STRANGE SHADOWS.
One evening, after Barbara Stafford had found shelter beneath the roof
of Samuel Parris, Jason Brown and his wife sat upon the lonely hearth,
just after the tow-wicked candle was lighted, and the evening
knitting-work brought out. Jason was sitting near the round stand,
scooping out a rude butter-ladle with his jackknife, from a thick piece
of pine, which he had brought in from the wood-house. The hired man
occupied a closer place by the dim light; for he was employed in the
more difficult operation of mending a broken harness.
"Look a-here, Jase," said the hired man, looking up from his task, while
he jerked two waxed ends through the leather, and tightened them at
arm's length. "What du yer mean ter decide on about them tarnal heavy
boxes in the barn? The hay is eenamost gone, and by-an-by there won't be
enough left to kiver 'em with. Besides--what is in 'em? I should kinder
like to know that, my bisness or not."
"What du you know or care about that?" answered Jason, lifting his
butter-ladle to the light, and eying its growing symmetry with great
satisfaction.
"Don't know nothin' and don't care a darn," was the reply, given in
perfect self-complacency; "only the all-fired things will be tarnally in
the way when we come to thrash."
"But they can be moved then."
"Moved! why you might as well try to lift a tombstun. I reckon I've
tried it."
Goody Brown kept on with her work, without joining in this conversation,
and for some minutes the click and rattle of her needles kept time with
the splinters cast off by her husband's jackknife.
Then the hired man spoke again.
"How long afore you'll be going to sea agin, Jase?"
"That's rayther unsartin. There'll be a good deal of jiner work to do on
the vessel afore she puts out agin. That storm tore her eenamost tu
pieces."
Goody Brown looked up from her knitting with the ghost of a smile
hovering over her lips.
"Then you'll have so much longer to stay tu hum," she said.
"Wal, yes; I shouldn't much wonder if Thanksgiving found me in this
identical spot."
The good wife breathed deeply, and went on with her work, sending out
absolute music from her needles. Then the hired man spoke again.
"Any passengers this trip?"
"One bespoken for the cabin."
"Who, of all the Bosting folks, are going over now?" asked the
housewife.
"It ain't a Bosting woman that I ever hearn on," answered Jason, "but
the same lady that stayed with you so long arter the storm. She's going
straight hum agin, I reckon. Her passage was took the very day arter
Governor Phipps jined the church. She was uneasy enough about getting
off ter once, and wanted the ship to put out jist as she was, jiner or
no jiner. But the captain said he couldn't and wouldn't hist a sail till
his craft was sound and taut from stem to stern, not if the lady offered
him her hull weight in guinea gold. So she had ter put up with it."
"Poor lady, how homesick she must be!" said the housewife, setling a
fresh needle in the quill of a knitting sheath of red cloth fastened on
the right side of her waist, and twisting the yarn around her
fore-finger. "She was a proper purty woman, wasn't she, Jase? See here
what she gave me the morning afore she went away."
Goody Brown laid down her work, and, thrusting one hand deep into her
pocket, drew forth a steel side thimble, a lump of yellow wax, crossed
and recrossed with marks of the thread she had drawn over it, a trunk
key, two great copper pennies, and a tiny parcel done up in an old
book-leaf. This she carefully unfolded and laid four golden guineas on
the stand.
"You can have 'em, Jase," she said in a low, husky voice. "They ain't of
no use to me now."
Jason understood her and made a reckless cut at the butter ladle, for
his hand became all at once unsteady.
"When I was a scrimpin' and saving to send our own--"
"Wal! wal! it ain't no use to talk about that now," cried out the
father, stung into a passion of angry grief. "What God has done is done.
What's the use of pining over it?"
"Why, Jase," answered the wife, rebuking him with her grave, deep eyes,
"I didn't mean that--only the gold ain't of no use ter me anyhow since I
haven't any children to edicate. It isn't for me to fly into the face of
Providence, and I never thought of doing it."
