"But, by your leave,
I am an officer of state, and come
To speak with--"
Coriolanus.
Notwithstanding the sharp look which the Messenger of the Crown
deliberately and now openly fastened on the master of Wish-Ton-Wish, while
the latter was reading the instrument that was placed before his eyes,
there was no evidence of uneasiness to be detected in the unmoved features
of the latter. Mark Heathcote had too long schooled his passions, to
suffer an unseemly manifestation of surprise to escape him; and he was by
nature a man of far too much nerve, to betray alarm at any trifling
exhibition of danger. Returning the parchment to the other, he said with
unmoved calmness to his son--
"We must open wide the doors of Wish-Ton-Wish. Here is one charged with
authority to look into the secrets of all the dwellings of the colony."
Then, turning with dignity to the agent of the Crown, he added, "Thou
hadst better commence thy duty in season, for we are many and occupy
much space."
The face of the stranger flushed a little, it might have been with shame
for the vocation in which he had come so far, or it might have been in
resentment at so direct a hint that the sooner his disagreeable office
should be ended, the better it would please his host. Still, he betrayed
no intention of shrinking from its performance. On the contrary,
discarding somewhat of that subdued manner which he had probably thought
it politic to assume, while sounding the opinions of one so rigid, he
broke out rather suddenly in the exhibition of a humor somewhat better
suited to the tastes of him he served.
"Come then," he cried, winking at his companions, "since doors are opened,
it would speak ill of our breeding should we refuse to enter. Captain
Heathcote has been a soldier, and he knows how to excuse a traveller's
freedom. Surely one who has tasted of the pleasures of the camp, must
weary at times of this sylvan life!"
"The stedfast in faith weary not, though the road be long and the
wayfaring grievous."
"Hum--'tis pity that the journeying between merry England and these
Colonies is not more brisk. I do not presume to instruct a gentleman who
is my senior, and peradventure my better; but opportunity is everything,
in a man's fortunes. It were charity to let you know, worthy sir, that
opinions have changed at home: it is full a twelvemonth since I have heard
a line of the Psalms, or a verse of St. Paul quoted, in discourse; at
least by men who are at all esteemed for their discretion."
"This change in the fashion of speech may better suit thy earthly than thy
heavenly master," said Mark Heathcote, sternly.
"Well, well, that peace may exist between us, we will not bandy words
about a text more or less, if we may escape the sermon," rejoined the
stranger, no longer affecting restraint, but laughing with sufficient
freedom at his own conceit; a species of enjoyment in which his companions
mingled with great good-will, and without much deference to the humor of
those under whose roof they found themselves.
A small glowing spot appeared on the pale cheek of the Puritan, and
disappeared again, like some transient deception produced by the play of
light. Even the meek eye of Content kindled at the insult; but, like his
father, the practice of self-denial, and a never-slumbering consciousness
of his own imperfections, smothered the momentary exhibition of
displeasure.
"If thou hast authority to look into the secret places of our habitations,
do thy office," he said, with a peculiarity of tone which served to remind
the other, that though he bore the commission of the Stuart, he was in an
extremity of his Empire, where even the authority of a King lost some of
its value.
Affecting to be, and possibly in reality conscious of his indiscretion,
the stranger hastily disposed himself to the execution of his duty.
"It would be a great and a pain-saving movement," he said, "were we
to assemble the household in one apartment. The government at home
would be glad to hear something of the quality of its lieges in this
distant quarter. Thou hast doubtless a bell to summon the flock at
stated periods."
"Our people are yet near the dwelling," returned Content: "if it be thy
pleasure, none shall be absent from the search."
Gathering from the eye of the other that he was serious in this wish, the
quiet Colonist proceeded to the gate, and, placing a shell to his mouth,
blew one of those blasts that are so often heard in the forests summoning
families to their homes, and which are alike used as the signals of
peaceful recall, or of alarm. The sound soon brought all within hearing to
the court, whither the Puritan and his unpleasant guests now repaired as
to the spot best suited to the purposes of the latter.
