CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY WIS Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924013457175 Cornell University Library PR 4699.F165J8 1871 Joshua Marvel. 3 1924 013 457 175 JOSHUA MA^EL. BY B. L. FARJEON, AUTHOR OF " GRIF." BOSTON : JAMES R. OSGOOD AND COMPANY, (LaT* TiCKNOE & FrELDS, AND FIELDS, OSGOOD, & Co.) I87I. FROM ADVANCE SHEETS. Boston : Stereotyped and printed by Rand, Avery, b' Co. CONTENTS. Chap. I. n. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. XI. XII. XIII. XIV. XV. XVI. XVII. xvm. XIX. XX. XXI. XXII. XXIII. XXIV. XXV. XXVI. xxvn. xxvin. XXIX. XXX. XXXI. XXXII. XXXIII. XXXIV. XXXV. XXXVI. XXXVII. XXXVIII. XXXIX. XL. XLI. XLII. Page ' Concerning certain Family Conversations and their Result 5 Showing how a Passion for Punch and Judy may lead to Disastrous Consequences 9 The Life and Death of Golden Cloud 13 In which Dan gets Wild Notions into his Head, and MAKES some very BoYISH EXPERIMENTS . . . .18 Joshua makes up his Mind to go to Sea 24 The Actor and his Daughter 30 Explains why Praiseworthy Meddler remained a Bachelor 33 A Happy Holiday 36 Minnie and her Shell 45 GOOD-BY 61 What occurred after Joshua's Departure . . . .59 Dan enters into Business 63 Dan declares that it is like a Romance . . . .67 The Strange Courses of Love 70 Solomon Fewster gives the Lascar a Flower . . .74 Christmas-eve at Home 80 The Dog and his Master 82 The Rivalry op Love 86 Sunshine and Cloud 92 The only Duty that Minnie can understand . . .96 Love's Sacrifice . 100 Never to return 109 The Old Sailor sets Matters straight 113 False Friend or True? 122 The Dead Witness 125 Basil Kindred's Diary 128 What the Neighbors think of it 139 On Board the "Merry Andrew" 142 The Wreck op the "Merry Andrew" 146 Joshua is promoted 155 On the Raft 158 Saved from the Sea 164 On the Rocks 173 Bitter Revelations 175 Surprised by Savages 180 The Power of Music 186 Harsh Judgments 190 Mr. Marvel shakes the Dust from his Feet .... 194 So Near, and yet so Far 202 Faithful unto Death 208 Joshua and the Old Wizard 211 Faithful Hearts 215 f X1^ JOSiUA MlMEL CHAPTER I. CONCERNINO CERTAIN FAMILT CONVBR- SAT10N8 AND THEIR RESULT. In tlie parish of Stepney, in the county of Middlesex, there lived, amidst the hun- dreds of thousands of human bees who throng that overcrowded locality, a family composed of four persons — mother, father, and two children, boy and girl — who owned the surprising name of Marvel. They had Uved in their hive for goodness knows how many years. The father's fa- ther had lived there and died there ; the father had been married from there ; and the childrfin had been born there. The bees in the locality, who elbowed each other and trod upon each other's toes, were poor and common bees, and did not make much honey. Some of them made just enough to live upon ; and a good many of them, now and lien, ran a little short. The consequence was, that they could not store any honey for a rainy day, and were com- pelled to labor and toil right through the year, in cold weather and in warm weather, in sunshine and in rain. In which respect they were worse off than other bees we know of that work in the summer and make themselves cosey in the winter. The bees in the neighborhood being common and poor, it was natural that the neighborhood itself should partake of the character of its inhabitants. But, common and poor as it was, it was not too common nor too poor for love to dwell in it. Love did reside there ; not only in the hive of the Marvels, but in hundreds of other hives, tenanted by the humblest of humble bees. George Marvel had married for love; and, lest the reader should suppose that the contract was one-sided, it may be as well to mention that George Marvel's wife had also married for love. They fell in love in the usual way, and they married in the "usual way; and, happy and satisfied with each other, they did not mar their enjoyment of the then present by thinking of the sharp stones which, from the very circum- stances of their position, were prettysure to dot the road of their future lives. There are many such simple couples in the world who believe that the future is carpeted with velvet grass, with the sun always shining upon it', and who find themselves all too soon stumbUng over a dark and rocky thoroughfare. It was not long before the Marvels came to the end of their little bit of carpet sun- shine ; yet, when they got upon the sharp stones, they contrived by industry and management to keep their feet. George Marvel was a wood-turner by trade, and earned on an average about thirty-two shilUngs a week. What with a little new furniture now and then, and a little harm- less enjoyment now and then, and a few articles of necessary clothing now and then, and the usual