I charge you by the law,
Whereof you are a well-deserving pillar,
Proceed to judgment: by my soul I swear
There is no power in the tongue of man
To alter me: I stay here on my bond.
Shylock.
It is not easy to describe the immediate effect of this discovery on
either of the parties most concerned. Not a doubt remained on the mind of
either, after the facts were explained, of the reality of the
relationship; for that was so simply proved, as to place the circumstance
beyond all dispute. Mrs. Wetmore thought of her lost son as of an innocent
smiling babe; and here she found him a red-faced, hard-featured,
weather-beaten tar, already verging towards age, and a man of manners that
were rough, if not rude. She could not at first possess any knowledge of
the better points in his character, and was compelled to receive this boon
from Providence as it was offered. Nevertheless, a mother's love is not
easily dissatisfied, or smothered; and, ere I left the house, I could see
the old woman's eyes fixed on Marble with an expression of interest and
tenderness they had not manifested previously to the revelations.
As for the mate himself, now that the fondest wish of his life was so
unexpectedly gratified, he was taken so much by surprise that he appeared
to think something was wanting. He found his mother the reputable widow of
a reputable man, of a class in life quite equal to his own, living on a
property that was small, certainly, and involved, but property that had
been long in her family. The truth was, Marble felt so much at this
unlooked-for appeal to his gentler feelings, that one of his stern nature
did not know how to answer it on the emergency; and the obstinacy of his
temperament rather induced him to resist, than to yield to such unwonted
sentiments, I could see he was satisfied with his mother, while he was
scarcely satisfied with himself; and, with a view to place both parties in
truer positions, I desired Moses to walk down and look at the boat, while
I remained alone with his new-found parent. This was not done, however,
until all the explanations had been made, and the mother had both blessed
and wept over her child. It was done, indeed, principally to relieve
Marble from the oppression of feeling created by this very scene.
As soon as alone with Mrs. Wetmore, I explained to her my own connection
with Marble, and gave her a sort of apologetic account of his life and
character, keeping down the weak points, and dwelling on the strong. I set
her mind at ease, at once, on the subject of the farm; for, should the
worst happen, her son had double the amount of money that would be
necessary to discharge the mortgage.
"The debt was incurred, my dear Mrs. Wetmore, in his behalf; and he will
be happy to discharge it on the spot. I would advise you to pay the money
at once. Should the receipt ever be found, this Van Tassel will be obliged
to refund; for, though the law winks at many wrongs, it will not wink at
one so atrocious as this, provided you can satisfy it with proof. I shall
leave Moses----"
"His name is Oloff, or Oliver," interrupted the old woman easerly "I named
him after my own father, and had him duly christened, before he was
entrusted to the nurse, in the hope it might soften his grandfather's
heart, when he came to know of my marriage. Oloff Van Duzer Wetmore is his
real name."
I smiled to think of Marble's sailing under such an appellation, and was
about to suggest a compromise, when the subject of our discourse returned.
The mate had regained his composure during the half-hour he had been
absent; and I saw by the kind glance he threw on his mother, whose look
answered his own more naturally than I could have hoped, that things were
getting right; and, by way of removing the awkwardness of excessive
sensibility, I pursued the discourse.
"We were talking of your true name, Moses, as you came in," I said. "It
will never do for you to hail by one name, while your mother hails by
another. You'll have to cut adrift from Moses Marble altogether."
"If I do, may I be----"
"Hush, hush--you forget where you are, and in whose presence you stand."
"I hope my son will soon learn that he is always in the presence of his
God," observed the mother, plaintively.
"Ay, ay--that's all right, mother, and you shall do with me just what you
please in any of them matters; but as for not being Moses Marble, you
might as well ask me not to be myself. I should be another man, to change
my name. A fellow might as well go without clothes, as go without a name;
and mine came so hard, I don't like to part with it. No, no--had it come
to pass, now, that my parents had been a king and a queen, and that I was
to succeed 'em on the throne, I should reign as King Moses Marble, or not
reign at all."