"Hallam," said the principal personage of the four visiters, addressing
him who might once have been, if he were not still, some subaltern in the
forces of the Crown, for he was attired in a manner that bespoke him but a
half-disguised dragoon, "I leave thee to entertain this goodly assemblage.
Thou mayst pass the time in discoursing on the vanities of the world, of
which I believe few are better qualified to speak understandingly than
thyself, or a few words of admonition to hold fast to the faith would come
with fitting weight from thy lips. But look to it, that none of thy flock
wander; for here must every creature of them remain, stationary as the
indiscreet partner of Lot, till I have cast an eye into all the cunning
places of their abode. So set wit at work, and show thy breeding as an
entertainer."
After this irreverent charge to his subordinate the speaker signified to
Content and his father, that he and his remaining attendant would proceed
to a more minute examination of the premises.
When Mark Heathcote saw that the man who had so rudely broken in upon the
peaceful habits of his family was ready to proceed, he advanced steadily
in his front, like one who boldly invited inquiry, and by a grave gesture
desired him to follow. The stranger, perhaps as much from habit as from
any settled design, first cast a free glance around at the bevy of
fluttered maidens, leered even upon the modest and meek-eyed Ruth herself,
and then took the direction indicated by him who had so unhesitatingly
assumed the office of a guide.
The object of this examination still remained a secret between those who
made it, and the Puritan, who had probably found its motive in the written
warranty which had been submitted to his inspection. That it proceeded
from fitting authority, none might doubt; and that it was in some manner
connected with the events that were known to have wrought so sudden and
so great a change in the government of the mother country, all believed
probable. Notwithstanding the seeming mystery of the procedure, the search
was not the less rigid. Few habitations of any size or pretension were
erected in those times, which did not contain certain secret places, where
valuables and even persons might be concealed, at need. The strangers
displayed great familiarity with the nature and ordinary positions of
these private recesses. Not a chest, a closet, or even a drawer of size,
escaped their vigilance; nor was there a plank that sounded hollow, but
the master of the valley was called on to explain the cause. In one or two
instances, boards were wrested violently from their fastenings, and the
cavities beneath were explored, with a wariness that increased as the
investigation proceeded without success.
The strangers appeared irritated by their failure. An hour passed in the
keenest scrutiny, and nothing had transpired which brought them any nearer
to their object. That they had commenced the search with more than usually
confident anticipations of a favorable result, might have been gathered
from the boldness of tone assumed by their chief, and the pointed
personal allusions in which, from time to time, he indulged, often too
freely, and always at some expense to the loyalty of the Heathcotes. But
when he had completed the circuit of the buildings, having entered all
parts from their cellars to the garrets, his spleen became so strong as,
in some degree, to get the better of a certain parade of discretion, which
he had hitherto managed to maintain in the midst of all his levity.
"Hast seen nothing, Mr. Hallam?" he demanded of the individual left on
watch, as they crossed the court in retiring from the last of the
out-buildings; "or have those traces which led us to this distant
settlement proved false? Captain Heathcote, you have seen that we come not
without sufficient warranty, and it is in my power to say we come not
without sufficient----"
Checking himself as if about to utter more than was prudent, he suddenly
cast an eye on the block-house, and demanded its uses.
"It is, as thou seest, a building erected for the purposes of defence,"
replied Mark; "one to which, in the event of an inroad of the savages, the
family may fly for refuge."
"Ah! these citadels are not unknown to me. I have met with others during
my journey, but none so formidable or so military as this. It hath a
soldier for its governor, and should hold out for a reasonable siege.
Being a place of pretension, we will look closer into its mystery."
He then signified an intention to close the search by an examination of
this edifice. Content unhesitatingly threw open its door, and invited
him to enter.
"On the word of one who, though now engaged in a more peaceful calling,
has been a campaigner in his time, 'twould be no child's-play to carry
this tower without artillery Had thy spies given notice of our approach,
Captain Heathcote, the entrance might have been more difficult than we now
find it. We have a ladder, here! Where the means of mounting are found,
there must be something to tempt one to ascend. I will taste your forest
air from an upper room."