breakfasts, dinners, and teas, with a little bit of supper now and then, the thirty-two shillings a week were pretty well and pretty fully employed. So well and so fully were those weekly shillings em- ployed, that it was often a very puzzling matter to solve that problem which mil- lions of human atoms are studying at this present moment, and which consists in en- deavoring to make both ends meet. That they did contrive, however, to make both ends meet (not, of course, without the tug- ging and stretching always employed in the process), was satisfactorily demonstrated by the fact that the family were respected and esteemed by their neighbors, and that they owed no man a shilling. Not even the baker ; for they sent for their loaves, and paid for them across the counter. By that 5 JOSHUA MAEVEL. they almost always received an extra piece to make up weight ; and such extra pieces are of importance in a family. Not even the butcher ; for Mrs. Marvel diJ her own marketing, and found it far cheaper to se- lect her own joints, which you may be sure never had too much bo.ip in them. Not even the cat's-meat m!.n ; for the farthiijg a day laid out with ;hat tradesman was faithfully paid in presence of the carroty- haired cat (who ever heard cf a cat with auburn hair ?) who sat tb? while with eager appetite, looking with hungry eyes at the skewer upon which hung her modi- cum of the flesh of horse. Mrs. Marvel was a pale but not sad wo- man, who had no ambition in life worthy of being called one, save the ambition of making both ends meet, and of being able, although Stepney was not liable to floods, to keep the heads of her family above water. But, because Mrs. Marvel had no ambition, that was no reason why Mr. Mar- vel should not have any. Not that he could have defined precisely what it was if he had been asked ; but that the con- stant difficulties which cropped up in the constant attempt to solve the problem (which has something perpetual in its na- ture) of making both ends meet, made him fretful. This fretfulness had found vent in speech day after day for many years ; so that Joshua Marvel, the wood-turner's heir, had from his infancy upwards been in the habit of hearing what a miserable thing it was to be poor, and what a miserable thing it was to be cooped up, as George Marvel expressed it, and what a miserable thing it was to live until one's hair turned gray without over having had a start in the world. It is not to be wondered at, there- fore, that Joshua Marvel had gathered slowly in his mind the determination not to be a wood-turner all his life, but to start in the world for himself, and try to be some- thing better ; never for one moment think- ing there was the most demote possibility of his ever being any thing worse. When, in the course of certain family discussions and conversations, this determination be- came known, it did not receive discourage- ment from the head of the family, although the tender-hearted mother cried by the hour together, and could not for the life of her see why Joshua should not be satisfied to do as his father had done before him. "And what is that, mother V " Mr. Marvel would ask. " What have I done before liim ? I've been wood-turning all my life before him — that's what I've been doing ; and I shall go on wood-turning, I suppose, till my dying day, when I can't wood-turn any more. Why, it might be yesterday that I started as a boy to learn wood-turning. The first day T used the lathe I dreamed that I had cat my thumb off; and I woke up with a curious sensation in my jaw which has haunted me ever since like a ghost. That was before I l?new you, mother. And now it is to-day, and I'm wood-turning still; and — How many white hairs did you piiU out of my head last night, Sarah ?" . "Fourteen," replied Sarah ; " and you owe me a farthing.*' " Fourteen," said Mr. Marvel, quietly re- pudiating the liability, which arose from an existing arrartgement that Sarah should have a farthing for every dozen white hairs she pulled out of his head ; " and next week iu wil' be forty, perhaps ; and the week after four hundred." " White hairs will come, father," said Mrs. Marvel ; " we must all get 'em when we're old enough." " I'm not old enough," grumbled Mr. Marvel. " And I don't see, father," continued Mrs. Marvel, " what the fourteen white hairs Sarah pulled out of your head has to do with Joshua." " Of course you don't see, mother," said Mr. Marvel, who had a contempt for a wo- man's argument ; " you're not supposed to see, being a woman ; but I do see ; and what I say is, wood-turning brings on white hairs quicker than any thing else." "Grandfather was a wood-turner," remark- ed Mrs. Marvel, " and he didn't have white hairs until he was quite old." " Well, he was lucky — that's all I