

39
00:02:50,879 --> 00:02:55,000
hardly likely to advertise for a perfect stranger to spend

40
00:02:55,080 --> 00:02:58,960
Christmas with them if they were not, I did not

41
00:02:59,120 --> 00:03:03,439
expect the prince entertainment. Still, I felt that it could

42
00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:07,879
hardly be worse than a chop or cousin Lucy. The

43
00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:12,240
subjects of her conversation I never cared about when they

44
00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:15,879
were alive, and I certainly do not want to talk

45
00:03:15,879 --> 00:03:19,680
about them now they are dead. As for the pills

46
00:03:19,719 --> 00:03:24,039
and drops with which her husband doses himself between the courses,

47
00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:28,840
it makes me ill even to think of them. On

48
00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:33,159
Christmas Eve, the weather was abominable All night. It had

49
00:03:33,199 --> 00:03:37,800
been blowing and raining. In the morning, it began to freeze.

50
00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:41,759
By the time the streets were like so many skating rings.

51
00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:46,919
It commenced to snow, and it kept on snowing. That

52
00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:49,599
turned out to be quite a record in the way

53
00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:53,319
of snow storms, hardly the sort of weather to start

54
00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:57,400
for an unknown destination in the heart of the country.

55
00:03:58,319 --> 00:04:01,159
But at the last moment I did not like to

56
00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:04,840
back out. I said I would go, and I meant

57
00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:09,599
to go. I had been idiot enough to load myself

58
00:04:09,639 --> 00:04:13,560
with a lot of Christmas presents without the faintest notion

59
00:04:14,199 --> 00:04:18,160
why I had not given a Christmas present for years

60
00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:21,800
there had been no one to give them to. Lucy

61
00:04:21,879 --> 00:04:26,040
cannot bear such trifling, and her husband's only notion of

62
00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:29,680
a present at any time was a gallant yard of

63
00:04:29,839 --> 00:04:36,319
somebody's stomach. Stirrr. I am no dealer in poisons. I

64
00:04:36,399 --> 00:04:39,240
knew nothing of the people I was going to. The

65
00:04:39,319 --> 00:04:42,800
youngest member of the family might be twenty, or the

66
00:04:42,879 --> 00:04:46,839
oldest ten. No doubt the things I had bought would

67
00:04:46,879 --> 00:04:51,959
be laughed at. Probably I should never venture to offer them. Still,

68
00:04:52,079 --> 00:04:54,399
if you have not tried your hand at that kind

69
00:04:54,439 --> 00:04:57,360
of thing for ever so long, the mere act of

70
00:04:57,439 --> 00:05:03,040
purchasing is a pleasure that a fact. I had never

71
00:05:03,160 --> 00:05:06,720
enjoyed shopping so much since I was a boy. I

72
00:05:06,759 --> 00:05:10,600
felt quite lively myself as I mingled with the Christmas crowd,

73
00:05:11,120 --> 00:05:13,680
looking for things which might not turn out to be

74
00:05:13,839 --> 00:05:19,319
absolutely preposterous. I even bought something for Madge, I mean

75
00:05:19,519 --> 00:05:22,959
missus Wilson. Of course, I knew that I had no

76
00:05:23,160 --> 00:05:26,959
right to do anything of the kind, and was aware

77
00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:30,319
that the chances were a hundred to one against my ever,

78
00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:35,040
presuming to hint at its existence, I was actually as

79
00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:40,000
enough to buy something for her husband. Two things, indeed alternatives,

80
00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:42,920
as it were a box of cigars if it turned

81
00:05:42,959 --> 00:05:45,759
out to be a smoker, and a case of whiskey

82
00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:49,519
if he didn't. I hoped to goodness that he would

83
00:05:49,519 --> 00:05:54,360
not prove to be hypochondriac like Lucy's husband. I would

84
00:05:54,439 --> 00:05:58,120
not give him pills. What the Lively family would think

85
00:05:58,319 --> 00:06:02,720
of a perfect stranger arriving burdened with rubbish, as if

86
00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:05,399
he had known them all their lives, I did not

87
00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:09,439
dare to think, no doubt they would set him down

88
00:06:09,560 --> 00:06:15,160
as a lunatic right away. It was a horrible journey.

89
00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:20,079
The trains were late and of course overcrowded. There was

90
00:06:20,199 --> 00:06:23,800
enough luggage in our compartment to have filled it, and

91
00:06:23,879 --> 00:06:26,959
still there was one more passenger than there ought to

92
00:06:27,040 --> 00:06:30,639
have been, an ill conditioned old fellow who wanted my

93
00:06:30,759 --> 00:06:34,360
hat box put into the van because it happened to

94
00:06:34,399 --> 00:06:38,439
tumble off the rack on to his head. I pointed

95
00:06:38,439 --> 00:06:41,519
out to him that the rack was specially constructed for

96
00:06:41,639 --> 00:06:45,800
light luggage, that a hat box was light luggage, and

97
00:06:45,839 --> 00:06:49,639
that if the train jolted, he ought to blame the company,

98
00:06:49,879 --> 00:06:54,240
not me. He was imperious to reason. His wrangling and

99
00:06:54,319 --> 00:06:57,279
jangling so upset me that I went past the station

100
00:06:57,600 --> 00:07:00,920
at which I ought to have changed. Then I had

101
00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:03,519
to wait three quarters of an hour for a train

102
00:07:03,839 --> 00:07:06,839
to take me back again, only to find that I

103
00:07:06,879 --> 00:07:10,519
had missed the one I intended to catch. So I

104
00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:13,639
had to cool my heels for two hours and a

105
00:07:13,680 --> 00:07:17,560
half in a wretched cow shed amidst a bitter, whirling

106
00:07:17,680 --> 00:07:21,680
snow storm. It is some satisfaction for me to be

107
00:07:21,759 --> 00:07:25,240
able to reflect that I made it warm for the officials,

108
00:07:25,639 --> 00:07:30,199
however cold I might have been myself. When the train