"You'll think better of this, and take out a new register under your
lawful designation."
"I'll tell you what I'll do, mother, and that will satisfy all parties.
I'll bend on the old name to the new one, and sail under both."
"I care not how you are called, my son, so long as no one has need to
blush for the name you bear. This gentleman tells me you are an honest and
true-hearted man; and those are blessings for which I shall never cease
to thank God."
"Miles has been singing my praises, has he! I can tell you, mother, you
had need look out for Miles's tongue Natur' intended him for a lawyer, and
it's mere accident his being a sailor, though a capital one he is. But
what may be my name, according to law?"
"Oloff Van Duser Wetmore Moses Marble, according to your own expedient of
sailing under all your titles. You can ring the changes, however, and call
yourself Moses Oloff Marble Van Duser Wetmore, if you like that better."
Moses laughed, and as I saw that both he and his new-found mother were in
a fit state to be left together, and that the sun now wanted but an hour
or two of setting, I rose to take my leave.
"You will remain with your mother to-night, Marble," I observed. "I will
keep the sloop at an anchor until I can see you in the morning, when we
will settle the future a little more deliberately."
"I should not like to lose my son so soon after finding him," the old
woman anxiously remarked.
"No fear of me, mother--I berth under your roof to-night, and so many more
in the bargain, that you'll be glad enough to be rid of me in the end."
I then left the house, followed by Marble, towards the boat. As we reached
the little piece of bottom-land, I heard a sort of suppressed sob from the
mate, and, turning round, was surprised to see the tears running down his
sun-burned cheeks. His wrought-up feelings had at last obtained the
mastery; and this rude, but honest creature, had fairly given in, under
the excitement of this strange admixture of joy, wonder, shame, and
natural emotion. I took his hand, gave it a hearty squeeze, but said
nothing; though I stopped, unwilling to go nearer to Neb until my
companion had regained his composure. This he did, sufficiently to speak,
in the course of a minute or two.
"It's all like a dream-to me, Miles," Moses at length muttered--"more out
of natur' like, than setting up for a hermit."
"You'll soon get accustomed to the change, Marble; then everything will
seem in the ordinary way, and natural."
"To think of my being a son, and having a real, living mother!"
"You must have known that you had parents once, though you are fortunate
in finding one of them alive at your time of life."
"And she an honest woman! A mother the President of the United States, or
the first commodore in the navy, needn't be ashamed of!"
"All that is fortunate, certainly; especially the first."
"She's a bloody good-looking old woman in the bargain. I'll have her
dressed up and carry her down to town, the first opportunity."
"What would you give an old woman that trouble for? You'll think better of
these matters, in the long run."
"Better! Yes, I'll take her to Philadelphia, and perhaps to Baltimore.
There's the gardens, and the theatres, and the museums, and lots of things
that I dare say the dear old soul never laid eyes on."
"I'm mistaken in your mother, if she would not prefer a church to all of
them put together."
"Well, there's churches in all of them towns. Put it on a religious
footing, if you will, and I ought to take my mother as soon as possible
down to York. She's old, you see, and cannot live for ever, just to oblige
me; and here has she been tied down to one church all her days, giving her
no ch'ice nor opportunity. I dare say, now, variety is just as agreeable
in religion, as in anything else."
"You are nearer right there, Moses, than you think yourself, possibly. But
we can talk of all these things to-morrow. A good night's rest will give
us cooler heads in the morning."
"I shall not sleep a wink for thinking of it. No, no--I'll make the old
lady pack up before breakfast, and we'll sail in the sloop. I'll take her
aboard the Dawn with me in town, and a comfortable time we'll have of it
in her cabins. She has as good state-rooms as a yacht."
There were no liners in those days; but a ship with two cabins was a
miracle of convenience.
"Your mother will hardly suit a ship, Moses; and a ship will hardly suit
your mother."
