When I got in, and had shut the door between me and the grave, I grew bolder, I can tell you; and thought to myself--I'm doing no harm; I'm not going to hurt the bust; I only want what an Englishman and an old actor may fairly covet, a copy of Shakespeare's face; why shouldn't I eat my bit of supper here, and say my prayers as usual, and get my nap into the bargain, if I can? Just as I thought that--BANG went the clock, striking the hour! It almost knocked me down, bold as I felt the moment before. I was obliged to wait till it was all still again, before I could pull the bit of bread and cheese I had got with me out of my pocket. And when I did, I couldn't eat: I was too impatient for the morning; so I sat down in the parson's armchair; and tried, next, whether I could sleep at all.'
'And could you, grandfather?'
'No--I couldn't sleep either; at least, not at first. It was quite dark now; and I began to feel cold and awe-struck again. The only thing I could think of to keep up my spirits at all, was first saying my prayers, and then quoting Shakespeare. I went at it, Annie, like a dragon; play after play--except the tragedies; I was afraid of them, in a church at night, all by myself. Well: I think I had got half through the Midsummer Night's Dream, whispering over bit after bit of it; when I whispered myself into a doze. Then I fell into a queer sleep; and then I had such a dream! I dreamt that the church was full of moonlight--brighter moonlight than ever I saw awake. I walked out of the vestry; and there were the fairies of the Midsummer Night's Dream--all creatures like sparks of silver light--dancing round the Shakespeare bust! The moment they caught sight of me, they all called out in their sweet nightingale voices:--'Come along, Reuben! sly old Reuben! we know what you're here for, and we don't mind you a bit! You love Shakespeare, and so do we--dance, Reuben, and be happy! Shakespeare likes an old actor; he was an actor himself--nobody sees us! we're out for the night! foot it, old Reuben--foot it away!' And we all danced like mad: now, up in the air; now, down on the pavement; and now, all round the bust five hundred thousand times at least without stopping, till--BANG went the clock! and I woke up in the dark, in a cold perspiration.'
'I'm in one too!' gasped 'Julius Caesar', dabbing his brow vehemently with a ragged cotton pocket handkerchief.
'Well, after that dream I fell to reciting again; and got another doze; and had another dream--a terrible one, about ghosts and witches, that I don't recollect so well as the other. I woke up once more, cold, and in a great fright that I'd slept away all the precious morning daylight. No! all dark still! I went into the church again, and then back to the vestry, not being able to stay there. I suppose I did this a dozen times without knowing why. At last, never going to sleep again, I got somehow through the night--the night that seemed never to be done. Soon after daybreak, I began to walk up and down the church briskly, to get myself warm, keeping at it for a long time. Then, just as I saw through the windows that the sun was rising, I opened my bag at last, and got ready for work. I can tell you my hand trembled and my sight grew dim--I think the tears were in my eyes; but I don't know why--as I first soaped the bust all over to prevent the plaster I was going to put on it from sticking. Then I mixed up the plaster and water in my quart basin, taking care to leave no lumps, and finding it come as natural to me as if I had only left the statuary's shop yesterday; then--but it's no use telling you, little Annie, about what you don't understand; I'd better say shortly I made the mould, in four pieces, as I thought I should--two for the upper part of the face, and two for the lower. Then, having put on the outer plaster case to hold the mould, I pulled all off clean together, and looked, and knew that I had got a mask of Shakespeare from the Stratford bust!'
'Oh, grandfather, how glad you must have been then!'
'No, that was the odd part of it. At first, I felt as if I had robbed the bank, or the King's jewels, or had set fire to a train of gunpowder to blow up all London; it seemed such a thing to have done! Such a tremendously daring, desperate thing! But, a little while after, a frantic sort of joy came over me: I could hardly prevent myself from shouting and singing at the top of my voice. Then I felt a perfect fever of impatience to cast the mould directly; and see whether the mask would come out without a flaw. The keeping down that impatience was the hardest thing I had had to do since I first got into the church.'
'But, please, sir, whenever did you get out at last? Do pray tell us that!' asked 'Julius Caesar'.
'Not till after the clock had struck twelve, and I'd eaten all my bread and cheese,' said Mr Wray, rather piteously. 'I was glad enough when I heard the church door open at last, from the vestry where I had popped in but a moment before. It was the same woman came in who had shown the bust in the afternoon. I waited my time; and then slipped into the church; but she turned round sharply, just as I'd got half way out, and came up to me. I never was frightened by an old woman before; but I can tell you, she frightened me. "Oh! there are you again!" says she: "Come, I say! this won't do. You sneaked out yesterday afternoon without paying anything; and you sneak in again after me, as soon as I open the door this morning--ain't you ashamed of being so shabby as that, at your age?--ain't you?" I never paid money in my life, Annie, with pleasure, till I gave that old woman some to stop her mouth! And I don't recollect either that I'd ever tried to run since leaving the stage (where we had a good deal of running, first and last, in the battle scenes); but I ran as soon as I got well away from the church, I can promise you--ran almost the whole way home.'
'That's what made you look so tired when you came in, grandfather,' said Annie; 'we couldn't think what was the matter with you at the time.'
'Well,' continued the old man, 'as soon as I could possibly get away from you, after coming back, I went and locked myself into my bedroom, pulled the mould in a great hurry out of the canvas bag, and took the cast at once--a beautiful cast! a perfect cast! I never produced a better when I was in good practice, Annie! When I sat down on the side of the bed, and looked at Shakespeare--my Shakespeare--got with so much danger, and made with my own hands--so white and pure and beautiful, just out of the mould! Old as I am, it was all I could do to keep myself from dancing for joy!'
'And yet, grandfather,' said Annie reproachfully, 'you could keep all that joy to yourself: you could keep it from me!'
'It was wrong my love, wrong on my part not to trust you--I'm sorry for it now. But the joy, after all, lasted a very little while--only from the afternoon to the evening. In the evening, if you remember, I went out to the butcher's to buy something for my own supper; something I could fancy, to make me comfortable before I went to bed (you little thought how I wanted my bed that night!).