sammy twitter’s fall.
we must turn now to samuel twitter, senior. that genial old man was busy one morning in the nursery, amusing little mita, who had by that time attained to what we may style the dawn-of-intelligence period of life, and was what mrs loper, mr crackaby, and mr stickler called “engaging.”
“mariar!” shouted mr twitter to his amiable spouse, who was finishing her toilet in the adjoining room. “she’s makin’ faces at me—yes, she’s actually attempting to laugh!”
“the darling!” came from the next room, in emphatic tones.
“mariar!”
“well, dear.”
“is sammy down in the parlour?”
“i don’t know. why?”
“because he’s not in his room—tumti-iddidy-too-too—you charming thing!”
it must be understood that the latter part of this sentence had reference to the baby, not to mrs twitter.
having expended his affections and all his spare time on mita,—who, to do her justice, made faces enough at him to repay his attentions in full,—mr twitter descended to the breakfast parlour and asked the domestic if she had seen sammy yet.
“no, sir, i hain’t.”
“are you sure he’s not in his room?”
“well, no, sir, but i knocked twice and got no answer.”
“very odd; sammy didn’t use to be late, nor to sleep so soundly,” said mr twitter, ascending to the attic of his eldest son.
obtaining no reply to his knock, he opened the door and found that the room was empty. more than that, he discovered, to his surprise and alarm, that sammy’s bed was unruffled, so that sammy himself must have slept elsewhere!
in silent consternation the father descended to his bedroom and said, “mariar, sammy’s gone!”
“dead!” exclaimed mrs twitter with a look of horror.
“no, no; not dead, but gone—gone out of the house. did not sleep in it last night, apparently.”
poor mrs twitter sank into a chair and gazed at her husband with a stricken face.
up to that date the family had prospered steadily, and, may we not add, deservedly; their children having been trained in the knowledge of god, their duties having been conscientiously discharged, their sympathies with suffering humanity encouraged, and their general principles carried into practical effect. the consequence was that they were a well-ordered and loving family. there are many such in our land—families which are guided by the spirit and the word of god. the sudden disappearance, therefore, of the eldest son of the twitter family was not an event to be taken lightly for he had never slept out of his own particular bed without the distinct knowledge of his father and mother since he was born, and his appearance at the breakfast-table had been hitherto as certain as the rising of the sun or the winding of the eight-day clock by his father every saturday night.
in addition to all this, sammy was of an amiable disposition, and had been trustworthy, so that when he came to the years of discretion—which his father had fixed at fifteen—he was allowed a latch-key, as he had frequently to work at his employer’s books till a lateish hour,—sometimes eleven o’clock—after the family, including the domestic, had gone to rest.
“now, samuel,” said mrs twitter, with a slight return of her wonted energy, “there can be only two explanations of this. either the dear boy has met with an accident, or—”
“well, mariar, why do you pause?”
“because it seems so absurd to think of, much more to talk of, his going wrong or running away! the first thing i’ve got to do, samuel, is to go to the police-office, report the case, and hear what they have to advise.”
“the very thing i was thinking of, mariar; but don’t it strike you it might be better that i should go to the station?”
“no, samuel, the station is near. i can do that, while you take a cab, go straight away to his office and find out at what hour he left. now, go; we have not a moment to lose. mary,” (this was the next in order to sammy), “will look after the children’s breakfast. make haste!”
mr twitter made haste—made it so fast that he made too much of it, over-shot the mark, and went down-stairs head foremost, saluting the front door with a rap that threw that of the postman entirely into the shade. but twitter was a springy as well as an athletic man. he arose undamaged, made no remark to his more than astonished children, and went his way.
mrs twitter immediately followed her husband’s example in a less violent and eccentric manner. the superintendent of police received her with that affable display of grave good-will which is a characteristic of the force. he listened with patient attention to the rather incoherent tale which she told with much agitation—unbosoming herself to this officer to a quite unnecessary extent as to private feelings and opinions, and, somehow, feeling as if he were a trusted and confidential friend though he was an absolute stranger—such is the wonderful influence of power in self-possessed repose, over weakness in distressful uncertainty!
having heard all that the good lady had to say, with scarcely a word of interruption; having put a few pertinent and relevant questions and noted the replies, the superintendent advised mrs twitter to calm herself, for that it would soon be “all right;” to return home, and abide the issue of his exertions; to make herself as easy in the circumstances as possible, and, finally, sent her away with the first ray of comfort that had entered her heart since the news of sammy’s disappearance had burst upon her like a thunderclap.