"How can any of us know that till we try? If I'm a chip of the old block,
they'll take to each other like rum and water. If I'm to go out in the
ship, I'm far from certain I'll not take the old woman to sea with me."
"You'll probably remain at home, now that you _have_ a home, and a mother,
and other duties to attend to. I and my concerns will be but secondary
objects with you hereafter, Mr. Wetmore."
"Wetmore be d----d! D'ye mean, Miles, that I'm to give up my calling,
give up the sea, give up _you_?"
"You wished to be a hermit once, and found it a little too solitary; had
you a companion or two, you would have been satisfied, you said. Well,
here is everything you can wish; a mother, a niece, a house, a farm,
barns, out-houses, garden and orchard; and, seated on that porch, you can
smoke segars, take your grog, look at the craft going up and down the
Hudson----"
"Nothing but so many bloody sloops," growled the mate. "Such in-and-in
fore-and-afters that their booms won't stay guyed-out, even after you've
been at the pains to use a hawser."
"Well, a sloop is a pleasant object to a sailor, when he can set nothing
better. Then there is this Mr. Van Tassel to settle with--you may have a
ten years' law-suit on your hands, to amuse you."
"I'll make short work with that scamp, when I fall in with him. You're
right enough, Miles; that affair must be settled before I can lift an
anchor. My mother tells me he lives hard by, and can be seen, at any
moment, in a quarter of an hour. I'll pay him a visit this very night."
This declaration caused me to pause. I knew Marble too well, not to
foresee trouble if he were left to himself in a matter of this nature, and
thought it might be well to inquire further into the affair. Sailors do
everything off-hand. Mrs. Wetmore telling me that her son's statement was
true, on my going back to the house to question her in the matter, and
offering us the use of an old-fashioned one-horse chaise, that the only
farm-labourer she employed was just then getting ready to go in, in quest
of Kitty, I availed myself of the opportunity, took the printed
advertisement of the sale to read as we went along, obtained our
directions, and off Marble and I went in quest of the usurer.
There would be sufficient time for all our purposes. It is true that the
horse, like the house, its owner, the labourer, the chaise, and all we had
yet seen about Willow Cove, as we had learned the place was called, was
old; but he was the more safe and sure. The road led up the ascent by a
ravine, through which it wound its way very prettily; the labourer walking
by our side to point out the route, after we should reach the elevation of
the country that stretched inland.
The view from the height, as it might be termed in reference to the river,
though it was merely on the level of the whole region in that portion of
the State, was both extensive and pretty. Willow Grove, as Marble called
his mother's place three or four times, while our horse was working his
way up the ascent, looked more invitingly than ever, with its verdant
declivities, rich orchards, neat cottage, all ensconced behind the
sheltering cover of the river heights. Inland, we saw a hundred farms,
groves without number, divers roads, a hamlet within a mile of us, an
old-fashioned extinguisher-looking church-spire, and various houses of
wood painted white, with here and there a piece of rustic antiquity in
bricks, or stone, washed with lime; or some livelier paint; for the Dutch
of New York had brought the habits of Holland with them, delighting in
colours. This relief may be desirable in a part of the world where the
eternal green of the meadows in a manner fatigues the eye; but certainly
the grey of nature has no just competitor in the tints of the more
artificial portions of the ordinary landscape. White may make a scene look
gay; but it can never lend it dignity, or the solemn hues that so often
render the loveliness of a view impressive, as well as sweet. When this
glaring colour reaches the fences, it gives the prettiest landscape the
air of a bleaching-yard, or of a great laundry, with the clothes hung
out to dry!
The guide pointed out to us the house of Van Tassel, and another at which
we should find Kitty, who was to be brought home by us on our return.
Understanding the course and distance, we put to sea without any
misgivings. The horse was no flyer, and Marble and I had plenty of leisure
to arrange preliminaries before reaching the door to which we were bound.
After some consultation, and a good of discussion, I succeeded in
persuading my companion it would not be wisest to break ground by flogging
the attorney--a procedure to which he was strongly inclined. It was
settled, however, he was at once to declare himself to be Mrs. Wetmore's
son, and to demand his explanations in that character; one that would
clearly give him every claim to be heard.
