A FACE ON THE WALL
Betty sat in her favorite seat, a low, three-legged cricket, on the side
farthest from the fire in Clarissa's little morning-room; it was the day
before Christmas, and Betty's fingers were busy tying evergreens into
small bunches and wreaths. Of these a large hamperful stood at her
elbow, and Peter was cutting away the smaller branches, with a face of
importance.
"So you have never kept Christmas before," said he, pausing in his
cheerful whistle, which he kept up under his breath like a violin
obligato to his whittling of boughs; "and you don't believe in Kris
Kringle and his prancing reindeers? My, what fun we boys had up in the
old Beverwyck at Albany last year," and Peter chuckled at the
recollection of past pranks. "Down here in the city it is chiefly New
Year day which is observed, but thank fortune Gulian is sufficiently
Dutch to believe in St. Nicholas."
"Yes?" murmured Betty, her thoughts far away as she wondered what
Moppet was doing up in the Litchfield hills, and whether Oliver had got
back safely to the army again. Surely, he had cautioned her not to
recognize him, but luckily her fortitude had not been put to proof. And
then she wondered what secret mission Kitty had been engaged upon that
day at Collect Pond. Somehow Kitty and she had been more confidential
since then; and one night, sitting by the fire in Betty's room, Kitty
had confessed that she too was a rebel--yes, a sturdy, unswerving rebel,
true to the Colonies and General Washington, and Betty's warm heart had
gone forth toward her from that very moment.
"Clarissa has a huge crock full of _olykeoks_ in the pantry," pursued
Peter, to whom the Dutch dainty was sufficiently toothsome; "and Pompey
has orders to brew a fine punch made of cider and lemons for the
servants, and oh! Betty, do you know that Miranda has a new follower?
His name is Sambo, and he comes from Breucklen Heights; he has been
practicing a dance with her, and old Jan Steen, the Dutch fiddler, has
promised to come and play for them and their friends in the kitchen,
and for my part I think there will be more fun there than at Clarissa's
card-party--don't you? Wake up, Betty; I don't believe you've heard one
word I've been saying."
"Indeed I have," replied Betty, returning to her present surroundings
with a start. "A dance, Peter? Why, it seems to me the servants have
great liberty here."
"Don't you give yours a holiday up in New England? I thought you had
negro servants as well as we?"
"So we do; you know that Miranda is the daughter of our old cook, Chloe.
She came here with Clarissa when she was a bride; oh, we have a few
negro servants in dear New England, Peter, but not so many as here.
Gulian told me that there are some three thousand slaves owned in the
city and its environs. But our negroes go to church and pray; they do
not dance, and I know Chloe would be shocked with Miranda's flippant
ways. She was ever opposed to dancing."
"Don't be prim, Betty."
"I--prim?"--and Betty went off into a shout of girlish laughter, as she
flung a pine needle at Peter, who dodged it successfully; "that I live
to hear myself called what I have so often dubbed Pamela. Fie, Peter,
let Miranda dance if she will; I should love to see her. It would be far
more amusing than cards."
"Betty," said Peter, edging nearer her and lowering his voice to a
whisper, "I heard that the Sons of Liberty had another placard up near
the Vly Market last night, and that Sir Henry Clinton is in great wrath
because they are growing daring again. My! wouldn't I just like to see
one of them; but they say (so Pompey told me) that they are all around
us in different disguises. That's why they're so difficult to catch; it
would go hard with them if the Hessians lay hands on the author of the
placards."
"But they will not; I heard Gulian say only last night that the
cleverness with which the placards are prepared and placed was
wonderful. Who tells you these things, Peter? Do have a care, for we are
under Gulian's roof, and he would be very angry if he knew that your and
my sympathies are all on the side of the Whigs."
"Oh, I hear things," murmured Peter evasively. Then whispering in
Betty's ear, "Did you ever hear Kitty speak of Billy the fiddler?"
