favorable change, in spite of
the momentary triumph which the desolate mother had obtained over
their sympathies. The scorn and bitterness of which he was the object
were very grievous to Ilbrahim, especially when any circumstance made
him sensible that the children his equals in age partook of the enmity
of their parents. His tender and social nature had already overflowed
in attachments to everything about him, and still there was a residue
of unappropriated love which he yearned to bestow upon the little ones
who were taught to hate him. As the warm days of spring came on
Ilbrahim was accustomed to remain for hours silent and inactive within
hearing of the children's voices at their play, yet with his usual
delicacy of feeling he avoided their notice, and would flee and hide
himself from the smallest individual among them. Chance, however, at
length seemed to open a medium of communication between his heart and
theirs; it was by means of a boy about two years older than Ilbrahim,
who was injured by a fall from a tree in the vicinity of Pearson's
habitation. As the sufferer's own home was at some distance, Dorothy
willingly received him under her roof and became his tender and
careful nurse.
Ilbrahim was the unconscious possessor of much skill in physiognomy,
and it would have deterred him in other circumstances from attempting
to make a friend of this boy. The countenance of the latter
immediately impressed a beholder disagreeably, but it required some
examination to discover that the cause was a very slight distortion of
the mouth and the irregular, broken line and near approach of the
eyebrows. Analogous, perhaps, to these trifling deformities was an
almost imperceptible twist of every joint and the uneven prominence of
the breast, forming a body regular in its general outline, but faulty
in almost all its details. The disposition of the boy was sullen and
reserved, and the village schoolmaster stigmatized him as obtuse in
intellect, although at a later period of life he evinced ambition and
very peculiar talents. But, whatever might be his personal or moral
irregularities, Ilbrahim's heart seized upon and clung to him from the
moment that he was brought wounded into the cottage; the child of
persecution seemed to compare his own fate with that of the sufferer,
and to feel that even different modes of misfortune had created a sort
of relationship between them. Food, rest and the fresh air for which
he languished were neglected; he nestled continually by the bedside of
the little stranger and with a fond jealousy endeavored to be the
medium of all the cares that were bestowed upon him. As the boy became
convalescent Ilbrahim contrived games suitable to his situation or
amused him by a faculty which he had perhaps breathed in with the air
of his barbaric birthplace. It was that of reciting imaginary
adventures on the spur of the moment, and apparently in inexhaustible
succession. His tales were, of course, monstrous, disjointed and
without aim, but they were curious on account of a vein of human
tenderness which ran through them all and was like a sweet familiar
face encountered in the midst of wild and unearthly scenery. The
auditor paid much attention to these romances and sometimes
interrupted them by brief remarks upon the incidents, displaying
shrewdness above his years, mingled with a moral obliquity which
grated very harshly against Ilbrahim's instinctive rectitude. Nothing,
however, could arrest the progress of the latter's affection, and
there were many proofs that it met with a response from the dark and
stubborn nature on which it was lavished. The boy's parents at length
removed him to complete his cure under their own roof.
Ilbrahim did not visit his new friend after his departure, but he made
anxious and continual inquiries respecting him and informed himself of
the day when he was to reappear among his playmates. On a pleasant
summer afternoon the children of the neighborhood had assembled in the
little
the momentary triumph which the desolate mother had obtained over
their sympathies. The scorn and bitterness of which he was the object
were very grievous to Ilbrahim, especially when any circumstance made
him sensible that the children his equals in age partook of the enmity
of their parents. His tender and social nature had already overflowed
in attachments to everything about him, and still there was a residue
of unappropriated love which he yearned to bestow upon the little ones
who were taught to hate him. As the warm days of spring came on
Ilbrahim was accustomed to remain for hours silent and inactive within
hearing of the children's voices at their play, yet with his usual
delicacy of feeling he avoided their notice, and would flee and hide
himself from the smallest individual among them. Chance, however, at
length seemed to open a medium of communication between his heart and
theirs; it was by means of a boy about two years older than Ilbrahim,
who was injured by a fall from a tree in the vicinity of Pearson's
habitation. As the sufferer's own home was at some distance, Dorothy
willingly received him under her roof and became his tender and
careful nurse.
Ilbrahim was the unconscious possessor of much skill in physiognomy,
and it would have deterred him in other circumstances from attempting
to make a friend of this boy. The countenance of the latter
immediately impressed a beholder disagreeably, but it required some
examination to discover that the cause was a very slight distortion of
the mouth and the irregular, broken line and near approach of the
eyebrows. Analogous, perhaps, to these trifling deformities was an
almost imperceptible twist of every joint and the uneven prominence of
the breast, forming a body regular in its general outline, but faulty
in almost all its details. The disposition of the boy was sullen and
reserved, and the village schoolmaster stigmatized him as obtuse in
intellect, although at a later period of life he evinced ambition and
very peculiar talents. But, whatever might be his personal or moral
irregularities, Ilbrahim's heart seized upon and clung to him from the
moment that he was brought wounded into the cottage; the child of
persecution seemed to compare his own fate with that of the sufferer,
and to feel that even different modes of misfortune had created a sort
of relationship between them. Food, rest and the fresh air for which
he languished were neglected; he nestled continually by the bedside of
the little stranger and with a fond jealousy endeavored to be the
medium of all the cares that were bestowed upon him. As the boy became
convalescent Ilbrahim contrived games suitable to his situation or
amused him by a faculty which he had perhaps breathed in with the air
of his barbaric birthplace. It was that of reciting imaginary
adventures on the spur of the moment, and apparently in inexhaustible
succession. His tales were, of course, monstrous, disjointed and
without aim, but they were curious on account of a vein of human
tenderness which ran through them all and was like a sweet familiar
face encountered in the midst of wild and unearthly scenery. The
auditor paid much attention to these romances and sometimes
interrupted them by brief remarks upon the incidents, displaying
shrewdness above his years, mingled with a moral obliquity which
grated very harshly against Ilbrahim's instinctive rectitude. Nothing,
however, could arrest the progress of the latter's affection, and
there were many proofs that it met with a response from the dark and
stubborn nature on which it was lavished. The boy's parents at length
removed him to complete his cure under their own roof.
Ilbrahim did not visit his new friend after his departure, but he made
anxious and continual inquiries respecting him and informed himself of
the day when he was to reappear among his playmates. On a pleasant
summer afternoon the children of the neighborhood had assembled in the
little