human
Bless my soul, sir, cried the General, shaking Keane's hand with the greatest possible energy,
gpt
Sydie, whispered Fay, an hour before dinner, when she had teased the Cantab's life out of him till he had consented to pronounce judgment on the puppies,
human
The greatest philosopher of modern times, responded her cousin, solemnly.
gpt
A condensation of Solon, Thales, Plutarch, Seneca, Cicero, Lucullus, Bion, Theophrastes, and Co.; such a giant of mathematical knowledge, and all other knowledge, too, that every day, when he passes under Bacon's Gate, we are afraid the old legend will come to pass, and it will tumble down as flat as a pancake; a homage to him, but a loss to Cambridge.
human
Nonsense, said Miss Fay, impatiently.
gpt
Gently, young woman, cried Sydie.
human
He is Tutor and Fellow of King's, and a great gun besides; he's some twenty-five years older than you. His name on the rolls is Gerald, I believe, and he dwells in the shadow of Mater, beyond the reach of my cornet; for which fact, not being musically inclined, he is barbarian enough to return thanks daily in chapel.
gpt
I am sorry he is come. It was stupid of you to bring him.
human
Wherefore, _ma cousine_? Are you afraid of him? You needn't be. Young ladies are too insignificant atoms of creation for him to criticise. He'll no more expect sense from you than from Snowdrop and her pups.
gpt
Afraid! repeated Fay, with extreme indignation.
human
I should like to see any man of whom I should feel afraid! If he doesn't like fun and nonsense, I pity him; but if he despise me ever so much for it, I shall enjoy myself before him, and in spite of him. I was sorry you brought him, because he will take you away when I want you all to myself; and he looks so haughty, that----
gpt
You _are_ afraid of him, Fay, and won't own it.
human
I am _not_, reiterated Fay, impetuously;
gpt
I bet you six pair of gloves you do no such thing, young lady.
human
Done. Do keep the one with a black nose, Sydie; and yet that little liver-colored darling is too pretty to be killed. Suppose we save them all? Snowdrop will be so pleased.
gpt
There's that child with her arms full of dogs, said the General, beaming with satisfaction at sight of his niece.
human
She's a little, spoilt, wilful thing. She's an old bachelor's pet, and you must make allowances. I call her the fairy of the Beeches, God bless her! She nursed me last winter, when I was at death's door from these cursed cold winds, sir, better than Miss Nightingale could have done. What a devilish climate it _is_; never two days alike. I don't wonder Englishwomen are such icicles, poor things; they're frostbitten from their cradle upwards.
gpt
India warms them up, General, doesn't it?
human
To be sure, to be sure; if prudery's the fashion, they'll wear it, sir, as they would patches or hair-powder; but they're always uncommonly glad to leave it off and lock it out of sight when they can. What do you think of the kennels? I say, Sydie, confound you, why did you bring down any traps with you? Haven't room for 'em, not for one. Couldn't cram a tilbury into the coach-house.
gpt
A trap, governor? said Sydie, straightening his back after examination of the pups;
human
Where's your drag, then?
gpt
My drag? Don't I just wish I had one, to offer my bosom friend the V. P. a seat on the box. Calvert, of Trinity, tooled us over in his to the Spring Meetings, and his grays are the sweetest pair of goers--the leaders especially--that ever you saw in harness. We came back 'cross country, to get in time for hall, and a pretty mess we made of it, for we broke the axle, and lamed the off-wheeler, and----
human
But, God bless my soul, stormed the General, excited beyond measure,
gpt
But, my dear governor----
human
Nonsense; don't talk to me! cried the General, trying to work himself into a passion, and diving into the recesses of six separate pockets one after another.
gpt
Look here, sir, I suppose you'll believe your own words? Here it is in black and white.--'P. S. I shall bring _my Coach_ down with me.' There, what do you say now? Confound you, what are you laughing at? _I_ don't see anything to laugh at. In my day, young fellows didn't make fools of old men in this way. Bless my soul, why the devil don't you leave off laughing, and talk a little common sense? The thing's plain enough.--'P.S. _I shall bring my Coach down with me_.'
human
So I have, said Sydie, screaming with laughter.
gpt
Look at him--he's a first-rate Coach, too! Wheels always oiled, and ready for any road; always going up hill, and never caught coming down; started at a devil of a pace, and now keeps ahead of all other vehicles on all highways. A first-class Coach, that will tool me through the tortuous lanes and treacherous pitfalls of the Greats with flying colors. My Coach! Bravo, General! that's the best bit of fun I've had since I dressed up like Sophonisba Briggs, and led the V. P. a dance all round the quad, every hair on his head standing erect in his virtuous indignation at the awful morals of his college.
