Part 6 (1/2)
Now that Mr. Green had seen all that he wished to see, nothing remained for him but to discharge his hotel bill. It was accordingly called for, and produced by the waiter, whose face - by a visitation of that complaint against which vaccination is usually considered a safeguard - had been reduced to a
--- * See the Oxford Statutes, t.i.t. xiv, ”De vest.i.tu et habitu scholastico.”
+ Ditto, t.i.t. xv, ”De moribus conformandis.”
[48 ADVENTURES OF MR. VERDANT GREEN]
state resembling the interior half of a sliced m.u.f.fin. To judge from the expression of Mr. Green's features as he regarded the doc.u.ment that had been put into his hand, it is probable that he had not been much accustomed to Oxford hotels; for he ran over the several items of the bill with a look in which surprise contended with indignation for the mastery, while the m.u.f.fin-faced waiter handled his plated salver, and looked fixedly at nothing.
Mr. Green, however, refraining from observations, paid the bill; and, m.u.f.fling himself in greatcoat and travelling-cap, he prepared himself to take a comfortable journey back to Warwicks.h.i.+re, inside the Birmingham and Oxford coach. It was not loaded in the same way that it had been when he came up by it, and his fellow-pa.s.sengers were of a very different description; and it must be confessed that, in the absence of Mr. Bouncer's tin horn, the attacks of intrusive terriers, and the involuntary fumigation of himself with tobacco (although its presence was still perceptible within the coach), Mr. Green found his journey ~from~ Oxford much more agreeable than it had been ~to~ that place. He took an affectionate farewell of his son, somewhat after the manner of the ”heavy fathers” of the stage; and then the coach bore him away from the last lingering look of our hero, who felt any thing but heroic <vg048.jpg> at being left for the first time in his life to s.h.i.+ft for himself. His luggage had been sent up to Brazenface, so thither he turned his steps, and with some little difficulty found his room. Mr. Filcher had partly unpacked his master's things, and had left everything uncomfortable and in ”the most admired disorder”; and Mr. Verdant Green sat himself down upon the ”practicable” window-seat, and resigned himself to his thoughts.
If they had not already flown to the Manor Green, they would soon have been carried there; for a German band, just outside the college-gates, began to play ”Home, sweet home,” with that truth and delicacy of expression which the wandering minstrels of Germany seem to acquire intuitively. The sweet melancholy
[AN OXFORD FRESHMAN 49]
of the simple air, as it came subdued by distance into softer tones, would have powerfully affected most people who had just been torn from the bosom of their homes, to fight, all inexperienced, the battle of life; but it had such an effect on Mr. Verdant Green, that - but it little matters saying ~what~ he did; many people will give way to feelings in private that they would stifle in company; and if Mr. Filcher on his return found his master wiping his spectacles, why that was only a simple proceeding which all gla.s.ses frequently require.
To divert his thoughts, and to impress upon himself and others the fact that he was an Oxford MAN, our freshman set out for a stroll; and as the unaccustomed feeling of the gown <vg049.jpg> about his shoulders made him feel somewhat embarra.s.sed as to the carriage of his arms, he stepped into a shop on the way and purchased a light cane, which he considered would greatly add to the effect of the cap and gown. Armed with this weapon, he proceeded to disport himself in the Christ Church meadows, and promenaded up and down the Broad Walk.
The beautiful meadows lay green and bright in the sun; the arching trees threw a softened light, and made a chequered pavement of the great Broad Walk; ”witch-elms ~did~ counter-change the floor” of the gravel-walks that wound with the windings of the Cherwell; the drooping willows were mirrored in its stream; through openings in the trees there were glimpses of grey, old college-buildings; then came the walk along the banks, the Isis s.h.i.+ning like molten silver, and fringed around with barges and boats; then another stretch of green meadows; then a cloud of steam from the railway-station; and a background of gently-rising hills. It was a cheerful scene, and the variety of figures gave life and animation to the whole.