"There's no one within hearing," said Betty, as she finished her twelfth
wreath and laid it carefully on the floor beside her cricket. "Get the
other big branch outside the door, and sit down here close by me while
you pull the twigs off; then you can tell me safely, for Clarissa is
sleeping, and she will call me when she wakes. Of course I never heard
of the man you mention."
Peter threw back his howl in a prolonged chuckle, as he followed Betty's
instructions and edged his cricket close to her elbow.
"Man!--well, he's more like a monkey than anything. He only comes to my
shoulder, and yet he's old enough to be my father."
"A dwarf, do you mean?"
"No, not precisely; the boys call him a manikin, for he's not deformed;
only very, very small; not above four feet high. He is Dutch and has
been a drummer, it's whispered, in General Washington's army. They say
he was in the battle of Harlem Lane, and beat the rally for our troops
when Knowlton fell. The Vly boys are great friends with him."
"But, I thought you were at daggers drawn with the boys of the Vly
Market, Peter? Surely, you told me blood-curdling tales of the fights
between them and you Broadway boys?"
"Oh, aye, but that's for right of way" and don't mean much except when
we are actually punching each other's heads. Billy can tell great yarns;
how his eyes flash when he speaks of the prison ships, though I only
heard him once, when Jan Steen was talking foolish Tory stuff."
"Do you think 'Billy the fiddler,' as you call him, is one of the Sons
of Liberty?"
"H-u-s-h!" and Peter looked fearfully around. "I don't dare say, but I'm
sure he's true and steady. Betty, I wish I was a little taller; if I
were I'd run away some fine morning and go for a drummer boy with
General Washington."
Betty looked up with affectionate eyes at the sturdy urchin. "I know how
you feel, Peter; but wait a bit. It's sad and disheartening enough now,
God knows, but perhaps better days may dawn for the patriots. My father
says we must keep up our hearts as best we can, and trust in God and the
Continental Congress. Did I tell you how we moulded the bullets last
summer? We kept the tally, and over forty-two thousand cartridges were
made from the statue of King George, so the women of Litchfield have
contributed their aid to the cause in good practical fashion."'
"Aye, that was fine! It must have been jolly fun, too."
"It was very hot," said Betty, laughing; "we tried it in our big
kitchen, but finally had to melt the lead in larger kettles hung over a
crane in the shed down in orchard. Aunt Euphemia thought we would fire
the house, and for many nights Miss Bidwell and she, protected by Reuben
with a lantern, paraded the place before closing up, hunting for stray
sparks which she fancied might fly in the wrong direction."
"What a lot this hamper holds," said Peter, diving down into it. "You've
made enough wreaths to decorate the rooms, I'm sure, and your hands are
getting black."
"Never mind my hands; soap and water will cleanse them. Clarissa wants a
'real English Christmas,' she said, and poor dear! she shall have it. It
does my heart good to see her brighten and glow like her old pretty
self."
"You can thank Captain Yorke for putting the 'real English Christmas'
into her head; there's a fine Tory for you, Betty. Sometimes I forget
he's one of our foes--he's almost nice enough to be a patriot."
"He thinks he is one, Peter; he owes his loyalty to his king, and were
less than a man not to give his services where ordered."
"Ha, ha!" quoth Peter teasingly; "you'll be as bad as Kitty presently."
"How so?" returned Betty, biting her lip as she turned her face away
from Peter's roguish eyes.
"Why, Kitty had a walk-over course with the scarlet coats until you
came, and Captain Yorke was one of her gallants. But now I find him at
your elbow whenever you give him half a chance. But I've seen you snub
him well, too; you girls are such changeable creatures. I'd not have a
scarlet coat dancing around after me if I were you, Betty;" and Peter
endeavored to look sage and wise as he cocked his head on one side like
a conceited sparrow. What reply Betty might have made to his pertness
was uncertain, but at that moment both doors of the room opened and
Clarissa entered by one as Kitty flew in the other.
"How industrious you are," cried Kitty, as she bade them all good-day;
"the rooms will be a bower of green, such as Captain Yorke tells about.
I came, Clarissa, to beg a note of invitation for Peggy Van Dam. She has
but just returned from Albany, and will be mightily pleased to be bidden
to your card-party."