"I know what these usurers, as you call 'em, Miles, must be," said the
mate. "They are a sort of in-shore pawn-brokers; and the Lord have mercy
on them, for I'll have none. I've had occasion to pawn a watch, or a
quadrant, in my time; and bloody poor prices does a fellow get for his
goods and chattels. Yes, yes; I'll let the old gentleman know, at once,
I'm Van Duzer Oloff Marble Wetmore Moses, or whatever's my name; and will
stand up for the right in a fashion that will surprise him: but what are
you to do in the mean time?"
It struck me, if I could get Marble to attempt practising a sort of
_ruse_, it would have the effect to prevent his resorting to club-law,
towards which I knew he had a strong natural disposition, and of which I
was still a little afraid. With this object, then, I conceived the
following scheme.
"You shall simply introduce me as Mr. Miles Wallingford," I said, "but in
a formal manner, that may induce this Mr. Van Tassel to-imagine I'm a sort
of lawyer; and this may have the effect to awe him, and bring him to terms
the easier. Do not _say_ I am a lawyer, for that will not be true, and it
will also be awkward falling back when the truth comes to be known."
Marble took the idea, and seemed pleased with it, though he affirmed that
there could be no such thing as acting lawyer without lying a little, and
that "the truth was too good for one of your bloody usurers." I got him
trained, however, by the time we reached the door; and we alighted as well
prepared for our task as could be expected.
There was nothing about the residence of 'Squire Van Tassel to denote the
grasping money-dealer, unless a certain negligence of the exterior might
be supposed to betray the abode of such a man. His friends wished to
ascribe this to an indifference to appearances; but the multitude, more
accurately imputed it to parsimony. When the very soul gets to be
absorbed in the process of rolling gold over and over, in order to make it
accumulate, the spirit grudges the withdrawal of the smallest fraction
from the gainful pursuit; and here lies the secret of the disdain of
appearances that is so generally to be met with in this description of
persons. Beyond this air of negligence, however, the dwelling of Van
Tassel was not to be distinguished from those of most of the better houses
of that part of the country. Our application for admission was favourably
received, and, in a minute, we were shown into the attorney's office.
'Squire Van Tassel, as this man was universally termed, eyed us keenly as
we entered, no doubt with a view to ascertain if we were borrowers. I
might possibly have passed for one of that character, for I aimed at
looking serious and thoughtful; but I would defy any man to mistake Moses
for one who came on such an errand. He looked more like a messenger sent
by the Father of Sin, to demand the payment of a certain bond that had
been signed in blood, and of which the fatal pay-day had at length
arrived. I had to give the skirt of his coat a pull, in order to recall
him to our agreement, else I do think the first salutation received by the
attorney, would have been a broadside in anything but words. The hint
succeeded, and Marble permitted our host to open the communications.
Squire Van Tassel had a very miserly exterior. He even looked ill fed;
though doubtless this appearance was more a consequence of habit of body,
than of short-feeding. He wore spectacles with black rims, and had the
common practice of looking over them at objects at a distance, which gave
him an air still more watchful than that which he imbibed from character.
His stature was small, and his years about sixty, an age when the
accumulation of money begins to bring as much pain as pleasure; for it is
a period of life when men cannot fail to see the termination of their
earthly schemes. Of all the passions, however, avarice is notoriously that
which the latest loosens its hold on the human heart.
"Your servant, gentlemen," commenced the attorney, in a manner that was
civil enough; "your servant; I beg you to help yourselves to chairs." We
all three took seats, at this invitation. "A pleasant evening," eyeing us
still more keenly over his glasses, "and weather that is good for the
crops. If the wars continue much longer in Europe," another look over the
glasses, "we shall sell all the substance out of our lands, in order to
send the belligerents wheat. I begin to look on real estate security as
considerably less valuable than it was, when hostilities commenced in
1793, and as daily growing less and less so."