human
Eh, what? grunted the General, light beginning to dawn upon him.
gpt
Do you mean Mr. Keane? Hum! how's one to be up to all your confounded slang? How could I know? Devil take you, Sydie, why can't you write common English? You young fellows talk as bad jargon as Sepoys. You're sure I'm delighted to see you, Mr. Keane, though I did make the mistake.
human
Thank you, General, said Keane;
gpt
Not at all, not at all, swore the General, with vehement cordiality.
human
I gave him carte blanche to ask whom he would, and unexpected guests are always most welcome; _not_ that you were unexpected though, for I'd told that boy to be sure and bring somebody down here----
gpt
And have had the tax-cart and my phaeton turned out to make comfortable quarters for him, said Miss Fay, with a glance at The Coach to see how he took chaff,
human
Perhaps, Miss Morton, said Keane, smiling,
gpt
I shall like it so well that you will have to say to me as poor Voltaire to his troublesome abbé, 'Don Quichotte prenait les auberges pour les châteaux, mais vous avez pris les châteaux pour les auberges.'
human
Tiresome man, thought Fay.
gpt
I wish Sydie hadn't brought him here; but I shall do as I always do, however grand and supercilious he may look. He has lived among all those men and books till he has grown as cold as granite. What a pity it is people don't enjoy existence as I do!
human
You are thinking, Miss Morton, said Keane, as he walked on beside her, with an amused glance at her face, which was expressive enough of her thoughts,
gpt
I was not going to disclaim it, said Fay, quickly looking up at him with a rapid glance, half penitence, half irritation.
human
I always tell the truth; but I was _not_ thinking exactly that; I don't want any of Sydie's friends--I detest boys--but I certainly _was_ thinking that as you look down on everything that we all delight in, I fancied you and the Beeches will hardly agree. If I am rude, you must not be angry; you wanted me to tell you the truth.
gpt
Do I look down on the things you delight in? I hardly know enough of you, as we have only addressed about six syllables to each other, to be able to judge what you like and what you don't like; but certainly I must admit, that caressing the little round heads of those puppies yonder, which seemed to afford you such extreme rapture, would not be any source of remarkable gratification to me.
human
Well, I am fond of animals as you are fond of books. Is it not an open question whether the live dog or sheepskin is not as good as the dead Morocco or Russian leather?
gpt
Is it an open question, whether Macaulay's or Arago's brain weighs no more than a cat's or a puppy's?
human
Brain! said impudent little Fay;
gpt
Say, rather, Miss Morton, that those to whom many temptations fall should have many excuses made. Where the brain preponderates, excelling in creative faculty and rapid thought, there will the sensibilities be proportionately acute. The vivacity and vigorous life which produced the rapid flow of Sheridan's eloquence led him into the dissipation which made him end his days in a spunging-house. Men of cooler minds and natures must not presume to judge him. They had not his temptation; they cannot judge of his fault. Richelieu, in all probability, amused himself with his verses as he amused himself with his white kitten and its cork, as a _délassement_; had he piqued himself upon his poetry, as they say, he would have turned poetaster instead of politician. As for the other two, you must remember that Pope's deformity made him a subject of ridicule to the woman he was fool enough to worship, and Byron, poor fellow, was over-susceptible on all points, or he would scarcely have allowed the venomed arrows from the Scotch Reviewers to wound him, nor would he have cared for the desertion of a wife who was to him like ice to fire. When you are older, you will learn that it is very dangerous and unjust to say this thing is right, that wrong, that feeling wise, or this foolish; for all temperaments are different, and the same circumstances may produce very different effects. Your puppies will grow up with dissimilar characters; how much more so, then, must men?
human
Certainly; but then, by your own admission, you have no right to decide that your love for mathematics is wise, and my love for Snowdrop foolish; it may be quite _au contraire_. Perhaps, after all, I may have 'chosen the better part.'
gpt
Fay, go in and dress for dinner, interrupted the General, trotting up;
human
Perhaps Miss Morton's frænum, like Sydie's, was cut too far in her infancy, and therefore she has been 'unbridled' ever since.
gpt
In all things! cried little Fay.
human
Nobody has put the curb on me yet, and nobody ever shall.
gpt
Don't be too sure, Fay, cried Sydie.
human
Rarey does wonders with the wildest fillies. Somebody may bring you down on your knees yet.
gpt
You'll have to see to that, Sydie, laughed the General.
human
Come, get along, child, to your toilette. I never have my soup cold and my curry overdone. To wait for his dinner is a stretch of good nature, and patience that ought not to be expected of any man.
gpt
human
Plato,