He hears
On all sides, from innumerable tongues,
A dismal, universal hiss.
PARADISE LOST.
When Arundel arrived at the little settlement, he proceeded
straightway to the hostelry, which was his usual stopping place, and
as he entered, was met by the landlord with those demonstrations of
welcome, wherewith the publican is in the habit of greeting his
customers.
"So you have got safe off from them bloody salvages, (praised be the
Lord for all his mercies)," said goodman Nettles. "And you look
browner, as though you'd caught some of their color from being with
them, but hearty as my tapster, Zachariah Sider, who can begin with
the head of an ox, and never stop till he wipes his mouth with the
tuft on the end of the tail, washing it down, moreover, with a
quantity of ale that ails me--ahem!--(here Nettles put his finger on
the side of his nose, and grinned as if he had really said a capital
thing,) to see wasted on his lean carcase. But, Master Arundel, you
must be dry. There is some of the old Canary left."
"Let me have a bottle, and, if agreeable to thee, we will empty it
together."
As the landlord left the room, Arundel, on looking round, discovered
what he had not observed before, viz., our old friend, Master Pront,
in a sort of recess, formed by the projection of the chimney. The
worthy functionary was engaged, at the moment, in taking his eleven
o'clock refreshment of a pot of beer, (a habit from which his exile
from the old country had not been able to wean him,) but, at the
approach of the young man, he rose, and gravely shook hands with him.
Miles had barely time to offer a share of the wine, which, however,
Master Prout refused, when Nettles returned with a bottle.
"There," said he, setting it down, and looking affectionately at it,
"I warrant me you get no such soul of the grape among the red heathen,
though if they had any wit they might have puncheons of it, if they
only knew how to make them, for they say there is store of grape vines
growing about."
"As for me," said Master Prout, after raising the tankard to his lips,
and taking a draught, long and deep, "I'm a genuine Englishman in my
taste. Give me, say I, your humming beer, with a body to it, in place
of all the wishy-washy wines of the Frenchman or the Spaniard. They
only pucker one's mouth, and heat one's blood; but there is neither
bread nor cheese in them, as in good John Barleycorn."
"The ale deserves all your praise, Master Prout," said the host,
"though I say it myself; nevertheless, is the good wine not to be
despised. I know no reason why a true born Englishman may not like
both."
"It may be well for thee, whose business is to get thy living from
their sale, to talk thus," replied Master Prout; "but for all that, I
relish not these foreign decoctions--your Canaries, your Sherries, and
your Portos. Their very names have a smack of popery in them. Down
with the Pope, and all his inventions to tickle men's palates and damn
their souls."
"And so say I, down with the Pope, but up with good wine, and down
with it too, so it only runs in the right place; but it grieves me to
hear you, good Master Prout, evening down good wine to the
Pope--why--"
"Contradict me not, goodman Nettles," interrupted the guardian of
public morals. "I say that I have ever remarked the man who prefers
wine to ale, to be of an unsteady faith. It savors of a hankering
after the flesh-pots of Egypt. Let not such a man be trusted."
As the constable was speaking, Arundel could not help fancying that he
looked hard at him, as if some personal application of the words were
intended. He took no notice, however, of them, especially as mine host
immediately rejoined:
"Dear, good Master Prout, speak not so. Why, if my customers were to
hear you, the character of my house might be ruinated. Whoever heard
before that the Pope had ever anything to do with wine? I do not
believe he drinks it at all."
"Art thou a Christian man, and so ignorant of the things that pertain
to salvation? Tells us not the Book of Revelations of the merchandise
of the great city of Babylon, when it shall fall--cinnamon, and odors,
and ointments, and frankincense, and wine; and sayest thou the Pope
hath no part thereof?"
"An' you are for Scripture," answered mine host, "have at thee with a
text in return? Saith not the Scripture, also, He giveth wine to
gladden man's heart? Moreover, though there be wine at Rome, it doth
not follow, therefrom, that it is drunk by the Pope."