109
00:07:30,279 --> 00:07:34,319
did start, some forty minutes after scheduled time, it jolted

110
00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:38,000
along in a laborious fashion at the rate of about

111
00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:42,839
six miles an hour, stopping at every roadside hovel. I

112
00:07:43,079 --> 00:07:47,399
counted seven in a distance I am convinced of less

113
00:07:47,439 --> 00:07:52,120
than twenty miles. When at last I reached crofton my

114
00:07:52,279 --> 00:07:56,240
journey's end, it turned out that the station staff consisted

115
00:07:56,519 --> 00:08:00,560
of a half witted individual who was station master, porter

116
00:08:00,839 --> 00:08:05,279
and clerk combined, and a hulking lad who did whatever

117
00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:09,800
else there was to do. No one had come to

118
00:08:09,879 --> 00:08:13,439
meet me. The village was about half a mile and

119
00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:16,920
Hanger Dean, the house for which my steps were bent,

120
00:08:17,480 --> 00:08:20,680
about four miles by the road. How far it was

121
00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:25,879
across plowed fields. My informant did not mention there was

122
00:08:25,920 --> 00:08:31,959
a trap at the boy and blunderbuss, but that required fetching. Finally,

123
00:08:32,039 --> 00:08:35,440
the hulking lad was despatched. It took him some time,

124
00:08:35,679 --> 00:08:40,240
considering the distance was only about half a mile. When

125
00:08:40,240 --> 00:08:43,240
the trap did appear, it looked to me uncommonly like

126
00:08:43,279 --> 00:08:47,000
an open spring cart. In it, I was deposited with

127
00:08:47,159 --> 00:08:52,320
my luggage. The snow was still descending in whirling clouds.

128
00:08:53,159 --> 00:08:56,440
Never shall I forget the drive in that miserable cart

129
00:08:56,960 --> 00:09:01,360
through the storm and those pitch black country lanes. We

130
00:09:01,480 --> 00:09:04,960
had been jogging along some time before the driver opened

131
00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:08,919
his mouth, be you going to stop with E? Wilson's

132
00:09:09,639 --> 00:09:14,159
I am ah. There was something in the tone of

133
00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:18,440
his eye which wetted my curiosity. Near the end of

134
00:09:18,519 --> 00:09:23,759
my teather though, I was, why do you ask? Ain't

135
00:09:23,799 --> 00:09:26,720
bay about time? If some one were to stay with them?

136
00:09:26,799 --> 00:09:30,960
As wear a bit capable like? I did not know

137
00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:35,080
what he meant. I did not ask. I was beyond it.

138
00:09:35,559 --> 00:09:39,879
I was chilled to the bone, wet, tired, hungry. I

139
00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:43,000
had long been wishing that an old fashioned Christmas had

140
00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:47,159
been completely extinct. Before I had thought of adventuring in

141
00:09:47,279 --> 00:09:52,320
quest of one better cousin Luci's notion of the festive season.

142
00:09:54,039 --> 00:09:56,960
We passed through a gate which I had to get

143
00:09:57,039 --> 00:10:02,240
down to open, along some sort of a Suddenly the

144
00:10:02,279 --> 00:10:08,279
cart pulled up. Here we be that might be so.

145
00:10:08,919 --> 00:10:11,879
It was a pity he did not add where here was?

146
00:10:12,600 --> 00:10:15,960
There was a great shadow, which possibly did duty for

147
00:10:16,039 --> 00:10:19,039
a house. But if so, there was not a light

148
00:10:19,159 --> 00:10:22,200
in any of the windows, and there was nothing visible

149
00:10:22,440 --> 00:10:26,440
in the shape of a door. The whereabouts of this, however,

150
00:10:26,799 --> 00:10:31,120
the driver presently made clear. There be at the door

151
00:10:31,200 --> 00:10:34,279
in front of you. You go up three steps if

152
00:10:34,320 --> 00:10:37,519
you can find em. There's a knocker, if none of

153
00:10:37,639 --> 00:10:41,240
em haven't twisted it off. If they have, there's a

154
00:10:41,240 --> 00:10:45,559
bell on your right, if it isn't broken. There appeared

155
00:10:45,559 --> 00:10:48,759
to be no knocker, though whether it had been twisted

156
00:10:48,799 --> 00:10:52,240
off was more than I could say. But there was

157
00:10:52,279 --> 00:10:56,279
a bell which creaked with rust, though it was not broken.

158
00:10:56,879 --> 00:11:00,399
I heard it tinkle in the distance. No eye answer,

159
00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:05,159
though I allowed a more than decent interval. Better Ring

160
00:11:05,240 --> 00:11:10,360
again suggested the driver hard may be there up to

161
00:11:10,440 --> 00:11:15,639
some of their games, And once rousing was there chuckle

162
00:11:15,679 --> 00:11:19,720
in the fellow's voice. I rang again and again with

163
00:11:19,919 --> 00:11:23,799
all the force I could. The bell reverberated through what

164
00:11:23,960 --> 00:11:28,039
seemed like an empty house. Is there no one in

165
00:11:28,080 --> 00:11:34,240
the place? They're there right enough? Where's another thing? Maybe

166
00:11:34,360 --> 00:11:37,000
on the roof or in the cellar? If they know

167
00:11:37,159 --> 00:11:41,559
you're coming, perhaps they hear and don't choose to answer better.

168
00:11:41,639 --> 00:11:47,120
Ring again, I sounded another peal. Presently, feet were heard

169
00:11:47,159 --> 00:11:51,679
advancing along the passage, several pairs, it seemed, and a

170
00:11:51,799 --> 00:11:56,440
light gleamed through the window over the door. A voice inquired,

171
00:11:56,879 --> 00:12:03,320
who's there, mister Christopher from London? The information was greeted

172
00:12:03,360 --> 00:12:07,559
with what sounded uncommonly like a chorus of laughter. There

173
00:12:07,639 --> 00:12:12,039
was a rush of retreating feet, an expostulating voice, then

174
00:12:12,159 --> 00:12:18,279
darkness again and silence. Who lives here? Are the people?

