The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1872-01-10
Chubb jackson.
BY +. H.

BY Il. H.
Does any body, i wonder, know
Throsmorton 7 ~ 1t is in the weald OF
Kent; and yet not actually in the
weald, but ohsa.little outlying spur OF
it which projects into the great plain
of Romney. There the tough clay has
manied the lily-white sand, and a
bounteous offspring has blessed the
union. There flourish. noble oaks,
broad-leaved chesnuts, aspiring elms
in rich luxuraucc of leaf; and emerald
pastures are set among their shades,
and rich coru fields and smiling hop
gardens checker the sides of the gently
swelling slopes. '.' .'s''
Loiter with me on the pleasant field
path winding in and out among the
meadows and corn fields; look on the
red-roofed town crowned by massive
Gothic tower-tlie evening chimes are
tinkling in the still air with a loving,
lingering cadence, suggesting l know
not what subtitle pathos of long forgot
ten days-and own with me that broad
England can show few fairer hooks than
fair Throgmorton town.
My story hasn't much to do, with
Ir.ros r,,sst,,u n,.os srscI ssrst
knew Chubb jackson. He wasn't un-
like club, either, rs a boy--wide-
mouthed, with little teeth set far back
in his head, and freckles so brown that
you might take them for scales. He
was a school fellow of mine at the
Manor House School. Old Hockey,
mot. thirty then, our head master, had
taken him in as an incorriyible at a
double fee, to. try and make sonething
of him. Possibly the attempt might.
have been worth the money but, ut
any rate, it didn't succeed. Passed
through the regulation mill, Chubb
came ont more ink and -tear stained,
more lazy thaneyer. Dragged through
the Aeneid, hels tnmbled over "Arma
rirumlne cano )" showed into logar-
itI,ms, he couldn't even go through the
table. His life was a
continual round Of expiation, of impo-
sitions which he never got through. Of
,mlearned tasks which no mortal pow
er could force him to learn; only the
holidays freed him from the ever accu-
mularing load of punishment.
And yet, think he enjoyed himself.
fancy, as he sat by the open window,
looking over the rambling, old fash
Toned garden, to the pleasant apple and
cherry orchards beyond--his eyes and
mind far away from the wretched old
lexicon aud classics. under his nose :
that the bees as. they hnmmel, aud the
birds as they ,twijtered,. and all the
hushed sounds Of country life,. said a
say for him which they uttered not for
us, as We swiped, and bowled, aud
Gelded, and kept wicket in the cricket
field, over beyond the CAST House.
was the only chnm he had; per-
hapsa corresponding vein of idleness
made us symrathize; at all events, we
were great friends and when his aunt,
Miss-or, ms she was called by courtesy
Mrs. Chubb, Che was an orphan, poor
fellow, and under the care of n maiden
aunt,) when she. came to take him
home for the midsummer holidays,
had q liking for me for her nephew's
sake, aud wanted me to come and see
them at Pelham Crescent, Hastings.
Bnt never went; and Isaw no more
OF Chubb jackson for / don't know how
many years. t. Ta4 .3iaa3 9a,ta "a
Twas serving out my articles with
Bump g. Podger's, of Lineoln's Ian,
living in lodgings in lStanhope's streety
hampstead road, when, coming from
Chaling Crossaone evening by.a yellow
bus, / recognized next tonne on the
knife board, the imageof Chubb jack
son.; 1t couldn't be the inky boy of
my school days; for this was a painful
swell. iii lavender gloves, most shiny
hat, and shirt collar of porteatous' size.
Now Ghubb, as a lad, had a most iin-
iveterate stutteE. So when. the youth
turned to me, intending I think to
ask for light, having an nnlit cigariil
his mouth, and / saw his month work
ing in painful tllroes to delaEer itself Of
the embryo words, ] knew that he must
be my former school fellow, and cried,
unconsciously initiating his stammer,