Young ladies and unprotected females were found in abundance, dressed in all the engaging variety of light spring dresses; and, as may be supposed, our hero attracted a great deal of their attention, and afforded them no small amus.e.m.e.nt. But the unusual and terrific appearance of a spectacled
[50 ADVENTURES OF MR. VERDANT GREEN]
<vg050-1.jpg> gownsman with a cane produced the greatest alarm among the juveniles, who imagined our freshman to be a new description <vg050-2.jpg>
[AN OXFORD FRESHMAN 51]
of beadle or Bogy, summoned up by the exigencies of the times to preserve a rigorous discipline among the young people; and, regarding his cane as the symbol of his stern sway, they hara.s.sed their nursemaids by unceasingly charging at their petticoats for protection.
Altogether, Mr. Verdant Green made quite a sensation.
CHAPTER VI.
MR. VERDANT GREEN DINES, BREAKFASTS, AND GOES TO CHAPEL.
OUR hero dressed himself with great care, that he might make his first appearance in Hall with proper ~eclat~ - and, having made his way towards the lantern-surmounted building, he walked up the steps and under the groined archway with a crowd of hungry undergraduates who were hurrying in to dinner. The clatter of plates would have alone been sufficient to guide his steps; and, pa.s.sing through one of the doors in the elaborately carved screen that shut off the pa.s.sage and the b.u.t.tery, he found himself within the hall of Brazenface. It was of n.o.ble size, lighted by lofty windows, and carried up to a great height by an open roof, dark (save where it opened to the lantern) with great oak beams, and rich with carved pendants and gilded bosses. The ample fire-places displayed the capaciousness of those collegiate mouths of ”the wind-pipes of hospitality,” and gave an idea of the dimensions of the kitchen ranges. In the centre of the hall was a huge plate-warmer, elaborately worked in bra.s.s with the college arms. Founders and benefactors were seen, or suggested, on all sides; their arms gleamed from the windows in all the glories of stained gla.s.s; and their faces peered out from the ma.s.sive gilt frames on the walls, as though their shadows loved to linger about the spot that had been benefited by their substance. At the further end of the hall a deep bay-window threw its painted light upon a dais, along which stretched the table for the Dons; Masters and Bachelors occupied side-tables; and the other tables were filled up by the undergraduates; every one, from the Don downwards, being in his gown.
Our hero was considerably impressed with the (to him) singular character of the scene; and from the ”Benedictus benedicat”
grace-before-meat to the ”Benedicto benedicamur” after-meat, he gazed curiously around him in silent wonderment. So much indeed was he wrapped up in the novelty of the scene, that he ran a great risk of losing his dinner. The scouts fled about in all directions with plates, and gla.s.ses, and pewter dishes, and ma.s.sive silver mugs that had gone round the tables
[52 ADVENTURES OF MR. VERDANT GREEN]
for the last two centuries, and still no one waited upon Mr. Verdant Green. He twice ventured to timidly say, ”Waiter!” but as no one answered to his call, and as he was too bashful and occupied with his own thoughts to make another attempt, it is probable that he would have risen from dinner as unsatisfied as when he sat down, had not his right-hand companion (having partly relieved his own wants) perceived his neighbour to be a freshman, and kindly said to him, ”I think you'd better begin your dinner, because we don't stay here long. <vg052.jpg> What is your scout's name?” And when he had been told it, he turned to Mr. Filcher and asked him, ”What the doose he meant by not waiting on his master?” which, with the addition of a few gratuitous threats, had the effect of bringing that gentleman to his master's side, and reducing Mr. Verdant Green to a state of mind in which grat.i.tude to his companion and a desire to beg his scout's pardon were confusedly blended. Not seeing any dishes upon the table to select from, he referred to the list, and fell back on the standard roast beef.
”I am sure I am very much obliged to you,” said Verdant, turning to his friendly neighbour. ”My rooms are next to yours, and I had the pleasure of being driven by you on the coach the other day.”
[AN OXFORD FRESHMAN 53]