"You will find the apartment above, like this below, merely provided for
the security of the unoffending dwellers of the habitations," said
Content; while he quietly arranged the ladder before the trap, and then
led the way himself to the floor above.
"Here have we loops for the musketoons," cried the stranger, looking about
him, understandingly, "and reasonable defences against shot. Thou hast not
forgotten thy art, Captain Heathcote, and I consider myself fortunate in
having entered thy fortress by surprise, or I should rather say, in amity,
since the peace is not yet broken between us. But why have we so much of
household gear in a place so evidently equipped for war?"
"Thou forgettest that women and children may be driven to this block for a
residence," replied Content. "It would show little discretion to neglect
matters that might be useful to their wants."
"Is there trouble with the savages?" demanded the stranger, a little
quickly; "the gossips of the Colony bade us fear nothing on that head."
"One cannot say at what hour creatures trained in their wild natures may
choose to rise. The dwellers on the borders therefore never neglect a
fitting caution."
"Hist!" interrupted the stranger; "I hear a footstep above. Ha! the scent
will prove true at last! Hilloa, Master Hallam!" he cried from one of the
loops, "let thy statues of salt dissolve, and come hither to the tower.
Here is work for a regiment; for well do we know the nature of, that we
are to deal with."
The sentinel in the court shouted to his companion in the stables, and
then, openly and boisterously exulting in the prospects of a final success
to a search which had hitherto given them useless employment throughout
many a long day and weary ride, they rushed together to the block-house.
"Now, worthy lieges of a gracious master," said the leader, when he
perceived himself backed by all his armed followers, and speaking with the
air of a man flushed with success, "now quickly provide the means of
mounting to the upper story. I have thrice heard the tread of man, moving
across that floor; though it hath been light and wary, the planks are
tell-tales, and have not had their schooling."
Content heard the request, which was uttered sufficiently in the manner of
an order, perfectly unmoved. Without betraying either hesitation or
concern, he disposed himself to comply. Drawing the light ladder through
the trap below, he placed it against the one above him, and ascending he
raised the door. He then returned to the floor beneath, making a quiet
gesture to imply that they who chose might mount. But the strangers
regarded each other with very visible doubts. Neither of the inferiors
seemed disposed to precede his chief, and the latter evidently hesitated
as to the order in which it was meet to make the necessary advance.
"Is there no other manner of mounting, but by this narrow ascent?" he
asked.
"None. Thou wilt find the ladder secure, and of no difficult height. It is
intended for the use of women and children."
"Ay," muttered the officer, "but your women and children are not called
upon to confront the devil in a human form. Fellows, are thy weapons in
serviceable condition? Here may be need of spirit, ere we get our--Hist!
by the Divine Right of our Gracious Master! there is truly one stirring
above. Harkee, my friend; thou knowest the road so well, we will choose to
follow thy conduct."
Content, who seldom permitted ordinary events to disturb the equanimity of
his temper, quietly assented, and led the way up the ladder, like one who
saw no ground for apprehension in the undertaking. The agent of the crown
sprang after him, taking care to keep as near as possible to the person of
his leader, and calling to his inferiors to lose no time in backing him
with their support. The whole mounted through the trap, with an alacrity
nothing short of that with which they would have pressed through a
dangerous breach; nor did either of the four take time to survey the
lodgment he had made, until the whole party was standing in array, with
hands grasping the handles of their pistols, or seeking as it were
instinctively the hilts of their broadswords.
"By the dark visage of the Stuart!" exclaimed the principal personage,
after satisfying himself by a long and disappointed gaze, that what he
said was true, "here is nought but an unarmed savage boy!"
"Didst expect to meet else?" demanded the still unmoved Content.
"Hum--that which we expected to meet is sufficiently known to the quaint
old gentleman below, and to our own good wisdom. If thou doubtest of our
right to look into thy very hearts, warranty for that we do can be
forthcoming. King Charles hath little cause to be tender of his mercies to
the dwellers of these Colonies, who lent but too willing ears to the
whinings and hypocrisies of the wolves in sheeps' clothing, of whom old
England hath now so happily gotten rid. Thy buildings shall again be
rummaged from the bricks of the chimney-tops to the corner-stone in thy
cellars, unless deceit and rebellious cunning shall be abandoned, and the
truth proclaimed with the openness and fairness of bold-speaking
Englishmen."