"Ay, you may say that," Marble bluntly answered; "particularly the farms
of widows and orphans."
The "'Squire" was a little startled at this unexpected reply. He looked
intently at each of us again, over the spectacles; and then asked, in a
manner divided between courtesy and authority--
"May I inquire your names, and the object of this visit?"
"Sartain," said Marble. "That's reasonable and your right. We are not
ashamed of our names, nor of our errand. As for the last, Mr. Van Tassell,
you'll know it sooner than you will wish to know it; but, to begin at the
right end, this gentleman with me, is Mr. Miles Wallingford, a partic'lar
friend of old Mrs. Wetmore, who lives a bit down the road yonder, at a
farm called Willow Grove; 'Squire Wallingford, sir, is _her_ friend, and
_my_ friend, and I've great pleasure in making you acquainted with him."
"I am happy to see the gentleman," answered Van Tassel, taking another
look, while at the same time he glanced his eye at an alphabetical list of
the attorneys and counsellors, to see what place I occupied among them.
"Very happy to see the gentleman, who has quite lately commenced practice,
I should think by his age, and my not remembering the name."
"There must be a beginning to all things, Mr. Van Tassel," I replied, with
a calmness that I could see the old usurer did not like.
"Very true, sir, and I hope your future success will be in proportion to
the lateness of your appearance at the bar. Your companion has much more
the air of a sailor than of a lawyer."--This was true enough, there being
no mistaking Marble's character, though I had put on a body-coat to come
ashore in;--"I presume _he_ is not in the practice."
"That remains to be seen, sir." answered Marble. "Having told you my
friend's name, Mr. Van Tassel, I will now tell you my own. I am called
Moses Marble Wetmore Van Duser Oloff, sir, or some such bloody thing; and
you're welcome to take your pick out of the whole list. I'll answer to
either of them aliases."
"This is so extraordinary and unusual, gentlemen, I scarce know what to
make of it. Has this visit any connection with Mrs. Wetmore, or her farm,
or the mortgage I have been foreclosing on the last?"
"It has, sir; and I am that Mrs. Wetmore's son--yes sir, the only child of
that dear, good, old soul."
"The son of Mrs. Wetmore!" exclaimed Van Tassel, both surprised and
uneasy. "I knew there _was_ a son; but I have been always told it was
impossible to find him. I see no resemblance, sir, in you to either George
Wetmore, or Kitty Van Duser."
Now this was not altogether true. As for George Wetmore, they who had
known him in middle age, afterwards declared that Moses did resemble him
greatly; while I, myself, could trace in the mouth and milder expression
of the mate's features, a strong likeness to the subdued character of his
aged mother's face. This resemblance would not have been observed, in all
probability, without a knowledge of the affinity that existed between the
parties; but, with that knowledge, it was not easy to overlook.
"Resemblance!" repeated Marble, much in the tone of one who is ready to
quarrel on the slightest provocation; "how should there be any
resemblance, after the life I've led. In the first place, I was carried
out of my mother's sight in less than ten days after I was born. Then I
was placed on a tombstone, by way of encouragement; after which, they sent
me to live among paupers. I ran away at ten years old, and went to sea,
where I've played the part of man-of-war's-man, privateer's-man, smuggler,
mate, master, and all hands; everything, in short, but a pirate and
mutineer. I've been a bloody hermit, Mr. Van Tassel, and if that won't
take the resemblance to anything human out of a fellow, his face is as
unchangeable as that on a gold coin."
"All this, Mr. Wallingford, is so unintelligible to me, that I shall have
to ask you to explain it."
I can only add to it, sir, my belief that every word you hear is true. I
am satisfied that this is, in a legal sense, Oloff Van Duser Wetmore, the
only surviving child of George Wetmore and Catharine Van Duser. He has
come to see you in relation to a claim you are said to hold against the
farm his mother inherited from her parents."