“what a thing it is,” she muttered to herself on her way home, “to put things into the hands of a man—one you can feel sure will do everything sensibly and well, and without fuss.” the good lady meant no disparagement to her sex by this—far from it; she referred to a manly man as compared with an unmanly one, and she thought, for one moment, rather disparagingly about the salute which her samuel’s bald pate had given to the door that morning. probably she failed to think of the fussy manner in which she herself had assaulted the superintendent of police, for it is said that people seldom see themselves!
but mrs twitter was by no means bitter in her thoughts, and her conscience twitted her a little for having perhaps done samuel a slight injustice.
indeed she had done him injustice, for that estimable little man went about his inquiries after the lost sammy with a lump as big as a walnut on the top of his head, and with a degree of persistent energy that might have made the superintendent himself envious.
“not been at the office for two days, sir!” exclaimed mr twitter, repeating—in surprised indignation, for he could not believe it—the words of sammy’s employer, who was a merchant in the hardware line.
“no, sir,” said the hardware man, whose face seemed as hard as his ware.
“do—you—mean—to—tell—me,” said twitter, with deliberate solemnity, “that my son samuel has not been in this office for two days?”
“that is precisely what i mean to tell you,” returned the hardware man, “and i mean to tell you, moreover, that your son has been very irregular of late in his attendance, and that on more than one occasion he has come here drunk.”
“drunk!” repeated twitter, almost in a shout.
“yes, sir, drunk—intoxicated.”
the hardware man seemed at that moment to mr twitter the hardest-ware man that ever confronted him. he stood for some moments aghast and speechless.
“are you aware, sir,” he said at last, in impressive tones, “that my son samuel wears the blue ribbon?”
the hardware man inquired, with an expression of affected surprise, what that had to do with the question; and further, gave it as his opinion that a bit of blue ribbon was no better than a bit of red or green ribbon if it had not something better behind it.
this latter remark, although by no means meant to soothe, had the effect of reducing mr twitter to a condition of sudden humility.
“there, sir,” said he, “i entirely agree with you, but i had believed—indeed it seems to me almost impossible to believe otherwise—that my poor boy had religious principle behind his blue ribbon.”
this was said in such a meek tone, and with such a woe-begone look as the conviction began to dawn that sammy was not immaculate—that the hardware man began visibly to soften, and at last a confidential talk was established, in which was revealed such a series of irregularities on the part of the erring son, that the poor father’s heart was crushed for the time, and, as it were, trodden in the dust. in his extremity, he looked up to god and found relief in rolling his care upon him.
as he slowly recovered from the shock, twitter’s brain resumed its wonted activity.
“you have a number of clerks, i believe?” he suddenly asked the hardware man.
“yes, i have—four of them.”
“would you object to taking me through your warehouse, as if to show it to me, and allow me to look at your clerks?”
“certainly not. come along.”
on entering, they found one tying up a parcel, one writing busily, one reading a book, and one balancing a ruler on his nose. the latter, on being thus caught in the act, gave a short laugh, returned the ruler to its place, and quietly went on with his work. the reader of the book started, endeavoured to conceal the volume, in which effort he was unsuccessful, and became very red in the face as he resumed his pen.
the employer took no notice, and mr twitter looked very hard at the hardware in the distant end of the warehouse, just over the desk at which the clerks sat. he made a few undertoned remarks to the master, and then, crossing over to the desk, said:—
“mr dobbs, may i have the pleasure of a few minutes’ conversation with you outside?”
“c–certainly, sir,” replied dobbs, rising with a redder face than ever, and putting on his hat.
“will you be so good as to tell me, mr dobbs,” said twitter, in a quiet but very decided way when outside, “where my son samuel twitter spent last night?”
twitter looked steadily in the clerk’s eyes as he put this question. he was making a bold stroke for success as an amateur detective, and, as is frequently the result of bold strokes, he succeeded.