"I wondered if she would be in time," said Clarissa, seating herself at
her claw-legged, brass-mounted writing-table. "Has she changed much,
Kitty--not that I mean"--and Clarissa's sentence ended in a laugh.
"There was room for it," finished Kitty. "No, she is just the same:
aping youth, with the desire to conceal age."
"Oh, Kitty, that's the severest speech I ever knew you guilty of!"
"Ill-natured, aye," quoth Kitty, with a comical sigh; "the world's awry
this morning and I must vent my crossness on somebody, so let it be
Peggy. But if I can carry her your note it will atone for my peevish
speech a dozen times, for is not Captain Sir John Faulkner coming, and
you know as well as all of us that Peggy's airs and graces are most
apparent in his company."
Betty looked quickly up into Kitty's face as she rattled on gayly, and
detected an air of trouble and anxiety that was most unusual. And as
they presently followed Clarissa downstairs, she paused at the landing
and slid her little fingers into Kitty's as she whispered:--
"What's amiss? You are worried, I perceive; can I help you?" Kitty
started, and turning her head over her shoulder said softly:--
"Not now, but I know that you are true-hearted and quick-witted; I dare
not say one word more," and with an affectionate pressure, she dropped
Betty's hand and ran swiftly down the staircase.
The drawing-room in the Verplanck mansion was high of ceiling, a
spacious, stately room, and its quaint, straight-backed chairs, stuffed
ottomans, and carved mahogany sofas were the acme of elegance of those
days. The highly polished floor had received extra attention from Pompey
and his assistants, while the mirrors shone brightly and reflected the
candles of the brass sconces on either side of their glittering
surfaces. Betty, at Clarissa's request, superintended the placing of the
card-tables, and also that of a huge silver salver, on which the tiny
cups for chocolate and the tall glasses for mulled wine would be served
from a table in the dining-room early in the evening before supper; also
a famous bowl of Indian china, where hot caudle would appear, caudle
being an English compound with which Betty was not familiar. Peter
explained it to her with due regard to detail; and smacked his lips over
the bottle as it smoked away on Dinah's kitchen table, where he had
invited Betty to come out and see it.
"Dinah makes a sort of posset first, of oaten-meal, and then she puts in
coriander seeds, and raisins, all carefully stoned (I ought to know
that, for I helped her one mortal hour last night and got my fingers
sticky with the plagued stones), and some cloves in a muslin bag, which
are let lie till the caudle boils, and then removed, and last of all,
just as it's ready to serve, she pops in a good half bottle of
cognac--my! but it's prime!" and Peter cut a pigeon-wing and gave a
regular Mohawk war-whoop, as he danced around the kitchen and
disappeared through the door just in time to avoid Dinah's wet
dishcloth, which she sent spinning at his close-cropped pate.
Betty stood in her small chamber at six o'clock that evening,
contemplating her gown with critical eye. Parties in those days were
early affairs, and in New York were known to assemble as early as half
past seven. The lanterns which hung outside every seventh house for the
purpose of lighting the streets were lit by the watchmen at half past
six, for the winter days were short, and the denizens of Wall Street
were wont to pick their way most carefully since the great fire, the
d├ębris of which in many instances was still left to disfigure the sites
where had stood stately mansions. Betty deliberated for some minutes;
here were two gowns: one must be worn to-night for her dear Clarissa;
the other kept for the De Lancey ball, an event over which all
fashionable New York was agog, and which would take place on New Year's
night, just one week ahead.
On the high, four-posted bed lay the gowns; one, which had been her
mother's, was a white satin petticoat, over which was worn a slip of
India muslin covered with fine embroidery, so daintily worked that it
was almost like lace itself. The dames of Connecticut, and, indeed, of
all New England, were much more sober in their dress than those of New
York, where the Dutch love of color still lingered, and the Tories clung
to the powdered heads and gay fashions of the English court circles. The
other gown (which in her secret soul Betty longed to wear) had been
given her by Gulian, who was the most generous of men, and who admired
his pretty sister-in-law far more than he would have told her. A ship
had recently arrived from England bringing him a box of gowns and
gewgaws ordered long since for his wife, and of these Gulian had made
Clarissa happy by bidding her bestow on Betty a gown such as he
considered fitting for a grand festivity like the De Lanceys' New Year
ball.