"Buy a yoke of oxen with the money," interposed the hired man. "I've
hearn of people loving their oxen a'most like children. It's enough to
make a fellur's heart yearn to see how patiently them critturs will bend
under one yoke and kinder help one another along. Talk about friendship
and brotherly feelin'--wal, if that thing ain't found in a yoke of oxen
brought up together from steers, it's of no use to sarch for it. If yer
feelings is touched and kinder hankers arter something ter love, buy a
yoke of oxen--that's my advice."
Jason Brown was thoughtfully whittling down the edge of his ladle. His
wife took up her knitting, which dragged on with slow monotony, for she
looped each stitch through a blinding mist of tears; but the hired man
snapped his waxed ends as if they had been bow-strings, punched his awl
furiously through the unyielding leather, and looked out from his
bending eye-brows now and then, in vague astonishment that his advice
was so blankly received. All at once he paused with both threads half
drawn, and listened.
"What on 'arth is that?"
A sound, as if from the falling of some ponderous object a little
distance off, had occasioned this exclamation. Jason Brown and his wife
suspended their work in astonishment, and sat gazing at each other.
"I will go see," said Brown, closing his knife with a defiant snap. "It
don't seem like the stomp of horses."
"Hush up!" whispered the hired man. "Set down this minute and look
behind you!"
Jason had a powerful will of his own and was not to be ordered about by
any one, but he turned toward the window which the man was pointing out
with his awl and saw it crowded with dusky faces, rendered terrible by
great, fiery eyes and stiff, upright plumes, that shot up through the
darkness like shafted arrows from a quiver.
"Great God, help us, for it is the Indians!" exclaimed Brown, in a
hoarse whisper.
The woman held her work suspended, as if it had frozen in her hand. The
hired servant went on with his stitching, but his sunburned face grew
whiter and whiter with each pull of the thread, and the sidelong glances
he cast at the window betrayed the keen terror his stolid obstinacy
suppressed.
"Shall we pitch in, or keep still?" whispered Brown.
"Keep still," answered the woman.
"Or else God have mercy upon us," muttered the hired man, "for I dare
say there is a hundred to one."
"Wife, where is my father's gun?" demanded Brown, ashamed of standing
helplessly on his own hearth.
"Behind the bedroom door, Jason."
"Is it loaded?"
"With buck shot," answered the hired man. "I loaded it for wild game,
but blaze away at them varmints, if you want to, and I'll back you up
with the fire shovel. The old woman can pitch in with a flat-iron or
rolling-pin. They shan't say that we didn't show grit afore they scalped
us, anyhow. Darn 'em!"
"Hark! they are gone."
True enough, the crowd of faces vanished from the window like shadows,
and a confused tread of feet followed, so mellow and soft that it seemed
as if the earth throbbed with a faint pulsation. This sound lasted some
minutes, and then died away in the whisperings of the forest that crept
along the shore close up to the stone homestead.
When all was still again a footstep stole over the turf and paused
before the threshold. This was followed by a low knock and a gentle stir
of the latch string. Brown went to the door. The ruddy color had left
his cheek, but his hand was firm as it lifted the wooden bar and threw
the door wide open. A young man stood in the opening, and the light fell
upon his face.
"Wal, now, if this don't beat all. Is it raly you? Come in, come in, and
shet the door, for just as true as you live there's live Injuns around
to-night."
The young man came in, lifting the cap from his head as he entered. He
was a workman employed on the vessel. Then Brown attempted to appear
unconcerned, but his face was disturbed and his voice shook.
"Why, you seem to be frightened," said the young man. "What at?"
"Did you meet nothing on the way?" asked Brown.
"Yes, a flock of sea-gulls wheeling out to sea."
"And nothing more--no red Injuns?"
"Red Indians! Indeed, I saw nothing worse than myself," was the cheerful
reply.
"And did you pass close to the window?" asked the hired man.
"Yes, I passed the window."
"And did you twist one face into ten, and crown them all with eagles'
quills?"
"No, not exactly that, but I did look in."
"And no one else?" asked Brown.
"Truly, friends, you question me close, but I was alone."
"Husband," said Goody Brown, in a solemn whisper, "it might have been a
witch gathering. Who knows?"