"Contradict me not, I say, goodman, and pervert not the Scriptures
with thy famulistical interpretations. I observed you spoke but a
moment ago of the soul of the grape, as if it were possible that a
divine principle could lodge therein, I caution thee against this, as
a profane and indecent form of speech, unbecoming in one of the
congregation; and, besides, an' thou wouldst retain my custom, take
heed thou put more malt into thy ale."
"It is strong enough to answer thy purpose," muttered the offended
landlord, but in so low a tone as to be unheard; and, as new customers
began to come in, he left, in order to assist in manipulations of the
bottle and spigot, his tapster, Zachariah Sider, whom his late
flourishing fortune had enabled him to add to the establishment.
"Has anything worthy of note occurred, during my absence of three
weeks?" inquired Arundel of Master Prout.
"How were it possible otherwise?" replied the constable, whom the
colloquy with the host seemed not to have left in the best of humors.
"Here hath been Increase Faith Higginson twice coopered up in a
barrel, once for drunkenness, and a second time on suspicion thereof;
Jonathan Makepiece hath lain in the stocks for quarreling with, and
using contumacious language toward David Battle; Susannah Silence hath
sat tied in a chair, before her door, with a cleft stick upon her
tongue, for being too free in the use of that member; divers godly
persons have connected themselves with the congregation, and two
unworthy Achans been driven therefrom--the one for incontinence, until
he repent thereof, and the other for denying the just power of the
elders."
Arundel could not forbear smiling at this odd enumeration of important
events, which his informant observing, and construing into disrespect,
immediately added:
"Have a care, Master Miles Arundel, unto thyself. I wish thee well,
for thou art a proper young man, and, did the inner garnishing
correspond with the outer adornment, thou wert indeed a comely vessel
of grace; and, therefore, say I unto thee, there be other matters
touching thee more nearly than those things whereof I have spoken, and
whereat, I know not wherefore, it pleased thee to smile."
"I pray you to pardon my involuntary offence," said the young man,
"and to believe that my smiling betokened no disrespect. My mirth was
awakened by the comical pictures which thine ingenious answer conjured
before the imagination."
"I trow," said Master Prout, "they who come under the displeasure of
our magistrates, will find their punishments no such comical matters.
There be such things as whippings and nose-slittings, as well as
sittings in the stocks, and the like."
"I know," answered Arundel, "that your magistrates are no lambs. Yet
of thy complaisance, tell me wherein I am interested in aught that has
befallen in my absence."
"This Sir Christopher Gardiner, the man who is sometimes called 'The
Knight of the Golden Melice,' is a great friend of thine, is he not?"
asked Master Prout.
"I account it an honor to call him my friend. A worthier or more
honorable gentleman lives not in the colony."
"There be different opinions on that head, my young master. The closer
thy friendship, the worse, I fear, it will be for thee."
"Speak out, Master Prout," exclaimed Arundel, losing patience. "If
thou knowest any talk prejudicial to the fair fame of the Sir
Christopher, let me know it, that the calumniator may be dragged to
light, and receive deserved punishment."
"It would take a long arm to reach his accusers, seeing they are on
the other side of the ocean. Hark ye, young sir--it is in every one's
mouth that thy famous Knight is an agent of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, who
makes unrighteous claim to the lands granted us by his Majesty King
Charles, and, moreover, thou art connected with him, in men's minds,
as in some sort an accomplice."
"Is that all?" said the young man, scornfully. "I judge from thy
speech that these lies come in letters from England. Pray, are they
credited by any one, save by them of the baser sort?"
"Callest thou me one of the baser sort? Wilt thou revile them who are
set in authority over thee? Have a care, my young cockeril, or thy own
comb may chance to be cut."
"Out with thee, malapert knave," said the young man, in his vexation,
"and know to respect thy betters. Truly, the world is come to a pretty
pass, when a fowl like thee is permitted to ruffle his feathers at a
gentleman."
"An' he were not in some sort an ambassador, whom I have heard it is
unlawful for a constable to touch," growled Master Prout to himself,
as Arundel angrily turned his back upon him, "I had taught him
incontinently, better than to speak to me in this fashion. As it is, I
will advise with Master Spikeman about this matter." So saying, with a
flushed brow, the irate officer of the law departed.
