The Mill on the Floss

Chapter 11

Maggie'S intentions, as usual, were on a larger scale than Tom

imagined. The resolution that gathered in her mind, after Tom and Lucy

had walked away, was not so simple as that of going home. No! she

would run away and go to the gypsies, and Tom should never see her any

more. That was by no means a new idea to Maggie; she had been so often

told she was like a gypsy, and "half wild," that when she was

miserable it seemed to her the only way of escaping opprobrium, and

being entirely in harmony with circumstances, would be to live in a

little brown tent on the commons; the gypsies, she considered, would

gladly receive her and pay her much respect on account of her superior

knowledge. She had once mentioned her views on this point to Tom and

suggested that he should stain his face brown, and they should run

away together; but Tom rejected the scheme with contempt, observing

that gypsies were thieves, and hardly got anything to eat and had

nothing to drive but a donkey. To-day however, Maggie thought her

misery had reached a pitch at which gypsydom was her refuge, and she

rose from her seat on the roots of the tree with the sense that this

was a great crisis in her life; she would run straight away till she

came to Dunlow Common, where there would certainly be gypsies; and

cruel Tom, and the rest of her relations who found fault with her,

should never see her any more. She thought of her father as she ran

along, but she reconciled herself to the idea of parting with him, by

determining that she would secretly send him a letter by a small

gypsy, who would run away without telling where she was, and just let

him know that she was well and happy, and always loved him very much.

Maggie soon got out of breath with running, but by the time Tom got to

the pond again she was at the distance of three long fields, and was

on the edge of the lane leading to the highroad. She stopped to pant a

little, reflecting that running away was not a pleasant thing until

one had got quite to the common where the gypsies were, but her

resolution had not abated; she presently passed through the gate into

the lane, not knowing where it would lead her, for it was not this way

that they came from Dorlcote Mill to Garum Firs, and she felt all the

safer for that, because there was no chance of her being overtaken.

But she was soon aware, not without trembling, that there were two men

coming along the lane in front of her; she had not thought of meeting

strangers, she had been too much occupied with the idea of her friends

coming after her. The formidable strangers were two shabby-looking men

with flushed faces, one of them carrying a bundle on a stick over his

shoulder; but to her surprise, while she was dreading their

disapprobation as a runaway, the man with the bundle stopped, and in a

half-whining, half-coaxing tone asked her if she had a copper to give

a poor man. Maggie had a sixpence in her pocket,--her uncle Glegg's

present,--which she immediately drew out and gave this poor man with a

polite smile, hoping he would feel very kindly toward her as a

generous person. "That's the only money I've got," she said

apologetically. "Thank you, little miss," said the man, in a less

respectful and grateful tone than Maggie anticipated, and she even

observed that he smiled and winked at his companion. She walked on

hurriedly, but was aware that the two men were standing still,

probably to look after her, and she presently heard them laughing

loudly. Suddenly it occurred to her that they might think she was an

idiot; Tom had said that her cropped hair made her look like an i***t,

and it was too painful an idea to be readily forgotten. Besides, she

had no sleeves on,--only a cape and bonnet. It was clear that she was

not likely to make a favorable impression on passengers, and she

thought she would turn into the fields again, but not on the same side

of the lane as before, lest they should still be uncle Pullet's

fields. She turned through the first gate that was not locked, and

felt a delightful sense of privacy in creeping along by the hedgerows,

after her recent humiliating encounter. She was used to wandering

about the fields by herself, and was less timid there than on the

highroad. Sometimes she had to climb over high gates, but that was a

small evil; she was getting out of reach very fast, and she should

probably soon come within sight of Dunlow Common, or at least of some

other common, for she had heard her father say that you couldn't go

very far without coming to a common. She hoped so, for she was getting

rather tired and hungry, and until she reached the gypsies there was

no definite prospect of bread and butter. It was still broad daylight,

for aunt Pullet, retaining the early habits of the Dodson family, took

tea at half-past four by the sun, and at five by the kitchen clock;

so, though it was nearly an hour since Maggie started, there was no

gathering gloom on the fields to remind her that the night would come.