175
00:12:18,480 --> 00:12:24,440
Mat while thereabouts? Once more I suspected the driver of

176
00:12:24,519 --> 00:12:28,879
a chuckle. My temper was rising. I had not come

177
00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:32,799
all that way and subjected myself to so much discomfort

178
00:12:33,159 --> 00:12:36,639
to be played tricks with, I told the bell again.

179
00:12:37,240 --> 00:12:40,000
After a few seconds interval, the pit pat of what

180
00:12:40,399 --> 00:12:45,399
was obviously one pair of feet came towards the door. Again.

181
00:12:45,480 --> 00:12:49,039
A light gleamed through the pane, a key was turned,

182
00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:54,039
a chain unfastened, bolts withdrawn. It seemed as if some

183
00:12:54,120 --> 00:12:56,840
one had to drag a chair forward before one of

184
00:12:56,879 --> 00:13:01,919
these latter could be reached. After vast amount of unfastening,

185
00:13:02,320 --> 00:13:06,360
the door was opened, and on the threshold there stood

186
00:13:06,360 --> 00:13:10,240
a girl with a lighted candle in her hand. The

187
00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:13,200
storm rushed in. She put up her hand to shield

188
00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:19,000
the light from danger. Can I see missus Wilson, I'm expected.

189
00:13:19,360 --> 00:13:24,480
I'm mister Christopher from London. Oh that was all she said.

190
00:13:24,960 --> 00:13:28,600
I looked at her. She at me. The driver's voice

191
00:13:28,720 --> 00:13:32,919
came from the background. I drove him over from the station.

192
00:13:33,159 --> 00:13:36,480
Miss there'd be a lot o luggage. He do say,

193
00:13:36,519 --> 00:13:40,840
he's come to stay with you. Is that you tidy?

194
00:13:41,440 --> 00:13:44,720
I'm afraid I can offer you nothing to drink. We've

195
00:13:44,759 --> 00:13:48,000
lost the key of the cellar and there's nothing out

196
00:13:48,279 --> 00:13:51,240
except water, and I don't think you'd care for that.

197
00:13:52,440 --> 00:13:55,639
I can't say rightly as how I should miss next

198
00:13:55,639 --> 00:13:59,919
time we'll do. Be it all right? The girl continued

199
00:14:00,080 --> 00:14:05,200
to regard me. Perhaps you'd better come inside. I think

200
00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:10,320
I had. I went inside. It was time. Have you

201
00:14:10,399 --> 00:14:14,519
any luggage? I admitted that I had, perhaps it had

202
00:14:14,559 --> 00:14:18,919
better be brought in. Perhaps it had Do you think

203
00:14:18,960 --> 00:14:23,559
that you could manage tidy the mayre? She'll stand still enough,

204
00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:29,320
I should think, I court miss by degrees. My belongings

205
00:14:29,320 --> 00:14:33,120
were borne into the hall, hidden under an envelope of snow.

206
00:14:33,679 --> 00:14:37,799
The girl seemed surprised at the number. The driver was paid,

207
00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:41,679
The car disappeared, the door was shut. The girl and

208
00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:46,840
I were alone together. We didn't expect that you would come,

209
00:14:48,279 --> 00:14:51,720
not expect me, but it was all arranged. I wrote

210
00:14:51,799 --> 00:14:54,399
to say that I would come. Did you not receive

211
00:14:54,480 --> 00:14:59,600
my letter? We thought that you were joking, joking. Why

212
00:14:59,600 --> 00:15:05,559
should you imagine that we were joking? You were? Then?

213
00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:08,440
I am together that I have been made the subject

214
00:15:08,440 --> 00:15:13,080
of a practical joke, and that I'm an intruder here. Well,

215
00:15:13,600 --> 00:15:16,200
it's quite true that we did not think you were

216
00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:22,000
in earnest. You see, it's this way. We're alone alone.

217
00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:26,159
Who are we? Well, it will take a good while

218
00:15:26,200 --> 00:15:30,279
to explain. And you look tired and cold. I am both.

219
00:15:31,039 --> 00:15:35,799
Perhaps you're hungry, I am. I don't know what you

220
00:15:35,919 --> 00:15:40,200
can have to eat unless it's to morrow's dinner. To

221
00:15:40,360 --> 00:15:46,159
morrow's dinner, I stared, Can I see missus Wilson, missus Wilson,

222
00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:51,159
that's mamma. She's dead. I beg your pardon. Can I

223
00:15:51,200 --> 00:15:56,879
see your father? Oh, father's been dead for years? Then

224
00:15:57,159 --> 00:16:00,679
to whom have I the pleasure of speaking? I'm Madge,

225
00:16:01,519 --> 00:16:07,120
I'm mother. Now you are mother. Now the trouble will

226
00:16:07,159 --> 00:16:10,159
be about where you are to sleep, unless it is

227
00:16:10,240 --> 00:16:14,159
with the boys. The rooms are all anyhow, and I'm

228
00:16:14,200 --> 00:16:18,320
sure I don't know where the beds are. I suppose

229
00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:22,399
there are servants in the house. She shook her head. No.

230
00:16:22,799 --> 00:16:26,159
The boys thought that they were nuisances, so we got

231
00:16:26,240 --> 00:16:30,159
rid of them. The last went yesterday. She wouldn't do

232
00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:35,320
any work, so we thought she'd better go under those circumstances.

233
00:16:35,320 --> 00:16:39,399
I think it probable that you were right? Then, am

234
00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:44,840
I to understand that there are children? Rather? As she spoke,

235
00:16:44,919 --> 00:16:47,240
there came a burst to laughter from the other end

236
00:16:47,279 --> 00:16:51,000
of the passage. I spun round. No one was in sight.

