"I don't quite like this," said John," by Arthur A. Dixon for "John Halifax, Gentleman" (1906)

"'I don't quite like this,' said John."

A. A. Dixon

Water-colour; lithograph

Illustration for Dinah Craik's John Halifax, Gentleman, facing page 65.

John Halifax watches the River Avon below the bridge, with his invalid friend, Phineas Fletcher, beside him. [Click on the image to enlarge it and mouse over the text for links.]

In the event, the local tan-yard is flooded, and its owner, Phineas's father, sustains a great loss — but without John Halifax's warning to him, he would have fared much worse. This is the beginning of John's climb in status and fortune in Mulock's Smilesian promotion of self-help. See below for passage illustrated.

Scanned image and text by Jacqueline Banerjee.

[You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned it and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]

Passage Illustrated from Chapter IV

Crossing the bridge over the Avon, we stood once more to look at the waters that were “out.” They had risen considerably, even in thet short time, and were now pouring in several new channels, one of which was alongside of the high road; we stopped a good while watching, it. The current, was harmless enough, merely flooding a part of the Ham; but it awed us to see the fierce power of waters let loose. An old willow-tree, about whose roots I had often, watched the king-cups growing, was now in the centre of a stream as broad as the Avon by our tan-yard, and thrice as rapid. The torrent rushed round it — impatient of the divisions its great roots caused — eager to undermine and tear it up. Inevitably, if the flood did not abate, within a few hours more there would be nothing left of the fine old tree.

"I don’t quite like this," said John, meditatively, as his quick eye swept down the course of the river, with the houses and wharves that abutted on it, all along one bank. "Did you ever see the waters thus high before?"

"Yes, I believe I have; nobody minds it at Norton Bury; it is only the sudden thaw, my father says, and he ought to know, for he has had plenty of experience, the tan-yard being so close to the river."

"I was thinking of that; but come, it’s getting cold."

Links to Related Material

Bibliography

Craik, Mrs (Dinah Mulock). John Halifax, Gentleman. London and Glasgow: Collins Clear-Type Press, nd. Internet Archive. From a copy in the Kelly Library, University of Toronto. Web. 21 March 2023.

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Created 2 March 2023