Still, it seemed to her that she had been walking a very great

distance indeed, and it was really surprising that the common did not

come within sight. Hitherto she had been in the rich parish of Garum,

where was a great deal of pasture-land, and she had only seen one

laborer at a distance. That was fortunate in some respects, as

laborers might be too ignorant to understand the propriety of her

wanting to go to Dunlow Common; yet it would have been better if she

could have met some one who would tell her the way without wanting to

know anything about her private business. At last, however, the green

fields came to an end, and Maggie found herself looking through the

bars of a gate into a lane with a wide margin of grass on each side of

it. She had never seen such a wide lane before, and, without her

knowing why, it gave her the impression that the common could not be

far off; perhaps it was because she saw a donkey with a log to his

foot feeding on the grassy margin, for she had seen a donkey with that

pitiable encumbrance on Dunlow Common when she had been across it in

her father's gig. She crept through the bars of the gate and walked on

with new spirit, though not without haunting images of Apollyon, and a

highwayman with a pistol, and a blinking dwarf in yellow with a mouth

from ear to ear, and other miscellaneous dangers. For poor little

Maggie had at once the timidity of an active imagination and the

daring that comes from overmastering impulse. She had rushed into the

adventure of seeking her unknown kindred, the gypsies; and now she was

in this strange lane, she hardly dared look on one side of her, lest

she should see the diabolical blacksmith in his leathern apron

grinning at her with arms akimbo. It was not without a leaping of the

heart that she caught sight of a small pair of bare legs sticking up,

feet uppermost, by the side of a hillock; they seemed something

hideously preternatural,--a diabolical kind of fungus; for she was too

much agitated at the first glance to see the ragged clothes and the

dark shaggy head attached to them. It was a boy asleep, and Maggie

trotted along faster and more lightly, lest she should wake him; it

did not occur to her that he was one of her friends the gypsies, who

in all probability would have very genial manners. But the fact was

so, for at the next bend in the lane Maggie actually saw the little

semicircular black tent with the blue smoke rising before it, which

was to be her refuge from all the blighting obloquy that had pursued

her in civilized life. She even saw a tall female figure by the column

of smoke, doubtless the gypsy-mother, who provided the tea and other

groceries; it was astonishing to herself that she did not feel more

delighted. But it was startling to find the gypsies in a lane, after

all, and not on a common; indeed, it was rather disappointing; for a

mysterious illimitable common, where there were sand-pits to hide in,

and one was out of everybody's reach, had always made part of Maggie's

picture of gypsy life. She went on, however, and thought with some

comfort that gypsies most likely knew nothing about idiots, so there

was no danger of their falling into the mistake of setting her down at

the first glance as an i***t. It was plain she had attracted

attention; for the tall figure, who proved to be a young woman with a

baby on her arm, walked slowly to meet her. Maggie looked up in the

new face rather tremblingly as it approached, and was reassured by the

thought that her aunt Pullet and the rest were right when they called

her a gypsy; for this face, with the bright dark eyes and the long

hair, was really something like what she used to see in the glass

before she cut her hair off.

"My little lady, where are you going to?" the gypsy said, in a tone of

coaxing deference.

It was delightful, and just what Maggie expected; the gypsies saw at

once that she was a little lady, and were prepared to treat her

accordingly.

"Not any farther," said Maggie, feeling as if she were saying what she

had rehearsed in a dream. "I'm come to stay with _you_, please."

"That's pretty; come, then. Why, what a nice little lady you are, to

be sure!" said the gypsy, taking her by the hand. Maggie thought her

very agreeable, but wished she had not been so dirty.

There was quite a group round the fire when she reached it. An old

gypsy woman was seated on the ground nursing her knees, and

occasionally poking a skewer into the round kettle that sent forth an

odorous steam; two small shock-headed children were lying prone and

resting on their elbows something like small sphinxes; and a placid

donkey was bending his head over a tall girl, who, lying on her back,

was scratching his nose and indulging him with a bite of excellent

stolen hay. The slanting sunlight fell kindly upon them, and the scene

was really very pretty and comfortable, Maggie thought, only she hoped

they would soon set out the tea-cups. Everything would be quite

charming when she had taught the gypsies to use a washing-basin, and

to feel an interest in books. It was a little confusing, though, that

the young woman began to speak to the old one in a language which

Maggie did not understand, while the tall girl, who was feeding the

donkey, sat up and stared at her without offering any salutation. At

last the old woman said,--

"What! my pretty lady, are you come to stay with us? Sit ye down and

tell us where you come from."

It was just like a story; Maggie liked to be called pretty lady and

treated in this way. She sat down and said,--

"I'm come from home because I'm unhappy, and I mean to be a gypsy.

I'll live with you if you like, and I can teach you a great many

things."

