Part 26 (2/2)

Mr. Foote's rooms were altogether a very gorgeous instance of a Collegian's apartment; and Mr. Foote himself was a very striking example of the theatrical undergraduate. Possessing great powers of mimicry and facial expression, he was able to imitate any peculiarities which were to be observed either in Dons or Undergraduates, in Presidents or Scouts. He could sit down at his piano, and give you - after the manner of Theodore Hook, or John Parry - a burlesque opera; singing high up in his head for the prima donna, and going down to his boots for the ~ba.s.so profondo~ of the great Lablache. He could also draw corks, saw wood, do a bee in a handkerchief,

[AN OXFORD FRESHMAN 183]

and make monkeys, cats, dogs, a farm-yard, or a full band, with equal facility. He would also give you Mr. Keeley, in ”Betsy Baker;” Mr.

Paul Bedford, as ”I believe you my bo-o-oy”; Mr. Buckstone, as Cousin Joe, and ”Box and c.o.x;” or Mr. Wright, as Paul Pry, or Mr. Felix Fluffy. Besides the comedians, Mr. Footelights would also give you the leading tragedians, and would favour you (through his nose) with the popular burlesque imitation of Mr. Charles Kean, as ~Hablet~. He <vg183.jpg> would fling himself down on the carpet, and grovel there as Hamlet does in the play-scene, and would exclaim, with frantic vehemence, ”He poisods hib i' the garded, for his estate. His dabe's G.o.dzago: the story is extadt, ad writted id very choice Italiad. You shall see adod, how the burderer gets the love of G.o.dzago's wife.” Moreover, as his room possessed the singularity of a trap-door leading down into a wine-cellar, Mr. ”Footelights” was thus enabled to leap down into the aperture, and carry on the personation of Hamlet in Ophelia's grave. As the theatrical trait in his character was productive of much amus.e.m.e.nt, and as he was also considered to be one of those hilarious fragments of masonry, popularly known as ”jolly bricks,” Mr. Foote's society was greatly cultivated; and Mr. Verdant Green struck up a warm friends.h.i.+p with him.

But the Michaelmas term was drawing to its close. b.u.t.tery and kitchen books were adding up their sums total; bursars were preparing for battels;* witless men were cramming for

--- * Battels are the accounts of the expenses of each student. It is stated in Todd's ~Johnson~ that this singular word is derived from the Saxon verb, meaning ”to count or reckon.” But it is stated in the ~Gentleman's Magazine~ for 1792, that the word may probably be derived from the Low-German word ~bettahlen~, ”to pay,” whence may come our English word, ~tale~ or ~score~.

[184 ADVENTURES OF MR. VERDANT GREEN]

Collections;* scouts and bedmakers were looking for tips; and tradesmen were hopelessly expecting their little accounts. And, in a few days, Mr. Verdant Green might have been seen at the railway station, in company with Mr. Charles Larkyns and Mr. Bouncer, setting out for the Manor Green, ~via~ London - this being, as is well known, the most direct route from Oxford to Warwicks.h.i.+re.

Mr. Bouncer, who when travelling was never easy in his mind unless Huz and Buz were with him in the same carriage, had placed these two interesting specimens of the canine species in a small light box, partially ventilated by means of holes drilled through the top. But Huz and Buz, not much admiring this contracted mode of conveyance, and probably suffering from incipient asphyxia, in spite of the admonitory kicks against their box, gave way to dismal howls, at the very moment when the guard came to look at the tickets. ”Can't allow dogs in here, sir! they must go in the locker,” said the guard.

”Dogs?” cried Mr. Bouncer, in apparent astonishment: ”they're rabbits!”

”Rabbits!” e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed the guard, in his turn. ”Oh, come, sir! what makes rabbits bark?”

”What makes 'em bark? Why, because they've got the pip, poor beggars!” replied Mr. Bouncer, promptly. At which the guard graciously laughed, and retired; probably thinking that he should, in the end, be a gainer if he allowed Huz and Buz to journey in the same first-cla.s.s carriage with their master.

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CHAPTER VIII.

MR. VERDANT GREEN SPENDS A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR.

CHRISTMAS had come; the season of kindness, and hospitality; the season when the streams of benevolence flow full in their channels; the season when the Honourable Miss Hyems indulges herself with ice, while the vulgar Jack Frost regales himself with cold-without.

Christmas had come, and had brought with it an old fas.h.i.+oned winter; and, as Mr. Verdant Green stands with his hands in his pockets, and gazes from the drawing-room of his paternal mansion, he looks forth upon a white world.

The snow is everywhere. The shrubs are weighed down by ma.s.ses of it; the terrace is knee-deep in it; the plaster Apollo, in the long-walk, is more than knee-deep in it, and is furnished

--- * College Terminal Examinations.

[AN OXFORD FRESHMAN 185]

with a surplice and wig, like a half-blown Bishop. The distant country looks the very ghost of a landscape: the white-walled cottages seem part and parcel of the snow-drifts around them, -drifts that take every variety of form, and are swept by the wind into faery wreaths, and fantastic caves. The old mill-wheel is locked fast, and gemmed with giant icicles; its slippery stairs are more slippery than ever. Golden gorse and purple heather are now all of a colour; orchards put forth blossoms of real snow; the gently swelling hills look bright and dazzling in the wintry sun; the grey church tower has grown from grey to white; nothing looks black, except the swarms of rooks that dot the snowy fields, or make their caws (long as any Chancery-suit) to be heard from among the dark branches of the stately elms that form the avenue to the Manor-Green.

It is a rare busy time for the intelligent Mr. Mole the gardener! he is always sweeping at that avenue, and, do what he will, he cannot keep it clear from snow. As Mr. Verdant Green looks forth upon the white world, his gaze is more particularly directed to this avenue, as though the form of the intelligent Mr. Mole was an object of interest. From time to time Mr. Verdant Green consults his watch in a nervous manner, and is utterly indifferent to the appeals of the robin-redbreast <vg185.jpg> who is hopping about outside, in expectation of the dinner which has been daily given to him.

Just when the robin, emboldened by hunger, has begun to tap fiercely with his bill against the window-pane, as a gentle hint that the smallest donations of crumbs of comfort will be thankfully received, - Mr. Verdant Green, utterly oblivious of robins in general, and of the sharp pecks of this one in particular, takes no notice of the little redbreast waiter with the bill, but, slightly colouring up, fixes his gaze upon the lodge-gate through which a group of ladies and gentlemen are pa.s.sing. Stepping back for a moment, and stealing a glance at himself in the mirror, Mr. Verdant Green hurriedly arranges and disarranges his hair - pulls about his collar - ties and

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