"_Said_ to hold!--I certainly do hold George Wetmore's bond, secured by a
mortgage signed by his wife, balance due, including interest and costs,
$963.42; and I am proceeding to sell, under the statute. One sale has been
postponed, to oblige the widow; for a merciful man would not wish to press
a single and aged woman, though I've lain out of my money a very long
time. You are aware, sir, that I lose all my interest on interest, and
must take up with just what the law will give; hardship enough in active
times like these, when not a day passes that something good does not offer
in the way of purchasing the best of securities, at liberal discounts.
Trade is so lively, now, Mr. Wallingford, that men will almost sell their
souls for money."
"I rather think, sir, that some men will do this at all times; nay, do it
hourly, daily. But, I am instructed"--I could not help acting the counsel
a little, on the occasion--"I am instructed that the bond of George
Wetmore is paid in full."
"How can that be, sir, while I still hold bond and mortgage? As a business
man, you must understand the value to be attached to the idle tales of
women, and can see the danger of taking _their_ gossip for authority.
George Wetmore had some knowledge of business, and would not be likely to
pay his bond without taking it up, or at least of obtaining a receipt;
much less leave the mortgage on record."
"I am informed he did take your receipt, though he presumes he must have
lost it with a missing pocket-book, which his widow supposes to have been
dropped from his coat, the very day he returned from the court where he
met you, and where he says he paid you the money, being anxious to stop
interest as soon as possible."
"A very idle story, and one you do not suppose the chancellor will
believe, confirmed by the _hearsay_ of the party interested in preserving
the property. You are aware, sir, that the sale can be stopped only by an
injunction from the Court of Chancery."
Now, I was certainly no lawyer; but, like almost every American, I knew
something of that branch of the jurisprudence of the country, which
touched my own interests. As a land-holder, I had a little knowledge of the
law of real estate, and was not absolutely ignorant of the manner in which
matters were managed in that most searching of all tribunals, the Court of
Chancery. A lucky thought suggested itself to my mind on the instant, and
I made use of it on the spur of the moment.
"It is quite true, sir," I answered, "that any prudent judge might
hesitate about entering a decree on authority no better than the oath of
Mrs. Wetmore that she had heard her husband say he had paid the money; but
you will remember that the party replying has to swear to his answer. All
of us might be better satisfied in this affair, were you to make oath that
the money was never paid."
This hit told; and from that moment I did not entertain a doubt that
Wetmore had paid the money, and that Van Tassel retained a perfect
recollection of the whole affair. This much I could read in the man's
altered countenance and averted eye, though my impressions certainly were
not proof. If not proof, however, for a court of justice, they served to
enlist me earnestly in the pursuit of the affair, into which I entered
warmly from that moment. In the meantime, I waited for Van Tassel's
answer, watching his countenance the whole time, with a vigilance that I
could easily see caused him great embarrassment.
"Kitty Wetmore and I were born neighbours' children," he said; "and this
mortgage has given me more trouble than all the rest of my little
possessions. That I have been in no hurry to foreclose is plain by the
length of time I've suffered to go by, without claiming my dues. I could
wait no longer, without endangering my rights, as there would be a
presumption of payment after twenty years, and a presumption that would
tell harder against me than old Kitty's oath. We are neighbours' children,
as I've said, nevertheless, and rather than push matters to extremities I
will consent to some sort of a compromise."
"And what sort of a compromise will be agreeable to your notions of
justice, Mr. Van Tassel?"
"Why, sir, as Kitty is old, it would be a sad thing to drive her from the
roof under which she was born. This I've said and thought from the first,
and say, _now_. Still, I cannot part with my property without a
compensation; though I'm willing to wait. I told Mrs. Wetmore, before
advertising, that if she would give a new bond, making all clear, and
giving me interest on the whole sum now due, I should be willing to grant
her time. I now propose, however, as the simplest way of settling the
affair, to accept from her a release of the equity of redemption, and to
grant her a lease, for her own life, on a nominal rent."