"Such a clever little lady," said the woman with the baby sitting down

by Maggie, and allowing baby to crawl; "and such a pretty bonnet and

frock," she added, taking off Maggie's bonnet and looking at it while

she made an observation to the old woman, in the unknown language. The

tall girl snatched the bonnet and put it on her own head hind-foremost

with a grin; but Maggie was determined not to show any weakness on

this subject, as if she were susceptible about her bonnet.

"I don't want to wear a bonnet," she said; "I'd rather wear a red

handkerchief, like yours" (looking at her friend by her side). "My

hair was quite long till yesterday, when I cut it off; but I dare say

it will grow again very soon," she added apologetically, thinking it

probable the gypsies had a strong prejudice in favor of long hair. And

Maggie had forgotten even her hunger at that moment in the desire to

conciliate gypsy opinion.

"Oh, what a nice little lady!--and rich, I'm sure," said the old

woman. "Didn't you live in a beautiful house at home?"

"Yes, my home is pretty, and I'm very fond of the river, where we go

fishing, but I'm often very unhappy. I should have liked to bring my

books with me, but I came away in a hurry, you know. But I can tell

you almost everything there is in my books, I've read them so many

times, and that will amuse you. And I can tell you something about

Geography too,--that's about the world we live in,--very useful and

interesting. Did you ever hear about Columbus?"

Maggie's eyes had begun to sparkle and her cheeks to flush,--she was

really beginning to instruct the gypsies, and gaining great influence

over them. The gypsies themselves were not without amazement at this

talk, though their attention was divided by the contents of Maggie's

pocket, which the friend at her right hand had by this time emptied

without attracting her notice.

"Is that where you live, my little lady?" said the old woman, at the

mention of Columbus.

"Oh, no!" said Maggie, with some pity; "Columbus was a very wonderful

man, who found out half the world, and they put chains on him and

treated him very badly, you know; it's in my Catechism of Geography,

but perhaps it's rather too long to tell before tea--_I want my tea

so_."

The last words burst from Maggie, in spite of herself, with a sudden

drop from patronizing instruction to simple peevishness.

"Why, she's hungry, poor little lady," said the younger woman. "Give

her some o' the cold victual. You've been walking a good way, I'll be

bound, my dear. Where's your home?"

"It's Dorlcote Mill, a good way off," said Maggie. "My father is Mr.

Tulliver, but we mustn't let him know where I am, else he'll fetch me

home again. Where does the queen of the gypsies live?"

"What! do you want to go to her, my little lady?" said the younger

woman. The tall girl meanwhile was constantly staring at Maggie and

grinning. Her manners were certainly not agreeable.

"No," said Maggie, "I'm only thinking that if she isn't a very good

queen you might be glad when she died, and you could choose another.

If I was a queen, I'd be a very good queen, and kind to everybody."

"Here's a bit o' nice victual, then," said the old woman, handing to

Maggie a lump of dry bread, which she had taken from a bag of scraps,

and a piece of cold bacon.

"Thank you,' said Maggie, looking at the food without taking it; "but

will you give me some bread-and-butter and tea instead? I don't like

bacon."

"We've got no tea nor butter," said the old woman, with something like

a scowl, as if she were getting tired of coaxing.

"Oh, a little bread and treacle would do," said Maggie.

"We han't got no treacle," said the old woman, crossly, whereupon

there followed a sharp dialogue between the two women in their unknown

tongue, and one of the small sphinxes snatched at the bread-and-bacon,

and began to eat it. At this moment the tall girl, who had gone a few

yards off, came back, and said something which produced a strong

effect. The old woman, seeming to forget Maggie's hunger, poked the

skewer into the pot with new vigor, and the younger crept under the

tent and reached out some platters and spoons. Maggie trembled a

little, and was afraid the tears would come into her eyes. Meanwhile

the tall girl gave a shrill cry, and presently came running up the boy

whom Maggie had passed as he was sleeping,--a rough urchin about the

age of Tom. He stared at Maggie, and there ensued much incomprehensible

chattering. She felt very lonely, and was quite sure she should begin to

cry before long; the gypsies didn't seem to mind her at all, and she felt

quite weak among them. But the springing tears were checked by new

terror, when two men came up, whose approach had been the cause

of the sudden excitement. The elder of the two carried a bag, which

he flung down, addressing the women in a loud and scolding tone,

which they answered by a shower of treble sauciness; while a black

cur ran barking up to Maggie, and threw her into a tremor that only

found a new cause in the curses with which the younger man called

the dog off, and gave him a rap with a great stick he held in his hand.

