Latest / The Frances Hodgson Burnett Library / The Shuttle Chapter 29 - The Thread of G Selden

Transcript

The Shuttle Chapter 29 - The Thread of G Selden · The Frances Hodgson Burnett Library

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: CHAPTER XXIX. THE THREAD OF G. SELDON The shuttle, having
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: in its weaving caught up the thread of G. Seldon's
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: rudimentary existence, and drawn it with the young man himself
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: across the sea, used curiously the thread in question in
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: the forming of the design of its huge web. As
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: wool and coarse linen are sometimes interwoven with rich silk
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: for decorative or utilitarian purposes— so perhaps was this previously
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: unvalued material employed. It was, indeed, an interesting truth that
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: the young man, during his convalescence, without his own knowledge,
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: acted as a species of magnet which drew together persons
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: who might not easily otherwise have met. Mr. Penzance and
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: Mount Dunstan rode over to see him every few days,
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: and their visits naturally established relations with Stornham Court much
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: more intimate than could have formed themselves in the same
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: length of time under any of the ordinary circumstances of
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: country life. conventionalities lost their prominence in friendly intercourse with
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: selden it was not however that he himself desired to
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: dispense with convention his intense wish to do the right
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: thing and avoid giving offence was the most ingenious and
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: touching feature of his broad cosmopolitan good-nature if i ever
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: make a break sir he had once said with almost
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: passionate fervour in talking to mr penzance please tell me
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: and set me on the right track No fellow likes
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: to look like a hoosier, but I don't mind that
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: half as much as seeming not to appreciate. He used
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: the word appreciate frequently. It expressed for him many degrees
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: of thanks. I tell you, that's fine, he said to Uhtred,
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: who brought him a flower from the garden. I appreciate that.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: To Betty he said more than once, You know how
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: I appreciate all this, Miss Vanderpool. You do know I
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: appreciate it, don't you? He had an immense admiration for
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: Mount Dunstan, and talked to him a great deal about America,
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: often about the sheep ranch and what it might have
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: done and ought to have done. But his admiration for Mr.
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: Penzance became affection. To him he talked oftener about England,
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: and listened to the vicar's scholarly stories of its history,
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: its past glories and its present ones, as he might
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: have listened at fourteen to stories from the Arabian Nights.
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: These two being frequently absorbed in conversation, Mount Dunstan was
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: rather thrown upon Betty's hands. When they strolled together about
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: the place, or sat under the deep shade of green trees,
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: they talked not only of England and America, but of
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: diverse things which increased their knowledge of each other. It
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: is points of view which reveal qualities, tendencies, and innate differences,
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: or accordances of thought, and the points of view of
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: each interested the other. Mr. Selden is asking Mr. Penzance
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: questions about English history, Betty said, one one of the
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: afternoons in which they sat in the shade. I need
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: not ask you questions. You are English history. And you
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: are American history, Mount Dunstan answered. I suppose I am.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: At one of their chance meetings, Miss Vanderpool had told
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: Lord Dunham and Lord Westhold something of the story of G. Selden.
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: The novelty of it had delighted and amused them. Lord
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: Dunham had at points been touched as Penzance had been.
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: Westholt had felt that he must ride over to Stornham
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: to see the convalescent. He wanted to learn some New
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: York slang. He would take lessons from Selden, and he
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: would also buy a Delcoff, two Delcoffs, if that would
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: be better. He knew a hard-working fellow who ought to
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: have a typewriter. He thought I have one, he said
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: to his father. Heath was the house steward. Think of
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: the letters the poor chap has to write to tradespeople
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: to order things and unorder them.' and blaggered the shopkeepers
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: when they're not satisfactory.' Invest in one for Heath, father.''
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: It is by no means a bad idea,' Lord Dunham reflected.'
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: Time would be saved by the use of it, I
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: have no doubt.'' It saves time in any department where
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: it can be used,' Betty had answered.' Three are now
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: in use at Stornham, and I am going to present
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: one to Kedgers.' This is a testimonial I am offering.'
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: Three weeks ago I began to use the Delcoff.' Since
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: then I have used no other.' If you use them,
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: you will introduce them to the county.' She understood the
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: feeling of the junior assistant when he found himself in
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: the presence of possible purchasers. Her blood tingled slightly. She
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: wished she'd bought a catalogue.' We will come to Stornham
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: to see the catalogue,' Lord Dunham promised.' Perhaps you'll read
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: it aloud to us,' Westholt suggested gleefully.' Gee, Selden knows
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: it by heart and will repeat it to you with
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: running comments.' You know, I shall be very glad if
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: you decide to buy one, or two, or three, with
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: an uplift of the Irish blue eyes to Lord Dunham.
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: The blood of the first Reuben Vanderpool stirs in my veins. Also,
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: I have begun to be fond of G. Selden.' Therefore
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: it occurred that on the afternoon referred to, Lady Anstruthers
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: appeared crossing the sward with two male visitors in her wake.'
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: Lord Dunham and Lord Westholt,' said Betty, rising.' For this
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: meeting between the men Selden was without doubt responsible. While
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: his father talked to Mount Dunstan, Westholt explained that they
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: had come athirst for the catalogue. Presently Betty took him
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: to the sheltered corner of the lawn where the convalescent
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: sat with Mr. Penzance. But for a short time Lord
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: Dunham remained to converse with Mount Dunstan. In a way
