The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1869-08-17 00:00:00

Literaturt.

THE PHILOSOPHER AN!) THE OUTCASTS.
The child having reached the threshold of the caravan
ivrcrived, 11:10111r the stove, • won--toil, smooth. tile
and old, dressed in grey. whose hied, as he stood,
reached the roof. The man weld mot have raised him-
wit no tiptoe. The caravan waa just his size.
" Enter eitid the wan, who was Crow.
The child enered.
"Put down your bundle."
. _

The child placed his buithen carefully on the top of
the chest, for fear of awakening and terrifying htr.
The man continued,—
What do you put there no aoftly ? Yea would not
do more were itta CAW of relics. In it that you are afraid
of tearing a hole in those rags of yours? Alt! worth-
ies. vagabond ! in the streets at this hour! WI, are
you? Answer! But no. I forbid you to iIII4WVI.
There! You are cold. Warm your self Sc quieklr so
r‘.ll can," and he shoved Liw by th • shoulder* in front
tf the fire.
" Are you wet enough? Are you froten enough? A
nice state to come into a house h Come, take off Whose
outer rage, villain snails with one hand, with feverish
loo.te, he dragged off eta boy', rags which tore into
shreds, with the other he tool,, down front • nail aorta'.
ehirt, and one of those knitted jacket* which are all to
this day called kissomesquo.ks.
"Here are clothea."
ll,' chose out of a he ap a woollen rag, and chafed
be (ore the fire the limb of the exhausted and bewildered
eldhl, who at that nno nest of warm nakednese felt as if
lie were arcing and te oelsine heaven. The limbs having
br• " rubbed, li. sae t essayed the feet.
camas, ! you are not frostbitten! I was
• fo"i to fanel 70'..a had something frozen, hirodiegs
or the fore-paws. Thou wilt not lose the use of them
this time. Dew y th‘ielf
The child pu t on the ahirt, and the man placed over
It the ithittal jacket.
Tho watt 'nicked the stool forward, and made the little
boy sit dow 0, again shoeing him by the shoulders, aml
then twin ied with his finger to the porringer which
smoked • pon the store. What the child saw in the
Puttlußs• waa, again, heaven to hint—namely a potato
and hi•
b...
Y°' are hungry—eat !
Tic men took from the shelf a erase of hard bread,
• iron fork, and handed then, to tie child.
T" boy hesitated.
ferhaps you expect me to lay • cloth," said the
I. and he placed the porringer on the child's hp.
'Gobble that up."
II unfree overcame astoniahment. The child began to
vat. The unfortunate boy devoured rather than ate.
The glad sound of the crunching of bread filled the hut.
The man grumbled,-
-

"Not no quick, horrid gourniandiser ! Is he not a
gresdy scoundrel? When such scum are hengry, they
eat in a revolting fashion. You should see a lord sup.
I, in n.y lifetime, have seen dukes eat. They do not
tar. It is that which is noble. They drink, however.
Come, wild hoer! stuff yourself !'
The *hence of ears, which is the concomitant of a
hungry belly, causod the child to take little heed to the
violence of these epithets, tempered as they were by
charity of action, which involved • contradiction re.
suiting in his benefit. Fin the moment hew.. absorbed
by two etigences, and by two extasies—liood and
warmth.
resits continued his Imprecations, muttering to
Limo-If,
" I have seen King James supping in propret persona,
in the Banqueting House, where are to Is, admired the
paintings of the buboes Ruben.. His Ilsjcsty touched
nothing. That b. ggsr over there, browses., browses—a
word derived Irons brute. What made um think of
cooling to this Weymouth seven times devoted to the
infernal deltic,' ? I have sold nothirg Mime the morn-
ing. I have harangued the snow. I have played the
flute to the horricaou. I have not poek.ted • farthing;
and now, to-night, these beggars drop in. Horrid
country! There ii a battle, • atruggle, • competition
between the fools of passenger., and myself. They try
to give me nothing but farthiegs. I try to give them
nothing but drugs. Well! to-day there is nothing.
Not an idiot in the highway. Not • penny in the till.
Est away I Ilell-bern boy I Tear and munch ! We
have fallen on times when nothing can equal the
cynicism of *mangers. Fatten at my expense. Parasite
That wretched boy over there is more than hungry; he
is mad. It is not appetite, it is ferocity. Ile is carried
away ;ly a mad virus. Perhaps he bac the plague.
Jlad you the plague, thief? Suppose be were to give it
flet !

