The String of Pearls; Or, The Barber of Fleet Street. A Domestic Romance.
them. It would be disagreeable to you to know that you were disturbing
your neighbours, and they would feel equally uncomfortable in being
disturbed, and yet you must do your duty.'
"'Ay! to be sure,' said I; 'I must do my duty, and people won't pay me
for letting madmen go, though they may for keeping them; and besides
that, I think some on 'em would get their throats cut, if I did.'
"'You are right--quite right,' said he; 'I am glad to find you of that
mind, for I came to you concerning an affair that requires some delicacy
about it, since it is a female patient.'
"'Ah!' said I, 'I always pay great attention, very great attention; and
I don't recollect a case, however violent it may be, but what I can
overcome. I always make 'em acknowledge me, and there's much art in
that.'
"'To be sure, there must be.'
"'And, moreover, they wouldn't so soon crouch and shrink away from me,
and do what I tell 'em, if I did not treat them with kindness, that is,
as far as is consistent with one's duty, for I mustn't forget that.'
"'Exactly,' he replied; 'those are my sentiments exactly.'
"'And now, sir, will you inform me in what way I can serve you?'
"'Why I have a relative, a female relative, who is unhappily affected
with a brain disease; we have tried all we can do, without any effect.
Do what we will, it comes to the same thing in the end.'
"'Ah!' said I; 'poor thing--what a dreadful thing it must be to you or
any of her friends, who have the charge of her, to see her day by day an
incurable maniac. Why, it is just as bad as when a friend or relative is
dead, and you are obliged to have the dead body constantly in your
house, and before your eyes.'
"'Exactly, my friend,' said the stranger; 'exactly, you are a man of
discernment, Mr. Fogg. I see, that is truly the state of the case. You
may then guess at the state of our feelings, when we have to part with
one beloved by us.'
"As he spoke, he turned right round, and faced me, looking very hard
into my face.
"'Well,' said I, 'your's is a hard case; but to have one afflicted about
you in the manner the young lady is, is truly distressing; it's like
having a perpetual lumbago in your back.'
"'Exactly,' said the stranger. 'I tell you what, you are the very man to
do this thing for me.'
"'I am sure of it,' said I.
"'Then we understand each other, eh?' said the stranger. 'I must say I
like your appearance, it is not often such people as you and I meet.'
"'I hope it will be to our mutual advantage,' said I, 'because such
people don't meet every day, and we oughtn't to meet to no purpose; so,
in anything delicate and confidential you may command me.'
"'I see, you are a clever man,' said he; 'well, well, I must pay you in
proportion to your talents. How do you do business--by the job, or by
the year?'
"'Well,' said I, 'where it's a matter of some nicety, it may be
both--but it entirely depends upon circumstances. I had better know
exactly what it is I have to do.'
"'Why, you see, it is a young female about eighteen, and she is somewhat
troublesome--takes to screaming, and all that kind of thing. I want her
taken care of, though you must be very careful she neither runs away nor
suddenly commits any mischief, as her madness does not appear to me to
have any particular form, and would at times completely deceive the best
of us, and then suddenly she will break out violently, and snap or fly
at anybody with her teeth.'
"'Is she so bad as that?'
"'Yes, quite. So it is quite impossible to keep her at home; and I
expect it will be a devil of a job to get her here. I tell you what you
shall have; I'll pay you your yearly charge for board and care, and I'll
give you a ten-pound note for your trouble, if you'll come and assist me
in securing her, and bringing her down. It will take some trouble.'
"'Very well,' said I, 'that will do, but you must double the note and
make it twenty, if you please; it will cost something to come and do the
thing well.'
"'I see--very well--we won't disagree about a ten-pound note; but you'll
know how to dispose of her if she comes here.'
"'Oh, yes--very healthy place.'
"'But I don't know that health is a very great blessing to any one under
such circumstances; indeed, who could regret an early grave to one so
severely afflicted?'
"'Nobody ought,' said I; 'if they knew what mad people went through,
they would not, I'm sure.'
"'That is very true again, but the fact is, they don't, and they only
look at one side of the picture; for my own part, I think that it ought
to be so ordained, that when people are so afflicted, nature ought to
sink under the affliction, and so insensibly to revert to the former
state of nonentity.'
"'Well,' said I, 'that may be as you please, I don't understand all
that; but I tell you what, I hope if she were to die much sooner than
you expect, you would not think it too much trouble to afford me some
compensation for my loss.'
"'Oh dear no! and to show you that I shall entertain no such illiberal
feeling, I will give you two hundred pounds, when the certificate of her
burial can be produced. You understand me?'
"'Certainly.'
"'Her death will be of little value to me, without the legal proof,'
said the stranger; 'so she must die at her own pleasure, or live while
she can.'
"'Certainly,' said I.
"'But what terrifies me,' continued the stranger, 'most is, her
terror-stricken countenance, always staring us in our faces; and it
arose from her being terrified; indeed I think if she were thoroughly
frightened, she would fall dead. I am sure, if any wickedly-disposed
person were to do so, death would no doubt result.'
"'Ah!' said I, 'it would be a bad job; now tell me where I am to see
you, and how about the particulars.'