Jason Brown turned deadly white, and the hired man thrust the awl
through his thumb.
"In that case you had better not speak of it," said the young man, with
a shade of gravity. "It is almost as dangerous to be visited by witches
as to join in their wicked rioting. I remember, at the last trial, it
was set forth in evidence that the woods around here were given up to
witchcraft: I for one do not believe it, but yet if you saw the faces?"
"We did! we did!"
"Crowned with eagles' plumes?"
"Yes, like savage Indians."
"But no Indian would dare flount his war plumes in this neighborhood. It
is too near Boston for that."
"True, how is that possible? The tribes are quiet now," answered Brown,
thoughtfully.
"It is witchcraft beyond a doubt," whispered the good wife. "I remember,
now, the needles turned to stones in my hands. I lost all power to move
them."
"And my feet were nailed to the hearth," answered Jason. "I, who never
knew what it was to be scared in my life, could not move."
"See how the pestilent things have wounded me," added the hired man,
exhibiting his thumb from which the blood was falling in heavy drops.
"Hark! I hear footsteps again," whispered the good wife.
Sure enough, slow and steady footsteps came across the turf, and a knock
sounded at the door.
"I will open it," said the young man, cheerfully. "No witchcraft can
harm me, save that of a bright eye and cherry lip."
He opened the door with a brave swing while uttering these words, but
started back in dismay, for there, upon the gravel of the path, stood a
woman with a crimson mantle over her shoulders and its hood drawn close
around her face.
"Is the dame or her husband at home?" inquired the woman in a clear,
rich voice that made the housewife start. "I wish to see either Jason
Brown or his wife."
"If you are an honest woman and no witch, come in," answered the young
man, half closing the door against her, notwithstanding his invitation.
The woman advanced to the door and pushed it gently open. Goody Brown
arose with a flush on her cheek and called out, in a voice of infinite
relief, "It is the lady! it is the lady!"
Barbara Stafford entered the room, and went up to the excited housewife.
"I come at an untimely hour," she said, pushing the red hood back from
her face, "but it could not be helped."
"Sit down, sit down, and take off your things," said the housewife,
greatly relieved, for she had learned to love the gentle lady, and
believed in her.
"Sit down. We have had tea long ago, but Jase shall rake open the fire,
and hang on the kettle in no time."
"No, no, it is impossible! I cannot wait," answered the lady, resisting
Mrs. Brown's effort to unclasp her cloak. "A few words only and I must
go back again."
"What! to-night?"
"Yes, at once."
"To Boston--to the governor's house?" questioned Goody Brown.
"No, no, farther than that. I have a long ride through the woods."
"Through the woods!" exclaimed four voices at once. "Why, they swarm
with wild beasts and savage Indians!"
"Ah, me," answered the lady, "it is not of them I am afraid: my best
friends are in the forest."
"But how will you ride, lady?" asked the young carpenter, looking at her
with growing distrust.
"I have a swift and sure horse, and know how to ride even in the night.
Beside I came with an escort."
"Of white men or devils?" questioned the hired man, nursing his thumb,
and eying the lady with sinister glances.
"Nay, it is wrong to speak of these unhappy children of the woods in
this fashion. They have been a grand people, and possess power even yet.
I marvel that they are pursued with such hatred."
The benevolent smile that broke over her noble face as she spoke charmed
half the superstition out of that rough heart. As for the others, they
forgot all distrust, and oppressed her with offers of hospitality.
"Not to-night. I will come and sleep in your pretty room again," she
said, laying her small hand on Goody Brown's shoulder. "But now I must
be in haste. Tell me, Brown, for it is urgent that I should know, when
the ship will be ready to sail."
"It is hard to tell," answered Brown, "but here is the master workman:
he knows best."
Barbara turned a questioning look on the young man, who answered it as
if she had spoken.
"Some time this fall the craft will be ready."
"This autumn and not before!" cried Barbara, with surprise and even
anguish in her voice. "Oh, my God! how am I to get over this weary
time?"
"It is slow work, and hands are scarce," said the carpenter.
