Mean while the master, surprised and disconcerted at such an unprecedented secession, convened all the tutors of those who were concerned in this dangerous association, in order to concert proper measures for recalling them; and after mature deliberation, as it was the opinion of every body, that such a number of raw, hotheaded boys, without money, conduct, experience or plan, could not possibly cohere for any length of time, they resolved to leave them to the operations of their own passions; not doubting that as the first impulse gradually weakened, they would drop off one by one, and the whole confederacy be thus melted down. The return of the young boys justified the prognostic; but the masters were not a little alarmed, when they understood that the rest had chosen a general, submitted to certain regulations, and adopted a determinate design. They resolved, nevertheless, to give them a little more scope, and waited four and twenty hours for the effect of their forbearance; when hearing no accounts from the deserters, they began to consider this revolt as a very serious affair; and in pursuance of their advice and direction, the governors set out in quest of their stray pupils.
It was not difficult to discover the rout they had taken; such a remarkable caravan could not pass unheeded; they got intimation of their advances from stage to stage, and at night arrived at an inn that stood on the road, about two miles short of the town where the adventurers had settled their head quarters. From hence they repaired in a body to the house of a neighbouring justice, who, in consequence of their representations, granted a warrant to apprehend and secure the body of Thomas Pipes, as an idle vagabond and seducer of youth. Thus authorised, they went early next morning to the town, and set up their horses at another inn, where they remained incognito, until they had engaged the constable with a competent number of assistants; then a person was sent to inform Mr. Pipes, that his company was desired at the White Hart.1
Tom received this message immediately after the contribution of effects, already mentioned; and imparted the contents to his master, who rightly judging that it concerned the common cause, desired him to obey the summons. He followed the messenger accordingly; and no sooner set his nose within the room to which he was directed, than the constable and his posse sprung upon him, before he had the least intimation of his design, or any opportunity of acting in his own defence.
Thus overpowered, he was made acquainted with the cause of his being arrested, which, in all appearance, did not give him a great deal of concern, and in private committed to jail, where he was left to his own meditations.
This previous measure being successfully taken, the tutors went into separate apartments, and sending for their respective pupils, each plied his own charge in particular with such arguments as he judged most conducive to dissuade him from persevering in the imprudent scheme which he had already prosecuted too far. No great eloquence was required to accomplish this aim, which was already more than half effected by their own reflections; and therefore the greatest part of them yielded to such reasonable remonstrances, and consented to return to school, provided they might be indulged with a general amnesty for what they had done. This they were impowered to promise to all of them, except Peregrine, whom, as ringleader and first cause of this disturbance, the master had marked out for a public example. For this reason he stood out against all the admonitions of Mr. Jolter, who in vain conjured him to put up with a little correction, rather than run the risk of being ignominiously expelled, and of forfeiting the friendship of his uncle, on whom he knew his chief dependance was built; till at length, seeing his adherents persuaded out of their allegiance, and himself bereft of all company and means of subsistence, he with great reluctance resigned himself to his fate; and having obtained the discharge of Pipes, was reconducted to the college, where, notwithstanding the intercession of his governor, who begged earnestly that his punishment might be mitigated, our unfortunate hero was publickly horsed,2 in terrorem of all whom it might concern.
This disgrace had a very sensible effect upon the mind of Peregrine, who having, by this time, passed the fourteenth year of his age, began to adopt the pride and sentiments of a man. Thus dishonourably stigmatized, he was ashamed to appear in public as usual; he was incensed against his companions for their infidelity and irresolution, and plunged into a profound reverie that lasted several weeks, during which he shook off his boyish connections, and fixed his view upon objects which he thought more worthy of his attention.
In the course of his gymnastic exercises, at which he was very expert, he contracted intimacies with several youths who were greatly his superiors in point of age, and who, pleased with his aspiring genius and address, introduced him into parties of gallantry, which strongly captivated his inclination. He was by nature particularly adapted for succeeding in adventures of this kind; over and above a most engaging person that improved with his years, he possessed a dignified assurance, an agreeable ferocity which inhanced the conquest of the fair who had the good fortune to enslave him, unlimited generosity, and a fund of humour which never failed to please. Nor was he deficient in the more solid accomplishments of youth; he had profited in his studies beyond expectation, and besides that sensibility of discernment which is the foundation of taste, and in consequence of which he distinguished and enjoyed the beauties of the Classics, he had already given several specimens of a very promising poetic talent.
With this complexion and these qualifications,3 no wonder that our hero attracted the notice and affection of the young Delias in town,4 whose hearts had just begun to flutter for they knew not what. Inquiries were made concerning his condition; and no sooner were his expectations known, than he was invited and caressed by all the parents, while their daughters vyed with each other in treating him with particular complacency. He inspired love and emulation wherever he appeared; envy and jealous rage followed of course; so that he became a very desirable, though a very dangerous acquaintance. His moderation was not equal to his success; his vanity took the lead of his passions, dissipating his attention, which might otherwise have fixed him to one object; and he was possessed with the rage of increasing the number of his conquests. With this view he frequented public walks, concerts and assemblies, became remarkably rich and fashionable in his cloaths, gave entertainments to the ladies, and was in the utmost hazard of turning out a most egregious coxcomb.5
While his character thus wavered between the ridicule of some, and the regard of others, an accident happened, which, by contracting his view to one object, detached him from those vain pursuits that would in time have plunged him into an abyss of folly and contempt. Being one evening at the ball which is always given to the ladies at the time of the races,6 the person who acted as master of the ceremonies, knowing how fond Mr. Pickle was of every opportunity to display himself, came up and told him, that there was a fine young creature at the other end of the room, who seemed to have a great inclination to dance a minuet, but wanted a partner, the gentlemen who attended her being in boots.7
Peregrine’s vanity being arroused at this intimation, he went up to reconnoitre the young lady, and was struck with admiration at her beauty. She seemed to be of his own age, was tall, and tho’ slender, exquisitely shaped; her hair was auburn, and in such plenty, that the barbarity of dress had not been able to prevent it from shading both sides of her forehead, which was high and polished; the contour of her face was oval, her nose very little raised into the aquiline form, that contributed to the spirit and dignity of her aspect; her mouth was small, her lips plump, juicy and delicious,8 her teeth regular and white as driven snow, her complexion incredibly delicate and glowing with health, and her full blue eyes beamed forth vivacity and love: her mein was at the same time commanding and engaging, her address perfectly genteel, and her whole appearance so captivating, that our young Adonis looked,9 and was overcome.