Even Marble knew enough to see the rank injustice of such an offer. In
addition to conceding the non-payment of the debt, it was securing to Van
Tassel, at no distant day, the quiet possession of the farm, for somewhat
less than one-third its value. I detected symptoms of an outbreak in the
mate, and was obliged to repress it by a sign, while I kept the discussion
in my own hands.
"Under such an arrangement, sir," I answered, "my friend here would be
literally selling his birthright for a mess of porridge."
"You will remember, Mr. Wallingford, that a mortgage sale, legally made,
is a ticklish thing, and the courts do not like to disturb one. This sale
will take place, this day week; and the title once passed, it will not be
so easy a matter to get it repassed. Mr. Wetmore, here, does not look like
a man ready to pay down a thousand dollars."
"We shall not run the risk of letting the title pass. I will buy the
property, myself, if necessary; and should it afterwards appear that the
money has been actually paid, we believe you are sufficiently secure for
principal, interest, and costs."
"You are young in the profession, Mr. Wallingford, and will come to learn
the folly of advancing money for your clients."
"I am not in the profession at all, sir, as you have erroneously supposed,
but am a ship-master; and Mr. Wetmore, or Marble, as he has hitherto been
called, is my mate. Still, we are none the worse provided with the means
of paying a thousand dollars--or twenty of them, should it be necessary."
"No lawyer!" cried Van Tassel, smiling grimly. "A couple of sailors about
to dispute the foreclosure of a mortgage! Famous justice we should get at
your hands, gentlemen! Well, well; I now see how it is, and that this has
only been an attempt to work on my sympathies for an old woman who has
been living on my money these twenty years. I rather think your $963.42,
will prove to be of the same quality as your law."
"And, yet, it struck me, Mr. Van Tassel, that you rather disliked the idea
of swearing to the truth of an answer to a certain bill in Chancery,
which, if I cannot draw, one Abraham Van Vechten, of Albany, can!"
"Abraham Van Vechten is skilful counsel, and an honest man, and is riot
likely to be employed in a cause that rests only on an old woman's
_hearsays_--and all to save her own farm!"
Marble could keep silence no longer. He told me afterwards, that, during
the dialogue, he had been taking the measure of the old usurer's foot, and
felt it would be a disgrace to strike so feeble a creature; but, to sit
and hear his newly-found mother sneered at, and her just rights derided,
was more than his patience could endure. Rising abruptly, therefore, he
broke out at once in one of the plainest philippics of the sea. I shall
not repeat all he said; for, to render it justly, might be to render it
offensive; but, in addition to calling old Van Tassel by a great many
names that were as unusual as they were quaint, he called him by several
that would be familiar to the ears of most of my readers, besides being
perfectly well merited. I allowed his humour to find vent; and, giving the
attorney to understand he should hear further from us, I succeeded in
getting my companion to the wagon, without coming to blows. I could see
that Van Tassel was very far from being at his ease, and that he would
still gladly keep us, if he could, in the hope of bringing about some sort
of a compromise, if possible; but I thought it wisest to let matters rest
awhile, after the decided demonstration we had already made.
It was not an easy matter to get Marble into the vehicle; but this was no
sooner effected, than I trotted him off, down the road, taking the
direction of the house where we had been told to seek Kitty Huguenin, old
Mrs. Wetmore's grand-daughter, who would be waiting the appearance of the
chaise, in order to return home.
"You must put on a more amicable look," said I to the mate, as we went on
our way, "or you'll frighten your niece; with whom, you will remember, you
are about to make an acquaintance."
"The cheating vagabond, to take advantage of a poor, lonely, old woman,
whose only husband was in the grave, and only son at sea!" the mate
continued to mutter. "Talk about the commandments! I should like to know
what commandment this was breaking. The whole six, in a batch."
"The tenth, I am inclined to think, my friend; and that is a commandment
broken all day, and every day."
The denunciations of the mate continued for some time longer, and then
went off like the rumbling of distant thunder in the heavens after the
passage of the gust.