" No, never ! Let the populseedie, but not my wolf.
/Int hysthe-hy. I am hungry mywilt I declare that
this is a di.greenble incident. I have worked to-nay
far into the night. There are seasons in • man's lit,
who. ha is hard pressed. I was to-night by hunger.
I was all *lone. I made a fire. I had but one potato,
one crust of breod, • mouthful of bacon, and • drop of
milk, and I put it to warm. I Kay to myself, *good.'
I think I an. going to eat, and hang I ttis crocodile
most fall upon me at the very moment. He installs
himself clean between my food and myself. Beheld!
how my larder is devamtated I Eat! pike. rat! Shark !
how many teeth had you in your jaws? Gaul.? Wolf-
cub ;no I withdraw that work. I respect wolves.
Swallow up sny food, boa. I have worked all day, end
far into the night, on an empty stoiuseh ; my throat
by..; my parien•as in distress; my entrade out of
order • end my reconipenee is to gee another est.
'Ti. all one, though! We will divide. He shall
licee !tread, the potato aad the bacon, and I will have
the iv.lk."

At this moment a wail, lamentable and prolonged,
leo, in the hut. The Man

You on ! syoophant ! Why do you. cry?"
'rhe boy turned towards him, it was evidont that it
war not ha who cried. lie had his mouth full.
rho cry was uninb minted.
'rho man went to the chest.

.• It i. this packet then that walla V..le of Jaime-
haphat ! Behold a vociferating parcel ! What the
devil has your burolle.got towing about'"
..

- .
Ile unrolled the j.,cli.et, an infant's head eppeared, the
mouth open and eryiug.
! Who gnu there!" said the man. " Here
,4 them. When is %Lie to cod? Who is
there To arm.! corporal! call out the guerd ;
soother baa6t! What have you brought rue, thief? Do
y.. 11 not we it is thirsty?
" (lone ! the little one must have a drink. Good !
now I shell not have even the milk."

lie took down from the things lying iiedisortler on
thn. shelf i bander) of linen, • sponge, and • phial
muttering savagely, "What on infernal country !"
Then be looked at the little infant. " Tut • girl I
one can id that by her mimeos, and she is drenched as
well." lie dragged away as he had done from the boy,
tie tatters in .ei.ish she was knotted up rather than
drea-ail. an I .swathed ber in a rag, which, though of
come linen, was clean and dry. This rough and cud.
den artisan.; exasperated the infant.
She we re relentlessly," said he.
Mt or, a long pieoe of spong, tore from the roll a
wittsra Pan se of linen, drew float it • bit of thread,
I, saucepan in which there we, some
mill fro in the stove, filled the phial with milk, drove
down tl se sponge halfway into It. neck, oovered the
slvdtec with linen, tied thia cork In with the thread,
uPPiv3 his cheeks to the phial to be sum that it was not
h and seised under bin left arm the bewildered
bunt' In, which wax still crying. "Come I have thy
aup.,,er. creature! Let ine stickle you," and he put the
nt, sit of the bottle to it. month,.

