The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-04-05
RODNEY STONE.
BY A. CONAN DOYLE.
= l.
FHIAR's OAK.

on this. the 1st Of January, OF the year
1850, the nineteenth century has reached Its
midway term. and many Of us who shared its
youth have already warnings which tell us
that II has outworn us. We put our Rrizzled
heads together. NO older ones, and we talk OF
the great days that we have known. but we
find that when IL is with our children that we
talk II Is n hard matter to make them under
stand. We and our fathers before us lived
much the same life, but they with their rail-
way trains and their steamboats, belong to n
different age. IL is true that wo can put his.
tory books into their hands, and they can read
from them of our weary struggle OF two and
twenty years with that great and evil man.
They can learn how freedom fled from the
whole broad Continent, and how Nelson's
blood was shed, and Pitts noble heart was
broken In striving that she should not pass us
forever 10 take refuge with our brothers across
the Atlantic. All this they can read, with
the date OF this treaty or that battle, but I do
not know where they are to read of ourselves,
of the folk we were, and the lives we led. and
how the world seemed TO our eyes when they
were young as theirs are now.
II l take up my pen to tell you about this
you must not look for any story at my hands.
for | was only in my earliest manhood when
these things befell, and although | saw some
thing OF the stories OF other lives / could
scarce claim one OF my own. 1t is the love OF
a woman that makes the story Of a man, and
many a year was 10 pass before ! first looked
into the eyes of the mother of my children.
To us it seems but an affair of yesterday. and
yet those children can now reach the plums
In the garden while we are seeking for a lad
der, and where we once walked with their
little hands In ours we are glad now to lean
upon their arms. But / shall speak Of a time
when the love Of a mother was the only love
l knew. and II you seek for something more
then 1t is not for you that l write. But IL you
would como out with me into that forgotten
world. IL you would know Boy Jim and Cham
pion Harrison: II you would meet my father,
one of Nelson's own men; II YOU would catch
a glimpse Of that great seaman himself, and
of George. afterward the unworthy King of
England: II, above all, you would see my famous
uncle. Sir Charles Tregellis, the king of the
bucks. and the great fighting men whose
names are still household words among you,
then give me your hand and let us start.
But | must warn you also that II you think
that you will find much that is Of interest in
your guide, you are destined to disappoint-
ment. When l look over my book shelves ]
can see that It lie only the wise and witty and
valiant who have ventured to write down their
experiences. For my own part, II I were only
assured that / was as clever and brave as the
average man about me I should be well salts
fed. Men Of their hands have thought well
of my brains, and men of brains of my hands,
and that is the best that ! can say for myself.
Save in the one matter of having an Unborn
readiness for music, SO that the mastery of any
instrument comes very easily and naturally to
me. l cannot recall any single advantage which
l can boast over my fellows. In all things I
have been a halfway man, FOR i am Of middle
height. my eyes are neither blue nor gray. and
my hair, before nature busted II with her pow
der, was betwixt tiaxen and brown. may, per-
haps, claim this, that through life / have never
felt a touch of Jealousy as | have admired a
better man than myself. and that | have always
seen all things as they are, myself included,
which should count in my favor now that l
sit down in my mature age to write my MEM
cries. With your permission then we will push
my own personality as far as possible out of the
picture. II you can conceive me as a thin
and colorless cord upon which my would be
pearls are strung, you will be accepting me upon
the terms which | should wish.
Our family, the Stones, have for many gen.
~erations belonged to the navy. and 1t has been
u custom among us for the eldest son to take
the name Of his fathers favorite commander.
Thus we can trace our lineage back to old
Vernon stone who commanded a high stern,
peak -nosed f%fty-gun ship against the Dutch.
Through Hawke Stone and Benbow Stone we
amt down TO my Iatner, AnsOn stone. VINO In
his turn christened me Rodney al the parish
church of st. Thomas Mt Portsmouth, In the
year of grace 1856.
Out of my window ms I write l can see my
own great lad in the garden. and II | were to
call out Nelson" you would see that I have
been true to the traditions of our family.
My dear mother, the hest that ever a man
had, was the second daughter of the Rev. John
Tregellis, Vicar of Milton, which Is n mall
parish upon the borders CT the marshes of Lang
stone. She came of a poor family, but one of
some position, for her elder brother was the
famous Sir Charles Tregellis. who. having in
herited the money of n wealthy East Indian
merchant. became in time the talk OF the town
and the very particular friend of the Prince
OF Wales. OF him | shall have more to say
hereafter. but you will note now that he was
my own uncle and brother to my mother.
! can remember her all through her beauti.
full life. for she was but a girl when she mar
ried, and little more when l can first recall
her busy fingers and her gentle voice. l see
her as a lovely woman, with kind doves eyes,
somewhat short of stature, 1t Is true, but car
rying herself very bravely. In my memories
of those days she is clad always in some pur-
Pile shimmering stuff, with "A white kerchief
round her long white neck, and ! see her fin
gers are turning and darling as she works at
her knitting. l see her again in her middle
years. sweet and loving. planning, continuing.
achieving. with the few shillings a day OF a
Lieutenant's pay. on which TO support the cot
tAgc at Friar's Oak, and to keep a fair face to
the world. And now, If | do hut step into the
parlor. ! can see her once more, with over
eighty years Of sanity life behind her. silver
haired, placid faced, with her dainty ribboned
cap, her gold trimmed glasses, and her woolly
shawl with the blue border. | loved her young
and | love her old, and when she goes she will
take something with her which nothing In the
world can ever make good u me again. YoG
NAV have many friends, you who read this,
and you may chance to marry more than
once. but your mother is your first and your
last. Cherish her. then, while you may, for
the day VIII come when every hasty deed or
needless word Will come back with its sting TO
live In your own heart.
such, then, was my mother; and as tn my
father, | can describe him best when ! come
to the time when he returned to us from the
Mediterranean. During all my childhood he