Maggie felt that it was impossible she should ever be queen of these

people, or ever communicate to them amusing and useful knowledge.

Both the men now seemed to be inquiring about Maggie, for they looked

at her, and the tone of the conversation became of that pacific kind

which implies curiosity on one side and the power of satisfying it on

the other. At last the younger woman said in her previous deferential,

coaxing tone,--

"This nice little lady's come to live with us; aren't you glad?"

"Ay, very glad," said the younger man, who was looking at Maggie's

silver thimble and other small matters that had been taken from her

pocket. He returned them all except the thimble to the younger woman,

with some observation, and she immediately restored them to Maggie's

pocket, while the men seated themselves, and began to attack the

contents of the kettle,--a stew of meat and potatoes,--which had been

taken off the fire and turned out into a yellow platter.

Maggie began to think that Tom must be right about the gypsies; they

must certainly be thieves, unless the man meant to return her thimble

by and by. She would willingly have given it to him, for she was not

at all attached to her thimble; but the idea that she was among

thieves prevented her from feeling any comfort in the revival of

deference and attention toward her; all thieves, except Robin Hood,

were wicked people. The women saw she was frightened.

"We've got nothing nice for a lady to eat," said the old woman, in her

coaxing tone. "And she's so hungry, sweet little lady."

"Here, my dear, try if you can eat a bit o' this," said the younger

woman, handing some of the stew on a brown dish with an iron spoon to

Maggie, who, remembering that the old woman had seemed angry with her

for not liking the bread-and-bacon, dared not refuse the stew, though

fear had chased away her appetite. If her father would but come by in

the gig and take her up! Or even if Jack the Giantkiller, or Mr.

Greatheart, or St. George who slew the dragon on the half-pennies,

would happen to pass that way! But Maggie thought with a sinking heart

that these heroes were never seen in the neighborhood of St. Ogg's;

nothing very wonderful ever came there.

Maggie Tulliver, you perceive, was by no means that well trained,

well-informed young person that a small female of eight or nine

necessarily is in these days; she had only been to school a year at

St. Ogg's, and had so few books that she sometimes read the

dictionary; so that in travelling over her small mind you would have

found the most unexpected ignorance as well as unexpected knowledge.

She could have informed you that there was such a word as "polygamy,"

and being also acquainted with "polysyllable," she had deduced the

conclusion that "poly" mean "many"; but she had had no idea that

gypsies were not well supplied with groceries, and her thoughts

generally were the oddest mixture of clear-eyed acumen and blind

dreams.

Her ideas about the gypsies had undergone a rapid modification in the

last five minutes. From having considered them very respectful

companions, amenable to instruction, she had begun to think that they

meant perhaps to kill her as soon as it was dark, and cut up her body

for gradual cooking; the suspicion crossed her that the fierce-eyed

old man was in fact the Devil, who might drop that transparent

disguise at any moment, and turn either into the grinning blacksmith,

or else a fiery-eyed monster with dragon's wings. It was no use trying

to eat the stew, and yet the thing she most dreaded was to offend the

gypsies, by betraying her extremely unfavorable opinion of them; and

she wondered, with a keenness of interest that no theologian could

have exceeded, whether, if the Devil were really present, he would

know her thoughts.

"What! you don't like the smell of it, my dear," said the young woman,

observing that Maggie did not even take a spoonful of the stew. "Try a

bit, come."

"No, thank you," said Maggie, summoning all her force for a desperate

effort, and trying to smile in a friendly way. "I haven't time, I

think; it seems getting darker. I think I must go home now, and come

again another day, and then I can bring you a basket with some

jam-tarts and things."

Maggie rose from her seat as she threw out this illusory prospect,

devoutly hoping that Apollyon was gullible; but her hope sank when the

old gypsy-woman said, "Stop a bit, stop a bit, little lady; we'll take

you home, all safe, when we've done supper; you shall ride home, like

a lady."

Maggie sat down again, with little faith in this promise, though she

presently saw the tall girl putting a bridle on the donkey, and

throwing a couple of bags on his back.

"Now, then, little missis," said the younger man, rising, and leading

the donkey forward, "tell us where you live; what's the name o' the

place?"

"Dorlcote Mill is my home," said Maggie, eagerly. "My father is Mr.