He no sooner recollected himself from his astonishment, than he advanced to her with a graceful air of respect, and begged she would do him the honour to walk a minuet with him. She seemed particularly pleased with his application, and very frankly complied with his request. This pair was too remarkable to escape the particular notice of the company: Mr. Pickle was well known by almost every body in the room, but his partner was altogether a new face, and of consequence underwent the criticism of all the ladies in the assembly; one whispered, “She has a good complexion, but don’t you think she is a little awry?” A second pitied her for her masculine nose; a third observed, that she was aukward for want of seeing company; a fourth distinguished something very bold in her countenance; and in short, there was not a beauty in her whole composition, which the glass of envy did not pervert into a blemish.10
The men, however, looked upon her with different eyes; among them her appearance produced an universal murmur of applause; they encircled the space on which she danced, and were enchanted by her graceful motion. While they launched out in the praise of her, they expressed their displeasure at the good fortune of her partner, whom they damned for a little finical coxcomb, that was too much engrossed by the contemplation of his own person, to discern or deserve the favour of his fate. He did not hear, therefore could not repine at these invectives; but while they imagined he indulged his vanity, a much more generous passion had taken possession of his heart.
Instead of that petulance of gaiety for which he had been distinguished in his public appearance,11 he now gave manifest signs of confusion and concern; he danced with an anxiety which impeded his performance, and blushed to the eyes at every false step he made. Though this extraordinary agitation was overlooked by the men, it could not escape the observation of the ladies, who perceived it with equal surprize and resentment; and when Peregrine led this fair unknown to her seat, expressed their pique in an affected titter, which broke from every mouth at the same instant, as if all of them had been informed by the same spirit.
Peregrine was nettled at this unmannerly mark of disapprobation, and, in order to increase their chagrin, endeavoured to enter into particular conversation with their fair rival. The young lady herself, who neither wanted penetration, nor the consciousness of her own accomplishments, resented their behaviour, though she triumphed at the cause of it, and gave her partner all the encouragement he could desire. Her mother, who was present, thanked him for his civility in taking such notice of a stranger, and he received a compliment of the same nature from the young gentleman in boots, who was her own brother.
If he was charmed with her appearance, he was quite ravished with her discourse, which was sensible, spirited and gay. Her frank and sprightly demeanour excited his own confidence and good humour; and he described to her the characters of those females who had honoured them with such a spiteful mark of distinction, in terms so replete with humorous satire, that she seemed to listen with particular complacency of attention, and distinguished every nymph thus ridiculed with such a significant glance, as overwhelmed her with chagrin and mortification. In short, they seemed to relish each other’s conversation, during which our young Damon acquitted himself with great skill in all the duties of gallantry;12 he laid hold of proper opportunities to express his admiration of her charms, had recourse to the silent rhetoric of tender looks, breathed divers insidious sighs, and attached himself wholly to her during the remaining part of the entertainment.
When the company broke up, he attended her to her lodgings, and took leave of her with a squeeze of the hand, after having obtained permission to visit her next morning, and been informed by the mother that her name was Miss Emilia Gauntlet.13
All night long he closed not an eye, but amused himself with plans of pleasure, which his imagination suggested, in consequence of this new acquaintance. He arose with the lark, adjusted his hair into an agreeable negligence of curl, and dressing himself in a genteel grey frock trimmed with silver binding, waited with the utmost impatience for the hour of ten, which no sooner struck, than he hied him to the place of appointment, and inquiring for Miss Gauntlet, was shewn into a parlour. Here he had not waited above ten minutes, when Emilia entered in a most inchanting undress,14 with all the graces of nature playing about her person, and in a moment rivetted the chains of his slavery beyond the power of accident to unbind.
Her mother being still abed, and her brother gone to give orders about the chaise, in which they proposed to return that same day to their own habitation, he enjoyed her company tête a tête a whole hour, during which he declared his love in the most passionate terms, and begged that he might be admitted into the number of those admirers whom she permitted to visit and adore her.
She affected to look upon his vows and protestations as the ordinary effects of gallantry, and very obligingly assured him, that were she to live in that place, she should be glad to see him often; but as the spot on which she resided was at a considerable distance, she could not expect he would go so far upon such a trifling occasion, or take the trouble of providing himself with her mamma’s permission.
To this favourable hint he answered with all the eagerness of the most fervid passion, that he had uttered nothing but the genuine dictates of his heart, and desired nothing so much as an opportunity of evincing the sincerity of his professions; and that though she lived at the extremity of the kingdom, he would find means to lay himself at her feet, provided he could visit her with her mother’s consent, which he assured her he would not fail to sollicit.
She then gave him to understand, that her habitation was about sixteen miles from Winchester, in a village which she named, and where (as he could easily collect from her discourse) he would be no unwelcome guest.
In the midst of this communication they were joined by Mrs. Gauntlet, who received him with great courtesy, thanked him again for his politeness to Emy at the ball, and anticipated his intention, by saying that she should be very glad to see him at her house, if ever his occasions should call him that way.