One beautiful October day two well-mounted gentlemen, each followed
by a servant, came galloping into Chillicothe, and halted at Major
Lamar's door.
In the one the major instantly recognized an old friend and companion
in arms, Captain Bernard, now a wealthy Virginia planter; the other
was introduced as an English gentleman, Mr. Lysander Lyttleton, his
guest for some weeks, whom he had persuaded to accompany him on a
visit to this new state, of whose beauty and fertility they had heard
the most flattering accounts.
The major gave them a hearty welcome, and proffered the hospitalities
of his house, a larger and more commodious dwelling than the one he
had occupied at the beginning of our story. Tig was summoned to take
charge of the servants and horses, and the major himself conducted
his guests to the parlor and introduced them to his wife and sister.
Dinner was already on the table; two more plates were added and they
sat down to partake of the meal, but while in the act of taking their
places their number was augmented by a new arrival, a very plainly
dressed, sober looking man, who came in with the air of one who felt
quite at home, giving and receiving a cordial greeting.
"Ah, Tommy," said the major, shaking hands with him, "you are just in
time. Tig, set up a chair and bring another plate for Mr. Dill."
Having been introduced in due form to the other guests, and
requested to ask a blessing, the new comer bowed his head over his
plate, each one present copying his example, and with outspread hands
and closed eyes, poured out a long prayer of fervent thanksgiving
for the food set before them, and all other blessings temporal and
spiritual, mingled with much humble confession of sin, and very many
petitions; winding up with this remarkable one: "O Lord, we beseech
thee to go into the highways and byways and hedges of our hearts and
drive out the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the
Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites."
The elders of the family preserved a grave and decorous silence to
the end, which the guests and the children had some difficulty in
doing; the latter, especially the little boys, being almost convulsed
with suppressed laughter.
At length the Amen was pronounced, Mrs. Lamar hearing it with an
involuntary sigh of relief, for she had been very uncomfortably
conscious that her dinner was growing cold, and she particularly
prided herself on always having her meats and vegetables served up
hot.
She mentally resolved to enjoin it upon the major never again to call
upon Tommy Dill to ask a blessing when other guests were present.
But the guests showed no lack of appreciation of the fare, partaking
of it with keen appetites and praising the viands without stint.
"Such game as this would be considered a rarity in my country,"
remarked Lyttleton, as the major heaped his plate for the second or
third time; "but I presume it is abundant here?"
"Plenty of it to be had for the shooting," was the reply; "our woods
are full of wild fowl, deer, bears, rabbits, squirrels and coons; and
the rivers abound in fish. And such crops of corn as are raised in
this Scioto valley you never saw, I venture to say. I'm glad you've
come out here, Bernard; I shall take delight in showing you the land."
"Ah, the major is riding his hobby now," laughed Mrs. Lamar; "he is
quite convinced that Ohio, you know we have just been admitted into
the Union, Mr. Lyttleton, is the finest of all the states."
The Englishman bowed an assent, a half mocking smile playing about
his lips.
Nell saw it and her eyes flashed. She thought he despised her country.
"How long since you left England?" asked the major, addressing
Lyttleton; and then began an animated discussion of the political
situation in Europe, the attitude of France and England toward
each other, the career of Bonaparte, then the French revolution,
particularly the Reign of Terror, Mr. Lyttleton greatly interesting
the company by a graphic description of those of its scenes of which
he had been an eye-witness.
He turned frequently to Nell as he spoke, for he read intense
interest in her bated breath, changing color, the kindling of her eye
when he told of some heroic deed, the tears that suffused it and the
tumultuous heaving of her breast when the anguish of the wretched
victims was his theme.
A connoisseur in female beauty, he was struck with admiration
at the first sight of Nell, the delicacy of her complexion, the
perfect symmetry of form and features, the queenly grace of every
movement, and the abundant wealth of beautiful hair that crowned her
shapely head. There was no little display of artistic taste in its
arrangement, and in the simple elegance of her attire.