can say ; but, for all that, Josh isn't going to be a wood-turner, unless he's set his mind upon it." " I won't be a wood-turner, father,'' said Joshua. " All right. Josh," said Mr. Marvel ; " you sha'n't." From this it will be seen that the voice maternal was weak and impotent when op- posed to the voice paternal. But Mrs. Marvel, although by no means a strong- minded woman, had a will of her own, and a quiet unobtrusive way of working which often achieved a victory without inflicting humiliation. She" did not like the idea of her boy leading an idle life ; she had an intuitive conviction that Joshua would come to no good if he had nothing to do. She argued the matter with her good man, and never introduced the subject at an im- proper time. The consequence was, that her first moves were crowned with success. " If Joshua won't be a wood-turner, fa- ther " — she said. " Which he won't," asserted her husband. " Which he won't, as you say," Mrs. Mar- vel replied, like a sensible woman. " If he won't be a wood-turner, he must be some- FAMILY CONVERSATIONS. thing. Kow he must be something, father — mustn't he ? " This being spoken in the form of a ques- tion, left the decision with Mr. Marvel ; and he said, as if the remark originated with himself, — " Yes ; he must be something." And with that admission Mrs. Marvel rested content for a little while ; but not for long. She soon returned to the attack ; and asked her husband what Joshua should be. Now this puzzled Mr. Marvel ; and he could not see any way out of the difficulty, except by remarking that the boy would make up his mind one of these fine days. But " these fine days " — in which people, especially boys, make up their minds — are remarkably like angels' visits ; and the cal- endar of our lives often comes to an end without one of them being marked upon the record. To all outward appearance, this was likely to be the case with Joshua ; and the task of making up his mind seemed to be so tardy in its accomplishment, that George Marvel himself began to grow per- plexed as to the future groove of his son and heir ; for Joshua kept himself mentally very much to himself. Vague wishes and desires he had ; but they had not yet shaped themselves in his mind — which was most likely the reason why they had not found expression. Meanwhile Mrs. Marvel was not idle. She saw her husband's perplexity, and re- joiced at it. Her great desire was to see Joshua settled down to a trade, whether it were wood -turning or any other. Wood- turning she would have preferred ; but, fail- ing that, some other trade which would fix him at home ; for with that keen perception which mothers only possess with regard to their children — a perception which springs from the maternal intellect alone, and which is born of a mother's watchfiil anxious love — she felt that her son's desires, unknown even to himself, might possibly lead him to be a wanderer from her world, the parish of Stepney, in which she was content to live and die. In that beehive she had been born ; in that beehive she had experi- enced calm happiness and wholesome trou- ble ; and in that beehive she wished to close her eyes ; and to see her children's faces smiling upon her, when her time came to say good-by to the world of which she knew so little. With all a woman's cun- ning, with all a woman's love, she devoted herself to the task of weaning the mind of her favorite child from the restless aspi- rations which might drive him from her side. " Until Joshua makes up his mind what he is going to be, father," she said one night at candle--tiwe, " it's a pity he should remain idle. Idleness isn't a good thing for a boy." " Idleness isn't a good thing for boy or man," said Mr. Marvel, converting his wife's remark into an original expression of opin- ion by the addition of the last two words. "But I don't see what we are to do, mother." " Suppose I get him a situation — as an errand-boy, perhaps — until he makes up his mind." " I'm agreeable," said Mr. Marvel, " if Josh is." But Josh was not agreeable. Many a fruitless journey did Mrs. Marvel make, trudging here and trudging there ; and many an application did she answer in per- son to written announcements in shop-win- dows of " Errand-boy wanted." Joshua would not accept any of the situations she obtained for him. She got him one at a watchmaker's ; no, he would not go to a watchmaker's : at a saddler's ; no, he would not go to a saddler's : at a bootmaker's, at a tailor's ; no, nor that, nor that. Still she persevered, appearing to gain fresh courage from every rebuflT. As for Joshua, he was beginning to grow wearied of her assiduity. He was resolved not to go to any trade, but being of a very affectionate nature he de- sired to please his mother, and at the same