"What means this, Colonel McMahon?" demanded Arundel. "Here have I
been a bare three weeks away, on business of the commonwealth, and on
my return I find myself rewarded with sour looks and unpleasant
speeches, _sans_ any consciousness of deserving them. I cannot ask a
plain question, without being answered in riddles that would have
crazed the brain of OEdipus."
The person addressed, a grave man, of middle age, and the same who had
had the words with Endicott about the cutting out of the cross, took
the questioner aside, and, as soon as they were out of hearing,
answered:
"Truly am I afraid that I shall also be involved in thy condemnation
of those who return answers after the manner of the sphynx; but, to be
short, there have two ships lately arrived from England, bringing, it
is said, unpleasant tidings touching Sir Christopher Gardiner."
"What be these tidings?" inquired Arundel, noticing that the speaker
hesitated.
"I neither am, nor desire to be, in the confidence of the government,"
answered Colonel McMahon, haughtily, the wounds inflicted on whose
loyalty by the mutilation of the standard, were not yet healed; "and
the information I have is derived from a private source and uncertain
rumor. For the former, the Knight is pointed at as an agent of Sir
Ferdinando Gorges; for the latter, it becomes me not to heed the idle
chatter of the vulgar."
"Comports it with your sense of propriety to reveal more?" asked
Arundel.
"Were I never so desirous," said the Colonel, courteously, "I should
be unable. In fact, what I have told is the sum of my knowledge. I
could, indeed, indulge in surmises based on rumor, but that were too
much like the gossiping of old women, and both unbecoming in me to
speak and in you to hear, more especially as that rumor attaints in
other respects the fair fame of your friend. It is different with the
base-born scullions around us, who are licensed to utter whatever
their unruly imaginations may conceive; but a gentleman will not allow
epithets upon his tongue to the disparagement of another, which, after
all, may be false."
Having thus spoken, the Colonel raised his steeple-crowned hat in a
formal manner, slightly bending his body, and walked up to the
landlord, to whom he paid his score, and then left the apartment.
"I will endure this no longer," said Arundel to himself, putting on
his own hat. "I will seek the Governor immediately, and demand from
him its explanation."
Upon arriving at the house of Winthrop, he learned, with a feeling of
disappointment, that the Governor was absent on a visit at Plymouth,
and he turned reluctantly away, in order to communicate to the rough
Dudley, instead of the polished chief magistrate, the result of the
mission, and to obtain that information which would enable him to give
shape to the chaotic rumors.
He was received with neither cordiality nor incivility by the Deputy
Governor, to whom the young man communicated the success of the
conciliatory efforts of Sir Christopher with the Taranteens, and at
the same time delivered the Knight's message. His auditor listened in
grim silence, interrupting him by no inquiry, nor did he, when the
communication was finished, vouchsafe a word of thanks for the service
rendered. Dudley had been a soldier in his youth, having received a
captain's commission from Queen Elizabeth, and commanded a company of
volunteers under the chivalrous Henry Fourth of France, at the siege
of Amiens, in 1597; and, if he had not the quality of frankness by
nature, had acquired an appearance of it in the camp, together with a
military decision and roughness of manner. It was not his wont to
disguise his feelings, and on the present occasion they were obvious,
even before he opened his lips to speak. When Arundel had concluded,
he waited for the comments of the Deputy, nor had he to wait long.
First, however, Dudley inquired,
"Is there nothing more thou wouldst communicate?"
"If there be any thing of importance or of public concern omitted, it
is done unwittingly," said Arundel.
"Then is thy news most jejune and unsatisfactory, seeing that our
condition is neither war nor peace, but of sort of armed truce, liable
to be broken at any moment by these treacherous savages. I am not to
be deceived by the promise, that, for the present, we need fear no
hostilities. I know their craft. If they refuse formally to make
peace, they are preparing for war. Well, they may try their hand. But
I am disappointed in the opinion I had of the extent of the influence,
by some means acquired, over the Indians by this Sir Christopher
Gardiner, if he indeed have authority to bear the title."
"Who dares to say," exclaimed Arundel, whose irritation this fresh
taunt increased, "that Sir Christopher assumes a title which belongs
not to him, or to asperse in any respect his character?"
