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918 |
THE PORTER'S SON |
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but I could not spit enough, and so I ran out and hid myself, for Papa and Mamma would be so angry.' * Spit! ■ said the General, ' what kind of a word is that ? When did you hear Papa or Mamma say " spit" ? You have got that from downstairs.'
But little George got a penny. This did not go to the baker, it went into the savings box ; and soon there were so many shillings, that he could buy himself a paint-box to paint his drawings; and of these he had many. They seemed to come out of his pencil and his finger-ends. He presented his first paintings to little Emily.
'Charming!' said the General; the lady herself admitted that one could distinctly see what the little one had meant. ' He has Genius !' These were the words that the Porter's wife brought down into the cellar.
The General and his wife were people of rank: they had two coats of arms on their carriage; one for each of them. The lady had hers on every piece of clothing, outside and inside, on her night-cap, and night-dress bag. Hers was an expensive one, bought by her father for shining dollars ; for he had not been born with it, nor she either ; she had come too early, seven years before the coat of arms. Most people could remember that, but not the family. The General's coat of arms was old and big: it might well make one's bones crack to carry it, to say nothing of two such coats, and her ladyship's bones cracked when, stiff and stately, she drove to a court-ball.
The General was old and grey, but looked well on horseback. He knew that, and he rode out every day with a groom at a respectful distance behind him. When he came to a party, it was as if he came riding on his high horse, and he had so many orders that it was inconceivable; but that was not his fault at all. When quite a young man he had served in the army, had been at the great autumn manoeuvres, which then were held by the troops in the days of peace. About that time he had an anecdote, the only one he had to tell. His under-officer cut off and took prisoner one of the princes ; and the Prince with his little troop of captured soldiers, himself a prisoner, had to ride into the town behind the General. It was an event not to be forgotten, which always, through all the years, |
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