time to convince her that it was of no use for her to worry him any longer. So he set her, what he considered to be an impossible task ; he told her that he was determined not to go anywhere except to a printing- office. He felt assured that she would never be able to get him within the sacred precincts of such an establishment. And even if she did, there was something more noble, something more distinguished and grander, in printing than in bootmaking, or tailoring, or watchmaking, or wood-turn- ing. There was a fascinating mystery about it ; he had seen watchmakers, and tailors, and cobblers working, but he had never seen the inside of a printing-office. Neither had any of his boy-friends. He had been told, too, that there was an act of parlia- ment which allowed printers to wear swords in the streets. That was a fine thing. How all the neighbors would stare when they saw him walking through the narrow streets of Stepney with a sword at his side ! Joshua had some sense of humor ; and he chuckled to himself at the impossible task he had set his mother. He was therefore considerably astonished one day, when Mrs. Marvel told him she had obtained a situation for him as errand- boy in a newspaper-office. Did ever a wo- man fail, except from physical or mental prostration, in the accomplishment of a cer- tain thing upon which she has set her mind ? 8 JOSHtJA MARVEL. And if, in working for the accomplishment of the desired result, she brings to her aid an unselfish, unwearying love, then did ever a woman fail ? At all events Mrs. Marvel did not. After much labor, fortune befriended her ; and she heard that an errand-boy was wanted at a certain print- ing-ofBce where a weekly newspaper was printed. Thither she hurried, and soon found herself in a small dark office, in which the master sat. He treated her in the most off-hand man- ner. Yes, he wanted an errand-boy. Was he sharp, intelligent, willing ? Oh, her son I Very well. Let him come to-morrow. Wages, four shillings a week. Time, from eight to eight. An hour to dinner, half an hour to tea. Good-morning. Thus the matter was settled, and Joshua engaged. Mrs. Marvel went home rejoi- cing. With fear and trembling, a little pleased and a good deal dismayed, Joshua made his way the next morning to the printing-office. Groping along a dark passage he came to a door on which the word " Office " was dimly discernible. The freshness of youth- ful paint had departed from the word ; the letters were faded, and they appeared to be waiting to be quite rubbed out with a kind of jaded resignation. In response to the sharply-uttered " Come in 1 " Joshua opened the door, and entered the room. The person he saw before him had such a dissipated appearance, that any stranger would have been warranted in coming to the conclusion that he had not been in bed for a fortnight. The room was full of papers, very dusty and very dirty ; and looked as if, from the day it was built, it had not found time to wash itself Scarcely raising his eyes from a long slip of paper, upon which he was making a number of complicated marks, the occupant of the room said, — " It's of no use bothering me. I sha'n't have any copy ready for half an hour. Hallo ! Who are you ? " " The new errand-boy, sir," said Joshua, humbly. " Oh, very well ! Take this proof up stairs and sweep the composing-room ; then come down and clean the street-door plate. Cut along I Look sharp I " Looking as sharp as he could, Joshua walked up stairs, and found himself in the composing-room of the establishment. A number of men and boys, decorated with aprons with large bibs, were playing a mys- terious game with hundreds and thousands of small pieces of lead, which they clicked with marvellous rapidity, but without any apparent meaning, against an instrument they held in their hands. He looked in vaia for the swords which he had heard printers were allowed to wear, and he was covered with confusion at finding himself in the midst of so large an assemblage, who one and all appeared as if they were playing on a number of pianos without any tune in them. Going up to a youth whose head, covered with a profusion of red hair, looked as if it were in a blaze, Joshua asked to whom he should give the proof " To Snooks," was the prompt reply. For which piece of information he received a slap on the side of his head from some person in authority ; who, taking the proof from Joshua, directed him to sweep up the room. While performing this task he surveyed the scene before him. There were sixteen men and four boys at work. All the men had the same dissipated look that he had observed upon the countenance of the master. Their faces, otherwise, were very clean ; but the tips of the right-hand fore-finger and thumb of each were black with dirt, caused