little infant drank greedily.
He held the phial at the nosiessary Incline, grumbling,
—"Thee ern all the same, the cowards! When they
bate all they want they are silent."
The child had drank so energetically, and bad seised •
in eagerly this cad of the bread offered by • groom-
gained Providence, that she wee taken with a fit of
coughing.
"You are going to choke !" growled Una', "A fine
gobbler I. this one &tool"
Ile drew away the spoor whieh she was seeking,
allowed the cough to subside, and thou replaced the
phisl to her lips, saying, "Suck ! atreet walker r
in the meantime the boy had laid down his fork.
tho infant drink had made him forget to eat.
rie moment before, when he ate, the expression in his
Ton wt. satisfaction -now it was gratitude. He watched
the ittfant's renewal of life ; that completion of the
resurrection begun by himself filled his eye, with an
ineffable brilliancy. Urges went on muttering angry
words between his teeth. Tbe little boy now and then
lifted to Ursus his eyo, moitt with the indefioable I
',notion which this poor little being felt without I
ng able to trine.. It. Until addresaed him furioualy.
Well, then, eat !"
"And your said the child, all trembling, and with
tn., in hi. eyes. "Y.O have nothing r
Will you be kind enough to eat it all up, cub !
There is not too much for you, u there was not enough
for me."
The child took up his fork, but did not eat.
"Eat," vociferated I/11UL "What has it got to do
with me? Who speaks of me ? Wretched little bare-
footed clerk of Penniless Parish, I tell you to eat it all.
You are hereto eat, drink, and eleep--eat, or I will kick I
you out, you and your companion."
The boy, under this menace, began to eat again. He
bad not umeh trouble in finishing what was left in the
porringer. times muttered. "this building is badly •
jonsed The cold 001110.1 in by the window pone." A ,
pane had indeed been broken in front. Meer by unie
jolt of the earavan, or by • stone thrown by some mis-
chievous boy. Urges had placed a star of paper over
the fracture, which had become us pasted. The blast
entered there.
He ant balfunted on the chest. The infant in his
arms, and at the the came time on his knees, who wits
sucking •01nniptuously at the bottle, with that
Divine somnolency which cherubim' have before their
Creator, and infanta blue their mother"' breast.
" She it drunk." said Ursus ; and he continued,
" After that, make sermons ou teruperenos."
The wind tom front the pane the plaster paper, whieh
new herons the hut ; bet there was nothing in this to
trouble the children entering Into new life ; whilst the
little girl drink, and the little boy ate, Urine
grumbled.
Corn'now, del keep an inn, or do I not? Why
should I trade with thee arrivals of travellers. The
universal distreae fiends its spattering, even as far as my
welly. Into my cabin fall hideous drops of the groat
human mud. I ant given up to the voracity of
tr,,,,,110r5. I am a prey—the prey of thou dying of
of fete' lkoides, the laws
hunger. Is this fair play
are violatod. Ah I vagabond with year vagabond child
Mischievous pie/pockets era-minded abortion, you walk
the street' after curfew. If our good king only knew
it, would he not have you thrown into the bottom of •
ditch, just to teach you totter. My gentleman walks
nut at night with my lady, and with the glass at
fifteen degrees of frost, hare-heeded and bare,-footed.
Know that such things are forbidden. Them are rules
end regulations, you lawless was. Vagabonds are
puribbed, lioneet folks who have houses are guarded awl
Pr"teeted. King. are the fathers of their people. I
have my own hoist. You would have been whipped in
the Public street hail you chanoed to have been met, and
It would hive been well lone. There mast be order in
an estsblitherl city. For my own part I did wroag not
to denounce thee to the unstable. But I am such a
loot. I understand what is right and do whet is wrong.
Al, I the Eagan ! to come here in much • state! I did
not wee the snow Upaa them when they Dune in ; it his ,
melted, and behold my whole house is swamped. I have !
an inundation in my bout°. It will ho netoorarr
.to I
burn ci incredble aalettat of coals to dry an this
"'ZS
.oelo at twelve farthings, by the miners' standard.
I gtong nuitotzu to nt three into this

I caravan? Now it is thatitsed. I enter into my nureary.
I am going to have In my house the treaning•of the
future beggardnzu of Ensland. I shall have for ems
tdovialent, office, nal (quiet ion, to faahion the misearriod
fortune, of that Coliwaal Proetitute, Misery, to bring to
gerfootiou future gallows' birds, and to give young thisvea
the forms of philoeopy.
"Al.! lam weary of existenoe I After all, one does
not live long I Thia human life is soon done with.
But, no—it is long. At intervals, that we should not
become to discouraged, that we may have the atupidity
to consent to bear oar existence, and not to pr. ft by
the Melpificwnt occasions to hang ourselves which oords
and nails offer us, nature pots on the sir of taking •
little care of man— not on this nisbt, however. This
subtle eats,. germinate. the wheat, ripens the grape.
gives her song to the nightingale. From time to time
there to • ray of morning or a glass of gin, and this is
what we call happiness It is a narrow border of good
around an immense winding-sheet of evil. We have •
destiny of which the devil has woven the staff, and
001 l has sewn the hem. In the meantime, thou hut
eaten my surer, thief !"

