Chapter II

So remote and unconnected was Mos Eisley from the rest of the country that the larger affairs and concerns of the world never reached there; or, if they did, they occasioned little comment and disturbed almost no one. Certainly, everyone knew that old Napoleon Palpatine of France had declared himself Emperor, and everyone had heard tales of battles long since passed that had brought all of England under his sway -- but this was old news indeed. The Prime Minister still managed the affairs of the country, and England still had a King, and so what matter if they were now claimed by the Empire of France? All of Europe had been part of the Empire for years, and it has long been the habit of the English to follow the newest fashions of the Continent.

And yet, the degree to which the town of Anchorhead remained unaffected amidst the recent changes was singularly remarkable, and it was that very isolation that on occasion served to attract certain men who, for one reason or another, sought to hide away and find a modicum of peace and quiet. Such was the attraction of the place, at any rate, for Mr. Cecil Treypeo, lately of London, and his companion Arthur Deetoo, who arrived in Anchorhead on precisely the morning that Mrs. Lars had persuaded her husband to seek out two new servants.

There has in recent years arisen a kind of person not difficult to be found amongst the servant classes who considers himself a cut above his peers. He is of exceptional pride in regards to his person and occupation and of the most exquisite and expensive tastes; for this servant, bred almost from birth to wait upon the upper crust of our society and to move in their circles, is so much adjusted to the world of the aristocracy that he feels himself (though his possessions be few, his debts great, and his every waking moment spent in toil and servitude to his superiors) to be one of that illustrious number. If an academician of one of our great universities wished to study a prime specimen of one such a person, he would find none more suitable to his purpose than Mr. C. Treypeo, with whom this narrative now finds itself concerned. Here was a tall, thin man of middle years who, he fancied, still retained his youthful figure and enthusiasm while adding thereto the wisdom of age and experience; and who, to his great pride, had served as manservant and butler to some of the greatest families in the capitol. He had, to his own mind, all the class, refinement, discernment, and good taste required in a servant, and in abundance. In short, he possessed every qualification which should have easily earned him a respected place in the most prominent of households. It was a great shock to him, therefore, to find himself in so small and provincial a town without any obvious means of honest employment.

The circumstances were these: for several years, Mr. Treypeo had served as the trusted butler of a most honorable personage, one Lord Antilles, a nobleman well-connected and influential in Parliament. As head of the Antilles household, Mr. Treypeo lived in the most comfortable and luxurious of arrangements and therefore had never experienced the remotest threat to his personal safety. His accustomed comfort and security came to an end quite suddenly, however, when his Lordship was forced by circumstances of politics (which Mr. Treypeo never fully understood nor paid any notice of) to take a long voyage by sea on behalf of the Government. Mr. Treypeo, as Lord Antilles' chief servant and most trusted aide, was required to accompany him, and so for three long and miserable weeks he had lived at sea, thinking in his discomfort that his fate could surely grow no worse.

But fate is fickle and, like an old spinster delighting in the trouble of others, had a few tricks left up her sleeve. Though the voyage of the HMS Tantiv was to be peaceful, she ran afoul of Napoleon's armada for reasons the troubled servant had never fully understood. After a brief and useless resistance, the ship had been captured along with all on board, and held as prisoner by the authority of the French Empire. Mr. Treypeo could not have escaped without the assistance of his friend Mr. Deetoo, a sailor in the Tantiv’s crew whose quick thinking allowed the two to escape by rowboat in the heat of the battle and avoid capture until they reached England’s shores.

There could be no more unlikely companion for Mr. Treypeo to be imagined than Arthur Deetoo. The former was a creature of security, a product of the very center of our society and culture, while the latter had for all his life been kept as far distant from such things as could be possible. From his boyhood he had spent his time on ships of all kinds and description, visiting far off and exotic locations, ports of call in lands scarcely mentioned or thought of in London. As a sailor, Mr. Deetoo was every bit the perfect exemplar of his profession as Mr. Treypeo was of his, possessing all the strength, tenacity, and patience required of such a person, in addition to the distinct lack of social graces that make them seem so strange to persons who live their lives ashore. And yet for all this, and notwithstanding the fact that due to his occupation Arthur Deetoo had scarcely set foot upon the solid ground of his native land, it shall be shown hereafter that there existed in his character a peculiarly intense loyalty to King and Country, made perhaps all the stronger from the necessity that England had existed for the wandering sailor mainly as an Ideal of the mind to be dreamed upon rather than a more fallible actuality.

When at last the two returned to land, Mr.Treypeo was in great distress. He had abandoned his employer and so disgraced himself; no respectable household in London would dare to take him on now, for loyalty in a servant is always a virtue highly prized. What's more, he found himself entirely of a mind to avoid politics and any such nonsense and live a life of peace -- to accomplish this it was clear that any life in London such as the one he had previously known could not now be expected. Mr. Deetoo had then suggested that they seek employment together in the city of Anchorhead, which, the sailor assured his new friend, was so far removed from all affairs of import that no such trouble as that which they had formerly been so unlucky as to endure could possibly reach them there. At first Mr. Treypeo had flatly rejected such a plan; it was one thing to give up the society and refinement of the Capitol proper (painful enough for any man of culture such as himself), and quite another to set up residence in the smallest and most obscure part of the realm. He protested that any course which took him so far from the center of things and into the uncivilized outer regions was not to be accepted under any circumstances. But gradually he had come to be convinced by Mr. Deetoo’s strangely steadfast insistence that Anchorhead was the proper place.

They became lost en route to the city, but were assisted by a kindly gentleman named Mr. Jawa who, returning from a business trip from the port town of Mos Eisley and passing them on the road, offered them a ride on his horse-and-cart and escorted them safely to the edge of town.

"Words cannot express our gratitude," proclaimed Mr. Treypeo, "Indeed, sir, I believe we would have been quite ruined had it not been for your timely intervention. But, if we may presume to trouble you further, I will state quite plainly that we are honest, respectable men seeking employment, and I will be so bold as to ask you, sir, if there are households in Anchorhead in need of industrious, dependable, educated, and altogether quite useful servants?"

Mr. Jawa scratched his chin and pondered. "If anyone had such a need and the means to satisfy it," he said at last, "it would undoubtedly be Mr. Lars."

"And is Mr. Lars a respectable, wealthy gentleman?" Mr. Treypeo inquired.

The other man blinked at so direct a question. "He is without doubt, sir, the foremost gentleman of our parish and the wealthiest man of property in Tatooineshire. Head into town and make your inquiries - I assure you everyone there can direct you to him."

Mr. Treypeo was much obliged, and forever in the good man's debt, etc, etc. Having ascertained now the object of their search, the two entered the town in search of the noble Mr. Lars, of whom great things had been spoken and upon whom so much hope was now placed.