by the types which they picked up with those ex- tremities from the boxes before them. Not a word was spoken, except what appeared to have reference to the business, and the conversation proceeded somewhat in this wise. One of the workmen, walking to a slab of iron placed in the middle of the room, took therefrom a sheet of manuscript, and looking at it negligently, shouted, — " Number three ! " Another voice at the end of the room cried out, — " Awful Collision ! " Joshua stopped in the midst of his sweep- ing, and waited for the shock. But as none came, he proceeded with his work, and thought that the second speaker was crazy. In the mean time the dialogue continued. Speaker number one : "End a break." Speaker number two : " All right," with a growl. Speaker number one : " What type ? " Speaker number two, with another growl: " Minion." At the word " minion, " which Joshua considered was a term expressive of any thing but respect, he expected speaker number one would walk up to speaker num- ber two, and punch his head. Instead of which the insulted individual went into his corner again, and re-commenced playing his tuneless piano in the meekest possible manner. The overseer then going to a part of the room where long rows of type were placed in detached pieces, asked, — " How long will this Dreadful Suicide be before it's finished ? " " Done in five minutes, sir," was the re- ply, in a cheerful voice. " Who's on the Inquest ? " asked the over- seer. " I am, sir." FAMILY OONVEESATIONS. 9 " Be quick and get it finished ; you've been long enougli over it. Now, then, how long is this Chancery Court to remain open ? " "Close it up in two minutes, sir." And Joshua gazed with a kind of won- der at the individual who spoke, as if it were as easy to close the Court of Chan- cery as to close his hand. It was the day on which the paper was sent to press ; the publishing hour was three o'clock in the afternoon ; and as the work was behindhand, everybody was very busy. In the centre of the room was a large iron slab, and at one time the ham- mering and beating on this slab were ter- rific. Two or three excited individuals, with mallets and iron sticks in their hands, advanced towards the type, which was laid upon the slab, with the apparent intention of smashing it to pieces. 'They commenced to do this with such extraordinary earnests ness, that Joshua was on the point of rush- ing down stairs to the master to inform him that his property was being wantonly de- stroyed ; but as the other workmen ap- peared to regard the proceeding as quite a matter of course, Joshua checked himself and thought it would perhaps be as well for him to say nothing about it. The overseer also continued to issue his strange orders ; and during a slight cessation in the hammer- ing, he peremptorily ordered the workman to " lock up that Escaped Lunatic, and be quick about it." At another time he gave direc- tions to lay the Female in Disguise on the stone (meaning the iron slab), to unlock the Old Bailey, and to correct the Chancel- lor's Budget. Joshua grew perfectly bewil- dered. The information that there was an Escaped Lunatic in the room did not so much astonish as alarm him ; but as to the Female in Disguise he could not identify her, and he waited in amazement to see what disguise she wore and where she would be brought from ; at the same time entertaining the idea that to lay any female upon a stone was a decidedly improper pro- ceeding. While in this state of mental per- plexity, the overseer cried out, — , " Now, then, who has the Female in Dis- guise in hand ? " " I have, sir," a voice replied. " Bring it here, then," ordered the over- seer, "and finish the corrections on tlie stone." " All right, sir." Joshua started and looked round to catch a sight of the female ; in his agitation he stumbled against a workman who held a column of type in his arms. The type fell to the ground, and was smashed into thou- sands of pieces. In an instant the whole office was in confusion. " You've done it this time, youngster," the workman said in dismay, looking at the scattered type on the floor. Joshua did not exactly know what it was he haddoae, but felt that it must be something very bad. He soon received practical proof of the extent of the mis- chief, for the master, rushing into the room, kicked him down stairs, and told him to go about his business. Which Joshua did in a state of much bewilderment. Thus all the good intentions of Mrs. Marvel were frustrated. Joshua declared he would not take another situation, and his father sided with him and encouraged him. It must be confessed that Mr. Mar- vel continued to have his perplexities about Joshua's career, but to have openly admit- ted them would have been handing the vic- tory to