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diff --git a/30650.txt b/30650.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..bb38a39 --- /dev/null +++ b/30650.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10767 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson, Volume +XXI, by Robert Louis Stevenson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson, Volume XXI + +Author: Robert Louis Stevenson + +Release Date: December 11, 2009 [EBook #30650] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WORKS OF STEVENSON *** + + + + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Marius Borror and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + THE WORKS OF + ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON + + SWANSTON EDITION + + VOLUME XXI + + + + +_Of this SWANSTON EDITION in Twenty-five +Volumes of the Works of ROBERT LOUIS +STEVENSON Two Thousand and Sixty Copies +have been printed, of which only Two Thousand +Copies are for sale._ + +_This is No._ ........... + +[Illustration: R.L.S. ON THE FORWARD DECK OF THE SCHOONER "EQUATOR"] + + + + +THE WORKS OF + +ROBERT LOUIS +STEVENSON + +VOLUME TWENTY-ONE + +LONDON: PUBLISHED BY CHATTO AND +WINDUS: IN ASSOCIATION WITH CASSELL +AND COMPANY LIMITED: WILLIAM +HEINEMANN: AND LONGMANS GREEN +AND COMPANY MDCCCCXII + + +ALL RIGHTS RESERVED + + + + +CONTENTS + + + THE STORY OF A LIE + + CHAPTER PAGE + + I. INTRODUCES THE ADMIRAL 3 + + II. A LETTER TO THE PAPERS 8 + + III. IN THE ADMIRAL'S NAME 14 + + IV. ESTHER ON THE FILIAL RELATION 21 + + V. THE PRODIGAL FATHER MAKES HIS DEBUT AT HOME 24 + + VI. THE PRODIGAL FATHER GOES ON FROM STRENGTH TO + STRENGTH 31 + + VII. THE ELOPEMENT 41 + + VIII. BATTLE ROYAL 50 + + IX. IN WHICH THE LIBERAL EDITOR APPEARS AS + "DEUS EX MACHINA" 60 + + + THE MERRY MEN + + I. EILEAN AROS 69 + + II. WHAT THE WRECK HAD BROUGHT TO AROS 76 + + III. LAND AND SEA IN SANDAG BAY 89 + + IV. THE GALE 100 + + V. A MAN OUT OF THE SEA 112 + + + OLALLA 127 + + + HEATHERCAT + + PART I.--THE KILLING-TIME + + I. TRAQUAIRS OF MONTROYMONT 177 + + II. FRANCIE 182 + + III. THE HILL-END OF DRUMLOWE 195 + + + THE GREAT NORTH ROAD + + I. NANCE AT THE "GREEN DRAGON" 203 + + II. IN WHICH MR. ARCHER IS INSTALLED 210 + + III. JONATHAN HOLDAWAY 218 + + IV. MINGLING THREADS 223 + + V. LIFE IN THE CASTLE 229 + + VI. THE BAD HALF-CROWN 233 + + VII. THE BLEACHING-GREEN 238 + + VIII. THE MAIL GUARD 244 + + + THE YOUNG CHEVALIER + + + PROLOGUE--THE WINE-SELLER'S WIFE 253 + + I. THE PRINCE 263 + + + FABLES + + I. THE PERSONS OF THE TALE 269 + + II. THE SINKING SHIP 272 + + III. THE TWO MATCHES 274 + + IV. THE SICK MAN AND THE FIREMAN 275 + + V. THE DEVIL AND THE INNKEEPER 276 + + VI. THE PENITENT 277 + + VII. THE YELLOW PAINT 277 + + VIII. THE HOUSE OF ELD 280 + + IX. THE FOUR REFORMERS 286 + + X. THE MAN AND HIS FRIEND 287 + + XI. THE READER 287 + + XII. THE CITIZEN AND THE TRAVELLER 288 + + XIII. THE DISTINGUISHED STRANGER 289 + + XIV. THE CART-HORSES AND THE SADDLE-HORSE 290 + + XV. THE TADPOLE AND THE FROG 291 + + XVI. SOMETHING IN IT 291 + + XVII. FAITH, HALF-FAITH, AND NO FAITH AT ALL 295 + + XVIII. THE TOUCHSTONE 297 + + XIX. THE POOR THING 304 + + XX. THE SONG OF THE MORROW 310 + + + + +THE STORY OF A LIE + + + + +THE STORY OF A LIE + + + + +CHAPTER I + +INTRODUCES THE ADMIRAL + + +When Dick Naseby was in Paris he made some odd acquaintances, for he was +one of those who have ears to hear, and can use their eyes no less than +their intelligence. He made as many thoughts as Stuart Mill; but his +philosophy concerned flesh and blood, and was experimental as to its +method. He was a type-hunter among mankind. He despised small game and +insignificant personalities, whether in the shape of dukes or bagmen, +letting them go by like sea-weed; but show him a refined or powerful +face, let him hear a plangent or a penetrating voice, fish for him with +a living look in some one's eye, a passionate gesture, a meaning or +ambiguous smile, and his mind was instantaneously awakened. "There was a +man, there was a woman," he seemed to say, and he stood up to the task +of comprehension with the delight of an artist in his art. + +And indeed, rightly considered, this interest of his was an artistic +interest. There is no science in the personal study of human nature. All +comprehension is creation; the woman I love is somewhat of my handiwork; +and the great lover, like the great painter, is he that can so embellish +his subject as to make her more than human, whilst yet by a cunning art +he has so based his apotheosis on the nature of the case that the woman +can go on being a true woman, and give her character free play, and show +littleness, or cherish spite, or be greedy of common pleasures, and he +continue to worship without a thought of incongruity. To love a +character is only the heroic way of understanding it. When we love, by +some noble method of our own or some nobility of mien or nature in the +other, we apprehend the loved one by what is noblest in ourselves. When +we are merely studying an eccentricity, the method of our study is but a +series of allowances. To begin to understand is to begin to sympathise; +for comprehension comes only when we have stated another's faults and +virtues in terms of our own. Hence the proverbial toleration of artists +for their own evil creations. Hence, too, it came about that Dick +Naseby, a high-minded creature, and as scrupulous and brave a gentleman +as you would want to meet, held in a sort of affection the various human +creeping things whom he had met and studied. + +One of these was Mr. Peter Van Tromp, an English-speaking, two-legged +animal of the international genus, and by profession of general and more +than equivocal utility. Years before he had been a painter of some +standing in a colony, and portraits signed "Van Tromp" had celebrated +the greatness of colonial governors and judges. In those days he had +been married, and driven his wife and infant daughter in a pony trap. +What were the steps of his declension? No one exactly knew. Here he was +at least, and had been, any time these past ten years, a sort of dismal +parasite upon the foreigner in Paris. + +It would be hazardous to specify his exact industry. Coarsely followed, +it would have merited a name grown somewhat unfamiliar to our ears. +Followed as he followed it, with a skilful reticence, in a kind of +social chiaroscuro, it was still possible for the polite to call him a +professional painter. His lair was in the Grand Hotel and the gaudiest +cafes. There he might be seen jotting off a sketch with an air of some +inspiration; and he was always affable, and one of the easiest of men to +fall in talk withal. A conversation usually ripened into a peculiar sort +of intimacy, and it was extraordinary how many little services Van Tromp +contrived to render in the course of six-and-thirty hours. He occupied +a position between a friend and a courier, which made him worse than +embarrassing to repay. But those whom he obliged could always buy one of +his villainous little pictures, or, where the favours had been prolonged +and more than usually delicate, might order and pay for a large canvas, +with perfect certainty that they would hear no more of the transaction. + +Among resident artists he enjoyed the celebrity of a non-professional +sort. He had spent more money--no less than three individual fortunes, +it was whispered--than any of his associates could ever hope to gain. +Apart from his colonial career, he had been to Greece in a brigantine +with four brass carronades; he had travelled Europe in a chaise and +four, drawing bridle at the palace-doors of German princes; queens of +song and dance had followed him like sheep, and paid his tailor's bills. +And to behold him now, seeking small loans with plaintive condescension, +sponging for breakfast on an art-student of nineteen, a fallen Don Juan +who had neglected to die at the propitious hour, had a colour of romance +for young imaginations. His name and his bright past, seen through the +prism of whispered gossip, had gained him the nickname of "The Admiral." + +Dick found him one day at the receipt of custom, rapidly painting a pair +of hens and a cock in a little water-colour sketching-box, and now and +then glancing at the ceiling like a man who should seek inspiration from +the muse. Dick thought it remarkable that a painter should choose to +work over an absinthe in a public cafe, and looked the man over. The +aged rakishness of his appearance was set off by a youthful costume; he +had disreputable grey hair and a disreputable sore, red nose; but the +coat and the gesture, the outworks of the man, were still designed for +show. Dick came up to his table and inquired if he might look at what +the gentleman was doing. No one was so delighted as the Admiral. + +"A bit of a thing," said he. "I just dash them off like that. I--I dash +them off," he added, with a gesture. + +"Quite so," said Dick, who was appalled by the feebleness of the +production. + +"Understand me," continued Van Tromp; "I am a man of the world. And +yet--once an artist always an artist. All of a sudden a thought takes me +in the street; I become its prey; it's like a pretty woman; no use to +struggle; I must--dash it off." + +"I see," said Dick. + +"Yes," pursued the painter; "it all comes easily, easily to me; it is +not my business; it's a pleasure. Life is my business--life--this great +city, Paris--Paris after dark--its lights, its gardens, its odd corners. +Aha!" he cried, "to be young again! The heart is young, but the heels +are leaden. A poor, mean business, to grow old! Nothing remains but the +_coup d'oeil_, the contemplative man's enjoyment, Mr. ----," and he +paused for the name. + +"Naseby," returned Dick. + +The other treated him at once to an exciting beverage, and expatiated on +the pleasure of meeting a compatriot in a foreign land; to hear him, you +would have thought they had encountered in Central Africa. Dick had +never found any one take a fancy to him so readily, nor show it in an +easier or less offensive manner. He seemed tickled with him as an +elderly fellow about town might be tickled by a pleasant and witty lad; +he indicated that he was no precisian, but in his wildest times had +never been such a blade as he thought Dick. Dick protested, but in vain. +This manner of carrying an intimacy at the bayonet's point was Van +Tromp's stock-in-trade. With an older man he insinuated himself; with +youth he imposed himself, and in the same breath imposed an ideal on his +victim, who saw that he must work up to it or lose the esteem of this +old and vicious patron. And what young man can bear to lose a character +for vice? + +As last, as it grew towards dinner-time, "Do you know Paris?" asked Van +Tromp. + +"Not so well as you, I am convinced," said Dick. + +"And so am I," returned Van Tromp gaily. "Paris! My young friend--you +will allow me?--when you know Paris as I do, you will have seen Strange +Things. I say no more; all I say is, Strange Things. We are men of the +world, you and I, and in Paris, in the heart of civilised existence. +This is an opportunity, Mr. Naseby. Let us dine. Let me show you where +to dine." + +Dick consented. On the way to dinner the Admiral showed him where to buy +gloves, and made him buy them; where to buy cigars, and made him buy a +vast store, some of which he obligingly accepted. At the restaurant he +showed him what to order, with surprising consequences in the bill. What +he made that night by his percentages it would be hard to estimate. And +all the while Dick smilingly consented, understanding well that he was +being done, but taking his losses in the pursuit of character as a +hunter sacrifices his dogs. As for the Strange Things, the reader will +be relieved to hear that they were no stranger than might have been +expected, and he may find things quite as strange without the expense of +a Van Tromp for guide. Yet he was a guide of no mean order, who made up +for the poverty of what he had to show by a copious, imaginative +commentary. + +"And such," said he, with an hiccup, "such is Paris." + +"Pooh!" said Dick, who was tired of the performance. + +The Admiral hung an ear, and looked up sidelong with a glimmer of +suspicion. + +"Good-night," said Dick; "I'm tired." + +"So English!" cried Van Tromp, clutching him by the hand. "So English! +So _blase!_ Such a charming companion! Let me see you home." + +"Look here," returned Dick, "I have said good-night, and now I'm going. +You're an amusing old boy; I like you, in a sense; but here's an end of +it for to-night. Not another cigar, not another grog, not another +percentage out of me." + +"I beg your pardon!" cried the Admiral with dignity. + +"Tut, man!" said Dick; "you're not offended; you're a man of the world, +I thought. I've been studying you, and it's over. Have I not paid for +the lesson? _Au revoir._" + +Van Tromp laughed gaily, shook hands up to the elbows, hoped cordially +they would meet again and that often, but looked after Dick as he +departed with a tremor of indignation. After that they two not +unfrequently fell in each other's way, and Dick would often treat the +old boy to breakfast on a moderate scale and in a restaurant of his own +selection. Often, too, he would lend Van Tromp the matter of a pound, in +view of that gentleman's contemplated departure for Australia; there +would be a scene of farewell almost touching in character, and a week or +a month later they would meet on the same boulevard without surprise or +embarrassment. And in the meantime Dick learned more about his +acquaintance on all sides: heard of his yacht, his chaise and four, his +brief season of celebrity amid a more confiding population, his +daughter, of whom he loved to whimper in his cups, his sponging, +parasitical, nameless way of life; and with each new detail something +that was not merely interest nor yet altogether affection grew up in his +mind towards this disreputable stepson of the arts. Ere he left Paris +Van Tromp was one of those whom he entertained to a farewell supper; and +the old gentleman made the speech of the evening, and then fell below +the table, weeping, smiling, paralysed. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +A LETTER TO THE PAPERS + + +Old Mr. Naseby had the sturdy, untutored nature of the upper middle +class. The universe seemed plain to him. "The thing's right," he would +say, or "the thing's wrong"; and there was an end of it. There was a +contained, prophetic energy in his utterances, even on the slightest +affairs; he _saw_ the damned thing; if you did not, it must be from +perversity of will, and this sent the blood to his head. Apart from +this, which made him an exacting companion, he was one of the most +upright, hot-tempered old gentlemen in England. Florid, with white hair, +the face of an old Jupiter, and the figure of an old fox-hunter, he +enlivened the vale of Thyme from end to end on his big, cantering +chestnut. + +He had a hearty respect for Dick as a lad of parts. Dick had a respect +for his father as the best of men, tempered by the politic revolt of a +youth who has to see to his own independence. Whenever the pair argued, +they came to an open rupture; and arguments were frequent, for they were +both positive, and both loved the work of the intelligence. It was a +treat to hear Mr. Naseby defending the Church of England in a volley of +oaths, or supporting ascetic morals with an enthusiasm not entirely +innocent of port wine. Dick used to wax indignant, and none the less so +because, as his father was a skilful disputant, he found himself not +seldom in the wrong. On these occasions, he would redouble in energy, +and declare that black was white, and blue yellow, with much conviction +and heat of manner; but in the morning such a licence of debate weighed +upon him like a crime, and he would seek out his father, where he walked +before breakfast on a terrace overlooking all the vale of Thyme. + +"I have to apologise, sir, for last night----" he would begin. + +"Of course you have," the old gentleman would cut in cheerfully. "You +spoke like a fool. Say no more about it." + +"You do not understand me, sir. I refer to a particular point. I confess +there is much force in your argument from the doctrine of +possibilities." + +"Of course there is," returned his father. "Come down and look at the +stables. Only," he would add, "bear this in mind, and do remember that a +man of my age and experience knows more about what he is saying than a +raw boy." + +He would utter the word "boy" even more offensively than the average of +fathers, and the light way in which he accepted these apologies cut Dick +to the heart. The latter drew slighting comparisons, and remembered that +he was the only one who ever apologised. This gave him a high station in +his own esteem, and thus contributed indirectly to his better behaviour; +for he was scrupulous as well as high-spirited, and prided himself on +nothing more than on a just submission. + +So things went on until the famous occasion when Mr. Naseby, becoming +engrossed in securing the election of a sound party candidate to +Parliament, wrote a flaming letter to the papers. The letter had about +every demerit of party letters in general: it was expressed with the +energy of a believer; it was personal; it was a little more than half +unfair, and about a quarter untrue. The old man did not mean to say what +was untrue, you may be sure; but he had rashly picked up gossip, as his +prejudice suggested, and now rashly launched it on the public with the +sanction of his name. + +"The Liberal candidate," he concluded, "is thus a public turncoat. Is +that the sort of man we want? He has been given the lie, and has +swallowed the insult. Is that the sort of man we want? I answer, No! +With all the force of my conviction, I answer, _No_!" + +And then he signed and dated the letter with an amateur's pride, and +looked to be famous by the morrow. + +Dick, who had heard nothing of the matter, was up first on that +inauspicious day, and took the journal to an arbour in the garden. He +found his father's manifesto in one column; and in another a leading +article. "No one that we are aware of," ran the article, "had consulted +Mr. Naseby on the subject, but if he had been appealed to by the whole +body of electors, his letter would be none the less ungenerous and +unjust to Mr. Dalton. We do not choose to give the lie to Mr. Naseby, +for we are too well aware of the consequences; but we shall venture +instead to print the facts of both cases referred to by this red-hot +partisan in another portion of our issue. Mr. Naseby is of course a +large proprietor in our neighbourhood; but fidelity to facts, decent +feeling, and English grammar, are all of them qualities more important +than the possession of land. Mr. N---- is doubtless a great man; in his +large gardens and that half-mile of greenhouses, where he has probably +ripened his intellect and temper, he may say what he will to his hired +vassals, but (as the Scots say)-- + + here + He maunna think to domineer. + +Liberalism," continued the anonymous journalist, "is of too free and +sound a growth," etc. + +Richard Naseby read the whole thing from beginning to end; and a +crushing shame fell upon his spirit. His father had played the fool; he +had gone out noisily to war, and come back with confusion. The moment +that his trumpets sounded, he had been disgracefully unhorsed. There was +no question as to the facts; they were one and all against the Squire. +Richard would have given his ears to have suppressed the issue; but as +that could not be done, he had his horse saddled, and, furnishing +himself with a convenient staff, rode off at once to Thymebury. + +The editor was at breakfast in a large, sad apartment. The absence of +furniture, the extreme meanness of the meal, and the haggard, +bright-eyed, consumptive look of the culprit, unmanned our hero; but he +clung to his stick, and was stout and warlike. + +"You wrote the article in this morning's paper?" he demanded. + +"You are young Mr. Naseby? I _published_ it," replied the editor, +rising. + +"My father is an old man," said Richard; and then with an outburst, "And +a damned sight finer fellow than either you or Dalton!" He stopped and +swallowed; he was determined that all should go with regularity. "I have +but one question to put to you, sir," he resumed. "Granted that my +father was misinformed, would it not have been more decent to withhold +the letter and communicate with him in private?" + +"Believe me," returned the editor, "that alternative was not open to me. +Mr. Naseby told me in a note that he had sent his letter to three other +journals, and in fact threatened me with what he called exposure if I +kept it back from mine. I am really concerned at what has happened; I +sympathise and approve of your emotion, young gentleman; but the attack +on Mr. Dalton was gross, very gross, and I had no choice but to offer +him my columns to reply. Party has its duties, sir," added the scribe, +kindling, as one who should propose a sentiment; "and the attack was +gross." + +Richard stood for half a minute digesting the answer; and then the god +of fair play came uppermost in his heart, and, murmuring "Good morning," +he made his escape into the street. + +His horse was not hurried on the way home, and he was late for +breakfast. The Squire was standing with his back to the fire in a state +bordering on apoplexy, his fingers violently knitted under his +coat-tails. As Richard came in, he opened and shut his mouth like a +cod-fish, and his eyes protruded. + +"Have you seen that, sir?" he cried, nodding towards the paper. + +"Yes, sir," said Richard. + +"Oh, you've read it, have you?" + +"Yes; I have read it," replied Richard, looking at his foot. + +"Well," demanded the old gentleman, "and what have you to say to it, +sir?" + +"You seem to have been misinformed," said Dick. + +"Well? What then? Is your mind so sterile, sir? Have you not a word of +comment? no proposal?" + +"I fear, sir, you must apologise to Mr. Dalton. It would be more +handsome, indeed it would be only just, and a free acknowledgment would +go far--" Richard paused, no language appearing delicate enough to suit +the case. + +"That is a suggestion which should have come from me, sir," roared the +father. "It is out of place upon your lips. It is not the thought of a +loyal son. Why, sir, if my father had been plunged in such deplorable +circumstances, I should have thrashed the editor of that vile sheet +within an inch of his life. I should have thrashed the man, sir. It +would have been the action of an ass; but it would have shown that I had +the blood and the natural affections of a man. Son? You are no son, no +son of mine, sir!" + +"Sir!" said Dick. + +"I'll tell you what you are, sir," pursued the Squire. "You're a +Benthamite. I disown you. Your mother would have died for shame; +there was no modern cant about your mother; she thought--she said to me, +sir--I'm glad she's in her grave, Dick Naseby. Misinformed! Misinformed, +sir? Have you no loyalty, no spring, no natural affections? Are you +clockwork, hey? Away! This is no place for you. Away!" (Waving his hands +in the air.) "Go away! Leave me!" + +At this moment Dick beat a retreat in a disarray of nerves, a whistling +and clamour of his own arteries, and in short in such a final bodily +disorder as made him alike incapable of speech or hearing. And in the +midst of all this turmoil, a sense of unpardonable injustice remained +graven in his memory. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +IN THE ADMIRAL'S NAME + + +There was no return to the subject. Dick and his father were henceforth +on terms of coldness. The upright old gentleman grew more upright when +he met his son, buckrammed with immortal anger; he asked after Dick's +health, and discussed the weather and the crops with an appalling +courtesy; his pronunciation was _point-de-vice_, his voice was distant, +distinct, and sometimes almost trembling with suppressed indignation. + +As for Dick, it seemed to him as if his life had come abruptly to an +end. He came out of his theories and clevernesses; his premature +man-of-the-worldness, on which he had prided himself on his travels, +"shrank like a thing ashamed" before this real sorrow. Pride, wounded +honour, pity and respect tussled together daily in his heart; and now he +was within an ace of throwing himself upon his father's mercy, and now +of slipping forth at night and coming back no more to Naseby House. He +suffered from the sight of his father, nay, even from the neighbourhood +of this familiar valley, where every corner had its legend, and he was +besieged with memories of childhood. If he fled into a new land, and +among none but strangers, he might escape his destiny, who knew? and +begin again light-heartedly. From that chief peak of the hills, that now +and then, like an uplifted finger, shone in an arrow of sunlight through +the broken clouds, the shepherd in clear weather might perceive the +shining of the sea. There, he thought, was hope. But his heart failed +him when he saw the Squire; and he remained. His fate was not that of +the voyager by sea and land; he was to travel in the spirit, and begin +his journey sooner than he supposed. + +For it chanced one day that his walk led him into a portion of the +uplands which was almost unknown to him. Scrambling through some rough +woods, he came out upon a moorland reaching towards the hills. A few +lofty Scots firs grew hard by upon a knoll; a clear fountain near the +foot of the knoll sent up a miniature streamlet which meandered in the +heather. A shower had just skimmed by, but now the sun shone brightly, +and the air smelt of the pines and the grass. On a stone under the trees +sat a young lady sketching. We have learned to think of women in a sort +of symbolic transfiguration, based on clothes; and one of the readiest +ways in which we conceive our mistress is as a composite thing, +principally petticoats. But humanity has triumphed over clothes; the +look, the touch of a dress has become alive; and the woman who stitched +herself into these material integuments has now permeated right through +and gone out to the tip of her skirt. It was only a black dress that +caught Dick Naseby's eye; but it took possession of his mind, and all +other thoughts departed. He drew near, and the girl turned round. Her +face startled him; it was a face he wanted; and he took it in at once +like breathing air. + +"I beg your pardon," he said, taking off his hat, "you are sketching." + +"Oh!" she exclaimed, "for my own amusement. I despise the thing." + +"Ten to one you do yourself injustice," returned Dick. "Besides, it's a +freemasonry. I sketch myself, and you know what that implies." + +"No. What?" she asked. + +"Two things," he answered. "First, that I am no very difficult critic; +and second, that I have a right to see your picture." + +She covered the block with both her hands. "Oh, no," she said; "I am +ashamed." + +"Indeed, I might give you a hint," said Dick. "Although no artist +myself, I have known many; in Paris I had many for friends, and used to +prowl among studios." + +"In Paris?" she cried, with a leap of light into her eyes. "Did you ever +meet Mr. Van Tromp?" + +"I? Yes. Why, you're not the Admiral's daughter, are you?" + +"The Admiral? Do they call him that?" she cried. "Oh, how nice, how nice +of them! It is the younger men who call him so, is it not?" + +"Yes," said Dick, somewhat heavily. + +"You can understand now," she said, with an unspeakable accent of +contented and noble-minded pride, "why it is I do not choose to show my +sketch. Van Tromp's daughter! The Admiral's daughter! I delight in that +name. The Admiral! And so you know my father?" + +"Well," said Dick, "I met him often; we were even intimate. He may have +mentioned my name--Naseby." + +"He writes so little. He is so busy, so devoted to his art! I have had a +half wish," she added, laughing, "that my father was a plainer man whom +I could help--to whom I could be a credit; but only sometimes, you know, +and with only half my heart. For a great painter! You have seen his +works?" + +"I have seen some of them," returned Dick; "they--they are very nice." + +She laughed aloud. "Nice?" she repeated. "I see you don't care much for +art." + +"Not much," he admitted; "but I know that many people are glad to buy +Mr. Van Tromp's pictures." + +"Call him the Admiral!" she cried. "It sounds kindly and familiar; and I +like to think that he is appreciated and looked up to by young painters. +He has not always been appreciated; he had a cruel life for many years; +and when I think"--there were tears in her eyes--"when I think of that, +I feel inclined to be a fool," she broke off. "And now I shall go home. +You have filled me full of happiness; for think, Mr. Naseby, I have not +seen my father since I was six years old; and yet he is in my thoughts +all day! You must come and call on me; my aunt will be delighted, I am +sure; and then you will tell me all--all about my father, will you not?" + +Dick helped her to get her sketching traps together; and when all was +ready, she gave Dick her hand and a frank return of pressure. + +"You are my father's friend," she said; "we shall be great friends too. +You must come and see me soon." + +Then she was gone down the hillside at a run; and Dick stood by himself +in a state of some bewilderment and even distress. There were elements +of laughter in the business; but the black dress, and the face that +belonged to it, and the hand that he had held in his, inclined him to a +serious view. What was he, under the circumstances, called upon to do? +Perhaps to avoid the girl? Well, he would think about that. Perhaps to +break the truth to her? Why, ten to one, such was her infatuation, he +would fail. Perhaps to keep up the illusion, to colour the raw facts; to +help her to false ideas, while yet not plainly stating falsehoods? Well, +he would see about that; he would also see about avoiding the girl. He +saw about this last so well, that the next afternoon beheld him on his +way to visit her. + +In the meantime the girl had gone straight home, light as a bird, +tremulous with joy, to the little cottage where she lived alone with a +maiden aunt; and to that lady, a grim, sixty years old Scotswoman, with +a nodding head, communicated news of her encounter and invitation. + +"A friend of his?" cried the aunt. "What like is he? What did ye say was +his name?" + +She was dead silent, and stared at the old woman darkling. Then very +slowly, "I said he was my father's friend; I have invited him to my +house, and come he shall," she said; and with that she walked off to her +room, where she sat staring at the wall all the evening. Miss +M'Glashan, for that was the aunt's name, read a large bible in the +kitchen with some of the joys of martyrdom. + +It was perhaps half-past three when Dick presented himself, rather +scrupulously dressed, before the cottage door; he knocked, and a voice +bade him enter. The kitchen, which opened directly off the garden, was +somewhat darkened by foliage; but he could see her as she approached +from the far end to meet him. This second sight of her surprised him. +Her strong black brows spoke of temper easily aroused and hard to quiet; +her mouth was small, nervous, and weak; there was something dangerous +and sulky underlying, in her nature, much that was honest, +compassionate, and even noble. + +"My father's name," she said, "has made you very welcome." + +And she gave him her hand with a sort of curtsey. It was a pretty +greeting, although somewhat mannered; and Dick felt himself among the +gods. She led him through the kitchen to a parlour, and presented him to +Miss M'Glashan. + +"Esther," said the aunt, "see and make Mr. Naseby his tea." + +As soon as the girl was gone upon this hospitable intent, the old woman +crossed the room and came quite near to Dick as if in menace. + +"Ye know that man?" she asked, in an imperious whisper. + +"Mr. Van Tromp?" said Dick. "Yes; I know him." + +"Well, and what brings ye here?" she said. "I couldn't save the +mother--her that's dead--but the bairn!" She had a note in her voice +that filled poor Dick with consternation. "Man," she went on, "what is +it now? Is it money?" + +"My dear lady," said Dick, "I think you misinterpret my position. I am +young Mr. Naseby of Naseby House. My acquaintance with Mr. Van Tromp is +really very slender; I am only afraid that Miss Van Tromp has +exaggerated our intimacy in her own imagination. I know positively +nothing of his private affairs, and do not care to know. I met him +casually in Paris--that is all." + +Miss M'Glashan drew a long breath. "In Paris?" she said. "Well, and what +do you think of him?--what do ye think of him?" she repeated, with a +different scansion, as Richard, who had not much taste for such a +question, kept her waiting for an answer. + +"I found him a very agreeable companion," he said. + +"Ay," said she, "did ye! And how does he win his bread?" + +"I fancy," he gasped, "that Mr. Van Tromp has many generous friends." + +"I'll warrant!" she sneered; and before Dick could find more to say, she +was gone from the room. + +Esther returned with the tea-things, and sat down. + +"Now," she said cosily, "tell me all about my father." + +"He"--stammered Dick, "he is a very agreeable companion." + +"I shall begin to think it is more than you are, Mr. Naseby," she said, +with a laugh. "I am his daughter, you forget. Begin at the beginning, +and tell me all you have seen of him, all he said and all you answered. +You must have met somewhere; begin with that." + +So with that he began: how he had found the Admiral painting in a cafe; +how his art so possessed him that he could not wait till he got home +to--well, to dash off his idea; how (this in reply to a question) his +idea consisted of a cock crowing and two hens eating corn; how he was +fond of cocks and hens; how this did not lead him to neglect more +ambitious forms of art; how he had a picture in his studio of a Greek +subject which was said to be remarkable from several points of view; how +no one had seen it nor knew the precise site of the studio in which it +was being vigorously though secretly confected; how (in answer to a +suggestion) this shyness was common to the Admiral, Michelangelo, and +others; how they (Dick and Van Tromp) had struck up an acquaintance at +once, and dined together that same night; how he (the Admiral) had once +given money to a beggar; how he spoke with effusion of his little +daughter; how he had once borrowed money to send her a doll--a trait +worthy of Newton, she being then in her nineteenth year at least; how, +if the doll never arrived (which it appeared it never did), the trait +was only more characteristic of the highest order of creative intellect; +how he was--no, not beautiful--striking, yes, Dick would go so far, +decidedly striking in appearance; how his boots were made to lace and +his coat was black, not cut-away, a frock; and so on, and so on by the +yard. It was astonishing how few lies were necessary. After all, people +exaggerated the difficulty of life. A little steering, just a touch of +the rudder now and then, and with a willing listener there is no limit +to the domain of equivocal speech. Sometimes Miss M'Glashan made a +freezing sojourn in the parlour; and then the task seemed unaccountably +more difficult; but to Esther, who was all eyes and ears, her face +alight with interest, his stream of language flowed without break or +stumble, and his mind was ever fertile in ingenious evasions and-- + +What an afternoon it was for Esther! + +"Ah!" she said at last, "it's good to hear all this! My aunt, you should +know, is narrow and too religious; she cannot understand an artist's +life. It does not frighten me," she added grandly; "I am an artist's +daughter." + +With that speech, Dick consoled himself for his imposture; she was not +deceived so grossly after all; and then if a fraud, was not the fraud +piety itself?--and what could be more obligatory than to keep alive in +the heart of a daughter that filial trust and honour which, even +although misplaced, became her like a jewel of the mind? There might be +another thought, a shade of cowardice, a selfish desire to please; poor +Dick was merely human; and what would you have had him do? + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +ESTHER ON THE FILIAL RELATION + + +A month later Dick and Esther met at the stile beside the cross roads; +had there been any one to see them but the birds and summer insects, it +would have been remarked that they met after a different fashion from +the day before. Dick took her in his arms, and their lips were set +together for a long while. Then he held her at arm's length, and they +looked straight into each other's eyes. + +"Esther!" he said,--you should have heard his voice! + +"Dick!" said she. + +"My darling!" + +It was some time before they started for their walk; he kept an arm +about her, and their sides were close together as they walked; the sun, +the birds, the west wind running among the trees, a pressure, a look, +the grasp tightening round a single finger, these things stood them in +lieu of thought and filled their hearts with joy. The path they were +following led them through a wood of pine trees carpeted with heather +and blueberry, and upon this pleasant carpet, Dick, not without some +seriousness, made her sit down. + +"Esther!" he began, "there is something you ought to know. You know my +father is a rich man, and you would think, now that we love each other, +we might marry when we pleased. But I fear, darling, we may have long to +wait, and shall want all our courage." + +"I have courage for anything," she said, "I have all I want; with you +and my father, I am so well off, and waiting is made so happy, that I +could wait a lifetime and not weary." + +He had a sharp pang at the mention of the Admiral. "Hear me out," he +continued. "I ought to have told you this before; but it is a thought I +shrink from; if it were possible, I should not tell you even now. My +poor father and I are scarce on speaking terms." + +"Your father," she repeated, turning pale. + +"It must sound strange to you; but yet I cannot think I am to blame," he +said. "I will tell you how it happened." + +"O Dick!" she said, when she had heard him to an end, "how brave you +are, and how proud! Yet I would not be proud with a father. I would tell +him all." + +"What!" cried Dick, "go in months after, and brag that I meant to thrash +the man, and then didn't? And why? Because my father had made a bigger +ass of himself than I supposed. My dear, that's nonsense." + +She winced at his words and drew away. "But then that is all he asks," +she pleaded. "If he only knew that you had felt that impulse, it would +make him so proud and happy. He would see you were his own son after +all, and had the same thoughts and the same chivalry of spirit. And then +you did yourself injustice when you spoke just now. It was because the +editor was weak and poor and excused himself, that you repented your +first determination. Had he been a big red man, with whiskers, you would +have beaten him--you know you would--if Mr. Naseby had been ten times +more committed. Do you think, if you can tell it to me, and I understand +at once, that it would be more difficult to tell it to your own father, +or that he would not be more ready to sympathise with you than I am? And +I love you, Dick; but then he is your father." + +"My dear," said Dick desperately, "you do not understand; you do not +know what it is to be treated with daily want of comprehension and daily +small injustices, through childhood and boyhood and manhood, until you +despair of a hearing, until the thing rides you like a nightmare, until +you almost hate the sight of the man you love, and who's your father +after all. In short, Esther, you don't know what it is to have a +father, and that's what blinds you." + +"I see," she said musingly, "you mean that I am fortunate in my father. +But I am not so fortunate, after all; you forget, I do not know him; it +is you who know him; he is already more your father than mine." And here +she took his hand. Dick's heart had grown as cold as ice. "But I am +sorry for you, too," she continued, "it must be very sad and lonely." + +"You misunderstand me," said Dick chokingly. "My father is the best man +I know in all this world; he is worth a hundred of me, only he doesn't +understand me, and he can't be made to." + +There was a silence for a while. "Dick," she began again, "I am going to +ask a favour, it's the first since you said you loved me. May I see your +father--see him pass, I mean, where he will not observe me?" + +"Why?" asked Dick. + +"It is a fancy; you forget, I am romantic about fathers." + +The hint was enough for Dick; he consented with haste, and full of +hang-dog penitence and disgust, took her down by a back way and planted +her in the shrubbery, whence she might see the Squire ride by to dinner. +There they both sat silent, but holding hands, for nearly half an hour. +At last the trotting of a horse sounded in the distance, the park gates +opened with a clang, and then Mr. Naseby appeared, with stooping +shoulders and a heavy, bilious countenance, languidly rising to the +trot. Esther recognised him at once; she had often seen him before, +though with her huge indifference for all that lay outside the circle of +her love, she had never so much as wondered who he was; but now she +recognised him, and found him ten years older, leaden and springless, +and stamped by an abiding sorrow. + +"O Dick, Dick!" she said, and the tears began to shine upon her face as +she hid it in his bosom; his own fell thickly too. They had a sad walk +home, and that night, full of love and good counsel, Dick exerted every +art to please his father, to convince him of his respect and affection, +to heal up this breach of kindness, and reunite two hearts. But alas! +the Squire was sick and peevish; he had been all day glooming over +Dick's estrangement--for so he put it to himself, and now with growls, +cold words, and the cold shoulder, he beat off all advances, and +entrenched himself in a just resentment. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE PRODIGAL FATHER MAKES HIS DEBUT AT HOME + + +That took place upon a Thursday. On the Thursday following, as Dick was +walking by appointment, earlier than usual, in the direction of the +cottage, he was appalled to meet in the lane a fly from Thymebury, +containing the human form of Miss M'Glashan. The lady did not deign to +remark him in her passage; her face was suffused with tears, and +expressed much concern for the packages by which she was surrounded. He +stood still, and asked himself what this circumstance might portend. It +was so beautiful a day that he was loth to forecast evil, yet something +must perforce have happened at the cottage, and that of a decisive +nature; for here was Miss M'Glashan on her travels, with a small +patrimony in brown paper parcels, and the old lady's bearing implied hot +battle and unqualified defeat. Was the house to be closed against him? +Was Esther left alone, or had some new protector made his appearance +from among the millions of Europe? It is the character of love to loathe +the near relatives of the loved one; chapters in the history of the +human race have justified this feeling, and the conduct of uncles, in +particular, has frequently met with censure from the independent +novelist. Miss M'Glashan was now seen in the rosy colours of regret; +whoever succeeded her, Dick felt the change would be for the worse. He +hurried forward in this spirit; his anxiety grew upon him with every +step; as he entered the garden a voice fell upon his ear, and he was +once more arrested, not this time by doubt, but by an indubitable +certainty of ill. + +The thunderbolt had fallen; the Admiral was here. + +Dick would have retreated, in the panic terror of the moment; but Esther +kept a bright look-out when her lover was expected. In a twinkling she +was by his side, brimful of news and pleasure, too glad to notice his +embarrassment, and in one of those golden transports of exultation which +transcend not only words but caresses. She took him by the end of the +fingers (reaching forward to take them, for her great preoccupation was +to save time), she drew him towards her, pushed him past her in the +door, and planted him face to face with Mr. Van Tromp, in a suit of +French country velveteens and with a remarkable carbuncle on his nose. +Then, as though this was the end of what she could endure in the way of +joy, Esther turned and ran out of the room. + +The two men remained looking at each other with some confusion on both +sides. Van Tromp was naturally the first to recover; he put out his hand +with a fine gesture. + +"And you know my little lass, my Esther?" he said. "This is pleasant, +this is what I have conceived of home. A strange word for the old rover; +but we all have a taste for home and the homelike, disguise it how we +may. It has brought me here, Mr. Naseby," he concluded, with an +intonation that would have made his fortune on the stage, so just, so +sad, so dignified, so like a man of the world and a philosopher, "and +you see a man who is content." + +"I see," said Dick. + +"Sit down," continued the parasite, setting the example. "Fortune has +gone against me. (I am just sirrupping a little brandy--after my +journey.) I was going down, Mr. Naseby; between you and me, I was +_decave_; I borrowed fifty francs, smuggled my valise past the +concierge--a work of considerable tact--and here I am!" + +"Yes," said Dick, "and here you are." He was quite idiotic. + +Esther, at this moment, re-entered the room. + +"Are you glad to see him?" she whispered in his ear, the pleasure in her +voice almost bursting through the whisper into song. + +"Oh yes," said Dick; "very." + +"I knew you would be," she replied; "I told him how you loved him." + +"Help yourself," said the Admiral, "help yourself; and let us drink to a +new existence." + +"To a new existence," repeated Dick; and he raised the tumbler to his +lips, but set it down untasted. He had had enough of novelties for one +day. + +Esther was sitting on a stool beside her father's feet, holding her +knees in her arms, and looking with pride from one to the other of her +two visitors. Her eyes were so bright that you were never sure if there +were tears in them or not; little voluptuous shivers ran about her body; +sometimes she nestled her chin into her throat, sometimes threw back her +head, with ecstasy; in a word, she was in that state when it is said of +people that they cannot contain themselves for happiness. It would be +hard to exaggerate the agony of Richard. + +And, in the meantime, Van Tromp ran on interminably. + +"I never forget a friend," said he, "nor yet an enemy: of the latter, I +never had but two--myself and the public; and I fancy I have had my +vengeance pretty freely out of both." He chuckled. "But those days are +done. Van Tromp is no more. He was a man who had successes; I believe +you knew I had successes--to which we shall refer no further," pulling +down his neckcloth with a smile. "That man exists no more: by an +exercise of will I have destroyed him. There is something like it in the +poets. First, a brilliant and conspicuous career--the observed, I may +say, of all observers including the bum-baily: and then, presto! a +quiet, sly, old, rustic _bonhomme_, cultivating roses. In Paris, Mr. +Naseby----" + +"Call him Richard, father," said Esther. + +"Richard, if he will allow me. Indeed, we are old friends, and now near +neighbours; and, _a propos_, how are we off for neighbours, Richard? The +cottage stands, I think, upon your father's land, a family which I +respect--and the wood, I understand, is Lord Trevanion's. Not that I +care; I am an old Bohemian. I have cut society with a cut direct; I cut +it when I was prosperous, and now I reap my reward, and can cut it with +dignity in my declension. These are our little _amours propres_, my +daughter: your father must respect himself. Thank you, yes; just a +leetle, leetle tiny--thanks, thanks; you spoil me. But, as I was saying, +Richard, or was about to say, my daughter has been allowed to rust; her +aunt was a mere duenna; hence, in parenthesis, Richard, her distrust of +me; my nature and that of the duenna are poles asunder--poles! But, now +that I am here, now that I have given up the fight, and live henceforth +for one only of my works--I have the modesty to say it is my best--my +daughter--well, we shall put all that to rights. The neighbours, +Richard?" + +Dick was understood to say that there were many good families in the +Vale of Thyme. + +"You shall introduce us," said the Admiral. + +Dick's shirt was wet; he made a lumbering excuse to go; which Esther +explained to herself by a fear of intrusion, and so set down to the +merit side of Dick's account, while she proceeded to detain him. + +"Before our walk?" she cried. "Never! I must have my walk." + +"Let us all go," said the Admiral, rising. + +"You do not know that you are wanted," she cried, leaning on his +shoulder with a caress. "I might wish to speak to my old friend about +my new father. But you shall come to-day, you shall do all you want; I +have set my heart on spoiling you." + +"I will take just _one_ drop more," said the Admiral, stooping to help +himself to brandy. "It is surprising how this journey has fatigued me. +But I am growing old, I am growing old, I am growing old, and--I regret +to add--bald." + +He cocked a white wide-awake coquettishly upon his head--the habit of +the lady-killer clung to him; and Esther had already thrown on her hat, +and was ready, while he was still studying the result in a mirror: the +carbuncle had somewhat painfully arrested his attention. + +"We are papa now; we must be respectable," he said to Dick, in +explanation of his dandyism: and then he went to a bundle and chose +himself a staff. Where were the elegant canes of his Parisian epoch? +This was a support for age, and designed for rustic scenes. Dick began +to see and appreciate the man's enjoyment in a new part, when he saw how +carefully he had "made it up." He had invented a gait for this first +country stroll with his daughter, which was admirably in key. He walked +with fatigue; he leaned upon the staff; he looked round him with a sad, +smiling sympathy on all that he beheld; he even asked the name of a +plant, and rallied himself gently for an old town-bird, ignorant of +nature. "This country life will make me young again," he sighed. They +reached the top of the hill towards the first hour of evening; the sun +was descending heaven, the colour had all drawn into the west; the hills +were modelled in their least contour by the soft, slanting shine; and +the wide moorlands, veined with glens and hazelwoods, ran west and north +in a hazy glory of light. Then the painter awakened in Van Tromp. + +"Gad, Dick," he cried, "what value!" + +An ode in four hundred lines would not have seemed so touching to +Esther; her eyes filled with happy tears: yes, here was the father of +whom she had dreamed, whom Dick had described; simple, enthusiastic, +unworldly, kind, a painter at heart, and a fine gentleman in manner. + +And just then the Admiral perceived a house by the wayside, and +something depending over the house door which might be construed as a +sign by the hopeful and thirsty. + +"Is that," he asked, pointing with his stick, "an inn?" + +There was a marked change in his voice, as though he attached some +importance to the inquiry: Esther listened, hoping she should hear wit +or wisdom. + +Dick said it was. + +"You know it?" inquired the Admiral. + +"I have passed it a hundred times, but that is all," replied Dick. + +"Ah," said Van Tromp, with a smile, and shaking his head; "you are not +an old campaigner; you have the world to learn. Now I, you see, find an +inn so very near my own home, and my first thought is--my neighbours. I +shall go forward and make my neighbours' acquaintance; no, you needn't +come; I shall not be a moment." + +And he walked off briskly towards the inn, leaving Dick alone with +Esther on the road. + +"Dick," she exclaimed, "I am so glad to get a word with you; I am so +happy, I have such a thousand things to say; and I want you to do me a +favour. Imagine, he has come without a paint-box, without an easel; and +I want him to have all. I want you to get them for me in Thymebury. You +saw, this moment, how his heart turned to painting. They can't live +without it," she added; meaning perhaps Van Tromp and Michelangelo. + +Up to that moment she had observed nothing amiss in Dick's behaviour. +She was too happy to be curious; and his silence, in presence of the +great and good being whom she called her father, had seemed both natural +and praiseworthy. But now that they were alone, she became conscious of +a barrier between her lover and herself, and alarm sprang up in her +heart. + +"Dick," she cried, "you don't love me." + +"I do that," he said heartily. + +"But you are unhappy; you are strange; you--you are not glad to see my +father," she concluded, with a break in her voice. + +"Esther," he said, "I tell you that I love you; if you love me, you know +what that means, and that all I wish is to see you happy. Do you think I +cannot enjoy your pleasure? Esther, I do. If I am uneasy, if I am +alarmed, if----. Oh, believe me, try and believe in me," he cried, giving +up argument with perhaps a happy inspiration. + +But the girl's suspicions were aroused; and though she pressed the +matter no further (indeed, her father was already seen returning), it by +no means left her thoughts. At one moment she simply resented the +selfishness of a man who had obtruded his dark looks and passionate +language on her joy; for there is nothing that a woman can less easily +forgive than the language of a passion which, even if only for the +moment, she does not share. At another, she suspected him of jealousy +against her father; and for that, although she could see excuses for it, +she yet despised him. And at least, in one way or the other, here was +the dangerous beginning of a separation between two hearts. Esther found +herself at variance with her sweetest friend; she could no longer look +into his heart and find it written in the same language as her own; she +could no longer think of him as the sun which radiated happiness upon +her life, for she had turned to him once, and he had breathed upon her +black and chilly, radiated blackness and frost. To put the whole matter +in a word, she was beginning, although ever so slightly, to fall out of +love. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE PRODIGAL FATHER GOES ON FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH + + +We will not follow all the steps of the Admiral's return and +installation, but hurry forward towards the catastrophe, merely +chronicling by the way a few salient incidents, wherein we must rely +entirely upon the evidence of Richard, for Esther to this day has never +opened her mouth upon this trying passage of her life, and as for the +Admiral--well, that naval officer, although still alive, and now more +suitably installed in a seaport town where he has a telescope and a flag +in his front garden, is incapable of throwing the slightest gleam of +light upon the affair. Often and often has he remarked to the present +writer: "If I know what it was all about, sir, I'll be----" in short, be +what I hope he will not. And then he will look across at his daughter's +portrait, a photograph, shake his head with an amused appearance, and +mix himself another grog by way of consolation. Once I have heard him go +further, and express his feelings with regard to Esther in a single but +eloquent word. "A minx, sir," he said, not in anger, rather in +amusement: and he cordially drank her health upon the back of it. His +worst enemy must admit him to be a man without malice; he never bore a +grudge in his life, lacking the necessary taste and industry of +attention. + +Yet it was during this obscure period that the drama was really +performed; and its scene was in the heart of Esther, shut away from all +eyes. Had this warm, upright, sullen girl been differently used by +destiny, had events come upon her even in a different succession, for +some things lead easily to others, the whole course of this tale would +have been changed, and Esther never would have run away. As it was, +through a series of acts and words of which we know but few, and a +series of thoughts which any one may imagine for himself, she was +awakened in four days from the dream of a life. + +The first tangible cause of disenchantment was when Dick brought home a +painter's arsenal on Friday evening. The Admiral was in the +chimney-corner, once more "sirrupping" some brandy-and-water, and Esther +sat at the table at work. They both came forward to greet the new +arrival; and the girl, relieving him of his monstrous burthen, proceeded +to display her offerings to her father. Van Tromp's countenance fell +several degrees; he became quite querulous. + +"God bless me," he said; and then, "I must really ask you not to +interfere, child," in a tone of undisguised hostility. + +"Father," she said, "forgive me; I knew you had given up your art----" + +"Oh yes!" cried the Admiral; "I've done with it to the judgment-day!" + +"Pardon me again," she said firmly, "but I do not, I cannot think that +you are right in this. Suppose the world is unjust, suppose that no one +understands you, you have still a duty to yourself. And, oh, don't spoil +the pleasure of your coming home to me; show me that you can be my +father and yet not neglect your destiny. I am not like some daughters; I +will not be jealous of your art, and I will try to understand it." + +The situation was odiously farcical. Richard groaned under it; he longed +to leap forward and denounce the humbug. And the humbug himself? Do you +fancy he was easier in his mind? I am sure, on the other hand, that he +was actually miserable; and he betrayed his sufferings by a perfectly +silly and undignified access of temper, during which he broke his pipe +in several places, threw his brandy-and-water into the fire, and +employed words which were very plain although the drift of them was +somewhat vague. It was of very brief duration. Van Tromp was himself +again, and in a most delightful humour within three minutes of the first +explosion. + +"I am an old fool," he said frankly. "I was spoiled when a child. As for +you, Esther, you take after your mother; you have a morbid sense of +duty, particularly for others; strive against it, my dear--strive +against it. And as for the pigments, well, I'll use them some of these +days; and to show that I'm in earnest, I'll get Dick here to prepare a +canvas." + +Dick was put to this menial task forthwith, the Admiral not even +watching how he did, but quite occupied with another grog and a pleasant +vein of talk. + +A little after Esther arose, and making some pretext, good or bad, went +off to bed. Dick was left hobbled by the canvas, and was subjected to +Van Tromp for about an hour. + +The next day, Saturday, it is believed that little intercourse took +place between Esther and her father; but towards the afternoon Dick met +the latter returning from the direction of the inn, where he had struck +up quite a friendship with the landlord. Dick wondered who paid for +these excursions, and at the thought that the reprobate must get his +pocket-money where he got his board and lodging, from poor Esther's +generosity, he had it almost in his heart to knock the old gentleman +down. He, on his part, was full of airs and graces and geniality. + +"Dear Dick," he said, taking his arm, "this is neighbourly of you; it +shows your tact to meet me when I had a wish for you. I am in pleasant +spirits; and it is then that I desire a friend." + +"I am glad to hear you are so happy," retorted Dick bitterly. "There's +certainly not much to trouble _you_." + +"No," assented the Admiral, "not much. I got out of it in time; and +here--well, here everything pleases me. I am plain in my tastes. _A +propos_, you have never asked me how I liked my daughter?" + +"No," said Dick roundly; "I certainly have not." + +"Meaning you will not. And why, Dick? She is my daughter, of course; but +then I am a man of the world and a man of taste, and perfectly qualified +to give an opinion with impartiality--yes, Dick, with impartiality. +Frankly, I am not disappointed in her. She has good looks; she has them +from her mother. She is devoted, quite devoted to me----" + +"She is the best woman in the world!" broke out Dick. + +"Dick," cried the Admiral, stopping short; "I have been expecting this. +Let us--let us go back to the 'Trevanion Arms,' and talk this matter out +over a bottle." + +"Certainly not," said Dick. "You have had far too much already." + +The parasite was on the point of resenting this; but a look at Dick's +face, and some recollections of the terms on which they had stood in +Paris, came to the aid of his wisdom and restrained him. + +"As you please," he said; "although I don't know what you mean--nor +care. But let us walk, if you prefer it. You are still a young man; when +you are my age----. But, however, to continue. You please me, Dick; you +have pleased me from the first; and to say truth, Esther is a trifle +fantastic, and will be better when she is married. She has means of her +own, as of course you are aware. They come, like the looks, from her +poor, dear, good creature of a mother. She was blessed in her mother. I +mean she shall be blessed in her husband, and you are the man, Dick, you +and not another. This very night I will sound her affections." + +Dick stood aghast. + +"Mr. Van Tromp, I implore you," he said; "do what you please with +yourself, but, for God's sake, let your daughter alone." + +"It is my duty," replied the Admiral, "and between ourselves, you rogue, +my inclination too. I am as match-making as a dowager. It will be more +discreet for you to stay away to-night. Farewell. You leave your case in +good hands; I have the tact of these little matters by heart; it is not +my first attempt." + +All arguments were in vain; the old rascal stuck to his point; nor did +Richard conceal from himself how seriously this might injure his +prospects, and he fought hard. Once there came a glimmer of hope. The +Admiral again proposed an adjournment to the "Trevanion Arms," and when +Dick had once more refused, it hung for a moment in the balance whether +or not the old toper would return there by himself. Had he done so, of +course Dick could have taken to his heels, and warned Esther of what was +coming, and of how it had begun. But the Admiral, after a pause, decided +for the brandy at home, and made off in that direction. + +We have no details of the sounding. + +Next day the Admiral was observed in the parish church, very properly +dressed. He found the places, and joined in response and hymn, as to the +manner born; and his appearance, as he intended it should, attracted +some attention among the worshippers. Old Naseby, for instance, had +observed him. + +"There was a drunken-looking blackguard opposite us in church," he said +to his son as they drove home; "do you know who he was?" + +"Some fellow--Van Tromp, I believe," said Dick. + +"A foreigner too!" observed the Squire. + +Dick could not sufficiently congratulate himself on the escape he had +effected. Had the Admiral met him with his father, what would have been +the result? And could such a catastrophe be long postponed? It seemed to +him as if the storm were nearly ripe; and it was so more nearly than he +thought. + +He did not go to the cottage in the afternoon, withheld by fear and +shame; but when dinner was over at Naseby House, and the Squire had gone +off into a comfortable doze, Dick slipped out of the room, and ran +across country, in part to save time, in part to save his own courage +from growing cold; for he now hated the notion of the cottage or the +Admiral, and if he did not hate, at least feared to think of Esther. He +had no clue to her reflections; but he could not conceal from his own +heart that he must have sunk in her esteem, and the spectacle of her +infatuation galled him like an insult. + +He knocked and was admitted. The room looked very much as on his last +visit, with Esther at the table and Van Tromp beside the fire; but the +expression of the two faces told a very different story. The girl was +paler than usual; her eyes were dark, the colour seemed to have faded +from round about them, and her swiftest glance was as intent as a stare. +The appearance of the Admiral, on the other hand, was rosy, and flabby, +and moist; his jowl hung over his shirt-collar, his smile was loose and +wandering, and he had so far relaxed the natural control of his eyes, +that one of them was aimed inward, as if to catch the growth of the +carbuncle. We are warned against bad judgments; but the Admiral was +certainly not sober. He made no attempt to rise when Richard entered, +but waved his pipe flightily in the air, and gave a leer of welcome. +Esther took as little notice of him as might be. + +"Aha! Dick!" cried the painter. "I've been to church; I have, upon my +word. And I saw you there, though you didn't see me. And I saw a +devilish pretty woman, by Gad. If it were not for this baldness, and a +kind of crapulous air I can't disguise from myself--if it weren't for +this and that and t'other thing--I--I've forgot what I was saying. Not +that that matters, I've heaps of things to say. I'm in a communicative +vein to-night. I'll let out all my cats, even unto seventy times seven. +I'm in what I call _the_ stage, and all I desire is a listener, although +he were deaf, to be as happy as Nebuchadnezzar." + +Of the two hours which followed upon this it is unnecessary to give more +than a sketch. The Admiral was extremely silly, now and then amusing, +and never really offensive. It was plain that he kept in view the +presence of his daughter, and chose subjects and a character of language +that should not offend a lady. On almost any other occasion Dick would +have enjoyed the scene. Van Tromp's egotism, flown with drink, struck a +pitch above mere vanity. He became candid and explanatory; sought to +take his auditors entirely into his confidence, and tell them his inmost +conviction about himself. Between his self-knowledge, which was +considerable, and his vanity, which was immense, he had created a +strange hybrid animal, and called it by his own name. How he would plume +his feathers over virtues which would have gladdened the heart of Caesar +or St. Paul; and anon, complete his own portrait with one of those +touches of pitiless realism which the satirist so often seeks in vain. + +"Now, there's Dick," he said, "he's shrewd; he saw through me the first +time we met, and told me so--told me so to my face, which I had the +virtue to keep. I bear you no malice for it, Dick; you were right; I am +a humbug." + +You may fancy how Esther quailed at this new feature of the meeting +between her two idols. + +And then, again, in a parenthesis: + +"That," said Van Tromp, "was when I had to paint those dirty daubs of +mine." + +And a little further on, laughingly said, perhaps, but yet with an air +of truth: + +"I never had the slightest hesitation in sponging upon any human +creature." + +Thereupon Dick got up. + +"I think, perhaps," he said, "we had better all be thinking of going to +bed." And he smiled with a feeble and deprecatory smile. + +"Not at all," cried the Admiral, "I know a trick worth two of that. +Puss here," indicating his daughter, "shall go to bed; and you and I +will keep it up till all's blue." + +Thereupon Esther arose in sullen glory. She had sat and listened for two +mortal hours while her idol defiled himself and sneered away his +godhead. One by one, her illusions had departed. And now he wished to +order her to bed in her own house! now he called her Puss! now, even as +he uttered the words, toppling on his chair, he broke the stem of his +tobacco-pipe in three! Never did the sheep turn upon her shearer with a +more commanding front. Her voice was calm, her enunciation a little +slow, but perfectly distinct, and she stood before him, as she spoke, in +the simplest and most maidenly attitude. + +"No," she said, "Mr. Naseby will have the goodness to go home at once, +and you will go to bed." + +The broken fragments of pipe fell from the Admiral's fingers; he seemed +by his countenance to have lived too long in a world unworthy of him; +but it is an odd circumstance, he attempted no reply, and sat +thunder-struck, with open mouth. + +Dick she motioned sharply towards the door, and he could only obey her. +In the porch, finding she was close behind him, he ventured to pause and +whisper, "You have done right." + +"I have done as I pleased," she said. "Can he paint?" + +"Many people like his paintings," returned Dick, in stifled tones; "I +never did; I never said I did," he added, fiercely defending himself +before he was attacked. + +"I ask you if he can paint. I will not be put off. _Can_ he paint?" she +repeated. + +"No," said Dick. + +"Does he even like it?" + +"Not now, I believe." + +"And he is drunk?"--she leaned upon the word with hatred. + +"He has been drinking." + +"Go," she said, and was turning to re-enter the house when another +thought arrested her. "Meet me to-morrow morning at the stile," she +said. + +"I will," replied Dick. + +And then the door closed behind her, and Dick was alone in the darkness. +There was still a chink of light above the sill, a warm, mild glow +behind the window; the roof of the cottage and some of the banks and +hazels were defined in denser darkness against the sky; but all else was +formless, breathless, and noiseless like the pit. Dick remained as she +had left him, standing squarely on one foot and resting only on the toe +of the other, and as he stood he listened with his soul. The sound of a +chair pushed sharply over the floor startled his heart into his mouth; +but the silence which had thus been disturbed settled back again at once +upon the cottage and its vicinity. What took place during this interval +is a secret from the world of men; but when it was over the voice of +Esther spoke evenly and without interruption for perhaps half a minute, +and as soon as that ceased heavy and uncertain footfalls crossed the +parlour and mounted lurching up the stairs. The girl had tamed her +father, Van Tromp had gone obediently to bed: so much was obvious to the +watcher in the road. And yet he still waited, straining his ears, and +with terror and sickness at his heart; for if Esther had followed her +father, if she had even made one movement in this great conspiracy of +men and nature to be still, Dick must have had instant knowledge of it +from his station before the door; and if she had not moved, must she not +have fainted? or might she not be dead? + +He could hear the cottage clock deliberately measure out the seconds; +time stood still with him; an almost superstitious terror took command +of his faculties; at last, he could bear no more, and, springing through +the little garden in two bounds, he put his face against the window. The +blind, which had not been drawn fully down, left an open chink about an +inch in height along the bottom of the glass, and the whole parlour was +thus exposed to Dick's investigation. Esther sat upright at the table, +her head resting on her hand, her eyes fixed upon the candle. Her brows +were slightly bent, her mouth slightly open; her whole attitude so still +and settled that Dick could hardly fancy that she breathed. She had not +stirred at the sound of Dick's arrival. Soon after, making a +considerable disturbance amid the vast silence of the night, the clock +lifted up its voice, whined for a while like a partridge, and then +eleven times hooted like a cuckoo. Still Esther continued immovable and +gazed upon the candle. Midnight followed, and then one of the morning; +and still she had not stirred, nor had Richard Naseby dared to quit the +window. And then about half-past one, the candle she had been thus +intently watching flared up into a last blaze of paper, and she leaped +to her feet with an ejaculation, looked about her once, blew out the +light, turned round, and was heard rapidly mounting the staircase in the +dark. + +Dick was left once more alone to darkness and to that dulled and dogged +state of mind when a man thinks that Misery must have done her worst, +and is almost glad to think so. He turned and walked slowly towards the +stile; she had told him no hour, and he was determined, whenever she +came, that she should find him waiting. As he got there the day began to +dawn, and he leaned over a hurdle and beheld the shadows flee away. Up +went the sun at last out of a bank of clouds that were already +disbanding in the east; a herald wind had already sprung up to sweep the +leafy earth and scatter the congregated dewdrops. "Alas!" thought Dick +Naseby, "how can any other day come so distastefully to me?" He still +wanted his experience of the morrow. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE ELOPEMENT + + +It was probably on the stroke of ten, and Dick had been half asleep for +some time against the bank, when Esther came up the road carrying a +bundle. Some kind of instinct, or perhaps the distant light footfalls, +recalled him, while she was still a good way off, to the possession of +his faculties, and he half raised himself and blinked upon the world. It +took him some time to recollect his thoughts. He had awakened with a +certain blank and childish sense of pleasure, like a man who had +received a legacy overnight but this feeling gradually died away, and +was then suddenly and stunningly succeeded by a conviction of the truth. +The whole story of the past night sprang into his mind with every +detail, as by an exercise of the direct and speedy sense of sight, and +he arose from the ditch and, with rueful courage, went to meet his love. + +She came up to him walking steady and fast, her face still pale, but to +all appearance perfectly composed; and she showed neither surprise, +relief, nor pleasure at finding her lover on the spot. Nor did she offer +him her hand. + +"Here I am," said he. + +"Yes," she replied; and then, without a pause or any change of voice, "I +want you to take me away," she added. + +"Away?" he repeated. "How? Where?" + +"To-day," she said. "I do not care where it is, but I want you to take +me away." + +"For how long? I do not understand," gasped Dick. + +"I shall never come back here any more," was all she answered. + +Wild words uttered, as these were, with perfect quiet of manner, +exercise a double influence on the hearer's mind. Dick was confounded; +he recovered from astonishment only to fall into doubt and alarm. He +looked upon her frozen attitude, so discouraging for a lover to behold, +and recoiled from the thoughts which it suggested. + +"To me?" he asked. "Are you coming to me, Esther?" + +"I want you to take me away," she repeated, with weary impatience. "Take +me away--take me away from here." + +The situation was not sufficiently defined. Dick asked himself with +concern whether she were altogether in her right wits. To take her away, +to marry her, to work off his hands for her support, Dick was content to +do all this; yet he required some show of love upon her part. He was not +one of those tough-hided and small-hearted males who would marry their +love at the point of the bayonet rather than not marry her at all. He +desired that a woman should come to his arms with an attractive +willingness, if not with ardour. And Esther's bearing was more that of +despair than that of love. It chilled him and taught him wisdom. + +"Dearest," he urged, "tell me what you wish, and you shall have it; tell +me your thoughts, and then I can advise you. But to go from here without +a plan, without forethought, in the heat of a moment, is madder than +madness, and can help nothing. I am not speaking like a man, but I speak +the truth; and I tell you again, the thing's absurd, and wrong, and +hurtful." + +She looked at him with a lowering, languid look of wrath. + +"So you will not take me?" she said. "Well, I will go alone." + +And she began to step forward on her way. But he threw himself before +her. + +"Esther, Esther!" he cried. + +"Let me go--don't touch me--what right have you to interfere? Who are +you, to touch me?" she flashed out, shrill with anger. + +Then, being made bold by her violence, he took her firmly, almost +roughly, by the arm, and held her while he spoke. + +"You know well who I am, and what I am, and that I love you. You say I +will not help you; but your heart knows the contrary. It is you who will +not help me; for you will not tell me what you want. You see--or you +could see, if you took the pains to look--how I have waited here all +night to be ready at your service. I only asked information; I only +urged you to consider; and I still urge you to think better of your +fancies. But if your mind is made up, so be it; I will beg no longer; I +will give you my orders; and I will not allow--not allow you to go hence +alone." + +She looked at him for a while with cold, unkind scrutiny, like one who +tries the temper of a tool. + +"Well, take me away then," she said, with a sigh. + +"Good," said Dick. "Come with me to the stables; there we shall get the +pony-trap and drive to the junction. To-night you shall be in London. I +am yours so wholly that no words can make me more so; and, besides, you +know it, and the words are needless. May God help me to be good to you, +Esther--may God help me! for I see that you will not." + +So, without more speech, they set out together, and were already got +some distance from the spot, ere he observed that she was still carrying +the hand-bag. She gave it up to him, passively, but when he offered her +his arm, merely shook her head and pursed up her lips. The sun shone +clearly and pleasantly; the wind was fresh and brisk upon their faces, +and smelt racily of woods and meadows. As they went down into the valley +of the Thyme, the babble of the stream rose into the air like a +perennial laughter. On the far-away hills, sun-burst and shadow raced +along the slopes and leaped from peak to peak. Earth, air, and water, +each seemed in better health and had more of the shrewd salt of life in +them than upon ordinary mornings; and from east to west, from the +lowest glen to the height of heaven, from every look and touch and +scent, a human creature could gather the most encouraging intelligence +as to the durability and spirit of the universe. + +Through all this walked Esther, picking her small steps like a bird, but +silent and with a cloud under her thick eyebrows. She seemed insensible, +not only of nature, but of the presence of her companion. She was +altogether engrossed in herself, and looked neither to right nor to +left, but straight before her on the road. When they came to the bridge, +however, she halted, leaned on the parapet, and stared for a moment at +the clear, brown pool, and swift, transient snowdrift of the rapids. + +"I am going to drink," she said; and descended the winding footpath to +the margin. + +There she drank greedily in her hands, and washed her temples with +water. The coolness seemed to break, for an instant, the spell that lay +upon her; for, instead of hastening forward again in her dull, +indefatigable tramp, she stood still where she was, for near a minute, +looking straight before her. And Dick, from above on the bridge where he +stood to watch her, saw a strange, equivocal smile dawn slowly on her +face and pass away again at once and suddenly, leaving her as grave as +ever; and the sense of distance, which it is so cruel for a lover to +endure, pressed with every moment more heavily on her companion. Her +thoughts were all secret; her heart was locked and bolted; and he stood +without, vainly wooing her with his eyes. + +"Do you feel better?" asked Dick, as she at last rejoined him; and after +the constraint of so long a silence, his voice sounded foreign to his +own ears. + +She looked at him for an appreciable fraction of a minute ere she +answered, and when she did, it was in the monosyllable--"Yes." + +Dick's solicitude was nipped and frosted. His words died away on his +tongue. Even his eyes, despairing of encouragement, ceased to attend on +hers. And they went on in silence through Kirton hamlet, where an old +man followed them with his eyes, and perhaps envied them their youth and +love; and across the Ivy beck where the mill was splashing and grumbling +low thunder to itself in the chequered shadow of the dell, and the +miller before the door was beating flour from his hands as he whistled a +modulation; and up by the high spinney, whence they saw the mountains +upon either hand; and down the hill again to the back courts and offices +of Naseby House. Esther had kept ahead all the way, and Dick plodded +obediently in her wake; but as they neared the stables, he pushed on and +took the lead. He would have preferred her to await him in the road +while he went on and brought the carriage back, but after so many +repulses and rebuffs he lacked courage to offer the suggestion. Perhaps, +too, he felt it wiser to keep his convoy within sight. So they entered +the yard in Indian file, like a tramp and his wife. + +The groom's eyebrows rose as he received the order for the pony-phaeton, +and kept rising during all his preparations. Esther stood bolt upright +and looked steadily at some chickens in the corner of the yard. Master +Richard himself, thought the groom, was not in his ordinary; for in +truth, he carried the hand-bag like a talisman, and either stood +listless, or set off suddenly walking in one direction after another +with brisk, decisive footsteps. Moreover, he had apparently neglected to +wash his hands, and bore the air of one returning from a prolonged +nutting ramble. Upon the groom's countenance there began to grow up an +expression as of one about to whistle. And hardly had the carriage +turned the corner and rattled into the high road with this inexplicable +pair, than the whistle broke forth--prolonged, and low, and tremulous; +and the groom, already so far relieved, vented the rest of his surprise +in one simple English word, friendly to the mouth of Jack-tar and the +sooty pitman, and hurried to spread the news round the servants' hall of +Naseby House. Luncheon would be on the table in little beyond an hour; +and the Squire, on sitting down, would hardly fail to ask for Master +Richard. Hence, as the intelligent reader can foresee, this groom has a +part to play in the imbroglio. + +Meantime, Dick had been thinking deeply and bitterly. It seemed to him +as if his love had gone from him indeed, yet gone but a little way; as +if he needed but to find the right touch or intonation, and her heart +would recognise him and be melted. Yet he durst not open his mouth, and +drove in silence till they had passed the main park-gates and turned +into the cross-cut lane along the wall. Then it seemed to him as if it +must be now, or never. + +"Can't you see you are killing me?" he cried. "Speak to me, look at me, +treat me like a human man." + +She turned slowly and looked him in the face with eyes that seemed +kinder. He dropped the reins and caught her hand, and she made no +resistance, although her touch was unresponsive. But when, throwing one +arm round her waist, he sought to kiss her lips, not like a lover +indeed, not because he wanted to do so, but as a desperate man who puts +his fortunes to the touch, she drew away from him, with a knot in her +forehead, backed and shied about fiercely with her head, and pushed him +from her with her hand. Then there was no room left for doubt, and Dick +saw, as clear as sunlight, that she had a distaste or nourished a grudge +against him. + +"Then you don't love me?" he said, drawing back from her, he also, as +though her touch had burnt him; and then, as she made no answer, he +repeated with another intonation, imperious and yet still pathetic, "You +don't love me, _do_ you, _do_ you?" + +"I don't know," she replied. "Why do you ask me? Oh, how should I know? +It has all been lies together--lies, and lies, and lies!" + +He cried her name sharply, like a man who has taken a physical hurt, and +that was the last word that either of them spoke until they reached +Thymebury Junction. + +This was a station isolated in the midst of moorlands, yet lying on the +great up-line to London. The nearest town, Thymebury itself, was seven +miles distant along the branch they call the Vale of Thyme Railway. It +was now nearly half an hour past noon, the down train had just gone by, +and there would be no more traffic at the junction until half-past +three, when the local train comes in to meet the up express at a quarter +before four. The stationmaster had already gone off to his garden, which +was half a mile away in a hollow of the moor; a porter, who was just +leaving, took charge of the phaeton, and promised to return it before +night to Naseby House; only a deaf, snuffy, and stern old man remained +to play propriety for Dick and Esther. + +Before the phaeton had driven off, the girl had entered the station and +seated herself upon a bench. The endless, empty moorlands stretched +before her, entirely unenclosed, and with no boundary but the horizon. +Two lines of rails, a waggon shed, and a few telegraph posts, alone +diversified the outlook. As for sounds, the silence was unbroken save by +the chant of the telegraph wires and the crying of the plovers on the +waste. With the approach of midday the wind had more and more fallen, it +was now sweltering hot and the air trembled in the sunshine. + +Dick paused for an instant on the threshold of the platform. Then, in +two steps, he was by her side and speaking almost with a sob. + +"Esther," he said, "have pity on me. What have I done? Can you not +forgive me? Esther, you loved me once--can you not love me still?" + +"How can I tell you? How am I to know?" she answered. "You are all a lie +to me--all a lie from first to last. You were laughing at my folly, +playing with me like a child, at the very time when you declared you +loved me. Which was true? was any of it true? or was it all, all a +mockery? I am weary trying to find out. And you say I loved you; I loved +my father's friend. I never loved, I never heard of, you, until that man +came home and I began to find myself deceived. Give me back my father, +be what you were before, and you may talk of love indeed!" + +"Then you cannot forgive me--cannot?" he asked. + +"I have nothing to forgive," she answered. "You do not understand." + +"Is that your last word, Esther?" said he, very white, and biting his +lip to keep it still. + +"Yes; that is my last word," replied she. + +"Then we are here on false pretences, and we stay here no longer," he +said. "Had you still loved me, right or wrong, I should have taken you +away, because then I could have made you happy. But as it is--I must +speak plainly--what you propose is degrading to you, and an insult to +me, and a rank unkindness to your father. Your father may be this or +that, but you should use him like a fellow-creature." + +"What do you mean?" she flashed. "I leave him my house and all my money; +it is more than he deserves. I wonder you dare speak to me about that +man. And besides, it is all he cares for; let him take it, and let me +never hear from him again." + +"I thought you romantic about fathers," he said. + +"Is that a taunt?" she demanded. + +"No," he replied, "it is an argument. No one can make you like him, but +don't disgrace him in his own eyes. He is old, Esther, old and broken +down. Even I am sorry for him, and he has been the loss of all I cared +for. Write to your aunt; when I see her answer you can leave quietly and +naturally, and I will take you to your aunt's door. But in the meantime +you must go home. You have no money, and so you are helpless, and must +do as I tell you; and believe me, Esther, I do all for your good, and +your good only, so God help me." + +She had put her hand into her pocket and withdrawn it empty. + +"I counted upon you," she wailed. + +"You counted rightly, then," he retorted. "I will not, to please you for +a moment, make both of us unhappy for our lives; and since I cannot +marry you, we have only been too long away, and must go home at once." + +"Dick," she cried suddenly, "perhaps I might--perhaps in +time--perhaps--" + +"There is no perhaps about the matter," interrupted Dick. "I must go and +bring the phaeton." + +And with that he strode from the station, all in a glow of passion and +virtue. Esther, whose eyes had come alive and her cheeks flushed during +these last words, relapsed in a second into a state of petrifaction. She +remained without motion during his absence, and when he returned +suffered herself to be put back into the phaeton, and driven off on the +return journey like an idiot or a tired child. Compared with what she +was now, her condition of the morning seemed positively natural. She sat +cold and white and silent, and there was no speculation in her eyes. +Poor Dick flailed and flailed at the pony, and once tried to whistle, +but his courage was going down; huge clouds of despair gathered together +in his soul, and from time to time their darkness was divided by a +piercing flash of longing and regret. He had lost his love--he had lost +his love for good. + +The pony was tired, and the hills very long and steep, and the air +sultrier than ever, for now the breeze began to fail entirely. It seemed +as if this miserable drive would never be done, as if poor Dick would +never be able to go away and be comfortably wretched by himself; for all +his desire was to escape from her presence and the reproach of her +averted looks. He had lost his love, he thought--he had lost his love +for good. + +They were already not far from the cottage, when his heart again +faltered and he appealed to her once more, speaking low and eagerly in +broken phrases. + +"I cannot live without your love," he concluded. + +"I do not understand what you mean," she replied, and I believe with +perfect truth. + +"Then," said he, wounded to the quick, "your aunt might come and fetch +you herself. Of course you can command me as you please. But I think it +would be better so." + +"Oh yes," she said wearily, "better so." + +This was the only exchange of words between them till about four +o'clock; the phaeton, mounting the lane, "opened out" the cottage +between the leafy banks. Thin smoke went straight up from the chimney; +the flowers in the garden, the hawthorn in the lane, hung down their +heads in the heat; the stillness was broken only by the sound of hoofs. +For right before the gate a livery servant rode slowly up and down, +leading a saddle horse. And in this last Dick shuddered to identify his +father's chestnut. + +Alas! poor Richard, what should this portend? + +The servant, as in duty bound, dismounted and took the phaeton into his +keeping; yet Dick thought he touched his hat to him with something of a +grin. Esther, passive as ever, was helped out and crossed the garden +with a slow and mechanical gait; and Dick, following close behind her, +heard from within the cottage his father's voice upraised in an +anathema, and the shriller tones of the Admiral responding in the key of +war. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +BATTLE ROYAL + + +Squire Naseby, on sitting down to lunch, had inquired for Dick, whom he +had not seen since the day before at dinner; and the servant answering +awkwardly that Master Richard had come back, but had gone out again with +the pony-phaeton, his suspicions became aroused, and he cross-questioned +the man until the whole was out. It appeared from this report that Dick +had been going about for nearly a month with a girl in the Vale--a Miss +Van Tromp; that she lived near Lord Trevanion's upper wood; that +recently Miss Van Tromp's papa had returned home from foreign parts +after a prolonged absence; that this papa was an old gentleman, very +chatty and free with his money in the public-house--whereupon Mr. +Naseby's face became encrimsoned; that the papa, furthermore, was said +to be an admiral--whereupon Mr. Naseby spat out a whistle brief and +fierce as an oath; that Master Dick seemed very friendly with the +papa--"God help him!" said Mr. Naseby; that last night Master Dick had +not come in, and to-day he had driven away in the phaeton with the young +lady. + +"Young woman," corrected Mr. Naseby. + +"Yes, sir," said the man, who had been unwilling enough to gossip from +the first, and was now cowed by the effect of his communications on the +master. "Young woman, sir!" + +"Had they luggage?" demanded the Squire. + +"Yes, sir." + +Mr. Naseby was silent for a moment, struggling to keep down his emotion, +and he mastered it so far as to mount into the sarcastic vein, when he +was in the nearest danger of melting into the sorrowful. + +"And was this--this Van Dunk with them?" he asked, dwelling scornfully +on the name. + +The servant believed not, and being eager to shift the responsibility to +other shoulders, suggested that perhaps the master had better inquire +further from George the stableman in person. + +"Tell him to saddle the chestnut and come with me. And then you can +take away this trash," added Mr. Naseby, pointing to the luncheon; and +he arose, lordly in his anger, and marched forth upon the terrace to +await his horse. + +There Dick's old nurse shrunk up to him, for the news went like wildfire +over Naseby House, and timidly expressed a hope that there was nothing +much amiss with the young master. + +"I'll pull him through," the Squire said grimly, as though he meant to +pull him through a threshing-mill; "I'll save him from this gang; God +help him with the next! He has a taste for low company, and no natural +affections to steady him. His father was no society for him; he must go +fuddling with a Dutchman, Nance, and now he's caught. Let us pray he'll +take the lesson," he added, more gravely, "but youth is here to make +troubles, and age to pull them out again." + +Nance whimpered and recalled several episodes of Dick's childhood, which +moved Mr. Naseby to blow his nose and shake her hard by the hand; and +then, the horse having arrived opportunely, to get himself without delay +into the saddle and canter off. + +He rode straight, hot spur, to Thymebury, where, as was to be expected, +he could glean no tidings of the runaways. They had not been seen at the +George; they had not been seen at the station. The shadow darkened on +Mr. Naseby's face; the junction did not occur to him; his last hope was +for Van Tromp's cottage; thither he bade George guide him, and thither +he followed, nursing grief, anxiety, and indignation in his heart. + +"Here it is, sir," said George, stopping. + +"What! on my own land!" he cried. "How's this? I let this place to +somebody--M'Whirter or M'Glashan." + +"Miss M'Glashan was the young lady's aunt, sir, I believe," returned +George. + +"Ay--dummies," said the Squire. "I shall whistle for my rent too. Here, +take my horse." + +The Admiral, this hot afternoon, was sitting by the window with a long +glass. He already knew the Squire by sight, and now, seeing him dismount +before the cottage and come striding through the garden, concluded +without doubt he was there to ask for Esther's hand. + +"This is why the girl is not yet home," he thought; "a very suitable +delicacy on young Naseby's part." + +And he composed himself with some pomp, answered the loud rattle of the +riding-whip upon the door with a dulcet invitation to enter, and coming +forward with a bow and a smile, "Mr. Naseby, I believe," said he. + +The Squire came armed for battle; took in his man from top to toe in one +rapid and scornful glance, and decided on a course at once. He must let +the fellow see that he understood him. + +"You are Mr. Van Tromp?" he returned roughly, and without taking any +notice of the proffered hand. + +"The same, sir," replied the Admiral. "Pray be seated." + +"No, sir," said the Squire, point-blank, "I will not be seated. I am +told that you are an admiral," he added. + +"No, sir, I am not an admiral," returned Van Tromp, who now began to +grow nettled and enter into the spirit of the interview. + +"Then why do you call yourself one, sir?" + +"I have to ask your pardon, I do not," says Van Tromp, as grand as the +Pope. + +But nothing was of avail against the Squire. + +"You sail under false colours from beginning to end," he said. "Your +very house was taken under a sham name." + +"It is not my house. I am my daughter's guest," replied the Admiral. "If +it _were_ my house----" + +"Well?" said the Squire, "what then? hey?" + +The Admiral looked at him nobly, but was silent. + +"Look here," said Mr. Naseby, "this intimidation is a waste of time; it +is thrown away on me, sir; it will not succeed with me. I will not +permit you even to gain time by your fencing. Now, sir, I presume you +understand what brings me here." + +"I am entirely at a loss to account for your intrusion," bows and waves +Van Tromp. + +"I will try to tell you, then. I come here as a father"--down came the +riding-whip upon the table--"I have right and justice upon my side. I +understand your calculations, but you calculated without me. I am a man +of the world, and I see through you and your manoeuvres. I am dealing +now with a conspiracy--I stigmatise it as such, and I will expose it and +crush it. And now I order you to tell me how far things have gone, and +whither you have smuggled my unhappy son." + +"My God, sir!" Van Tromp broke out, "I have had about enough of this. +Your son? God knows where he is for me! What the devil have I to do with +your son? My daughter is out, for the matter of that; I might ask you +where she is, and what would you say to that? But this is all midsummer +madness. Name your business distinctly, and be off." + +"How often am I to tell you?" cried the Squire. "Where did your daughter +take my son to-day in that cursed pony carriage?" + +"In a pony carriage?" repeated Van Tromp. + +"Yes, sir--with luggage." + +"Luggage?"--Van Tromp had turned a little pale. + +"Luggage, I said--luggage!" shouted Naseby. "You may spare me this +dissimulation. Where's my son? You are speaking to a father, sir, a +father." + +"But, sir, if this be true," out came Van Tromp in a new key, "it is I +who have an explanation to demand." + +"Precisely. There is the conspiracy," retorted Naseby. "Oh!" he added, +"I am a man of the world. I can see through and through you." + +Van Tromp began to understand. + +"You speak a great deal about being a father, Mr. Naseby," said he; "I +believe you forget that the appellation is common to both of us. I am at +a loss to figure to myself, however dimly, how any man--I have not said +any gentleman--could so brazenly insult another as you have been +insulting me since you entered this house. For the first time I +appreciate your base insinuations, and I despise them and you. You were, +I am told, a manufacturer; I am an artist; I have seen better days; I +have moved in societies where you would not be received, and dined where +you would be glad to pay a pound to see me dining. The so-called +aristocracy of wealth, sir, I despise. I refuse to help you; I refuse to +be helped by you. There lies the door." + +And the Admiral stood forth in a halo. + +It was then that Dick entered. He had been waiting in the porch for some +time back, and Esther had been listlessly standing by his side. He had +put out his hand to bar her entrance, and she had submitted without +surprise; and though she seemed to listen, she scarcely appeared to +comprehend. Dick, on his part, was as white as a sheet; his eyes burned +and his lips trembled with anger as he thrust the door suddenly open, +introduced Esther with ceremonious gallantry, and stood forward and +knocked his hat firmer on his head like a man about to leap. + +"What is all this?" he demanded. + +"Is this your father, Mr. Naseby?" inquired the Admiral. + +"It is," said the young man. + +"I make you my compliments," returned Van Tromp. + +"Dick!" cried his father, suddenly breaking forth, "It is not too late, +is it? I have come here in time to save you. Come, come away with +me--come away from this place." + +And he fawned upon Dick with his hands. + +"Keep your hands off me," cried Dick, not meaning unkindness, but +because his nerves were shattered by so many successive miseries. + +"No, no," said the old man. "Don't repulse your father, Dick, when he +has come here to save you. Don't repulse me, my boy. Perhaps I have not +been kind to you, not quite considerate, too harsh; my boy, it was not +for want of love. Think of old times. I was kind to you then, was I not? +When you were a child, and your mother was with us." Mr. Naseby was +interrupted by a sort of sob. Dick stood looking at him in a maze. "Come +away," pursued the father in a whisper; "you need not be afraid of any +consequences. I am a man of the world, Dick; and she can have no claim +on you--no claim, I tell you; and we'll be handsome too, Dick--we'll +give them a good round figure, father and daughter, and there's an end." + +He had been trying to get Dick towards the door, but the latter stood +off. + +"You had better take care, sir, how you insult that lady," said the son, +as black as night. + +"You would not choose between your father and your mistress?" said the +father. + +"What do you call her, sir?" cried Dick, high and clear. + +Forbearance and patience were not among Mr. Naseby's qualities. + +"I called her your mistress," he shouted, "and I might have called her a +----" + +"That is an unmanly lie," replied Dick slowly. + +"Dick!" cried the father, "Dick!" + +"I do not care," said the son, strengthening himself against his own +heart; "I--I have said it, and it's the truth." + +There was a pause. + +"Dick," said the old man at last, in a voice that was shaken as by a +gale of wind, "I am going. I leave you with your friends, sir--with your +friends. I came to serve you, and now I go away a broken man. For years +I have seen this coming, and now it has come. You never loved me. Now +you have been the death of me. You may boast of that. Now I leave you. +God pardon you." + +With that he was gone; and the three who remained together heard his +horse's hoofs descend the lane. Esther had not made a sign throughout +the interview, and still kept silence now that it was over; but the +Admiral, who had once or twice moved forward and drawn back again, now +advanced for good. + +"You are a man of spirit, sir," said he to Dick; "but though I am no +friend to parental interference, I will say that you were heavy on the +governor." Then he added with a chuckle: "You began, Richard, with a +silver spoon, and here you are in the water, like the rest. Work, work, +nothing like work. You have parts, you have manners; why, with +application, you may die a millionaire!" + +Dick shook himself. He took Esther by the hand, looking at her +mournfully. + +"Then this is farewell?" he said. + +"Yes," she answered. There was no tone in her voice, and she did not +return his gaze. + +"For ever," added Dick. + +"For ever," she repeated mechanically. + +"I have had hard measure," he continued. "In time, I believe I could +have shown you I was worthy, and there was no time long enough to show +how much I loved you. But it was not to be. I have lost all." + +He relinquished her hand, still looking at her, and she turned to leave +the room. + +"Why, what in fortune's name is the meaning of all this?" cried Van +Tromp. "Esther, come back!" + +"Let her go," said Dick, and he watched her disappear with strangely +mingled feelings. For he had fallen into that stage when men have the +vertigo of misfortune, court the strokes of destiny, and rush towards +anything decisive, that it may free them from suspense though at the +cost of ruin. It is one of the many minor forms of suicide. + +"She did not love me," he said, turning to her father. + +"I feared as much," said he, "when I sounded her. Poor Dick, poor Dick! +And yet I believe I am as much cut up as you are. I was born to see +others happy." + +"You forget," returned Dick, with something like a sneer, "that I am now +a pauper." + +Van Tromp snapped his fingers. + +"Tut!" said he; "Esther has plenty for us all." + +Dick looked at him with some wonder. It had never dawned upon him that +this shiftless, thriftless, worthless, sponging parasite was yet, after +all and in spite of all, not mercenary in the issue of his thoughts; yet +so it was. + +"Now," said Dick, "I must go." + +"Go?" cried Van Tromp. "Where? Not one foot, Mr. Richard Naseby. Here +you shall stay in the meantime! and--well, and do something +practical--advertise for a situation as private secretary--and when you +have it, go and welcome. But in the meantime, sir, no false pride; we +must stay with our friends; we must sponge a while on Papa Van Tromp, +who has sponged so often upon us." + +"By God," cried Dick, "I believe you are the best of the lot." + +"Dick, my boy," replied the Admiral, winking, "you mark me, I am not the +worst." + +"Then why," began Dick, and then paused. "But Esther," he began again, +once more to interrupt himself. "The fact is, Admiral," he came out with +it roundly now, "your daughter wished to run away from you to-day, and I +only brought her back with difficulty." + +"In the pony carriage?" asked the Admiral, with the silliness of extreme +surprise. + +"Yes," Dick answered. + +"Why, what the devil was she running away from?" + +Dick found the question unusually hard to answer. + +"Why," said he, "you know you're a bit of a rip." + +"I behave to that girl, sir, like an archdeacon," replied Van Tromp +warmly. + +"Well--excuse me--but you know you drink," insisted Dick. + +"I know that I was a sheet in the wind's eye, sir, once--once only, +since I reached this place," retorted the Admiral. "And even then I was +fit for any drawing-room. I should like you to tell me how many fathers, +lay and clerical, go upstairs every day with a face like a lobster and +cod's eyes--and are dull, upon the back of it--not even mirth for the +money! No, if that's what she runs for, all I say is, let her run." + +"You see," Dick tried it again, "she has fancies--" + +"Confound her fancies!" cried Van Tromp. "I used her kindly; she had her +own way; I was her father. Besides, I had taken quite a liking to the +girl, and meant to stay with her for good. But I tell you what it is, +Dick, since she has trifled with you--Oh yes, she did though!--and since +her old papa's not good enough for her--the devil take her, say I." + +"You will be kind to her at least?" said Dick. + +"I never was unkind to a living soul," replied the Admiral. "Firm I can +be, but not unkind." + +"Well," said Dick, offering his hand, "God bless you, and farewell." + +The Admiral swore by all his gods he should not go. "Dick," he said, +"you are a selfish dog; you forget your old Admiral. You wouldn't leave +him alone, would you?" + +It was useless to remind him that the house was not his to dispose of, +that being a class of considerations to which his intelligence was +closed; so Dick tore himself off by force, and shouting a good-bye, made +off along the lane to Thymebury. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +IN WHICH THE LIBERAL EDITOR APPEARS AS "DEUS EX MACHINA" + + +It was perhaps a week later, as old Mr. Naseby sat brooding in his +study, that there was shown in upon him, on urgent business, a little +hectic gentleman shabbily attired. + +"I have to ask pardon for this intrusion, Mr. Naseby," he said; "but I +come here to perform a duty. My card has been sent in, but perhaps you +may not know, what it does not tell you, that I am the editor of the +_Thymebury Star_." + +Mr. Naseby looked up, indignant. + +"I cannot fancy," he said, "that we have much in common to discuss." + +"I have only a word to say--one piece of information to communicate. +Some months ago, we had--you will pardon my referring to it, it is +absolutely necessary--but we had an unfortunate difference as to facts." + +"Have you come to apologise?" asked the Squire sternly. + +"No, sir; to mention a circumstance. On the morning in question, your +son, Mr. Richard Naseby----" + +"I do not permit his name to be mentioned." + +"You will, however, permit me," replied the Editor. + +"You are cruel," said the Squire. He was right, he was a broken man. + +Then the Editor described Dick's warning visit; and how he had seen in +the lad's eye that there was a thrashing in the wind, and had escaped +through pity only--so the Editor put it--"through pity only, sir. And +oh, sir," he went on, "if you had seen him speaking up for you, I am +sure you would have been proud of your son. I know I admired the lad +myself, and indeed that's what brings me here." + +"I have misjudged him," said the Squire. "Do you know where he is?" + +"Yes, sir, he lies sick at Thymebury." + +"You can take me to him?" + +"I can." + +"I pray God he may forgive me," said the father. + +And he and the Editor made post-haste for the country town. + +Next day the report went abroad that Mr. Richard was reconciled to his +father and had been taken home to Naseby House. He was still ailing, it +was said, and the Squire nursed him like the proverbial woman. Rumour, +in this instance, did no more than justice to the truth; and over the +sick-bed many confidences were exchanged, and clouds that had been +growing for years passed away in a few hours, and, as fond mankind loves +to hope, for ever. Many long talks had been fruitless in external +action, though fruitful for the understanding of the pair; but at last, +one showery Tuesday, the Squire might have been observed upon his way to +the cottage in the lane. + +The old gentleman had arranged his features with a view to self-command, +rather than external cheerfulness; and he entered the cottage on his +visit of conciliation with the bearing of a clergyman come to announce a +death. + +The Admiral and his daughter were both within, and both looked upon +their visitor with more surprise than favour. + +"Sir," said he to Van Tromp, "I am told I have done you much injustice." + +There came a little sound in Esther's throat, and she put her hand +suddenly to her heart. + +"You have, sir; and the acknowledgment suffices," replied the Admiral. +"I am prepared, sir, to be easy with you, since I hear you have made it +up with my friend Dick. But let me remind you that you owe some +apologies to this young lady also." + +"I shall have the temerity to ask for more than her forgiveness," said +the Squire. "Miss Van Tromp," he continued, "once I was in great +distress, and knew nothing of you or your character; but I believe you +will pardon a few rough words to an old man who asks forgiveness from +his heart. I have heard much of you since then; for you have a fervent +advocate in my house. I believe you will understand that I speak of my +son. He is, I regret to say, very far from well; he does not pick up as +the doctors had expected; he has a great deal upon his mind, and, to +tell you the truth, my girl, if you won't help us, I am afraid I shall +lose him. Come now, forgive him! I was angry with him once myself, and I +found I was in the wrong. This is only a misunderstanding, like the +other, believe me; and, with one kind movement, you may give happiness +to him, and to me, and to yourself." + +Esther made a movement towards the door, but long before she reached it +she had broken forth sobbing. + +"It is all right," said the Admiral; "I understand the sex. Let me make +you my compliments, Mr. Naseby." + +The Squire was too much relieved to be angry. + +"My dear," said he to Esther, "you must not agitate yourself." + +"She had better go up and see him right away," suggested Van Tromp. + +"I had not ventured to propose it," replied the Squire. "_Les +convenances_, I believe----" + +"_Je m'en fiche_," cried the Admiral, snapping his fingers. "She shall +go and see my friend Dick. Run and get ready, Esther." + +Esther obeyed. + +"She has not--has not run away again?" inquired Mr. Naseby, as soon as +she was gone. + +"No," said Van Tromp, "not again. She is a devilish odd girl, though, +mind you that." + +"But I cannot stomach the man with the carbuncles," thought the Squire. + +And this is why there is a new household and a brand-new baby in Naseby +Dower House; and why the great Van Tromp lives in pleasant style upon +the shores of England; and why twenty-six individual copies of the +_Thymebury Star_ are received daily at the door of Naseby House. + + + + +THE MERRY MEN + + + _My dear Lady Taylor_, + + _To your name, if I wrote on brass, I could add nothing; it has been + already written higher than I could dream to reach, by a strong and a + dear hand; and if I now dedicate to you these tales,[1] it is not as + the writer who brings you his work, but as the friend who would + remind you of his affection._ + + ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON. + + _Skerryvore, Bournemouth._ + + + + +THE MERRY MEN + + + + +CHAPTER I + +EILEAN AROS + + +It was a beautiful morning in the late July when I set forth on foot for +the last time for Aros. A boat had put me ashore the night before at +Grisapol; I had such breakfast as the little inn afforded, and, leaving +all my baggage till I had an occasion to come round for it by sea, +struck right across the promontory with a cheerful heart. + +I was far from being a native of these parts, springing, as I did, from +an unmixed lowland stock. But an uncle of mine, Gordon Darnaway, after a +poor, rough youth, and some years at sea, had married a young wife in +the islands; Mary Maclean she was called, the last of her family; and +when she died in giving birth to a daughter, Aros, the sea-girt farm, +had remained in his possession. It brought him in nothing but the means +of life, as I was well aware; but he was a man whom ill-fortune had +pursued; he feared, cumbered as he was with the young child, to make a +fresh adventure upon life; and remained in Aros, biting his nails at +destiny. Years passed over his head in that isolation, and brought +neither help nor contentment. Meantime our family was dying out in the +lowlands; there is little luck for any of that race; and perhaps my +father was the luckiest of all, for not only was he one of the last to +die, but he left a son to his name and a little money to support it. I +was a student of Edinburgh University, living well enough at my own +charges, but without kith or kin; when some news of me found its way to +Uncle Gordon on the Ross of Grisapol; and he, as he was a man who held +blood thicker than water, wrote to me the day he heard of my existence, +and taught me to count Aros as my home. Thus it was that I came to spend +my vacations in that part of the country, so far from all society and +comfort, between the codfish and the moorcocks; and thus it was that +now, when I had done with my classes, I was returning thither with so +light a heart that July day. + +The Ross, as we call it, is a promontory neither wide nor high, but as +rough as God made it to this day; the deep sea on either hand of it, +full of rugged isles and reefs most perilous to seamen--all overlooked +from the eastward by some very high cliffs and the great peak of Ben +Kyaw. _The Mountain of the Mist_, they say the words signify in the +Gaelic tongue; and it is well named. For that hill-top, which is more +than three thousand feet in height, catches all the clouds that come +blowing from the seaward; and, indeed, I used often to think that it +must make them for itself; since when all heaven was clear to the sea +level, there would ever be a streamer on Ben Kyaw. It brought water, +too, and was mossy[2] to the top in consequence. I have seen us sitting +in broad sunshine on the Ross, and the rain falling black like crape +upon the mountain. But the wetness of it made it often appear more +beautiful to my eyes; for when the sun struck upon the hillsides there +were many wet rocks and watercourses that shone like jewels even as far +as Aros, fifteen miles away. + +The road that I followed was a cattle-track. It twisted so as nearly to +double the length of my journey; it went over rough boulders so that a +man had to leap from one to another, and through soft bottoms where the +moss came nearly to the knee. There was no cultivation anywhere, and +not one house in the ten miles from Grisapol to Aros. Houses of course +there were--three at least; but they lay so far on the one side or the +other that no stranger could have found them from the track. A large +part of the Ross is covered with big granite rocks, some of them larger +than a two-roomed house, one beside another, with fern and deep heather +in between them where the vipers breed. Any way the wind was, it was +always sea air, as salt as on a ship; the gulls were as free as moorfowl +over all the Ross; and whenever the way rose a little, your eye would +kindle with the brightness of the sea. From the very midst of the land, +on a day of wind and a high spring, I have heard the Roost roaring like +a battle where it runs by Aros, and the great and fearful voices of the +breakers that we call the Merry Men. + +Aros itself--Aros Jay, I have heard the natives call it, and they say it +means _the House of God_--Aros itself was not properly a piece of the +Ross, nor was it quite an islet. It formed the south-west corner of the +land, fitted close to it, and was in one place only separated from the +coast by a little gut of the sea, not forty feet across the narrowest. +When the tide was full, this was clear and still, like a pool on a land +river; only there was a difference in the weeds and fishes, and the +water itself was green instead of brown; but when the tide went out, in +the bottom of the ebb, there was a day or two in every month when you +could pass dryshod from Aros to the mainland. There was some good +pasture, where my uncle fed the sheep he lived on; perhaps the feed was +better because the ground rose higher on the islet than the main level +of the Ross, but this I am not skilled enough to settle. The house was a +good one for that country, two stories high. It looked westward over a +bay, with a pier hard by for a boat, and from the door you could watch +the vapours blowing on Ben Kyaw. + +On all this part of the coast, and especially near Aros, these great +granite rocks that I have spoken of go down together in troops into the +sea, like cattle on a summer's day. There they stand, for all the world +like their neighbours ashore; only the salt water sobbing between them +instead of the quiet earth, and clots of sea-pink blooming on their +sides instead of heather; and the great sea-conger to wreathe about the +base of them instead of the poisonous viper of the land. On calm days +you can go wandering between them in a boat for hours, echoes following +you about the labyrinth; but when the sea is up, Heaven help the man +that hears that caldron boiling. + +Off the south-west end of Aros these blocks are very many, and much +greater in size. Indeed, they must grow monstrously bigger out to sea, +for there must be ten sea miles of open water sown with them as thick as +a country place with houses, some standing thirty feet above the tides, +some covered, but all perilous to ships; so that on a clear, westerly +blowing day, I have counted, from the top of Aros, the great rollers +breaking white and heavy over as many as six-and-forty buried reefs. But +it is nearer in shore that the danger is worst; for the tide, here +running like a mill-race, makes a long belt of broken water--a _Roost_ +we call it--at the tail of the land. I have often been out there in a +dead calm at the slack of the tide; and a strange place it is, with the +sea swirling and combing up and boiling like the caldrons of a linn, and +now and again a little dancing mutter of sound as though the _Roost_ +were talking to itself. But when the tide begins to run again, and above +all in heavy weather, there is no man could take a boat within half a +mile of it, nor a ship afloat that could either steer or live in such a +place. You can hear the roaring of it six miles away. At the seaward end +there comes the strongest of the bubble; and it's here that these big +breakers dance together--the dance of death, it may be called--that have +got the name, in these parts, of the Merry Men. I have heard it said +that they run fifty feet high; but that must be the green water only, +for the spray runs twice as high as that. Whether they got the name +from their movements, which are swift and antic, or from the shouting +they make about the turn of the tide, so that all Aros shakes with it, +is more than I can tell. + +The truth is, that in a south-westerly wind, that part of our +archipelago is no better than a trap. If a ship got through the reefs, +and weathered the Merry Men, it would be to come ashore on the south +coast of Aros, in Sandag Bay, where so many dismal things befell our +family, as I propose to tell. The thought of all these dangers, in the +place I knew so long, makes me particularly welcome the works now going +forward to set lights upon the headlands and buoys along the channels of +our iron-bound, inhospitable islands. + +The country people had many a story about Aros, as I used to hear from +my uncle's man, Rorie, an old servant of the Macleans, who had +transferred his services without afterthought on the occasion of the +marriage. There was some tale of an unlucky creature, a sea-kelpie, that +dwelt and did business in some fearful manner of his own among the +boiling breakers of the Roost. A mermaid had once met a piper on Sandag +beach, and there sang to him a long, bright midsummer's night, so that +in the morning he was found stricken crazy, and from thenceforward, till +the day he died, said only one form of words; what they were in the +original Gaelic I cannot tell, but they were thus translated: "Ah, the +sweet singing out of the sea." Seals that haunted on that coast have +been known to speak to man in his own tongue, presaging great disasters. +It was here that a certain saint first landed on his voyage out of +Ireland to convert the Hebrideans. And, indeed, I think he had some +claim to be called saint; for, with the boats of that past age, to make +so rough a passage, and land on such a ticklish coast, was surely not +far short of the miraculous. It was to him, or to some of his monkish +underlings who had a cell there, that the islet owes its holy and +beautiful name, the House of God. + +Among these old wives' stories there was one which I was inclined to +hear with more credulity. As I was told, in that tempest which scattered +the ships of the Invincible Armada over all the north and west of +Scotland, one great vessel came ashore on Aros, and before the eyes of +some solitary people on a hill-top, went down in a moment with all +hands, her colours flying even as she sank. There was some likelihood in +this tale; for another of that fleet lay sunk on the north side, twenty +miles from Grisapol. It was told, I thought, with more detail and +gravity than its companion stories, and there was one particularity +which went far to convince me of its truth: the name, that is, of the +ship was still remembered, and sounded, in my ears, Spanishly. The +_Espirito Santo_ they called it, a great ship of many decks of guns, +laden with treasure and grandees of Spain, and fierce soldadoes, that +now lay fathom deep to all eternity, done with her wars and voyages, in +Sandag Bay, upon the west of Aros. No more salvos of ordnance for that +tall ship, the "Holy Spirit," no more fair winds or happy ventures; only +to rot there deep in the sea-tangle and hear the shoutings of the Merry +Men as the tide ran high about the island. It was a strange thought to +me first and last, and only grew stranger as I learned the more of +Spain, from which she had set sail with so proud a company, and King +Philip, the wealthy king, that sent her on that voyage. + +And now I must tell you, as I walked from Grisapol that day, the +_Espirito Santo_ was very much in my reflections. I had been favourably +remarked by our then Principal in Edinburgh College, that famous writer, +Dr. Robertson, and by him had been set to work on some papers of an +ancient date to rearrange and sift of what was worthless; and in one of +these, to my great wonder, I found a note of this very ship, the +_Espirito Santo_, with her captain's name, and how she carried a great +part of the Spaniards' treasure, and had been lost upon the Ross of +Grisapol; but in what particular spot the wild tribes of that place and +period would give no information to the king's inquiries. Putting one +thing with another, and taking our island tradition together with this +note of old King Jamie's perquisitions after wealth, it had come +strongly on my mind that the spot for which he sought in vain could be +no other than the small bay of Sandag on my uncle's land; and being a +fellow of a mechanical turn, I had ever since been plotting how to weigh +that good ship up again with all her ingots, ounces, and doubloons, and +bring back our house of Darnaway to its long-forgotten dignity and +wealth. + +This was a design of which I soon had reason to repent. My mind was +sharply turned on different reflections; and since I became the witness +of a strange judgment of God's, the thought of dead men's treasures has +been intolerable to my conscience. But even at that time I must acquit +myself of sordid greed; for if I desired riches, it was not for their +own sake, but for the sake of a person who was dear to my heart--my +uncle's daughter, Mary Ellen. She had been educated well, and had been a +time to school upon the mainland; which, poor girl, she would have been +happier without. For Aros was no place for her, with old Rorie the +servant, and her father, who was one of the unhappiest men in Scotland, +plainly bred up in a country place among Cameronians, long a skipper +sailing out of the Clyde about the islands, and now, with infinite +discontent, managing his sheep and a little 'long shore fishing for the +necessary bread. If it was sometimes weariful to me, who was there but a +month or two, you may fancy what it was to her who dwelt in that same +desert all the year round, with the sheep and flying sea-gulls, and the +Merry Men singing and dancing in the Roost! + + + + +CHAPTER II + +WHAT THE WRECK HAD BROUGHT TO AROS + + +It was half-flood when I got the length of Aros; and there was nothing +for it but to stand on the far shore and whistle for Rorie with the +boat. I had no need to repeat the signal. At the first sound, Mary was +at the door flying a handkerchief by way of answer, and the old +long-legged serving-man was shambling down the gravel to the pier. For +all his hurry, it took him a long while to pull across the bay; and I +observed him several times to pause, go into the stern, and look over +curiously into the wake. As he came nearer, he seemed to me aged and +haggard, and I thought he avoided my eye. The coble had been repaired, +with two new thwarts and several patches of some rare and beautiful +foreign wood, the name of it unknown to me. + +"Why, Rorie," said I, as we began the return voyage, "this is fine wood. +How came you by that?" + +"It will be hard to cheesel," Rorie opined reluctantly; and just then, +dropping the oars, he made another of those dives into the stern which I +had remarked as he came across to fetch me, and, leaning his hand on my +shoulder, stared with an awful look into the waters of the bay. + +"What is wrong?" I asked, a good deal startled. + +"It will be a great feesh," said the old man, returning to his oars; and +nothing more could I get out of him but strange glances and an ominous +nodding of the head. In spite of myself, I was infected with a measure +of uneasiness; I turned also, and studied the wake. The water was still +and transparent, but, out here in the middle of the bay, exceeding deep. +For some time I could see naught; but at last it did seem to me as if +something dark--a great fish, or perhaps only a shadow--followed +studiously in the track of the moving coble. And then I remembered one +of Rorie's superstitions: how in a ferry in Morven, in some great, +exterminating feud among the clans, a fish, the like of it unknown in +all our waters, followed for some years the passage of the ferryboat, +until no man dared to make the crossing. + +"He will be waiting for the right man," said Rorie. + +Mary met me on the beach, and led me up the brae and into the house of +Aros. Outside and inside there were many changes. The garden was fenced +with the same wood that I had noted in the boat; there were chairs in +the kitchen covered with strange brocade; curtains of brocade hung from +the window; a clock stood silent on the dresser; a lamp of brass was +swinging from the roof; the table was set for dinner with the finest of +linen and silver; and all these new riches were displayed in the plain +old kitchen that I knew so well, with the high-backed settle, and the +stools, and the closet bed for Rorie; with the wide chimney the sun +shone into, and the clear-smouldering peats; with the pipes on the +mantelshelf and the three-cornered spittoons, filled with sea-shells +instead of sand, on the floor; with the bare stone walls and the bare +wooden floor, and the three patchwork rugs that were of yore its sole +adornment--poor man's patchwork, the like of it unknown in cities, woven +with homespun, and Sunday black, and sea-cloth polished on the bench of +rowing. The room, like the house, had been a sort of wonder in that +country-side, it was so neat and habitable; and to see it now, shamed by +these incongruous additions, filled me with indignation and a kind of +anger. In view of the errand I had come upon to Aros, the feeling was +baseless and unjust; but it burned high, at the first moment, in my +heart. + +"Mary, girl," said I, "this is the place I had learned to call my home, +and I do not know it." + +"It is my home by nature, not by the learning," she replied; "the place +I was born and the place I'm like to die in; and I neither like these +changes, nor the way they came, nor that which came with them. I would +have liked better, under God's pleasure, they had gone down into the +sea, and the Merry Men were dancing on them now." + +Mary was always serious; it was perhaps the only trait that she shared +with her father; but the tone with which she uttered these words was +even graver than of custom. + +"Ay," said I, "I feared it came by wreck, and that's by death; yet when +my father died I took his goods without remorse." + +"Your father died a clean-strae death, as the folk say," said Mary. + +"True," I returned; "and a wreck is like a judgment. What was she +called?" + +"They ca'd her the _Christ-Anna_," said a voice behind me; and, turning +round, I saw my uncle standing in the doorway. + +He was a sour, small, bilious man, with a long face and very dark eyes; +fifty-six years old, sound and active in body, and with an air somewhat +between that of a shepherd and that of a man following the sea. He never +laughed, that I heard; read long at the Bible; prayed much, like the +Cameronians he had been brought up among; and, indeed, in many ways, +used to remind me of one of the hill-preachers in the killing times +before the Revolution. But he never got much comfort, nor even, as I +used to think, much guidance, by his piety. He had his black fits when +he was afraid of hell; but he had led a rough life, to which he would +look back with envy, and was still a rough, cold, gloomy man. + +As he came in at the door out of the sunlight, with his bonnet on his +head and a pipe hanging in his button-hole, he seemed, like Rorie, to +have grown older and paler, the lines were deeplier ploughed upon his +face, and the whites of his eyes were yellow, like old stained ivory, or +the bones of the dead. + +"Ay," he repeated, dwelling upon the first part of the word, "the +_Christ-Anna_. It's an awfu' name." + +I made him my salutations, and complimented him upon his look of health; +for I feared he had perhaps been ill. + +"I'm in the body," he replied, ungraciously enough; "aye in the body and +the sins of the body, like yoursel'. Denner," he said abruptly to Mary, +and then ran on, to me: "They're grand braws, thir that we hae gotten, +are they no'? Yon's a bonny knock,[3] but it'll no gang; and the +napery's by ordnar. Bonny, bairnly braws; it's for the like o' them folk +sells the peace of God that passeth understanding; it's for the like o' +them, an' maybe no' even sae muckle worth, folk daunton God to His face +and burn in muckle hell; and it's for that reason the Scripture ca's +them, as I read the passage, the accursed thing.--Mary, ye girzie," he +interrupted himself to cry with some asperity, "what for hae ye no' put +out the twa candlesticks?" + +"Why should we need them at high noon?" she asked. + +But my uncle was not to be turned from his idea. "We'll bruik[4] them +while we may," he said; and so two massive candlesticks of wrought +silver were added to the table equipage, already so unsuited to that +rough seaside farm. + +"She cam' ashore Februar' 10, about ten at nicht," he went on to me. +"There was nae wind, and a sair run o' sea; and she was in the sook o' +the Roost, as I jaloose. We had seen her a' day, Rorie and me, beating +to the wind. She wasna a handy craft, I'm thinking, that _Christ-Anna_; +for she would neither steer nor stey wi' them. A sair day they had of +it; their hands was never aff the sheets, and it perishin' cauld--ower +cauld to snaw; and aye they would get a bit nip o' wind, and awa' again, +to pit the emp'y hope into them. Eh, man! but they had a sair day for +the last o't! He would have had a prood, prood heart that won ashore +upon the back o' that." + +"And were all lost?" I cried. "God help them!" + +"Wheesht!" he said sternly. "Nane shall pray for the deid on my +hearth-stane." + +I disclaimed a Popish sense for my ejaculation; and he seemed to accept +my disclaimer with unusual facility, and ran on once more upon what had +evidently become a favourite subject. + +"We fand her in Sandag Bay, Rorie an' me, and a' thae braws in the +inside of her. There's a kittle bit, ye see, about Sandag; whiles the +sook rins strong for the Merry Men; an' whiles again, when the tide's +makin' hard an' ye can hear the Roost blawin' at the far-end of Aros, +there comes a back-spang of current straucht into Sandag Bay. Weel, +there's the thing that got the grip on the _Christ-Anna_. She buet to +have come in ram-stam an' stern forrit; for the bows of her are aften +under, and the back-side of her is clear at hie-water o' neaps. But, +man! the dunt that she cam doon wi' when she struck! Lord save us a'l +but it's an unco life to be a sailor--a cauld, wanchancy life. Mony's +the gliff I got mysel' in the great deep; and why the Lord should hae +made yon unco water is mair than ever I could win to understand. He made +the vales and the pastures, the bonny green yaird, the halesome, canty +land-- + + And now they shout and sing to Thee, + For Thou hast made them glad, + +as the Psalms say in the metrical version. No' that I would preen my +faith to that clink neither; but it's bonny, and easier to mind. 'Who +go to sea in ships,' they hae't again-- + + and in + Great waters trading be, + Within the deep these men God's works + And His great wonders see. + +Weel, it's easy sayin' sae. Maybe Dauvit wasna very weel acquaint wi' +the sea. But, troth, if it wasna prentit in the Bible, I wad whiles be +temp'it to think it wasna the Lord, but the muckle black deil that made +the sea. There's naething good comes oot o't but the fish; an' the +spentacle o' God riding on the tempest, to be shuere, whilk would be what +Dauvit was likely ettling at. But, man, they were sair wonders that God +showed to the _Christ-Anna_--wonders, do I ca' them? Judgments, rather: +judgments in the mirk nicht among the draygons o' the deep. And their +souls--to think o' that--their souls, man, maybe no' prepared! The +sea--a muckle yett to hell!" + +I observed, as my uncle spoke, that his voice was unnaturally moved and +his manner unwontedly demonstrative. He leaned forward at these last +words, for example, and touched me on the knee with his spread fingers, +looking up into my face with a certain pallor, and I could see that his +eyes shone with a deep-seated fire, and that the lines about his mouth +were drawn and tremulous. + +Even the entrance of Rorie, and the beginning of our meal, did not +detach him from his train of thought beyond a moment. He condescended, +indeed, to ask me some questions as to my success at college, but I +thought it was with half his mind; and even in his extempore grace, +which was, as usual, long and wandering, I could find the trace of his +preoccupation, praying, as he did, that God would "remember in mercy +fower puir, feckless, fiddling, sinful creatures here by their lee-lane +beside the great and dowie waters." + +Soon there came an interchange of speeches between him and Rorie. + +"Was it there?" asked my uncle. + +"Ou, ay!" said Rorie. + +I observed that they both spoke in a manner of aside, and with some show +of embarrassment, and that Mary herself appeared to colour, and looked +down on her plate. Partly to show my knowledge, and so relieve the party +from an awkward strain, partly because I was curious, I pursued the +subject. + +"You mean the fish?" I asked. + +"Whatten fish?" cried my uncle. "Fish, quo' he! Fish! Your een are fu' +o' fatness, man; your heid dozened wi' carnal leir. Fish! it's a bogle!" + +He spoke with great vehemence, as though angry; and perhaps I was not +very willing to be put down so shortly, for young men are disputatious. +At least I remember I retorted hotly, crying out upon childish +superstitions. + +"And ye come frae the College!" sneered Uncle Gordon. "Gude kens what +they learn folk there; it's no' muckle service onyway. Do ye think, man, +that there's naething in a' yon saut wilderness o' a world oot wast +there, wi' the sea-grasses growin', an' the sea-beasts fechtin', an' the +sun glintin' down into it, day by day? Na; the sea's like the land, but +fearsomer. If there's folk ashore, there's folk in the sea--deid they +may be, but they're folk whatever; and as for deils, there's nane that's +like the sea-deils. There's no sae muckle harm in the land-deils, when +a's said and done. Lang syne, when I was a callant in the south country, +I mind there was an auld, bald bogle in the Peewic Moss. I got a glisk +o' him mysel', sittin' on his hunkers in a hag, as grey's a tombstane. +An', troth, he was a fearsome-like taed. But he steered naebody. Nae +doobt, if ane that was a reprobate, ane the Lord hated, had gane by +there wi' his sin still upon his stamach, nae doobt the creature would +hae lowped upo' the likes o' him. But there's deils in the deep sea +would yoke on a communicant! Eh, sirs, if ye had gane doon wi' the puir +lads in the _Christ-Anna_, ye would ken by now the mercy o' the seas. If +ye had sailed it for as lang as me, ye would hate the thocht of it as I +do. If ye had but used the een God gave ye, ye would hae learned the +wickedness o' that fause, saut, cauld, bullering creature, and of a' +that's in it by the Lord's permission: labsters an' partans, an' +sic-like, howking in the deid; muckle, gutsy, blawing whales; an' +fish--the hale clan o' them--cauld-wamed, blind-ee'd uncanny ferlies. +Oh, sirs," he cried, "the horror--the horror o' the sea!" + +We were all somewhat staggered by this outburst; and the speaker +himself, after that last hoarse apostrophe, appeared to sink gloomily +into his own thoughts. But Rorie, who was greedy of superstitious lore, +recalled him to the subject by a question. + +"You will not ever have seen a teevil of the sea?" he asked. + +"No' clearly," replied the other. "I misdoobt if a mere man could see +ane clearly and conteenue in the body. I hae sailed wi' a lad--they ca'd +him Sandy Gabart; he saw ane, shuere eneuch, an' shuere eneuch it was the +end of him. We were seeven days oot frae the Clyde--a sair wark we had +had--gaun north wi' seeds an' braws an' things for the Macleod. We had +got in ower near under the Cutchull'ns, an' had just gane about by Soa, +an' were off on a long tack, we thocht would maybe hauld as far's +Copnahow. I mind the nicht weel; a mune smoored wi' mist; a fine-gaun +breeze upon the water, but no steedy; an'--what nane o' us likit to +hear--anither wund gurlin' owerheid, amang thae fearsome, auld stane +craigs o' the Cutchull'ns. Weel, Sandy was forrit wi' the jib sheet; we +couldna see him for the mains'l, that had just begude to draw, when a' +at ance he gied a skirl. I luffed for my life, for I thocht we were over +near Soa; but na, it wasna that, it was puir Sandy Gabart's deid +skreigh, or near-hand, for he was deid in half an hour. A't he could +tell was that a sea-deil, or sea-bogle, or sea-spenster, or sic-like, +had clum up by the bowsprit, an' gi'en him ae cauld, uncanny look. An', +or the life was oot o' Sandy's body, we kent weel what the thing +betokened, and why the wund gurled in the taps o' the Cutchull'ns; for +doon it cam'--a wund do I ca' it! It was the wund o' the Lord's +anger--an' a' that nicht we focht like men dementit, and the neist that +we kenned we were ashore in Loch Uskevagh, an' the cocks were crawin' in +Benbecula." + +"It will have been a merman," Rorie said. + +"A merman!" screamed my uncle with immeasurable scorn. "Auld wives' +clavers! There's nae sic things as mermen." + +"But what was the creature like?" I asked. + +"What like was it? Gude forbid that we suld ken what like it was! It had +a kind of a heid upon it--man could say nae mair." + +Then Rorie, smarting under the affront, told several tales of mermen, +mermaids, and sea-horses that had come ashore upon the islands and +attacked the crews of boats upon the sea; and my uncle, in spite of his +incredulity, listened with uneasy interest. + +"Aweel, aweel," he said, "it may be sae; I may be wrang; but I find nae +word o' mermen in the Scriptures." + +"And you will find nae word of Aros Roost, maybe," objected Rorie, and +his argument appeared to carry weight. + +When dinner was over, my uncle carried me forth with him to a bank +behind the house. It was a very hot and quiet afternoon; scarce a ripple +anywhere upon the sea, nor any voice but the familiar voice of sheep and +gulls; and perhaps in consequence of this repose in nature, my kinsman +showed himself more rational and tranquil than before. He spoke evenly +and almost cheerfully of my career, with every now and then a reference +to the lost ship or the treasures it had brought to Aros. For my part, I +listened to him in a sort of trance, gazing with all my heart on that +remembered scene, and drinking gladly the sea-air and the smoke of +peats that had been lit by Mary. + +Perhaps an hour had passed when my uncle, who had all the while been +covertly gazing on the surface of the little bay, rose to his feet and +bade me follow his example. Now I should say that the great run of tide +at the south-west end of Aros exercises a perturbing influence round all +the coast. In Sandag Bay, to the south, a strong current runs at certain +points of the flood and ebb respectively; but in this northern bay--Aros +Bay, as it is called--where the house stands and on which my uncle was +now gazing, the only sign of disturbance is towards the end of the ebb, +and even then it is too slight to be remarkable. When there is any +swell, nothing can be seen at all; but when it is calm, as it often is, +there appear certain strange, undecipherable marks--sea-runes, as we may +name them--on the glassy surface of the bay. The like is common in a +thousand places on the coast; and many a boy must have amused himself as +I did, seeking to read in them some reference to himself or those he +loved. It was to these marks that my uncle now directed my attention, +struggling, as he did so, with an evident reluctance. + +"Do you see yon scart upo' the water?" he inquired; "yon ane wast the +grey stane? Ay? Weel, it'll no' be like a letter, wull it?" + +"Certainly it is," I replied. "I have often remarked it. It is like a +C." + +He heaved a sigh as if heavily disappointed with my answer, and then +added below his breath: "Ay, for the _Christ-Anna_." + +"I used to suppose, sir, it was for myself," said I; "for my name is +Charles." + +"And so ye saw't afore?" he ran on, not heeding my remark. "Weel, weel, +but that's unco strange. Maybe, it's been there waitin', as a man wad +say, through a' the weary ages. Man, but that's awfu'." And then, +breaking off: "Ye'll no' see anither, will ye?" he asked. + +"Yes," said I. "I see another very plainly, near the Ross side, where +the road comes down--an M." + +"An M," he repeated very low; and then, again after another pause: "An' +what wad ye make o' that?" he inquired. + +"I had always thought it to mean Mary, sir," I answered, growing +somewhat red, convinced as I was in my own mind that I was on the +threshold of a decisive explanation. + +But we were each following his own train of thought to the exclusion of +the other's. My uncle once more paid no attention to my words; only hung +his head and held his peace; and I might have been led to fancy that he +had not heard me, if his next speech had not contained a kind of echo +from my own. + +"I would say naething o' thae clavers to Mary," he observed, and began +to walk forward. + +There is a belt of turf along the side of Aros Bay where walking is +easy; and it was along this that I silently followed my silent kinsman. +I was perhaps a little disappointed at having lost so good an +opportunity to declare my love; but I was at the same time far more +deeply exercised at the change that had befallen my uncle. He was never +an ordinary, never, in the strict sense, an amiable, man; but there was +nothing in even the worst that I had known of him before, to prepare me +for so strange a transformation. It was impossible to close the eyes +against one fact; that he had, as the saying goes, something on his +mind; and as I mentally ran over the different words which might be +represented by the letter M--misery, mercy, marriage, money, and the +like--I was arrested with a sort of start by the word murder. I was +still considering the ugly sound and fatal meaning of the word, when the +direction of our walk brought us to a point from which a view was to be +had to either side, back towards Aros Bay and homestead, and forward on +the ocean, dotted to the north with isles, and lying to the southward +blue and open to the sky. There my guide came to a halt, and stood +staring for awhile on that expanse. Then he turned to me and laid a hand +on my arm. + +"Ye think there's naething there?" he said, pointing with his pipe; and +then cried out aloud, with a kind of exultation: "I'll tell ye, man! The +deid are down there--thick like rattons!" + +He turned at once, and, without another word, we retraced our steps to +the house of Aros. + +I was eager to be alone with Mary; yet it was not till after supper, and +then but for a short while, that I could have a word with her. I lost no +time beating about the bush, but spoke out plainly what was on my mind. + +"Mary," I said, "I have not come to Aros without a hope. If that should +prove well founded, we may all leave and go somewhere else, secure of +daily bread and comfort; secure, perhaps, of something far beyond that, +which it would seem extravagant in me to promise. But there's a hope +that lies nearer to my heart than money." And at that I paused. "You can +guess fine what that is, Mary," I said. She looked away from me in +silence, and that was small encouragement, but I was not to be put off. +"All my days I have thought the world of you," I continued; "the time +goes on and I think always the more of you; I could not think to be +happy or hearty in my life without you: you are the apple of my eye." +Still she looked away, and said never a word; but I thought I saw that +her hands shook. "Mary," I cried in fear, "do ye no' like me?" + +"Oh, Charlie man," she said, "is this a time to speak of it? Let me be a +while; let me be the way I am; it'll not be you that loses by the +waiting!" + +I made out by her voice that she was nearly weeping, and this put me out +of any thought but to compose her. "Mary Ellen," I said, "say no more; I +did not come to trouble you: your way shall be mine, and your time too; +and you have told me all I wanted. Only just this one thing more: what +ails you?" + +She owned it was her father, but would enter into no particulars, only +shook her head, and said he was not well and not like himself, and it +was a great pity. She knew nothing of the wreck. "I havena been near +it," said she. "What for would I go near it, Charlie lad? The poor souls +are gone to their account long syne; and I would just have wished they +had ta'en their gear with them--poor souls!" + +This was scarcely any great encouragement for me to tell her of the +_Espirito Santo_; yet I did so, and at the very first word she cried out +in surprise. "There was a man at Grisapol," she said, "in the month of +May--a little, yellow, black-avised body, they tell me, with gold rings +upon his fingers, and a beard; and he was speiring high and low for that +same ship." + +It was towards the end of April that I had been given these papers to +sort out by Dr. Robertson: and it came suddenly back upon my mind that +they were thus prepared for a Spanish historian, or a man calling +himself such, who had come with high recommendations to the Principal, +on a mission of inquiry as to the dispersion of the great Armada. +Putting one thing with another, I fancied that the visitor "with the +gold rings upon his fingers" might be the same with Dr. Robertson's +historian from Madrid. If that were so, he would be more likely after +treasure for himself than information for a learned society. I made up +my mind, I should lose no time over my undertaking; and if the ship lay +sunk in Sandag Bay, as perhaps both he and I supposed, it should not be +for the advantage of this ringed adventurer, but for Mary and myself, +and for the good, old, honest, kindly family of the Darnaways. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +LAND AND SEA IN SANDAG BAY + + +I was early afoot next morning; and as soon as I had a bite to eat, set +forth upon a tour of exploration. Something in my heart distinctly told +me that I should find the ship of the Armada; and although I did not +give way entirely to such hopeful thoughts, I was still very light in +spirits and walked upon air. Aros is a very rough islet, its surface +strewn with great rocks and shaggy with fern and heather; and my way lay +almost north and south across the highest knoll; and though the whole +distance was inside of two miles, it took more time and exertion than +four upon a level road. Upon the summit, I paused. Although not very +high--not three hundred feet, as I think--it yet outtops all the +neighbouring lowlands of the Ross, and commands a great view of sea and +islands. The sun, which had been up some time, was already hot upon my +neck; the air was listless and thundery, although purely clear; away +over the north-west, where the isles lie thickliest congregated, some +half a dozen small and ragged clouds hung together in a covey; and the +head of Ben Kyaw wore, not merely a few streamers, but a solid hood of +vapour. There was a threat in the weather. The sea, it is true, was +smooth like glass: even the Roost was but a seam on that wide mirror, +and the Merry Men no more than caps of foam; but to my eye and ear, so +long familiar with these places, the sea also seemed to lie uneasily; a +sound of it, like a long sigh, mounted to me where I stood; and, quiet +as it was, the Roost itself appeared to be revolving mischief. For I +ought to say that all we dwellers in these parts attributed, if not +prescience, at least a quality of warning, to that strange and dangerous +creature of the tides. + +I hurried on, then, with the greater speed, and had soon descended the +slope of Aros to the part that we call Sandag Bay. It is a pretty large +piece of water compared with the size of the isle; well sheltered from +all but the prevailing wind; sandy and shoal and bounded by low +sand-hills to the west, but to the eastward lying several fathoms deep +along a ledge of rocks. It is upon that side that, at a certain time +each flood, the current mentioned by my uncle sets so strong into the +bay; a little later, when the Roost begins to work higher, an undertow +runs still more strongly in the reverse direction; and it is the action +of this last, as I suppose, that has scoured that part so deep. Nothing +is to be seen out of Sandag Bay but one small segment of the horizon +and, in heavy weather, the breakers flying high over a deep-sea reef. + +From half-way down the hill I had perceived the wreck of February last, +a brig of considerable tonnage, lying, with her back broken, high and +dry on the east corner of the sands; and I was making directly towards +it, and already almost on the margin of the turf, when my eyes were +suddenly arrested by a spot, cleared of fern and heather, and marked by +one of those long, low, and almost human-looking mounds that we see so +commonly in graveyards. I stopped like a man shot. Nothing had been said +to me of any dead man or interment on the island; Rorie, Mary, and my +uncle had all equally held their peace; of her at least, I was certain +that she must be ignorant; and yet here, before my eyes, was proof +indubitable of the fact. Here was a grave; and I had to ask myself, with +a chill, what manner of man lay there in his last sleep, awaiting the +signal of the Lord in that solitary, sea-beat resting-place? My mind +supplied no answer but what I feared to entertain. Shipwrecked, at +least, he must have been; perhaps, like the old Armada mariners, from +some far and rich land over-sea; or perhaps one of my own race, +perishing within eyesight of the smoke of home. I stood awhile uncovered +by his side, and I could have desired that it had lain in our religion +to put up some prayer for that unhappy stranger, or, in the old classic +way, outwardly to honour his misfortune. I knew, although his bones lay +there, a part of Aros, till the trumpet sounded, his imperishable soul +was forth and far away, among the raptures of the everlasting Sabbath or +the pangs of hell; and yet my mind misgave me even with a fear, that +perhaps he was near me where I stood, guarding his sepulchre, and +lingering on the scene of his unhappy fate. + +Certainly it was with a spirit somewhat overshadowed that I turned away +from the grave to the hardly less melancholy spectacle of the wreck. Her +stem was above the first arc of the flood; she was broken in two a +little abaft the foremast--though indeed she had none, both masts having +broken short in her disaster; and as the pitch of the beach was very +sharp and sudden, and the bows lay many feet below the stern, the +fracture gaped widely open, and you could see right through her poor +hull upon the farther side. Her name was much defaced, and I could not +make out clearly whether she was called _Christiania_, after the +Norwegian city, or _Christiana_, after the good woman, Christian's wife, +in that old book the "Pilgrim's Progress." By her build she was a +foreign ship, but I was not certain of her nationality. She had been +painted green, but the colour was faded and weathered, and the paint +peeling off in strips. The wreck of the mainmast lay alongside, +half-buried in sand. She was a forlorn sight, indeed, and I could not +look without emotion at the bits of rope that still hung about her, so +often handled of yore by shouting seamen; or the little scuttle where +they had passed up and down to their affairs; or that poor noseless +angel of a figure-head that had dipped into so many running billows. + +I do not know whether it came most from the ship or from the grave, but +I fell into some melancholy scruples, as I stood there, leaning with one +hand against the battered timbers. The homelessness of men, and even of +inanimate vessels, cast away upon strange shores, came strongly in upon +my mind. To make a profit of such pitiful misadventures seemed an +unmanly and a sordid act; and I began to think of my then quest as of +something sacrilegious in its nature. But when I remembered Mary I took +heart again. My uncle would never consent to an imprudent marriage, nor +would she, as I was persuaded, wed without his full approval. It behoved +me, then, to be up and doing for my wife; and I thought with a laugh how +long it was since that great sea-castle, the _Espirito Santo_, had left +her bones in Sandag Bay, and how weak it would be to consider rights so +long extinguished and misfortunes so long forgotten in the process of +time. + +I had my theory of where to seek for her remains. The set of the current +and the soundings both pointed to the east side of the bay under the +ledge of rocks. If she had been lost in Sandag Bay, and if, after these +centuries, any portion of her held together, it was there that I should +find it. The water deepens, as I have said, with great rapidity, and +even close alongside the rocks several fathoms may be found. As I walked +upon the edge I could see far and wide over the sandy bottom of the bay; +the sun shone clear and green and steady in the deeps; the bay seemed +rather like a great transparent crystal, as one sees them in a +lapidary's shop; there was naught to show that it was water but an +internal trembling, a hovering within of sun-glints and netted shadows, +and now and then a faint lap and a dying bubble round the edge. The +shadows of the rocks lay out for some distance at their feet, so that my +own shadow, moving, pausing, and stooping on the top of that, reached +sometimes half across the bay. It was above all in this belt of shadows +that I hunted for the _Espirito Santo_; since it was there the undertow +ran strongest, whether in or out. Cool as the whole water seemed this +broiling day, it looked, in that part, yet cooler, and had a mysterious +invitation for the eyes. Peer as I pleased, however, I could see nothing +but a few fishes or a bush of sea-tangle, and here and there a lump of +rock that had fallen from above and now lay separate on the sandy floor. +Twice did I pass from one end to the other of the rocks, and in the +whole distance I could see nothing of the wreck, nor any place but one +where it was possible for it to be. This was a large terrace in five +fathoms of water, raised off the surface of the sand to a considerable +height, and looking from above like a mere outgrowth of the rocks on +which I walked. It was one mass of great sea-tangles like a grove, which +prevented me judging of its nature, but in shape and size it bore some +likeness to a vessel's hull. At least it was my best chance. If the +_Espirito Santo_ lay not there under the tangles, it lay nowhere at all +in Sandag Bay; and I prepared to put the question to the proof, once and +for all, and either go back to Aros a rich man or cured for ever of my +dreams of wealth. + +I stripped to the skin, and stood on the extreme margin with my hands +clasped, irresolute. The bay at that time was utterly quiet; there was +no sound but from a school of porpoises somewhere out of sight behind +the point; yet a certain fear withheld me on the threshold of my +venture. Sad sea-feelings, scraps of my uncle's superstitions, thoughts +of the dead, of the grave, of the old broken ships, drifted through my +mind. But the strong sun upon my shoulders warmed me to the heart, and I +stooped forward and plunged into the sea. + +It was all that I could do to catch a trail of the sea-tangle that grew +so thickly on the terrace; but once so far anchored I secured myself by +grasping a whole armful of these thick and slimy stalks, and, planting +my feet against the edge, I looked around me. On all sides the clear +sand stretched forth unbroken; it came to the foot of the rocks, +scoured into the likeness of an alley in a garden by the action of the +tides; and before me, for as far as I could see, nothing was visible but +the same many-folded sand upon the sun-bright bottom of the bay. Yet the +terrace to which I was then holding was as thick with strong sea-growths +as a tuft of heather, and the cliff from which it bulged hung draped +below the water-line with brown lianas. In this complexity of forms, all +swaying together in the current, things were hard to be distinguished; +and I was still uncertain whether my feet were pressed upon the natural +rock or upon the timbers of the Armada treasure-ship, when the whole +tuft of tangle came away in my hand, and in an instant I was on the +surface, and the shores of the bay and the bright water swam before my +eyes in a glory of crimson. + +I clambered back upon the rocks, and threw the plant of tangle at my +feet. Something at the same moment rang sharply, like a falling coin. I +stooped, and there, sure enough, crusted with the red rust, there lay an +iron shoe-buckle. The sight of this poor human relic thrilled me to the +heart, but not with hope nor fear, only with a desolate melancholy. I +held it in my hand, and the thought of its owner appeared before me like +the presence of an actual man. His weather-beaten face, his sailor's +hands, his sea-voice hoarse with singing at the capstan, the very foot +that had once worn that buckle and trod so much along the swerving +decks--the whole human fact of him, as a creature like myself, with hair +and blood and seeing eyes, haunted me in that sunny, solitary place, not +like a spectre, but like some friend whom I had basely injured. Was the +great treasure-ship indeed below there, with her guns and chain and +treasure, as she had sailed from Spain; her decks a garden for the +seaweed, her cabin a breeding-place for fish, soundless but for the +dredging water, motionless but for the waving of the tangle upon her +battlements--that old, populous, sea-riding castle, now a reef in Sandag +Bay? Or, as I thought it likelier, was this a waif from the disaster of +the foreign brig--was this shoe-buckle bought but the other day and worn +by a man of my own period in the world's history, hearing the same news +from day to day, thinking the same thoughts, praying, perhaps, in the +same temple with myself? However it was, I was assailed with dreary +thoughts; my uncle's words, "the dead are down there," echoed in my +ears; and though I determined to dive once more, it was with a strong +repugnance that I stepped forward to the margin of the rocks. + +A great change passed at that moment over the appearance of the bay. It +was no more that clear, visible interior, like a house roofed with +glass, where the green submarine sunshine slept so stilly. A breeze, I +suppose, had flawed the surface, and a sort of trouble and blackness +filled its bosom, where flashes of light and clouds of shadow tossed +confusedly together. Even the terrace below obscurely rocked and +quivered. It seemed a graver thing to venture on this place of ambushes; +and when I leaped into the sea a second time it was with a quaking in my +soul. + +I secured myself as at first, and groped among the waving tangle. All +that met my touch was cold and soft and gluey. The thicket was alive +with crabs and lobsters, trundling to and fro lopsidedly, and I had to +harden my heart against the horror of their carrion neighbourhood. On +all sides I could feel the grain and the clefts of hard, living stone; +no planks, no iron, not a sign of any wreck; the _Espirito Santo_ was +not there. I remember I had almost a sense of relief in my +disappointment, and I was about ready to leave go, when something +happened that sent me to the surface with my heart in my mouth. I had +already stayed somewhat late over my explorations; the current was +freshening with the change of the tide, and Sandag Bay was no longer a +safe place for a single swimmer. Well, just at the last moment there +came a sudden flush of current, dredging through the tangles like a +wave. I lost one hold, was flung sprawling on my side, and, +instinctively grasping for a fresh support, my fingers closed on +something hard and cold. I think I knew at that moment what it was. At +least I instantly left hold of the tangle, leaped for the surface, and +clambered out next moment on the friendly rocks with the bone of a man's +leg in my grasp. + +Mankind is a material creature, slow to think and dull to perceive +connections. The grave, the wreck of the brig, and the rusty shoe-buckle +were surely plain advertisements. A child might have read their dismal +story, and yet it was not until I touched that actual piece of mankind +that the full horror of the charnel ocean burst upon my spirit. I laid +the bone beside the buckle, picked up my clothes, and ran as I was along +the rocks towards the human shore. I could not be far enough from the +spot; no fortune was vast enough to tempt me back again. The bones of +the drowned dead should henceforth roll undisturbed by me, whether on +tangle or minted gold. But as soon as I trod the good earth again, and +had covered my nakedness against the sun, I knelt down over against the +ruins of the brig, and out of the fulness of my heart prayed long and +passionately for all poor souls upon the sea. A generous prayer is never +presented in vain; the petition may be refused, but the petitioner is +always, I believe, rewarded by some gracious visitation. The horror, at +least, was lifted from my mind; I could look with calm of spirit on that +great bright creature, God's ocean; and as I set off homeward up the +rough sides of Aros, nothing remained of my concern beyond a deep +determination to meddle no more with the spoils of wrecked vessels or +the treasures of the dead. + +I was already some way up the hill before I paused to breathe and look +behind me. The sight that met my eyes was doubly strange. + +For, first, the storm that I had foreseen was now advancing with almost +tropical rapidity. The whole surface of the sea had been dulled from its +conspicuous brightness to an ugly hue of corrugated lead; already in +the distance the white waves, the "skipper's daughters," had begun to +flee before a breeze that was still insensible on Aros; and already +along the curve of Sandag Bay there was a splashing run of sea that I +could hear from where I stood. The change upon the sky was even more +remarkable. There had begun to arise out of the south-west a huge and +solid continent of scowling cloud; here and there, through rents in its +contexture, the sun still poured a sheaf of spreading rays; and here and +there, from all its edges, vast inky streamers lay forth along the yet +unclouded sky. The menace was express and imminent. Even as I gazed, the +sun was blotted out. At any moment the tempest might fall upon Aros in +its might. + +The suddenness of this change of weather so fixed my eyes on heaven that +it was some seconds before they alighted on the bay, mapped out below my +feet, and robbed a moment later of the sun. The knoll which I had just +surmounted overflanked a little amphitheatre of lower hillocks sloping +towards the sea, and beyond that the yellow arc of beach and the whole +extent of Sandag Bay. It was a scene on which I had often looked down, +but where I had never before beheld a human figure. I had but just +turned my back upon it and left it empty, and my wonder may be fancied +when I saw a boat and several men in that deserted spot. The boat was +lying by the rocks. A pair of fellows, bareheaded, with their sleeves +rolled up, and one with a boat-hook, kept her with difficulty to her +moorings, for the current was growing brisker every moment. A little way +off upon the ledge two men in black clothes, whom I judged to be +superior in rank, laid their heads together over some task which at +first I did not understand, but a second after I had made it out--they +were taking bearings with the compass; and just then I saw one of them +unroll a sheet of paper and lay his finger down, as though identifying +features in a map. Meanwhile a third was walking to and fro, poking +among the rocks and peering over the edge into the water. While I was +still watching them with the stupefaction of surprise, my mind hardly +yet able to work on what my eyes reported, this third person suddenly +stooped and summoned his companions with a cry so loud that it reached +my ears upon the hill. The others ran to him, even dropping the compass +in their hurry, and I could see the bone and the shoe-buckle going from +hand to hand, causing the most unusual gesticulations of surprise and +interest. Just then I could hear the seamen crying from the boat, and +saw them point westward to that cloud continent which was ever the more +rapidly unfurling its blackness over heaven. The others seemed to +consult; but the danger was too pressing to be braved, and they bundled +into the boat, carrying my relics with them, and set forth out of the +bay with all speed of oars. + +I made no more ado about the matter, but turned and ran for the house. +Whoever these men were, it was fit my uncle should be instantly +informed. It was not then altogether too late in the day for a descent +of the Jacobites; and maybe Prince Charlie, whom I knew my uncle to +detest, was one of the three superiors whom I had seen upon the rock. +Yet as I ran, leaping from rock to rock, and turned the matter loosely +in my mind, this theory grew ever the longer the less welcome to my +reason. The compass, the map, the interest awakened by the buckle, and +the conduct of that one among the strangers who had looked so often +below him in the water, all seemed to point to a different explanation +of their presence on that outlying, obscure islet of the western sea. +The Madrid historian, the search instituted by Dr. Robertson, the +bearded stranger with the rings, my own fruitless search that very +morning in the deep water of Sandag Bay, ran together, piece by piece, +in my memory, and I made sure that these strangers must be Spaniards in +quest of ancient treasure and the lost ship of the Armada. But the +people living in outlying islands, such as Aros, are answerable for +their own security; there is none near by to protect or even to help +them; and the presence in such a spot of a crew of foreign +adventurers--poor, greedy, and most likely lawless--filled me with +apprehensions for my uncle's money, and even for the safety of his +daughter. I was still wondering how we were to get rid of them when I +came, all breathless, to the top of Aros. The whole world was shadowed +over; only in the extreme east, on a hill of the mainland, one last +gleam of sunshine lingered like a jewel; rain had begun to fall, not +heavily, but in great drops; the sea was rising with each moment, and +already a band of white encircled Aros and the nearer coasts of +Grisapol. The boat was still pulling seaward, but I now became aware of +what had been hidden from me lower down--a large, heavily sparred, +handsome schooner lying-to at the south end of Aros. Since I had not +seen her in the morning when I had looked around so closely at the signs +of the weather, and upon these lone waters where a sail was rarely +visible, it was clear she must have lain last night behind the +uninhabited Eilean Gour, and this proved conclusively that she was +manned by strangers to our coast, for that anchorage, though good enough +to look at, is little better than a trap for ships. With such ignorant +sailors upon so wild a coast, the coming gale was not unlikely to bring +death upon its wings. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE GALE + + +I found my uncle at the gable-end, watching the signs of the weather, +with a pipe in his fingers. + +"Uncle," said I, "there were men ashore at Sandag Bay----" + +I had no time to go further; indeed, I not only forgot my words, but +even my weariness, so strange was the effect on Uncle Gordon. He dropped +his pipe and fell back against the end of the house with his jaw fallen, +his eyes staring, and his long face as white as paper. We must have +looked at one another silently for a quarter of a minute, before he made +answer in this extraordinary fashion: "Had he a hair kep on?" + +I knew as well as if I had been there that the man who now lay buried at +Sandag had worn a hairy cap, and that he had come shore alive. For the +first and only time I lost toleration for the man who was my benefactor +and the father of the woman I hoped to call my wife. + +"These were living men," said I, "perhaps Jacobites, perhaps the French, +perhaps pirates, perhaps adventurers come here to seek the Spanish +treasure-ship; but, whatever they may be, dangerous at least to your +daughter and my cousin. As for your own guilty terrors, man, the dead +sleeps well where you have laid him. I stood this morning by his grave; +he will not wake before the trump of doom." + +My kinsman looked upon me, blinking, while I spoke; then he fixed his +eyes for a little on the ground, and pulled his fingers foolishly; but +it was plain that he was past the power of speech. + +"Come," said I. "You must think for others. You must come up the hill +with me and see this ship." + +He obeyed without a word or a look, following slowly after my impatient +strides. The spring seemed to have gone out of his body, and he +scrambled heavily up and down the rocks, instead of leaping, as he was +wont, from one to another. Nor could I, for all my cries, induce him to +make better haste. Only once he replied to me complainingly, and like +one in bodily pain: "Ay, ay, man, I'm coming." Long before we had +reached the top I had no other thought for him but pity. If the crime +had been monstrous, the punishment was in proportion. + +At last we emerged above the sky-line of the hill, and could see around +us. All was black and stormy to the eye; the last gleam of sun had +vanished; a wind had sprung up, not yet high, but gusty and unsteady to +the point; the rain, on the other hand, had ceased. Short as was the +interval, the sea already ran vastly higher than when I had stood there +last; already it had begun to break over some of the outward reefs, and +already it moaned aloud in the sea-caves of Aros. I looked, at first, in +vain for the schooner. + +"There she is," I said at last. But her new position, and the course she +was now lying, puzzled me. "They cannot mean to beat to sea," I cried. + +"That's what they mean," said my uncle, with something like joy; and +just then the schooner went about and stood upon another tack, which put +the question beyond the reach of doubt. These strangers, seeing a gale +on hand, had thought first of sea-room. With the wind that threatened, +in these reef-sown waters and contending against so violent a stream of +tide, their course was certain death. + +"Good God!" said I, "they are all lost." + +"Ay," returned my uncle, "a'--a' lost. They hadna a chance but to rin +for Kyle Dona. The gate they're gaun the noo, they couldna win through +an the muckle deil were there to pilot them. Eh, man," he continued, +touching me on the sleeve, "it's a braw nicht for a shipwreck! Twa in ae +twalmonth! Eh, but the Merry Men'll dance bonny!" + +I looked at him, and it was then that I began to fancy him no longer in +his right mind. He was peering up to me, as if for sympathy, a timid joy +in his eyes. All that had passed between us was already forgotten in the +prospect of this fresh disaster. + +"If it were not too late," I cried with indignation, "I would take the +coble and go out to warn them." + +"Na, na," he protested, "ye maunna interfere; ye maunna meddle wi' the +like o' that. It's His"--doffing his bonnet--"His wull. And, eh, man! +but it's a braw nicht for't!" + +Something like fear began to creep into my soul; and, reminding him that +I had not yet dined, I proposed we should return to the house. But no; +nothing would tear him from his place of outlook. + +"I maun see the hail thing, man Charlie," he explained; and then as the +schooner went about a second time, "Eh, but they han'le her bonny!" he +cried. "The _Christ-Anna_ was naething to this." + +Already the men on board the schooner must have begun to realise some +part, but not yet the twentieth, of the dangers that environed their +doomed ship. At every lull of the capricious wind they must have seen +how fast the current swept them back. Each tack was made shorter, as +they saw how little it prevailed. Every moment the rising swell began to +boom and foam upon another sunken reef; and ever and again a breaker +would fall in sounding ruin under the very bows of her, and the brown +reef and streaming tangle appear in the hollow of the wave. I tell you, +they had to stand to their tackle: there was no idle man aboard that +ship, God knows. It was upon the progress of a scene so horrible to any +human-hearted man that my misguided uncle now pored and gloated like a +connoisseur. As I turned to go down the hill, he was lying on his belly +on the summit, with his hands stretched forth and clutching in the +heather. He seemed rejuvenated, mind and body. + +When I got back to the house already dismally affected, I was still more +sadly downcast at the sight of Mary. She had her sleeves rolled up over +her strong arms, and was quietly making bread. I got a bannock from the +dresser and sat down to eat it in silence. + +"Are ye wearied, lad?" she asked after a while. + +"I am not so much wearied, Mary," I replied, getting on my feet, "as I +am weary of delay, and perhaps of Aros too. You know me well enough to +judge me fairly, say what I like. Well, Mary, you may be sure of this: +you had better be anywhere but here." + +"I'll be sure of one thing," she returned: "I'll be where my duty is." + +"You forget, you have a duty to yourself," I said. + +"Ay, man," she replied, pounding at the dough; "will you have found that +in the Bible, now?" + +"Mary," I said solemnly, "you must not laugh at me just now. God knows I +am in no heart for laughing. If we could get your father with us, it +would be best; but with him or without him, I want you far away from +here, my girl; for your own sake, and for mine, ay, and for your +father's too, I want you far--far away from here. I came with other +thoughts; I came here as a man comes home; now it is all changed, and I +have no desire nor hope but to flee--for that's the word--flee, like a +bird out of the fowler's snare, from this accursed island." + +She had stopped her work by this time. + +"And do you think, now," said she, "do you think, now, I have neither +eyes nor ears? Do ye think I havena broken my heart to have these braws +(as he calls them, God forgive him!) thrown into the sea? Do ye think I +have lived with him, day in, day out, and not seen what you saw in an +hour or two? No," she said, "I know there's wrong in it; what wrong, I +neither know nor want to know. There was never an ill thing made better +by meddling, that I could hear of. But, my lad, you must never ask me to +leave my father. While the breath is in his body, I'll be with him. And +he's not long for here, either: that I can tell you, Charlie--he's not +long for here. The mark is on his brow; and better so--maybe better so." + +I was a while silent, not knowing what to say; and when I roused my head +at last to speak, she got before me. + +"Charlie," she said, "what's right for me needna be right for you. +There's sin upon this house and trouble; you are a stranger; take your +things upon your back and go your ways to better places and to better +folk, and if you were ever minded to come back, though it were twenty +years syne, you would find me aye waiting." + +"Mary Ellen," I said, "I asked you to be my wife, and you said as good +as yes. That's done for good. Wherever you are, I am; as I shall answer +to my God." + +As I said the words the wind suddenly burst out raving, and then seemed +to stand still and shudder round the house of Aros. It was the first +squall, or prologue, of the coming tempest, and as we started and looked +about us, we found that a gloom, like the approach of evening, had +settled round the house. + +"God pity all poor folks at sea!" she said. "We'll see no more of my +father till the morrow's morning." + +And then she told me, as we sat by the fire and hearkened to the rising +gusts, of how this change had fallen upon my uncle. All last winter he +had been dark and fitful in his mind. Whenever the Roost ran high, or, +as Mary said, whenever the Merry Men were dancing, he would lie out for +hours together on the Head, if it were night, or on the top of Aros by +day, watching the tumult of the sea, and sweeping the horizon for a +sail. After February the 10th, when the wealth-bringing wreck was cast +ashore at Sandag, he had been at first unnaturally gay, and his +excitement had never fallen in degree, but only changed in kind from +dark to darker. He neglected his work, and kept Rorie idle. They two +would speak together by the hour at the gable-end, in guarded tones and +with an air of secrecy, and almost of guilt; and if she questioned +either, as at first she sometimes did, her inquiries were put aside with +confusion. Since Rorie had first remarked the fish that hung about the +ferry, his master had never set foot but once upon the mainland of the +Ross. That once--it was in the height of the springs--he had passed +dry-shod while the tide was out; but, having lingered overlong on the +far side, found himself cut off from Aros by the returning waters. It +was with a shriek of agony that he had leaped across the gut, and he had +reached home thereafter in a fever-fit of fear. A fear of the sea, a +constant haunting thought of the sea, appeared in his talk and +devotions, and even in his looks when he was silent. + +Rorie alone came in to supper; but a little later my uncle appeared, +took a bottle under his arm, put some bread in his pocket, and set forth +again to his outlook, followed this time by Rorie. I heard that the +schooner was losing ground, but the crew was still fighting every inch +with hopeless ingenuity and courage; and the news filled my mind with +blackness. + +A little after sundown the full fury of the gale broke forth, such a +gale as I have never seen in summer, nor, seeing how swiftly it had +come, even in winter. Mary and I sat in silence, the house quaking +overhead, the tempest howling without, the fire between us sputtering +with raindrops. Our thoughts were far away with the poor fellows on the +schooner, or my not less unhappy uncle, houseless on the promontory; and +yet ever and again we were startled back to ourselves, when the wind +would rise and strike the gable like a solid body, or suddenly fall and +draw away, so that the fire leaped into flame and our hearts bounded in +our sides. Now the storm in its might would seize and shake the four +corners of the roof, roaring like Leviathan in anger. Anon, in a lull, +cold eddies of tempest moved shudderingly in the room, lifting the hair +upon our heads and passing between us as we sat. And again the wind +would break forth in a chorus of melancholy sounds, hooting low in the +chimney, wailing with flutelike softness round the house. + +It was perhaps eight o'clock when Rorie came in and pulled me +mysteriously to the door. My uncle, it appeared, had frightened even his +constant comrade; and Rorie, uneasy at his extravagance, prayed me to +come out and share the watch. I hastened to do as I was asked; the more +readily as, what with fear and horror, and the electrical tension of the +night, I was myself restless and disposed for action. I told Mary to be +under no alarm, for I should be a safeguard on her father; and wrapping +myself warmly in a plaid, I followed Rorie into the open air. + +The night, though we were so little past midsummer, was as dark as +January. Intervals of a groping twilight alternated with spells of utter +blackness; and it was impossible to trace the reason of these changes in +the flying horror of the sky. The wind blew the breath out of a man's +nostrils; all heaven seemed to thunder overhead like one huge sail; and +when there fell a momentary lull on Aros, we could hear the gusts +dismally sweeping in the distance. Over all the lowlands of the Ross the +wind must have blown as fierce as on the open sea; and God only knows +the uproar that was raging around the head of Ben Kyaw. Sheets of +mingled spray and rain were driven in our faces. All round the isle of +Aros the surf, with an incessant, hammering thunder, beat upon the reefs +and beaches. Now louder in one place, now lower in another, like the +combinations of orchestral music, the constant mass of sound was hardly +varied for a moment. And loud above all this hurly-burly I could hear +the changeful voices of the Roost and the intermittent roaring of the +Merry Men. At that hour, there flashed into my mind the reason of the +name that they were called. For the noise of them seemed almost +mirthful, as it out-topped the other noises of the night; or if not +mirthful, yet instinct with a portentous joviality. Nay, and it seemed +even human. As when savage men have drunk away their reason, and, +discarding speech, bawl together in their madness by the hour; so, to my +ears, these deadly breakers shouted by Aros in the night. + +Arm in arm, and staggering against the wind, Rorie and I won every yard +of ground with conscious effort. We slipped on the wet sod, we fell +together sprawling on the rocks. Bruised, drenched, beaten, and +breathless, it must have taken us near half an hour to get from the +house down to the Head that overlooks the Roost. There, it seemed, was +my uncle's favourite observatory. Right in the face of it, where the +cliff is highest and most sheer, a hump of earth, like a parapet, makes +a place of shelter from the common winds, where a man may sit in quiet +and see the tide and the mad billows contending at his feet. As he might +look down from the window of a house upon some street disturbance, so, +from this post, he looks down upon the tumbling of the Merry Men. On +such a night, of course, he peers upon a world of blackness, where the +waters wheel and boil, where the waves joust together with the noise of +an explosion, and the foam towers and vanishes in the twinkling of an +eye. Never before had I seen the Merry Men thus violent. The fury, +height, and transiency of their spoutings was a thing to be seen and not +recounted. High over our heads on the cliff rose their white columns in +the darkness; and the same instant, like phantoms, they were gone. +Sometimes three at a time would thus aspire and vanish; sometimes a gust +took them, and the spray would fall about us, heavy as a wave. And yet +the spectacle was rather maddening in its levity than impressive by its +force. Thought was beaten down by the confounding uproar; a gleeful +vacancy possessed the brains of men, a state akin to madness; and I +found myself at times following the dance of the Merry Men as it were a +tune upon a jigging instrument. + +I first caught sight of my uncle when we were still some yards away in +one of the flying glimpses of twilight that chequered the pitch darkness +of the night. He was standing up behind the parapet, his head thrown +back and the bottle to his mouth. As he put it down, he saw and +recognised us with a toss of one hand fleeringly above his head. + +"Has he been drinking?" shouted I to Rorie. + +"He will aye be drunk when the wind blaws," returned Rorie in the same +high key, and it was all that I could do to hear him. + +"Then--was he so--in February?" I inquired. + +Rorie's "Ay" was a cause of joy to me. The murder, then, had not sprung +in cold blood from calculation; it was an act of madness no more to be +condemned than to be pardoned. My uncle was a dangerous madman, if you +will, but he was not cruel and base as I had feared. Yet what a scene +for a carouse, what an incredible vice, was this that the poor man had +chosen! I have always thought drunkenness a wild and almost fearful +pleasure, rather demoniacal than human; but drunkenness, out here in the +roaring blackness, on the edge of a cliff above that hell of waters, the +man's head spinning like the Roost, his foot tottering on the edge of +death, his ear watching for the signs of shipwreck, surely that, if it +were credible in any one, was morally impossible in a man like my uncle, +whose mind was set upon a damnatory creed and haunted by the darkest +superstitions. Yet so it was; and, as we reached the bight of shelter +and could breathe again, I saw the man's eyes shining in the night with +an unholy glimmer. + +"Eh, Charlie man, it's grand!" he cried. "See to them!" he continued, +dragging me to the edge of the abyss from whence arose that deafening +clamour and those clouds of spray; "see to them dancin', man! Is that no +wicked?" + +He pronounced the word with gusto, and I thought it suited with the +scene. + +"They're yowlin' for thon schooner," he went on, his thin, insane voice +clearly audible in the shelter of the bank, "an' she's comin' aye +nearer, aye nearer, aye nearer an' nearer an' nearer; an' they ken't, +the folk kens it, they ken weel it's by wi' them. Charlie lad, they're +a' drunk in yon schooner, a' dozened wi' drink. They were a' drunk in +the _Christ-Anna_, at the hinder end. There's nane could droon at sea +wantin' the brandy. Hoot awa, what do you ken?" with a sudden blast of +anger. "I tell ye, it canna be; they daurna droon without it. Hae," +holding out the bottle, "tak' a sowp." + +I was about to refuse, but Rorie touched me as if in warning; and indeed +I had already thought better of the movement. I took the bottle, +therefore, and not only drank freely myself, but contrived to spill even +more as I was doing so. It was pure spirit, and almost strangled me to +swallow. My kinsman did not observe the loss, but, once more throwing +back his head, drained the remainder to the dregs. Then, with a loud +laugh, he cast the bottle forth among the Merry Men, who seemed to leap +up, shouting to receive it. + +"Hae, bairns!" he cried, "there's your hansel. Ye'll get bonnier nor +that or morning." + +Suddenly, out in the black night before us, and not two hundred yards +away, we heard, at a moment when the wind was silent, the clear note of +a human voice. Instantly the wind swept howling down upon the Head, and +the Roost bellowed, and churned, and danced with a new fury. But we had +heard the sound, and we knew, with agony, that this was the doomed ship +now close on ruin, and that what we had heard was the voice of her +master issuing his last command. Crouching together on the edge, we +waited, straining every sense, for the inevitable end. It was long, +however, and to us it seemed like ages, ere the schooner suddenly +appeared for one brief instant, relieved against a tower of glimmering +foam. I still see her reefed mainsail flapping loose, as the boom fell +heavily across the deck; I still see the black outline of the hull, and +still think I can distinguish the figure of a man stretched upon the +tiller. Yet the whole sight we had of her passed swifter than lightning; +the very wave that disclosed her fell burying her for ever; the mingled +cry of many voices at the point of death rose and was quenched in the +roaring of the Merry Men. And with that the tragedy was at an end. The +strong ship, with all her gear, and the lamp perhaps still burning in +the cabin, the lives of so many men, precious surely to others, dear, at +least, as heaven to themselves, had all, in that one moment, gone down +into the surging waters. They were gone like a dream. And the wind still +ran and shouted, and the senseless waters in the Roost still leaped and +tumbled as before. + +How long we lay there together, we three, speechless and motionless, is +more than I can tell, but it must have been for long. At length, one by +one, and almost mechanically, we crawled back into the shelter of the +bank. As I lay against the parapet, wholly wretched and not entirely +master of my mind, I could hear my kinsman maundering to himself in an +altered and melancholy mood. Now he would repeat to himself with maudlin +iteration, "Sic a fecht as they had--sic a sair fecht as they had, puir +lads, puir lads!" and anon he would bewail that "a' the gear was as +gude's tint," because the ship had gone down among the Merry Men instead +of stranding on the shore; and throughout, the name--the +_Christ-Anna_--would come and go in his divagations, pronounced with +shuddering awe. The storm all this time was rapidly abating. In half an +hour the wind had fallen to a breeze, and the change was accompanied or +caused by a heavy, cold, and plumping rain. I must then have fallen +asleep, and when I came to myself, drenched, stiff, and unrefreshed, day +had already broken, grey, wet, discomfortable day; the wind blew in +faint and shifting capfuls, the tide was out, the Roost was at its +lowest, and only the strong beating surf round all the coasts of Aros +remained to witness of the furies of the night. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +A MAN OUT OF THE SEA + + +Rorie set out for the house in search of warmth and breakfast; but my +uncle was bent upon examining the shores of Aros, and I felt it a part +of duty to accompany him throughout. He was now docile and quiet, but +tremulous and weak in mind and body; and it was with the eagerness of a +child that he pursued his exploration. He climbed far down upon the +rocks; on the beaches he pursued the retreating breakers. The merest +broken plank or rag of cordage was a treasure in his eyes to be secured +at the peril of his life. To see him, with weak and stumbling footsteps, +expose himself to the pursuit of the surf, or the snares and pitfalls of +the weedy rock, kept me in a perpetual terror. My arm was ready to +support him, my hand clutched him by the skirt, I helped him to draw his +pitiful discoveries beyond the reach of the returning wave; a nurse +accompanying a child of seven would have had no different experience. + +Yet, weakened as he was by the reaction from his madness of the night +before, the passions that smouldered in his nature were those of a +strong man. His terror of the sea, although conquered for the moment, +was still undiminished; had the sea been a lake of living flames, he +could not have shrunk more panically from its touch; and once, when his +foot slipped and he plunged to the mid-leg into a pool of water, the +shriek that came up out of his soul was like the cry of death. He sat +still for a while, panting like a dog, after that; but his desire for +the spoils of shipwreck triumphed once more over his fears; once more +he tottered among the curded foam; once more he crawled upon the rocks +among the bursting bubbles; once more his whole heart seemed to be set +on driftwood, fit, if it was fit for anything, to throw upon the fire. +Pleased as he was with what he found, he still incessantly grumbled at +his ill-fortune. + +"Aros," he said, "is no' a place for wrecks ava'--no' ava'. A' the years +I've dwalt here, this ane maks the second; and the best o' the gear +clean tint!" + +"Uncle," said I, for we were now on a stretch of open sand, where there +was nothing to divert his mind, "I saw you last night, as I never +thought to see you--you were drunk." + +"Na, na," he said, "no' as bad as that. I had been drinking, though. And +to tell ye the God's truth, it's a thing I canna mend. There's nae +soberer man than me in my ordnar; but when I hear the wind blaw in my +lug, it's my belief that I gang gyte." + +"You are a religious man," I replied, "and this is sin." + +"Ou," he returned, "if it wasna sin, I dinna ken that I would care +for't. Ye see, man, it's defiance. There's a sair spang o' the auld sin +o' the world in yon sea; it's an unchristian business at the best o't; +an' whiles when it gets up, an' the wind skreighs--the wind an' her are +a kind of sib, I'm thinkin'--an' thae Merry Men, the daft callants, +blawin' and lauchin', and puir souls in the deid-thraws warstlin' the +leelang nicht wi' their bit ships--weel, it comes ower me like a +glamour. I'm a deil, I ken't. But I think naething o' the puir sailor +lads; I'm wi' the sea, I'm just like ane o' her ain Merry Men." + +I thought I should touch him in a joint of his harness. I turned me +towards the sea; the surf was running gaily, wave after wave, with their +manes blowing behind them, riding one after another up the beach, +towering, curving, falling one upon another on the trampled sand. +Without, the salt air, the scared gulls, the widespread army of the +sea-chargers, neighing to each other, as they gathered together to the +assault of Aros; and close before us, that line on the flat sands, that, +with all their number and their fury, they might never pass. + +"Thus far shalt thou go," said I, "and no farther." And then I quoted as +solemnly as I was able a verse that I had often before fitted to the +chorus of the breakers:-- + + But yet the Lord, that is on high, + Is more of might by far + Than noise of many waters is, + Or great sea-billows are. + +"Ay," said my kinsman, "at the hinder end, the Lord will triumph; I +dinna misdoobt that. But here on earth, even silly men-folk daur Him to +His face. It is no' wise; I am no sayin' that it's wise; but it's the +pride of the eye, and it's the lust o' life, an' it's the wale o' +pleesures." + +I said no more, for we had now begun to cross a neck of land that lay +between us and Sandag; and I withheld my last appeal to the man's better +reason till we should stand upon the spot associated with his crime. Nor +did he pursue the subject; but he walked beside me with a firmer step. +The call that I had made upon his mind acted like a stimulant, and I +could see that he had forgotten his search for worthless jetsam, in a +profound, gloomy, and yet stirring train of thought. In three or four +minutes we had topped the brae and began to go down upon Sandag. The +wreck had been roughly handled by the sea; the stem had been spun round +and dragged a little lower down; and perhaps the stern had been forced a +little higher, for the two parts now lay entirely separate on the beach. +When we came to the grave I stopped, uncovered my head in the thick +rain, and, looking my kinsman in the face, addressed him. + +"A man," said I, "was in God's providence suffered to escape from mortal +dangers; he was poor, he was naked, he was wet, he was weary, he was a +stranger; he had every claim upon the bowels of your compassion; it may +be that he was the salt of the earth, holy, helpful, and kind; it may be +he was a man laden with iniquities to whom death was the beginning of +torment. I ask you in the sight of Heaven: Gordon Darnaway, where is the +man for whom Christ died?" + +He started visibly at the last words; but there came no answer, and his +face expressed no feeling but a vague alarm. + +"You were my father's brother," I continued; "you have taught me to +count your house as if it were my father's house; and we are both sinful +men walking before the Lord among the sins and dangers of this life. It +is by our evil that God leads us into good; we sin, I dare not say by +His temptation, but I must say with His consent; and to any but the +brutish man his sins are the beginning of wisdom. God has warned you by +this crime; He warns you still by the bloody grave between our feet; and +if there shall follow no repentance, no improvement, no return to Him, +what can we look for but the following of some memorable judgment?" + +Even as I spoke the words, the eyes of my uncle wandered from my face. A +change fell upon his looks that cannot be described; his features seemed +to dwindle in size, the colour faded from his cheeks, one hand rose +waveringly and pointed over my shoulder into the distance, and the +oft-repeated name fell once more from his lips: "The _Christ-Anna_!" + +I turned; and if I was not appalled to the same degree, as I return +thanks to Heaven that I had not the cause, I was still startled by the +sight that met my eyes. The form of a man stood upright on the +cabin-hutch of the wrecked ship; his back was towards us; he appeared to +be scanning the offing with shaded eyes, and his figure was relieved to +its full height, which was plainly very great, against the sea and sky. +I have said a thousand times that I am not superstitious; but at that +moment, with my mind running upon death and sin, the unexplained +appearance of a stranger on that sea-girt, solitary island filled me +with a surprise that bordered close on terror. It seemed scarce possible +that any human soul should have come ashore alive in such a sea as had +raged last night along the coast of Aros; and the only vessel within +miles had gone down before our eyes among the Merry Men. I was assailed +with doubts that made suspense unbearable, and, to put the matter to the +touch at once, stepped forward and hailed the figure like a ship. + +He turned about, and I thought he started to behold us. At this my +courage instantly revived, and I called and signed to him to draw near, +and he, on his part, dropped immediately to the sands, and began slowly +to approach, with many stops and hesitations. At each repeated mark of +the man's uneasiness I grew the more confident myself; and I advanced +another step, encouraging him as I did so with my head and hand. It was +plain the castaway had heard indifferent accounts of our island +hospitality; and indeed, about this time, the people farther north had a +sorry reputation. + +"Why," I said, "the man is black!" + +And just at that moment, in a voice that I could scarce have recognised, +my kinsman began swearing and praying in a mingled stream. I looked at +him; he had fallen on his knees, his face was agonised; at each step of +the castaway's the pitch of his voice rose, the volubility of his +utterance and the fervour of his language redoubled. I call it prayer, +for it was addressed to God; but surely no such ranting incongruities +were ever before addressed to the Creator by a creature: surely if +prayer can be a sin, this mad harangue was sinful. I ran to my kinsman, +I seized him by the shoulders, I dragged him to his feet. + +"Silence, man," said I, "respect your God in words, if not in action. +Here, on the very scene of your transgressions, He sends you an occasion +of atonement. Forward and embrace it: welcome like a father yon +creature who comes trembling to your mercy." + +With that, I tried to force him towards the black; but he felled me to +the ground, burst from my grasp, leaving the shoulder of his jacket, and +fled up the hillside towards the top of Aros like a deer. I staggered to +my feet again, bruised and somewhat stunned; the negro had paused in +surprise, perhaps in terror, some half-way between me and the wreck; my +uncle was already far away, bounding from rock to rock; and I thus found +myself torn for a time between two duties. But I judged, and I pray +Heaven that I judged rightly, in favour of the poor wretch upon the +sands; his misfortune was at least not plainly of his own creation; it +was one, besides, that I could certainly relieve; and I had begun by +that time to regard my uncle as an incurable and dismal lunatic. I +advanced accordingly towards the black, who now awaited my approach with +folded arms, like one prepared for either destiny. As I came nearer, he +reached forth his hand with a great gesture, such as I had seen from the +pulpit, and spoke to me in something of a pulpit voice, but not a word +was comprehensible. I tried him first in English, then in Gaelic, both +in vain; so that it was clear we must rely upon the tongue of looks and +gestures. Thereupon I signed to him to follow me, which he did readily +and with a grave obeisance like a fallen king; all the while there had +come no shade of alteration in his face, neither of anxiety while he was +still waiting, nor of relief now that he was reassured; if he were a +slave, as I supposed, I could not but judge he must have fallen from +some high place in his own country, and, fallen as he was, I could not +but admire his bearing. As we passed the grave, I paused and raised my +hands and eyes to heaven in token of respect and sorrow for the dead; +and he, as if in answer, bowed low and spread his hands abroad; it was a +strange motion, but done like a thing of common custom; and I supposed +it was ceremonial in the land from which he came. At the same time he +pointed to my uncle, whom we could just see perched upon a knoll, and +touched his head to indicate that he was mad. + +We took the long way round the shore, for I feared to excite my uncle if +we struck across the island; and as we walked, I had time enough to +mature the little dramatic exhibition by which I hoped to satisfy my +doubts. Accordingly, pausing on a rock, I proceeded to imitate before +the negro the action of the man whom I had seen the day before taking +bearings with the compass at Sandag. He understood me at once, and, +taking the imitation out of my hands, showed me where the boat was, +pointed out seaward as if to indicate the position of the schooner, and +then down along the edge of the rock with the words "Espirito Santo," +strangely pronounced, but clear enough for recognition. I had thus been +right in my conjecture; the pretended historical inquiry had been but a +cloak for treasure-hunting; the man who had played on Dr. Robertson was +the same as the foreigner who visited Grisapol in spring, and now, with +many others, lay dead under the Roost of Aros: there had their greed +brought them, there should their bones be tossed for evermore. In the +meantime the black continued his imitation of the scene, now looking up +skyward as though watching the approach of the storm; now, in the +character of a seaman, waving the rest to come aboard; now as an +officer, running along the rock and entering the boat; and anon bending +over imaginary oars with the air of a hurried boatman; but all with the +same solemnity of manner, so that I was never even moved to smile. +Lastly, he indicated to me, by a pantomime not to be described in words, +how he himself had gone up to examine the stranded wreck, and, to his +grief and indignation, had been deserted by his comrades; and thereupon +folded his arms once more, and stooped his head, like one accepting +fate. + +The mystery of his presence being thus solved for me, I explained to +him by means of a sketch the fate of the vessel and of all aboard her. +He showed no surprise nor sorrow, and, with a sudden lifting of his open +hand, seemed to dismiss his former friends or masters (whichever they +had been) into God's pleasure. Respect came upon me and grew stronger, +the more I observed him; I saw he had a powerful mind and a sober and +severe character, such as I loved to commune with; and before we reached +the house of Aros I had almost forgotten, and wholly forgiven him, his +uncanny colour. + +To Mary I told all that had passed without suppression, though I own my +heart failed me; but I did wrong to doubt her sense of justice. + +"You did the right," she said. "God's will be done." And she set out +meat for us at once. + +As soon as I was satisfied, I bade Rorie keep an eye upon the castaway, +who was still eating, and set forth again myself to find my uncle. I had +not gone far before I saw him sitting in the same place, upon the very +topmost knoll, and seemingly in the same attitude as when I had last +observed him. From that point, as I have said, the most of Aros and the +neighbouring Ross would be spread below him like a map; and it was plain +that he kept a bright look-out in all directions, for my head had +scarcely risen above the summit of the first ascent before he had leaped +to his feet and turned as if to face me. I hailed him at once, as well +as I was able, in the same tones and words as I had often used before, +when I had come to summon him to dinner. He made not so much as a +movement in reply. I passed on a little farther, and again tried parley, +with the same result. But when I began a second time to advance, his +insane fears blazed up again, and still in dead silence, but with +incredible speed, he began to flee from before me along the rocky summit +of the hill. An hour before he had been dead weary, and I had been +comparatively active. But now his strength was recruited by the fervour +of insanity, and it would have been vain for me to dream of pursuit. +Nay, the very attempt, I thought, might have inflamed his terrors, and +thus increased the miseries of our position. And I had nothing left but +to turn homeward and make my sad report to Mary. + +She heard it, as she had heard the first, with a concerned composure, +and, bidding me lie down and take that rest of which I stood so much in +need, set forth herself in quest of her misguided father. At that age it +would have been a strange thing that put me from either meat or sleep; I +slept long and deep; and it was already long past noon before I awoke +and came downstairs into the kitchen. Mary, Rorie, and the black +castaway were seated about the fire in silence; and I could see that +Mary had been weeping. There was cause enough, as I soon learned, for +tears. First she, and then Rorie, had been forth to seek my uncle; each +in turn had found him perched upon the hill-top, and from each in turn +he had silently and swiftly fled. Rorie had tried to chase him, but in +vain; madness lent a new vigour to his bounds; he sprang from rock to +rock over the widest gullies; he scoured like the wind along the +hill-tops; he doubled and twisted like a hare before the dogs; and Rorie +at length gave in; and the last that he saw, my uncle was seated as +before upon the crest of Aros. Even during the hottest excitement of the +chase, even when the fleet-footed servant had come, for a moment, very +near to capture him, the poor lunatic had uttered not a sound. He fled, +and he was silent, like a beast; and this silence had terrified his +pursuer. + +There was something heart-breaking in the situation. How to capture the +madman, how to feed him in the meanwhile, and what to do with him when +he was captured, were the three difficulties that we had to solve. + +"The black," said I, "is the cause of this attack. It may even be his +presence in the house that keeps my uncle on the hill. We have done the +fair thing; he has been fed and warmed under this roof; now I propose +that Rorie put him across the bay in the coble, and take him through the +Ross as far as Grisapol." + +In this proposal Mary heartily concurred; and bidding the black follow +us, we all three descended to the pier. Certainly, Heaven's will was +declared against Gordon Darnaway; a thing had happened, never paralleled +before in Aros: during the storm, the coble had broken loose, and, +striking on the rough splinters of the pier, now lay in four feet of +water with one side stove in. Three days of work at least would be +required to make her float. But I was not to be beaten. I led the whole +party round to where the gut was narrowest, swam to the other side, and +called to the black to follow me. He signed, with the same clearness and +quiet as before, that he knew not the art; and there was truth apparent +in his signals, it would have occurred to none of us to doubt his truth; +and that hope being over, we must all go back even as we came to the +house of Aros, the negro walking in our midst without embarrassment. + +All we could do that day was to make one more attempt to communicate +with the unhappy madman. Again he was visible on his perch; again he +fled in silence. But food and a great cloak were at least left for his +comfort; the rain, besides, had cleared away, and the night promised to +be even warm. We might compose ourselves, we thought, until the morrow; +rest was the chief requisite, that we might be strengthened for unusual +exertions; and as none cared to talk, we separated at an early hour. + +I lay long awake, planning a campaign for the morrow. I was to place the +black on the side of Sandag, whence he should head my uncle towards the +house; Rorie in the west, I on the east, were to complete the cordon, as +best we might. It seemed to me, the more I recalled the configuration of +the island, that it should be possible, though hard, to force him down +upon the low ground along Aros Bay; and once there, even with the +strength of his madness, ultimate escape was hardly to be feared. It was +on his terror of the black that I relied; for I made sure, however he +might run, it would not be in the direction of the man whom he supposed +to have returned from the dead, and thus one point of the compass at +least would be secure. + +When at length I fell asleep, it was to be awakened shortly after by a +dream of wrecks, black men, and submarine adventure; and I found myself +so shaken and fevered that I arose, descended the stair, and stepped out +before the house. Within, Rorie and the black were asleep together in +the kitchen; outside was a wonderful clear night of stars, with here and +there a cloud still hanging, last stragglers of the tempest. It was near +the top of the flood, and the Merry Men were roaring in the windless +quiet of the night. Never, not even in the height of the tempest, had I +heard their song with greater awe. Now, when the winds were gathered +home, when the deep was dandling itself back into its summer slumber, +and when the stars rained their gentle light over land and sea, the +voice of these tide-breakers was still raised for havoc. They seemed, +indeed, to be a part of the world's evil and the tragic side of life. +Nor were their meaningless vociferations the only sounds that broke the +silence of the night. For I could hear, now shrill and thrilling and now +almost drowned, the note of a human voice that accompanied the uproar of +the Roost. I knew it for my kinsman's; and a great fear fell upon me of +God's judgments, and the evil in the world. I went back again into the +darkness of the house as into a place of shelter, and lay long upon my +bed, pondering these mysteries. + +It was late when I again woke, and I leaped into my clothes and hurried +to the kitchen. No one was there; Rorie and the black had both +stealthily departed long before; and my heart stood still at the +discovery. I could rely on Rorie's heart, but I placed no trust in his +discretion. If he had thus set out without a word, he was plainly bent +upon some service to my uncle. But what service could he hope to render +even alone, far less in the company of the man in whom my uncle found +his fears incarnated? Even if I were not already too late to prevent +some deadly mischief, it was plain I must delay no longer. With the +thought I was out of the house; and often as I have run on the rough +sides of Aros, I never ran as I did that fatal morning. I do not believe +I put twelve minutes to the whole ascent. + +My uncle was gone from his perch. The basket had indeed been torn open +and the meat scattered on the turf; but, as we found afterwards, no +mouthful had been tasted; and there was not another trace of human +existence in that wide field of view. Day had already filled the clear +heavens; the sun already lighted in a rosy bloom upon the crest of Ben +Kyaw; but all below me the rude knolls of Aros and the shield of sea lay +steeped in the clear darkling twilight of the dawn. + +"Rorie!" I cried; and again "Rorie!" My voice died in the silence, but +there came no answer back. If there were indeed an enterprise afoot to +catch my uncle, it was plainly not in fleetness of foot, but in +dexterity of stalking, that the hunters placed their trust. I ran on +farther, keeping the higher spurs, and looking right and left, nor did I +pause again till I was on the mount above Sandag. I could see the wreck, +the uncovered belt of sand, the waves idly beating, the long ledge of +rocks, and on either hand the tumbled knolls, boulders, and gullies of +the island. But still no human thing. + +At a stride the sunshine fell on Aros, and the shadows and colours +leaped into being. Not half a moment later, below me to the west, sheep +began to scatter as in a panic. There came a cry. I saw my uncle +running. I saw the black jump up in hot pursuit; and before I had time +to understand, Rorie also had appeared, calling directions in Gaelic as +to a dog herding sheep. + +I took to my heels to interfere, and perhaps I had done better to have +waited where I was, for I was the means of cutting off the madman's last +escape. There was nothing before him from that moment but the grave, the +wreck, and the sea in Sandag Bay. And yet Heaven knows that what I did +was for the best. + +My Uncle Gordon saw in what direction, horrible to him, the chase was +driving him. He doubled, darting to the right and left; but high as the +fever ran in his veins, the black was still the swifter. Turn where he +would, he was still forestalled, still driven toward the scene of his +crime. Suddenly he began to shriek aloud, so that the coast re-echoed; +and now both I and Rorie were calling on the black to stop. But all was +vain, for it was written otherwise. The pursuer still ran, the chase +still sped before him screaming; they avoided the grave, and skimmed +close past the timbers of the wreck; in a breath they had cleared the +sand; and still my kinsman did not pause, but dashed straight into the +surf; and the black, now almost within reach, still followed swiftly +behind him. Rorie and I both stopped, for the thing was now beyond the +hands of men, and these were the decrees of God that came to pass before +our eyes. There was never a sharper ending. On that steep beach they +were beyond their depth at a bound; neither could swim; the black rose +once for a moment with a throttling cry; but the current had them, +racing seaward; and if ever they came up again, which God alone can +tell, it would be ten minutes after, at the far end of Aros Roost, where +the sea-birds hover fishing. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [1] _i.e._ the six stories which were in 1887 published in a volume + entitled _The Merry Men, and Other Tales and Fables_: of this volume + "The Merry Men" and "Olalla" formed part. + + [2] Boggy. + + [3] Clock. + + [4] Enjoy. + + + + +OLALLA + + + + +OLALLA + + +"Now," said the doctor, "my part is done, and, I may say, with some +vanity, well done. It remains only to get you out of this cold and +poisonous city, and to give you two months of a pure air and an easy +conscience. The last is your affair. To the first I think I can help +you. It falls indeed rather oddly; it was but the other day the Padre +came in from the country; and as he and I are old friends, although of +contrary professions, he applied to me in a matter of distress among +some of his parishioners. This was a family--but you are ignorant of +Spain, and even the names of our grandees are hardly known to you; +suffice it, then, that they were once great people, and are now fallen +to the brink of destitution. Nothing now belongs to them but the +residencia, and certain leagues of desert mountain, in the greater part +of which not even a goat could support life. But the house is a fine old +place, and stands at a great height among the hills, and most +salubriously; and I had no sooner heard my friend's tale than I +remembered you. I told him I had a wounded officer, wounded in the good +cause, who was now able to make a change; and I proposed that his +friends should take you for a lodger. Instantly the Padre's face grew +dark, as I had maliciously foreseen it would. It was out of the +question, he said. Then let them starve, said I, for I have no sympathy +with tatterdemalion pride. Thereupon we separated, not very content with +one another; but yesterday, to my wonder, the Padre returned and made a +submission: the difficulty, he said, he had found upon inquiry to be +less than he had feared; or, in other words, these proud people had put +their pride in their pocket. I closed with the offer; and, subject to +your approval, I have taken rooms for you in the residencia. The air of +these mountains will renew your blood; and the quiet in which you will +there live is worth all the medicines in the world." + +"Doctor," said I, "you have been throughout my good angel, and your +advice is a command. But tell me, if you please, something of the family +with which I am to reside." + +"I am coming to that," replied my friend; "and, indeed, there is a +difficulty in the way. These beggars are, as I have said, of very high +descent, and swollen with the most baseless vanity; they have lived for +some generations in a growing isolation, drawing away, on either hand, +from the rich who had now become too high for them, and from the poor, +whom they still regarded as too low; and even to-day, when poverty +forces them to unfasten their door to a guest, they cannot do so without +a most ungracious stipulation. You are to remain, they say, a stranger; +they will give you attendance, but they refuse from the first the idea +of the smallest intimacy." + +I will not deny that I was piqued, and perhaps the feeling strengthened +my desire to go, for I was confident that I could break down that +barrier if I desired. "There is nothing offensive in such a +stipulation," said I; "and I even sympathise with the feeling that +inspired it." + +"It is true they have never seen you," returned the doctor politely; +"and if they knew you were the handsomest and the most pleasant man that +ever came from England (where I am told that handsome men are common, +but pleasant ones not so much so), they would doubtless make you welcome +with a better grace. But since you take the thing so well, it matters +not. To me, indeed, it seems discourteous. But you will find yourself +the gainer. The family will not much tempt you. A mother, a son, and a +daughter; an old woman said to be half-witted, a country lout, and a +country girl, who stands very high with her confessor, and is, +therefore," chuckled the physician, "most likely plain; there is not much +in that to attract the fancy of a dashing officer." + +"And yet you say they are high-born," I objected. + +"Well, as to that, I should distinguish," returned the doctor. "The +mother is; not so the children. The mother was the last representative +of a princely stock, degenerate both in parts and fortune. Her father +was not only poor, he was mad: and the girl ran wild about the +residencia till his death. Then, much of the fortune having died with +him, and the family being quite extinct, the girl ran wilder than ever, +until at last she married, Heaven knows whom, a muleteer some say, +others a smuggler; while there are some who uphold there was no marriage +at all, and that Felipe and Olalla are bastards. The union, such as it +was, was tragically dissolved some years ago; but they live in such +seclusion, and the country at that time was in so much disorder, that +the precise manner of the man's end is known only to the priest--if even +to him." + +"I begin to think I shall have strange experiences," said I. + +"I would not romance, if I were you," replied the doctor; "you will +find, I fear, a very grovelling and commonplace reality. Felipe, for +instance, I have seen. And what am I to say? He is very rustic, very +cunning, very loutish, and, I should say, an innocent; the others are +probably to match. No, no, senor commandante, you must seek congenial +society among the great sights of our mountains; and in these at least, +if you are at all a lover of the works of nature, I promise you will not +be disappointed." + +The next day Felipe came for me in a rough country cart, drawn by a +mule; and a little before the stroke of noon, after I had said farewell +to the doctor, the innkeeper, and different good souls who had +befriended me during my sickness, we set forth out of the city by the +eastern gate, and began to ascend into the Sierra. I had been so long a +prisoner, since I was left behind for dying after the loss of the +convoy, that the mere smell of the earth set me smiling. The country +through which we went was wild and rocky, partially covered with rough +woods, now of the cork-tree, and now of the great Spanish chestnut, and +frequently intersected by the beds of mountain torrents. The sun shone, +the wind rustled joyously; and we had advanced some miles, and the city +had already shrunk into an inconsiderable knoll upon the plain behind +us, before my attention began to be diverted to the companion of my +drive. To the eye, he seemed but a diminutive, loutish, well-made +country lad, such as the doctor had described, mighty quick and active, +but devoid of any culture; and this first impression was with most +observers final. What began to strike me was his familiar, chattering +talk; so strangely inconsistent with the terms on which I was to be +received; and partly from his imperfect enunciation, partly from the +sprightly incoherence of the matter, so very difficult to follow clearly +without an effort of the mind. It is true I had before talked with +persons of a similar mental constitution; persons who seemed to live (as +he did) by the senses, taken and possessed by the visual object of the +moment and unable to discharge their minds of that impression. His +seemed to me (as I sat, distantly giving ear) a kind of conversation +proper to drivers, who pass much of their time in a great vacancy of the +intellect and threading the sights of a familiar country. But this was +not the case of Felipe; by his own account, he was a home-keeper; "I +wish I was there now," he said; and then, spying a tree by the wayside, +he broke off to tell me that he had once seen a crow among its branches. + +"A crow?" I repeated, struck by the ineptitude of the remark, and +thinking I had heard imperfectly. + +But by this time he was already filled with a new idea; hearkening with +a rapt intentness, his head on one side, his face puckered; and he +struck me rudely, to make me hold my peace. Then he smiled and shook his +head. + +"What did you hear?" I asked. + +"Oh, it is all right," he said; and began encouraging his mule with +cries that echoed unhumanly up the mountain walls. + +I looked at him more closely. He was superlatively well-built, light, +and lithe and strong; he was well-featured; his yellow eyes were very +large, though, perhaps, not very expressive; take him altogether, he was +a pleasant-looking lad, and I had no fault to find with him, beyond that +he was of a dusky hue, and inclined to hairiness; two characteristics +that I disliked. It was his mind that puzzled, and yet attracted me. The +doctor's phrase--an innocent--came back to me; and I was wondering if +that were, after all, the true description, when the road began to go +down into the narrow and naked chasm of a torrent. The waters thundered +tumultuously in the bottom; and the ravine was filled full of the sound, +the thin spray, and the claps of wind, that accompanied their descent. +The scene was certainly impressive; but the road was in that part very +securely walled in; the mule went steadily forward; and I was astonished +to perceive the paleness of terror in the face of my companion. The +voice of that wild river was inconstant, now sinking lower as if in +weariness, now doubling its hoarse tones; momentary freshets seemed to +swell its volume, sweeping down the gorge, raving and booming against +the barrier walls; and I observed it was at each of these accessions to +the clamour that my driver more particularly winced and blanched. Some +thoughts of Scottish superstition and the river-kelpie passed across my +mind; I wondered if perchance the like were prevalent in that part of +Spain; and turning to Felipe, sought to draw him out. + +"What is the matter?" I asked. + +"Oh, I am afraid," he replied. + +"Of what are you afraid?" I returned. "This seems one of the safest +places on this very dangerous road." + +"It makes a noise," he said, with a simplicity of awe that set my doubts +at rest. + +The lad was but a child in intellect; his mind was like his body, active +and swift, but stunted in development; and I began from that time forth +to regard him with a measure of pity, and to listen at first with +indulgence, and at last even with pleasure, to his disjointed babble. + +By about four in the afternoon we had crossed the summit of the mountain +line, said farewell to the western sunshine, and began to go down upon +the other side, skirting the edge of many ravines and moving through the +shadow of dusky woods. There rose upon all sides the voice of falling +water, not condensed and formidable as in the gorge of the river, but +scattered and sounding gaily and musically from glen to glen. Here, too, +the spirits of my driver mended, and he began to sing aloud in a +falsetto voice, and with a singular bluntness of musical perception, +never true either to melody or key, but wandering at will, and yet +somehow with an effect that was natural and pleasing, like that of the +song of birds. As the dusk increased, I fell more and more under the +spell of this artless warbling, listening and waiting for some +articulate air, and still disappointed; and when at last I asked him +what it was he sang--"Oh," cried he, "I am just singing!" Above all, I +was taken with a trick he had of unweariedly repeating the same note at +little intervals; it was not so monotonous as you would think, or, at +least, not disagreeable; and it seemed to breathe a wonderful +contentment with what is, such as we love to fancy in the attitude of +trees, or the quiescence of a pool. + +Night had fallen dark before we came out upon a plateau, and drew up a +little after, before a certain lump of superior blackness which I could +only conjecture to be the residencia. Here my guide, getting down from +the cart, hooted and whistled for a long time in vain; until at last an +old peasant man came towards us from somewhere in the surrounding dark, +carrying a candle in his hand. By the light of this I was able to +perceive a great arched doorway of a Moorish character: it was closed by +iron-studded gates, in one of the leaves of which Felipe opened a +wicket. The peasant carried off the cart to some out-building; but my +guide and I passed through the wicket, which was closed again behind us; +and, by the glimmer of the candle, passed through a court, up a stone +stair, along a section of an open gallery, and up more stairs again, +until we came at last to the door of a great and somewhat bare +apartment. This room, which I understood was to be mine, was pierced by +three windows, lined with some lustrous wood disposed in panels, and +carpeted with the skins of many savage animals. A bright fire burned in +the chimney, and shed abroad a changeful flicker; close up to the blaze +there was drawn a table, laid for supper; and in the far end a bed stood +ready. I was pleased by these preparations, and said so to Felipe; and +he, with the same simplicity of disposition that I had already remarked +in him, warmly re-echoed my praises. "A fine room," he said; "a very +fine room. And fire, too; fire is good; it melts out the pleasure in +your bones. And the bed," he continued, carrying over the candle in that +direction--"see what fine sheets--how soft, how smooth, smooth"; and he +passed his hand again and again over their texture, and then laid down +his head and rubbed his cheeks among them with a grossness of content +that somehow offended me. I took the candle from his hand (for I feared +he would set the bed on fire) and walked back to the supper-table, +where, perceiving a measure of wine, I poured out a cup and called to +him to come and drink of it. He started to his feet at once and ran to +me with a strong expression of hope; but when he saw the wine he visibly +shuddered. + +"Oh, no," he said, "not that; that is for you. I hate it." + +"Very well, Senor," said I; "then I will drink to your good health, and +to the prosperity of your house and family. Speaking of which," I added, +after I had drunk, "shall I not have the pleasure of laying my +salutations in person at the feet of the Senora, your mother?" + +But at these words all the childishness passed out of his face, and was +succeeded by a look of indescribable cunning and secrecy. He backed away +from me at the same time, as though I were an animal about to leap or +some dangerous fellow with a weapon, and when he had got near the door, +glowered at me sullenly with contracted pupils. "No," he said at last, +and the next moment was gone noiselessly out of the room; and I heard +his footing die away downstairs as light as rainfall, and silence closed +over the house. + +After I had supped I drew up the table nearer to the bed and began to +prepare for rest; but in the new position of the light, I was struck by +a picture on the wall. It represented a woman, still young. To judge by +her costume and the mellow unity which reigned over the canvas, she had +long been dead; to judge by the vivacity of the attitude, the eyes and +the features, I might have been beholding in a mirror the image of life. +Her figure was very slim and strong, and of a just proportion; red +tresses lay like a crown over her brow; her eyes, of a very golden +brown, held mine with a look; and her face, which was perfectly shaped, +was yet marred by a cruel, sullen, and sensual expression. Something in +both face and figure, something exquisitely intangible, like the echo of +an echo, suggested the features and bearing of my guide; and I stood a +while unpleasantly attracted and wondering at the oddity of the +resemblance. The common, carnal stock of that race, which had been +originally designed for such high dames as the one now looking on me +from the canvas, had fallen to baser uses, wearing country clothes, +sitting on the shaft and holding the reins of a mule cart, to bring +home a lodger. Perhaps an actual link subsisted; perhaps some scruple of +the delicate flesh that was once clothed upon with the satin and brocade +of the dead lady, now winced at the rude contact of Felipe's frieze. + +The first light of the morning shone full upon the portrait, and, as I +lay awake, my eyes continued to dwell upon it with growing complacency; +its beauty crept about my heart insidiously, silencing my scruples one +after another; and while I knew that to love such a woman were to sign +and seal one's own sentence of degeneration, I still knew that, if she +were alive, I should love her. Day after day the double knowledge of her +wickedness and of my weakness grew clearer. She came to be the heroine +of many day-dreams, in which her eyes led on to, and sufficiently +rewarded, crimes. She cast a dark shadow on my fancy, and when I was out +in the free air of heaven, taking vigorous exercise and healthily +renewing the current of my blood, it was often a glad thought to me that +my enchantress was safe in the grave, her wand of beauty broken, her +lips closed in silence, her philtre spilt. And yet I had a +half-lingering terror that she might not be dead after all, but +re-arisen in the body of some descendant. + +Felipe served my meals in my own apartment; and his resemblance to the +portrait haunted me. At times it was not; at times, upon some change of +attitude or flash of expression, it would leap out upon me like a ghost. +It was above all in his ill tempers that the likeness triumphed. He +certainly liked me; he was proud of my notice, which he sought to engage +by many simple and childlike devices; he loved to sit close before my +fire, talking his broken talk or singing his odd, endless, wordless, +songs, and sometimes drawing his hand over my clothes with an +affectionate manner of caressing that never failed to cause in me an +embarrassment of which I was ashamed. But for all that, he was capable +of flashes of causeless anger and fits of sturdy sullenness. At a word +of reproof, I have seen him upset the dish of which I was about to eat, +and this not surreptitiously, but with defiance; and similarly at a hint +of inquisition. I was not unnaturally curious, being in a strange place +and surrounded by strange people; but at the shadow of a question he +shrank back, lowering and dangerous. Then it was that, for a fraction of +a second, this rough lad might have been the brother of the lady in the +frame. But these humours were swift to pass; and the resemblance died +along with them. + +In these first days I saw nothing of any one but Felipe, unless the +portrait is to be counted; and since the lad was plainly of weak mind, +and had moments of passion, it may be wondered that I bore his dangerous +neighbourhood with equanimity. As a matter of fact, it was for some time +irksome; but it happened before long that I obtained over him so +complete a mastery as set my disquietude at rest. + +It fell in this way. He was by nature slothful, and much of a vagabond, +and yet he kept by the house, and not only waited upon my wants, but +laboured every day in the garden or small farm to the south of the +residencia. Here he would be joined by the peasant whom I had seen on +the night of my arrival, and who dwelt at the far end of the enclosure, +about half a mile away, in a rude out-house; but it was plain to me that +of these two, it was Felipe who did most; and though I would sometimes +see him throw down his spade and go to sleep among the very plants he +had been digging, his constancy and energy were admirable in themselves, +and still more so since I was well assured they were foreign to his +disposition, and the fruit of an ungrateful effort. But while I admired, +I wondered what had called forth in a lad so shuttle-witted this +enduring sense of duty. How was it sustained? I asked myself, and to +what length did it prevail over his instincts? The priest was possibly +his inspirer; but the priest came one day to the residencia. I saw him +both come and go after an interval of close upon an hour, from a knoll +where I was sketching, and all that time Felipe continued to labour +undisturbed in the garden. + +At last, in a very unworthy spirit, I determined to debauch the lad from +his good resolutions, and, waylaying him at the gate, easily persuaded +him to join me in a ramble. It was a fine day, and the woods to which I +led him were green and pleasant and sweet-smelling, and alive with the +hum of insects. Here he discovered himself in a fresh character, +mounting up to heights of gaiety that abashed me, and displaying an +energy and grace of movement that delighted the eye. He leaped, he ran +round me in mere glee; he would stop, and look and listen, and seem to +drink in the world like a cordial; and then he would suddenly spring +into a tree with one bound, and hang and gambol there like one at home. +Little as he said to me, and that of not much import, I have rarely +enjoyed more stirring company; the sight of his delight was a continual +feast; the speed and accuracy of his movements pleased me to the heart; +and I might have been so thoughtlessly unkind as to make a habit of +these walks, had not chance prepared a very rude conclusion to my +pleasure. By some swiftness or dexterity the lad captured a squirrel in +a tree top. He was then some way ahead of me, but I saw him drop to the +ground and crouch there, crying aloud for pleasure like a child. The +sound stirred my sympathies, it was so fresh and innocent; but as I +bettered my pace to draw near, the cry of the squirrel knocked upon my +heart. I have heard and seen much of the cruelty of lads, and above all, +of peasants; but what I now beheld struck me into a passion of anger. I +thrust the fellow aside, plucked the poor brute out of his hands, and +with swift mercy killed it. Then I turned upon the torturer, spoke to +him long out of the heat of my indignation, calling him names at which +he seemed to wither; and at length, pointing towards the residencia, +bade him begone and leave me, for I chose to walk with men, not with +vermin. He fell upon his knees, and, the words coming to him with more +clearness than usual, poured out a stream of the most touching +supplications, begging me in mercy to forgive him, to forget what he had +done, to look to the future. "Oh, I try so hard," he said. "Oh, +commandante, bear with Felipe this once; he will never be a brute +again!" Thereupon, much more affected than I cared to show, I suffered +myself to be persuaded, and at last shook hands with him and made it up. +But the squirrel, by way of penance, I made him bury; speaking of the +poor thing's beauty, telling him what pains it had suffered, and how +base a thing was the abuse of strength. "See, Felipe," said I, "you are +strong indeed; but in my hands you are as helpless as that poor thing of +the trees. Give me your hand in mine. You cannot remove it. Now suppose +that I were cruel like you, and took a pleasure in pain. I only tighten +my hold, and see how you suffer." He screamed aloud, his face stricken +ashy and dotted with needle-points of sweat; and when I set him free, he +fell to the earth and nursed his hand and moaned over it like a baby. +But he took the lesson in good part; and whether from that, or from what +I had said to him, or the higher notion he now had of my bodily +strength, his original affection was changed into a dog-like, adoring +fidelity. + +Meanwhile I gained rapidly in health. The residencia stood on the crown +of a stony plateau; on every side the mountains hemmed it about; only +from the roof, where was a bartizan, there might be seen, between two +peaks, a small segment of plain, blue with extreme distance. The air in +these altitudes moved freely and largely; great clouds congregated +there, and were broken up by the wind and left in tatters on the +hill-tops; a hoarse and yet faint rumbling of torrents rose from all +round; and one could there study all the ruder and more ancient +characters of nature in something of their pristine force. I delighted +from the first in the vigorous scenery and changeful weather; nor less +in the antique and dilapidated mansion where I dwelt. This was a large +oblong, flanked at two opposite corners by bastion-like projections, one +of which commanded the door, while both were loopholed for musketry. The +lower story was, besides, naked of windows, so that the building, if +garrisoned, could not be carried without artillery. It enclosed an open +court planted with pomegranate trees. From this a broad flight of marble +stairs ascended to an open gallery, running all round and resting, +towards the court, on slender pillars. Thence, again, several enclosed +stairs led to the upper stories of the house, which were thus broken up +into distinct divisions. The windows, both within and without, were +closely shuttered; some of the stonework in the upper parts had fallen; +the roof, in one place, had been wrecked in one of the flurries of wind +which were common in these mountains; and the whole house, in the +strong, beating sunlight, and standing out above a grove of stunted +cork-trees, thickly laden and discoloured with dust, looked like the +sleeping palace of the legend. The court, in particular, seemed the very +home of slumber. A hoarse cooing of doves haunted about the eaves; the +winds were excluded, but when they blew outside, the mountain dust fell +here as thick as rain, and veiled the red bloom of the pomegranates; +shuttered windows and the closed doors of numerous cellars, and the +vacant arches of the gallery, enclosed it; and all day long the sun made +broken profiles on the four sides, and paraded the shadow of the pillars +on the gallery floor. At the ground level there was, however, a certain +pillared recess, which bore the marks of human habitation. Though it was +open in front upon the court, it was yet provided with a chimney, where +a wood fire would be always prettily blazing; and the tile floor was +littered with the skins of animals. + +It was in this place that I first saw my hostess. She had drawn one of +the skins forward and sat in the sun, leaning against a pillar. It was +her dress that struck me first of all, for it was rich and brightly +coloured, and shone out in that dusty courtyard with something of the +same relief as the flowers of the pomegranates. At a second look it was +her beauty of person that took hold of me. As she sat back--watching me, +I thought, though with invisible eyes--and wearing at the same time an +expression of almost imbecile good-humour and contentment, she showed a +perfectness of feature and a quiet nobility of attitude that were beyond +a statue's. I took off my hat to her in passing, and her face puckered +with suspicion as swiftly and lightly as a pool ruffles in the breeze; +but she paid no heed to my courtesy. I went forth on my customary walk a +trifle daunted, her idol-like impassivity haunting me; and when I +returned, although she was still in much the same posture, I was half +surprised to see that she had moved as far as the next pillar, following +the sunshine. This time, however, she addressed me with some trivial +salutation, civilly enough conceived, and uttered in the same +deep-chested, and yet indistinct and lisping tones, that had already +baffled the utmost niceness of my hearing from her son. I answered +rather at a venture; for not only did I fail to take her meaning with +precision, but the sudden disclosure of her eyes disturbed me. They were +unusually large, the iris golden like Felipe's, but the pupil at that +moment so distended that they seemed almost black; and what affected me +was not so much their size as (what was perhaps its consequence) the +singular insignificance of their regard. A look more blankly stupid I +have never met. My eyes dropped before it even as I spoke, and I went on +my way upstairs to my own room, at once baffled and embarrassed. Yet +when I came there and saw the face of the portrait, I was again reminded +of the miracle of family descent. My hostess was, indeed, both older and +fuller in person; her eyes were of a different colour; her face, +besides, was not only free from the ill-significance that offended and +attracted me in the painting; it was devoid of either good or bad--a +moral blank expressing literally naught. And yet there was a likeness, +not so much speaking as immanent, not so much in any particular feature +as upon the whole. It should seem, I thought, as if when the master set +his signature to that grave canvas, he had not only caught the image of +one smiling and false-eyed woman, but stamped the essential quality of a +race. + +From that day forth, whether I came or went, I was sure to find the +Senora seated in the sun against a pillar, or stretched on a rug before +the fire; only at times she would shift her station to the top round of +the stone staircase, where she lay with the same nonchalance right +across my path. In all these days, I never knew her to display the least +spark of energy beyond what she expended in brushing and re-brushing her +copious copper-coloured hair, or in lisping out, in the rich and broken +hoarseness of her voice, her customary idle salutations to myself. +These, I think, were her two chief pleasures, beyond that of mere +quiescence. She seemed always proud of her remarks, as though they had +been witticisms: and, indeed, though they were empty enough, like the +conversation of many respectable persons, and turned on a very narrow +range of subjects, they were never meaningless or incoherent; nay, they +had a certain beauty of their own, breathing, as they did, of her entire +contentment. Now she would speak of the warmth, in which (like her son) +she greatly delighted; now of the flowers of the pomegranate trees, and +now of the white doves and long-winged swallows that fanned the air of +the court. The birds excited her. As they raked the eaves in their swift +flight, or skimmed sidelong past her with a rush of wind, she would +sometimes stir, and sit a little up, and seem to awaken from her doze of +satisfaction. But for the rest of her days she lay luxuriously folded on +herself and sunk in sloth and pleasure. Her invincible content at first +annoyed me, but I came gradually to find repose in the spectacle, until +at last it grew to be my habit to sit down beside her four times in the +day, both coming and going, and to talk with her sleepily, I scarce knew +of what. I had come to like her dull, almost animal neighbourhood; her +beauty and her stupidity soothed and amused me. I began to find a kind +of transcendental good sense in her remarks, and her unfathomable +good-nature moved me to admiration and envy. The liking was returned; +she enjoyed my presence half-unconsciously, as a man in deep meditation +may enjoy the babbling of a brook. I can scarce say she brightened when +I came, for satisfaction was written on her face eternally, as on some +foolish statue's; but I was made conscious of her pleasure by some more +intimate communication than the sight. And one day, as I sat within +reach of her on the marble step, she suddenly shot forth one of her +hands and patted mine. The thing was done, and she was back in her +accustomed attitude, before my mind had received intelligence of the +caress; and when I turned to look her in the face I could perceive no +answerable sentiment. It was plain she attached no moment to the act, +and I blamed myself for my own more uneasy consciousness. + +The sight and (if I may so call it) the acquaintance of the mother +confirmed the view I had already taken of the son. The family blood had +been impoverished, perhaps by long inbreeding, which I knew to be a +common error among the proud and the exclusive. No decline, indeed, was +to be traced in the body, which had been handed down unimpaired in +shapeliness and strength; and the faces of to-day were struck as sharply +from the mint as the face of two centuries ago that smiled upon me from +the portrait. But the intelligence (that more precious heirloom) was +degenerate; the treasure of ancestral memory ran low; and it had +required the potent, plebeian crossing of a muleteer or mountain +_contrabandista_ to raise what approached hebetude in the mother into +the active oddity of the son. Yet of the two, it was the mother I +preferred. Of Felipe, vengeful and placable, full of starts and shyings, +inconstant as a hare, I could even conceive as a creature possibly +noxious. Of the mother I had no thoughts but those of kindness. And +indeed, as spectators are apt ignorantly to take sides, I grew something +of a partisan in the enmity which I perceived to smoulder between them. +True, it seemed mostly on the mother's part. She would sometimes draw in +her breath as he came near, and the pupils of her vacant eyes would +contract as if with horror or fear. Her emotions, such as they were, +were much upon the surface and readily shared; and this latent repulsion +occupied my mind, and kept me wondering on what grounds it rested, and +whether the son was certainly in fault. + +I had been about ten days in the residencia, when there sprang up a high +and harsh wind, carrying clouds of dust. It came out of malarious +lowlands, and over several snowy sierras. The nerves of those on whom it +blew were strung and jangled; their eyes smarted with the dust; their +legs ached under the burthen of their body; and the touch of one hand +upon another grew to be odious. The wind, besides, came down the gullies +of the hills and stormed about the house with a great, hollow buzzing +and whistling that was wearisome to the ear and dismally depressing to +the mind. It did not so much blow in gusts as with the steady sweep of a +waterfall, so that there was no remission of discomfort while it blew. +But higher up on the mountain it was probably of a more variable +strength, with accesses of fury; for there came down at times a far-off +wailing, infinitely grievous to hear; and at times, on one of the high +shelves or terraces, there would start up, and then disperse, a tower of +dust, like the smoke of an explosion. + +I no sooner awoke in bed than I was conscious of the nervous tension and +depression of the weather, and the effect grew stronger as the day +proceeded. It was in vain that I resisted; in vain that I set forth upon +my customary morning's walk; the irrational, unchanging fury of the +storm had soon beat down my strength and wrecked my temper; and I +returned to the residencia, glowing with dry heat, and foul and gritty +with dust. The court had a forlorn appearance; now and then a glimmer of +sun fled over it; now and then the wind swooped down upon the +pomegranates, and scattered the blossoms, and set the window shutter +clapping on the wall. In the recess the Senora was pacing to and fro +with a flushed countenance and bright eyes; I thought, too, she was +speaking to herself, like one in anger. But when I addressed her with my +customary salutation, she only replied by a sharp gesture and continued +her walk. The weather had distempered even this impassive creature; and +as I went on upstairs I was the less ashamed of my own discomposure. + +All day the wind continued; and I sat in my room and made a feint of +reading, or walked up and down, and listened to the riot overhead. Night +fell, and I had not so much as a candle. I began to long for some +society, and stole down to the court. It was now plunged in the blue of +the first darkness; but the recess was redly lighted by the fire. The +wood had been piled high, and was crowned by a shock of flames, which +the draught of the chimney brandished to and fro. In this strong and +shaken brightness the Senora continued pacing from wall to wall with +disconnected gestures, clasping her hands, stretching forth her arms, +throwing back her head as in appeal to heaven. In these disordered +movements the beauty and grace of the woman showed more clearly; but +there was a light in her eye that struck on me unpleasantly; and when I +had looked on a while in silence, and seemingly unobserved, I turned +tail as I had come, and groped my way back again to my own chamber. + +By the time Felipe brought my supper and lights, my nerve was utterly +gone; and, had the lad been such as I was used to seeing him, I should +have kept him (even by force, had that been necessary) to take off the +edge from my distasteful solitude. But on Felipe, also, the wind had +exercised its influence. He had been feverish all day; now that the +night had come he was fallen into a low and tremulous humour that +reacted on my own. The sight of his scared face, his starts and pallors +and sudden hearkenings, unstrung me; and when he dropped and broke a +dish, I fairly leaped out of my seat. + +"I think we are all mad to-day," said I, affecting to laugh. + +"It is the black wind," he replied dolefully. "You feel as if you must +do something, and you don't know what it is." + +I noted the aptness of the description; but, indeed, Felipe had +sometimes a strange felicity in rendering into words the sensations of +the body. "And your mother, too," said I; "she seems to feel this +weather much. Do you not fear she may be unwell?" + +He stared at me a little, and then said, "No," almost defiantly; and the +next moment, carrying his hand to his brow, cried out lamentably on the +wind and the noise that made his head go round like a millwheel. "Who +can be well?" he cried; and, indeed, I could only echo his question, for +I was disturbed enough myself. + +I went to bed early, wearied with day-long restlessness; but the +poisonous nature of the wind, and its ungodly and unintermittent uproar, +would not suffer me to sleep. I lay there and tossed, my nerves and +senses on the stretch. At times I would doze, dream horribly, and wake +again; and these snatches of oblivion confused me as to time. But it +must have been late on in the night, when I was suddenly startled by an +outbreak of pitiable and hateful cries. I leaped from my bed, supposing +I had dreamed; but the cries still continued to fill the house, cries of +pain, I thought, but certainly of rage also, and so savage and +discordant that they shocked the heart. It was no illusion; some living +thing, some lunatic or some wild animal was being foully tortured. The +thought of Felipe and the squirrel flashed into my mind, and I ran to +the door; but it had been locked from the outside, and I might shake it +as I pleased, I was a fast prisoner. Still the cries continued. Now they +would dwindle down into a moaning that seemed to be articulate, and at +these times I made sure they must be human; and again they would break +forth and fill the house with ravings worthy of hell. I stood at the +door and gave ear to them, till at last they died away. Long after that, +I still lingered and still continued to hear them mingle in fancy with +the storming of the wind; and when at last I crept to my bed, it was +with a deadly sickness and a blackness of horror on my heart. + +It was little wonder if I slept no more. Why had I been locked in? What +had passed? Who was the author of these indescribable and shocking +cries? A human being? It was inconceivable. A beast? The cries were +scarce quite bestial; and what animal, short of a lion or a tiger, could +thus shake the solid walls of the residencia? And while I was thus +turning over the elements of the mystery, it came into my mind that I +had not yet set eyes upon the daughter of the house. What was more +probable than that the daughter of the Senora, and the sister of Felipe, +should be herself insane? Or, what more likely than that these ignorant +and half-witted people should seek to manage an afflicted kinswoman by +violence? Here was a solution; and yet when I called to mind the cries +(which I never did without a shuddering chill) it seemed altogether +insufficient: not even cruelty could wring such cries from madness. But +of one thing I was sure: I could not live in a house where such a thing +was half conceivable, and not probe the matter home and, if necessary, +interfere. + +The next day came, the wind had blown itself out, and there was nothing +to remind me of the business of the night. Felipe came to my bedside +with obvious cheerfulness; as I passed through the court the Senora was +sunning herself with her accustomed immobility; and when I issued from +the gateway I found the whole face of nature austerely smiling, the +heavens of a cold blue, and sown with great cloud islands, and the +mountain-sides mapped forth into provinces of light and shadow. A short +walk restored me to myself, and renewed within me the resolve to plumb +this mystery; and when, from the vantage of my knoll, I had seen Felipe +pass forth to his labours in the garden, I returned at once to the +residencia to put my design in practice. The Senora appeared plunged in +slumber; I stood a while and marked her, but she did not stir; even if +my design were indiscreet, I had little to fear from such a guardian; +and turning away, I mounted to the gallery and began my exploration of +the house. + +All morning I went from one door to another, and entered spacious and +faded chambers, some rudely shuttered, some receiving their full charge +of daylight, all empty and unhomely. It was a rich house, on which Time +had breathed its tarnish and dust had scattered disillusion. The spider +swung there; the bloated tarantula scampered on the cornices; ants had +their crowded highways on the floor of halls of audience; the big and +foul fly, that lives on carrion and is often the messenger of death, had +set up his nest in the rotten woodwork, and buzzed heavily about the +rooms. Here and there a stool or two, a couch, a bed, or a great carved +chair remained behind, like islets on the bare floors, to testify of +man's bygone habitation; and everywhere the walls were set with the +portraits of the dead. I could judge, by these decaying effigies, in the +house of what a great and what a handsome race I was then wandering. +Many of the men wore orders on their breasts and had the port of noble +offices; the women were all richly attired; the canvases, most of them, +by famous hands. But it was not so much these evidences of greatness +that took hold upon my mind, even contrasted, as they were, with the +present depopulation and decay of that great house. It was rather the +parable of family life that I read in this succession of fair faces and +shapely bodies. Never before had I so realised the miracle of the +continued race, the creation and re-creation, the weaving and changing +and handing down of fleshly elements. That a child should be born of its +mother, that it should grow and clothe itself (we know not how) with +humanity, and put on inherited looks, and turn its head with the manner +of one ascendant, and offer its hand with the gesture of another, are +wonders dulled for us by repetition. But in the singular unity of look, +in the common features and common bearing, of all these painted +generations on the walls of the residencia, the miracle started out and +looked me in the face. And an ancient mirror falling opportunely in my +way, I stood and read my own features a long while, tracing out on +either hand the filaments of descent and the bonds that knit me with my +family. + +At last, in the course of these investigations, I opened the door of a +chamber that bore the marks of habitation. It was of large proportions +and faced to the north, where the mountains were most wildly figured. +The embers of a fire smouldered and smoked upon the hearth, to which a +chair had been drawn close. And yet the aspect of the chamber was +ascetic to the degree of sternness; the chair was uncushioned; the floor +and walls were naked; and beyond the books which lay here and there in +some confusion, there was no instrument of either work or pleasure. The +sight of books in the house of such a family exceedingly amazed me; and +I began with a great hurry, and in momentary fear of interruption, to go +from one to another and hastily inspect their character. They were of +all sorts, devotional, historical, and scientific, but mostly of a great +age and in the Latin tongue. Some I could see to bear the marks of +constant study; others had been torn across and tossed aside as if in +petulance or disapproval. Lastly, as I cruised about that empty chamber, +I espied some papers written upon with pencil on a table near the +window. An unthinking curiosity led me to take one up. It bore a copy of +verses, very roughly metred in the original Spanish, and which I may +render somewhat thus-- + + "Pleasure approached with pain and shame, + Grief with a wreath of lilies came. + Pleasure showed the lovely sun; + Jesu dear, how sweet it shone! + Grief with her worn hand pointed on, + Jesu dear, to Thee!" + +Shame and confusion at once fell on me; and, laying down the paper, I +beat an immediate retreat from the apartment. Neither Felipe nor his +mother could have read the books nor written these rough but feeling +verses. It was plain I had stumbled with sacrilegious feet into the room +of the daughter of the house. God knows, my own heart most sharply +punished me for my indiscretion. The thought that I had thus secretly +pushed my way into the confidence of a girl so strangely situated, and +the fear that she might somehow come to hear of it, oppressed me like +guilt. I blamed myself besides for my suspicions of the night before; +wondered that I should ever have attributed those shocking cries to one +of whom I now conceived as of a saint, spectral of mien, wasted with +maceration, bound up in the practices of a mechanical devotion, and +dwelling in a great isolation of soul with her incongruous relatives; +and as I leaned on the balustrade of the gallery and looked down into +the bright close of pomegranates and at the gaily dressed and somnolent +woman, who just then stretched herself and delicately licked her lips as +in the very sensuality of sloth, my mind swiftly compared the scene with +the cold chamber looking northward on the mountains, where the daughter +dwelt. + +That same afternoon, as I sat upon my knoll, I saw the Padre enter the +gates of the residencia. The revelation of the daughter's character had +struck home to my fancy, and almost blotted out the horrors of the +night before; but at sight of this worthy man the memory revived. I +descended, then, from the knoll, and making a circuit among the woods, +posted myself by the wayside to await his passage. As soon as he +appeared I stepped forth and introduced myself as the lodger of the +residencia. He had a very strong, honest countenance, on which it was +easy to read the mingled emotions with which he regarded me, as a +foreigner, a heretic, and yet one who had been wounded for the good +cause. Of the family at the residencia he spoke with reserve, and yet +with respect. I mentioned that I had not yet seen the daughter, +whereupon he remarked that that was as it should be, and looked at me a +little askance. Lastly, I plucked up courage to refer to the cries that +had disturbed me in the night. He heard me out in silence, and then +stopped and partly turned about, as though to mark beyond doubt that he +was dismissing me. + +"Do you take tobacco-powder?" said he, offering his snuff-box; and then, +when I had refused, "I am an old man," he added, "and I may be allowed +to remind you that you are a guest." + +"I have, then, your authority," I returned, firmly enough, although I +flushed at the implied reproof, "to let things take their course, and +not to interfere?" + +He said "Yes," and with a somewhat uneasy salute turned and left me +where I was. But he had done two things: he had set my conscience at +rest, and he had awakened my delicacy. I made a great effort, once more +dismissed the recollections of the night, and fell once more to brooding +on my saintly poetess. At the same time, I could not quite forget that I +had been locked in, and that night when Felipe brought me my supper I +attacked him warily on both points of interest. + +"I never see your sister," said I casually. + +"Oh, no," said he; "she is a good, good girl," and his mind instantly +veered to something else. + +"Your sister is pious, I suppose?" I asked in the next pause. + +"Oh!" he cried, joining his hands with extreme fervour, "a saint; it is +she that keeps me up." + +"You are very fortunate," said I, "for the most of us, I am afraid, and +myself among the number, are better at going down." + +"Senor," said Felipe earnestly, "I would not say that. You should not +tempt your angel. If one goes down, where is he to stop?" + +"Why, Felipe," said I, "I had no guess you were a preacher, and I may +say a good one; but I suppose that is your sister's doing?" + +He nodded at me with round eyes. + +"Well, then," I continued, "she has doubtless reproved you for your sin +of cruelty?" + +"Twelve times!" he cried; for this was the phrase by which the odd +creature expressed the sense of frequency. "And I told her you had done +so--I remembered that," he added proudly--"and she was pleased." + +"Then, Felipe," said I, "what were those cries that I heard last night? +for surely they were cries of some creature in suffering." + +"The wind," returned Felipe, looking in the fire. + +I took his hand in mine, at which, thinking it to be a caress, he smiled +with a brightness of pleasure that came near disarming my resolve. But I +trod the weakness down. "The wind," I repeated; "and yet I think it was +this hand," holding it up, "that had first locked me in." The lad shook +visibly, but answered never a word. "Well," said I, "I am a stranger and +a guest. It is not my part either to meddle or to judge in your affairs; +in these you shall take your sister's counsel, which I cannot doubt to +be excellent. But in so far as concerns my own I will be no man's +prisoner, and I demand that key." Half an hour later my door was +suddenly thrown open, and the key tossed ringing on the floor. + +A day or two after I came in from a walk a little before the point of +noon. The Senora was lying lapped in slumber on the threshold of the +recess; the pigeons dozed below the eaves like snowdrifts; the house was +under a deep spell of noontide quiet; and only a wandering and gentle +wind from the mountain stole round the galleries, rustled among the +pomegranates, and pleasantly stirred the shadows. Something in the +stillness moved me to imitation, and I went very lightly across the +court and up the marble staircase. My foot was on the topmost round, +when a door opened, and I found myself face to face with Olalla. +Surprise transfixed me; her loveliness struck to my heart; she glowed in +the deep shadow of the gallery, a gem of colour; her eyes took hold upon +mine and clung there, and bound us together like the joining of hands; +and the moments we thus stood face to face, drinking each other in, were +sacramental and the wedding of souls. I know not how long it was before +I awoke out of a deep trance, and, hastily bowing, passed on into the +upper stair. She did not move, but followed me with her great, thirsting +eyes; and as I passed out of sight it seemed to me as if she paled and +faded. + +In my own room, I opened the window and looked out, and could not think +what change had come upon that austere field of mountains that it should +thus sing and shine under the lofty heaven. I had seen her--Olalla! And +the stone crags answered, Olalla! and the dumb, unfathomable azure +answered, Olalla! The pale saint of my dreams had vanished for ever; and +in her place I beheld this maiden on whom God had lavished the richest +colours and the most exuberant energies of life, whom He had made active +as a deer, slender as a reed, and in whose great eyes He had lighted the +torches of the soul. The thrill of her young life, strung like a wild +animal's, had entered into me; the force of soul that had looked out +from her eyes and conquered mine, mantled about my heart and sprang to +my lips in singing. She passed through my veins: she was one with me. + +I will not say that this enthusiasm declined; rather my soul held out in +its ecstasy as in a strong castle, and was there besieged by cold and +sorrowful considerations. I could not doubt but that I loved her at +first sight, and already with a quivering ardour that was strange to my +experience. What then was to follow? She was the child of an afflicted +house, the Senora's daughter, the sister of Felipe; she bore it even in +her beauty. She had the lightness and swiftness of the one, swift as an +arrow, light as dew; like the other, she shone on the pale background of +the world with the brilliancy of flowers. I could not call by the name +of brother that half-witted lad, nor by the name of mother that +immovable and lovely thing of flesh, whose silly eyes and perpetual +simper now recurred to my mind like something hateful. And if I could +not marry, what then? She was helplessly unprotected; her eyes, in that +single and long glance, which had been all our intercourse, had +confessed a weakness equal to my own; but in my heart I knew her for the +student of the cold northern chamber, and the writer of the sorrowful +lines; and this was a knowledge to disarm a brute. To flee was more than +I could find courage for; but I registered a vow of unsleeping +circumspection. + +As I turned from the window, my eyes alighted on the portrait. It had +fallen dead, like a candle after sunrise; it followed me with eyes of +paint. I knew it to be like, and marvelled at the tenacity of type in +that declining race; but the likeness was swallowed up in difference. I +remembered how it had seemed to me a thing unapproachable in the life, a +creature rather of the painter's craft than of the modesty of nature, +and I marvelled at the thought, and exulted in the image of Olalla. +Beauty I had seen before, and not been charmed, and I had been often +drawn to women, who were not beautiful except to me; but in Olalla all +that I desired and had not dared to imagine was united. + +I did not see her the next day, and my heart ached and my eyes longed +for her, as men long for morning. But the day after, when I returned, +about my usual hour, she was once more on the gallery, and our looks +once more met and embraced. I would have spoken, I would have drawn near +to her; but strongly as she plucked at my heart, drawing me like a +magnet, something yet more imperious withheld me; and I could only bow +and pass by; and she, leaving my salutation unanswered, only followed me +with her noble eyes. + +I had now her image by rote, and as I conned the traits in memory it +seemed as if I read her very heart. She was dressed with something of +her mother's coquetry and love of positive colour. Her robe, which I +knew she must have made with her own hands, clung about her with a +cunning grace. After the fashion of that country, besides, her bodice +stood open in the middle, in a long slit, and here, in spite of the +poverty of the house, a gold coin, hanging by a ribbon, lay on her brown +bosom. These were proofs, had any been needed, of her inborn delight in +life and her own loveliness. On the other hand, in her eyes that hung +upon mine, I could read depth beyond depth of passion and sadness, +lights of poetry and hope, blacknesses of despair, and thoughts that +were above the earth. It was a lovely body, but the inmate, the soul, +was more than worthy of that lodging. Should I leave this incomparable +flower to wither unseen on these rough mountains? Should I despise the +great gift offered me in the eloquent silence of her eyes? Here was a +soul immured; should I not burst its prison? All side considerations +fell off from me; were she the child of Herod I swore I should make her +mine; and that very evening I set myself, with a mingled sense of +treachery and disgrace, to captivate the brother. Perhaps I read him +with more favourable eyes, perhaps the thought of his sister always +summoned up the better qualities of that imperfect soul; but he had +never seemed to me so amiable, and his very likeness to Olalla, while it +annoyed, yet softened me. + +A third day passed in vain--an empty desert of hours. I would not lose a +chance, and loitered all afternoon in the court, where (to give myself a +countenance) I spoke more than usual with the Senora. God knows it was +with a most tender and sincere interest that I now studied her; and even +as for Felipe, so now for the mother, I was conscious of a growing +warmth of toleration. And yet I wondered. Even while I spoke with her, +she would doze off into a little sleep, and presently awake again +without embarrassment; and this composure staggered me. And again, as I +marked her make infinitesimal changes in her posture, savouring and +lingering on the bodily pleasure of the movement, I was driven to wonder +at this depth of passive sensuality. She lived in her body; and her +consciousness was all sunk into and disseminated through her members, +where it luxuriously dwelt. Lastly, I could not grow accustomed to her +eyes. Each time she turned on me those great beautiful and meaningless +orbs, wide open to the day, but closed against human inquiry--each time +I had occasion to observe the lively changes of her pupils which +expanded and contracted in a breath--I know not what it was came over +me, I can find no name for the mingled feeling of disappointment, +annoyance, and distaste that jarred along my nerves. I tried her on a +variety of subjects, equally in vain; and at last led the talk to her +daughter. But even there she proved indifferent; said she was pretty, +which (as with children) was her highest word of commendation, but was +plainly incapable of any higher thought; and when I remarked that Olalla +seemed silent, merely yawned in my face and replied that speech was of +no great use when you had nothing to say. "People speak much, very +much," she added, looking at me with expanded pupils; and then again +yawned, and again showed me a mouth that was as dainty as a toy. This +time I took the hint, and, leaving her to her repose, went up into my +own chamber to sit by the open window, looking on the hills and not +beholding them, sunk in lustrous and deep dreams, and hearkening in +fancy to the note of a voice that I had never heard. + +I awoke on the fifth morning with a brightness of anticipation that +seemed to challenge fate. I was sure of myself, light of heart and foot, +and resolved to put my love incontinently to the touch of knowledge. It +should lie no longer under the bonds of silence, a dumb thing, living by +the eye only, like the love of beasts; but should now put on the spirit, +and enter upon the joys of the complete human intimacy. I thought of it +with wild hopes, like a voyager to El Dorado; into that unknown and +lovely country of her soul, I no longer trembled to adventure. Yet when +I did indeed encounter her, the same force of passion descended on me +and at once submerged my mind; speech seemed to drop away from me like a +childish habit; and I but drew near to her as the giddy man draws near +to the margin of a gulf. She drew back from me a little as I came; but +her eyes did not waver from mine, and these lured me forward. At last, +when I was already within reach of her, I stopped. Words were denied me; +if I advanced I could but clasp her to my heart in silence; and all that +was sane in me, all that was still unconquered, revolted against the +thought of such an accost. So we stood for a second, all our life in our +eyes, exchanging salvos of attraction and yet each resisting; and then, +with a great effort of the will, and conscious at the same time of a +sudden bitterness of disappointment, I turned and went away in the same +silence. + +What power lay upon me that I could not speak? And she, why was she also +silent? Why did she draw away before me dumbly, with fascinated eyes? +Was this love? or was it a mere brute attraction, mindless and +inevitable, like that of the magnet for the steel? We had never spoken, +we were wholly strangers; and yet an influence, strong as the grasp of a +giant, swept us silently together. On my side, it filled me with +impatience; and yet I was sure that she was worthy; I had seen her +books, read her verses, and thus, in a sense, divined the soul of my +mistress. But on her side, it struck me almost cold. Of me, she knew +nothing but my bodily favour; she was drawn to me as stones fall to the +earth; the laws that rule the earth conducted her, unconsenting, to my +arms; and I drew back at the thought of such a bridal, and began to be +jealous for myself. It was not thus that I desired to be loved. And then +I began to fall into a great pity for the girl herself. I thought how +sharp must be her mortification, that she, the student, the recluse, +Felipe's saintly monitress, should have thus confessed an overweening +weakness for a man with whom she had never exchanged a word. And at the +coming of pity, all other thoughts were swallowed up; and I longed only +to find and console and reassure her; to tell her how wholly her love +was returned on my side, and how her choice, even if blindly made, was +not unworthy. + +The next