The Diary of a Nobody by George Grossmith (interesting books to read for teens .txt) đ
- Author: George Grossmith
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Goodness knows I felt humiliated enough at this; but, to make matters worse, Gowing entered the room, without knocking, with two hats on his head and holding the garden-rake in his hand, with Carrieâs fur tippet (which he had taken off the downstairs hall-peg) round his neck, and announced himself in a loud, coarse voice: âHis Royal Highness, the Lord Mayor!â He marched twice round the room like a buffoon, and finding we took no notice, said: âHulloh! whatâs up? Loversâ quarrel, eh?â
There was a silence for a moment, so I said quietly: âMy dear Gowing, Iâm not very well, and not quite in the humour for joking; especially when you enter the room without knocking, an act which I fail to see the fun of.â
Gowing said: âIâm very sorry, but I called for my stick, which I thought you would have sent round.â I handed him his stick, which I remembered I had painted black with the enamel paint, thinking to improve it. He looked at it for a minute with a dazed expression and said: âWho did this?â
I said: âEh, did what?â
He said: âDid what? Why, destroyed my stick! It belonged to my poor uncle, and I value it more than anything I have in the world! Iâll know who did it.â
I said: âIâm very sorry. I dare say it will come off. I did it for the best.â
Gowing said: âThen all I can say is, itâs a confounded liberty; and I would add, youâre a bigger fool than you look, only thatâs absolutely impossible.â
May 12.âGot a single copy of the Blackfriars Bi-weekly News. There was a short list of several names they had omitted; but the stupid people had mentioned our names as âMr. and Mrs. C. Porter.â Most annoying! Wrote again and I took particular care to write our name in capital letters, POOTER, so that there should be no possible mistake this time.
May 16.âAbsolutely disgusted on opening the Blackfriars Bi-weekly News of to-day, to find the following paragraph: âWe have received two letters from Mr. and Mrs. Charles Pewter, requesting us to announce the important fact that they were at the Mansion House Ball.â I tore up the paper and threw it in the waste-paper basket. My time is far too valuable to bother about such trifles.
May 21.âThe last week or ten days terribly dull, Carrie being away at Mrs. Jamesâs, at Sutton. Cummings also away. Gowing, I presume, is still offended with me for black enamelling his stick without asking him.
May 22.âPurchased a new stick mounted with silver, which cost seven-and-sixpence (shall tell Carrie five shillings), and sent it round with nice note to Gowing.
May 23.âReceived strange note from Gowing; he said: âOffended? not a bit, my boyâI thought you were offended with me for losing my temper. Besides, I found after all, it was not my poor old uncleâs stick you painted. It was only a shilling thing I bought at a tobacconistâs. However, I am much obliged to you for your handsome present all same.â
May 24.âCarrie back. Hoorah! She looks wonderfully well, except that the sun has caught her nose.
May 25.âCarrie brought down some of my shirts and advised me to take them to Trillipâs round the corner. She said: âThe fronts and cuffs are much frayed.â I said without a momentâs hesitation: âIâm âfrayed they are.â Lor! how we roared. I thought we should never stop laughing. As I happened to be sitting next the driver going to town on the âbus, I told him my joke about the âfrayedâ shirts. I thought he would have rolled off his seat. They laughed at the office a good bit too over it.
May 26.âLeft the shirts to be repaired at Trillipâs. I said to him: âIâm âfraid they are frayed.â He said, without a smile: âTheyâre bound to do that, sir.â Some people seem to be quite destitute of a sense of humour.
June 1.âThe last week has been like old times, Carrie being back, and Gowing and Cummings calling every evening nearly. Twice we sat out in the garden quite late. This evening we were like a pack of children, and played âconsequences.â It is a good game.
June 2.ââConsequencesâ again this evening. Not quite so successful as last night; Gowing having several times overstepped the limits of good taste.
June 4.âIn the evening Carrie and I went round to Mr. and Mrs. Cummingsâ to spend a quiet evening with them. Gowing was there, also Mr. Stillbrook. It was quiet but pleasant. Mrs. Cummings sang five or six songs, âNo, Sir,â and âThe Garden of Sleep,â being best in my humble judgment; but what pleased me most was the duet she sang with Carrieâclassical duet, too. I think it is called, âI would that my love!â It was beautiful. If Carrie had been in better voice, I donât think professionals could have sung it better. After supper we made them sing it again. I never liked Mr. Stillbrook since the walk that Sunday to the âCow and Hedge,â but I must say he sings comic-songs well. His song: âWe donât Want the old men now,â made us shriek with laughter, especially the verse referring to Mr. Gladstone; but there was one verse I think he might have omitted, and I said so, but Gowing thought it was the best of the lot.