"It will come to light," said Dudley, "in its own time; but tell me
now, wherefore made not the Knight, as you choose to call him, his
appearance himself? Methinks such proceeding were more respectful to
the authority which commissioned him."
The brow of the young man flushed at the rude speech, and it was with
difficulty that he restrained his feelings; but he succeeded so far as
to reply with an appearance of tolerable calmness, that it was only
that morning they had returned, and that the Knight purposed to
present himself on the morrow, being detained for the present by
reasons which doubtless ought to be satisfactory.
"It were strange," said the surly Dudley, "if his private affairs
should be of more importance than the interests of our Commonwealth;
and yet it seems that the former do, in his estimation, outweigh the
latter."
"I pray of your goodness to pardon the fault," said Arundel, who was
determined that nothing should provoke his anger again that day. "Sure
am I that, had the Knight of the Golden Melice known the importance
attached to his presence, he had come forthwith, without stopping for
rest, or to change his soiled garments, instead of sending me, his
unfortunate and most unworthy substitute."
"I like not this fantastic title," said Dudley, whose ill-humor seemed
not at all soothed by the gentle language of the young man, but rather
to increase. "I like it not, whether it be an idle appendage stuck on
by the humorous learning of Winthrop, as I have heard, or a quaint
conceit springing out of the man's own vanity. I deny not honor and
dignity, where they rightfully belong, but what is to become of the
realities, if the shams receive an equal consideration?"
"I wander like a man in a mist, who sees not a foot before him," said
Arundel. "I have entreated your Worship to deal more plainly with me,
but it has been your pleasure to seem as if you heard me not; and, for
the report which, in the discharge of my duty, I have made, I have
received only innuendos against the fair fame of my friend, and which
do, in some sense, alight upon myself. From whatever quarter they may
proceed, I scorn and defy them, and brand them as false; and, I doubt
not, the appearance of Sir Christopher will force his detractors to
disappear, even like so many whipped curs."
Arundel spoke with a feeling of anger, notwithstanding his resolution
to keep command over himself, and rose to take his leave. The spirit
which he had shown in his last speech, so far from displeasing the
Deputy, had a contrary effect; for, rising himself, Dudley grasped his
visitor's hand, and dismissed him with less frigidity than he had
received him. Something also he said, as if in excuse of his conduct,
about the necessity of caution, amounting sometimes to unreasonable
suspicions on the part of the rulers of a weak colony, depending more
upon the wisdom of its counsels than upon force for its existence,
intimating at the same time, that if any suspicions were attached to
the young man, it was doubtless more in consequence of his accidental
connection with Sir Christopher, than because he deserved them.
It is natural that Arundel, after his long absence, and the unpleasant
events of the day, should desire to derive some consolation from the
society of his mistress. We are not surprised, therefore, to find him
taking his way toward the house of the Assistant Spikeman, in the hope
of receiving some signal which would permit him to enter. Nor was he
disappointed--Prudence, with a light kerchief thrown over her head,
being just stepping out of the door on an errand to some neighbor as
he came up. The girl gave a pretty start as she beheld Arundel, partly
natural and partly affected, and then beckoned to him to enter.
"O! how you frighted me!" she said, after she had carefully closed the
door. "You have sent all the blood into my heart; and it flutters so!"
"I will bring it back again into thy cheeks, where it shows so
prettily," replied Arundel, saluting her.
"Fie! Master Miles," exclaimed Prudence, but not looking at all
displeased. "It is well Master Prout sees thee not. Well, what do you
want? I suppose you came to see me?"
"I have seen thee, pretty Prudence, and am so unreasonable as to
desire also to be shown to thy mistress. She is well?"
"I humbly thank your Worship," said the girl, curtseying awkwardly,
and snuffling through her nose in a manner intended to ridicule the
grave Puritans, "worthy Dame Spikeman is well in body, albeit ill in
spirit, being afflicted with a grievous visitation called a husband."
"Come, come, you mad-cap girl," said the young man, laughing at the
caricature, "pervert not my meaning, but show me the way to Mistress
Eveline. If thou wilt, I promise thee a husband for thyself in good
time."