day it was glorious weather; depth upon depth of blue +over-canopied the mountains; the sun shone wide; and the wind in the +trees and the many fallen torrents in the mountains filled the air with +delicate and haunting music. Yet I was prostrated with sadness. My heart +wept for the sight of Olalla, as a child weeps for its mother. I sat +down on a boulder on the verge of the low cliffs that bound the plateau +to the north. Thence I looked down into the wooded valley of a stream, +where no foot came. In the mood I was in, it was even touching to behold +the place untenanted; it lacked Olalla; and I thought of the delight and +glory of a life passed wholly with her in that strong air, and among +these rugged and lovely surroundings, at first with a whimpering +sentiment, and then again with such a fiery joy that I seemed to grow +in strength and stature, like a Samson. + +And then suddenly I was aware of Olalla drawing near. She appeared out +of a grove of cork-trees, and came straight towards me; and I stood up +and waited. She seemed in her walking a creature of such life and fire +and lightness as amazed me; yet she came quietly and slowly. Her energy +was in the slowness; but for inimitable strength, I felt she would have +run, she would have flown to me. Still, as she approached, she kept her +eyes lowered to the ground; and when she had drawn quite near, it was +without one glance that she addressed me. At the first note of her voice +I started. It was for this I had been waiting; this was the last test of +my love. And lo, her enunciation was precise and clear, not lisping and +incomplete like that of her family; and the voice, though deeper than +usual with women, was still both youthful and womanly. She spoke in a +rich chord; golden contralto strains mingled with hoarseness, as the red +threads were mingled with the brown among her tresses. It was not only a +voice that spoke to my heart directly; but it spoke to me of her. And +yet her words immediately plunged me back upon despair. + +"You will go away," she said, "to-day." + +Her example broke the bonds of my speech; I felt as lightened of a +weight, or as if a spell had been dissolved. I know not in what words I +answered; but, standing before her on the cliffs, I poured out the whole +ardour of my love, telling her that I lived upon the thought of her, +slept only to dream of her loveliness, and would gladly forswear my +country, my language, and my friends, to live for ever by her side. And +then, strongly commanding myself, I changed the note; I reassured, I +comforted her; I told her I had divined in her a pious and heroic +spirit, with which I was worthy to sympathise, and which I longed to +share and lighten. "Nature," I told her, "was the voice of God, which +men disobey at peril; and if we were thus dumbly drawn together, ay, +even as by a miracle of love, it must imply a divine fitness in our +souls; we must be made," I said--"made for one another. We should be mad +rebels," I cried out--"mad rebels against God, not to obey this +instinct." + +She shook her head. "You will go to-day," she repeated, and then with a +gesture, and in a sudden, sharp note--"no, not to-day," she cried, +"to-morrow!" + +But at this sign of relenting, power came in upon me in a tide. I +stretched out my arms and called upon her name; and she leaped to me and +clung to me. The hills rocked about us, the earth quailed; a shock as of +a blow went through me and left me blind and dizzy. And the next moment +she had thrust me back, broken rudely from my arms, and fled with the +speed of a deer among the cork-trees. + +I stood and shouted to the mountains; I turned and went back towards the +residencia, walking upon air. She sent me away, and yet I had but to +call upon her name and she came to me. These were but the weaknesses of +girls, from which even she, the strangest of her sex, was not exempted. +Go? Not I, Olalla--Oh, not I, Olalla, my Olalla! A bird sang near by; +and in that season birds were rare. It bade me be of good cheer. And +once more the whole countenance of nature, from the ponderous and stable +mountains down to the lightest leaf and the smallest darting fly in the +shadow of the groves, began to stir before me and to put on the +lineaments of life and wear a face of awful joy. The sunshine struck +upon the hills, strong as a hammer on the anvil, and the hills shook; +the earth, under that vigorous insolation, yielded up heady scents; the +woods smouldered in the blaze. I felt the thrill of travail and delight +run through the earth. Something elemental, something rude, violent, and +savage, in the love that sang in my heart, was like a key to nature's +secrets; and the very stones that rattled under my feet appeared alive +and friendly. Olalla! Her touch had quickened, and renewed, and strung +me up to the old pitch of concert with the rugged earth, to a swelling +of the soul that men learn to forget in their polite assemblies. Love +burned in me like rage; tenderness waxed fierce; I hated, I adored, I +pitied, I revered her with ecstasy. She seemed the link that bound me in +with dead things on the one hand, and with our pure and pitying God upon +the other: a thing brutal and divine, and akin at once to the innocence +and to the unbridled forces of the earth. + +My head thus reeling, I came into the courtyard of the residencia, and +the sight of the mother struck me like a revelation. She sat there, all +sloth and contentment, blinking under the strong sunshine, branded with +a passive enjoyment, a creature set quite apart, before whom my ardour +fell away like a thing ashamed. I stopped a moment, and, commanding such +shaken tones as I was able, said a word or two. She looked at me with +her unfathomable kindness; her voice in reply sounded vaguely out of the +realm of peace in which she slumbered, and there fell on my mind, for +the first time, a sense of respect for one so uniformly innocent and +happy, and I passed on in a kind of wonder at myself that I should be so +much disquieted. + +On my table there lay a piece of the same yellow paper I had seen in the +north room; it was written on with pencil in the same hand, Olalla's +hand, and I picked it up with a sudden sinking of alarm, and read, "If +you have any kindness for Olalla, if you have any chivalry for a +creature sorely wrought, go from here to-day; in pity, in honour, for +the sake of Him who died, I supplicate that you shall go." I looked at +this a while in mere stupidity, then I began to awaken to a weariness +and horror of life; the sunshine darkened outside on the bare hills, and +I began to shake like a man in terror. The vacancy thus suddenly opened +in my life unmanned me like a physical void. It was not my heart, it was +not my happiness, it was life itself that was involved. I could not +lose her. I said so, and stood repeating it. And then, like one in a +dream, I moved to the window, put forth my hand to open the casement, +and thrust it through the pane. The blood spurted from my wrist; and +with an instantaneous quietude and command of myself, I pressed my thumb +on the little leaping fountain, and reflected what to do. In that empty +room there was nothing to my purpose; I felt, besides, that I required +assistance. There shot into my mind a hope that Olalla herself might be +my helper, and I turned and went downstairs, still keeping my thumb +upon the wound. + +There was no sign of either Olalla or Felipe, and I addressed myself to +the recess, whither the Senora had now drawn quite back and sat dozing +close before the fire, for no degree of heat appeared too much for her. + +"Pardon me," said I, "if I disturb you, but I must apply to you for +help." + +She looked up sleepily and asked me what it was, and with the very words +I thought she drew in her breath with a widening of the nostrils and +seemed to come suddenly and fully alive. + +"I have cut myself," I said, "and rather badly. See!" And I held out my +two hands, from which the blood was oozing and dripping. + +Her great eyes opened wide, the pupils shrank into points; a veil seemed +to fall from her face, and leave it sharply expressive and yet +inscrutable. And as I still stood, marvelling a little at her +disturbance, she came swiftly up to me, and stooped and caught me by the +hand; and the next moment my hand was at her mouth, and she had bitten +me to the bone. The pang of the bite, the sudden spurting of blood, and +the monstrous horror of the act, flashed through me all in one, and I +beat her back; and she sprang at me again and again, with bestial cries, +cries that I recognised, such cries as had awakened me on the night of +the high wind. Her strength was like that of madness; mine was rapidly +ebbing with the loss of blood; my mind besides was whirling with the +abhorrent strangeness of the onslaught, and I was already forced against +the wall, when Olalla ran betwixt us, and Felipe, following at a bound, +pinned down his mother on the floor. + +A trance-like weakness fell upon me; I saw, heard, and felt, but I was +incapable of movement. I heard the struggle roll to and fro upon the +floor, the yells of the catamount ringing up to heaven as she strove to +reach me. I felt Olalla clasp me in her arms, her hair falling on my +face, and, with the strength of a man, raise and half drag, half carry +me upstairs into my own room, where she cast me down upon the bed. Then +I saw her hasten to the door and lock it, and stand an instant listening +to the savage cries that shook the residencia. And then, swift and light +as a thought, she was again beside me, binding up my hand, laying it in +her bosom, moaning and mourning over it, with dove-like sounds. They +were not words that came to her, they were sounds more beautiful than +speech, infinitely touching, infinitely tender; and yet as I lay there, +a thought stung to my heart, a thought wounded me like a sword, a +thought, like a worm in a flower, profaned the holiness of my love. Yes, +they were beautiful sounds, and they were inspired by human tenderness; +but was their beauty human? + +All day I lay there. For a long time the cries of that nameless female +thing, as she struggled with her half-witted whelp, resounded through +the house, and pierced me with despairing sorrow and disgust. They were +the death-cry of my love; my love was murdered; it was not only dead, +but an offence to me; and yet, think as I pleased, feel as I must, it +still swelled within me like a storm of sweetness, and my heart melted +at her looks and touch. This horror that had sprung out, this doubt upon +Olalla, this savage and bestial strain that ran not only through the +whole behaviour of her family, but found a place in the very +foundations and story of our love--though it appalled, though it shocked +and sickened me, was yet not of power to break the knot of my +infatuation. + +When the cries had ceased, there came a scraping at the door, by which I +knew Felipe was without; and Olalla went and spoke to him--I know not +what. With that exception, she stayed close beside me, now kneeling by +my bed and fervently praying, now sitting with her eyes upon mine. So +then, for these six hours I drank in her beauty, and silently perused +the story in her face. I saw the golden coin hover on her breaths; I saw +her eyes darken and brighten, and still speak no language but that of an +unfathomable kindness; I saw the faultless face, and, through the robe, +the lines of the faultless body. Night came at last, and in the growing +darkness of the chamber the sight of her slowly melted; but even then +the touch of her smooth hand lingered in mine and talked with me. To lie +thus in deadly weakness and drink in the traits of the beloved, is to +re-awake to love from whatever shock of disillusion. I reasoned with +myself; and I shut my eyes on horrors, and again I was very bold to +accept the worst. What mattered it, if that imperious sentiment +survived; if her eyes still beckoned and attached me; if now, even as +before, every fibre of my dull body yearned and turned to her? Late on +in the night some strength revived in me, and I spoke:-- + +"Olalla," I said, "nothing matters; I ask nothing; I am content; I love +you." + +She knelt down a while and prayed, and I devoutly respected her +devotions. The moon had begun to shine in upon one side of each of the +three windows, and make a misty clearness in the room, by which I saw +her indistinctly. When she re-arose she made the sign of the cross. + +"It is for me to speak," she said, "and for you to listen. I know; you +can but guess. I prayed, how I prayed for you to leave this place. I +begged it of you, and I know you would have granted me even this; or if +not, oh let me think so!" + +"I love you," I said. + +"And yet you have lived in the world," she said; after a pause, "you are +a man and wise; and I am but a child. Forgive me, if I seem to teach, +who am as ignorant as the trees of the mountain; but those who learn +much do but skim the face of knowledge; they seize the laws, they +conceive the dignity of the design--the horror of the living fact fades +from their memory. It is we who sit at home with evil who remember, I +think, and are warned and pity. Go, rather, go now, and keep me in mind. +So I shall have a life in the cherished places of your memory; a life as +much my own as that which I lead in this body." + +"I love you," I said once more; and reaching out my weak hand, took +hers, and carried it to my lips, and kissed it. Nor did she resist, but +winced a little; and I could see her look upon me with a frown that was +not unkindly, only sad and baffled. And then it seemed she made a call +upon her resolution; plucked my hand towards her, herself at the same +time leaning somewhat forward, and laid it on the beating of her heart. +"There," she cried, "you feel the very footfall of my life. It only +moves for you; it is yours. But is it even mine? It is mine indeed to +offer you, as I might take the coin from my neck, as I might break a +live branch from a tree, and give it you. And yet not mine! I dwell, or +I think I dwell (if I exist at all), somewhere apart, an impotent +prisoner, and carried about and deafened by a mob that I disown. This +capsule, such as throbs against the sides of animals, knows you at a +touch for its master; ay, it loves you! But my soul, does my soul? I +think not; I know not, fearing to ask. Yet when you spoke to me, your +words were of the soul; it is of the soul that you ask--it is only from +the soul that you would take me." + +"Olalla," I said, "the soul and the body are one, and mostly so in love. +What the body chooses, the soul loves; where the body clings, the soul +cleaves; body for body, soul to soul, they come together at God's +signal; and the lower part (if we can call aught low) is only the +footstool and foundation of the highest." + +"Have you," she said, "seen the portraits in the house of my fathers? +Have you looked at my mother or at Felipe? Have your eyes never rested +on that picture that hangs by your bed? She who sat for it died ages +ago; and she did evil in her life. But, look again: there is my hand to +the least line, there are my eyes and my hair. What is mine, then, and +what am I? If not a curve in this poor body of mine (which you love, and +for the sake of which you dotingly dream that you love me), not a +gesture that I can frame, not a tone of my voice, not any look from my +eyes, no, not even now when I speak to him I love, but has belonged to +others? Others, ages dead, have wooed other men with my eyes; other men +have heard the pleading of the same voice that now sounds in your ears. +The hands of the dead are in my bosom; they move me, they pluck me, they +guide me; I am a puppet at their command; and I but re-inform features +and attributes that have long been laid aside from evil in the quiet of +the grave. Is it me you love, friend? or the race that made me? The girl +who does not know and cannot answer for the least portion of herself? or +the stream of which she is a transitory eddy, the tree of which she is +the passing fruit? The race exists; it is old, it is ever young, it +carries its eternal destiny in its bosom; upon it, like waves upon the +sea, individual succeeds to individual, mocked with a semblance of +self-control, but they are nothing. We speak of the soul, but the soul +is in the race." + +"You fret against the common law," I said. "You rebel against the voice +of God, which He has made so winning to convince, so imperious to +command. Hear it, and how it speaks between us! Your hand clings to +mine, your heart leaps at my touch, the unknown elements of which we +are compounded awake and run together at a look; the clay of the earth +remembers its independent life and yearns to join us; we are drawn +together as the stars are turned about in space, or as the tides ebb and +flow; by things older and greater than we ourselves." + +"Alas!" she said, "what can I say to you? My fathers, eight hundred +years ago, ruled all this province: they were wise, great, cunning, and +cruel; they were a picked race of the Spanish; their flags led in war; +the king called them his cousin; the people, when the rope was slung for +them or when they returned and found their hovels smoking, blasphemed +their name. Presently a change began. Man has risen; if he has sprung +from the brutes, he can descend again to the same level. The breath of +weariness blew on their humanity and the cords relaxed; they began to go +down; their minds fell on sleep, their passions awoke in gusts, heady +and senseless like the wind in the gutters of the mountains; beauty was +still handed down, but no longer the guiding wit nor the human heart; +the seed passed on, it was wrapped in flesh, the flesh covered the +bones, but they were the bones and the flesh of brutes, and their mind +was as the mind of flies. I speak to you as I dare; but you have seen +for yourself how the wheel has gone backward with my doomed race. I +stand, as it were, upon a little rising ground in this desperate +descent, and see both before and behind, both what we have lost and to +what we are condemned to go farther downward. And shall I--I that dwell +apart in the house of the dead, my body, loathing its ways--shall I +repeat the spell? Shall I bind another spirit, reluctant as my own, into +this bewitched and tempest-broken tenement that I now suffer in? Shall I +hand down this cursed vessel of humanity, charge it with fresh life as +with fresh poison, and dash it, like a fire, in the faces of posterity? +But my vow has been given; the race shall cease from off the earth. At +this hour my brother is making ready; his foot will soon be on the +stair; and you will go with him and pass out of my sight for ever. +Think of me sometimes as one to whom the lesson of life was very harshly +told, but who heard it with courage; as one who loved you indeed, but +who hated herself so deeply that her love was hateful to her; as one who +sent you away and yet would have longed to keep you for ever: who had no +dearer hope than to forget you, and no greater fear than to be +forgotten." + +She had drawn towards the door as she spoke, her rich voice sounding +softer and farther away; and with the last word she was gone, and I lay +alone in the moonlit chamber. What I might have done had not I lain +bound by my extreme weakness, I know not; but as it was, there fell upon +me a great and blank despair. It was not long before there shone in at +the door the ruddy glimmer of a lantern, and Felipe, coming, charged me +without a word upon his shoulders, and carried me down to the great +gate, where the cart was waiting. In the moonlight the hills stood out +sharply, as if they were of cardboard; on the glimmering surface of the +plateau, and from among the low trees which swung together and sparkled +in the wind, the great black cube of the residencia stood out bulkily, +its mass only broken by three dimly lighted windows in the northern +front above the gate. They were Olalla's windows, and as the cart jolted +onwards I kept my eyes fixed upon them till, where the road dipped into +a valley, they were lost to my view for ever. Felipe walked in silence +beside the shafts, but from time to time he would check the mule and +seem to look back upon me; and at length drew quite near and laid his +hand upon my head. There was such kindness in the touch, and such a +simplicity, as of the brutes, that tears broke from me like the bursting +of an artery. + +"Felipe," I said, "take me where they will ask no questions." + +He said never a word, but he turned his mule about, end for end, +retraced some part of the way we had gone, and, striking into another +path, led me to the mountain village, which was, as we say in Scotland, +the kirk-town of that thinly peopled district. Some broken memories +dwell in my mind of the day breaking over the plain, of the cart +stopping, of arms that helped me down, of a bare room into which I was +carried, and of a swoon that fell upon me like sleep. + +The next day and the days following, the old priest was often at my side +with his snuff-box and prayer-book, and after a while, when I began to +pick up strength, he told me that I was now on a fair way to recovery, +and must as soon as possible hurry my departure; whereupon, without +naming any reason, he took snuff and looked at me sideways. I did not +affect ignorance; I knew he must have seen Olalla. "Sir," said I, "you +know that I do not ask in wantonness. What of that family?" + +He said they were very unfortunate; that it seemed a declining race, and +that they were very poor and had been much neglected. + +"But she has not," I said. "Thanks, doubtless, to yourself, she is +instructed and wise beyond the use of women." + +"Yes," he said, "the Senorita is well-informed. But the family has been +neglected." + +"The mother?" I queried. + +"Yes, the mother too," said the Padre, taking snuff. "But Felipe is a +well-intentioned lad." + +"The mother is odd?" I asked. + +"Very odd," replied the priest. + +"I think, sir, we beat about the bush," said I. "You must know more of +my affairs than you allow. You must know my curiosity to be justified on +many grounds. Will you not be frank with me?" + +"My son," said the old gentleman, "I will be very frank with you on +matters within my competence; on those of which I know nothing it does +not require much discretion to be silent. I will not fence with you, I +take your meaning perfectly; and what can I say, but that we are all in +God's hands, and that His ways are not our ways? I have even advised +with my superiors in the Church, but they, too, were dumb. It is a great +mystery." + +"Is she mad?" I asked. + +"I will answer you according to my belief. She is not," returned the +Padre, "or she was not. When she was young--God help me, I fear I +neglected that wild lamb--she was surely sane; and yet, although it did +not run to such heights, the same strain was already notable; it had +been so before her in her father, ay, and before him, and this inclined +me, perhaps, to think too lightly of it. But these things go on growing, +not only in the individual but in the race." + +"When she was young," I began, and my voice failed me for a moment, and +it was only with a great effort that I was able to add, "was she like +Olalla?" + +"Now God forbid!" exclaimed the Padre. "God forbid that any man should +think so slightingly of my favourite penitent. No, no; the Senorita (but +for her beauty, which I wish most honestly she had less of) has not a +hair's resemblance to what her mother was at the same age. I could not +bear to have you think so; though, heaven knows, it were, perhaps, +better that you should." + +At this I raised myself in bed, and opened my heart to the old man; +telling him of our love and of her decision; owning my own horrors, my +own passing fancies, but telling him that these were at an end; and with +something more than a purely formal submission, appealing to his +judgment. + +He heard me very patiently and without surprise; and when I had done he +sat for some time silent. Then he began: "The Church," and instantly +broke off again to apologise. "I had forgotten, my child, that you were +not a Christian," said he. "And indeed, upon a point so highly unusual, +even the Church can scarce be said to have decided. But would you have +my opinion? The Senorita is, in a matter of this kind, the best judge; +I would accept her judgment." + +On the back of that he went away, nor was he thenceforward so assiduous +in his visits; indeed, even when I began to get about again, he plainly +feared and deprecated my society, not as in distaste, but much as a man +might be disposed to flee from the riddling sphinx. The villagers, too, +avoided me; they were unwilling to be my guides upon the mountain. I +thought they looked at me askance, and I made sure that the more +superstitious crossed themselves on my approach. At first I set this +down to my heretical opinions; but it began at length to dawn upon me +that if I was thus redoubted it was because I had stayed at the +residencia. All men despise the savage notions of such peasantry; and +yet I was conscious of a chill shadow that seemed to fall and dwell upon +my love. It did not conquer, but I may not deny that it restrained, my +ardour. + +Some miles westward of the village there was a gap in the sierra, from +which the eye plunged direct upon the residencia; and thither it became +my daily habit to repair. A wood crowned the summit; and just where the +pathway issued from its fringes, it was overhung by a considerable shelf +of rock, and that, in its turn, was surmounted by a crucifix of the size +of life and more than usually painful in design. This was my perch; +thence, day after day, I looked down upon the plateau, and the great old +house, and could see Felipe, no bigger than a fly, going to and fro +about the garden. Sometimes mists would draw across the view, and be +broken up again by mountain winds; sometimes the plain slumbered below +me in unbroken sunshine; it would sometimes be all blotted out by rain. +This distant post, these interrupted sights of the place where my life +had been so strangely changed, suited the indecision of my humour. I +passed whole days there, debating with myself the various elements of +our position, now leaning to the suggestions of love, now giving an ear +to prudence, and in the end halting irresolute between the two. + +One day, as I was sitting on my rock, there came by that way a somewhat +gaunt peasant wrapped in a mantle. He was a stranger, and plainly did +not know me even by repute; for, instead of keeping the other side, he +drew near and sat down beside me, and we had soon fallen in talk. Among +other things, he told me he had been a muleteer, and in former years had +much frequented these mountains; later on, he had followed the army with +his mules, had realised a competence, and was now living retired with +his family. + +"Do you know that house?" I inquired at last, pointing to the +residencia, for I readily wearied of any talk that kept me from the +thought of Olalla. + +He looked at me darkly and crossed himself. + +"Too well," he said, "it was there that one of my comrades sold himself +to Satan; the Virgin shield us from temptations! He has paid the price; +he is now burning in the reddest place in hell!" + +A fear came upon me; I could answer nothing; and presently the man +resumed, as if to himself: "Yes," he said, "O yes, I know it. I have +passed its doors. There was snow upon the pass, the wind was driving it; +sure enough there was death that night upon the mountains, but there was +worse beside the hearth. I took him by the arm, Senor, and dragged him +to the gate; I conjured him, by all he loved and respected, to go forth +with me; I went on my knees before him in the snow; and I could see he +was moved by my entreaty. And just then she came out on the gallery, and +called him by his name; and he turned, and there was she, standing with +a lamp in her hand and smiling on him to come back. I cried out aloud to +God, and threw my arms about him, but he put me by, and left me alone. +He had made his choice; God help us. I would pray for him, but to what +end? there are sins that not even the Pope can loose." + +"And your friend," I asked, "what became of him?" + +"Nay, God knows," said the muleteer. "If all be true that we hear, his +end was like his sin, a thing to raise the hair." + +"Do you mean that he was killed?" I asked. + +"Sure enough, he was killed," returned the man. "But how? Ah, how? But +these are things that it is sin to speak of." + +"The people of that house ..." I began. + +But he interrupted me with a savage outburst. "The people?" he cried. +"What people? There are neither men nor women in that house of Satan's! +What? have you lived here so long, and never heard?" And here he put his +mouth to my ear and whispered, as if even the fowls of the mountain +might have overheard and been stricken with horror. + +What he told me was not true, nor was it even original; being, indeed, +but a new edition, vamped up again by village ignorance and +superstition, of stories nearly as ancient as the race of man. It was +rather the application that appalled me. In the old days, he said, the +Church would have burned out that nest of basilisks; but the arm of the +Church was now shortened; his friend Miguel had been unpunished by the +hands of men, and left to the more awful judgment of an offended God. +This was wrong; but it should be so no more. The Padre was sunk in age; +he was even bewitched himself; but the eyes of his flock were now awake +to their own danger; and some day--ay, and before long--the smoke of +that house should go up to heaven. + +He left me filled with horror and fear. Which way to turn I knew not; +whether first to warn the Padre, or to carry my ill news direct to the +threatened inhabitants of the residencia. Fate was to decide for me; +for, while I was still hesitating, I beheld the veiled figure of a woman +drawing near to me up the pathway. No veil could deceive my penetration; +by every line and every movement I recognised Olalla; and keeping +hidden behind a corner of the rock, I suffered her to gain the summit. +Then I came forward. She knew me and paused, but did not speak; I, too, +remained silent; and we continued for some time to gaze upon each other +with a passionate sadness. + +"I thought you had gone," she said at length. "It is all that you can do +for me--to go. It is all I ever asked of you. And you still stay. But do +you know, that every day heaps up the peril of death, not only on your +head, but on ours? A report has gone about the mountain; it is thought +you love me, and the people will not suffer it." + +I saw she was already informed of her danger, and I rejoiced at it. +"Olalla," I said, "I am ready to go this day, this very hour, but not +alone." + +She stepped aside and knelt down before the crucifix to pray, and I +stood by and looked now at her and now at the object of her adoration, +now at the living figure of the penitent, and now at the ghastly, daubed +countenance, the painted wounds, and the projected ribs of the image. +The silence was only broken by the wailing of some large birds that +circled sidelong, as if in surprise or alarm, about the summit of the +hills. Presently Olalla rose again, turned towards me, raised her veil, +and, still leaning with one hand on the shaft of the crucifix, looked +upon me with a pale and sorrowful countenance. + +"I have laid my hand upon the cross," she said. "The Padre says you are +no Christian; but look up for a moment with my eyes, and behold the face +of the Man of Sorrows. We are all such as He was--the inheritors of sin; +we must all bear and expiate a past which was not ours; there is in all +of us--ay, even in me--a sparkle of the divine. Like Him, we must endure +for a little while, until morning returns, bringing peace. Suffer me to +pass on upon my way alone; it is thus that I shall be least lonely, +counting for my friend Him who is the friend of all the distressed; it +is thus that I shall be the most happy, having taken my farewell of +earthly happiness, and willingly accepted sorrow for my portion." + +I looked at the face of the crucifix, and, though I was no friend to +images, and despised that imitative and grimacing art of which it was a +rude example, some sense of what the thing implied was carried home to +my intelligence. The face looked down upon me with a painful and deadly +contraction; but the rays of a glory encircled it, and reminded me that +the sacrifice was voluntary. It stood there, crowning the rock, as it +still stands on so many highway sides, vainly preaching to passers-by, +an emblem of sad and noble truths; that pleasure is not an end, but an +accident; that pain is the choice of the magnanimous; that it is best to +suffer all things and do well. I turned and went down the mountain in +silence; and when I looked back for the last time before the wood closed +about my path, I saw Olalla still leaning on the crucifix. + + + + +HEATHERCAT + +A FRAGMENT + + + + +HEATHERCAT + + + + +CHAPTER I + +TRAQUAIRS OF MONTROYMONT + + +The period of this tale is in the heat of the _killing-time_; the scene +laid for the most part in solitary hills and morasses, haunted only by +the so-called Mountain Wanderers, the dragoons that came in chase of +them, the women that wept on their dead bodies, and the wild birds of +the moorland that have cried there since the beginning. It is a land of +many rain-clouds; a land of much mute history, written there in +pre-historic symbols. Strange green raths are to be seen commonly in the +country, above all by the kirkyards; barrows of the dead, standing +stones; beside these, the faint, durable footprints and handmarks of the +Roman; and an antiquity older perhaps than any, and still living and +active--a complete Celtic nomenclature and a scarce-mingled Celtic +population. These rugged and grey hills were once included in the +boundaries of the Caledonian Forest. Merlin sat here below his +apple-tree and lamented Gwendolen; here spoke with Kentigern; here fell +into his enchanted trance. And the legend of his slumber seems to body +forth the story of that Celtic race, deprived for so many centuries of +their authentic speech, surviving with their ancestral inheritance of +melancholy perversity and patient, unfortunate courage. + +The Traquairs of Montroymont (_Mons Romanus_, as the erudite expound it) +had long held their seat about the head-waters of the Dule and in the +back parts of the moorland parish of Balweary. For two hundred years +they had enjoyed in these upland quarters a certain decency (almost to +be named distinction) of repute; and the annals of their house, or what +is remembered of them, were obscure and bloody. Ninian Traquair was +"cruallie slochtered" by the Crozers at the kirk-door of Balweary, anno +1482. Francis killed Simon Ruthven of Drumshoreland, anno 1540; bought +letters of slayers at the widow and heir, and, by a barbarous form of +compounding, married (without tocher) Simon's daughter Grizzel, which is +the way the Traquairs and Ruthvens came first to an intermarriage. About +the last Traquair and Ruthven marriage, it is the business of this book, +among many other things, to tell. + +The Traquairs were always strong for the Covenant; for the King also, +but the Covenant first; and it began to be ill days for Montroymont when +the Bishops came in and the dragoons at the heels of them. Ninian (then +laird) was an anxious husband of himself and the property, as the times +required, and it may be said of him, that he lost both. He was heavily +suspected of the Pentland Hills rebellion. When it came the length of +Bothwell Brig, he stood his trial before the Secret Council, and was +convicted of talking with some insurgents by the wayside, the subject of +the conversation not very clearly appearing, and of the reset and +maintenance of one Gale, a gardener man, who seen before Bothwell with a +musket, and afterwards, for a continuance of months, delved the garden +at Montroymont. Matters went very ill with Ninian at the Council; some +of the lords were clear for treason; and even the boot was talked of. +But he was spared that torture; and at last, having pretty good +friendship among great men, he came off with a fine of seven thousand +marks, that caused the estate to groan. In this case, as in so many +others, it was the wife that made the trouble. She was a great keeper of +conventicles; would ride ten miles to one, and when she was fined, +rejoiced greatly to suffer for the Kirk; but it was rather her husband +that suffered. She had their only son, Francis, baptized privately by +the hands of Mr. Kidd; there was that much the more to pay for! She +could neither be driven nor wiled into the parish kirk; as for taking +the sacrament at the hands of any Episcopalian curate, and tenfold more +at those of Curate Haddo, there was nothing further from her purposes; +and Montroymont had to put his hand in his pocket month by month and +year by year. Once, indeed, the little lady was cast in prison, and the +laird, worthy, heavy, uninterested man, had to ride up and take her +place; from which he was not discharged under nine months and a sharp +fine. It scarce seemed she had any gratitude to him; she came out of +gaol herself, and plunged immediately deeper in conventicles, resetting +recusants, and all her old, expensive folly, only with greater vigour +and openness, because Montroymont was safe in the Tolbooth and she had +no witness to consider. When he was liberated and came back, with his +fingers singed, in December 1680, and late in the black night, my lady +was from home. He came into the house at his alighting, with a +riding-rod yet in his hand; and, on the servant-maid telling him, caught +her by the scruff of the neck, beat her violently, flung her down in the +passage-way, and went upstairs to his bed fasting and without a light. +It was three in the morning when my lady returned from that conventicle, +and, hearing of the assault (because the maid had sat up for her, +weeping), went to their common chamber with a lantern in hand and +stamping with her shoes so as to wake the dead; it was supposed, by +those that heard her, from a design to have it out with the good man at +once. The house-servants gathered on the stair, because it was a main +interest with them to know which of these two was the better horse; and +for the space of two hours they were heard to go at the matter, hammer +and tongs. Montroymont alleged he was at the end of possibilities; it +was no longer within his power to pay the annual rents; she had served +him basely by keeping conventicles while he lay in prison for her sake; +his friends were weary, and there was nothing else before him but the +entire loss of the family lands, and to begin life again by the wayside +as a common beggar. She took him up very sharp and high: called upon +him, if he were a Christian? and which he most considered, the loss of a +few dirty, miry glebes, or of his soul? Presently he was heard to weep, +and my lady's voice to go on continually like a running burn, only the +words indistinguishable; whereupon it was supposed a victory for her +ladyship, and the domestics took themselves to bed. The next day +Traquair appeared like a man who had gone under the harrows; and his +lady wife thenceforward continued in her old course without the least +deflection. + +Thenceforward Ninian went on his way without complaint, and suffered his +wife to go on hers without remonstrance. He still minded his estate, of +which it might be said he took daily a fresh farewell, and counted it +already lost; looking ruefully on the acres and the graves of his +fathers, on the moorlands where the wildfowl consorted, the low, +gurgling pool of the trout, and the high, windy place of the calling +curlews--things that were yet his for the day and would be another's +to-morrow; coming back again, and sitting ciphering till the dusk at his +approaching ruin, which no device of arithmetic could postpone beyond a +year or two. He was essentially the simple ancient man, the farmer and +landholder; he would have been content to watch the seasons come and go, +and his cattle increase, until the limit of age; he would have been +content at any time to die, if he could have left the estates +undiminished to an heir-male of his ancestors, that duty standing first +in his instinctive calendar. And now he saw everywhere the image of the +new proprietor come to meet him, and go sowing and reaping, or fowling +for his pleasure on the red moors, or eating the very gooseberries in +the Place garden; and saw always, on the other hand, the figure of +Francis go forth, a beggar, into the broad world. + +It was in vain the poor gentleman sought to moderate; took every test +and took advantage of every indulgence; went and drank with the dragoons +in Balweary; attended the communion and came regularly to the church to +Curate Haddo, with his son beside him. The mad, raging, Presbyterian +zealot of a wife at home made all of no avail; and indeed the house must +have fallen years before if it had not been for the secret indulgence of +the curate, who had a great sympathy with the laird, and winked hard at +the doings in Montroymont. This curate was a man very ill reputed in the +countryside, and indeed in all Scotland. "Infamous Haddo" is Shield's +expression. But Patrick Walker is more copious. "Curate Hall Haddo," +says he, _sub voce_ Peden, "or _Hell_ Haddo, as he was more justly to be +called, a pokeful of old condemned errors and the filthy vile lusts of +the flesh, a published whoremonger, a common gross drunkard, continually +and godlessly scraping and skirling on a fiddle, continually breathing +flames against the remnant of Israel. But the Lord put an end to his +piping, and all these offences were composed into one bloody grave." No +doubt this was written to excuse his slaughter; and I have never heard +it claimed for Walker that he was either a just witness or an indulgent +judge. At least, in a merely human character, Haddo comes off not wholly +amiss in the matter of these Traquairs: not that he showed any graces of +the Christian, but had a sort of Pagan decency, which might almost tempt +one to be concerned about his sudden, violent, and unprepared fate. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +FRANCIE + + +Francie was eleven years old, shy, secret, and rather childish of his +age, though not backward in schooling, which had been pushed on far by a +private governor, one M'Brair, a forfeited minister harboured in that +capacity at Montroymont. The boy, already much employed in secret by his +mother, was the most apt hand conceivable to run upon a message, to +carry food to lurking fugitives, or to stand sentry on the skyline above +a conventicle. It seemed no place on the moorlands was so naked but what +he would find cover there; and as he knew every hag, boulder, and +heather-bush in a circuit of seven miles about Montroymont, there was +scarce any spot but what he could leave or approach it unseen. This +dexterity had won him a reputation in that part of the country; and +among the many children employed in these dangerous affairs, he passed +under the by-name of Heathercat. + +How much his father knew of this employment might be doubted. He took +much forethought for the boy's future, seeing he was like to be left so +poorly, and would sometimes assist at his lessons, sighing heavily, +yawning deep, and now and again patting Francie on the shoulder if he +seemed to be doing ill, by way of a private, kind encouragement. But a +great part of the day was passed in aimless wanderings with his eyes +sealed, or in his cabinet sitting bemused over the particulars of the +coming bankruptcy; and the boy would be absent a dozen times for once +that his father would observe it. + +On 2nd of July 1682 the boy had an errand from his mother, which must +be kept private from all, the father included in the first of them. +Crossing the braes, he hears the clatter of a horse's shoes, and claps +down incontinent in a hag by the wayside. And presently he spied his +father come riding from one direction, and Curate Haddo walking from +another; and Montroymont leaning down from the saddle, and Haddo getting +on his toes (for he was a little, ruddy, bald-pated man, more like a +dwarf), they greeted kindly, and came to a halt within two fathoms of +the child. + +"Montroymont," the curate said, "the deil's in 't but I'll have to +denunciate your leddy again." + +"Deil's in 't indeed!" says the laird. + +"Man! can ye no induce her to come to the kirk?" pursues Haddo; "or to a +communion at the least of it? For the conventicles, let be! and the same +for yon solemn fule, M'Brair: I can blink at them. But she's got to come +to the kirk, Montroymont." + +"Dinna speak of it," says the laird. "I can do nothing with her." + +"Couldn't ye try the stick to her? it works wonders whiles," suggested +Haddo. "No? I'm wae to hear it. And I suppose ye ken where you're +going?" + +"Fine!" said Montroymont. "Fine do I ken where: bankrup'cy and the Bass +Rock!" + +"Praise to my bones that I never married!" cried the curate. "Well, it's +a grievous thing to me to see an auld house dung down that was here +before Flodden Field. But naebody can say it was with my wish." + +"No more they can, Haddo!" says the laird. "A good friend ye've been to +me, first and last. I can give you that character with a clear +conscience." + +Whereupon they separated, and Montroymont rode briskly down into the +Dule Valley. But of the curate Francis was not to be quit so easily. He +went on with his little, brisk steps to the corner of a dyke, and +stopped and whistled and waved upon a lassie that was herding cattle +there. This Janet M'Clour was a big lass, being taller than the curate; +and what made her look the more so, she was kilted very high. It seemed +for a while she would not come, and Francie heard her calling Haddo a +"daft auld fule," and saw her running and dodging him among the whins +and hags till he was fairly blown. But at the last he gets a bottle from +his plaid-neuk and holds it up to her; whereupon she came at once into a +composition, and the pair sat, drinking of the bottle, and daffing and +laughing together, on a mound of heather. The boy had scarce heard of +these vanities, or he might have been minded of a nymph and satyr, if +anybody could have taken long-leggit Janet for a nymph. But they seemed +to be huge friends, he thought; and was the more surprised, when the +curate had taken his leave, to see the lassie fling stones after him +with screeches of laughter, and Haddo turn about and caper, and shake +his staff at her, and laugh louder than herself. A wonderful merry pair, +they seemed; and when Francie had crawled out of the hag, he had a great +deal to consider in his mind. It was possible they were all fallen in +error about Mr. Haddo, he reflected,--having seen him so tender with +Montroymont, and so kind and playful with the lass Janet; and he had a +temptation to go out of his road and question her herself upon the +matter. But he had a strong spirit of duty on him; and plodded on +instead over the braes till he came near the House of Cairngorm. There, +in a hollow place, by the burnside that was shaded by some birks, he was +aware of a barefoot boy, perhaps a matter of three years older than +himself. The two approached with the precautions of a pair of strange +dogs, looking at each other queerly. + +"It's ill weather on the hills," said the stranger, giving the +watchword. + +"For a season," said Francie, "but the Lord will appear." + +"Richt," said the barefoot boy; "wha're ye frae?" + +"The Leddy Montroymont," says Francie. + +"Ha'e, then!" says the stranger, and handed him a folded paper, and they +stood and looked at each other again. "It's unco' het," said the boy. + +"Dooms het," says Francie. + +"What do they ca' ye?" says the other. + +"Francie," says he. "I'm young Montroymont. They ca' me Heathercat." + +"I'm Jock Crozer," said the boy. And there was another pause, while each +rolled a stone under his foot. + +"Cast your jaiket and I'll fecht ye for a bawbee," cried the elder boy +with sudden violence, and dramatically throwing back his jacket. + +"Na, I have nae time the now," said Francie, with a sharp thrill of +alarm, because Crozer was much the heavier boy. + +"Ye're feared. Heathercat indeed!" said Crozer, for among this infantile +army of spies and messengers, the fame of Crozer had gone forth and was +resented by his rivals. And with that they separated. + +On his way home Francie was a good deal occupied with the recollection +of this untoward incident. The challenge had been fairly offered and +basely refused: the tale would be carried all over the country, and the +lustre of the name of Heathercat be dimmed. But the scene between Curate +Haddo and Janet M'Clour had also given him much to think of: and he was +still puzzling over the case of the curate, and why such ill words were +said of him, and why, if he were so merry-spirited, he should yet preach +so dry, when coming over a knowe, whom should he see but Janet, sitting +with her back to him, minding her cattle! He was always a great child +for secret, stealthy ways, having been employed by his mother on errands +when the same was necessary; and he came behind the lass without her +hearing. + +"Jennet," says he. + +"Keep me," cries Janet, springing up. "O, it's you, Maister Francie! +Save us, what a fricht ye gied me." + +"Ay, it's me," said Francie. "I've been thinking, Jennet; I saw you and +the curate a while back----" + +"Brat!" cried Janet, and coloured up crimson; and the one moment made as +if she would have stricken him with a ragged stick she had to chase her +bestial with, and the next was begging and praying that he would mention +it to none. It was "naebody's business, whatever," she said; "it would +just start a clash in the country"; and there would be nothing left for +her but to drown herself in Dule Water. + +"Why?" says Francie. + +The girl looked at him and grew scarlet again. + +"And it isna that, anyway," continued Francie. "It was just that he +seemed so good to ye--like our Father in heaven, I thought; and I +thought that mebbe, perhaps, we had all been wrong about him from the +first. But I'll have to tell Mr. M'Brair; I'm under a kind of a bargain +to him to tell him all." + +"Tell it to the divil if ye like for me!" cried the lass. "I've naething +to be ashamed of. Tell M'Brair to mind his ain affairs," she cried +again: "they'll be hot eneugh for him, if Haddie likes!" And so strode +off, shoving her beasts before her, and ever and again looking back and +crying angry words to the boy, where he stood mystified. + +By the time he had got home his mind was made up that he would say +nothing to his mother. My Lady Montroymont was in the keeping-room, +reading a godly book; she was a wonderful frail little wife to make so +much noise in the world and be able to steer about that patient sheep +her husband; her eyes were like sloes, the fingers of her hands were +like tobacco-pipe shanks, her mouth shut tight like a trap; and even +when she was the most serious, and still more when she was angry, there +hung about her face the terrifying semblance of a smile. + +"Have ye gotten the billet, Francie?" said she; and when he had handed +it over, and she had read and burned it, "Did you see anybody?" she +asked. + +"I saw the laird," said Francie. + +"He didna see you, though?" asked his mother. + +"Deil a fear," from Francie. + +"Francie!" she cried. "What's that I hear? an aith? The Lord forgive me, +have I broughten forth a brand for the burning, a fagot for hell-fire?" + +"I'm very sorry, ma'am," said Francie. "I humbly beg the Lord's pardon, +and yours, for my wickedness." + +"H'm," grunted the lady. "Did ye see nobody else?" + +"No, ma'am," said Francie, with the face of an angel, "except Jock +Crozer, that gied me the billet." + +"Jock Crozer!" cried the lady. "I'll Crozer them! Crozers indeed! What +next? Are we to repose the lives of a suffering remnant in Crozers? The +whole clan of them wants hanging, and if I had my way of it, they +wouldna want it long. Are you aware, sir, that these Crozers killed your +forebear at the kirk-door?" + +"You see, he was bigger 'n me," said Francie. + +"Jock Crozer!" continued the lady. "That'll be Clement's son, the +biggest thief and reiver in the countryside. To trust a note to him! But +I'll give the benefit of my opinions to Lady Whitecross when we two +forgather. Let her look to herself! I have no patience with half-hearted +carlines, that complies on the Lord's day morning with the kirk, and +comes taigling the same night to the conventicle. The one or the other! +is what I say: hell or heaven--Haddie's abominations or the pure word of +God dreeping from the lips of Mr. Arnot, + + "'Like honey from the honeycomb + That dreepeth, sweeter far.'" + +My lady was now fairly launched, and that upon two congenial subjects: +the deficiencies of the Lady Whitecross and the turpitudes of the whole +Crozer race--which, indeed, had never been conspicuous for +respectability. She pursued the pair of them for twenty minutes on the +clock with wonderful animation and detail, something of the pulpit +manner, and the spirit of one possessed. "O hellish compliance!" she +exclaimed. "I would not suffer a complier to break bread with Christian +folk. Of all the sins of this day there is not one so God-defying, so +Christ-humiliating, as damnable compliance": the boy standing before her +meanwhile, and brokenly pursuing other thoughts, mainly of Haddo and +Janet, and Jock Crozer stripping off his jacket. And yet, with all his +distraction, it might be argued that he heard too much: his father and +himself being "compliers"--that is to say, attending the church of the +parish as the law required. + +Presently, the lady's passion beginning to decline, or her flux of ill +words to be exhausted, she dismissed her audience. Francie bowed low, +left the room, closed the door behind him: and then turned him about in +the passage-way, and with a low voice, but a prodigious deal of +sentiment, repeated the name of the evil one twenty times over, to the +end of which, for the greater efficacy, he tacked on "damnable" and +"hellish." _Fas est ab hoste doceri_--disrespect is made more pungent by +quotation; and there is no doubt but he felt relieved, and went upstairs +into his tutor's chamber with a quiet mind. M'Brair sat by the cheek of +the peat-fire and shivered, for he had a quartan ague and this was his +day. The great nightcap and plaid, the dark unshaven cheeks of the man, +and the white, thin hands that held the plaid about his chittering body, +made a sorrowful picture. But Francie knew and loved him; came straight +in, nestled close to the refugee, and told his story. M'Brair had been +at the College with Haddo; the Presbytery had licensed both on the same +day; and at this tale, told with so much innocency by the boy, the +heart of the tutor was commoved. + +"Woe upon him! Woe upon that man!" he cried. "O the unfaithful shepherd! +O the hireling and apostate minister! Make my matters hot for me? quo' +she! the shameless limmer! And true it is, that he could repose me in +that nasty, stinking hole, the Canongate Tolbooth, from which your +mother drew me out--the Lord reward her for it!--or to that cold, +unbieldy, marine place of the Bass Rock, which, with my delicate kist, +would be fair ruin to me. But I will be valiant in my Master's service. +I have a duty here: a duty to my God, to myself, and to Haddo: in His +strength, I will perform it." + +Then he straitly discharged Francie to repeat the tale, and bade him in +the future to avert his very eyes from the doings of the curate. "You +must go to his place of idolatry; look upon him there!" says he, "but +nowhere else. Avert your eyes, close your ears, pass him by like a three +days' corp. He is like that damnable monster Basiliscus, which +defiles--yea, poisons!