THE LOVERS
The fashionable tailor was done with Jack's equipment. Franklin had
seen and approved the admirably shaped and fitted garments. The young
man and his friend Solomon had moved to their new lodgings on
Bloomsbury Square. The scout had acquired a suit for street wear and
was now able to walk abroad without exciting the multitudes. The
Doctor was planning what he called "a snug little party." So he
announced when Jack and Solomon came, adding:
"But first you are to meet Margaret and her mother here at half after
four."
Jack made careful preparation for that event. Fortunately it was a
clear, bright day after foggy weather. Solomon had refused to go with
Jack for fear of being in the way.
"I want to see her an' her folks but I reckon ye'll have yer hands full
to-day," he remarked. "Ye don't need no scout on that kind o'
reconnoiterin'. You go on ahead an' git through with yer smackin an'
bym-by I'll straggle in."
Precisely at four thirty-five Jack presented himself at the lodgings of
his distinguished friend. He has said in a letter, when his dramatic
adventures were all behind him, that this was the most thrilling moment
he had known. "The butler had told me that the ladies were there," he
wrote. "Upon my word it put me out of breath climbing that little
flight of stairs. But it was in fact the end of a long journey. It is
curious that my feeling then should remind me, as it does, of moments
when I have been close up to the enemy, within his lines, and lying
hard against the ground in some thicket while British soldiers were
tramping so near I could feel the ground shake. In the room I saw Lady
Hare and Doctor Franklin standing side by side. What a smile he wore
as he looked at me! I have never known a human being who had such a
cheering light in his countenance. I have seen it brighten the darkest
days of the war aided by the light of his words. His faith and good
cheer were immovable. I felt the latter when he said:
"'See the look of alarm in his face. Now for a pretty drama!'
"Mrs. Hare gave me her hand and I kissed it and said that I had
expected to see Margaret and hoped that she was not ill. There was a
thistledown touch on my cheek from behind and turning I saw the
laughing face I sought looking up at me. I tell you, my mother, there
never was such a pair of eyes. Their long, dark lashes and the glow
between them I remember chiefly. The latter was the friendly light of
her spirit To me it was like a candle in the window to guide my feet.
'Come,' it seemed to say. 'Here is a welcome for you.' I saw the pink
in her cheeks, the crimson in her lips, the white of her neck, the glow
of her abundant hair, the shapeliness of brow and nose and chin in that
first glance. I saw the beating of her heart even. I remember there
was a tiny mole on her temple under the edge of that beautiful, golden
crown of hers. It did not escape my eye. I tell you she was fair as
the first violets in Meadowvale on a dewy morning. Of course she was
at her best. It was the last moment in years of waiting in which her
imagination had furnished me with endowments too romantic. I have seen
great moments, as you know, but this is the one I could least afford to
give up. I had long been wondering what I should do when it came. Now
it was come and there was no taking thought of what we should do. That
would seem to have been settled out of court. I kissed her lips and
she kissed mine and for a few moments I think we could have stood in a
half bushel measure. Then the Doctor laughed and gave her Ladyship a
smack on the cheek.
"'I don't know about you, my Lady, but it fills me with the glow of
youth to see such going on,' he remarked. 'I'm only twenty-one and
nobody knows it--nobody suspects it even. These wrinkles and gray hair
are only a mask that covers the heart of a boy.'
"'I confess that such a scene does push me back into my girlhood,' said
Lady Hare. 'Alas! I feel the old thrill.'
"Franklin came and stood before us with his hands Upon our shoulders,
his face shining with happiness. "'Margaret, a woman needs something
to hold on to in this slippery world,' said he. 'Here is a man that
stands as firm as an oak tree.'
"He kissed us as did Lady Hare, also, and then we all sat down together
and laughed. I would not forget, if I could, that we had to wipe our
eyes. No, my life has not been all blood and iron.
"Would you not call it a wonder that we had kept the sacred fire which
had been kindled in our hearts, so long before, and our faith in each
other? It is because we were both of a steadfast breed of folk--the
English--trained to cling to the things that are worth while. Once
they think they are right how hard it is to turn them aside! Let us
never forget that some of the best of our traits have come from England.
"Suddenly Solomon arrived. Of course where Solomon is one would expect
solecisms. They were not wanting. I had not tried to prepare him for
the ordeal. Solomon is bound to be himself wherever he is, am why not?