"'Oh, I will tell you; now, can you be at the corner of
Grosvenor-street, near Park-lane?'
"'Yes,' I replied, 'I will.'
"'With a coach too. I wish you to have a coach, and one that you can
depend upon, because there may be a little noise. I will try to avoid
it, if possible, but we cannot always do what we desire; but you must
have good horses.'
"'Now, I tell you what is my plan; that is, if you don't mind the
damages, if any happen.'
"'What are they?'
"'This:--suppose a horse falls, and is hurt, or an upset--would you
stand the racket?'
"'I would, of course.'
"'Then listen to me; I have had more of these affairs than you have, no
doubt. Well, then, I have had experience, which you have not. Now, I'll
get a trotting-horse, and a covered cart or chaise--one that will go
along well at ten miles an hour, and no mistake about it.'
"'But will it hold enough?'
"'Yes, four or five or six, and, upon a push, I have known eight to cram
in it; but then you know we were not particular how we were placed; but
still it will hold as many as a hackney coach, only not so conveniently;
but then we have nobody in the affair to drive us, and there can't be
too few.'
"'Well, that is perhaps best; but have you a man on whom you can
depend?--because if you have, why, I would not be in the affair at all.'
"'You must,' said I; 'in the first place, I can depend upon one man
best; him I must leave here to mind the place; so if you can manage the
girl, I will drive, and I know the road as well as the way to my own
mouth--I would rather have as few in it as possible.'
"'Your precaution is very good, and I think I will try and so manage it,
that there shall be only you and I acquainted with the transaction; at
all events, should it become necessary, it will be time enough to let
some other person into the secret at the moment their services are
required. That, I think, will be the best arrangement that I can come
to--what do you say?'
"'That will do very well--when we get her here, and when I have seen her
a few days, I can tell what to do with her.'
"'Exactly; and now, good night--there is the money I promised, and now
again, good night! I shall see you at the appointed time.'
"'You will,' said I--'one glass more, it will do you good, and keep the
rain out.'
"He took off a glass of wine, and then pulled his hat over his face, and
left the house. It was a dark, wet night, and the wind blew, and we
heard the sound of his horse's hoofs for some time; however, I shut the
door and went in, thinking over in my own mind what would be the gain of
my own exertions.
* * * * *
"Well, at the appointed hour, I borrowed a chaise cart, a covered one,
with what you call a head to it, and I trotted to town in it. At the
appointed time I was at the corner of Grosvenor-street; it was late, and
yet I waited there an hour or more before I saw any one. I walked into a
little house to get a glass of spirits to keep up the warmth of the
body, and when I came out again, I saw some one standing at my horse's
head. I immediately went up.
"'Oh, you are here,' he said.
"'Yes I am,' said I, 'I have been here the Lord knows how long. Are you
ready?'
"'Yes, I am; come,' said he, as he got into the cart--'come to the place
I shall tell you--I shall only get her into the cart, and you must do
the rest.'
"'You'll come back with me; I shall want help on the road, and I have no
one with me.'
"'Yes, I will come with you, and manage the girl, but you must drive,
and take all the casualties of the road, for I shall have enough to do
to hold her and keep her from screaming when she does awake.'
"'What! is she asleep?'
"'I have given her a small dose of laudanum, which will cause her to
sleep comfortably for an hour or two, but the cold air and disturbance
will most probably awaken her at first.'
"'Throw something over her, and keep her warm, and have something ready
to thrust into her mouth, in case she takes to screaming, and then you
are all right.'
"'Good,' he replied: 'now wait here. I am going to yon house. When I
have entered, and disappeared several minutes, you may quietly drive up,
and take your station on the other side of the lamp-post.'
"As he spoke he got out, and walked to a large house, which he entered
softly, and left the door ajar; and after he had gone in, I walked the
horse quietly up to the lamp-post, and as I placed it, the horse and
front of the cart were completely in the dark. I had scarcely got up to
the spot, when the door opened, and he looked out to see if anybody was
passing. I gave him the word, and out he came, leaving the door, and
came with what looked like a bundle of clothes, but which was the young
girl and some clothes he had brought with him.
"'Give her to me,' said I, 'and jump up and take the reins; go on as
quickly as you can.'
"I took the girl into my arms, and handed her into the back part of the
chaise, while he jumped up, and drove away. I placed the young girl in
an easy position upon some hay, and stuffed the clothes under her, so as
to prevent the jolting from hurting her.
"'Well,' said I, 'you may as well come back here, and sit beside her:
she is all right. You seem rather in a stew.'
"'Well, I have run with her in my arms, and altogether it has flurried
me.'
"'You had better have some brandy,' said I.
"'No, no! don't stop.'
"'Pooh, pooh!' I replied, pulling up, 'here is the last house we shall
come to, to have a good stiff tumbler of hot brandy and water. Come,
have you any change--about a sovereign will do, because I shall want
change on the road? Come, be quick.'
"He handed me a sovereign, saying--
"'Don't you think it's dangerous to stop--we may be watched, or she may
wake.'
"'Not a bit of it. She snores too loudly to wake just now, and you'll
faint without the cordial; so keep a good look-out upon the wench, and
you will recover your nerves again.'