237
00:16:51,600 --> 00:16:56,679
She explained, they are waiting round the corner. Perhaps we'd

238
00:16:56,679 --> 00:17:00,360
better have them here. You people, you'd better to come

239
00:17:00,440 --> 00:17:05,480
and let me introduce you to mister Christopher. Her procession

240
00:17:05,559 --> 00:17:09,160
began to pear from round the corner of boys and girls.

241
00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:13,160
In front was a girl of about sixteen. She advanced

242
00:17:13,200 --> 00:17:17,160
with outstretched hand and an air of self possession, which

243
00:17:17,200 --> 00:17:21,960
took me at a disadvantage. I'm Bessie. I'm sorry me

244
00:17:22,119 --> 00:17:25,039
kept you waiting at the door. But the fact is

245
00:17:25,119 --> 00:17:28,119
that we thought it was Eliza's brother who had come

246
00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:32,920
to insult us. Again, pray, don't mention it. I'm glad

247
00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:37,039
that it was not Eliza's brother, so am I. He's

248
00:17:37,079 --> 00:17:41,400
a dreadful man. I shook hands with the rest of them.

249
00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:45,400
There were six more, four boys and two girls. They

250
00:17:45,480 --> 00:17:49,119
formed a considerable congregation as they stood eyeing me with

251
00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:54,480
inquiring glances. Match was the first to speak. I wondered

252
00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:56,720
all along if he would take it as a joke

253
00:17:56,880 --> 00:18:00,799
or not, And you see he hasn't. I thought all

254
00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:03,480
the time that it was a risky thing to do.

255
00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:08,119
I liked that you keep your thoughts to yourself. Then

256
00:18:08,519 --> 00:18:11,519
it was you proposed it. You said you'd been reading

257
00:18:11,599 --> 00:18:15,119
about something of the kindness story, and you voted for

258
00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:19,160
our advertising ourselves for a lark. The speaker was the

259
00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:23,160
biggest boy, a good looking youngster with sallow cheeks and

260
00:18:23,440 --> 00:18:27,799
shrewd black eyes. But rupert I never meant it to

261
00:18:27,880 --> 00:18:31,599
go so far as this, how far did you mean

262
00:18:31,640 --> 00:18:34,839
it to go? Then it was your idea all through.

263
00:18:35,440 --> 00:18:38,640
You sent in the advertisement, you wrote the letters, and

264
00:18:38,759 --> 00:18:42,039
now he's here. If you didn't mean it, why didn't

265
00:18:42,039 --> 00:18:47,799
you stop his coming? Rupert, The girl's cheeks were crimson.

266
00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:52,519
Bessie interposed, The thing is that as he is here,

267
00:18:52,839 --> 00:18:56,119
it's no good worrying about whose fault it is. We

268
00:18:56,200 --> 00:18:59,440
shall simply have to make the best of it. Then

269
00:18:59,480 --> 00:19:02,960
to me, I suppose you really have come to stay.

270
00:19:04,039 --> 00:19:06,559
I confess that I had some notion of the kind

271
00:19:06,680 --> 00:19:11,200
to spend an old fashioned Christmas. At this, there was laughter,

272
00:19:11,640 --> 00:19:16,799
chiefly from the boys. Rupert exclaimed, A nice sort of

273
00:19:16,839 --> 00:19:20,279
old fashioned Christmas, you'll find it will be. You'd be

274
00:19:20,400 --> 00:19:24,119
sorry you came before it's through. I'm not so sure

275
00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:27,680
of that. There appeared to be something in my tone

276
00:19:27,920 --> 00:19:31,160
which caused a touch of silence to descend upon the group.

277
00:19:31,799 --> 00:19:35,680
They regarded each other doubtfully, as if in my words

278
00:19:35,720 --> 00:19:41,799
a reproof was implied. Bessy was again the spokeswoman. Of course,

279
00:19:42,240 --> 00:19:45,119
now that you have come, we mean to be nice

280
00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:49,119
to you. That is as nice as we can, because

281
00:19:49,200 --> 00:19:51,400
the thing is that we are not in a condition

282
00:19:51,599 --> 00:19:54,799
to receive visitors. Do we look as if we were

283
00:19:55,920 --> 00:19:59,119
to be frank? They did not. Even Match was a

284
00:19:59,160 --> 00:20:02,279
little unca while the boys were in what I believe

285
00:20:02,640 --> 00:20:08,400
is the average state of the average boy, and murmured Madge.

286
00:20:08,839 --> 00:20:13,680
Where is mister Christopher to sleep? What is he to eat?

287
00:20:14,279 --> 00:20:19,240
Inquired Bessie. She glanced at my packages. I suppose you've

288
00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:23,480
brought nothing with you. I'm afraid I haven't. I had

289
00:20:23,519 --> 00:20:27,960
hoped to have found something ready for me on my arrival. Again,

290
00:20:28,160 --> 00:20:32,440
they peeped at each other as if ashamed. Midge repeated

291
00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:38,880
her former suggestion, there's to morrow's dinner. Oh hang it,

292
00:20:39,480 --> 00:20:43,799
exclaimed Rupert. It's not so bad as that there's a

293
00:20:43,960 --> 00:20:48,880
ham uncooked. You can cut a stake off or whatever

294
00:20:48,960 --> 00:20:53,319
you call it, and have it broiled. Emil was got

295
00:20:53,359 --> 00:20:56,200
ready in the preparation of which every member of the

296
00:20:56,279 --> 00:20:59,640
family took a hand, and a room was found for me,

297
00:21:00,119 --> 00:21:03,319
in which was a blazing fire and traces of recent

298
00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:08,319
feminine occupation. I suspected that Match had yielded her own

299
00:21:08,359 --> 00:21:12,240
apartment as a shelter for the stranger. By the time

300
00:21:12,279 --> 00:21:15,599
I had washed and changed my clothes, the imprompted dinner

301
00:21:15,839 --> 00:21:20,799
or supper or whatever it was, was ready a curious repast.

