The Dickinson press., 1894-08-25
CH APTER 7.
A Modern TOlshet.

would have chosen Il cure Of souls
among mill hands and miners. l would
have preferred to perform my duties
under Il clear sky, rather than under
a canopy of smoke; within call of fields
and woods, rather than in forest Of
tall chimneys and black heads of coal
pits. But since was disappointed in
my hope Of cure in Il certain pleasant
village Of Sussex, l resolved to 30 to
in Lancashire. So. when
one dark afternoon Of February l
alighted ut the nearest station on IL
aranch railway. and asked Il fellow pas
senger, who looked like Il native, AMI
who was hurrying away, whether he
could direct me to Timpcrlcy-wllcn l
was answered with n curt "Noa," l WIS
not disconnected. received Il some
what unintelligiblc direction from IL
station porter, and. leaving orders con-
cerning my luggage, | went out into
the dark and the drizZlc TO walk to
Timperlcy.
l trampetl for half 4 mile or so along
1 we'll paved road, and then (accorling
to direction, thought l turned down
a narrow lane between Il hedge and II
wooden fence, and soon. stumbling antt
and cinders, came out upon the edge Of
the valley in which Timperlcy lay.
1 stool and gazed around me. Such
O spectacle l had never seen before.
I listened to and felt the feveriSh rllsll
Of the life of Lancashire industry. The
birr and buzz of thousands of spindles,
the swift click and thud of slluttles
and looms. and the regular sob and res
piration Of mighty engines mingled
with the rush of waters and the plain
live painting Of some machine as of an
anslave<l gcni of the Arabian Nights.
before me was Il ruined
mill, unro0fcd and gaunt, with its bell
tower and its tall, cold chimney out
lined against the sky; behind it was
another group Of irregular buildings.
A dozen tall chimncys poured their
smoke into the sulphurous air, which
was pervaded with a certain glow
to dissipate the darkness,
but enough to make the stream which
wound down the valley gleam like Il
gigantic snake. Now and again fur
mace mouths opened and glowcd with
l ferocious glare. while wicrl tongues
If lurid flame fiickered OH the slope
md ridge behind.
And still as looked and thought Of
his the bell tower of the ruined mill
before me fell with loud clang, and
here upr0sc into the air to minsle with
he other sounds the frantic screaming
II pigs and neighing of horses. was
lot surprised; was somehow prepared
~ the scene not to he surprised ut
lnything that might happen i'll this
strange region. I passed, however,
lurriedly down the slope by a rough
oath, and found the road into the
7alley and the village. l heard voices
md saw dim crowd of people about
he ruined mill, but the stream. black
md evil-smelling, was between me and
t, and had perf0rcc to let my curl
,sity wait. l continued my way into
he village, which, found. lay behind
he many y-storicd mill toward the mouth
Il the valley and close to the high road
~ which should have entered it.
had, us 1t were, let myself in ut the
,ack door. Before l was We'll into the
1illage / passed an arrangement Of
ow buildings with blank walls to the
Dad, from which came no sound of life
n work, but. instead, the vilest and
trangest smells that ever offended the
CAAoCs NAu AlOtl tllc lulOSI VI WHICH,
ose towering chimney that smoked
These, l guessed, We're
,art Of the chemical works of which
had heard. found the rectory at
he other end Of the village. did not
20 in-the rector was in bed ill-but
lskcd to be directed to my lodgings.
had some tea (after some leading
questions from my landlady. which put
Dy another than h Lancashire woman
would have been considered rude), and
then prepared to go to dinner at the
louse of Mr.. Emmanuel Steinhardt, one
If the creators and lords of the Tophet
into which had entered. He was the
rector's church warden, and had cor
with him concerning the
curacy, and had made this dinner en-
gagement week ago. / asked my
landlady where l should find Timperly
Hall.
Timperly hall I discovered to be 4
long, old-fashioned, twO-storied. some
thing in shape like Il thick letter l.
with gabled wing, that is, at either
end. 1t overlooked the valley from
the side opposite to that from which
I had first viewed It. Soon was in
Its drawing room, shaking hands With
Mr.. Tor Herr Emmanuel st t.inhirdt;
for saw at once that he was of pure
TeutOnic breed. and heard, when he
had 81 oxen few words, that he must
have spent all his youth and part of his
manhood in the Fathcrland; he spoke
perfect English, but with an ind Sscrib.
able, tell-tale accent. l had Just time
to notice his burly figure. his somewhat
rounded shoulders and his massive tald
head, when was introduced to his
wife, a tall, handsome ancashire wo
man Qher speech betrayed herr, with
gray hair, evidently a good deal Older
than he; then to Miss Louise LacroiN
spelling of the name, of whom l will
only say ut present that she looked
refined and forcign-a rare exotic il
this region of surprises; and lastly, tG
my son, Frank" young man Of one
or two-and-twenty, who looked III CIV
cry way and spoke like an Englishman
These intrOductiolis over, we sat dowr
to wait for the announcement of din
ner. There was very little said; they
seemed constrained. and l was, per
haps, shy. had opportunity to OBJ
serve how monstrously gorgeous was
the furniture of the long, low-pitchcd
room. The walls were covered will
gilt girandoles and oil paintings Of al
sizes, with heavy gilt frames; the fiool
was covered with Il Brussels carpet
Of rich, flowery pattern, upon which
lay here and there ficecy rugs, whCs<
raw reds and blues seemed to hav,
been recently impaired in the chemica
vats of the village.
No one seemed to think Of trying t.
set me at my ease. Mr.. Steinlla:dt 50
watching the clock, and ut interval
throwing questions over his sl )ulder t
his wife. Zone question noted was
lis Jim coming at :ll?"-to which sll
answered.: "Jim said lie might loo
In after dinner and smoke IL pipe"
and l wondered who Jim was). Fran
occasionally glanced at me rs If h
would like to speak, but he continue
his examination of the slmciacks G
the table by which he sat, as il lie ha
never seen them before. was wishil
I had not accepted this invitation fl
my first evening in Timpcrley, whe
the young lady edged her chair a lit
nearer to me, and said. with the swee
est of smiles and the most musical +,
tones:
You come flom the south-fro
London: yes?"
Her accent was that most delight
1 -. g..