Tulliver; he lives there."

"What! a big mill a little way this side o' St. Ogg's?"

"Yes," said Maggie. "Is it far off? I think I should like to walk

there, if you please."

"No, no, it'll be getting dark, we must make haste. And the donkey'll

carry you as nice as can be; you'll see."

He lifted Maggie as he spoke, and set her on the donkey. She felt

relieved that it was not the old man who seemed to be going with her,

but she had only a trembling hope that she was really going home.

"Here's your pretty bonnet," said the younger woman, putting that

recently despised but now welcome article of costume on Maggie's head;

"and you'll say we've been very good to you, won't you? and what a

nice little lady we said you was."

"Oh yes, thank you," said Maggie, "I'm very much obliged to you. But I

wish you'd go with me too." She thought anything was better than going

with one of the dreadful men alone; it would be more cheerful to be

murdered by a larger party.

"Ah, you're fondest o' _me_, aren't you?" said the woman. "But I can't

go; you'll go too fast for me."

It now appeared that the man also was to be seated on the donkey,

holding Maggie before him, and she was as incapable of remonstrating

against this arrangement as the donkey himself, though no nightmare

had ever seemed to her more horrible. When the woman had patted her on

the back, and said "Good-by," the donkey, at a strong hint from the

man's stick, set off at a rapid walk along the lane toward the point

Maggie had come from an hour ago, while the tall girl and the rough

urchin, also furnished with sticks, obligingly escorted them for the

first hundred yards, with much screaming and thwacking.

Not Leonore, in that preternatural midnight excursion with her phantom

lover, was more terrified than poor Maggie in this entirely natural

ride on a short-paced donkey, with a gypsy behind her, who considered

that he was earning half a crown. The red light of the setting sun

seemed to have a portentous meaning, with which the alarming bray of

the second donkey with the log on its foot must surely have some

connection. Two low thatched cottages--the only houses they passed in

this lane--seemed to add to its dreariness; they had no windows to

speak of, and the doors were closed; it was probable that they were

inhabitated by witches, and it was a relief to find that the donkey

did not stop there.

At last--oh, sight of joy!--this lane, the longest in the world, was

coming to an end, was opening on a broad highroad, where there was

actually a coach passing! And there was a finger-post at the

corner,--she had surely seen that finger-post before,--"To St. Ogg's,

2 miles." The gypsy really meant to take her home, then; he was

probably a good man, after all, and might have been rather hurt at the

thought that she didn't like coming with him alone. This idea became

stronger as she felt more and more certain that she knew the road

quite well, and she was considering how she might open a conversation

with the injured gypsy, and not only gratify his feelings but efface

the impression of her cowardice, when, as they reached a cross-road.

Maggie caught sight of some one coming on a white-faced horse.

"Oh, stop, stop!" she cried out. "There's my father! Oh, father,

father!"

The sudden joy was almost painful, and before her father reached her,

she was sobbing. Great was Mr. Tulliver's wonder, for he had made a

round from Basset, and had not yet been home.

"Why, what's the meaning o' this?" he said, checking his horse, while

Maggie slipped from the donkey and ran to her father's stirrup.

"The little miss lost herself, I reckon," said the gypsy. "She'd come

to our tent at the far end o' Dunlow Lane, and I was bringing her

where she said her home was. It's a good way to come after being on

the tramp all day."

"Oh yes, father, he's been very good to bring me home," said

Maggie,--"a very kind, good man!"

"Here, then, my man," said Mr. Tulliver, taking out five shillings.

"It's the best day's work _you_ ever did. I couldn't afford to lose

the little wench; here, lift her up before me."

"Why, Maggie, how's this, how's this?" he said, as they rode along,

while she laid her head against her father and sobbed. "How came you

to be rambling about and lose yourself?"

"Oh, father," sobbed Maggie, "I ran away because I was so unhappy; Tom

was so angry with me. I couldn't bear it."

"Pooh, pooh," said Mr. Tulliver, soothingly, "you mustn't think o'

running away from father. What 'ud father do without his little

wench?"

"Oh no, I never will again, father--never."

Mr. Tulliver spoke his mind very strongly when he reached home that

evening; and the effect was seen in the remarkable fact that Maggie

never heard one reproach from her mother, or one taunt from Tom, about

this foolish business of her running away to the gypsies. Maggie was

rather awe-stricken by this unusual treatment, and sometimes thought

that her conduct had been too wicked to be alluded to.