“eh! your—your—son s–samuel,” stammered dobbs, looking at twitter’s breast-pin, and then at the ground, while varying expressions of guilty shame and defiance flitted across his face.
he had a heavy, somewhat sulky face, with indecision of character stamped on it. mr twitter saw that and took advantage of the latter quality.
“my poor boy,” he said, “don’t attempt to deceive me. you are guilty, and you know it. stay, don’t speak yet. i have no wish to injure you. on the contrary, i pray god to bless and save you; but what i want with you at this moment is to learn where my dear boy is. if you tell me, no further notice shall be taken of this matter, i assure you.”
“does—does—he know anything about this?” asked dobbs, glancing in the direction of the warehouse of the hardware man.
“no, nothing of your having led sammy astray, if that’s what you mean,—at least, not from me, and you may depend on it he shall hear nothing, if you only confide in me. of course he may have his suspicions.”
“well, sir,” said dobbs, with a sigh of relief, “he’s in my lodgings.”
having ascertained the address of the lodgings, the poor father called a cab and soon stood by the side of a bed on which his son sammy lay sprawling in the helpless attitude in which he had fallen down the night before, after a season of drunken riot. he was in a heavy sleep, with his still innocent-looking features tinged with the first blight of dissipation.
“sammy,” said the father, in a husky voice, as he shook him gently by the arm; but the poor boy made no answer—even a roughish shake failed to draw from him more than the grumbled desire, “let me alone.”
“oh! god spare and save him!” murmured the father, in a still husky voice, as he fell on his knees by the bedside and prayed—prayed as though his heart were breaking, while the object of his prayer lay apparently unconscious through it all.
he rose, and was standing by the bedside, uncertain how to act, when a heavy tread was heard on the landing, the door was thrown open, and the landlady, announcing “a gentleman, sir,” ushered in the superintendent of police, who looked at mr twitter with a slight expression of surprise.
“you are here before me, i see, sir,” he said.
“yes, but how did you come to find out that he was here?”
“well, i had not much difficulty. you see it is part of our duty to keep our eyes open,” replied the superintendent, with a peculiar smile, “and i have on several occasions observed your son entering this house with a companion in a condition which did not quite harmonise with his blue ribbon, so, after your good lady explained the matter to me this morning i came straight here.”
“thank you—thank you. it is very kind. i—you—it could not have been better managed.”
mr twitter stopped and looked helplessly at the figure on the bed.
“perhaps,” said the superintendent, with much delicacy of feeling, “you would prefer to be alone with your boy when he awakes. if i can be of any further use to you, you know where to find me. good-day, sir.”
without waiting for a reply the considerate superintendent left the room.
“oh! sammy, sammy, speak to me, my dear boy—speak to your old father!” he cried, turning again to the bed and kneeling beside it; but the drunken sleeper did not move.
rising hastily he went to the door and called the landlady.
“i’ll go home, missis,” he said, “and send the poor lad’s mother to him.”
“very well, sir, i’ll look well after ’im till she comes.”
twitter was gone in a moment, and the old landlady returned to her lodger’s room. there, to her surprise, she found sammy up and hastily pulling on his boots.
in truth he had been only shamming sleep, and, although still very drunk, was quite capable of looking after himself. he had indeed been asleep when his father’s entrance awoke him, but a feeling of intense shame had induced him to remain quite still, and then, having commenced with this unspoken lie, he felt constrained to carry it out. but the thought of facing his mother he could not bear, for the boy had a sensitive spirit and was keenly alive to the terrible fall he had made. at the same time he was too cowardly to face the consequences. dressing himself as well as he could, he rushed from the house in spite of the earnest entreaties of the old landlady, so that when the distracted mother came to embrace and forgive her erring child she found that he had fled.
plunging into the crowded thoroughfares of the great city, and walking swiftly along without aim or desire, eaten up with shame, and rendered desperate by remorse, the now reckless youth sought refuge in a low grog-shop, and called for a glass of beer.
“well, i say, you’re com—comin’ it raither strong, ain’t you, young feller?” said a voice at his elbow.
he looked up hastily, and saw a blear-eyed youth in a state of drivelling intoxication, staring at him with the expression of an idiot.