302
00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:25,519
It proved to be composed of oddly contrasted dishes, cooked

303
00:21:25,519 --> 00:21:31,440
and sometimes uncooked in original fashion, but hunger that pequant

304
00:21:31,559 --> 00:21:35,000
sauce gave it a relish of its own. At first,

305
00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:38,720
no one seemed disposed to join me. By degrees. However,

306
00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:42,519
one after another found a knife and fork, until all

307
00:21:42,599 --> 00:21:45,839
the eight were seated with me round the board, eating

308
00:21:46,079 --> 00:21:50,359
some of them as if for dear life. The fact

309
00:21:50,440 --> 00:21:54,799
is explained, Rupert. We're a rum lot. We hardly ever

310
00:21:54,880 --> 00:21:58,880
sit down together. We don't have regular meals. But whenever

311
00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:02,279
anyone feels picky, he goes and gets what there is

312
00:22:02,839 --> 00:22:06,480
and cooks it and eats it on his own. It's

313
00:22:06,519 --> 00:22:10,960
not quite so bad as that protested Madge. Though it's

314
00:22:11,039 --> 00:22:15,319
pretty bad. It did seem pretty bad from the conventional

315
00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:19,960
point of view. From their conversation, which was candor itself,

316
00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:24,039
a gleaned details which threw light upon the peculiar position

317
00:22:24,400 --> 00:22:28,160
of affairs. It seemed that their father had been dead

318
00:22:28,240 --> 00:22:32,119
some seven years. Their mother, who had been always delicate,

319
00:22:32,599 --> 00:22:36,119
had allowed them to run nearly wild since she died

320
00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:39,640
some ten months back. They appeared to have run quite wild.

321
00:22:40,160 --> 00:22:43,960
The house, with some six hundred acres of land, was theirs,

322
00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:48,039
and an income, as to whose exact amount no one

323
00:22:48,119 --> 00:22:53,920
seemed quite clear. It's about eight hundred a year, said Rupert.

324
00:22:54,400 --> 00:22:58,799
I don't think it's quite so much, doubted Madge. I'm

325
00:22:58,920 --> 00:23:03,359
sure it's more, declared Bessie. I believe we're being robbed.

326
00:23:04,640 --> 00:23:09,480
I thought it extremely probable. They must have had peculiar parents.

327
00:23:09,839 --> 00:23:13,559
Their father had left everything absolutely to their mother, and

328
00:23:13,640 --> 00:23:17,039
the mother, in her turn everything in trust to Madge,

329
00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:21,519
to be shared equally among them all. Madge was an

330
00:23:21,519 --> 00:23:25,200
odd trustee. In her hands, the household had become a

331
00:23:25,240 --> 00:23:28,759
republic in which every one did exactly as he or

332
00:23:28,839 --> 00:23:33,880
she pleased. The result was chaos. No one wanted to

333
00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:37,680
go to school, so no one went. The servants, finding

334
00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:42,440
themselves provided with eight masters and mistresses, followed their example

335
00:23:42,880 --> 00:23:47,839
and did as they liked. Consequently, after sundry battles, royal

336
00:23:48,319 --> 00:23:52,240
lively episodes, some of them had evidently been one after

337
00:23:52,359 --> 00:23:55,640
the other had been got rid of. Until now not

338
00:23:55,839 --> 00:23:59,920
one remained. Plainly, the house must be going to rack

339
00:24:00,279 --> 00:24:06,599
and ruin. But have you no relations, I inquired. Rupert answered,

340
00:24:07,079 --> 00:24:09,880
We've got some cousins or uncles or something of the

341
00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:13,680
kind in Australia, where so far as I am concerned,

342
00:24:13,720 --> 00:24:17,839
I hope they'll stop. When I was in my room,

343
00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:21,119
which I feared was madgs, I told myself that it

344
00:24:21,279 --> 00:24:25,559
was a queer establishment on which I had lighted. Yet

345
00:24:25,680 --> 00:24:28,759
I could not honestly affirm that I was sorry I

346
00:24:28,799 --> 00:24:33,000
had come. I had lived such an uneventful and such

347
00:24:33,079 --> 00:24:36,480
a solitary life, and had so often longed for some

348
00:24:36,559 --> 00:24:39,880
one in whom to take an interest, who would not

349
00:24:40,039 --> 00:24:44,440
talk medicine chest that to be plunged all at once

350
00:24:44,680 --> 00:24:47,680
into the center of this troop of boys and girls

351
00:24:48,039 --> 00:24:51,720
was an accident which, if only because of its novelty,

352
00:24:52,119 --> 00:24:55,960
I found a musing. And then it was so odd

353
00:24:56,160 --> 00:25:00,799
that I should have come across a match. At last,

354
00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:04,200
in the morning, I was roused by noises, the cause

355
00:25:04,240 --> 00:25:08,079
of which at first I could not understand. By degrees

356
00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:11,559
the explanation dawned on me. The family was putting the

357
00:25:11,599 --> 00:25:17,000
house to rights, a somewhat noisy process. It seemed some

358
00:25:17,039 --> 00:25:21,119
one was singing, someone else was shouting, and two or

359
00:25:21,200 --> 00:25:25,680
three others were engaged in a heated argument. In such

360
00:25:25,799 --> 00:25:29,079
loud tones. Was it conducted that the gist of the

361
00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:33,160
matter traveled up to me. How do you think I'm

362
00:25:33,160 --> 00:25:36,039
going to get this fire to burn? If you beastly

363
00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:39,720
kids keep messing it about, It's no good banging at

364
00:25:39,759 --> 00:25:43,640
it with a poker till it's a light. The voice

365
00:25:43,720 --> 00:25:47,640
was unmistakably Rupert's. There was the sound of a scuffle,

366
00:25:47,880 --> 00:25:52,079
cries of indignation, then a girlish voice pouring oil upon

367
00:25:52,119 --> 00:25:56,240
the troubled waters. Presently there was a rattle and clatter,

368
00:25:56,599 --> 00:25:58,920
as if someone had fallen from the top of the

369
00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:02,279
house to the bottom. I rushed to my bedroom door.