Lyttleton mentally pronounced Clare also a fine-looking and
intelligent woman. She bore a prominent part in the conversation,
while Nell contented herself almost entirely with silent listening,
though from neither lack of ideas nor bashfulness, as her speaking
countenance and quiet ease of manner fully attested.
Lyttleton wanted to draw her out, to hear her opinion on some of
the controverted points, so seated himself at her side, when the
dining-room had been forsaken for the parlor, and asked what she
thought of the sentiments expressed by himself and others.
He found she had an opinion and was able to maintain it with spirit
and ability.
They were still talking earnestly when Kenneth came in; so earnestly,
that they were not aware of his entrance until the major pronounced
his name in introducing Captain Bernard.
"Dr. Clendenin."
Lyttleton turned hastily at the sound and scanned the tall, manly
figure and noble face with ill concealed eagerness and curiosity;
then as the major named him, "Mr. Lyttleton, lately from England,"
rose with a slight bow, and accepted Kenneth's offered hand with a
show of cordiality and a "Most happy to meet you, sir."
But neither then nor afterward did he give the smallest hint of his
acquaintance with Marian, or his visit to the neighborhood of Glen
Forest. He had read Marian's nature, delicate, sensitive, reserved,
and felt sure that she would confide to no one the secret of their
solitary rambles, their stolen interviews, much less of the wooing
of his looks and tones, scarcely put into plain words by his wily
tongue.
"I have not committed myself, did not ask her to be my wife, or even
say 'I love you,'" was his inward thought; "and she would die rather
than own that she had been so lightly won."
Kenneth declined an invitation to be seated.
"I am summoned in haste to a very sick patient," he said, "and merely
stepped in, in passing, to ask Mrs. Lamar's kind offices for another
who is suffering from the lack of proper nursing."
"Those poor devils of country doctors have a hard life of it,"
remarked Lyttleton superciliously, when Kenneth had gone.
"It is a noble, self-sacrificing life," replied Nell, with some
hauteur, "I know of none that is more so than Dr. Clendenin's."
She would not have Kenneth pitied or patronized by this insolent
stranger, and she glanced with scorn at the white hands, delicate
and shapely almost as a woman's, one of which was toying with the
seals of a heavy gold watch chain in a way to display to advantage a
brilliant gem that glittered on the little finger.
They were alone at the moment, the major and his friend having
followed Mrs. Lamar and Kenneth to the outer door.
Lyttleton lifted his eyebrows meaningly, and with a slight expressive
shrug of the shoulders:
"Ah, I beg pardon, Miss Lamar! an intimate and particular friend of
yours? I was not aware of it; and in fact was merely speaking of the
class in general."
"And I was defending the whole profession," remarked Nell, "of which
Dr. Clendenin, our family physician, is the representative to us.
We owe him much for his kind and faithful services in more than one
dangerous illness among us."
Lyttleton remarked that her sentiments did her honor; then with a
desire to introduce a fresh topic, "You have an odd character in that
Mr. Dill," he said, "or is that the sort of grace usual at meals in
this part of the world?"
"I never heard such from any one else," Nell answered with gravity.
"He is an excellent man, but slightly deranged. There was a meeting
of one of our church courts in town yesterday, and he always attends.
But he has gone now to his home and we shall probably see no more of
him for some time."
"I'm going with the major to take a look at the town; will you go
along, Mr. Lyttleton?"
Captain Bernard spoke from the open door.
"Thank you, yes;" and with a courteous "Good-afternoon" to Nell,
Lyttleton followed the others into the street.
He had come to Chillicothe with the undivulged intention of taking
up his residence there for some months, and having made the tour of
the town he called at the General Anthony Wayne and engaged board and
lodging for himself and servant; his choice secretly influenced by
the discovery that it was there that Dr. Clendenin took his meals;
for Lyttleton had his own private reasons for wishing to see and hear
all he could of Kenneth and his manner of life.
Captain Bernard made a like arrangement, though for a shorter period
of time; then having seen their luggage bestowed in their rooms and
refreshed themselves by a change of linen, they returned to the
major's for the rest of the day and evening, in accordance with his
urgent invitation.