“that’s no business of yours,” replied sam twitter, sharply.
“well, thash true, ’tain’t no b–busnish o’ mine. i—i’m pretty far gone m’self, i allow; but i ain’t quite got the l–length o’ drinkin’ in a p–public ’ouse wi’ th’ bl–blue ribb’n on.”
the fallen lad glanced at his breast. there it was,—forgotten, desecrated! he tore it fiercely from his button-hole, amid the laughter of the bystanders—most of whom were women of the lowest grade—and dashed it on the floor.
“thash right.—you’re a berrer feller than i took you for,” said the sot at his elbow.
to avoid further attention sammy took his beer into a dark corner and was quickly forgotten.
he had not been seated more than a few minutes when the door opened, and a man with a mild, gentle, yet manly face entered.
“have a glass, ol’ feller?” said the sot, the instant he caught sight of him.
“thank you, no—not to-day,” replied john seaward, for it was our city missionary on what he sometimes called a fishing excursion—fishing for men! “i have come to give you a glass to-day, friends.”
“well, that’s friendly,” said a gruff voice in a secluded box, out of which next minute staggered ned frog. “come, what is’t to be, old man?”
“a looking-glass,” replied the missionary, picking out a tract from the bundle he held in his hand and offering it to the ex-prize-fighter. “but the tract is not the glass i speak of, friend: here it is, in the word of that god who made us all—made the throats that swallow the drink, and the brains that reel under it.”
here he read from a small bible, “‘but they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way.’”
“bah!” said ned, flinging the tract on the floor and exclaiming as he left the place with a swing; “i don’t drink wine, old man; can’t afford anything better than beer, though sometimes, when i’m in luck, i have a drop of old tom.”
there was a great burst of ribald laughter at this, and numerous were the witticisms perpetrated at the expense of the missionary, but he took no notice of these for a time, occupying himself merely in turning over the leaves of his bible. when there was a lull he said:—
“now, dear sisters,” (turning to the women who, with a more or less drunken aspect and slatternly air, were staring at him), “for sisters of mine you are, having been made by the same heavenly father; i won’t offer you another glass,—not even a looking-glass,—for the one i have already held up to you will do, if god’s holy spirit opens your eyes to see yourselves in it; but i’ll give you a better object to look at. it is a saviour—one who is able to save you from the drink, and from sin in every form. you know his name well, most of you; it is jesus, and that name means saviour, for he came to save his people from their sins.”
at this point he was interrupted by one of the women, who seemed bent on keeping up the spirit of banter with which they had begun. she asked him with a leer if he had got a wife.
“no,” he said, “but i have got a great respect and love for women, because i’ve got a mother, and if ever there was a woman on the face of this earth that deserves the love of a son, that woman is my mother. sister,” he added, turning to one of those who sat on a bench near him with a thin, puny, curly-haired boy wrapped up in her ragged shawl, “the best prayer that i could offer up for you—and i do offer it—is, that the little chap in your arms may grow up to bless his mother as heartily as i bless mine, but that can never be, so long as you love the strong drink and refuse the saviour.”
at that moment a loud cry was heard outside. they all rose and ran to the door, where a woman, in the lowest depths of depravity, with her eyes bloodshot, her hair tumbling about her half-naked shoulders, and her ragged garments draggled and wet, had fallen in her efforts to enter the public-house to obtain more of the poison which had already almost destroyed her. she had cut her forehead, and the blood flowed freely over her face as the missionary lifted her. he was a powerful man, and could take her up tenderly and with ease. she was not much hurt, however. after seaward had bandaged the cut with his own handkerchief she professed to be much better.
this little incident completed the good influence which the missionary’s words and manner had previously commenced. most of the women began to weep as they listened to the words of love, encouragement, and hope addressed to them. a few of course remained obdurate, though not unimpressed.
all this time young sam twitter remained in his dark corner, with his head resting on his arms to prevent his being recognised. well did he know john seaward, and well did seaward know him, for the missionary had long been a fellow-worker with mrs twitter in george yard and at the home of industry. the boy was very anxious to escape seaward’s observation. this was not a difficult matter. when the missionary left, after distributing his tracts, sammy rose up and sought to hide himself—from himself, had that been possible—in the lowest slums of london.