370
00:26:03,519 --> 00:26:08,559
What on earth has happened? A small boy was outside, Peter.

371
00:26:09,319 --> 00:26:12,759
He explained, Oh, it's only the broom and Daspan gone

372
00:26:12,839 --> 00:26:17,720
tobogganing down the stairs. It's Bassy's fault. She shouldn't leave

373
00:26:17,759 --> 00:26:21,559
them on the landing. Bessy, appearing from a room opposite,

374
00:26:21,799 --> 00:26:26,319
disclaimed responsibility. I told you to look out where you

375
00:26:26,599 --> 00:26:31,160
were going, but you never do. I'd only put em

376
00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:34,279
down for a second while I went into empty jug

377
00:26:34,319 --> 00:26:37,319
o water. On to Jack, who won't get out of bed,

378
00:26:37,519 --> 00:26:39,839
and there are all the boats for him to clean.

379
00:26:40,759 --> 00:26:45,839
Injured tones came through the open portal. You wait, that's all.

380
00:26:46,039 --> 00:26:49,319
I'll soak your bed to night. I'll drone it. I

381
00:26:49,440 --> 00:26:52,279
don't want to clean your dirty boats. I'm not a

382
00:26:52,440 --> 00:26:57,119
shoe black. The breakfast was a failure to begin with.

383
00:26:57,359 --> 00:27:01,160
It was inordinately late. It seemed that the bath was

384
00:27:01,200 --> 00:27:05,240
not obtainable. I had been promised some hot water, but

385
00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:09,039
as I waited and waited and none arrived, I proceeded

386
00:27:09,039 --> 00:27:11,519
to break the eyes in my jug. It was a

387
00:27:11,559 --> 00:27:16,880
bitterly cold morning, nice old fashioned weather, and to wash

388
00:27:16,920 --> 00:27:20,880
in the half frozen contents. As I am not accustomed

389
00:27:20,920 --> 00:27:25,440
to perform my ablutions in partially dissolved eyes, I feared

390
00:27:25,480 --> 00:27:30,240
that the process did not improve my temper. It was

391
00:27:30,279 --> 00:27:33,559
past eleven when I got down, feeling not exactly in

392
00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:38,519
a Christmasy frame of mind. Everything and everyone seemed at

393
00:27:38,559 --> 00:27:42,880
sixties and sevens. It was afternoon when the breakfast appeared.

394
00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:47,079
The principal dish consisted of eggs and bacon, but as

395
00:27:47,119 --> 00:27:50,720
the bacon was fried to cinders and the eggs all broken,

396
00:27:51,240 --> 00:27:53,799
it was not so popular as it might have been.

397
00:27:54,400 --> 00:27:59,400
Much was moved to melancholy. Something will have to be done.

398
00:28:00,079 --> 00:28:03,559
We can't go on like this. We must have some

399
00:28:03,720 --> 00:28:08,960
one in to help us. Bessy was sarcastic. You might

400
00:28:09,079 --> 00:28:12,839
give Eliza another trial. She told you if you didn't

401
00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:16,440
like the way she burned the bacon, to burn it yourself.

402
00:28:16,799 --> 00:28:20,119
And as you've followed her advice, she might be able

403
00:28:20,160 --> 00:28:25,680
to give you other useful hints on similar lines. Rupert

404
00:28:25,839 --> 00:28:30,920
indulged himself in the same vein. Then there's Eliza's brother.

405
00:28:31,559 --> 00:28:34,680
He threatened to knock your blooming head off for saying

406
00:28:34,759 --> 00:28:39,119
Eliza was dishonest, just because she collared everything she laid

407
00:28:39,119 --> 00:28:42,359
her hands on. He might turn out a useful sort

408
00:28:42,359 --> 00:28:46,599
of creature to have about the place. It's all very

409
00:28:46,599 --> 00:28:49,799
well for you to laugh, but it's beyond a jest.

410
00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:53,400
I don't know how we're going to cook the dinner.

411
00:28:54,839 --> 00:28:58,759
Can I be of any assistance? I inquired? First of all,

412
00:28:58,880 --> 00:29:02,319
what is there to cook? It seemed that there were

413
00:29:02,359 --> 00:29:07,119
a good many things to cook. A turkey, a goose, beef,

414
00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:12,759
plum pudding, mince pies, custard, sardine's. It seemed that Molly

415
00:29:12,920 --> 00:29:16,640
the third Girl, as she phrased it, could live on Sardine's,

416
00:29:17,240 --> 00:29:20,079
And esteemed no dinner, a decent dinner at which they

417
00:29:20,119 --> 00:29:23,279
did not appear together with a list of et ceteras.

418
00:29:23,480 --> 00:29:28,160
Half as long as my arm. One thing is clear,

419
00:29:28,680 --> 00:29:32,440
you can't cook all those things. To day, we can't

420
00:29:32,519 --> 00:29:36,839
cook anything. This was Rupert. He was tilting his chair

421
00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:41,640
back and had his face turned towards the ceiling. Why not,

422
00:29:42,319 --> 00:29:47,279
because there's no coal. No coal, there's about half a

423
00:29:47,319 --> 00:29:50,640
scuttleful of dust. If you can make it burn, you'll

424
00:29:50,680 --> 00:29:55,799
be clever. What Rupert said was correct. Madge confessed with

425
00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:59,759
Crimson Cheeks that she had meant over and over again

426
00:30:00,160 --> 00:30:04,799
to order some coal, but had continually forgotten it, until

427
00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:08,440
finally Christmas Day had found them with an empty cellar.