There is no better man living.
"'You're as purty as a golden robin,' he said to Margaret, shaking her
hand in his big one.
"He was not so much put out as I thought he would be. I never saw a
gentler man with women. As hard as iron in a fight there has always
been a curious veil of chivalry in the old scout. He stood and joked
with the girl, in his odd fashion, and set us all laughing. Margaret
and her mother enjoyed his talk and spoke of it, often, after that.
"'Wal, Mis Hare,' he said to Her Ladyship, 'if ye graft this 'ere
sprout on yer fam'ly tree I'll bet ye a pint o' powder an' a fish hook
ye won't never be sorry fer it.'
"It did not seem to occur to him that there were those to whom a pint
of powder and a fish hook would be no great temptation."
2
"I dressed and went to dine with the Hares that evening. They lived in
a large house on a fashionable 'road' as certain, of the streets were
called. It was a typical upper class, English home. There were many
fine old things in it but no bright colors, nothing to dazzle or
astonish; you like the wooden Indian in war-paint and feathers and the
stuffed bear and high colored rugs in the parlor of Mr. Gosport in
Philadelphia. Every piece of furniture was like the quiet, still
footed servants who came and went making the smallest possible demand
upon your attention.
"I was shown into the library where Sir Benjamin' sat alone reading a
newspaper. He greeted me politely.
"'The news is disquieting,' he said presently. 'What have you to tell
us of the situation in America?'
"'It is critical,' I answered. 'It can be mended, however, if the
government will act promptly.'
"'What should it do?'
"'Make concessions, sir, stop shipping tea for a time. Don't try to
force an export with a duty on it. I think the government should not
shake the mailed fist at us.'
"'But think of the violence and the destruction of property!'
"'All that will abate and disappear if the cause is removed. We who
keep our affection for England have done our best to hold the passions
of the people in check but we get no help from this side of the ocean.'
"Sir Benjamin sat thoughtfully feeling his silvered mustache. He had
grown stouter and fuller-faced since we had parted in Albany when he
had looked like a prosperous, well-bred merchant in military dress and
had been limbered and soiled by knocking about in the bush. Now he
wore a white wig and ruffles and looked as dignified as a Tory
magistrate.
"In the moment of silence I mustered up my courage and spoke out.
"'Sir Benjamin,' I said. 'I have come to claim your daughter under the
promise you gave me at Fort Stanwix. I have not ceased to love her and
if she continues to love me I am sure that our wishes will have your
favor and blessing.'
"'I have not forgotten the promise,' he said. 'But America has
changed. It is likely to be a hotbed of rebellion--perhaps even the
scene of a bloody war. I must consider my daughter's happiness.'
"'Conditions in America, sir, are not so bad as you take them to be,' I
assured him.
"'I hope you are right,' he answered. 'I am told that the whole matter
rests with your Doctor Franklin. If we are to go on from bad to worse
he will be responsible.'
"'If it rests with him I can assure you, sir, that our troubles will
end,' I said, looking only at the surface of the matter and speaking
confidently out of the bottomless pit of my inexperience as the young
are like to do.
"'I believe you are right,' he declared and went on with a smile.
'Now, my young friend, the girl has a notion that she loves you. I am
aware of that--so are you, I happen to know. Through Doctor Franklin's
influence we have allowed her to receive your letters and to answer
them. I have no doubt of your sincerity, or hers, but I did not
foresee what has come to pass. She is our only child and you can
scarcely blame me if I balk at a marriage which promises to turn her
away from us and fill our family with dissension.'
"'May we not respect each other and disagree in politics?' I asked.
"'In politics, yes, but not in war. I begin to see danger of war and
that is full of the bitterness of death. If Doctor Franklin will do
what he can to reestablish loyalty and order in the colonies my fear
will he removed and I shall welcome you to my family.'
"I began to show a glint of intelligence and said: 'If the ministers
will cooperate it will not be difficult.'
"'The ministers will do anything it is in their power to do.'
"Then the timely entrance of Margaret and her mother.
"'I suppose that I shall shock my father but I can not help it,' said
the girl as she kissed me.
"You may be sure that I had my part in that game. She stood beside me,
her arm around my waist and mine around her shoulders.
