Punch: Punch (11.1846)

121

AN OMNIBUS INCIDENT.

A ^soiiRa Rr d int0 the window). « Will you buy a penknife
-Blades °___*> "

M

OP

the lipe and adventures

Robinson crusoe.

It

sent to me in my dream to torment me. This vision continued for
some days to distract me ; but at length I became tranquillized ;
thanks to my native strength of mind, and the medicinal cordial I had
brought from the wreck.

It was about this time, that, casting my eyes about my hut, I saw
the fragment of a book that, among other things, I had brought from
the ship. There were only a few leaves complete and legible, the rats
and the sali-water having mutilated and stained them. And these few
leaves — strangely enough—contained the entire of the " Marriage
Service." They were a great consolation to me. A thousand and a
thousand times did I read ; and—it may appear inconceivable—found
the matter impart to me a melancholy, but mysterious delight.
" Wilt thou have this man to thy wedded husband ?" 1 imagined
this melodious question most melodiously delivered ; and then—
having nothing else to do—I would imagine many specimens of
husbands, in many kinds of wedding-suits, with many different sorts
of smiling looks, standing one .by one before me. And in this way,
in the very idleness of my heart, I would people my hut with a
hundred masculine shadows, waiting for me to pronounce the thrilling
—" I Will." There was hardly a gentleman of my former acquaintance
—of course I speak of the single and the widowed—that imagination
would not drag thousands of miles across the sea, and marry me to
in that hut. " Wilt thou have this man to thy wedded husband ?"
How often have I sunk to rest, with these words—mysteriously
uttered—breathing in my ears, and my lips mechanically moving with
"I will!"

" Who giveth this woman to be married to this man ? " Here was
another interrogation, thrilling the filial heart. How could I do other-
wise than behold my venerable father—with a dew-drop glistening in
either eye, and slightly coughing, to keep down emotion—how could I
fail to behold him—happy, yet flustered ; proud, but a little overcome
—stepping forth at the question, with the look of a man resolved upon
bestowing a priceless treasure upon a fellow-creature ? " Who giveth
this woman to be married to this man ? "

Somehow these words continued to haunt me. I continually uttered
them, almost ignorant that I did so. When seemingly absorbed in
domestic occupations, my lips would breathe them. " Who giveth
this woman ? " And more ; after a time I set them to a sort of invol

•iT'^s about a f0 CHAPTER XI.

5j t^^y^ *™Z tlm3lZZL0ffthe- TIe,' tha^feU ™*ary <*ant, and, whether waking or idle, would monotonously sing,
SS I more ^d more tWeS « «shb»f I " Wh£ giveth this woman ? " In this way does a master-if I ought

S^r?0* 1o * COUld detSe St m ? S"- ^"V 1 not rat1^ t0 »bserve' a mistress-passion haunt us in solitude.

Vjk^ a tt^lhut by fever and am p 7 tua Of the effect of this I had a curious, and, for the time, a very start-

Va* S11 hadU ?Ie °PPortunity fo? iaSZlth *** T* #w Ym8 instance- When 1 Sot about a<?ain' 1 took a wider circuit of the
fevei* the VaPouSand had ac Pff^ , ' 1 i8'and *han * had done before- ^ hwever' 1 ou^ht t0 state>that
H;,^ ; and ^ould shut mvsJf fn aCC0rdmgl7 : I had made myself a complete suit of rabbit-skins. It went to my

>f J » ana S b,roth' ^rt hornZ rlZ %'T' " t ed heart to make them up with the fur inside-it was so much beauty
°f gru> CdS ' the full sen e of' !"d fr0mances-, *ut now'1 ™s lost. But, as I had to protect myself against the briars and brambles
>4 r^ich Vr°ats *ereTe bes^d!™" fWlckedneS'8, hInfthlS that, on every side, beset me in my walks, I had no remedy. And
6ft k1/ «* Sfc1/* 8^e of t is th, ne/°r, me ' • alb7 f01iC,e ! then I had this saving consolation in my affliction-a consolation so
N£j?*df3t fetnale habit-ll LthJ*UT P ySl? f t T°rId'' often sought for-nobody would know it; nobody would see me. But

v11£ 1 hal a !akness- It was at thl ? 2f ^ » 7 i ™r 'to return to m^ st0r^ In the C0UrSe °f my rambleS'1 discovered that
V:0u8ht tl strange »„/ 3 , time' that' falIulg asleeP' 1
V L r* I wasi ■ ^ cunous dream, that much perplexed me.
^e ^1. inoi; fch I couU S ln a beautiful garden, in which there

^ e aislei ? to»ards 8°arCel7 SGe their toPs- And these trees'1
^ati ^ade °/ a church °°e an°ther, making a sort of green aisle,
a 5 ^eddim/r- then suddenly I thought I saw a long

N^ th autifui rp?^g8'let down from the roof; anda y°UDs

^ht ve i ana selves, Jm T' bkck hair and wbiskers'that were »

Sdl* <1 8prpWben he was ifr *,he °hain' hand 0VCr hand' and toe Well having made the discovery, I returned, carrying as many
<\ / t0wardead over his h °n the Sround> he came—with his bunches 0f grapes as I could bear ; and sat myself down, very much
^O1* the fo^- Then h 8°m' and his figure gently mclined— fati„ued taking little notice of anything. Suddenly I heard the words,

th?tiler^a ain> Present ^ ■ pt Up0n I)is kuee' and PluckinS a delivered in a sharp clear voice—" Who giveth this woman ? " I
N va ^t of J!d another • t "t*0 ™G 5 and then he t0°k another— trembled from head to foot; for I forgot that I possessed a parrot
^ a 8t ^shed _ the chain fell -'i refused ever7 one that was offered ; cparrots abounded in the island), and I had domesticated a very young
a^U j^6 cell ofaDd the , a crash to the ground, and the young j ^e Tne bird, instructed by my frequent lessons, unconsciously given,

kis ha ,about six r P e was changed ; and I found myself lmd' Iearnt the words ; and from that time, a day did uot pass over
aIthoi, that mv A s^uare' drest in white muslin, with a that the creature did not cry out—
j §av„^aclc fl the ColH i readful destiny made me continually kiss , « v^ho giveth this woman ? "
%e». ^ 80r't ^nd, at la~,b°ne D1ade my heart colder and colder with |
. ^ce^1 kQowia? ; • thought the skull—though without eyes
^H1 camand scream- mPhant wink, and I screamed at the
?6 thaof ^ a little g' aWoke-

ki°V!! ^ \v flear f.*!;0 m^self, I recollected with bitterness the Ar *he sittings of the Association, at Southampton, it was announced

wA n> aid d fiad m' Again and a?ain he had assured .........- —^ —» <* ^ktmruj.

^O/ha^1 could nn*-0"La.hu8baild'."a s.tead7' respectable

to return to my story,
a very beautiful sort of grape grew in the island. I at once resolved
to endeavour to make some real port and sherry. My mother's
currant wine was always sought far and wide; and though I had
never condescended to assist at the making of it, I nevertheless was
not altogether ignorant of the process. Besides, I could dry the grapes;
and if it was my destiny to pass Christmas in solitude, at least I
should not be without the consolation of something like a plum-

Curiosities of Science.

he had the dh'est m^ mind of the fancy that the
^en, he proPerty of that much-wronged individual.
Was, I thought, dead, and was very properly

that \a certain professor would produce the bottled smell of lightning,
we believe of the sort that the Americans call "greased." If even the
smell of lightning can bo bottled after this fashion, may we not Hope
that thunderbolts shall be made so common that timid people may
fasten their bed-room doors with them ?