428
00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:12,039
There was plenty of wood, but it was not so

429
00:30:12,319 --> 00:30:15,799
dry as it might have been, and anyhow, the grate

430
00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:21,000
was not constructed to burnwood. You might try smoked beef,

431
00:30:21,480 --> 00:30:25,599
suggested Rupert. When that wood goes at all, it smokes

432
00:30:25,720 --> 00:30:28,880
like one o'clock. If you hung the beef up over it,

433
00:30:28,880 --> 00:30:31,200
it would be smoked enough for any one. By the

434
00:30:31,279 --> 00:30:35,519
time that it was done. I began to rub my chin,

435
00:30:36,119 --> 00:30:39,839
considering the breakfast we had had. From my point of view,

436
00:30:39,920 --> 00:30:44,200
the situation commenced for the first time to look really grave.

437
00:30:44,920 --> 00:30:47,519
I wondered if it would not be possible to take

438
00:30:47,519 --> 00:30:51,759
the whole eighth somewhere where something really eatable could be got.

439
00:30:52,359 --> 00:30:55,440
But when I broached the subject, I learned that the

440
00:30:55,519 --> 00:30:59,400
thing could not be done. The nearest hostelry was the

441
00:30:59,440 --> 00:31:03,160
Boy and Lunderbuss, and it was certain that nothing eatable

442
00:31:03,319 --> 00:31:07,240
could be had there, even if accommodation could be found

443
00:31:07,279 --> 00:31:10,440
for us. All, nothing in the shape of a possible

444
00:31:10,519 --> 00:31:14,640
house of public entertainment was to be found closer than

445
00:31:14,680 --> 00:31:19,000
the market town eight miles off. It was unlikely that

446
00:31:19,279 --> 00:31:23,200
even there a Christmas dinner for nine could be provided

447
00:31:23,319 --> 00:31:27,440
at a moment's notice. Evidently, the only thing to do

448
00:31:27,680 --> 00:31:31,720
was to make the best of things. When the meeting

449
00:31:31,759 --> 00:31:34,440
broke up, Madge came and said a few words to

450
00:31:34,519 --> 00:31:38,799
me alone. I really think you had better not stay.

451
00:31:39,680 --> 00:31:42,839
Does that mean that you had rather I went, No,

452
00:31:43,759 --> 00:31:49,640
not exactly that, then nearly that. No, not a bit

453
00:31:49,799 --> 00:31:54,720
that only you must see for yourself, how awfully uncomfortable

454
00:31:54,759 --> 00:31:58,200
you'd be here, And what a horrid house this is,

455
00:31:59,319 --> 00:32:04,039
my dear Madge. Everybody called her Madge, so I did,

456
00:32:04,720 --> 00:32:08,000
even if I wanted to go, which I don't, and

457
00:32:08,119 --> 00:32:10,559
I would remind you that you contracted to give me

458
00:32:10,640 --> 00:32:14,319
an old fashioned Christmas. I don't see where there is

459
00:32:14,480 --> 00:32:19,599
that I could go. Of course there's that I don't

460
00:32:19,640 --> 00:32:24,079
see either, So I suppose you'll have to stay. But

461
00:32:24,200 --> 00:32:26,359
I hope you won't think that I meant you to

462
00:32:26,559 --> 00:32:31,680
come to place like this. Really, you know, I'm sorry

463
00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:35,519
I had hoped you had. That's not what I mean.

464
00:32:36,240 --> 00:32:39,359
I mean that if I had thought that you were coming,

465
00:32:39,880 --> 00:32:44,079
I would have seen that things were different, how different?

466
00:32:44,640 --> 00:32:47,319
I assure you that things as they are have a

467
00:32:47,440 --> 00:32:52,519
charm of their own. That's what you say. You don't

468
00:32:52,519 --> 00:32:56,160
suppose that I'm so silly as not to know your

469
00:32:56,279 --> 00:32:59,759
laughing at me. But as I was the whole cause

470
00:32:59,799 --> 00:33:03,359
of your coming, I hope you won't hate the others

471
00:33:03,440 --> 00:33:08,000
because of me. She marched off, brushing back with an

472
00:33:08,079 --> 00:33:13,039
impatient gesture some rebellious locks which had strayed upon her forehead.

473
00:33:15,240 --> 00:33:20,000
That Christmas dinner was a success, positively of a kind.

474
00:33:20,440 --> 00:33:23,960
Let that be clearly understood. I am not inferring that

475
00:33:24,079 --> 00:33:26,279
it was a success from the point of view of

476
00:33:26,319 --> 00:33:30,279
a chef to cousin, not at all. How could it

477
00:33:30,400 --> 00:33:34,839
be quite the other way by dint of ransacking all

478
00:33:35,000 --> 00:33:39,200
the rooms, and emptying all the scuttles, we collected a

479
00:33:39,200 --> 00:33:42,440
certain amount of coal, with which, after adding a fair

480
00:33:42,519 --> 00:33:48,000
proportion of wood, we managed, not brilliantly, but after a fashion.

481
00:33:48,759 --> 00:33:52,559
I can only say personally, I had not enjoyed myself

482
00:33:52,640 --> 00:33:56,319
so much for years. I really felt as if I

483
00:33:56,400 --> 00:33:59,720
were young again. I'm not sure that I'm not younger

484
00:33:59,759 --> 00:34:03,079
than I thought I was. I must look the matter up.

485
00:34:03,920 --> 00:34:07,599
And after all, even if one be save forty, one

486
00:34:07,599 --> 00:34:11,840
need not be absolutely an ancient Madge herself said that

487
00:34:11,960 --> 00:34:14,639
I had been like a right hand to her. She

488
00:34:14,760 --> 00:34:17,039
did not know what she would have done without me.

489
00:34:18,559 --> 00:34:21,360
Looking back, I cannot but think that if we had

490
00:34:21,360 --> 00:34:26,480
attempted to prepare fewer dishes, something might have been properly cooked.