Mrs. Lamar being still absent on her errand of mercy, it fell to
Nell's lot to do the honors of the tea-table; a duty of which
she acquitted herself with an ease and grace that increased the
admiration Lyttleton had already conceived for her.
Primitive customs still prevailed in Chillicothe; the tea hour was
so early that when they rose from the table the sun had scarcely set
behind the western hills. And the hunter's moon shone full-orbed over
the tree tops.
The captain proposed a walk, remarking that the evening was much too
fine to be spent within doors, and he and the major set off together,
strolling along in leisurely fashion, smoking and talking of "the
days of auld lang syne."
They had invited Nell and Lyttleton to accompany them, but both
had declined; the one pleading the necessity of attending to some
domestic duty devolving upon her in her sister's absence, the other
that he found himself already sufficiently fatigued with riding and
walking.
"Never mind me, major," he said, seating himself in the porch, and
coaxing little three year old Bertie to his knee; "I'll amuse myself
with these little folks till you return."
He soon had the whole flock about him, telling them stories and
singing them songs, and they were having a merry time when Aunt Nell
came to the door to say that it was their bed time and Maria was
waiting.
Daylight had quite faded out of the sky and the air grown so chill
that the warmth of the blazing wood fire in the parlor was far from
unpleasant to Lyttleton as he followed the children into the house.
Begging the guest to excuse her for a moment, and to make himself
entirely at home, Nell went away with Maria and the children.
Lyttleton stood by the fire musing.
"What a handsome girl! and her manners would not disgrace a court.
She's some years older, and more formed than Clendenin's sister;
quite as fine looking too, though an entirely different style of
beauty; not over twenty I should say. The other I take to be fifteen.
Clendenin admires her vastly; I saw that in his glance, and that he
saw in me a possible rival. Well, I shall enjoy getting into her good
graces none the less for that."
Two candles were burning on the table, and beside them a piece of
delicate embroidery which Nell took up on her return to the room.
Lyttleton drew a chair to her side and exerted his conversational
powers to the utmost for her entertainment; evidently not without
success; her low musical laugh rang out again and again, she gave him
many a bright glance from her liquid eyes, and many a quick word of
repartee.
He grew more and more interested in her and congratulated himself
on his good fortune in having come upon such a gem "here in the
wilderness."
Suddenly he started, turned pale, and half rose from his chair with
a low exclamation of fear or dismay. His eyes seemed fixed upon some
object behind Nell, whose back was toward the hall door, and she
turned her head hastily to see what it was.
A tall Indian, dressed in native costume, tomahawk and scalping knife
in his belt, and feathers in his hair, stood there regarding the
Englishman with a contemptuous smile.
"Ugh! big baby!" he grunted.
"Wawillaway!" cried Nell, springing up and shaking hands with the
chief in the most cordial manner; "you are welcome, always welcome
to my brother's wigwam! Mr. Lyttleton, you need not be alarmed;
Wawillaway is my very good friend, and has always been a brother to
the white man."
The major coming in at that moment with Captain Bernard, echoed his
sister's words of welcome, as he grasped the chief's hand and shook
it heartily.
The captain did likewise, gazing with admiration upon the tall sinewy
form and well developed limbs of this untutored son of the forest.
Leaving the gentlemen to entertain each other, Nell led the way to
the dining-room, and with her own fair hands set before the chief an
abundant supply of the best food the house afforded.
He ate heartily, then wrapping his blanket about him, stretched
himself upon the kitchen floor with his feet to the fire.
"Pray do not deem me a coward," Lyttleton said in a low aside to Nell
on her return to the parlor. "It was my first sight of an Indian, I
unarmed, and I expected to see that tomahawk go crashing through your
brain."
"I shall endeavor to make all due allowance," Nell answered
courteously; but he fancied that he read contempt in the smile that
accompanied her words.
It nettled him, and he mentally resolved to seize the first
opportunity of proving to her that he was not lacking in courage.