June 6.âTrillip brought round the shirts and, to my disgust, his charge for repairing was more than I gave for them when new. I told him so, and he impertinently replied: âWell, they are better now than when they were new.â I paid him, and said it was a robbery. He said: âIf you wanted your shirt-fronts made out of pauper-linen, such as is used for packing and bookbinding, why didnât you say so?â
June 7.âA dreadful annoyance. Met Mr. Franching, who lives at Peckham, and who is a great swell in his way. I ventured to ask him to come home to meat-tea, and take pot-luck. I did not think he would accept such a humble invitation; but he did, saying, in a most friendly way, he would rather âpeckâ with us than by himself. I said: âWe had better get into this blue âbus.â He replied: âNo blue-bussing for me. I have had enough of the blues lately. I lost a cool âthouâ over the Copper Scare. Step in here.â
We drove up home in style, in a hansom-cab, and I knocked three times at the front door without getting an answer. I saw Carrie, through the panels of ground-glass (with stars), rushing upstairs. I told Mr. Franching to wait at the door while I went round to the side. There I saw the grocerâs boy actually picking off the paint on the door, which had formed into blisters. No time to reprove him; so went round and effected an entrance through the kitchen window. I let in Mr. Franching, and showed him into the drawing-room. I went upstairs to Carrie, who was changing her dress, and told her I had persuaded Mr. Franching to come home. She replied: âHow can you do such a thing? You know itâs Sarahâs holiday, and thereâs not a thing in the house, the cold mutton having turned with the hot weather.â
Eventually Carrie, like a good creature as she is, slipped down, washed up the teacups, and laid the cloth, and I gave Franching our views of Japan to look at while I ran round to the butcherâs to get three chops.
July 30.âThe miserable cold weather is either upsetting me or Carrie, or both. We seem to break out into an argument about absolutely nothing, and this unpleasant state of things usually occurs at meal-times.
This morning, for some unaccountable reason, we were talking about balloons, and we were as merry as possible; but the conversation drifted into family matters, during which Carrie, without the slightest reason, referred in the most uncomplimentary manner to my poor fatherâs pecuniary trouble. I retorted by saying that âPa, at all events, was a gentleman,â whereupon Carrie burst out crying. I positively could not eat any breakfast.
At the office I was sent for by Mr. Perkupp, who said he was very sorry, but I should have to take my annual holidays from next Saturday. Franching called at office and asked me to dine at his club, âThe Constitutional.â Fearing disagreeables at home after the âtiffâ this morning, I sent a telegram to Carrie, telling her I was going out to dine and she was not to sit up. Bought a little silver bangle for Carrie.
July 31.âCarrie was very pleased with the bangle, which I left with an affectionate note on her dressing-table last night before going to bed. I told Carrie we should have to start for our holiday next Saturday. She replied quite happily that she did not mind, except that the weather was so bad, and she feared that Miss Jibbons would not be able to get her a seaside dress in time. I told Carrie that I thought the drab one with pink bows looked quite good enough; and Carrie said she should not think of wearing it. I was about to discuss the matter, when, remembering the argument yesterday, resolved to hold my tongue.
I said to Carrie: âI donât think we can do better than âGood old Broadstairs.ââ Carrie not only, to my astonishment, raised an objection to Broadstairs, for the first time; but begged me not to use the expression, âGood old,â but to leave it to Mr. Stillbrook and other gentlemen of his type. Hearing my âbus pass the window, I was obliged to rush out of the house without kissing Carrie as usual; and I shouted to her: âI leave it to you to decide.â On returning in the evening, Carrie said she thought as the time was so short she had decided on Broadstairs, and had written to Mrs. Beck, Harbour View Terrace, for apartments.
August 1.âOrdered a new pair of trousers at Edwardsâs, and told them not to cut them so loose over the boot; the last pair being so loose and also tight at the knee, looked like a sailorâs, and I heard Pitt, that objectionable youth at the office, call out âHornpipeâ as I passed his desk. Carrie has ordered of Miss Jibbons a pink Garibaldi and blue-serge skirt, which I always think looks so pretty at the seaside. In the evening she trimmed herself a little sailor-hat, while I read to her the Exchange and Mart. We had a good laugh over my trying on the hat when she had finished it; Carrie saying it looked so funny with my beard, and how the people would have roared if I went on the stage like it.
August 2.âMrs. Beck wrote to say we could have our usual rooms at Broadstairs. Thatâs off our mind. Bought a coloured shirt and a pair of tan-coloured boots, which I see many of the swell clerks wearing in the City, and hear are all the âgo.â
August 3.âA beautiful day. Looking forward to to-morrow. Carrie bought a parasol about five feet long. I told her it was ridiculous. She said: âMrs. James, of Sutton, has one twice as long so;â the matter dropped. I bought a capital hat for hot weather at the seaside. I donât know what it is called, but it is the shape of the helmet worn in India, only made of straw. Got three new ties, two coloured handkerchiefs, and
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