491
00:34:27,239 --> 00:34:30,280
It was a mistake to stuff the turkey with sage

492
00:34:30,360 --> 00:34:34,480
and onions, but as Bessy did not discover that she

493
00:34:34,599 --> 00:34:38,079
had been manipulating the wrong bird until the process of

494
00:34:38,119 --> 00:34:41,679
stuffing had been completed, it was felt that it might

495
00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:45,599
be just as well to let it rest. Unfortunately, it

496
00:34:45,599 --> 00:34:50,119
turned out that some time parsley mint and other things

497
00:34:50,159 --> 00:34:53,079
had got mixed up with the sage, which gave the

498
00:34:53,119 --> 00:34:56,920
creature quite a peculiar flavor. But as it came to

499
00:34:57,039 --> 00:35:01,079
table nearly raw and as tough as he ery, it

500
00:35:01,239 --> 00:35:06,239
really did not matter. My experience of that day teaches

501
00:35:06,320 --> 00:35:08,840
me that it is not easy to roast a large

502
00:35:08,880 --> 00:35:13,239
goose on a small oil stove. The dropping fat caused

503
00:35:13,239 --> 00:35:15,840
the flame to give out a strong smelling and a

504
00:35:15,920 --> 00:35:19,920
most unpleasant smoke. Rupert, who had charge of the operation,

505
00:35:20,519 --> 00:35:23,239
affirmed that it would be all right in the end,

506
00:35:23,960 --> 00:35:26,880
But by the time the thing was served it was

507
00:35:26,920 --> 00:35:30,800
as black as my hat. Rupert said that it was

508
00:35:30,880 --> 00:35:34,599
merely brown, but the brown was of a sou to ee,

509
00:35:34,960 --> 00:35:38,039
and it reeked of paraffin. We had to have it

510
00:35:38,119 --> 00:35:42,440
deposited in the ashpin. I dare say that the beef

511
00:35:42,480 --> 00:35:45,280
would not have been bad if some one had occasionally

512
00:35:45,320 --> 00:35:48,800
turned it, and if the fire would have burnt clear.

513
00:35:49,639 --> 00:35:52,559
As it was, it was charred on one side and

514
00:35:52,719 --> 00:35:57,039
raw on the other, and smoked all over. The way

515
00:35:57,239 --> 00:36:01,039
in which the odor and taste of smoke meated everything

516
00:36:01,320 --> 00:36:05,599
was amazing. The plum pudding came to the table in

517
00:36:05,679 --> 00:36:10,159
the form of soup, and the mince pies were nauseous.

518
00:36:10,199 --> 00:36:14,320
Something had got into the crust or mincemeat or something

519
00:36:14,840 --> 00:36:19,960
which there at any rate was out of place. Luckily,

520
00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:22,880
we came upon a tin of corned beef in a cupboard,

521
00:36:23,519 --> 00:36:26,119
and with the aid of some bread and cheese and

522
00:36:26,280 --> 00:36:29,400
other odds and ends, we made a sort of picnic.

523
00:36:30,159 --> 00:36:34,599
Incredible though it may seem, I enjoyed it. If there

524
00:36:34,679 --> 00:36:38,360
was anywhere a merrier party than we were, I should

525
00:36:38,440 --> 00:36:41,519
like to know where it was to be found. It

526
00:36:41,599 --> 00:36:44,559
must have been a merry one. When I produced the

527
00:36:44,599 --> 00:36:48,360
presence in which a happy inspiration had urged me to invest,

528
00:36:49,000 --> 00:36:53,960
the enthusiasm reached a climax. I believe that is the

529
00:36:54,039 --> 00:36:58,239
proper form of words which I ought to use. As

530
00:36:58,239 --> 00:37:01,760
I watched the pleasure of those youngsters, I felt as

531
00:37:01,760 --> 00:37:07,199
if I were myself a boy again. That was my

532
00:37:07,320 --> 00:37:11,760
first introduction to a lively family. They came up to

533
00:37:11,840 --> 00:37:16,480
the description they had given of themselves. I speak from knowledge,

534
00:37:16,800 --> 00:37:20,920
for they have been my acquaintances now some time, more

535
00:37:20,960 --> 00:37:27,760
than acquaintances, friends, the dearest friends I have. At their request,

536
00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:32,239
I took their affairs in hand Madge informally passing her

537
00:37:32,280 --> 00:37:37,039
trusteeship on to me. Things are very different with them now.

538
00:37:37,559 --> 00:37:40,599
The house is speak and span. There is an excellent

539
00:37:40,639 --> 00:37:44,559
staff of servants, Hangar Dean is as comfortable a home

540
00:37:44,679 --> 00:37:48,679
as there is in England. I have spent many happy

541
00:37:48,760 --> 00:37:53,400
Christmas under its hospitable roof. Since then. The boys are

542
00:37:53,440 --> 00:37:57,239
out in the world, after passing with honor through school

543
00:37:57,360 --> 00:38:01,400
and college. The girls are going out into the world. Also.

544
00:38:02,199 --> 00:38:07,000
Bessie is actually married. Madge is married too. She is

545
00:38:07,159 --> 00:38:10,840
missus Christopher. That is the part of it all which

546
00:38:10,880 --> 00:38:15,119
I find is hardest understand. To have told myself my

547
00:38:15,280 --> 00:38:19,199
whole life long, that the name of my ideal woman

548
00:38:19,440 --> 00:38:23,000
would be Madge, and to have won that woman for

549
00:38:23,159 --> 00:38:28,480
my own at last, that is greater fortune than falls

550
00:38:28,519 --> 00:38:31,840
to the lot of most men. I thought that I

551
00:38:31,960 --> 00:38:35,679
was beyond that kind of thing, that I was too old,

552
00:38:36,320 --> 00:38:39,079
But Madge seemed to think that I was young enough,

553
00:38:39,719 --> 00:38:43,800
and she thinks so still. And now there is a

554
00:38:43,960 --> 00:38:47,239
little Madge who is big enough to play havoc with

555
00:38:47,360 --> 00:38:50,519
the sheets of paper on which I have been scribbling,

556
00:38:50,800 --> 00:38:54,639
to whom one day this tale will have to be told.

557
00:38:57,599 --> 00:39:01,360
End of an Old Fashioned Christmas by Richard marsh