THE BEACON FIRE.
Barbara rode on her way, altogether unconscious that the woods around
her swarmed with armed men, who had been for hours following her at a
distance. But all at once another hoof-tread sounded in her path, and
looking around she saw young Philip, mounted on a horse that seemed
black in the darkness, riding close by her side, while Wahpee lagged
behind.
"Do not be afraid; I have been near you all the time," said the young
horseman.
The woods were so dark, except where the light of a clear moon could
penetrate to the path she rode over, that Barbara was glad of this
addition to her escort. So they rode on together at a quick pace,
penetrating more and more deeply into the heart of the wilderness. The
hum and rush of what seemed a current of wind in the distance still
haunted her way. Sometimes she heard the crackling of underbrush, afar
off; but these sounds were so continuous that she soon ceased to regard
them. Then, for a mile or two, all was profound stillness. It seemed as
if every living thing had suddenly dropped to sleep upon the earth, and
in the leaves. The very moonlight ceased to tremble along the forest
turf, for the branches which had sent it quivering like frost-work
around her path, hung motionless over Barbara's head.
Over the soft turf the three horses sped till the moon went down, and
midnight came on. Then, all at once, the woods just ahead of this party
burst into sudden flame; a vivid column of fire shot up to the sky,
leaping, hissing, and rioting along the sapless boughs of a dead
pine-tree, that crowned an eminence around which their path lead. Thus
the blackness of night was swept away, and all the forest trees turned
of a rich, golden green, inexpressibly beautiful.
"We are near the encampment," said Philip, and a proud smile lighted his
face, upon which the sudden radiance shone. "Ride on, dear lady; your
halting-place of yesterday is but just ahead: that flaming pine-tree
will light us to it. This time you will find it filled with warriors."
The horse which Philip bestrode leaped forward while he was speaking,
and with a spirited bound Barbara's white steed sprang after him.
Directly they came in sight of the clearing, illuminated by the burning
pine, which, uplifted by a ledge of rocks from a level with the forest,
towered behind it like a steeple of quivering fire. Bathed in this
golden light Barbara saw the turfy mound on which she had taken that
noonday repast, and under it the miniature lake with all its crystal
waves flame-tinted by the fire. The sparks, which fell in a perpetual
storm from that burning tree, seemed eddying and shimmering in the depth
of its waters, and the willows which drooped over them were of a rich
luminous green that quivered with every stir of the wind.
The larger clearing was less broadly in the light, but that presented
one of the grandest scenes that human eye ever dwelt upon. There,
swarming, jostling, heaving together in gorgeous masses, a multitude of
savages crowded the open space. Within the glow of that mighty council
fire the scattered tribe of the Pomperoags had gathered to meet the son
of their slain king. Burning with war paint, and resplendent with
barbarous ornaments, they turned the sweet rural scene of the morning
into a war camp so wild and picturesque that the lady uttered a cry of
astonishment when she came thus suddenly upon it.
"Do not be afraid," said Philip, reining in his horse and bending a
triumphant look upon his forced guest. "You are safe here. Keep close to
my side, and I will show you how hard it is to subjugate a brave
people."
Barbara drew her rein tight: this scene, so grandly beautiful, the
passionate eloquence in her companion's look and voice, aroused all the
enthusiasm of her nature.
"Ride on; I will follow;" she said.
With grave dignity, and curbing the heroic fire that burned in his eyes,
the young man advanced into the clearing. Barbara followed, threading
her way through crowds of armed warriors, some standing in groups,
others sitting on the half-illuminated sward, while the edges of the
forest swarmed with savage forms; for the multitude gathering into that
spot had already overrun the open space, and was crowded back into the
woods.
Barbara drew up her horse on the margin of the lake, where she sat, like
an equestrian statue, under the willows. Philip rode directly up the
mound, and as the hoofs of his war-horse struck the rock at its summit,
called out in a loud, ringing voice that penetrated every nook and
corner of the encampment--
"Chiefs and warriors, Metacomet, the son of King Philip, has asked the
people of his tribe to come hither that he may hold a talk with them. He
is here."
The young man's face and figure were thrown into splendid relief by the
fire light. His dress, savage only where it could be made picturesque,
gave kingly dignity to his presence. The eagle's plume, that proclaimed
him chief, rose from a cap of crimson cloth, from under which his bright
hair swept in curling waves. The horse stood motionless, his neck arched
proudly, his wild eyes a-glow with animal fire.
While Philip's voice was yet vibrating through those savage hearts, a
line of warriors, laden down with arms, defiled out of some unseen path
of the forest, and belted the mound in with a triple wall of braves,
which bristled so thickly with pikes and bayonets that the men who bore
them were almost invisible.
As the fiery pine flamed skyward and flashed on this bristling steel,
rank after rank of savages, concealed in the woods, pressed into the
light, till the whole clearing was alive with Indians, some armed for
the war-path, others bearing calumets, doubtful if they had been
summoned from their hiding places in the forest to hold council or sound
a war-whoop. But the whole multitude was ready for either, and a sea of
dusky faces was uplifted to the young chief in stern attention.