"From plague, pestilence, famine, and husbands, (I did ever think the
litany deficient,) good Lord deliver us," exclaimed Prudence, holding
up her hands. "Do I look, forsooth, like one in need of a husband, or
likely to assist my young mistress therewith? She deserves better at
my hands. I see, besides, Master Miles, that you are ignorant of the
law in this blessed country, which forbids young men to woo maidens. I
know all about it, for I had it from the lips of a venerable
Assistant. Shall I rehearse it to you?"
"Why, what has got into the girl?" said Arundel, tired of this
foolery. "I prithee no more, sweet Prudence, but conduct me at once to
Eveline. Consider how long it is since I saw her."
"Nay, an' you come to calling me sweet, there is no resisting you. I
do love sweet things, and it is pleasant to be called sweet by some
persons. I will delay you no longer," she added, resuming her natural
manner, "since Mistress Eveline must by this time have made up her
toilette. So, please you, follow me."
So saying, she tripped forward, and ushered Arundel into a room, where
we have already seen him, and retired. Almost instantly, the beautiful
Eveline came in with a smile upon her lips and a blush on her cheeks,
for from her room, the door of which was open in that warm season, she
had overheard the whole conversation, as indeed Prudence had intended
she should.
"A strange way, Miles," she said, biting her red lips to restrain a
laugh, "to show the devotedness of your affection to the mistress by
kissing the maid. Is it a fashion taught thee by the savages?"
Arundel, notwithstanding the words of Eveline, could not discover much
severity either in the tones of her voice or the glances of her eyes,
for those were days when scarcely so great a delicacy of manners
prevailed as in the present; and, catching her to his bosom, he found
little difficulty in obtaining pardon for his fault.
"Ah, you know, Miles," said Eveline, withdrawing herself from his
embrace, "that a maiden who scolds her lover has more than half
forgiven him already."
It is unnecessary to dwell upon the particulars of a meeting, which,
even without experience of like scenes, the imagination will suggest,
and which, lacking the spice of personal interest, might appear tame,
even to those whose recollection of early emotions still has power to
send the blood with a livelier glow through the heart. From his
conversation with Eveline, the apprehensions in regard to Sir
Christopher, which began to invade the mind of Arundel, were
increased, although his fears were of an indefinite character. Without
being able to determine exactly what were the accusations against the
Knight, of one thing at least he became certain--that they were
commonly considered of too serious a nature to be passed by in
silence; that any services would hardly screen him from censure or
punishment of some sort, if they were proved; and that Spikeman was
exerting his malignity against him to an extraordinary degree.
Upon leaving Eveline, Arundel meditated on the conduct he ought to
adopt, whether to remain and await the arrival of Sir Christopher on
the next day, as he originally intended, or to return and inform him
of what he had learned. That some calamity threatened his friend, was
plain. What it was, was not so evident. The only cause of complaint
against him he could discern, was a supposed connection with Sir
Ferdinando Gorges. On this point he knew that Winthrop and his council
were extremely sensitive, warmly resenting the claim which that
gentleman made, and was trying to prosecute in England, adverse to
their patent, which he declared was void, and determined to punish
whoever should assert the title of Sir Ferdinando as superior to their
own, or should in any respect countenance or abet him in his schemes.
As for other intimations, Arundel considered them as only additions,
which stories, like rolling snowballs, naturally receive in their
progress, and which, in the present instance, deserved even less
credit than usual, on account of their vagueness and improbability.
What motive could there be, for example, to induce Sir Christopher to
arrogate a title which did not belong to him, when there was every
chance of detection, and no important advantage to be gained? He had
never noticed in the Knight any assumption of superiority, but, on the
contrary, rather a careless cordiality, amounting almost to
_bonhommie_. Everything which he had seen about his friend forbade the
supposition. From the baselessness of this, he inferred the falsity of
all other charges, whatever they might be; and yet, notwithstanding
his conviction of the innocence of his friend, it appeared to him that
information of the disposition of Dudley ought to be made known to Sir
Christopher, in order to enable him to decide for himself upon the
steps necessary to be taken, before he should be assailed unawares.
Having arrived at this conclusion, Arundel lost no time in hurrying
off to the residence of the Knight.