_ .
In the meantime, also, the Infant, whom he held all
the time in hitt arm; very terotxly, whilst be mu
vituperating, shut its eyes languidly ; • sign of rt ple•
lion. Units examined the phial, and grumbled,—
" She has drunk it all up. The impudent otetture!"
lie arose, and sustaining the infant with his left arm,
with his right arm he raised the lid of the chest and
drew from beteath it a bear-skin, the ono he celled, as
will he remembered, his real skin. Whilst he accost.
[dished this he heard the other child sating, and looked
at him sideways.
'lt will be • care if. henceforth, I have to feed that
growing glutton. It will boa tape-worm in the entrails
of my industry."
Ile spread out still, with one arm, the bearskin on the
chest, working his elbow and managing his movement
anis not to disturb the beginning of the sleep Into which
the infant had just sank.
Then he laid her down on the fur, on the side next
the fire. Having clone so, he placed the phial on the
stove, and a:claimed,—
"Itia I ho am thirsty "
.... . • _

Ile looked into the pot. There were • few good
mouthfuls of milk left In II; he raised it to his lips. At
the moment when about to drink, his egos fell on the little
girl. lie replaised the pot on the stove, took • phi.!, on.
corked it, poured into it all the milk that remained,
which was just sufficient to 611 it, replaced the sponge
and the linen rag over it, which bs tied round the neck
of the bottle.

"AU the muse ; I am hungry and thirsty," he
°Waned.

And Ile added,—
" When one cannot eat bread, one must drink
water."

It hind the stove tho was a jog with the spout broken

off.
He took it and handed it to the boy.
• • Wilt thou drink"
The ehild drank, and then went on eating.
Prone wild again the pitcher, and inonveyerl it to
his mouth. The temperature of the water which it
eentained had been unequally modified by the proximity
es the dove.
lie swallowed some mouthfuls and made a grimace.
" Water! pretending to be pure, thou rememblest
falae friends. Thou art warm at the top and cold at
the bottom."
In the meantime the boy had finished his supper,
The porringer was more than empty, it was cleaned out.
Ile ricked up and ate pensively • few crumbs naught
in the folds of his knitted jacket over his knees.
Hems turned towards him.
"That is not all. Now for ne both. The mouth is
not made only for eating, it is made for speaking. Now
that you are warmed and stuffed, anima), take care of
yourself. You are going to answer my questions.
Whence come your
The child replied,—
" I know not."
"how meanest thou that thou knoweet not?"
"1 was abandoned this evening on the seashore."
" MI! scamp I what is your name? He is so good
for nothing that his relations abandon him"
"I have no relations.*
" Give In a little to my tastes, and obaerve that I do
not like those who sing to a tune which contains false.
hood. Thou mast have relatives, &ince you have a
sister.
" It i. not my sister."
"it is not your sister r
"No."
"Who is ells then ?.
"It I. a little one 1 found,"
" Found ?"
" What ! did you pick her op T'
Yes."
"Where? If you lie I will exterminate you."
"On the breast of • woman who is dead in the
snow."
" When ?"
" in bone ago."
"Where?"
" A league from hence.*
The frontal arehes of Onus knitted, and took that
pointed shape which characterises emotion in the brow,
of n Philosopher.
" Deal I Then behold one who Is happy. She mast
be left in the snow. She in well off there. 0.2 which
r

itn the aide of be 'ea."
"Did you erect the beidge r
I. yes."
trans opened the window at the back and examined
Ibe view. _

The weather hail not improve/ The mow fell
thickly. and
.moornfally.

He .but the windo.r...

He trent to the broken glass; he filled the fracture
with a rig; he heaped the atone with turf; h. spread
nut as far as he could the bear-akin on the cheat; took
a largo book which he had in the corner, and placed it
rindi . the bolatei for a pillow and laid on it the head of
the sleeping infant.
Then ho turned to the boy.
" Lie down there."

