Then
snatching his cane, he opened the door and proceeded to the
place where the black trumpeters were posted. There, without
further hesitation, he began to belabour them both; and exerted
himself with such astonishing vigour and agility, that both their
heads and horns were broken in a twinkling, and they ran howling
down stairs to their master's parlour-door. The squire, following
them half way, called aloud, that the colonel might hear him,
'Go, rascals, and tell your master what I have done; if he thinks
himself injured, he knows where to come for satisfaction. As for
you, this is but an earnest of what you shall receive, if ever
you presume to blow a horn again here, while I stay in the
house.' So saying, he retired to his apartment, in expectation of
hearing from the West Indian; but the colonel prudently declined
any farther prosecution of the dispute. My sister Liddy was
frighted into a fit, from which she was no sooner recovered, than
Mrs Tabitha began a lecture upon patience; which her brother
interrupted with a most significant grin, 'True, sister, God
increase my patience and your discretion. I wonder (added he)
what sort of sonata we are to expect from this overture, in which
the devil, that presides over horrid sounds, hath given us such
variations of discord -- The trampling of porters, the creaking
and crashing of trunks, the snarling of curs, the scolding of
women, the squeaking and squalling of fiddles and hautboys out of
tune, the bouncing of the Irish baronet over-head, and the
bursting, belching, and brattling of the French-horns in the
passage (not to mention the harmonious peal that still thunders
from the Abbey steeple) succeeding one another without
interruption, like the different parts of the same concert, have
given me such an idea of what a poor invalid has to expect in
this temple, dedicated to Silence and Repose, that I shall
certainly shift my quarters to-morrow, and endeavour to
effectuate my retreat before Sir Ulic opens the ball with my lady
Mac Manus; a conjunction that bodes me no good.
Pages:
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72