"Alack!" sighed the pretty maid to herself, as she contemplated the
white satin, "I will not even raise the paper which contains Clarissa's
present, for both she and Gulian have set their hearts upon my wearing
it on New Year's day, so 't is useless to fill my breast with discontent
when I have so good a gown as this to wear to-night. The skirt is a
little frayed--oh! how vexing!" and Betty flew to her reticule for
needle and thread to set a timely stitch; "now that will not show when
the muslin slip goes over." Another anxious moment, and with a sigh of
relief Betty slipped on the short waist with its puffed sleeves and
essayed to pin the fichu daintily around her neck. Then she dived down
to the very depths of a chest of drawers, whence she produced a small
box, and out of this came a single string of pearls,--the pearls which
her mother had worn upon her wedding-day, and Pamela had pressed into
her hand at parting. Next, Betty with cautious steps, candle in hand,
approached the mirror, which graced the farther end of her tiny chamber,
and holding it at arm's length surveyed herself as far as she could see,
which was not below her dainty waist, as suited the dimensions of the
mirror aforesaid.
"I am too white," thought Betty, with a little frown, all unconscious of
her lovely coloring and exquisite red-gold hair, which, guiltless of
powder, was massed as usual on top of her head and clustered in wayward
little curls on the nape of her snowy neck and over her white forehead;
"but never mind,"--with childlike philosophy,--"my gown for the New Year
ball has both breast and shoulder knots of rose-color; I wish I dare
steal one for to-night! But perhaps Clarissa would not be pleased, so I
will descend as I am. I hear Peter clattering on the staircase; he is no
doubt superintending the servants' dance," and Betty extinguished her
candle and tripped lightly down past Clarissa's door.
From the sounds and lights she became aware that she was late, and had
lingered too long over her toilet, so she hesitated for a brief moment
as she reached the door of the drawing-room, where she could see
Clarissa and Grandma Effingham standing with a number of guests, both
dames and gentlemen. As she paused on the threshold a graceful, girlish
picture, a tall form emerged from the dim shades of the hall, and a hand
met hers.
"Mistress Betty, I salute you," said Geoffrey Yorke, bowing low, "and
may I also beg your acceptance of a bunch of clove pinks? They were
grown by my Dutch landlady in a box kept carefully in her kitchen
window, and I know not whether she or I have watched them the more
carefully, as I wished to be so fortunate as to have them bloom for you
to-night."
"For me?" said Betty, in a delighted whisper, turning such glowing eyes
upon him that the young man fell more madly in love with her than ever.
"How kind!--and at this season? Oh, they are sweet, and recall the
garden walk at home. Indeed, sir, I thank you," and scarcely thinking
what she did, in her pleasure at his pretty attention, she thrust the
bunch of pinks in her fichu, where they lay close to her white throat
and gave her toilet the one touch of color for which she had longed.
Small wonder that Geoffrey's handsome face lit up with triumph, or that
Clarissa said to herself as the pair approached her, Betty dimpling with
smiles, "What a charming couple they make! I wonder if my father would
object?"
This was Clarissa's first appearance in society for many months, and the
warmth with which she was greeted showed how large a place the New
England girl had made in the regard of her husband's friends. The party
was given chiefly for Betty, that she might have plenty of partners at
the New Year ball; and although these were mostly young people, there
was also a goodly sprinkling of dames and dowagers, who smiled
approvingly when Betty was presented to them, before seating themselves
at the all-absorbing card-tables. Cards were much the mode of the day,
and an hour or more was given to them; then as the metheglin (a
delicious beverage made of honey) and the mulled wine was passed, the
younger portion of the company began moving through the suite of three
rooms, breaking up into small groups as they did so.