"I know not what is called the fairness of bold-speaking Englishmen, since
fairness of speech is not a quality of one people, or of one land; but
well I do know that deceit is sinful, and little of it, I humbly trust, is
practised in this settlement. I am ignorant of what is sought, and
therefore it cannot be that I meditate treachery."
"Thou hearest, Hallam; he reasoneth on a matter that toucheth the peace
and safety of the King!" cried the other, his arrogance of manner
increasing with the anger of disappointment. "But why is this dark-skinned
boy a prisoner? dost dare to constitute thyself a sovereign over the
natives of this continent, and affect to have shackles and dungeons for
such as meet thy displeasure?"
"The lad is in truth a captive; but he has been taken in defence of life,
and hath little to complain of, more than loss of freedom."
"I will inquire deeply into this proceeding. Though commissioned on an
errand of different interest, yet, as one trusted in a matter of moment, I
take upon me the office of protecting every oppressed subject of the
Crown. There may grow discoveries out of this practice, Hallam, fit to go
before the Council itself."
"Thou wilt find but little here, worthy of the time and attention of those
burthened with the care of a nation," returned Content. "The youthful
heathen was found lurking near our habitations, the past night; and he is
kept where thou seest, that he may not carry the tidings of our condition
to his people, who are doubtless outlying in the forest, waiting for the
fit moment to work their evil."
"How meanest thou?" hastily exclaimed the other, "at hand, in the forest,
didst say?"
"There can be little doubt. One young as this would scarce be found
distant from the warriors of his tribe; and that the more especially, as
he was taken in the commission of an ambush."
"I hope thy people are not without good provision of arms, and other
sufficient muniments of resistance. I trust the palisadoes are firm, and
the posterns ingeniously defended."
"We look with a diligent eye to our safety, for it is well known to us
dwellers on the borders that there is little security but in untiring
watchfulness. The young men were at the gates until the morning, and we
did intend to make a strong scouting into the woods as the day advanced,
in order to look for those signs that may lead us to conclusions on the
number and purposes of those by whom we are environed, had not thy visit
called us to other duties."
"And why so tardy in speaking of this intent?" demanded the agent of the
King, leading the way down the ladder with suspicious haste. "It is a
commendable prudence, and must not be delayed. I take upon me the
responsibleness of commanding that all proper care be had in defence of
the weaker subjects of the Crown who are here collected. Are our roadsters
well replenished, Hallam? Duty, as thou sayest, is an imperative master;
it recalls us more into the heart of the Colony. I would it might shortly
point the way to Europe!" he muttered as he reached the ground. "Go,
fellows; see to our beasts, and let them be speedily prepared for
departure."
The attendants, though men of sufficient spirit in open war, and when it
was to be exercised in a fashion to which they were accustomed, had, like
other mortals, a wholesome deference for unknown and terrific-looking
danger. It is a well-known truth, and one that has been proved by the
experience of two centuries, that while the European soldier has ever been
readiest to have recourse to the assistance of the terrible warrior of the
American forest, he has, in nearly every instance, when retaliation or
accident has made him the object instead of the spectator of the ruthless
nature of his warfare, betrayed the most salutary, and frequently the most
abject and ludicrous apprehension of the prowess of his ally. While
Content therefore looked so steadily, though still seriously, at the
peculiar danger in which he was placed, the four strangers seemingly saw
all of its horrors without any of the known means of avoiding them. Their
chief quickly abandoned the insolence of office, and the tone of
disappointment, for a mien of greater courtesy; and, as policy is often
seen suddenly to change the sentiments of even more pretending personages,
when interests assume a new aspect, so did his language rapidly take a
character of conciliation and courtesy.
