THE BLACK-BEARDED MAN
Anne and Rose Freeman stood at the gate all ready to enter the
comfortable chaise with its broad seat and big wheels. The big brown
horse was apparently eager to start, but black Josephus held him firmly
until the girls and Mr. Freeman were seated, and then handed the reins
to Mr. Freeman.
"Good-bye, good-bye," called the girls, leaning out beyond the hood of
the chaise to wave to Aunt Hetty and Captain Freeman and Uncle Enos, who
had stayed to see the travelers start on the ride to Boston.
"A horse is useful," remarked Uncle Enos, thoughtfully, as he watched
them drive away, "but there's not one in Province Town settlement as
yet. We have little need of one, with so many good boats."
The summer morning was clear and bright, and not too warm. They had made
an early start, and the heavy dew still lingered on the trees and
flowers.
"How far shall we go to-day, father?" asked Rose.
"We will pass the night in Sandwich, if all goes well," replied Mr.
Freeman. "Your aunt has put us up a fine luncheon, and we will give Lady
a rest toward noon and enjoy it."
The sandy roads made it rather slow traveling, but Anne was as happy as
a bird. They got many glimpses of the sea, and now and then some wild
creature would run across the road, or peer at them from the shelter of
the woods. Once or twice a partridge, with her brood of little ones,
fled before them, and there was a great deal for them to see and enjoy.
Anne felt very happy to know that Aunt Martha and Uncle Enos had
forgiven her for running away, and that they were glad for her to go to
Boston. She did not cherish any ill-will against Amanda, and thought
herself a very fortunate little girl to be sitting beside Rose Freeman
and riding along the pleasant road in such a grand chaise.
Mr. Freeman told them that there was something very wonderful to be seen
in Suet, a little village that they would pass through on their way to
Sandwich. "Captain Sears is an old friend of mine," said Mr. Freeman,
"and we will make him a call and he will be glad to show us how salt is
made."
"Can he make salt?" questioned Anne.
"Yes, and a good thing for the colony it is; for salt is hard to get,
with English frigates taking all the cargoes afloat," answered Mr.
Freeman; "and Cape Cod is the very place to make it, for there is plenty
of salt water." Then he told them how Captain Sears had first made long
shallow troughs and filled them with the sea-water, and the sun dried up
the water, leaving the salt in the bottom of the vats. "And now,"
continued Mr. Freeman, "I hear he has had big kettles made, and with
huge fires under them boils the water away and gets good salt in that
fashion. We'll stop and have a look, if time allows."
Just before noon the sky began to grow dark, and there was a distant
rumble of thunder. They were driving through a lonely stretch of
country; there was no house in sight, and Mr. Freeman began to watch the
sky with anxious eyes. He knew that, on the bare sandy plain over which
they were now traveling, the wind would sweep with great force,
sufficient perhaps to overturn the chaise. Rose and Anne grew very quiet
as they heard the thunder and watched the threatening sky.
"We'll soon reach the Yarmouth woods," said Mr. Freeman encouragingly,
"and if the storm comes may be able to find some sort of shelter, but I
fear it will prevent our reaching the salt works."
Rose and Anne both thought to themselves that troughs and kettles filled
with salt water would not be very much of a sight, and were very glad
when the sandy plain was behind them and they were once more in the
shelter of the woods, which broke the force of the wind. It was now
raining in torrents.
"One good thing about this is that the rain will beat the sand down and
make the traveling better," said Mr. Freeman.
The road was a mere lane, and they all began to feel a little
uncomfortable and discouraged as the thunder deepened and came peal
after peal, followed by shooting darts of lightning. The big horse was
going at a good pace, but, all at once, Lady made a quick turn, and
before Mr. Freeman could stop her had swung into an even more narrow
track, half hidden by underbrush from the main road. In a few moments
they saw a long low shingled house nearly hidden by closely growing
trees.
"Well done, Lady!" exclaimed Mr. Freeman laughingly, as Lady stopped
directly in front of the door.
Mr. Freeman handed the reins to Rose and sprang out, and rapped on the
door, but no answer came.
"I don't believe there is any one here," he declared. "Stay in the
chaise a moment, and I'll find out." As he spoke he gave the door a
little push when, much to his surprise, it swung open and Mr. Freeman
found himself face to face with a tall, black-bearded man who regarded
him with a scowling countenance.
"What do you want?" he asked gruffly.
At that moment a peal of thunder heavier than any preceding it made Rose
and Anne shrink more closely together in the corner of the chaise. "He
looks like a pirate," whispered Rose fearfully.
"We want shelter until this storm is over," Mr. Freeman replied. "May I
drive my horse into that shed?"
The man grunted an unwilling assent, and Mr. Freeman sprang back into
the chaise and drove Lady under a rough shelter in the rear of the
house.
"Don't go in the house, will you, father?" whispered Rose; for the man
had opened a back door leading into the shed and was regarding his
undesired guests with suspicious eyes.