--by the sight."--All which was hardly claratory +to the boy's mind. + +Presently Montroymont came home, and called up the stairs to Francie. +Traquair was a good shot and swordsman: and it was his pleasure to walk +with his son over the braes of the moorfowl, or to teach him arms in the +back court, when they made a mighty comely pair, the child being so +lean, and light, and active, and the laird himself a man of a manly, +pretty stature, his hair (the periwig being laid aside) showing already +white with many anxieties, and his face of an even, flaccid red. But +this day Francie's heart was not in the fencing. + +"Sir," says he, suddenly lowering his point, "will ye tell me a thing if +I was to ask it?" + +"Ask away," says the father. + +"Well, it's this," said Francie: "Why do you and me comply if it's so +wicked?" + +"Ay, ye have the cant of it too!" cried Montroymont. "But I'll tell ye +for all that. It's to try and see if we can keep the rigging on this +house, Francie. If she had her way, we would be beggar-folk, and hold +our hands out by the wayside. When ye hear her--when ye hear folk," he +corrected himself briskly, "call me a coward, and one that betrayed the +Lord, and I kenna what else, just mind it was to keep a bed to ye to +sleep in and a bite for ye to eat.--On guard!" he cried, and the lesson +proceeded again till they were called to supper. + +"There's another thing yet," said Francie, stopping his father. "There's +another thing that I am not sure that I am very caring for. She--she +sends me errands." + +"Obey her, then, as is your bounden duty," said Traquair. + +"Ay, but wait till I tell ye," says the boy. "If I was to see you I was +to hide." + +Montroymont sighed. "Well, and that's good of her too," said he. "The +less that I ken of thir doings the better for me; and the best thing you +can do is just to obey her, and see and be a good son to her, the same +as ye are to me, Francie." + +At the tenderness of this expression the heart of Francie swelled within +his bosom, and his remorse was poured out. "Faither!" he cried, "I said +'deil' to-day; many's the time I said it, and _damnable_ too, and +_hellish_. I ken they're all right; they're beeblical. But I didna say +them beeblically; I said them for sweir words--that's the truth of it." + +"Hout, ye silly bairn!" said the father, "dinna do it nae mair, and come +in by to your supper." And he took the boy, and drew him close to him a +moment, as they went through the door, with something very fond and +secret, like a caress between a pair of lovers. + +The next day M'Brair was abroad in the afternoon, and had a long +advising with Janet on the braes where she herded cattle. What passed +was never wholly known; but the lass wept bitterly, and fell on her +knees to him among the whins. The same night, as soon as it was dark, he +took the road again for Balweary. In the Kirkton, where the dragoons +quartered, he saw many lights, and heard the noise of a ranting song and +people laughing grossly, which was highly offensive to his mind. He gave +it the wider berth, keeping among fields; and came down at last by the +water-side, where the manse stands solitary between the river and the +road. He tapped at the back door, and the old woman called upon him to +come in, and guided him through the house to the study, as they still +called it, though there was little enough study there in Haddo's days, +and more song-books than theology. + +"Here's yin to speak wi' ye, Mr. Haddie!" cries the old wife. + +And M'Brair, opening the door and entering, found the little, round, red +man seated in one chair and his feet upon another. A clear fire and a +tallow dip lighted him barely. He was taking tobacco in a pipe, and +smiling to himself; and a brandy-bottle and glass, and his fiddle and +bow, were beside him on the table. + +"Hech, Patey M'Brair, is this you?" said he, a trifle tipsily. "Step in +by, man, and have a drop brandy: for the stomach's sake! Even the deil +can quote Scripture--eh, Patey?" + +"I will neither eat nor drink with you," replied M'Brair. "I am come +upon my Master's errand! woe be upon me if I should anyways mince the +same. Hall Haddo, I summon you to quit this kirk which you encumber." + +"Muckle obleeged!" says Haddo, winking. + +"You and me have been to kirk and market together," pursued M'Brair; "we +have had blessed seasons in the kirk, we have sat in the same +teaching-rooms and read in the same book; and I know you still retain +for me some carnal kindness. It would be my shame if I denied it; I live +here at your mercy and by your favour, and glory to acknowledge it. You +have pity on my wretched body, which is but grass, and must soon be +trodden under: but O, Haddo! how much greater is the yearning with which +I yearn after and pity your immortal soul! Come now, let us reason +together! I drop all points of controversy, weighty though these be; I +take your defaced and damnified kirk on your own terms; and I ask you, +Are you a worthy minister? The communion season approaches; how can you +pronounce thir solemn words, 'The elders will now bring forrit the +elements,' and not quail? A parishioner may be summoned to-night; you +may have to rise from your miserable orgies; and I ask you, Haddo, what +does your conscience tell you? Are you fit? Are you fit to smooth the +pillow of a parting Christian? And if the summons should be for +yourself, how then?" + +Haddo was startled out of all composure and the better part of his +temper. "What's this of it?" he cried. "I'm no waur than my neebours. I +never set up to be speeritual; I never did. I'm a plain, canty creature; +godliness is cheerfulness, says I; give me my fiddle and a dram, and I +wouldna hairm a flee." + +"And I repeat my question," said M'Brair: "Are you fit--fit for this +great charge? fit to carry and save souls?" + +"Fit? Blethers! As fit 's yoursel'," cried Haddo. + +"Are you so great a self-deceiver?" said M'Brair. "Wretched man, +trampler upon God's covenants, crucifier of your Lord afresh. I will +ding you to the earth with one word: How about the young woman, Janet +M'Clour?" + +"Weel, what about her? what do I ken?" cries Haddo. "M'Brair, ye daft +auld wife, I tell ye as true 's truth, I never meddled her. It was just +daffing, I tell ye: daffing, and nae mair: a piece of fun, like! I'm no' +denying but what I'm fond of fun, sma' blame to me! But for onything +sarious--hout, man, it might come to a deposeetion! I'll sweir it to ye. +Where's a Bible, till you hear me sweir?" + +"There is nae Bible in your study," said M'Brair severely. + +And Haddo, after a few distracted turns, was constrained to accept the +fact. + +"Weel, and suppose there isna?" he cried, stamping. "What mair can ye +say of us, but just that I'm fond of my joke, and so 's she? I declare +to God, by what I ken, she might be the Virgin Mary--if she would just +keep clear of the dragoons. But me! na, deil haet o' me!" + +"She is penitent at least," said M'Brair. + +"Do you mean to actually up and tell me to my face that she accused me?" +cried the curate. + +"I canna just say that," replied M'Brair. "But I rebuked her in the name +of God, and she repented before me on her bended knees." + +"Weel, I daursay she's been ower far wi' the dragoons," said Haddo. "I +never denied that. I ken naething by it." + +"Man, you but show your nakedness the more plainly," said M'Brair. +"Poor, blind, besotted creature--and I see you stoytering on the brink +of dissolution: your light out, and your hours numbered. Awake, man!" he +shouted with a formidable voice, "awake, or it be ower late." + +"Be damned if I stand this!" exclaimed Haddo, casting his tobacco-pipe +violently on the table, where it was smashed in pieces. "Out of my house +with ye, or I'll call for the dragoons." + +"The speerit of the Lord is upon me," said M'Brair with solemn ecstasy. +"I sist you to compear before the Great White Throne, and I warn you the +summons shall be bloody and sudden." + +And at this, with more agility than could have been expected, he got +clear of the room and slammed the door behind him in the face of the +pursuing curate. The next Lord's day the curate was ill, and the kirk +closed, but for all his ill words, Mr. M'Brair abode unmolested in the +house of Montroymont. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE HILL-END OF DRUMLOWE + + +This was a bit of a steep broken hill that overlooked upon the west a +moorish valley, full of ink-black pools. These presently drained into a +burn that made off, with little noise and no celerity of pace, about the +corner of the hill. On the far side the ground swelled into a bare +heath, black with junipers, and spotted with the presence of the +standing stones for which the place was famous. They were many in that +part, shapeless, white with lichen--you would have said with age: and +had made their abode there for untold centuries, since first the +heathens shouted for their installation. The ancients had hallowed them +to some ill religion, and their neighbourhood had long been avoided by +the prudent before the fall of day; but of late, on the up-springing of +new requirements, these lonely stones on the moor had again become a +place of assembly. A watchful picket on the Hill-end commanded all the +northern and eastern approaches; and such was the disposition of the +ground, that by certain cunningly posted sentries the west also could be +made secure against surprise: there was no place in the country where a +conventicle could meet with more quiet of mind or a more certain retreat +open, in the case of interference from the dragoons. The minister spoke +from a knowe close to the edge of the ring, and poured out the words God +gave him on the very threshold of the devils of yore. When they pitched +a tent (which was often in wet weather, upon a communion occasion) it +was rigged over the huge isolated pillar that had the name of +Anes-Errand, none knew why. And the congregation sat partly clustered +on the slope below, and partly among the idolatrous monoliths and on the +turfy soil of the Ring itself. In truth the situation was well qualified +to give a zest to Christian doctrines, had there been any wanted. But +these congregations assembled under conditions at once so formidable and +romantic as made a zealot of the most cold. They were the last of the +faithful; God, who had averted His face from all other countries of the +world, still leaned from heaven to observe, with swelling sympathy, the +doings of His moorland remnant; Christ was by them with His eternal +wounds, with dropping tears; the Holy Ghost (never perfectly realised +nor firmly adopted by Protestant imaginations) was dimly supposed to be +in the heart of each and on the lips of the minister. And over against +them was the army of the hierarchies, from the men Charles and James +Stuart, on to King Lewie and the Emperor; and the scarlet Pope, and the +muckle black devil himself, peering out the red mouth of hell in an +ecstasy of hate and hope. "One pull more!" he seemed to cry; "one pull +more, and it's done. There's only Clydesdale and the Stewartry, and the +three Bailiaries of Ayr, left for God." And with such an august +assistance of powers and principalities looking on at the last conflict +of good and evil, it was scarce possible to spare a thought to those +old, infirm, debile, _ab agendo_ devils whose holy place they were now +violating. + +There might have been three hundred to four hundred present. At least +there were three hundred horses tethered for the most part in the ring; +though some of the hearers on the outskirts of the crowd stood with +their bridles in their hand, ready to mount at the first signal. The +circle of faces was strangely characteristic; long, serious, strongly +marked, the tackle standing out in the lean brown cheeks, the mouth set +and the eyes shining with a fierce enthusiasm; the shepherd, the +labouring man, and the rarer laird, stood there in their broad blue +bonnets or laced hats, and presenting an essential identity of type. +From time to time a long-drawn groan of adhesion rose in this audience, +and was propagated like a wave to the outskirts, and died away among the +keepers of the horses. It had a name; it was called "a holy groan." + +A squall came up; a great volley of flying mist went out before it and +whelmed the scene; the wind stormed with a sudden fierceness that +carried away the minister's voice and twitched his tails and made him +stagger, and turned the congregation for a moment into a mere pother of +blowing plaid-ends and prancing horses, and the rain followed and was +dashed straight into their faces. Men and women panted aloud in the +shock of that violent shower-bath; the teeth were bared along all the +line in an involuntary grimace; plaids, mantles, and riding-coats were +proved vain, and the worshippers felt the water stream on their naked +flesh. The minister, reinforcing his great and shrill voice, continued +to contend against and triumph over the rising of the squall and the +dashing of the rain. + +"In that day ye may go thirty mile and not hear a crawing cock," he +said; "and fifty mile and not get a light to your pipe; and an hundred +mile and not see a smoking house. For there'll be naething in all +Scotland but deid men's banes and blackness, and the living anger of the +Lord. O, where to find a bield--O sirs, where to find a bield from the +wind of the Lord's anger? Do ye call _this_ a wind? Bethankit! Sirs, +this is but a temporary dispensation; this is but a puff of wind, this +is but a spit of rain and by with it. Already there's a blue bow in the +west, and the sun will take the crown of the causeway again, and your +things'll be dried upon ye, and your flesh will be warm upon your bones. +But O, sirs, sirs! for the day of the Lord's anger!" + +His rhetoric was set forth with an ear-piercing elocution, and a voice +that sometimes crashed like cannon. Such as it was, it was the gift of +all hill-preachers, to a singular degree of likeness or identity. Their +images scarce ranged beyond the red horizon of the moor and the rainy +hill-top, the shepherd and his sheep, a fowling-piece, a spade, a pipe, +a dunghill, a crowing cock, the shining and the withdrawal of the sun. +An occasional pathos of simple humanity, and frequent patches of big +Biblical words, relieved the homely tissue. It was a poetry apart; +bleak, austere, but genuine, and redolent of the soil. + +A little before the coming of the squall there was a different scene +enacting at the outposts. For the most part, the sentinels were faithful +to their important duty; the Hill-end of Drumlowe was known to be a safe +meeting-place; and the out-pickets on this particular day had been +somewhat lax from the beginning, and grew laxer during the inordinate +length of the discourse. Francie lay there in his appointed hiding-hole, +looking abroad between two whin-bushes. His view was across the course +of the burn, then over a piece of plain moorland, to a gap between two +hills; nothing moved but grouse, and some cattle who slowly traversed +his field of view, heading northward: he heard the psalms, and sang +words of his own to the savage and melancholy music; for he had his own +design in hand, and terror and cowardice prevailed in his bosom +alternately, like the hot and the cold fit of an ague. Courage was +uppermost during the singing, which he accompanied through all its +length with this impromptu strain: + + "And I will ding Jock Crozer down + No later than the day." + +Presently the voice of the preacher came to him in wafts, at the wind's +will, as by the opening and shutting of a door; wild spasms of +screaming, as of some undiscerned gigantic hill-bird stirred with +inordinate passion, succeeded to intervals of silence; and Francie heard +them with a critical ear. "Ay," he thought at last, "he'll do; he has +the bit in his mou' fairly." + +He had observed that his friend, or rather his enemy, Jock Crozer, had +been established at a very critical part of the line of outposts; +namely, where the burn issues by an abrupt gorge from the semicircle of +high moors. If anything was calculated to nerve him to battle it was +this. The post was important; next to the Hill-end itself, it might be +called the key to the position; and it was where the cover was bad, and +in which it was most natural to place a child. It should have been +Heathercat's; why had it been given to Crozer? An exquisite fear of what +should be the answer passed through his marrow every time he faced the +question. Was it possible that Crozer could have boasted? that there +were rumours abroad to his--Heathercat's--discredit? that his honour was +publicly sullied? All the world went dark about him at the thought; he +sank without a struggle into the midnight pool of despair; and every +time he so sank, he brought back with him--not drowned heroism indeed, +but half-drowned courage by the locks. His heart beat very slowly as he +deserted his station, and began to crawl towards that of Crozer. +Something pulled him back, and it was not the sense of duty, but a +remembrance of Crozer's build and hateful readiness of fist. Duty, as he +conceived it, pointed him forward on the rueful path that he was +travelling. Duty bade him redeem his name if he were able, at the risk +of broken bones; and his bones and every tooth in his head ached by +anticipation. An awful subsidiary fear whispered him that if he were +hurt, he should disgrace himself by weeping. He consoled himself, +boy-like, with the consideration that he was not yet committed; he could +easily steal over unseen to Crozer's post, and he had a continuous +private idea that he would very probably steal back again. His course +took him so near the minister that he could hear some of his words: +"What news, minister, of Claver'se? He's going round like a roaring +rampaging lion.... + + + + +THE GREAT NORTH ROAD + +A FRAGMENT + + + + +THE GREAT NORTH ROAD + + + + +CHAPTER I + +NANCE AT THE "GREEN DRAGON" + + +Nance Holdaway was on her knees before the fire blowing the green wood +that voluminously smoked upon the dogs, and only now and then shot forth +a smothered flame; her knees already ached and her eyes smarted, for she +had been some while at this ungrateful task, but her mind was gone far +away to meet the coming stranger. Now she met him in the wood, now at +the castle gate, now in the kitchen by candle-light; each fresh +presentment eclipsed the one before; a form so elegant, manners so +sedate, a countenance so brave and comely, a voice so winning and +resolute--sure such a man was never seen! The thick-coming fancies +poured and brightened in her head like the smoke and flames upon the +hearth. + +Presently the heavy foot of her uncle Jonathan was heard upon the stair, +and as he entered the room she bent the closer to her work. He glanced +at the green fagots with a sneer, and looked askance at the bed and the +white sheets, at the strip of carpet laid, like an island, on the great +expanse of the stone floor, and at the broken glazing of the casement +clumsily repaired with paper. + +"Leave that fire a-be," he cried. "What, have I toiled all my life to +turn innkeeper at the hind end? Leave it a-be, I say." + +"La, uncle, it doesn't burn a bit; it only smokes," said Nance, looking +up from her position. + +"You are come of decent people of both sides," returned the old man. +"Who are you to blow the coals for any Robin-run-agate? Get up, get on +your hood, make yourself useful, and be off to the 'Green Dragon.'" + +"I thought you was to go yourself," Nance faltered. + +"So did I," quoth Jonathan; "but it appears I was mistook." + +The very excess of her eagerness alarmed her, and she began to hang +back. "I think I would rather not, dear uncle," she said. "Night is at +hand, and I think, dear, I would rather not." + +"Now you look here," replied Jonathan, "I have my lord's orders, have I +not? Little he gives me, but it's all my livelihood. And do you fancy, +if I disobey my lord, I'm likely to turn round for a lass like you? No, +I've that hell-fire of pain in my old knee, I wouldn't walk a mile, not +for King George upon his bended knees." And he walked to the window and +looked down the steep scarp to where the river foamed in the bottom of +the dell. + +Nance stayed for no more bidding. In her own room, by the glimmer of the +twilight, she washed her hands and pulled on her Sunday mittens; +adjusted her black hood, and tied a dozen times its cherry ribbons; and +in less than ten minutes, with a fluttering heart and excellently bright +eyes, she passed forth under the arch and over the bridge, into the +thickening shadows of the groves. A well-marked wheel-track conducted +her. The wood, which upon both sides of the river dell was a mere +scrambling thicket of hazel, hawthorn, and holly, boasted on the level +of more considerable timber. Beeches came to a good growth, with here +and there an oak; and the track now passed under a high arcade of +branches, and now ran under the open sky in glades. As the girl +proceeded these glades became more frequent, the trees began again to +decline in size, and the wood to degenerate into furzy coverts. Last of +all there was a fringe of elders; and beyond that the track came forth +upon an open, rolling moorland, dotted with wind-bowed and scanty +bushes, and all golden brown with the winter, like a grouse. Right over +against the girl the last red embers of the sunset burned under +horizontal clouds; the night fell clear and still and frosty, and the +track in low and marshy passages began to crackle under foot with ice. + +Some half a mile beyond the borders of the wood the lights of the "Green +Dragon" hove in sight, and running close beside them, very faint in the +dying dusk, the pale ribbon of the Great North Road. It was the back of +the post-house that was presented to Nance Holdaway; and as she +continued to draw near and the night to fall more completely, she became +aware of an unusual brightness and bustle. A post-chaise stood in the +yard, its lamps already lighted: light shone hospitably in the windows +and from the open door; moving lights and shadows testified to the +activity of servants bearing lanterns. The clank of pails, the stamping +of hoofs on the firm causeway, the jingle of harness, and, last of all, +the energetic hissing of a groom, began to fall upon her ear. By the +stir you would have thought the mail was at the door, but it was still +too early in the night. The down mail was not due at the "Green Dragon" +for hard upon an hour; the up mail from Scotland not before two in the +black morning. + +Nance entered the yard somewhat dazzled. Sam, the tall ostler, was +polishing a curb-chain with sand; the lantern at his feet letting up +spouts of candle-light through the holes with which its conical roof was +peppered. + +"Hey, miss," said he jocularly, "you won't look at me any more, now you +have gentry at the castle." + +Her cheeks burned with anger. + +"That's my lord's chay," the man continued, nodding at the chaise, "Lord +Windermoor's. Came all in a fluster--dinner, bowl of punch, and put the +horses to. For all the world like a runaway match, my dear--bar the +bride. He brought Mr. Archer in the chay with him." + +"Is that Holdaway?" cried the landlord from the lighted entry, where he +stood shading his eyes. + +"Only me, sir," answered Nance. + +"O, you, Miss Nance," he said. "Well, come in quick, my pretty. My lord +is waiting for your uncle." + +And he ushered Nance into a room cased with yellow wainscot and lighted +by tall candles, where two gentlemen sat at a table finishing a bowl of +punch. One of these was stout, elderly, and irascible, with a face like +a full moon, well dyed with liquor, thick tremulous lips, a short, +purple hand, in which he brandished a long pipe, and an abrupt and +gobbling utterance. This was my Lord Windermoor. In his companion Nance +beheld a younger man, tall, quiet, grave, demurely dressed, and wearing +his own hair. Her glance but lighted on him, and she flushed, for in +that second she made sure that she had twice betrayed herself--betrayed +by the involuntary flash of her black eyes her secret impatience to +behold this new companion, and, what was far worse, betrayed her +disappointment in the realisation of her dreams. He, meanwhile, as if +unconscious, continued to regard her with unmoved decorum. + +"O, a man of wood," thought Nance. + +"What--what?" said his lordship. "Who is this?" + +"If you please, my lord, I am Holdaway's niece," replied Nance, with a +curtsey. + +"Should have been here himself," observed his lordship. "Well, you tell +Holdaway that I'm aground, not a stiver--not a stiver. I'm running from +the beagles--going abroad, tell Holdaway. And he need look for no more +wages: glad of 'em myself, if I could get 'em. He can live in the castle +if he likes, or go to the devil. O, and here is Mr. Archer; and I +recommend him to take him in--a friend of mine--and Mr. Archer will pay, +as I wrote. And I regard that in the light of a precious good thing for +Holdaway, let me tell you, and a set-off against the wages." + +"But O, my lord!" cried Nance, "we live upon the wages, and what are we +to do without?" + +"What am I to do?--what am I to do?" replied Lord Windermoor with some +exasperation. "I have no wages. And there is Mr. Archer. And if Holdaway +doesn't like it, he can go to the devil, and you with him!--and you with +him!" + +"And yet, my lord," said Mr. Archer, "these good people will have as +keen a sense of loss as you or I; keener, perhaps, since they have done +nothing to deserve it." + +"Deserve it?" cried the peer. "What? What? If a rascally highwayman +comes up to me with a confounded pistol, do you say that I've deserved +it? How often am I to tell you, sir, that I was cheated--that I was +cheated?" + +"You are happy in the belief," returned Mr. Archer gravely. + +"Archer, you would be the death of me!" exclaimed his lordship. "You +know you're drunk; you know it, sir; and yet you can't get up a spark of +animation." + +"I have drunk fair, my lord," replied the younger man; "but I own I am +conscious of no exhilaration." + +"If you had as black a look-out as me, sir," cried the peer, "you would +be very glad of a little innocent exhilaration, let me tell you. I am +glad of it--glad of it, and I only wish I was drunker. For let me tell +you it's a cruel hard thing upon a man of my time of life and my +position, to be brought down to beggary because the world is full of +thieves and rascals--thieves and rascals. What? For all I know, you may +be a thief and a rascal yourself; and I would fight you for a pinch of +snuff--a pinch of snuff," exclaimed his lordship. + +Here Mr. Archer turned to Nance Holdaway with a pleasant smile, so full +of sweetness, kindness, and composure that, at one bound, her dreams +returned to her. "My good Miss Holdaway," said he, "if you are willing +to show me the road, I am even eager to be gone. As for his lordship +and myself, compose yourself; there is no fear; this is his lordship's +way." + +"What? what?" cried his lordship. "My way? Ish no such a thing, my way." + +"Come, my lord," cried Archer; "you and I very thoroughly understand +each other; and let me suggest, it is time that both of us were gone. +The mail will soon be due. Here, then, my lord, I take my leave of you, +with the most earnest assurance of my gratitude for the past, and a +sincere offer of any services I may be able to render in the future." + +"Archer," exclaimed Lord Windermoor, "I love you like a son. Le' 's have +another bowl." + +"My lord, for both our sakes, you will excuse me," replied Mr. Archer. +"We both require caution; we must both, for some while at least, avoid +the chance of a pursuit." + +"Archer," quoth his lordship, "this is a rank ingratishood. What? I'm to +go firing away in the dark in the cold po'chaise, and not so much as a +game of ecarte possible, unless I stop and play with the postillion, the +postillion; and the whole country swarming with thieves and rascals and +highwaymen." + +"I beg your lordship's pardon," put in the landlord, who now appeared in +the doorway to announce the chaise, "but this part of the North Road is +known for safety. There has not been a robbery, to call a robbery, this +five years' time. Further south, of course, it's nearer London, and +another story," he added. + +"Well, then, if that's so," concluded my lord, "le' 's have t' other +bowl and a pack of cards." + +"My lord, you forget," said Archer, "I might still gain; but it is +hardly possible for me to lose." + +"Think I'm a sharper?" inquired the peer. "Gen'leman's parole's all I +ask." + +But Mr. Archer was proof against these blandishments, and said farewell +gravely enough to Lord Windermoor, shaking his hand and at the same +time bowing very low. "You will never know," says he, "the service you +have done me." And with that, and before my lord had finally taken up +his meaning, he had slipped about the table, touched Nance lightly but +imperiously on the arm, and left the room. In face of the outbreak of +his lordship's lamentations she made haste to follow the truant. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +IN WHICH MR. ARCHER IS INSTALLED + + +The chaise had been driven round to the front door; the courtyard lay +all deserted, and only lit by a lantern set upon a window-sill. Through +this Nance rapidly led the way, and began to ascend the swellings of the +moor with a heart that somewhat fluttered in her bosom. She was not +afraid, but in the course of these last passages with Lord Windermoor +Mr. Archer had ascended to that pedestal on which her fancy waited to +instal him. The reality, she felt, excelled her dreams, and this cold +night walk was the first romantic incident in her experience. + +It was the rule in these days to see gentlemen unsteady after dinner, +yet Nance was both surprised and amused when her companion, who had +spoken so soberly, began to stumble and waver by her side with the most +airy divagations. Sometimes he would get so close to her that she must +edge away; and at others lurch clear out of the track and plough among +deep heather. His courtesy and gravity meanwhile remained unaltered. He +asked her how far they had to go; whether the way lay all upon the +moorland, and when he learned they had to pass a wood expressed his +pleasure. "For," said he, "I am passionately fond of trees. Trees and +fair lawns, if you consider of it rightly, are the ornaments of nature, +as palaces and fine approaches----" And here he stumbled into a patch of +slough and nearly fell. The girl had hard work not to laugh, but at +heart she was lost in admiration for one who talked so elegantly. + +They had got to about a quarter of a mile from the + +"Green Dragon," and were near the summit of the rise, when a sudden rush +of wheels arrested them. Turning and looking back, they saw the +post-house, now much declined in brightness; and speeding away northward +the two tremulous bright dots of my Lord Windermoor's chaise-lamps. Mr. +Archer followed these yellow and unsteady stars until they dwindled into +points and disappeared. + +"There goes my only friend," he said. "Death has cut off those that +loved me, and change of fortune estranged my flatterers; and but for +you, poor bankrupt, my life is as lonely as this moor." + +The tone of his voice affected both of them. They stood there on the +side of the moor, and became thrillingly conscious of the void waste of +the night, without a feature for the eye, and except for the fainting +whisper of the carriage-wheels without a murmur for the ear. And +instantly, like a mockery, there broke out, very far away, but clear and +jolly, the note of the mail-guard's horn. "Over the hills" was his air. +It rose to the two watchers on the moor with the most cheerful sentiment +of human company and travel, and at the same time in and around the +"Green Dragon" it woke up a great bustle of lights running to and fro +and clattering hoofs. Presently after, out of the darkness to southward, +the mail grew near with a growing rumble. Its lamps were very large and +bright, and threw their radiance forward in overlapping cones; the four +cantering horses swarmed and steamed; the body of the coach followed +like a great shadow; and this lit picture slid with a sort of +ineffectual swiftness over the black field of night, and was eclipsed by +the buildings of the "Green Dragon." + +Mr. Archer turned abruptly and resumed his former walk; only that he was +now more steady, kept better alongside his young conductor, and had +fallen into a silence broken by sighs. Nance waxed very pitiful over his +fate, contrasting an imaginary past of courts and great society, and +perhaps the King himself, with the tumbledown ruin in a wood to which +she was now conducting him. + +"You must try, sir, to keep your spirits up," said she. "To be sure this +is a great change for one like you; but who knows the future?" + +Mr. Archer turned towards her in the darkness, and she could clearly +perceive that he smiled upon her very kindly. "There spoke a sweet +nature," said he, "and I must thank you for these words. But I would not +have you fancy that I regret the past for any happiness found in it, or +that I fear the simplicity and hardship of the country. I am a man that +has been much tossed about in life; now up, now down; and do you think +that I shall not be able to support what you support--you who are kind, +and therefore know how to feel pain; who are beautiful, and therefore +hope; who are young, and therefore (or am I the more mistaken?) +discontented?" + +"Nay, sir, not that, at least," said Nance; "not discontented. If I were +to be discontented, how should I look those that have real sorrows in +the face? I have faults enough, but not that fault; and I have my merits +too, for I have a good opinion of myself. But for beauty, I am not so +simple but that I can tell a banter from a compliment." + +"Nay, nay," said Mr. Archer, "I had half forgotten; grief is selfish, +and I was thinking of myself and not of you, or I had never blurted out +so bold a piece of praise. 'Tis the best proof of my sincerity. But +come, now, I would lay a wager you are no coward?" + +"Indeed, sir, I am not more afraid than another," said Nance. "None of +my blood are given to fear." + +"And you are honest?" he returned. + +"I will answer for that," said she. + +"Well, then, to be brave, to be honest, to be kind, and to be contented, +since you say you are so--is not that to fill up a great part of +virtue?" + +"I fear you are but a flatterer," said Nance, but she did not say it +clearly, for what with bewilderment and satisfaction, her heart was +quite oppressed. + +There could be no harm, certainly, in these grave compliments; but yet +they charmed and frightened her, and to find favour, for reasons however +obscure, in the eyes of this elegant, serious, and most unfortunate +young gentleman, was a giddy elevation, was almost an apotheosis, for a +country maid. + +But she was to be no more exercised; for Mr. Archer, disclaiming any +thought of flattery, turned off to other subjects, and held her all +through the wood in conversation, addressing her with an air of perfect +sincerity, and listening to her answers with every mark of interest. Had +open flattery continued, Nance would have soon found refuge in good +sense; but the more subtle lure she could not suspect, much less avoid. +It was the first time she had ever taken part in a conversation +illuminated by any ideas. All was then true that she had heard and +dreamed of gentlemen; they were a race apart, like deities knowing good +and evil. And then there burst upon her soul a divine thought, hope's +glorious sunrise: since she could understand, since it seemed that she +too, even she, could interest this sorrowful Apollo, might she not +learn? or was she not learning? Would not her soul awake and put forth +wings? Was she not, in fact, an enchanted princess, waiting but a touch +to become royal? She saw herself transformed, radiantly attired, but in +the most exquisite taste: her face grown longer and more refined; her +tint etherealised; and she heard herself with delighted wonder talking +like a book. + +Meanwhile they had arrived at where the track comes out above the river +dell, and saw in front of them the castle, faintly shadowed on the +night, covering with its broken battlements a bold projection of the +bank, and showing at the extreme end, where were the habitable tower and +wing, some crevices of candle-light. Hence she called loudly upon her +uncle, and he was seen to issue, lantern in hand, from the tower door, +and, where the ruins did not intervene, to pick his way over the swarded +courtyard, avoiding treacherous cellars and winding among blocks of +fallen masonry. The arch of the great gate was still entire, flanked by +two tottering bastions, and it was here that Jonathan met them, standing +at the edge of the bridge, bent somewhat forward, and blinking at them +through the glow of his own lantern. Mr. Archer greeted him with +civility; but the old man was in no humour of compliance. He guided the +new-comer across the courtyard, looking sharply and quickly in his face, +and grumbling all the time about the cold, and the discomfort and +dilapidation of the castle. He was sure he hoped that Mr. Archer would +like it; but in truth he could not think what brought him there. +Doubtless he had a good reason--this with a look of cunning +scrutiny--but, indeed, the place was quite unfit for any person of +repute; he himself was eaten up with the rheumatics. It was the most +rheumaticky place in England, and some fine day the whole habitable part +(to call it habitable) would fetch away bodily and go down the slope +into the river. He had seen the cracks widening; there was a plaguy +issue in the bank below; he thought a spring was mining it; it might be +to-morrow, it might be next day; but they were all sure of a come-down +sooner or later. "And that is a poor death," said he, "for any one, let +alone a gentleman, to have a whole old ruin dumped upon his belly. Have +a care to your left there; these cellar vaults have all broke down, and +the grass and hemlock hide 'em. Well, sir, here is welcome to you, such +as it is, and wishing you well away." + +And with that Jonathan ushered his guest through the tower door, and +down three steps on the left hand into the kitchen or common room of the +castle. It was a huge, low room, as large as a meadow, occupying the +whole width of the habitable wing, with six barred windows looking on +the court, and two into the river valley. A dresser, a table, and a few +chairs stood dotted here and there upon the uneven flags. Under the +great chimney a good fire burned in an iron fire-basket; a high old +settee, rudely carved with figures and Gothic lettering, flanked it on +either side; there was a hinge table and a stone bench in the chimney +corner, and above the arch hung guns, axes, lanterns, and great sheaves +of rusty keys. + +Jonathan looked about him, holding up the lantern, and shrugged his +shoulders, with a pitying grimace. "Here it is," he said. "See the damp +on the floor, look at the moss; where there's moss you may be sure that +it's rheumaticky. Try and get near that fire for to warm yourself; it'll +blow the coat off your back. And with a young gentleman with a face like +yours, as pale as a tallow-candle, I'd be afeard of a churchyard cough +and a galloping decline," says Jonathan, naming the maladies with gloomy +gusto, "or the cold might strike and turn your blood," he added. + +Mr. Archer fairly laughed. "My good Mr. Holdaway," said he, "I was born +with that same tallow-candle face, and the only fear that you inspire me +with is the fear that I intrude unwelcomely upon your private hours. But +I think I can promise you that I am very little troublesome, and I am +inclined to hope that the terms which I can offer may still pay you the +derangement." + +"Yes, the terms," said Jonathan, "I was thinking of that. As you say, +they are very small," and he shook his head. + +"Unhappily, I can afford no more," said Mr. Archer. "But this we have +arranged already," he added with a certain stiffness; "and as I am aware +that Miss Holdaway has matter to communicate, I will, if you permit, +retire at once. To-night I must bivouac; to-morrow my trunk is to follow +from the 'Dragon.' So if you will show me to my room I shall wish you a +good slumber and a better awakening." + +Jonathan silently gave the lantern to Nance, and she, turning and +curtseying in the doorway, proceeded to conduct their guest up the broad +winding staircase of the tower. He followed with a very brooding face. + +"Alas!" cried Nance, as she entered the room, "your fire black out," +and, setting down the lantern, she clapped upon her knees before the +chimney and began to rearrange the charred and still smouldering +remains. Mr. Archer looked about the gaunt apartment with a sort of +shudder. The great height, the bare stone, the shattered windows, the +aspect of the uncurtained bed, with one of its four fluted columns +broken short, all struck a chill upon his fancy. From this dismal survey +his eyes returned to Nance crouching before the fire, the candle in one +hand and artfully puffing at the embers; the flames as they broke forth +played upon the soft outline of her cheek--she was alive and young, +coloured with the bright hues of life, and a woman. He looked upon her, +softening; and then sat down and continued to admire the picture. + +"There, sir," said she, getting upon her feet, "your fire is doing +bravely now. Good-night." + +He rose and held out his hand. "Come," said he, "you are my only friend +in these parts, and you must shake hands." + +She brushed her hand upon her skirt and offered it, blushing. + +"God bless you, my dear," said he. + +And then, when he was alone, he opened one of the windows, and stared +down into the dark valley. A gentle wimpling of the river among stones +ascended to his ear; the trees upon the other bank stood very black +against the sky; farther away an owl was hooting. It was dreary and +cold, and as he turned back to the hearth and the fine glow of fire, +"Heavens!" said he to himself, "what an unfortunate destiny is mine!" + +He went to bed, but sleep only visited his pillow in uneasy snatches. +Outbreaks of loud speech came up the staircase; he heard the old stones +of the castle crack in the frosty night with sharp reverberations, and +the bed complained under his tossings. Lastly, far on into the morning, +he awakened from a doze to hear, very far off, in the extreme and +breathless quiet, a wailing flourish on the horn. The down mail was +drawing near to the "Green Dragon." He sat up in bed; the sound was +tragical by distance, and the modulation appealed to his ear like human +speech. It seemed to call upon him with a dreary insistence--to call him +far away, to address him personally, and to have a meaning that he +failed to seize. It was thus, at least, in this nodding castle, in a +cold, miry woodland, and so far from men and society, that the traffic +on the Great North Road spoke to him in the intervals of slumber. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +JONATHAN HOLDAWAY + + +Nance descended the tower stair, pausing at every step. She was in no +hurry to confront her uncle with bad news, and she must dwell a little +longer on the rich note of Mr. Archer's voice, the charm of his kind +words, and the beauty of his manner and person. But, once at the +stair-foot, she threw aside the spell and recovered her sensible and +workaday self. + +Jonathan was seated in the middle of the settle, a mug of ale beside +him, in the attitude of one prepared for trouble; but he did not speak, +and suffered her to fetch her supper and eat of it, with a very +excellent appetite, in silence. When she had done, she, too, drew a +tankard of home-brewed, and came and planted herself in front of him +upon the settle. + +"Well?" said Jonathan. + +"My lord has run away," said Nance. + +"What?" cried the old man. + +"Abroad," she continued; "run away from creditors. He said he had not a +stiver, but he was drunk enough. He said you might live on in the +castle, and Mr. Archer would pay you; but you was to look for no more +wages, since he would be glad of them himself." + +Jonathan's face contracted; the flush of a black, bilious anger mounted +to the roots of his hair; he gave an inarticulate cry, leapt upon his +feet, and began rapidly pacing the stone floor. At first he kept his +hands behind his back in a tight knot; then he began to gesticulate as +he turned. + +"This man--this lord," he shouted, "who is he? He was born with a gold +spoon in his mouth, and I with a dirty straw. He rolled in his coach +when he was a baby. I have dug and toiled and laboured since I was that +high--that high." And he shouted again. "I'm bent and broke, and full of +pains. D'ye think I don't know the taste of sweat? Many's the gallon +I've drunk of it--ay, in the midwinter, toiling like a slave. All +through, what has my life been? Bend, bend, bend my old creaking back +till it would ache like breaking; wade about in the foul mire, never a +dry stitch; empty belly, sore hands, hat off to my Lord Redface; kicks +and ha'pence; and now, here, at the hind end, when I'm worn to my poor +bones, a kick and done with it." He walked a little while in silence, +and then, extending his hand, "Now, you Nance Holdaway," says he, "you +come of my blood, and you're a good girl. When that man was a boy, I +used to carry his gun for him. I carried the gun all day on my two feet, +and many a stitch I had, and chewed a bullet for. He rode upon a horse, +with feathers in his hat; but it was him that had the shots and took the +game home. Did I complain? Not I. I knew my station. What did I ask, but +just the chance to live and die honest? Nance Holdaway, don't let them +deny it to me--don't let them do it. I've been as poor as Job, and as +honest as the day, but now, my girl, you mark these words of mine, I'm +getting tired of it." + +"I wouldn't say such words, at least," said Nance. + +"You wouldn't?" said the old man grimly. "Well, and did I when I was +your age? Wait till your back's broke and your hands tremble, and your +eyes fail, and you're weary of the battle and ask no more but to lie +down in your bed and give the ghost up like an honest man; and then let +there up and come some insolent, ungodly fellow--ah! if I had him in +these hands! 'Where's my money that you gambled?' I should say. 'Where's +my money that you drank and diced?' 'Thief!' is what I would say; +'Thief!'" he roared, "'Thief!'" + +"Mr. Archer will hear you if you don't take care," said Nance, "and I +would be ashamed, for one, that he should hear a brave, old, honest, +hard-working man like Jonathan Holdaway talk nonsense like a boy." + +"D'ye think I mind for Mr. Archer?" he cried shrilly, with a clack of +laughter; and then he came close up to her, stooped down with his two +palms upon his knees, and looked her in the eyes, with a strange hard +expression, something like a smile. "Do I mind for God, my girl?" he +said; "that's what it's come to be now, do I mind for God?" + +"Uncle Jonathan," she said, getting up and taking him by the arm; "you +sit down again, where you were sitting. There, sit still; I'll have no +more of this; you'll do yourself a mischief. Come, take a drink of this +good ale, and I'll warm a tankard for you. La, we'll pull through, +you'll see. I'm young, as you say, and it's my turn to carry the bundle; +and don't you worry your bile, or we'll have sickness, too, as well as +sorrow." + +"D'ye think that I'd forgotten you?" said Jonathan, with something like +a groan; and thereupon his teeth clicked to, and he sat silent with the +tankard in his hand and staring straight before him. + +"Why," says Nance, setting on the ale to mull, "men are always children, +they say, however old; and if ever I heard a thing like this, to set to +and make yourself sick, just when the money's failing. Keep a good heart +up; you haven't kept a good heart these seventy years, nigh hand, to +break down about a pound or two. Here's this Mr. Archer come to lodge, +that you disliked so much. Well, now you see it was a clear Providence. +Come, let's think upon our mercies. And here is the ale mulling lovely; +smell of it; I'll take a drop myself, it smells so sweet. And, Uncle +Jonathan, you let me say one word. You've lost more than money before +now; you lost my aunt, and bore it like a man. Bear this." + +His face once more contracted; his fist doubled, and shot forth into the +air, and trembled. "Let them look out!" he shouted. "Here, I warn all +men; I've done with this foul kennel of knaves. Let them look out!" + +"Hush, hush! for pity's sake," cried Nance. + +And then all of a sudden he dropped his face into his hands, and broke +out with a great hiccoughing dry sob that was horrible to hear. "O," he +cried, "my God, if my son hadn't left me, if my Dick was here!" and the +sobs shook him; Nance sitting still and watching him, with distress. "O, +if he were here to help his father!" he went on again. "If I had a son +like other fathers, he would save me now, when all is breaking down; O, +he would save me! Ay, but where is he? Raking taverns, a thief perhaps. +My curse be on him!" he added, rising again into wrath. + +"Hush!" cried Nance, springing to her feet: "your boy, your dead wife's +boy--Aunt Susan's baby that she loved--would you curse him? O, God +forbid!" + +The energy of her address surprised him from his mood. He looked upon +her, tearless and confused. "Let me go to my bed," he said at last, and +he rose, and, shaking as with ague, but quite silent, lighted his +candle, and left the kitchen. + +Poor Nance! the pleasant current of her dreams was all diverted. She +beheld a golden city, where she aspired to dwell; she had spoken with a +deity, and had told herself that she might rise to be his equal; and now +the earthly ligaments that bound her down had been tightened. She was +like a tree looking skyward, her roots were in the ground. It seemed to +her a thing so coarse, so rustic, to be thus concerned about a loss in +money; when Mr. Archer, fallen from the sky-level of counts and nobles, +faced his changed destiny with so immovable a courage. To weary of +honesty; that, at least, no one could do, but even to name it was +already a disgrace; and she beheld in fancy her uncle, and the young +lad, all laced and feathered, hand upon hip, bestriding his small horse. +The opposition seemed to perpetuate itself from generation to +generation; one side still doomed to the clumsy and the servile, the +other born to beauty. + +She thought of the golden zones in which gentlemen were bred, and +figured with so excellent a grace; zones in which wisdom and smooth +words, white linen and slim hands, were the mark of the desired +inhabitants; where low temptations were unknown, and honesty no virtue, +but a thing as natural as breathing. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +MINGLING THREADS + + +It was nearly seven before Mr. Archer left his apartment. On the landing +he found another door beside his own opening on a roofless corridor, and +presently he was walking on the top of the ruins. On one hand he could +look down a good depth into the green courtyard; on the other his eye +roved along the downward course of the river, the wet woods all smoking, +the shadows long and blue, the mists golden and rosy in the sun, here +and there the water flashing across an obstacle. His heart expanded and +softened to a grateful melancholy, and with his eye fixed upon the +distance, and no thought of present danger, he continued to stroll along +the elevated and treacherous promenade. + +A terror-stricken cry rose to him from the courtyard. He looked down, +and saw in a glimpse Nance standing below with hands clasped in horror +and his own foot trembling on the margin of a gulf. He recoiled and +leant against a pillar, quaking from head to foot, and covering his face +with his hands; and Nance had time to run round by the stair and rejoin +him where he stood before he had changed a line of his position. + +"Ah!" he cried, and clutched her wrist; "don't leave me. The place +rocks; I have no head for altitudes." + +"Sit down against that pillar," said Nance. "Don't you be afraid; I +won't leave you, and don't look up or down: look straight at me. How +white you are!" + +"The gulf," he said, and closed his eyes again and shuddered. + +"Why," said Nance, "what a poor climber you must be! That was where my +cousin Dick used to get out of the castle after Uncle Jonathan had shut +the gate. I've been down there myself with him helping me. I wouldn't +try with you," she said, and laughed merrily. + +The sound of her laughter was sincere and musical, and perhaps its +beauty barbed the offence to Mr. Archer. The blood came into his face +with a quick jet, and then left it paler than before. "It is a physical +weakness," he said harshly, "and very droll, no doubt, but one that I +can conquer on necessity. See, I am still shaking. Well, I advance to +the battlements and look down. Show me your cousin's path." + +"He would go sure-foot along that little ledge," said Nance, pointing as +she spoke; "then out through the breach and down by yonder buttress. It +is easier coming back, of course, because you see where you are going. +From the buttress foot a sheep-walk goes along the scarp--see, you can +follow it from here in the dry grass. And now, sir," she added, with a +touch of womanly pity, "I would come away from here if I were you, for +indeed you are not fit." + +Sure enough Mr. Archer's pallor and agitation had continued to increase; +his cheeks were deathly, his clenched fingers trembled pitifully. "The +weakness is physical," he sighed, and had nearly fallen. Nance led him +from the spot, and he was no sooner back in the tower-stair, than he +fell heavily against the wall and put his arm across his eyes. A cup of +brandy had to be brought him before he could descend to breakfast; and +the perfection of Nance's dream was for the first time troubled. + +Jonathan was waiting for them at table, with yellow, blood-shot eyes and +a peculiar dusky complexion. He hardly waited till they found their +seats, before, raising one hand, and stooping with his mouth above his +plate, he put up a prayer for a blessing on the food and a spirit of +gratitude in the eaters, and thereupon, and without more civility, fell +to. But it was notable that he was no less speedily satisfied than he +had been greedy to begin. He pushed his plate away and drummed upon the +table. + +"These are silly prayers," said he, "that they teach us. Eat and be +thankful, that's no such wonder. Speak to me of starving--there's the +touch. You're a man, they tell me, Mr. Archer, that has met with some +reverses?" + +"I have met with many," replied Mr. Archer. + +"Ha!" said Jonathan. "None reckons but the last. Now, see; I tried to +make this girl here understand me." + +"Uncle," said Nance, "what should Mr. Archer care for your concerns? He +hath troubles of his own, and came to be at peace, I think." + +"I tried to make her understand me," repeated Jonathan doggedly; "and +now I'll try you. Do you think this world is fair?" + +"Fair and false!" quoth Mr. Archer. + +The old man laughed immoderately. "Good," said he, "very good, but what +I mean is this: do you know what it is to get up early and go to bed +late, and never take so much as a holiday but four: and one of these +your own marriage day, and the other three the funerals of folk you +loved, and all that, to have a quiet old age in shelter, and bread for +your old belly, and a bed to lay your crazy bones upon, with a clear +conscience?" + +"Sir," said Mr. Archer with an inclination of his head, "you portray a +very brave existence." + +"Well," continued Jonathan, "and in the end thieves deceive you, thieves +rob and rook you, thieves turn you out in your old age and send you +begging. What have you got for all your honesty? A fine return! You that +might have stole scores of pounds, there you are out in the rain with +your rheumatics!" + +Mr. Archer had forgotten to eat; with his hand upon his chin he was +studying the old man's countenance. "And you conclude?" he asked. + +"Conclude!" cried Jonathan. "I conclude I'll be upsides with them." + +"Ay," said the other, "we are all tempted to revenge." + +"You have lost money?" asked Jonathan. + +"A great estate," said Archer quietly. + +"See now!" says Jonathan, "and where is it?" + +"Nay, I sometimes think that every one has had his share of it but me," +was the reply. "All England hath paid his taxes with my patrimony: I was +a sheep that left my wool on every briar." + +"And you sit down under that?" cried the old man. "Come now, Mr. Archer, +you and me belong to different stations; and I know mine--no man +better,--but since we have both been rooked, and are both sore with it, +why, here's my hand with a very good heart, and I ask for yours, and no +offence, I hope." + +"There is surely no offence, my friend," returned Mr. Archer, as they +shook hands across the table; "for, believe me, my sympathies are quite +acquired to you. This life is an arena where we fight with beasts; and, +indeed," he added, sighing, "I sometimes marvel why we go down to it +unarmed." + +In the meanwhile a creaking of ungreased axles had been heard descending +through the wood; and presently after, the door opened, and the tall +ostler entered the kitchen carrying one end of Mr. Archer's trunk. The +other was carried by an aged beggar man of that district, known and +welcome for some twenty miles about under the name of "Old Cumberland." +Each was soon perched upon a settle, with a cup of ale; and the ostler, +who valued himself upon his affability, began to entertain the company, +still with half an eye on Nance, to whom in gallant terms he expressly +dedicated every sip of ale. First he told of the trouble they had to get +his Lordship started in the chaise; and how he had dropped a rouleau of +gold on the threshold, and the passage and doorstep had been strewn with +guinea-pieces. At this old Jonathan looked at Mr. Archer. Next the +visitor turned to news of a more thrilling character: how the down mail +had been stopped again near Grantham by three men on horseback--a white +and two bays; how they had handkerchiefs on their faces; how Tom the +guard's blunderbuss missed fire, but he swore he had winged one of them +with a pistol; and how they had got clean away with seventy pounds in +money, some valuable papers, and a watch or two. + +"Brave! brave!" cried Jonathan in ecstasy. "Seventy pounds! O, it's +brave!" + +"Well, I don't see the great bravery," observed the ostler, +misapprehending him. "Three men, and you may call that three to one. +I'll call it brave when some one stops the mail single-handed; that's a +risk." + +"And why should they hesitate?" inquired Mr. Archer. "The poor souls who +are fallen to such a way of life, pray what have they to lose? If they +get the money, well; but if a ball should put them from their troubles, +why, so better." + +"Well, sir," said the ostler, "I believe you'll find they won't agree +with you. They count on a good fling, you see; or who would risk +it?