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: the situation was delicate. To encounter by chance a neighbour
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: for whom one, for reasons, has not seen since his
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: childhood— and to be equal to passing over and gracefully
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: obliterating the intervening years makes demand even upon finished tact.
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: Lord Dunham's world had been a large one, and he
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: had acquired experience tending to the development of the most
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: perfect methods. If G. Selden had chanced to be the
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: magnate which had decided his course this special afternoon, Miss
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: Vanderpool it was, who had stirred in him sufficient interest
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: in Mount Dunstan to cause him to use the best
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: of these methods when he found himself face to face
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: with him. He beautifully eliminated the years, he eliminated all
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: but the facts that the young man's father and himself
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: had been acquaintances in youth, that he remembered Mount Dunstan
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: himself as a child, that he had heard with interest
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: of his visit to America. Whatsoever the young man felt,
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: he made no sign which presented obstacles. He accepted the
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: eliminations with outward composure. He was a powerful-looking fellow, with
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: a fine way of carrying his shoulders— and an eye
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: which might be able to light savagely, but just now
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: at least he showed nothing of the sulkiness he was
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: accused of. Lord Dunham progressed admirably with him. He soon
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: found that he need not be upon any strain with
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: regard to the eliminations the man himself could eliminate, which
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: was an assistance. They talked together when they turned to
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: follow the others to the retreat of G. Selden.' Have
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: you bought a Delcoff?' Lord Dunham inquired. If I could
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: have afforded it, I should have bought one. I think
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: that we have come here with the intention of buying three.
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: We did not know we required them until Miss Vanderpool
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: recited half a page of the catalogue to us. Three
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: will mean a rake-off of fifteen dollars to G. Selden,
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: said Mount Dunstan. It was, he saw, necessary that he
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: should explain the meaning of a rake-off, and he did
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: so to his companion's entertainment. The afternoon was a satisfactory one.
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: They were all kind to G. Selden, and he, on
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: his part, was an aid to them. In his innocence
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: he steered three of them at least through narrow places
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: into an open sea of easy intercourse. This was a
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: good beginning. The junior assistant was recovering rapidly and looked
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: remarkably well. The doctor had told him that he might
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: try to use his leg. The inside cabin of the
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: cheap liner and little old New York were looming up
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: before him. But what luck he had had, and what
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: a holiday! It had been enough to set a fellow
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: up for ten years' work. It would set up the
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: boys merely to be told about it. He didn't know
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: what he had done ever to deserve such luck as
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: had happened to him. For the rest of his life
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: he would be waving the Union Jack alongside of the
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: Stars and Stripes. Mr. Penzance it was who suggested that
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: he should try the strength of the leg now. Yes,
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: Mount Dunstan said, let me help you. As he rose
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: to go to him, Westholt good-naturedly got up also. They
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: took their places on either side of his invalid chair,
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: and assisted him to rise and stand on his feet.'
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: It' s all right, gentlemen, it's all right,' he called out
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: with a delighted flush when he found himself upright.' I
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: believe I could stand alone. Thank you, thank you.' He
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: was able, leaning on Mount Dunstan's arm, to take a
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: few steps. Evidently, in a short time, he would find
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: himself no longer disabled. Mr. Penzance had invited him to
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: spend a week at the vicarage. he was to do
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: this as soon as he could comfortably drive from the
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: one place to the other. After receiving the invitation, he
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: had sent secretly to London for one of the Delcoffs
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: he had brought with him from America as a specimen.
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: He cherished in private a plan of gently entertaining his
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: host by teaching him to use the machine. The vicar
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: would thus be prepared for that future in which surely
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: a Delcoff must in some way fall into his hands. Indeed,
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: fortune having at length cast an eye on himself, my
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: chance to favour him further and in time he might
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: be able to send a high-class machine as a grateful
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: gift to the vicarage. Perhaps Mr. Penzance would accept it
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: because he would understand what it meant of feeling and appreciation.
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: During the afternoon Lord Dunham managed to talk a good
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: deal with Mount Dunstan. There was no air of intention
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: in his manner, nevertheless intention was concealed beneath its courteous amiability.
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: He wanted to get at the man. Before they parted
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: he felt he had, perhaps, learned things, opening up new
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: points of view. In the smoking-room at Dunham that night
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: he and his son talked of their chance encounter. It
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: seemed possible that mistakes had been made about Mount Dunstan.
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: One did not form a definite idea of a man's
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: character in the course of an afternoon, but he himself
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: had been impressed by a conviction that there had been mistakes.'
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: We are a rather stiff-necked lot in the country when
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: we allow ourselves to be taken possession of by an idea,'
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: Westholt commented.' I am not at all proud of the
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: way in which we have taken things for granted,' was
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: his father's summing up.' It is perhaps worth observing,' taking
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: his cigar from his mouth and smiling at the end
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: of it as he removed the ash,' that but for
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: Miss Vanderpool and Jeece Selden we might never have had
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: an opportunity of facing the fact that we may not
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: have been giving fair play.' and one has prided oneself
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: on one's fair play. End of chapter 29