"'Father, can you blame me for loving this big, splendid hero who saved
us from the Indians and the bandits? It is unlike you to be such a
hardened wretch. But for him you would have neither wife nor daughter.'
"She put it on thick but I held my peace as I have done many a time in
the presence of a woman's cunning. Anyhow she is apt to believe
herself and in a matter of the heart can find her way through
difficulties which would appal a man.
"'Keep yourself in bounds, my daughter,' her father answered. 'I know
his merits and should like to see you married and hope to, but I must
ask you to be patient until you can go to a loyal colony with your
husband.'
"It was a pleasant dinner through which they kept me telling of my
adventures in the bush. Save the immediate family only Mrs. Biggars, a
sister of Lady Hare, and a young nephew of Sir Benjamin were at the
table."
Jack has said in another of His letters that Mrs. Biggars was a sweet,
stout lady whose manner of address reminded him of an affectionate
house cat. "That means, as you will know, that I liked her," he added.
"The ladies sat together at one end of the table. The baronet pumped
me for knowledge of the hunting and fishing in the northern part of
Tryon County where Solomon and I had spent a week, having left our boat
in Lake Champlain and journeyed off in the mountains.
"'Champlain was a man of imagination,' said my host. 'He tells of
trying to land on a log lying against the lake shore and of
discovering, suddenly, that it was an immense fish.'
"'Since I learned that I was to meet you I have been reading a book
entitled _The Animals of North America_,' said Mrs. Biggars. 'I have
learned that bears often climb after and above the hunter and double
themselves up and fall toward him, knocking him out of the tree. Have
you seen it done?'
"'I think it was never done outside a book,' I answered. 'I never saw
a bear that was not running away from me. They hate the look of a man.'
"Mrs. Biggars was filled with astonishment and went on: 'The author
tells of an animal on the borders of Canada that resembles a horse. It
has cloven hoofs, a shaggy mane, a horn right out of its forehead and a
tail like that of a pig. When hunted it spews hot water upon the dogs.
I wonder if you could have seen such an animal?'
"'No, that's another nightmare,' I answered. 'People go hunting for
nightmares in America. They enjoy them and often think they have found
them when they have not. It all comes of trying to talk with Indians
and of guessing at the things they say.'
"Sir Benjamin remarked that when a man wrote about nature he seemed to
regard himself as a first deputy of God.
"'And undertakes to lend him a hand in the work of creation,' I
suggested. 'Even your great Doctor Johnson has stated that swallows
spend the winter at the bottom of the streams, forgetting that they
might find it a rather slippery place to hang on to and a winter a long
time to hold their breaths. Even Goldsmith has been divinely reckless
in his treatment of 'Animated Nature.'
"'I am surprised, sir, at your familiarity with English authors,' he
declared. 'When we think of America we are apt to think of savages and
poverty and ignorance and log huts.'
"'You forget, sir, that we have about all the best books and the
leisure to read them,' I answered.
"'You undoubtedly have the best game,' said he. 'Tell us about the
shooting and fishing.'
"I told of the deer, the moose and the caribou, all of which I had
killed, and of our fishing on the long river of the north with a lure
made of the feathers of a woodpecker, and of covering the bottom of our
canoe with beautiful speckled fish. All this warmed the heart of Sir
Benjamin who questioned me as to every detail in my experience on trail
and river. He was a born sportsman and my stories had put a smile on
his face so that I felt sure he had a better feeling for me when we
arose from the table.
"Then I had an hour alone with Margaret in a corner of the great hall.
We reviewed the years that had passed since our adventure and there was
one detail in her history of which I must tell you. She had had many
suitors, and among them one Lionel Clarke--a son of the distinguished
General. Her father had urged her to accept the young man, but she had
stood firmly for me.
"'You see, this heart of mine is a stubborn thing,' she said as she
looked into my eyes.
"Then it was that we gave to each other the long pledge, often on the
lips of lovers since Eros strung his bow, but never more deeply felt.
"'I am sure the sky will clear soon,' she said to me at last.
"Indeed as I bade them good night, I saw encouraging signs of that.
Sir Benjamin had taken a liking to me. He pressed my hand as we drank
a glass of Madeira together and said:
"'My boy, I drink to the happiness of England, the colonies and you.'"
"'"Time and I" and the will of God,' I whispered, as I left their door."