Peter, who had constituted himself master of ceremonies for the fun in
low life which was going on in the kitchen, darted up to Betty as she
stood talking with Philip Livingston.
"They're just going to begin to dance," he said. "Miranda is perked out
in a wonderful pink gown, and Aunt Dinah has her best turban on her
head. Do, Betty, persuade some of the company to come out and see the
negroes dance. Don't you hear the music beginning?"
Surely enough the distant scraping of the violin could be heard, and
Betty, seizing Kitty by the hand, tripped up to Clarissa and repeated
Peter's request. Clarissa hesitated an instant.
"Oh, Gulian," cried Betty, catching hold of her brother-in-law as he
came forward, "may we not visit the kitchen and see the servants dance?
Captain Yorke tells me that is what is done in England on Christmas Eve,
and I am sure it would afford us all a new amusement."
Artful Betty! She knew full well that any suggestion of England and
English ways would appeal to Gulian, and Yorke, who followed closely at
her side, threw the potent weight of his opinion in the scale by saying
quietly:--
"I am told your slaves have the very poetry of motion, Verplanck; permit
me to escort Mistress Betty to the servants' hall."
"Servants' hall!" whispered Betty mischievously to Yorke as Gulian led
the way with Clarissa; "we have nothing so fine in our humble colonies,
sir; our kitchens must serve for our dusky retainers."
"You know I did not mean"--he began reproachfully. But seeing Betty's
laughing eyes, he added, with a smile:--
"Nay, you shall not tease me into vexing you to-night if I can avoid it;
I will strive to train my tongue to please you."
The kitchen presented a quaint and most picturesque appearance. It was
a low, wide room, and around the wall ran shelves and dressers, on which
the pewter plates and copper covers shone with such fine polish that one
could almost see in their surfaces as in a mirror. Between those hung
bunches of herbs and strings of bright-hued peppers, and in and out on
the walls, and above, from the rafters, were Christmas greens, all
arranged by the servants themselves, with that unerring eye for grace
and color which is an attribute of the colored race. Aunt Dinah, the
presiding genius of the kitchen, stood at one end of the room. Her large
and portly person was clothed in a gay cotton print of many colors; and
upon her head was twisted a bright silk handkerchief, with a most
rakish-looking bow which reposed over her left ear. The Verplanck
slaves, some twelve of them, were augmented in numbers by those of the
Ludlow, De Lancey, and De Peyster families, and half filled the spacious
kitchen us they stood back in rows, courtesying and bowing, showing
their white teeth in smiles and low laughter, as they recognized some
"young massa," or "ole madam" among the gentlemen and dames who smiled
back upon their faithful, kindly faces.
The dance began with a special contra-dance, in which the performers
copied with great exactness the profound bows and deep courtesies of the
period, mimicking their masters and mistresses with curious grotesque
grace. At the extreme end of the room, near Aunt Dinah, sat the fiddler,
wielding his bow with an extra flourish befitting the occasion. Jan
Steen was a well-known character, and his coming was looked upon as a
special favor, only accorded to the servants because they belonged to
the Verplancks, a family greatly honored and beloved among the Dutch
settlers of Manhattan Island.
After the contra-dance was concluded, amid the applause and laughter of
the spectators, four young slaves were singled out from the others, and
took their places on the floor. Two of these were girls, pretty
mulattoes, and two young, bright-colored negro men as their partners. To
rather slow music they went through with a rhythmic dance, in which
their figures swayed to and fro, chiefly from the waist, a gliding
serpentine dance, evidently copied from the slaves of Martinique, and
brought to New York by the French families. And then, to Peter's great
delight, came the event of the evening, in his eyes,--the dance of
Miranda with her new admirer from Broucklen Heights.
"Miranda is my maid," explained Clarissa to Madam De Lancey and Mrs.
Morris, as they waited for the performers to take their places. "I
fetched her from Connecticut when I was married, and she is, as you see,
very pretty and most graceful. The dance is a species of Spanish dance,
I fancy, for it is done with two scarfs of red and yellow; I purchased
the stuff a year ago from a Dutch peddler, and Miranda begged it of me
last week."