The boy obeyed, and etretolie,l himself at full length
by the side of the infant.
Uratia rolled the bear-skin over the two children, and
tucked it under their feet.

He took down from a shelf, and tied to his body, •
linen belt with *large pocket eontaining.no doubtot case
of instruments and bottles of restoratives.

Then ho tolk the lantern from where it hung at the
ceiling, rind lighted it. It was a dark lantern. In
gising light it left the children in shadow.
Ursa, half opened the door, and said,—
"I am going out. Ile not afraid. I shall return.
Sleep."
Then letting down the stem, he called Homo. He WU
werod by a loader growL
(Jr;., holding the lantern in his hand, descended.
The atop@ were replaced, the door wee reclosg& rhe
children remained alone.

From without, a voice, the voice of Maur, de-
mauded,—

who have jut eaten up my supper, are you
p already?"
"No," replied the child.
" Well, if she bellows, give her the rest of the milk.
The clinking of • chain being undone wait heard, and
the sound of a man', footsteps, mixed with the pads
of an animal, died off in the distance. A few instances
aftur, both children alms! profoundly.
There was an ineffable mingling in their breathings.
They had more than chastity— —they had ignorance. U
if thu word marriage was not inappropriate on this man-
sion, th. y were husband and wife after the fashion of the
angels. Such innocence in such darkness !Such purity in
inch no embrace Them foretastes of heaven are only
possible to childhood, and no immensity approaches the
greatnese of little children—of all gulplas this is the
deepest. The fearful perpetuity of • dead man chained
beyond life, the mighty animosity of the ocean to a
week, the whiteness of the snow covering up dead
bodies, do not Nina in pathos two mouths of children
which meet divinely in sleep, and the meeting of which
was not even • kiss.

_
Tbe clay began by being unpropitious: • dull white-
ness penetrated the hut. It was the froaen dawn.
That wan light, whieh throws into relief the funereal
reality of objects which are blurred into spectral forms
by the night, awakened not the children, so profoundly
were they sleeping. The caravan was warm. Their
breathings alternated like two peaceful waves. There
was no longer • hurricane without. The light of dawn
was slowly taking possession of the horizon. The con-
stellations were being extinguished, likecanciles blown
out one after the other. A few large stars only rebelled.
The deep-toned song of the Infinite came from the Jr.
The fire in the stove was sot quite extinguished.
The twilight broke, little by little, into daylight. Pb.
boy slept less heavily than the girl. At length, • r• 7
brighter than the others broke through the pane, and
he opened his eyes. The sleep of childhood finishes in
forgetfulness. He remained in • state of semi-stuper,
without knowing where he was or what was seer him,
without making an effort to remember, gazing at the
coiling, and composing for himself an aimless task
of dreaming about the letters of the inscription—
Urges, the phileeopber —which, being unable to read,
Ice examined without the power of deciphering.
The sound of • key turning ins lock caused him to
turn Li, bead.
The door turned on its hinges, the steps were let
down. Ursa, hail returned. He aseended the steps,
bls extinguished lantern in his hand. At the tame tune
the Ili tittering of four paws fell upon the steps. It was
Homo, following Ursus, who had also retuned to his
home.

The boy awoke with somewhat of 'start. The wolf,
having an appetite gave him e saUna! grin, whicb,
showed iris rows of very white teeth. He stoePwo
when he had got half way up the steps, and placed
both *teem within the caravan, both elbows on the
thre.hold, like a preacher on the edge of • pulpit. He
willful the cheat from afar. hot being in the habit of
finding it thus occupied. His woolfine form framed
light
framed
by the doorway. wee designer!designer!in black against
of morning. He mole up his mini, and entered. be
boy, wring the wolf inthe c.ravan, got out of the
bur skin, and, standing up, placed himself before the
little one, who wu sleeping more soundly than ever.
linos hal jod hung the lantern up on • nail in the
liilently, and with mechanist.' deliberation, he
unbuckled the belt whieb supported his cue, and
replaced it on the shelf. He looked at nothing, and
seemod to rut nothing. His eye, were glassy I Homs.
thing deep moved his mind, lii thoughts at Length
found breath, as usual, in • cupid outflow of words.