"How did you happen to come here?" he asked gruffly. "This road don't
lead nowheres."
"My horse turned in from the main road very suddenly," explained Mr.
Freeman. "We had no plan except to get on to Sandwich as fast as
possible."
"Going far?" questioned the man.
"We are on our way to Boston," answered Mr. Freeman.
"Guess the English are going to give the Yankees a lesson even if they
couldn't hold Boston!" said the man with a smile, as if he would be glad
to know his words would come true.
"I think not, sir," answered Mr. Freeman sharply; "and a Cape Cod man
ought to be the last to say such a thing."
"You're not a Tory, then?" exclaimed the man eagerly. "Get right out of
that chaise and come in. These your girls? Let me help you out, missy,"
and he came toward the carriage.
"Get out, Anne," said Mr. Freeman in a low tone, and in a moment the two
girls were following the black-bearded man into a low dark kitchen.
"You folks looked so dressed up I thought like as not you were Tories,"
declared the man, as if wishing to explain his rude reception. "Now take
seats, and I'll put your horse where it can have a bit of fodder."
Mr. Freeman followed the man back to the shed, and Anne and Rose looked
at each other, and then glanced about the low dark room.
"I don't believe he's a pirate," whispered Anne; "anyway I'm glad to be
in out of this dreadful storm."
"So am I," answered Rose, "but it is a funny house. What do you suppose
made Lady turn in at that place? This man may not be a pirate, but there
is something odd about him. This whole place is queer. I almost wish we
had stayed in the chaise."
Under the two windows that faced toward the woods ran a long box-like
seat, and in one corner of the room stood a shoemaker's bench, with its
rows of awls, needles threaded with waxed thread, hammers, sharp knives,
tiny wooden pegs, and bits of leather; a worn boot lay on the floor as
if the man had started up from his work at Mr. Freeman's rap.
"What's that, Rose?" questioned Anne, pointing to a piece of iron that
could be seen extending from beneath an old blanket which lay under the
bench.
"It's a rifle!" answered Rose. "Look, Anne! Quick, before he comes back.
I believe there are a lot of guns there."
Anne knelt down to lift the blanket. Rose was close beside her, leaning
over to see what the blanket might conceal, when the kitchen door swung
open and the man entered. As he looked at the two girls his face
darkened again, and he came quickly forward.
"Aha!" he muttered. "It's just as I thought. Pretty clever of the old
Tory to bring these girls along to peek about and find out all they
can," but the girls did not hear him until he stood beside them, and
then his scowl was gone and he spoke pleasantly: "A good many rifles
for one man, but they are not all mine. I'm storing them for friends."
"Where's father?" asked Rose, a little anxiously.
"He's giving the pretty horse a rub down," answered the man; "now
there's a better room for young ladies than this old kitchen," he
continued. "Just come this way," and he opened a door into a long dark
passage, into which the girls followed him.
"Right in here," said the man, opening a door at the further end of the
hall, and holding it ajar for the girls to pass in.
"It's all dark!" exclaimed Anne, who had been the first to enter. Rose
was close behind her and as Rose crossed the threshold the heavy door
swung to behind them. They heard bolts shot and then all was quiet.
Rose sprang against the door with all her strength, but instantly
realized that it was useless to try to open it. "Father! Father!" she
screamed, and Anne, hardly knowing what she said, called also "Father!"
"It's dark as pitch," whispered Anne, clutching at Rose's dress; "there
can't be a window in this room, or we'd see light somewhere."
The two girls clung together, not knowing what next might befall them.
"There may be some other door," said Rose after they had screamed
themselves hoarse. "We must not be frightened, Anne, for father is sure
to look for us. Let's go round the room and try and find a door. We can
feel along the wall," so the two girls began to grope their way from the
door.
"These inside walls are brick!" exclaimed Rose, as her hands left the
wooden framework of the door. "Oh, Anne, I do believe it is a sort of
prison all walled inside." Just then their feet struck against something
hard and round which rolled before them with a little rumble of sound.
Rose leaned down. "They're cannon-balls," she whispered. "Oh, Anne!
There's a whole pile of them. Don't go another step; we'll fall over
them. I do believe the man is a pirate, or else a Tory." For in those
troublous times the Americans felt that a Tory was a dangerous enemy to
their country.
As the girls groped about the room they came to a heavy iron chest, and
sat down, realizing that all they could do was to wait until Mr. Freeman
should discover them.
"Don't be afraid, Anne," said Rose, putting her arm about her little
companion, and felt surprised when Anne answered in a hopeful voice:
"Rose, look! Right up on that wall there's a window. I can see little
edges of light."
"So there is, but it's too high to do us any good; we can't reach it,"
answered Rose.
"Well, I'm glad it's there," said Anne.
