Martin Rattler | Page 3

had not the appearance of a scamp. He had fat rosy
cheeks, a round rosy mouth, a straight delicately-formed nose, a firm
massive chin, and a broad forehead. But the latter was seldom visible,
owing to the thickly-clustering fair curls that overhung it. When asleep
Martin's face was the perfection of gentle innocence. But the instant he
opened his dark-brown eyes, a thousand dimples and wrinkles played
over his visage, chiefly at the corners of his mouth and round his eyes;
as if the spirit of fun and the spirit of mischief had got entire possession
of the boy, and were determined to make the most of him. When deeply
interested in anything, Martin was as grave and serious as a
philosopher.
Aunt Dorothy Grumbit had a turned-up nose,--a very much turned-up
nose; so much so, indeed, that it presented a front view of the nostrils!
It was an aggravating nose, too for the old lady's spectacles refused to
rest on any part of it except the extreme point. Mrs. Grumbit invariably
placed them on the right part of her nose, and they as invariably slid
down the curved slope until they were brought up by the little hillock at
the end. There they condescended to repose in peace.
Mrs. Grumbit was mild, and gentle, and little, and thin, and
old,--perhaps seventy-five; but no one knew her age for certain, not
even herself. She wore an old-fashioned, high-crowned cap, and a
gown of bed-curtain chintz, with flowers on it the size of a saucer. It
was a curious gown, and very cheap, for Mrs. Grumbit was poor. No
one knew the extent of her poverty, any more than they did her age; but

she herself knew it, and felt it deeply,--never so deeply, perhaps, as
when her orphan nephew Martin grew old enough to be put to school,
and she had not wherewithal to send him. But love is quick-witted and
resolute. A residence of six years in Germany had taught her to knit
stockings at a rate that cannot be described, neither conceived unless
seen. She knitted two dozen pairs. The vicar took one dozen, the doctor
took the other. The fact soon became known. Shops were not numerous
in the village in those days; and the wares they supplied were only
second rate. Orders came pouring in, Mrs. Grumbit's knitting wires
clicked, and her little old hands wagged with incomprehensible rapidity
and unflagging regularity,--and Martin Rattler was sent to school.
While occupied with her knitting, she sat in a high-backed chair in a
very small deep window, through which the sun streamed nearly the
whole day; and out of which there was the most charming imaginable
view of the gardens and orchards of the villagers, with a little dancing
brook in the midst, and the green fields of the farmers beyond, studded
with sheep and cattle and knolls of woodland, and bounded in the far
distance by the bright blue sea. It was a lovely scene, such an one as
causes the eye to brighten and the heart to melt as we gaze upon it, and
think, perchance, of its Creator.
Yes, it was a scene worth looking at; but Mrs. Grumbit never looked at
it, for the simple reason that she could not have seen it if she had. Half
way across her own little parlour was the extent of her natural vision.
By the aid of spectacles and a steady concentrated effort, she could see
the fire-place at the other end of the room; and the portrait of her
deceased husband, who had been a sea-captain; and the white kitten
that usually sat on the rug before the fire. To be sure she saw them very
indistinctly. The picture was a hazy blue patch, which was the captain's
coat; with a white patch down the middle of it, which was his waistcoat;
and a yellow ball on the top of it, which was his head. It was rather an
indistinct and generalized view, no doubt; but she saw it, and that was a
great comfort.
CHAPTER II

IN DISGRACE
Fire was the cause of Martin's getting into disgrace at school for the
first time; and this is how it happened.
"Go and poke the fire, Martin Rattler," said the school-master, "and put
on a bit of coal, and see that you don't send the sparks flying about the
floor."
Martin sprang with alacrity to obey; for he was standing up with the
class at the time, and was glad of the temporary relaxation. He stirred
the fire with great care, and put on several pieces of coal very slowly,
and rearranged them two or three times; after which he stirred the fire a
little more, and examined it carefully to see that it was all right; but he