Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1905-01-31
CHAPTER 7

Otmoor Beckley itself, though once ap-
preached by the Roman road from AL
chester, must Tor many a century have
hursed its rural quietude, lying in a tan
gle OF narrow lanes leading only to one
another. Beckley took that cheerful
view of life which enabled the fox to dis
ualn the Establishments of the vintage,
ana prided itself on its happy seelusion
ano untdtored honesty But as all sons
ol Adam must have something or other
10 say to the rest, this little village car
Iieu on some commerce with the outer
world, and did it through carrier.
Inc name of this excellent man was
Crlpps; and the carriers mantle or wool
sey coat, had descended on this particu-
far Orlpps from many generations. And
ever since roads were made, or rather
ianes began trying to make themselves,
one great tradition had confirmed the
dynasty of Crippses. This was that the
eldest son should take the carrying bust
ness; the second son should have the
bakers shop in Oxford over against old
balliol College; the third should have the
queer old swine farm in the heart OF
STOW Forest. the fourth should be the
butcher of Beckley, and the fifth its
shoemaker. As for the girls, the car {
being the mead of the family, and holding
the house and the stable and cart, was
bound to take the maids, one by one, to
and FRO under his 1t twice a week, till
the public fell in love with them.
Zachary Grips, the Beckley carrier,
under the laws of time, was crossing the
ridge OF manhood towards che western
side OF forty, without providing the due
successor to the ancestral driving board.
Public opinion was already beginning to
exHlain at him; and the man who kept
the chambers shop, with large-small
FAMILY to maintain, was threatening to
make the most of this, and set up his
own eldest son on the road; though 'dot
and carry one" was all he knew about
the business. Zachary was not a likely
man to be at all upset by this; but rather
one OF a tarrying order, as his name
might indicate.
Truly intelligent families living round
about the city of Oxford had, and even
to this day have, a haoit of naming
their male babies after the books of the
Bible. So that Zachary should have
been Genesis" only his father had suf-
fered such pangs of mind at being cut
down, by the ever-strengthening curt
ness of British diction, into Jenny
Grips" that he laid hls thumb to the
New Testament when his first man-child
was born to him, and finding a father in
like case quite relieved of responsibility,
took it for a good sign, and applied his
name triumphantiy.
But though the eldest born was thus
transferred into the New L testament, the
second son reverted to the proper dispen-
sation; and the one who went into the
bakers shop was Exodus, as he ought
TO be. The children of the former Exc
dus were turned out testamentarily, save
those who were needed to carry the
bread out, till their cousins boys should
be big enough.
All of these doings were right enough,
and everybody approved of them Levitt
Gus Grips was the lord of the swine
and Numbers bore the cleaver while
Deuteronomy stuck to his last, when the
public house could spare him. There was
only one more brother of the dominant
generation, whose name was "Penta-
ohook," and he had been compendously
kicked abroad to seek his own fortune
right early.
But as for the daughters for the mo-
ment it is enough to say that all except
one were now forth and settled. Some
married farmers, some married trades
men, one took miller's eldest son, one
had a gentleman more or less, but all
with expectations. Only the youngest
was still in the tilt, very pretty girl
called Esther.
All Recllley declared that Esther's
heart had been touched by college lad,
who came some five years since to lodge
with Zachary for the long vacation, and
was waited on by this young girl sup
posed to be then unripe for dreaming
of the tender sentiment. That a girl
of only fifteen summers should allow her
thoughts to stray, contrary t. all COM
mon sense, and her duty to her betters.
for no other reason than that a young
man ate and drank with less noise than
the Crippses, and went on about the
moonlight and the stars aud the rubbishy
things in the hedges-that a child like
that should know no better than to mix
with q gentleman said with his inner
meaning-put it right or left it showed
that something was amiss with her. How
ever, the women would say no more until
it was pulled out of them. To mix or
NEEDLE with the Crippses was like put
ting ones fingers into steel trap.
When another child was born to him
Mr.. Exodus sent up the trumpet boy all
the way from Broad street in Oxford TO
Beckley to beg and implore Miss Esther
Grips to come down. And the crumpet
boy, being short of breath, became so
full of power that the carrier scarcely
knew what to do in the teeth of so mr.
gent message. For he had made Quite
a pet of his youngest sister, AMI the
twenty years of age betwixt them SION
ped the gap of rivalry. 1t was getting
quite late in the afternoon when the
trumpet boy knocked at the carriers
door. 1t certainly was an unlucky thing
that the day of the week should be Tues-
day-Tuesday. the 10th of December.
1887. For Zachary always had to make
his rounds on Wednesday and a Satur-
day, and if he were TO drive his poor old
Dobbin into Oxford on a Tuesday even
ing how could he get through his bust
ness tomorrow? For Dobbin insisted on
a day in stable whenever he had been 10
Oxford.
Zachary Grips was thoughtful
man. as we'll as 8 very kind-hearted one.
In the crown of his hat he always car
ried a monthly calendar gummed on card
board, and opposite almost every day he
had dots, or round 0's, or crosses. Each
oil these 10 his very steady mind meant
something not TO be neglected: and be-
ing q pretty fair scholar, with the help of
his horse he could make out nearly every
place he had to call at. So now he look
ed at the trumpet boy, 10 receive and
absorb his excitement. and then he turn
ed to young Esther. and let her speak
first. as she always liked to dc.
"0h, please TO go back quite as fast
as you can" eaid Esther to the erumpey,
''and say that / shall be there before
you; or. at any rate, as soon as you are
And. Crumpey, there ought to be some
thing for you. Dear Yak, have you got
twopenceT
mot l." said the carrier, and if !
had it would do him a deal more harm
than good Run away down the hill. my
lad, and you come to me at the Golden
Cross. perhaps as soon as Saturday. and
I'll look in my bag for halfpenny, Run
away. boy: run away, or the bogies viii