"But gold can do much, every thing, they tell me, and I have plenty,"
cried Barbara, with nervous eagerness. "Young man, spare nothing that
can speed this work. Get more men--toil night and day. I will find means
for all. Only let the ship be ready before the leaves turn from green to
red."
"Lady, I will do my best," answered the carpenter.
"I tell you again spare nothing that money can pay for. No matter what
labor costs, I will find gold to meet every demand. Jason Brown, urge
this matter forward. Those who serve me I can enrich."
"Yes, lady, I will do my best."
"It was for this I came to-night. I waited for news that the ship was
ready to sail, till delay made me heartsick, and I could tarry at rest
no longer. Now, ah, me, you say wait till fall, as if it were an easy
thing."
"Be content, dear lady," said Goody Brown, touched by this pathetic cry
of disappointment. "My old man shall go in search of workmen. He can do
any thing when he's a mind to."
"Thank you! thank you! See, I have brought money with me," said Barbara.
"When that is gone I can find more."
Barbara laid a purse, heavy with gold, on the candle stand, as she
spoke. All three of the men looked at it with a thrill of superstitious
dread. At last Brown spoke.
"Is it English gold, honest guineas, with His Majesty's face on it?"
Barbara smiled.
"Certainly," she answered. "I have no other. The coin of England is
current here. Why this hesitation?"
Brown took up the purse and emptied a quantity of its gold into his hard
palm.
"Truly it is the king's head, and full weight," he muttered. Then
turning more confidently to the lady, he said:
"And I am to use this about the ship?"
"Yes! yes!"
"And crowd on all the work we can," joined in the carpenter.
"Yes! yes!"
"That is easy understood," observed the hired man. "I only wish that I
could swing a broad axe."
"Now I must go," said the lady, taking the hard hand of Goody Brown in
her friendly clasp. "You have been kind to me and I can never forget it.
Only help me to these shores, and see if I prove ungrateful."
These words had hardly left the lady's lips when she was outside the
door and moving toward the woods in a rapid walk.
These three men and Goody Brown flocked to the window and looked after
her as she moved through the light of a moon buried half the time under
the fleecy whiteness of drifting clouds. She approached the woods and
they saw her engulfed in shadows that seemed to move and sway with the
wind. Directly she came forth, riding on a milk-white horse, that stood
out from the leaden shadows distinct as marble; for that instant the
moon threw off its fleecy burden of clouds, and rode clear and bright
across a plain of blue sky. Directly another horse and rider, that
looked black as ebony in the distance, came out of the shadows, and then
a third; but whether the riders of these black steeds were men or women
no one could tell. For a little time the horses kept along the edge of
the woods, but at last they plunged into some forest path and were gone.
Still the inmates of the farm-house watched by the window, for there was
something weird in the woman's departure which stimulated curiosity. As
they looked, the edges of the wood grew alive. Dusky forms moved to and
fro, now in the darkness, now in fitful gleams of light; and the forests
began to sway and moan as if oppressed by some evil presence, which made
all its boughs heave and its foliage quiver. Then a muffled yell broke
out from the heart of the woods, and a line of what seemed to be human
forms came into an open field that lay close to the forest, and, curving
onward like an enormous serpent, crept away through the darkness.
There was little said in the farm-house that night about these
mysterious appearances, but a vague superstition took possession of
those three men, and they all felt as if the gold they had received
might vanish into thin air before morning.
When the day broke, Brown and his hired man went into the barn in order
to clear the thrashing-floor of all incumbrances. They found the door
shut and every thing in place. But when the man went to the corner where
those ponderous boxes had been stored, they were gone. Then the thick
hair on Jason Brown's head stood up with terror, and turning from the
astonished look of his companion he went into the house.
"Wife, take that purse of gold from your bosom and give it to me."
The woman obeyed him, and drew forth the purse. He snatched it from her
hold, left the house, and ran down to the shore. When he reached the
verge of the water, great drops stood on his forehead, and he panted for
breath. A little way off was a line of breakers dashing up spray from a
cluster of hidden rocks. Brown waded knee-deep into the water, swung his
arm backward, and hurled the purse into the seething foam.