The handmaidens were no longer leered at; the mistress of the dwelling was
treated with marked deference; and the air of deep respect with which even
the principal of the party addressed the aged Puritan, bordered on an
exhibition of commendable reverence. Something was said, in the way of
apology, for the disagreeable obligations of duty, and of a difference
between a manner that was assumed to answer secret purposes, and that
which nature and a sense of right would dictate: but neither Mark nor his
son appeared to have sufficient interest in the motives of their visiters,
to put them to the trouble of repeating explanations that were as awkward
to those who uttered them, as they were unnecessary to those who listened.
So far from offering any further obstacle to the movements of the family,
the borderers were seriously urged to pursue their previous intentions of
thoroughly examining the woods. The dwelling was accordingly intrusted,
under the orders of the Puritan, to the keeping of about half the
laborers, assisted by the Europeans, who clung with instinctive
attachment to the possession of the block-house; their leader repeatedly
and rightly enough declaring that though ready at all times to risk life
on a plain, he had an unconquerable distaste to putting it in jeopardy in
a thicket. Attended by Eben Dudley, Reuben Ring, and two other stout
youths, all well though lightly armed, Content then left the palisadoes,
and took his way towards the forest. They entered the woods at the
nearest point, always marching with the caution and vigilance that a
sense of the true nature of the risk they ran would inspire, and much
practice only could properly direct.
The manner of the search was as simple as it was likely to prove
effectual. The scouts commenced a circuit around the clearing, extending
their line as far as might be done without cutting off support, and each
man lending his senses attentively to the signs of the trail, or of the
lairs, of those dangerous enemies, who they had reason to think were
outlying in their neighborhood. But, like the recent search in the
buildings, the scouting was for a long time attended by no results. Many
weary miles were passed slowly over, and more than half their task was
ended, and no sign of being having life was met, except the very visible
trail of their four guests, and the tracks of a single horse along the
path leading to the settlements from the quarter by which the visiter of
the previous night had been known to approach. No comments were made by
any of the party, as each in succession struck and crossed this path,
nearly at the same instant; but a low call from Reuben Ring which soon
after met their ears, caused them to assemble in a body at the spot whence
the summons had proceeded.
"Here are signs of one passing _from_ the clearing," said the quick-eyed
woodsman, "and of one too that is not numbered among the family of
Wish-Ton-Wish; since his beast hath had a shodden hoof, a mark which
belongeth to no animal of ours."
"We will follow," said Content, immediately striking in upon a straggling
trail, that by many unequivocal signs had been left by some animal which
had passed that way not many hours before. Their search, however, soon
grew to a close. Ere they had gone any great distance, they came upon the
half-demolished carcass of a dead horse. There was no mistaking the
proprietor of this unfortunate animal. Though some beast, or rather beasts
of prey, had fed plentifully on the body, which was still fresh and had
scarcely yet done bleeding, it was plain, by the remains of the torn
equipments, as well as by the color and size of the animal, that it was no
other than the hack ridden by the unknown and mysterious guest, who, after
sharing in the worship and in the evening meal of the family of the
Wish-Ton-Wish, had so strangely and so suddenly disappeared. The leathern
sack, the weapons which had so singularly riveted the gaze of old Mark,
and indeed all but the carcass and a ruined saddle, were gone; but what
was left, sufficiently served to identify the animal.
"Here has been the tooth of wolf," said Eben Dudley, stooping to
examine into the nature of a ragged wound in the neck; "and here, too,
has been cut of knife; but whether by the hand of a red skin, it
exceedeth my art to say."
Each individual of the party now bent curiously over the wound; but the
results of their inquiries went no further than to prove that it was
undeniably the horse of the stranger, that had forfeited its life. To the
fate of its master, however there was not the slightest clue. Abandoning
the investigation, after a long and fruitless examination, they proceeded
to finish the circuit of the clearing. Night had approached ere the
fatiguing task was accomplished. As Ruth stood at the postern waiting
anxiously for their return, she saw by the countenance of her husband,
that while nothing had transpired to give any grounds of additional alarm,
no satisfactory testimony had been obtained to explain the nature of the
painful doubts, with which, as a tender and sensitive mother, she had been
distressed throughout the day.