Page:Sylvester Sound the Somnambulist (1844).djvu/188

 "Where are you goidg?" inquired Tom.

"To various places," replied Mrs. Delolme.

"Oh! very well. Syl goes with us of course?"

"It has been decided that, until our return, Sylvester remains with the doctor."

"What for?"

"I say that it has been thus decided."

"Oh! well, if there be adythidg cabalistic goidg od, I dod't wadt to kdow adythidg about it. I'b ready whed you are."

Accordingly, when the carriage was announced, Tom entered with Aunt Eleanor and Mrs. Delolme, and when the coachman had been directed to drive them to the residence of Mr. Terre, Tom wanted to know particularly what they were going there for. The only answer he obtained, however, was that they were going for an excellent purpose, and as he found that this was the only answer he could obtain, he thought that he might as well be satisfied with it as not.

Having arrived at the house of the reverend lion, Aunt Eleanor and Tom were introduced to a tall, pale, light-haired, awkward individual, who, while he displayed a considerable portion of the "whites" of his eyes, proved clearly that he had cultivated that which in the Scotch Kirk is termed the "holy tone" to perfection. Tom didn't like the man: he went prejudiced against him: he felt that he had been, by him, deprived of those comforts—those innocent pleasures—of home, to which he had been from infancy accustomed, and therefore, on being introduced, he bowed as stiffly as possible.

Having received an intimation from Mrs. Delolme that she was anxious to speak to him privately for a moment, Mr. Terre, with all the grace he had in him—which really wasn't much—conducted her into an adjoining room. Here they conversed for some time, and on the return of Mrs. Delolme, she requested Tom to go in and speak to Mr. Terre.

"What about?" inquired Tom.

"He is anxious to speak to you."

"Well: cad't he say what he has to say here?"

"He wishes to speak to you privately."

"Well, but what about? I dod't wish to have ady private cobbudicatiod with hib! What does he wadt?"

"You will hear, sir, as soon as you enter that room."

"Well, I dare say I shall."

"You do not, I presume, refuse to go?"

"Oh, I'll go!" replied Tom: and he went; and when he had entered the room, Mr. Terre, with an expression of dignity, and in a most authoritative tone, said—

"Young man-"

"Youdg bad!" echoed Tom, who didn't like to be thus addressed.

"In the first place," continued Mr. Terre, "I most earnestly exhort you to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest, the first ten verses of the fifth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles."

"What for?" inquired Tom.