Now and then they heard the far-off roar of the thunder, but at last it
seemed to die away, and little edges of light showed clearly around the
shuttered window on the further wall. The girls watched it, and, their
eyes becoming used to the shadowy room, they could now distinguish the
pile of cannon-balls in the opposite corner, and behind them a small
cannon and a keg. They could see, too, the outlines of the doorway.
"How long do you think we shall have to stay here?" whispered Anne, as
the dreary fearful moments dragged by.
"I don't know, dear," answered the elder girl, "but we mustn't be
afraid."
The hours went by and the little edge of light around the high shuttered
window began to fade a little, and the girls knew that the long summer
day was fading to twilight, and that it had been about noon when they
came to the house. A great fear now took possession of Rose's thoughts,
the fear for her father's safety. She was sure that unless some harm had
befallen him he would have found them before this time.
"Rose!" Anne's sharp whisper interrupted her thoughts. "If I could get
up to that window I could get out and go after help. The window isn't so
very high; it isn't as if we were up-stairs."
At that very moment the big door swung open, and the man entered. He had
a candle in one hand and carried an armful of rough gray blankets which
he dropped on the floor beside the girls, and instantly, without a word,
departed, and the girls heard the bolts shot on the outside.
"Those blankets are for us to sleep on. Oh, Anne, what has he done to my
dear father?" and Rose began to cry bitterly.
"Rose, he's coming back!" warned Anne, but the girl could no longer
restrain her sobs and their jailer entered, this time carrying the big
lunch basket which Aunt Hetty had put under the seat when they drove off
so happily from Brewster.
"Here's your own grub," said the man roughly. "Your father'll have to
put up with what I give him."
"You--you--won't kill my father, will you?" sobbed Rose.
"Oh, no, no!" answered the man, and then apparently regretting his more
friendly tone added, "But I reckon I ought to, coming here a-peekin' an'
a-pryin' into what don't concern him," and he set the basket down on the
iron chest with such a thud that it fairly bounced.
"Oh, he wasn't; I was the one who peeked at the guns," said Anne.
"Oho! Peekin' at the guns! Well, I've got you now where you can't peek
much," came the gruff answer.
"Won't you leave the candle?" asked Rose.
"I guess not," he answered with a little laugh, and pointed toward the
keg. "Look at that keg! Well, it's full of powder, and powder's too
sca'se an article these days to leave a candle in the same room with
it."
"But we can't see to eat," pleaded Anne. "We'll be real careful; we
won't go near the corner."
For a moment the man hesitated; then he set the candle down on the chest
beside the basket.
"All right," he said. "I'll leave it; 'twon't burn more than an hour."
He looked down at Rose's tear-stained face, and added, "Ain't no cause
to cry about your father; he's had a good supper, and I ain't goin' to
hurt him."
"Oh, thank you!" and Rose looked up at him gratefully.
The door had hardly swung to before Anne whispered, "Rose, Rose, I must
get out of that window some way. You know I must. It's too small for
you, but I'm sure I could get through."
"Let's eat something before you think about that," suggested Rose, who
began to feel more hopeful now that she knew her father was safe, and
opened the big basket. The man had brought them a pitcher of cool water,
and the girls ate and drank heartily.
"Aunt Hetty would be surprised if she knew where we were eating these
lovely doughnuts," said Anne, holding up the delicately browned twisted
cruller.
"Anne, if we could push this chest under the window I could stand on it
and try to open the window and if I can open it, then I will lift you up
and you can crawl through," said Rose, biting into a chicken sandwich.
Anne nodded, watching the candle with anxious eyes, remembering that
their jailer had said that it would burn but an hour.
"Now, Anne," said Rose, after they had satisfied their hunger, and
closed the basket, "we must try to push the chest."
To their surprise it moved very easily, and they soon had it directly
under the window. Rose was on top of it in an instant, and Anne held the
candle as high as she could reach so that Rose could examine the
fastening.
"Why, Anne, it pushes right out," said Rose. "It's only hooked down.
Look!" and she pushed the heavy square outward. "But it doesn't go very
far out," she added. "I wonder if you can crawl through. I do believe
this shutter is shingled on the outside, so that nobody could tell there
was a window. Oh, Anne! Isn't this a dreadful place!" Rose peered
cautiously out of the open space. "Blow out the candle," she said
quickly, drawing back into the room. "He might be outside and see the
light."
Anne instantly obeyed.
"Now, Anne, dear," said Rose, "if you can get out what are you going to
do?"
"I'll run back to the road as fast as I can go and get some people to
come back here and rescue you," said Anne.
"Yes, but you had best go on; you know there are no houses for a long
way on the road we came, and we must be nearer the Suet settlement than
any other. You won't be afraid, Anne!"
"No, Rose," declared the little girl, "and if I think of you shut up
here, even if I am afraid, I shall keep on until I find somebody and
bring him to help you."
"That's splendid, Anne!" answered Rose. "Now step here beside me, and
I'll lift you up."