•• Happy, without doubt I Heal 1 stone dead 1"
He bent down, and put a shovelfull of turf mould
into the stove; end us he posed the peat, he grumbled
out.—

--I
hal a deal of troublelto find ha; some unknown
malice hat buried her under two feet of MOIL Had it not
been for Homo, wbe sees as steady with his nose as
did Christoper Columbus with his mind, I should be
still thereoicestchihg et the sysbuiehe and playing hide
and seek with lhath. Dioglines took his Lantern
and :tonght for a Will; I took cuy lantern and
sought for a woman. He found a sarcasm, and I found
mourning. How cold she was. I touched her band—a
stone! Wbat silence in her eyes. How tan any one
be such a fool as to dio and leave a child behind her?
It will not be convenient to peck throe into this box.
Whet a cull! A pretty family I have hors Boy and
Sirl r
Whilst Ureus Wail speaking, Homo sidled up close to
the stove. The hand of the sleeping infant was band-
log down between the stove and the cheat. The wolf
*A to licking
it, lie licked it so softly tbat be did not
anon the little intact.

stove,

lltins turned round.
Well done, Homo. I shall be father, and you shall
bc uncle."
Then be betook himself again to his philosophical
care of arranging the fire without interrupiteg his
amide.
"Adoption It is settled; Homo Is williag."
Ile drew himself up
"I should like to know who la responsible for that
• woman's death ? Is it man r
His eyes were upturned, but looked beyond the coil.
lac and his lips murmured,—
"hit Thou?'
Then his brow dropped, aa if nadir in burthen, and he
continued,—
The night took the trouble to kill this woman."
!tenting his eyes, they encountered those of the boy,
newly awakened, who was listening. Units addressed
him thruptly,—
" What are you Laughing air
"1 NM not laughing."
Ursos felt • kind of shock, looked at him fixedly for
• few minutes and said,—
" Thrn thou art terrible."
The interior of the cabin, on the previous night, had
been so dark that limns hod not yet PPM the boy's face.
The broad daylight revealed it. Ho placed the two
palms of his hands on the two shoulders of the boy, and,
consideriag Ilia countenance more and more
exclaimed,—
" Do not laugh again l"
" I am not laughing," said the child.
Ursus was salmi with a trembling from head to
foot.

"You do laugh, I tell you."
Then seizing the child with a grasp which would have
been one of fury, hzd it not been one of pity, he de-
manded of him, violently.—
" Who did that to your
The child replied,—
"I know not what you mean."
" Whenoe did you eat thzt laugh r
"I have always been thus," said the child.
Urine turned towards the chest, saying, in a low
voice,—
"I thought this work bad been over."
He took from the top of it, very softly, not to awaken
ih• infant, the book which he had placed there far •

us see Conquest," he murmured.
It woe a bundle of papers to folio, bound In @oft
parchment. Re turned the pages with his thumb,
stopped eta certain one, opened the book, feet on the
stows, and reed,—

" Dermatitis,' it is here.
And be continued,—
' 'Barra flan toque ad acres, gen:iris deniviatis,
ma/ova isnedridalo, mama via, Cf ridctir simper.'
"'there it is for certain."
Then he replaced the book on one of the shelves,
An adventure, the sounding of which would be un-
wholesome."
"Let us rest on the surface, laughing boy 1"
At this moment the little girl awoke.
Her bappinness war to cry.
" Come, nuns, give the breast," said Urns.
The infant sat up. Ursus taking the phial from the
Mimi, gave it to her to suak.
At this moment the sun WOW, ItiTSS level with the
horizon. His red rays gleamed through the glass, and
struck against the face of the infant, which Ina turned
towards him. Her eyeballs, fixed on the son, reflected
like two mirrors its purple orbit. The eyeballs were
immoveable, the e3elids also.
" Hold I" said Limns. "She it blind."—From
Victor Hugo's "By Order of the King," in TA. Ganda-
mum's Magazirte.