his wife. So he kept them to him- self, and thus maintained his supremacy as master of the house. Many of his neigh- bors were henpecked, and he used to laugh at them. It would not have done to have given them the chance to laugh at him. Therefore, as time progressed, Mrs. Mar- vel's protests were less and less fi-equently made, and Joshua's determination not to be a wood-turner gathering strength month after month, it soon came to be recognized as quite a settled thing that he was to start in life for himself, and was not to do as his father had done before him. Pend- ing his decision, Joshua continued to lead an idle life. , But he was by no means vi- ciously inclined ; and much of his time was spent in the cultivation of two innocent amusements, both of which sei-ved him in good stead in the singular future which was in store for him. One of these amusements was a passion for music. He knew nothing of musical notation, and played entirely by ear ; yet he managed to extract sweet mel- ody from a second-hand accordion, of which, after long and patient saving of half pence and pence, he had become the happy pur- chaser. The other of his tastes grew out of a boyish love. How he acquired it will be recounted in the following chapters. CHAPTER H. SHOWING HOW A PASSION FOR PUNCH AND JUDY MAY LEAD TO DISASTROUS CONSEQUENCES. There are few boys in the world who are without their boy-friends whom they woi^ ship, or by whom they are worshipped, with a love far surpassing in its unselfish- 10 JOSHUA MARVEL. ness the love of maturer years. The mem- ory of times that are gone is too often blurred by waves of sorrowful circumstance. Our lives are like old pictures ; the canvas grows wrinkled, and the accumulated dust of years lies heavy upon figures that once were bright and fair. But neither dust nor wrinkles can obliterate the memory of the love we bore to the boy-friend with whom we used to wander in fields that were greener, beneath skies that were bluer, than fields and skies are now. Cannot you and I remember the time when we used to stroll into the country with our boy-friend, and, with arms thrown lovingly around each other's neck, indulge in day-dreams not the less sweet because they were never to be realized ? And how, when we had built our castles, and were looking at them in the clouds, with our hearts filled with joyful fancies, we wan- dered in silence down the shady lane, sweet with the scent of the flowering May that shut us out from view on either side ; and across the field with its luxuriant grass up to our ankles with everywhere the daisy peeping out to watch us as we passed ; and over the heath where the golden gorse was blushing with joy; and down the narrow path to the well which shrunk from public observation at the bottom of a flight of cool stone steps, hewn out by the monks of a cloister which should have been hard by, but wasn't, having been destroyed in a bloody battle which took place once upon a time ? Not many such experiences as these did Joshua and his boy-friend enjoy ; for our Damon's Pythias, whose proper name was Daniel Taylor, was lame, with both his legs so badly broken that, had he lived unto the age of Methuselah and been fed upon the fat of the land, those props of his body would have been as useless to him all through his long life as if they had been blades of the tenderest grass. The Taylors had three children : Susan, Ellen, and Daniel. Ellen and Daniel were twins, and when they were born Susan was ten years old. The worldly circumstances of the Taj'lors were no better than those of their neighbors ; indeed, if any thing, they were a little worse than those of many around them. The parents, therefore, could not atlbrd to keep a nurse-girl, and it was fortunate for them that they had pro- vided one in the person of their elder daughter, and had allowed her to grow to a, suitable ago before they ventured to bring other children into the world. Fortunate as it was for the parents, it was most un- fortunate for Daniel ; for before he and his other half were born, Susan Taylor had contracted a passion almost insane in its intensity, to which her only brother was doomed to be a victim. That passion was a love for the British drama, as represented in Punch and Judy. All Susan's ambitions and yearnings were centred in the show; and it was not to be supposed that she would allow so small a matter as twins to interfere with her absorbing passion. How the liking for Punch and Judy had grown with her years and strengthened with her strength, it is not necessary here to trace. The fact remains, and is sufficient for the tragedy of poor Daniel's life. Squeezed to their sister's breast, Daniel and Ellen were condemned to take long journeys after Punch and Judy, and to be nursed at stre