"Cousin Clarissa," said Peter, rushing up, "we will want more light to
enable you to see this; the candles are getting low. With your
permission, may Pompey light the big lantern on the wall?"
About the middle of the kitchen hung a lantern which had once been used
for illuminating purposes outside the mansion. It contained a piece of
tin which acted as a reflector; and Peter, who had never yet had the
pleasure of seeing it lit, had amused himself that very morning by
putting in the candles for which it was prepared, and informed Aunt
Dinah that he meant to light it by way of a climax to the festivities of
Christmas Eve.
"The big lantern?" replied Clarissa; "it has not been lit this three
years."
"I made it ready this morning; oh, do say yes."
"Certainly," said Clarissa, smiling; "but tell Pompey to be careful,
Peter."
Off flew Peter, and up on a bench mounted Pompey, nothing loth to add
dignity to the scene by illuminating it. Jan Steen drew his bow across
his violin with a long, sweet note, and out on the floor glided Miranda,
holding the hand of a tall, athletic-looking young negro, whose motions
were grace itself. They began at the top of the room, holding the scarfs
aloft, and slowly made their way down until they were in the centre,
when the full light gleamed strongly upon their raised arms, their heads
well up. Soft murmurs of applause began to steal around the room. Betty
stood with Captain Yorke and Kitty directly under the lantern, beating
time with her fan.
"How graceful they are," said Yorke softly. "See, even their shadows on
the wall opposite are picturesque and wild. How distinct the faces
are!"
"Silhouettes!" burst in Kitty; "have you seen the pictures made by the
new artist who came from Albany? Some folks like to be done thus, but
for me I do not care for a black profile of my own face. They are cut
skillfully enough in paper, however."
Betty, wondering what had possessed Kitty to set off on an animated
description of silhouettes, looked up at the wall, and then her heart
almost stood still. That fine, high forehead, the curving lips, the
nose, with its clear-cut nostrils,--not even the disfiguring woolly wig,
stiff collar, and blackened face and hands could disguise them to her.
She gazed with sickening apprehension at the dancers; how often she had
seen Oliver dancing with Miranda when they were children together at
home, the performance usually taking place in the garret, for fear of
scoldings upon the sinfulness of dancing from Chloe, Miranda's mother;
oh, how did he dare do this here, where any moment might bring discovery
and death? Why, why, had she failed to see and recognize him! his
disguise was very perfect, and yet--
The applause rang out heartily as the dancers tripped faster and
faster; Betty wondered if her torture would ever end. Perhaps it had
only begun, for Oliver had said--
"Mistress Betty," spoke Yorke, and his voice was low and very tender,
"may I offer you my arm? A glass of mulled wine would, I think, be of
service to you." Stumbling a little in her agitation, Betty slipped
through the door with him, on into the dining-room, where he placed her
in a corner of the wide sofa and fetched the wine.
"Drink it, every drop," he said, smiling down at her with a masterful
look in his dark eyes that Betty had never seen before. "Sweetheart,
trust me, and sit here till I return."
Betty sipped her wine and the truant color came back to her cheeks, as
she saw him vanish through the door.
"Have I grown a coward?" she thought indignantly. "I was brave up in the
Litchfield hills--how dare I fail now! Captain Yorke must have seen--and
yet, how could he know Oliver's face sufficiently well? Ah,"--and Betty
almost cried out,--"it is I, miserable I, who have betrayed my brother.
We are so strongly alike that"--
"Mistress Betty,"--Yorke was at her side again,--"I left you to bestow
a few shillings on yonder fellow who danced so well, but I could not
find him, and Mistress Kitty Cruger tells me he left at once for
Breucklen Heights, whence he came, as there is a party crossing before
daybreak. I trust you are better; the air was close in your kitchen."
Betty's two small hands clasped each other mutely; her large eloquent
eyes were raised to his in the sweetest glance that ever maiden gave.
"God bless you!" she cried impulsively, and, turning, fled through the
open door.