Mr.Platitude and the Man in Black - The Postillion's Adventures - The Lone House - A Goodly Assemblage.
IT never rains, but it pours.I was destined to see at this inn more acquaintances than one.On the day of Francis Ardry's departure, shortly after he had taken leave of me, as I was standing in the corn-chamber, at a kind of writing-table or desk, fastened to the wall, with a book before me, in which I was ****** out an account of the corn and hay lately received and distributed, my friend the postillion came running in out of breath."Here they both are," he gasped out; "pray do come and look at them.""Whom do you mean?" said I.
"Why, that red-haired Jack Priest, and that idiotic parson, Platitude; they have just been set down by one of the coaches, and want a postchaise to go across the country in;and what do you think? I am to have the driving of them.Ihave no time to lose, for I must get myself ready; so do come and look at them."I hastened into the yard of the inn; two or three of the helpers of our establishment were employed in drawing forward a postchaise out of the chaise-house, which occupied one side of the yard, and which was spacious enough to contain nearly twenty of these vehicles, though it was never full, several of them being always out upon the roads, as the demand upon us for postchaises across the country was very great."There they are," said the postillion, softly, nodding towards two individuals, in one of whom I recognized the man in black, and in the other Mr.Platitude; "there they are; have a good look at them, while I go and get ready." The man in black and Mr.Platitude were walking up and down the yard, Mr.
Platitude was doing his best to make himself appear ridiculous, talking very loudly in exceedingly bad Italian, evidently for the purpose of attracting the notice of the bystanders, in which he succeeded, all the stable-boys and hangers-on about the yard, attracted by his vociferation, grinning at his ridiculous figure as he limped up and down.
The man in black said little or nothing, but from the glances which he cast sideways appeared to be thoroughly ashamed of his companion; the worthy couple presently arrived close to where I was standing, and the man in black, who was nearest to me, perceiving me, stood still as if hesitating, but recovering himself in a moment, he moved on without taking any farther notice; Mr.Platitude exclaimed as they passed in broken lingo, "I hope we shall find the holy doctors all assembled," and as they returned, "I make no doubt that they will all be rejoiced to see me." Not wishing to be standing an idle gazer, I went to the chaise and assisted in attaching the horses, which had now been brought out, to the pole.The postillion presently arrived, and finding all ready took the reins and mounted the box, whilst I very politely opened the door for the two travellers; Mr.Platitude got in first, and, without taking any notice of me, seated himself on the farther side.In got the man in black, and seated himself nearest to me."All is right," said I, as I shut the door, whereupon the postillion cracked his whip, and the chaise drove out of the yard.Just as I shut the door, however, and just as Mr.Platitude had recommenced talking in jergo, at the top of his voice, the man in black turned his face partly towards me, and gave me a wink with his left eye.
I did not see my friend the postillion till the next morning, when he gave me an account of the adventures he had met with on his expedition.It appeared that he had driven the man in black and the Reverend Platitude across the country by roads and lanes which he had some difficulty in threading.At length, when he had reached a part of the country where he had never been before, the man in black pointed out to him a house near the corner of a wood, to which he informed him they were bound.The postillion said it was a strange-looking house, with a wall round it; and, upon the whole, bore something of the look of a madhouse.There was already a postchaise at the gate, from which three individuals had alighted - one of them the postillion said was a mean-looking scoundrel, with a regular petty-larceny expression in his countenance.He was dressed very much like the man in black, and the postillion said that he could almost have taken his Bible oath that they were both of the same profession.The other two he said were parsons, he could swear that, though he had never seen them before; there could be no mistake about them.Church of England parsons the postillion swore they were, with their black coats, white cravats, and airs, in which clumsiness and conceit were most funnily blended -Church of England parsons of the Platitude description, who had been in Italy, and seen the Pope, and kissed his toe, and picked up a little broken Italian, and come home greater fools than they went forth.It appeared that they were all acquaintances of Mr.Platitude, for when the postillion had alighted and let Mr.Platitude and his companion out of the chaise, Mr.Platitude shook the whole three by the hand, conversed with his two brothers in a little broken jergo, and addressed the petty-larceny looking individual by the title of Reverend Doctor.In the midst of these greetings, however, the postillion said the man in black came up to him, and proceeded to settle with him for the chaise; he had shaken hands with nobody, and had merely nodded to the others; "and now," said the postillion, "he evidently wished to get rid of me, fearing, probably, that I should see too much of the nonsense that was going on.It was whilst settling with me that he seemed to recognize me for the first time, for he stared hard at me, and at last asked whether Ihad not been in Italy; to which question, with a nod and a laugh, I replied that I had.I was then going to ask him about the health of the image of Holy Mary, and to say that Ihoped it had recovered from its horsewhipping; but he interrupted me, paid me the money for the fare, and gave me a crown for myself, saying he would not detain me any longer.