"If there lives a warrior who knew Philip when he was king and chief of
the Pomperoags, let him step forth, look on this face and say if it is
not his son who talks with you?"
Thus the young Metacomet addressed the throng of savages as they swarmed
in from the forest.
Two old medicine-men came out of the ranks and passed through a lane of
bayonets crowded back to give them free passage. They went close up to
Philip, and, shading their eyes from the hot light, searched his face
with keen glances. They fell back satisfied, and, so far as their feeble
voices could reach, the savages heard this curt decision:
"His face does not lie."
Here a low shout, or rather groan, of approval, ran through those savage
ranks and died away in the forest. Again Metacomet turned to the crowd.
"Warriors, I have come back from across the great waters with the heart
of King Philip beating loud in my bosom. He died fighting for his
people. So will I, or set them free, with broader hunting-grounds than
they ever trod, and richer cornfields than their enemies have learned to
plant. When King Philip died, his enemies laughed, like cowards, for
they knew that a great warrior had fallen, such as will never tread
their cornfields, though they plant them over our fathers' graves ten
thousand years. When he fell, the Pomperoags were a conquered people,
not from lack of bravery, but because the white man's cunning was more
powerful than the strong arms of all our warriors, with the bravest man
that ever lived at their head.
"Warriors, your king, betrayed by a traitor, hunted down like a wild
beast, was murdered. His son seized the rifle as it fell from his hand
and sent its last bullet through the brain of a white soldier, who
attempted to drag him away from his dying father. When he was disarmed,
bleeding, desperate, they seized upon him. Warriors, I see by the fire
in those eyes and the grip of those hands that no one of you has
forgotten that story. The captors of this wretched boy sold him into
slavery. They chained his limbs and gave him over to the lash--sent him
under the hot sun to work like a beast of burden. He did work and he
suffered, but slavery never reached the soul of Metacomet--that forever
turned back to his people. Still he must have died like a brute beast,
worn out with toil, but for the woman who sits yonder with her face
turned this way in wonder at what she sees. She came to the island where
he toiled under the lash, and saw how wretched he was. With her gold she
broke his chains. With her smiles she cured his wounded heart. She
taught him how to think, and out of that came a power which turned
thought into a great purpose, which has never left his brain a moment
from that day to this.
"He went across the great waters, and learned all the cunning secrets
with which our enemies conquered the red man. He searched out the
wonderful power which conquers without fighting. He learned that
knowledge is more powerful than the tomahawk, and swifter than a rifle
bullet. He learned that white men cut eagle plumes into pens, and with
their sharp points send out thoughts like arrows, striking whole tribes
at once.
"Warriors, with this knowledge the son of King Philip will give force to
your strong arms. This night swift runners shall be on their way to
friendly nations along the coast, and the great hunting-grounds on the
big lakes. The thought that speaks here will run as fire leaps along
yonder dead tree, burning up the hate that we have felt for each other,
and linking us, tribe to tribe, nation to nation, till the coast is
lighted by one belt of council fires, our forests threaded with
war-paths, and the fields, cleared by our enemies, grow corn for the
Indian alone. Warriors, has the son of your chief spoken well?"
A groan of general assent once more ran hoarsely through that savage
multitude, dying away in the depths of the forest. Again Metacomet
spoke:
"Warriors, like the son of King Philip you have been slaves. The whites
have taken away your rifles, and driven you into holes and corners to
hide like foxes when the dogs are out. But I have brought muskets from
over the great waters, and sharp spears that kill without leaving the
hand. Powder and lead we have in plenty, hidden away in dry caves which
our foe can never find."
Philip turned to the Indians that surrounded him closest standing under
a forest of bayonets. Some of these men carried two muskets and a spear,
some more.
"Stack your guns," he commanded.
Instantly, and with great precision, the savages stepped forward and
stacked their weapons. These men had been for weeks drilled by their
young leader, and were quick to learn. Philip guided his horse through
the bristling weapons, and rode up to Barbara, where she sat pale with
excitement and thrilled with vague terror.
"Lady," he said, "can you forgive the use to which I have applied your
bounty? During all these years, I have been hoarding up the gold of
which you were so lavish, for this purpose alone--'To free his father's
people, Philip consented to be a beggar after he ceased to work as a
slave.'"
"Great heavens! and have I done this?" cried Barbara, violently
agitated. "God forgive me if my kind intent leads to bloodshed."
"It shall lead a brave people to freedom! Oh, lady, regret nothing that
you have done. Never on the earth did gold perform a more holy work."
Barbara made no answer: she was appalled into silence by what she saw
and heard.
Philip took hold of her bridle-rein gently, and turned her horse from
the lake.
"Let the warriors see your face, lady," he said: "dangerous times are
coming on and it is well that they should know to whom their protection
is promised."
Barbara made no resistance, but she trembled on her saddle. As her horse
stood side by side with that of Philip on the mound, a crowd of dusky
faces was uplifted to hers, and she grew pale under the wild light of a
thousand burning eyes that seemed piercing her like arrows.
"Braves," said Philip, and his voice sounded full and clear as a
trumpet, "look upon this lady, and remember that so long as a man of our
tribe lives she is his charge. The white man may yet become her foe as
he is ours. She may be driven into the woods, as other women have been,
but I charge you, wherever she is found, in forest or settlement, obey
her and guard her as if she were a prophet of our people."
The groan of approval that followed this speech swelled almost into a
shout, and went rolling off into the forest like the smothered howl of
wild beasts.
Terrified and distressed, Barbara pleaded with the young chief to send
her away. Her face was white, her lips trembled as she spoke. She was
completely overcome by the shock of this unexpected scene.
"Braves," cried Philip, standing up in his stirrups, "on this spot,
where he was born, Metacomet has kindled his first great council-fire:
light your pipes and smoke while he rides with this lady on her way
through the woods, and let no man forget that from this hour she is a
daughter of our tribe."
Again that hoarse, growl-like shout answered as he wished, and while it
swelled along her path Barbara rode from the encampment, followed by
Wahpee and accompanied by Philip. During all the waning night he kept by
her side, and she made no protest. The wild grandeur of the scene she
had left still impressed her with awe to which she could give no words,
and a ride of so many hours had almost exhausted her strength when she
came to the encampment. An hour before dawn Philip left her and rode
back to the beacon fire at her own urgent request.
The first flush of morning was scattering rose leaves in the east and
turning the far-off waves to liquid opals when Barbara came in sight of
Samuel Parris's dwelling. She would have dismounted within the shelter
of the trees, but was so overcome with fatigue that it seemed impossible
for her to walk across the open space that lay in front of the
meeting-house. But old Wahpee drew up his horse, and motioned
obstinately that he intended to go no farther.
"But what shall I do with the horse?" questioned the lady, wearily.
"Turn him loose: he will know Wahpee's call," answered the Indian.
Barbara rode on, so worn and weary that she could hardly keep her
saddle.
Elizabeth Parris was looking out of her bedroom window and marvelled at
the strange apparition of her father's guest on a horse which she had
never seen before; but Tituba passed the threshold of her room that
moment, and she turned to answer some question that the old woman asked.
While she was so occupied Barbara descended from her horse. Scarcely had
her foot touched the ground when the creature heard a shrill whistle
from Wahpee and bounded off to the woods. When Elizabeth looked out of
the window a few moments after, Barbara Stafford was walking slowly
toward the house, but there was no sign of the white horse; at which the
young girl drew her breath painfully, and sunk to a chair shocked with
an awful dread.
"Tituba! Tituba!"
The old woman, who was half-way down-stairs, came back again, alarmed by
that sharp cry.
"Tituba, you told me that Mistress Barbara Stafford was ill and wished
to be left alone."
"So she is," answered the old woman, entering the room and closing the
door after her.
"But I saw her just now."
"Saw her, Miss Lizzybeth!" answered the Indian, listening keenly to a
rustling sound that came from the stairs. "Saw her! why everybody is
asleep in the house. What did you get up for, child?"
"Oh, Tituba, I am so restless! There is something strange, terrible,
going on in this house. What is the matter with Abby? What keeps this
woman here when nobody wants her? Is she truly ill? When did you see her
last?"
"This very morning," asserted Tituba, who had in truth seen Barbara near
the door, and now heard her moving in the back room.
Elizabeth leaned her head on one hand as if some distressing thought
pained her.
"Strange! strange!" she muttered.
"Do you want me any longer?" asked the Indian still listening keenly.
"No. Yes, Tituba, don't go down yet. Where is Abby?"
"In bed and sound asleep."
"How can she sleep away from me? Oh, Tituba! Tituba! I am so lonesome."
Tituba went close to her young mistress, and kneeling down received that
drooping head on her shoulder.
"Come close, Tituba. Oh, how I want my mother now!"
This cry of nature touched old Tituba's heart, but she had no words.
Elizabeth lifted her face and searched those withered features with her
beautiful eyes.
"Tituba, just as sure as I live, Barbara Stafford sat out yonder on a
white horse only a little while ago. The horse vanished. Then I saw her
on foot near the door," she said wildly. "What does it mean? What can it
mean?"
The old woman made vague efforts to caress the girl, but said nothing.
At last Elizabeth sprang to her feet.
"Are you speaking truth, Tituba?" she exclaimed, "or am I bewitched?"
The last words of this sentence were uttered in a whisper: even the word
witchcraft was full of awe to that young heart. Then, struck with a
sudden resolution, she flung the door open. "I will see for myself! I
will see for myself!"
She went out into the passage, opened the door of Barbara Stafford's
room and stole in on tip-toe, holding her breath. Barbara Stafford was
in bed--sound asleep. The moment her head touched that pillow she had
fallen into the death-like slumber which follows extreme fatigue. Her
garments lay in a heap on the floor, save the scarlet cloak, which hung
in its usual place against the wall.