--And here's my best respects to you, Miss Nance." + +"And I forgot the part of cowardice," resumed Mr. Archer. "All men +fear." + +"O, surely not!" cried Nance. + +"All men," reiterated Mr. Archer. + +"Ay, that's a true word," observed Old Cumberland, "and a thief, anyway, +for it's a coward's trade." + +"But these fellows, now," said Jonathan, with a curious, appealing +manner--"these fellows with their seventy pounds! Perhaps, Mr. Archer, +they were no true thieves after all, but just people who had been robbed +and tried to get their own again. What was that you said, about all +England and the taxes? One takes, another gives; why, that's almost +fair. If I've been rooked and robbed, and the coat taken off my back, I +call it almost fair to take another's." + +"Ask Old Cumberland," observed the ostler; "you ask Old Cumberland, Miss +Nance!" and he bestowed a wink upon his favoured fair one. + +"Why that?" asked Jonathan. + +"He had his coat taken--ay, and his shirt too," returned the ostler. + +"Is that so?" cried Jonathan eagerly. "Was you robbed too?" + +"That was I," replied Cumberland, "with a warrant! I was a well-to-do +man when I was young." + +"Ay! See that!" says Jonathan. "And you don't long for a revenge?" + +"Eh! Not me!" answered the beggar. "It's too long ago. But if you'll +give me another mug of your good ale, my pretty lady, I won't say no to +that." + +"And shalt have! And shalt have!" cried Jonathan. "Or brandy even, if +you like it better." + +And as Cumberland did like it better, and the ostler chimed in, the +party pledged each other in a dram of brandy before separating. + +As for Nance, she slipped forth into the ruins, partly to avoid the +ostler's gallantries, partly to lament over the defects of Mr. Archer. +Plainly, he was no hero. She pitied him; she began to feel a protecting +interest mingle with and almost supersede her admiration, and was at the +same time disappointed and yet drawn to him. She was, indeed, conscious +of such unshaken fortitude in her own heart, that she was almost tempted +by an occasion to be bold for two. She saw herself, in a brave attitude, +shielding her imperfect hero from the world; and she saw, like a piece +of heaven, his gratitude for her protection. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +LIFE IN THE CASTLE + + +From that day forth the life of these three persons in the ruin ran very +smoothly. Mr. Archer now sat by the fire with a book, and now passed +whole days abroad, returning late, dead weary. His manner was a mask; +but it was half transparent; through the even tenor of his gravity and +courtesy profound revolutions of feeling were betrayed, seasons of numb +despair, of restlessness, of aching temper. For days he would say +nothing beyond his usual courtesies and solemn compliments; and then, +all of a sudden, some fine evening beside the kitchen fire, he would +fall into a vein of elegant gossip, tell of strange and interesting +events, the secrets of families, brave deeds of war, the miraculous +discovery of crime, the visitations of the dead. Nance and her uncle +would sit till the small hours with eyes wide open: Jonathan applauding +the unexpected incidents with many a slap of his big hand; Nance, +perhaps, more pleased with the narrator's eloquence and wise +reflections; and then, again, days would follow of abstraction, of +listless humming, of frequent apologies and long hours of silence. Once +only, and then after a week of unrelieved melancholy, he went over to +the "Green Dragon," spent the afternoon with the landlord and a bowl of +punch, and returned as on the first night, devious in step but courteous +and unperturbed of speech. + +If he seemed more natural and more at his ease it was when he found +Nance alone; and, laying by some of his reserve, talked before her +rather than to her of his destiny, character, and hopes. To Nance these +interviews were but a doubtful privilege. At times he would seem to +take a pleasure in her presence, to consult her gravely, to hear and to +discuss her counsels; at times even, but these were rare and brief, he +would talk of herself, praise the qualities that she possessed, touch +indulgently on her defects, and lend her books to read and even examine +her upon her reading; but far more often he would fall into a half +unconsciousness, put her a question and then answer it himself, drop +into the veiled tone of voice of one soliloquising, and leave her at +last as though he had forgotten her existence. It was odd, too, that in +all this random converse, not a fact of his past life, and scarce a +name, should ever cross his lips. A profound reserve kept watch upon his +most unguarded moments. He spoke continually of himself, indeed, but +still in enigmas; a veiled prophet of egoism. + +The base of Nance's feelings for Mr. Archer was admiration as for a +superior being; and with this, his treatment, consciously or not, +accorded happily. When he forgot her, she took the blame upon herself. +His formal politeness was so exquisite that this essential brutality +stood excused. His compliments, besides, were always grave and rational; +he would offer reason for his praise, convict her of merit, and thus +disarm suspicion. Nay, and the very hours when he forgot and remembered +her alternately could by the ardent fallacies of youth be read in the +light of an attention. She might be far from his confidence; but still +she was nearer it than any one. He might ignore her presence, but yet he +sought it. + +Moreover, she, upon her side, was conscious of one point of superiority. +Beside this rather dismal, rather effeminate man, who recoiled from a +worm, who grew giddy on the castle wall, who bore so helplessly the +weight of his misfortunes, she felt herself a head and shoulders taller +in cheerful and sterling courage. She could walk head in air along the +most precarious rafter; her hand feared neither the grossness nor the +harshness of life's web, but was thrust cheerfully, if need were, into +the briar bush, and could take hold of any crawling horror. Ruin was +mining the walls of her cottage, as already it had mined and subverted +Mr. Archer's palace. Well, she faced it with a bright countenance and a +busy hand. She had got some washing, some rough seamstress work from the +"Green Dragon," and from another neighbour ten miles away across the +moor. At this she cheerfully laboured, and from that height she could +afford to pity the useless talents and poor attitude of Mr. Archer. It +did not change her admiration, but it made it bearable. He was above her +in all ways; but she was above him in one. She kept it to herself, and +hugged it. When, like all young creatures, she made long stories to +justify, to nourish, and to forecast the course of her affection, it was +this private superiority that made all rosy, that cut the knot, and +that, at last, in some great situation, fetched to her knees the +dazzling but imperfect hero. With this pretty exercise she beguiled the +hours of labour, and consoled herself for Mr. Archer's bearing. Pity was +her weapon and her weakness. To accept the loved one's faults, although +it has an air of freedom, is to kiss the chain, and this pity it was +which, lying nearer to her heart, lent the one element of true emotion +to a fanciful and merely brain-sick love. + +Thus it fell out one day that she had gone to the "Green Dragon" and +brought back thence a letter to Mr. Archer. He, upon seeing it, winced +like a man under the knife: pain, shame, sorrow, and the most trenchant +edge of mortification cut into his heart and wrung the steady composure +of his face. + +"Dear heart! have you bad news?" she cried. + +But he only replied by a gesture and fled to his room, and when, later +on, she ventured to refer to it, he stopped her on the threshold, as if +with words prepared beforehand. "There are some pains," said he, "too +acute for consolation, or I would bring them to my kind consoler. Let +the memory of that letter, if you please, be buried." And then as she +continued to gaze at him, being, in spite of herself, pained by his +elaborate phrase, doubtfully sincere in word and manner: "Let it be +enough," he added haughtily, "that if this matter wring my heart, it +doth not touch my conscience. I am a man, I would have you to know, who +suffers undeservedly." + +He had never spoken so directly: never with so convincing an emotion; +and her heart thrilled for him. She could have taken his pains and died +of them with joy. + +Meanwhile she was left without support. Jonathan now swore by his +lodger, and lived for him. He was a fine talker. He knew the finest +sight of stories; he was a man and a gentleman, take him for all in all, +and a perfect credit to Old England. Such were the old man's declared +sentiments, and sure enough he clung to Mr. Archer's side, hung upon his +utterance when he spoke, and watched him with unwearying interest when +he was silent. And yet his feeling was not clear; in the partial wreck +of his mind, which was leaning to decay, some afterthought was strongly +present. As he gazed in Mr. Archer's face a sudden brightness would +kindle in his rheumy eyes, his eyebrows would lift as with a sudden +thought, his mouth would open as though to speak, and close again on +silence. Once or twice he even called Mr. Archer mysteriously forth into +the dark courtyard, took him by the button, and laid a demonstrative +finger on his chest; but there his ideas or his courage failed him; he +would shufflingly excuse himself and return to his position by the fire +without a word of explanation. "The good man was growing old," said Mr. +Archer with a suspicion of a shrug. But the good man had his idea, and +even when he was alone the name of Mr. Archer fell from his lips +continually in the course of mumbled and gesticulative conversation. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE BAD HALF-CROWN + + +However early Nance arose, and she was no sluggard, the old man, who had +begun to outlive the earthly habit of slumber, would usually have been +up long before, the fire would be burning brightly, and she would see +him wandering among the ruins, lantern in hand, and talking assiduously +to himself. One day, however, after he had returned late from the market +town, she found that she had stolen a march upon that indefatigable +early riser. The kitchen was all blackness. She crossed the castle-yard +to the wood-cellar, her steps printing the thick hoarfrost. A scathing +breeze blew out of the north-east and slowly carried a regiment of black +and tattered clouds over the face of heaven, which was already kindled +with the wild light of morning, but where she walked, in shelter of the +ruins, the flame of her candle burned steady. The extreme cold smote +upon her conscience. She could not bear to think this bitter business +fell usually to the lot of one so old as Jonathan, and made desperate +resolutions to be earlier in the future. + +The fire was a good blaze before he entered, limping dismally into the +kitchen. "Nance," said he, "I be all knotted up with the rheumatics; +will you rub me a bit?" She came and rubbed him where and how he bade +her. "This is a cruel thing that old age should be rheumaticky," said +he. "When I was young I stood my turn of the teethache like a man! for +why? because it couldn't last for ever; but these rheumatics come to +live and die with you. Your aunt was took before the time came; never +had an ache to mention. Now I lie all night in my single bed and the +blood never warms in me; this knee of mine it seems like lighted up with +rheumatics; it seems as though you could see to sew by it; and all the +strings of my old body ache, as if devils was pulling 'em. Thank you +kindly; that's someways easier now, but an old man, my dear, has little +to look for; it's pain, pain, pain to the end of the business, and I'll +never be rightly warm again till I get under the sod," he said, and +looked down at her with a face so aged and weary that she had nearly +wept. + +"I lay awake all night," he continued; "I do so mostly, and a long walk +kills me. Eh, deary me, to think that life should run to such a puddle! +And I remember long syne when I was strong, and the blood all hot and +good about me, and I loved to run, too--deary me, to run! Well, that's +all by. You'd better pray to be took early, Nance, and not live on till +you get to be like me, and are robbed in your grey old age, your cold, +shivering, dark old age, that's like a winter's morning"; and he +bitterly shuddered, spreading his hands before the fire. + +"Come now," said Nance, "the more you say the less you'll like it, Uncle +Jonathan; but if I were you I would be proud for to have lived all your +days honest and beloved, and come near the end with your good name: +isn't that a fine thing to be proud of? Mr. Archer was telling me in +some strange land they used to run races each with a lighted candle, and +the art was to keep the candle burning. Well, now, I thought that was +like life; a man's good conscience is the flame he gets to carry, and if +he comes to the winning-post with that still burning, why, take it how +you will, the man's a hero--even if he was low-born like you and me." + +"Did Mr. Archer tell you that?" asked Jonathan. + +"No, dear," said she, "that's my own thought about it. He told me of the +race. But see, now," she continued, putting on the porridge, "you say +old age is a hard season, but so is youth. You're half out of the +battle, I would say; you loved my aunt and got her, and buried her, and +some of these days soon you'll go to meet her; and take her my love and +tell her I tried to take good care of you; for so I do, Uncle Jonathan." + +Jonathan struck with his fist upon the settle. "D'ye think I want to +die, ye vixen?" he shouted. "I want to live ten hundred years." + +This was a mystery beyond Nance's penetration, and she stared in wonder +as she made the porridge. + +"I want to live," he continued, "I want to live and to grow rich. I want +to drive my carriage and to dice in hells and see the ring, I do. Is +this a life that I lived? I want to be a rake, d'ye understand? I want +to know what things are like. I don't want to die like a blind kitten, +and me seventy-six." + +"O fie!" said Nance. + +The old man thrust out his jaw at her, with the grimace of an irreverent +schoolboy. Upon that aged face it seemed a blasphemy. Then he took out +of his bosom a long leather purse, and emptying its contents on the +settle, began to count and recount the pieces, ringing and examining +each, and suddenly he leapt like a young man. "What!" he screamed. "Bad? +O Lord! I'm robbed again!" And falling on his knees before the settle he +began to pour forth the most dreadful curses on the head of his +deceiver. His eyes were shut, for to him this vile solemnity was prayer. +He held up the bad half-crown in his right hand, as though he were +displaying it to Heaven, and what increased the horror of the scene, the +curses he invoked were those whose efficacy he had tasted--old age and +poverty, rheumatism and an ungrateful son. Nance listened appalled; then +she sprang forward and dragged down his arm and laid her hand upon his +mouth. + +"Whist!" she cried. "Whist ye, for God's sake! O my man, whist ye! If +Heaven were to hear; if poor Aunt Susan were to hear! Think, she may be +listening." And with the histrionism of strong emotion she pointed to a +corner of the kitchen. + +His eyes followed her finger. He looked there for a little, thinking, +blinking; then he got stiffly to his feet and resumed his place upon the +settle, the bad piece still in his hand. So he sat for some time, +looking upon the half-crown, and now wondering to himself on the +injustice and partiality of the law, now computing again and again the +nature of his loss. So he was still sitting when Mr. Archer entered the +kitchen. At this a light came into his face, and after some seconds of +rumination he despatched Nance upon an errand. + +"Mr. Archer," said he, as soon as they were alone together, "would you +give me a guinea-piece for silver?" + +"Why, sir, I believe I can," said Mr. Archer. + +And the exchange was just effected when Nance re-entered the apartment. +The blood shot into her face. + +"What's to do here?" she asked rudely. + +"Nothing, my dearie," said old Jonathan, with a touch of whine. + +"What's to do?" she said again. + +"Your uncle was but changing me a piece of gold," returned Mr. Archer. + +"Let me see what he hath given you, Mr. Archer," replied the girl. "I +had a bad piece, and I fear it is mixed up among the good." + +"Well, well," replied Mr. Archer, smiling, "I must take the merchant's +risk of it. The money is now mixed." + +"I know my piece," quoth Nance. "Come, let me see your silver, Mr. +Archer. If I have to get it by a theft I'll see that money," she cried. + +"Nay, child, if you put as much passion to be honest as the world to +steal, I must give way, though I betray myself," said Mr. Archer. "There +it is as I received it." + +Nance quickly found the bad half-crown. + +"Give him another," she said, looking Jonathan in the face; and when +that had been done, she walked over to the chimney and flung the guilty +piece into the reddest of the fire. Its base constituents began +immediately to run; even as she watched it the disc crumbled, and the +lineaments of the King became confused. Jonathan, who had followed close +behind, beheld these changes from over her shoulder, and his face +darkened sorely. + +"Now," said she, "come back to table, and to-day it is I that shall say +grace, as I used to do in the old times, day about with Dick"; and +covering her eyes with one hand, "O Lord," said she with deep emotion, +"make us thankful; and, O Lord, deliver us from evil! For the love of +the poor souls that watch for us in heaven, O deliver us from evil." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE BLEACHING-GREEN + + +The year moved on to March; and March, though it blew bitter keen from +the North Sea, yet blinked kindly between whiles on the river dell. The +mire dried up in the closest covert; life ran in the bare branches, and +the air of the afternoon would be suddenly sweet with the fragrance of +new grass. + +Above and below the castle the river crooked like the letter "S." The +lower loop was to the left, and embraced the high and steep projection +which was crowned by the ruins; the upper loop enclosed a lawny +promontory, fringed by thorn and willow. It was easy to reach it from +the castle side, for the river ran in this part very quietly among +innumerable boulders and over dam-like walls of rock. The place was all +enclosed, the wind a stranger, the turf smooth and solid; so it was +chosen by Nance to be her bleaching-green. + +One day she brought a bucketful of linen, and had but begun to wring and +lay them out when Mr. Archer stepped from the thicket on the far side, +drew very deliberately near, and sat down in silence on the grass. Nance +looked up to greet him with a smile, but finding her smile was not +returned, she fell into embarrassment and stuck the more busily to her +employment. Man or woman, the whole world looks well at any work to +which they are accustomed; but the girl was ashamed of what she did. She +was ashamed, besides, of the sun-bonnet that so well became her, and +ashamed of her bare arms, which were her greatest beauty. + +"Nausicaa," said Mr. Archer at last, "I find you like Nausicaa." + +"And who was she?" asked Nance, and laughed in spite of herself, an +empty and embarrassed laugh, that sounded in Mr. Archer's ears, indeed, +like music, but to her own like the last grossness of rusticity. + +"She was a princess of the Grecian islands," he replied. "A king, being +shipwrecked, found her washing by the shore. Certainly I, too, was +shipwrecked," he continued, plucking at the grass. "There was never a +more desperate castaway--to fall from polite life, fortune, a shrine of +honour, a grateful conscience, duties willingly taken up and faithfully +discharged; and to fall to this--idleness, poverty, inutility, remorse." +He seemed to have forgotten her presence, but here he remembered her +again. "Nance," said he, "would you have a man sit down and suffer or +rise up and strive?" + +"Nay," she said. "I would always rather see him doing." + +"Ha!" said Mr. Archer, "but yet you speak from an imperfect knowledge. +Conceive a man damned to a choice of only evil--misconduct upon either +side, not a fault behind him, and yet naught before him but this choice +of sins. How would you say then?" + +"I would say that he was much deceived, Mr. Archer," returned Nance. "I +would say there was a third choice, and that the right one." + +"I tell you," said Mr. Archer, "the man I have in view hath two ways +open, and no more. One to wait, like a poor mewling baby, till Fate save +or ruin him; the other to take his troubles in his hand, and to perish +or be saved at once. It is no point of morals; both are wrong. Either +way this step-child of Providence must fall; which shall he choose, by +doing or not doing?" + +"Fall, then, is what I would say," replied Nance. "Fall where you will, +but do it! For O, Mr. Archer," she continued, stooping to her work, "you +that are good and kind, and so wise, it doth sometimes go against my +heart to see you live on here like a sheep in a turnip-field! If you +were braver----" and here she paused, conscience-smitten. + +"Do I, indeed, lack courage?" inquired Mr. Archer of himself. "Courage, +the footstool of the virtues, upon which they stand? Courage, that a poor +private carrying a musket has to spare of; that does not fail a weasel or +a rat; that is a brutish faculty? I to fail there, I wonder? But what is +courage, then? The constancy to endure oneself or to see others suffer? +The itch of ill-advised activity: mere shuttle-wittedness, or to be still +and patient? To inquire of the significance of words is to rob ourselves +of what we seem to know, and yet, of all things, certainly to stand still +is the least heroic. Nance," he said, "did you ever hear of _Hamlet_?" + +"Never," said Nance. + +"'Tis an old play," returned Mr. Archer, "and frequently enacted. This +while I have been talking Hamlet. You must know this Hamlet was a Prince +among the Danes," and he told her the play in a very good style, here +and there quoting a verse or two with solemn emphasis. + +"It is strange," said Nance; "he was then a very poor creature?" + +"That was what he could not tell," said Mr. Archer. "Look at me, am I as +poor a creature?" + +She looked, and what she saw was the familiar thought of all her hours; +the tall figure very plainly habited in black, the spotless ruffles, the +slim hands; the long, well-shapen, serious, shaven face, the wide and +somewhat thin-lipped mouth, the dark eyes that were so full of depth and +change and colour. He was gazing at her with his brows a little knit, +his chin upon one hand and that elbow resting on his knee. + +"Ye look a man!" she cried, "ay, and should be a great one! The more +shame to you to lie here idle like a dog before the fire." + +"My fair Holdaway," quoth Mr. Archer, "you are much set on action. I +cannot dig, to beg I am ashamed." He continued, looking at her with a +half-absent fixity, "'Tis a strange thing, certainly, that in my years +of fortune I should never taste happiness, and now when I am broke, +enjoy so much of it, for was I ever happier than to-day? Was the grass +softer, the stream pleasanter in sound, the air milder, the heart more +at peace? Why should I not sink? To dig--why, after all, it should be +easy. To take a mate, too? Love is of all grades since Jupiter; love +fails to none; and children"--but here he passed his hand suddenly over +his eyes. "O fool and coward, fool and coward!" he said bitterly; "can +you forget your fetters? You did not know that I was fettered, Nance?" +he asked, again addressing her. + +But Nance was somewhat sore. "I know you keep talking," she said, and, +turning half away from him, began to wring out a sheet across her +shoulder. "I wonder you are not wearied of your voice. When the hands +lie abed the tongue takes a walk." + +Mr. Archer laughed unpleasantly, rose and moved to the water's edge. In +this part the body of the river poured across a little narrow fell, ran +some ten feet very smoothly over a bed of pebbles, then getting wind, as +it were, of another shelf of rock which barred the channel, began, by +imperceptible degrees, to separate towards either shore in dancing +currents, and to leave the middle clear and stagnant. The set towards +either side was nearly equal; about one half of the whole water plunged +on the side of the castle, through a narrow gullet; about one half ran +lipping past the margin of the green and slipped across a babbling +rapid. + +"Here," said Mr. Archer, after he had looked for some time at the fine +and shifting demarcation of these currents, "come here and see me try my +fortune." + +"I am not like a man," said Nance; "I have no time to waste." + +"Come here," he said again. "I ask you seriously, Nance. We are not +always childish when we seem so." + +She drew a little nearer. + +"Now," said he, "you see these two channels--choose one." + +"I'll choose the nearest, to save time," said Nance. + +"Well, that shall be for action," returned Mr. Archer. "And since I wish +to have the odds against me, not only the other channel but yon stagnant +water in the midst shall be for lying still. You see this?" he +continued, pulling up a withered rush. "I break it in three. I shall put +each separately at the top of the upper fall, and according as they go +by your way or by the other I shall guide my life." + +"This is very silly," said Nance, with a movement of her shoulders. + +"I do not think it so," said Mr. Archer. + +"And then," she resumed, "if you are to try your fortune, why not +evenly?" + +"Nay," returned Mr. Archer with a smile, "no man can put complete +reliance in blind fate; he must still cog the dice." + +By this time he had got upon the rock beside the upper fall, and, +bidding her look out, dropped a piece of rush into the middle of the +intake. The rusty fragment was sucked at once over the fall, came up +again far on the right hand, leaned ever more and more in the same +direction, and disappeared under the hanging grasses on the castle side. + +"One," said Mr. Archer, "one for standing still." + +But the next launch had a different fate, and after hanging for a while +about the edge of the stagnant water, steadily approached the +bleaching-green and danced down the rapid under Nance's eyes. + +"One for me," she cried with some exultation; and then she observed that +Mr. Archer had grown pale, and was kneeling on the rock, with his hand +raised like a person petrified. "Why," said she, "you do not mind it, +do you?" + +"Does a man not mind a throw of dice by which a fortune hangs?" said Mr. +Archer, rather hoarsely. "And this is more than fortune. Nance, if you +have any kindness for my fate, put up a prayer before I launch the next +one." + +"A prayer," she cried, "about a game like this? I would not be so +heathen." + +"Well," said he, "then without," and he closed his eyes and dropped the +piece of rush. This time there was no doubt. It went for the rapid as +straight as any arrow. + +"Action then!" said Mr. Archer, getting to his feet; "and then God +forgive us," he added, almost to himself. + +"God forgive us, indeed," cried Nance, "for wasting the good daylight! +But come, Mr. Archer, if I see you look so serious I shall begin to +think you was in earnest." + +"Nay," he said, turning upon her suddenly, with a full smile; "but is +not this good advice? I have consulted God and demigod; the nymph of the +river, and what I far more admire and trust, my blue-eyed Minerva. Both +have said the same. My own heart was telling it already. Action, then, +be mine; and into the deep sea with all this paralysing casuistry. I am +happy to-day for the first time." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE MAIL GUARD + + +Somewhere about two in the morning a squall had burst upon the castle, a +clap of screaming wind that made the towers rock, and a copious drift of +rain that streamed from the windows. The wind soon blew itself out, but +the day broke cloudy and dripping, and when the little party assembled +at breakfast their humours appeared to have changed with the change of +weather. Nance had been brooding on the scene at the river-side, +applying it in various ways to her particular aspirations, and the +result, which was hardly to her mind, had taken the colour out of her +cheeks. Mr. Archer, too, was somewhat absent, his thoughts were of a +mingled strain; and even upon his usually impassive countenance there +were betrayed successive depths of depression and starts of exultation, +which the girl translated in terms of her own hopes and fears. But +Jonathan was the most altered: he was strangely silent, hardly passing a +word, and watched Mr. Archer with an eager and furtive eye. It seemed as +if the idea that had so long hovered before him had now taken a more +solid shape, and, while it still attracted, somewhat alarmed his +imagination. + +At this rate, conversation languished into a silence which was only +broken by the gentle and ghostly noises of the rain on the stone roof +and about all that field of ruins; and they were all relieved when the +note of a man whistling and the sound of approaching footsteps in the +grassy court announced a visitor. It was the ostler from the "Green +Dragon" bringing a letter for Mr. Archer. Nance saw her hero's face +contract and then relax again at sight of it; and she thought that she +knew why, for the sprawling, gross black characters of the address were +easily distinguishable from the fine writing on the former letter that +had so much disturbed him. He opened it and began to read; while the +ostler sat down to table with a pot of ale, and proceeded to make +himself agreeable after his fashion. + +"Fine doings down our way, Miss Nance," said he. "I haven't been abed +this blessed night." + +Nance expressed a polite interest, but her eye was on Mr. Archer, who +was reading his letter with a face of such extreme indifference that she +was tempted to suspect him of assumption. + +"Yes," continued the ostler, "not been the like of it this fifteen +years: the North Mail stopped at the three stones." + +Jonathan's cup was at his lip, but at this moment he choked with a great +splutter; and Mr. Archer, as if startled by the noise, made so sudden a +movement that one corner of the sheet tore off and stayed between his +finger and thumb. It was some little time before the old man was +sufficiently recovered to beg the ostler to go on, and he still kept +coughing and crying and rubbing his eyes. Mr. Archer, on his side, laid +the letter down, and, putting his hands in his pocket, listened gravely +to the tale. + +"Yes," resumed Sam, "the North Mail was stopped by a single horseman; +dash my wig, but I admire him! There were four insides and two out, and +poor Tom Oglethorpe, the guard. Tom showed himself a man; let fly his +blunderbuss at him; had him covered, too, and could swear to that; but +the Captain never let on, up with a pistol and fetched poor Tom a bullet +through the body. Tom, he squelched upon the seat, all over blood. Up +comes the Captain to the window. 'Oblige me,' says he, 'with what you +have.' Would you believe it? Not a man says cheep!--not them. 'Thy hands +over thy head.' Four watches, rings, snuff-boxes, seven-and-forty +pounds overhead in gold. One Dicksee, a grazier, tries it on: gives him +a guinea. 'Beg your pardon,' says the Captain, 'I think too highly of +you to take it at your hand. I will not take less than ten from such a +gentleman.' This Dicksee had his money in his stocking, but there was +the pistol at his eye. Down he goes, offs with his stocking, and there +was thirty golden guineas. 'Now,' says the Captain, 'you've tried it on +with me, but I scorns the advantage. Ten I said,' he says, 'and ten I +take.' So, dash my buttons, I call that man a man!" cried Sam in cordial +admiration. + +"Well, and then?" says Mr. Archer. + +"Then," resumed Sam, "that old fat fagot Engleton, him as held the +ribbons and drew up like a lamb when he was told to, picks up his +cattle, and drives off again. Down they came to the 'Dragon,' all +singing like as if they was scalded, and poor Tom saying nothing. You +would 'a' thought they had all lost the King's crown to hear them. Down +gets this Dicksee. 'Postmaster,' he says, taking him by the arm, 'this +is a most abominable thing,' he says. Down gets a Major Clayton, and +gets the old man by the other arm. 'We've been robbed,' he cries, +'robbed!' Down gets the others, and all around the old man telling their +story, and what they had lost, and how they was all as good as ruined; +till at last Old Engleton says, says he, 'How about Oglethorpe?' says +he. 'Ay,' says the others, 'how about the guard?' Well, with that we +bousted him down, as white as a rag and all blooded like a sop. I +thought he was dead. Well, he ain't dead; but he's dying, I fancy." + +"Did you say four watches?" said Jonathan. + +"Four, I think. I wish it had been forty," cried Sam. "Such a party of +soused herrings I never did see--not a man among them bar poor Tom. But +us that are the servants on the road have all the risk and none of the +profit." + +"And this brave fellow," asked Mr. Archer, very quietly, "this +Oglethorpe--how is he now?" + +"Well, sir, with my respects, I take it he has a hole bang through him," +said Sam. "The doctor hasn't been yet. He'd 'a' been bright and early if +it had been a passenger. But, doctor or no, I'll make a good guess that +Tom won't see to-morrow. He'll die on a Sunday, will poor Tom; and they +do say that's fortunate." + +"Did Tom see him that did it?" asked Jonathan. + +"Well, he saw him," replied Sam, "but not to swear by. Said he was a +very tall man, and very big, and had a 'ankerchief about his face, and a +very quick shot, and sat his horse like a thorough gentleman, as he is." + +"A gentleman!" cried Nance. "The dirty knave!" + +"Well, I calls a man like that a gentleman," returned the ostler; +"that's what I mean by a gentleman." + +"You don't know much of them, then," said Nance. "A gentleman would +scorn to stoop to such a thing. I call my uncle a better gentleman than +any thief." + +"And you would be right," said Mr. Archer. + +"How many snuff-boxes did he get?" asked Jonathan. + +"O, dang me if I know," said Sam; "I didn't take an inventory." + +"I will go back with you, if you please," said Mr. Archer. "I should +like to see poor Oglethorpe. He has behaved well." + +"At your service, sir," said Sam, jumping to his feet. "I dare to say a +gentleman like you would not forget a poor fellow like Tom--no, nor a +plain man like me, sir, that went without his sleep to nurse him. And +excuse me, sir," added Sam, "you won't forget about the letter neither?" + +"Surely not," said Mr. Archer. + +Oglethorpe lay in a low bed, one of several in a long garret of the inn. +The rain soaked in places through the roof and fell in minute drops; +there was but one small window; the beds were occupied by servants, the +air of the garret was both close and chilly. Mr. Archer's heart sank at +the threshold to see a man lying perhaps mortally hurt in so poor a +sick-room, and as he drew near the low bed he took his hat off. The +guard was a big, blowsy, innocent-looking soul with a thick lip and a +broad nose, comically turned up; his cheeks were crimson, and when Mr. +Archer laid a finger on his brow he found him burning with fever. + +"I fear you suffer much," he said, with a catch in his voice, as he sat +down on the bedside. + +"I suppose I do, sir," returned Oglethorpe; "it is main sore." + +"I am used to wounds and wounded men," returned the visitor. "I have +been in the wars and nursed brave fellows before now; and, if you will +suffer me, I propose to stay beside you till the doctor comes." + +"It is very good of you, sir, I am sure," said Oglethorpe. "The trouble +is they won't none of them let me drink." + +"If you will not tell the doctor," said Mr. Archer, "I will give you +some water. They say it is bad for a green wound, but in the Low +Countries we all drank water when we found the chance, and I could never +perceive we were the worse for it." + +"Been wounded yourself, sir, perhaps?" called Oglethorpe. + +"Twice," said Mr. Archer, "and was as proud of these hurts as any lady +of her bracelets. 'Tis a fine thing to smart for one's duty; even in the +pangs of it there is contentment." + +"Ah, well!" replied the guard, "if you've been shot yourself, that +explains. But as for contentment, why, sir, you see, it smarts, as you +say. And then, I have a good wife, you see, and a bit of a brat--a +little thing, so high." + +"Don't move," said Mr. Archer. + +"No, sir, I will not, and thank you kindly," said Oglethorpe. "At York +they are. A very good lass is my wife--far too good for me. And the +little rascal--well, I don't know how to say it, but he sort of comes +round you. If I were to go, sir, it would be hard on my poor girl--main +hard on her!" + +"Ay, you must feel bitter hardly to the rogue that laid you here," said +Archer. + +"Why, no, sir, more against Engleton and the passengers," replied the +guard. "He played his hand, if you come to look at it; and I wish he had +shot worse, or me better. And yet I'll go to my grave but what I covered +him," he cried. "It looks like witchcraft. I'll go to my grave but what +he was drove full of slugs like a pepper-box." + +"Quietly," said Mr. Archer, "you must not excite yourself. These +deceptions are very usual in war; the eye, in the moment of alert, is +hardly to be trusted, and when the smoke blows away you see the man you +fired at, taking aim, it may be, at yourself. You should observe, too, +that you were in the dark night, and somewhat dazzled by the lamps, and +that the sudden stopping of the mail had jolted you. In such +circumstances a man may miss, ay, even with a blunderbuss, and no blame +attach to his marksmanship." ... + + + + +THE YOUNG CHEVALIER + +A FRAGMENT + + + + +THE YOUNG CHEVALIER + + + + +PROLOGUE + +THE WINE-SELLER'S WIFE + + +There was a wine-seller's shop, as you went down to the river in the +city of the Anti-popes. There a man was served with good wine of the +country and plain country fare; and the place being clean and quiet, +with a prospect on the river, certain gentlemen who dwelt in that city +in attendance on a great personage made it a practice (when they had any +silver in their purses) to come and eat there and be private. + +They called the wine-seller Paradou. He was built more like a bullock +than a man, huge in bone and brawn, high in colour, and with a hand like +a baby for size. Marie-Madeleine was the name of his wife; she was of +Marseilles, a city of entrancing women, nor was any fairer than herself. +She was tall, being almost of a height with Paradou; full-girdled, +point-device in every form, with an exquisite delicacy in the face; her +nose and nostrils a delight to look at from the fineness of the +sculpture, her eyes inclined a hair's-breadth inward, her colour between +dark and fair, and laid on even like a flower's. A faint rose dwelt in +it, as though she had been found unawares bathing, and had blushed from +head to foot. She was of a grave countenance, rarely smiling; yet it +seemed to be written upon every part of her that she rejoiced in life. +Her husband loved the heels of her feet and the knuckles of her fingers; +he loved her like a glutton and a brute; his love hung about her like +an atmosphere; one that came by chance into the wine-shop was aware of +that passion; and it might be said that by the strength of it the woman +had been drugged or spell-bound. She knew not if she loved or loathed +him; he was always in her eyes like something monstrous,--monstrous in +his love, monstrous in his person, horrific but imposing in his +violence; and her sentiment swung back and forward from desire to +sickness. But the mean, where it dwelt chiefly, was an apathetic +fascination, partly of horror; as of Europa in mid ocean with her bull. + +On the 10th November 1749 there sat two of the foreign gentlemen in the +wine-seller's shop. They were both handsome men of a good presence, +richly dressed. The first was swarthy and long and lean, with an alert, +black look, and a mole upon his cheek. The other was more fair. He +seemed very easy and sedate, and a little melancholy for so young a man, +but his smile was charming. In his grey eyes there was much abstraction, +as of one recalling fondly that which was past and lost. Yet there was +strength and swiftness in his limbs; and his mouth set straight across +his face, the under lip a thought upon side, like that of a man +accustomed to resolve. These two talked together in a rude outlandish +speech that no frequenter of that wine-shop understood. The swarthy man +answered to the name of _Ballantrae_; he of the dreamy eyes was +sometimes called _Balmile_, and sometimes _my Lord_, or _my Lord +Gladsmuir_; but when the title was given him, he seemed to put it by as +if in jesting, not without bitterness. + +The mistral blew in the city. The first day of that wind, they say in +the countries where its voice is heard, it blows away all the dust, the +second all the stones, and the third it blows back others from the +mountains. It was now come to the third day; outside the pebbles flew +like hail, and the face of the river was puckered, and the very +building-stones in the walls of houses seemed to be curdled, with the +savage cold and fury of that continuous blast. It could be heard to hoot +in all the chimneys of the city; it swept about the wine-shop, filling +the room with eddies; the chill and gritty touch of it passed between +the nearest clothes and the bare flesh; and the two gentlemen at the far +table kept their mantles loose about their shoulders. The roughness of +these outer hulls, for they were plain travellers' cloaks that had seen +service, set the greater mark of richness on what showed below of their +laced clothes; for the one was in scarlet and the other in violet and +white, like men come from a scene of ceremony; as indeed they were. + +It chanced that these fine clothes were not without their influence on +the scene which followed, and which makes the prologue of our tale. For +a long time Balmile was in the habit to come to the wine-shop and eat a +meal or drink a measure of wine; sometimes with a comrade; more often +alone, when he would sit and dream and drum upon the table, and the +thoughts would show in the man's face in little glooms and lightenings, +like the sun and the clouds upon a water. For a long time +Marie-Madeleine had observed him apart. His sadness, the beauty of his +smile when by any chance he remembered her existence and addressed her, +the changes of his mind signalled forth by an abstruse play of feature, +the mere fact that he was foreign and a thing detached from the local +and the accustomed, insensibly attracted and affected her. Kindness was +ready in her mind; it but lacked the touch of an occasion to effervesce +and crystallise. Now Balmile had come hitherto in a very poor plain +habit; and this day of the mistral, when his mantle was just open, and +she saw beneath it the glancing of the violet and the velvet and the +silver, and the clustering fineness of the lace, it seemed to set the +man in a new light, with which he shone resplendent to her fancy. + +The high inhuman note of the wind, the violence and continuity of its +outpouring, and the fierce touch of it upon man's whole periphery, +accelerated the functions of the mind. It set thoughts whirling, as it +whirled the trees of the forest; it stirred them up in flights, as it +stirred up the dust in chambers. As brief as sparks, the fancies +glittered and succeeded each other in the mind of Marie-Madeleine; and +the grave man with the smile, and the bright clothes under the plain +mantle, haunted her with incongruous explanations. She considered him, +the unknown, the speaker of an unknown tongue, the hero (as she placed +him) of an unknown romance, the dweller upon unknown memories. She +recalled him sitting there alone, so immersed, so stupefied; yet she was +sure he was not stupid. She recalled one day when he had remained a long +time motionless, with parted lips, like one in the act of starting up, +his eyes fixed on vacancy. Any one else must have looked foolish; but +not he. She tried to conceive what manner of memory had thus entranced +him; she forged for him a past; she showed him to herself in every light +of heroism and greatness and misfortune; she brooded with petulant +intensity on all she knew and guessed of him. Yet, though she was +already gone so deep, she was still unashamed, still unalarmed; her +thoughts were still disinterested; she had still to reach the stage at +which--beside the image of that other whom we love to contemplate and to +adorn--we place the image of ourself and behold them together with +delight. + +She stood within the counter, her hands clasped behind her back, her +shoulders pressed against the wall, her feet braced out. Her face was +bright with the wind and her own thoughts; as a fire in a similar day of +tempest glows and brightens on a hearth, so she seemed to glow, standing +there, and to breathe out energy. It was the first time Ballantrae had +visited that wine-seller's, the first time he had seen the wife; and his +eyes were true to her. + +"I perceive your reason for carrying me to this very draughty tavern," +he said at last. + +"I believe it is propinquity," returned Balmile. + +"You play dark," said Ballantrae, "but have a care! Be more frank with +me, or I will cut you out. I go through no form of qualifying my threat, +which would be commonplace and not conscientious. There is only one +point in these campaigns: that is the degree of admiration offered by +the man; and to our hostess I am in a posture to make victorious love." + +"If you think you have the time, or the game worth the candle," replied +the other with a shrug. + +"One would suppose you were never at the pains to observe her," said +Ballantrae. + +"I am not very observant," said Balmile. "She seems comely." + +"You very dear and dull dog!" cried Ballantrae; "chastity is the most +besotting of the virtues. Why, she has a look in her face beyond +singing! I believe, if you was to push me hard, I might trace it home to +a trifle of a squint. What matters? The height of beauty is in the touch +that's wrong, that's the modulation in a tune. 'Tis the devil we all +love; I owe many a conquest to my mole"--he touched it as he spoke with +a smile, and his eyes glittered;--"we are all hunchbacks, and beauty is +only that kind of deformity that I happen to admire. But come! Because +you are chaste, for which I am sure I pay you my respects, that is no +reason why you should be blind. Look at her, look at the delicious nose +of her, look at her cheek, look at her ear, look at her hand and +wrist--look at the whole baggage from heels to crown, and tell me if she +wouldn't melt on a man's tongue." + +As Ballantrae spoke, half jesting, half enthusiastic, Balmile was +constrained to do as he was bidden. He looked at the woman, admired her +excellences, and was at the same time ashamed for himself and his +companion. So it befell that when Marie-Madeleine raised her eyes, she +met those of the subject of her contemplations fixed directly on herself +with a look that is unmistakable, the look of a person measuring and +valuing another,--and, to clench the false impression, that his glance +was instantly and guiltily withdrawn. The blood beat back upon her heart +and leaped again; her obscure thoughts flashed clear before her; she +flew in fancy straight to his arms like a wanton, and fled again on the +instant like a nymph. And at that moment there chanced an interruption, +which not only spared her embarrassment, but set the last consecration +on her now articulate love. + +Into the wine-shop there came a French gentleman, arrayed in the last +refinement of the fashion, though a little tumbled by his passage in the +wind. It was to be judged he had come from the same formal gathering at +which the others had preceded him; and perhaps that he had gone there in +the hope to meet with them, for he came up to Ballantrae with +unceremonious eagerness. + +"At last, here you are!" he cried in French. "I thought I was to miss +you altogether." + +The Scotsmen rose, and Ballantrae, after the first greetings, laid his +hand on his companion's shoulder. + +"My lord," said he, "allow me to present to you one of my best friends +and one of our best soldiers, the Lord Viscount Gladsmuir." + +The two bowed with the elaborate elegance of the period. + +"_Monseigneur_," said Balmile, "_je n'ai pas la pretention de m'affubler +d'un titre que la mauvaise fortune de mon roi ne me permet pas de porter +comme il sied. Je m'appelle, pour vous servir, Blair de Balmile tout +court._" [My lord, I have not the effrontery to cumber myself with a +title which the ill fortunes of my king will not suffer me to bear the +way it should be. I call myself, at your service, plain Blair of +Balmile.] + +"_Monsieur le Vicomte ou monsieur Bler' de Balmail_," replied the +new-comer, "_le nom n'y fait rien et l'on connait vos beaux faits._" +[The name matters nothing, your gallant actions are known.] + +A few more ceremonies, and these three, sitting down together to the +table, called for wine. It was the happiness of Marie-Madeleine to wait +unobserved upon the prince of her desires. She poured the wine, he drank +of it; and that link between them seemed to her, for the moment, close +as a caress. Though they lowered their tones, she surprised great names +passing in their conversation, names of kings, the names of de Gesvre +and Belle-Isle; and the man who dealt in these high matters, and she who +was now coupled with him in her own thoughts, seemed to swim in mid air +in a transfiguration. Love is a crude core, but it has singular and +far-reaching fringes; in that passionate attraction for the stranger +that now swayed and mastered her, his harsh incomprehensible language, +and these names of grandees in his talk, were each an element. + +The Frenchman stayed not long, but it was plain he left behind him +matter of much interest to his companions; they spoke together +earnestly, their heads down, the woman of the wine-shop totally +forgotten; and they were still so occupied when Paradou returned. + +This man's love was unsleeping. The even bluster of the mistral, with +which he had been combating some hours, had not suspended, though it had +embittered, that predominant passion. His first look was for his wife, a +look of hope and suspicion, menace and humility and love, that made the +over-blooming brute appear for the moment almost beautiful. She returned +his glance, at first as though she knew him not, then with a swiftly +waxing coldness of intent; and at last, without changing their +direction, she had closed her eyes. + +There passed across her mind during that period much that Paradou could +not have understood had it been told to him in words: chiefly the sense +of an enlightening contrast betwixt the man who talked of kings and the +man who kept a wine-shop, betwixt the love she yearned for and that to +which she had been long exposed like a victim bound upon the altar. +There swelled upon her, swifter than the Rhone, a tide of abhorrence +and disgust. She had succumbed to the monster, humbling herself below +animals; and now she loved a hero, aspiring to the semi-divine. It was +in the pang of that humiliating thought that she had closed her eyes. + +Paradou--quick, as beasts are quick, to translate silence--felt the +insult through his blood; his inarticulate soul bellowed within him for +revenge. He glanced about the shop. He saw the two indifferent gentlemen +deep in talk, and passed them over: his fancy flying not so high. There +was but one other present, a country lout who stood swallowing his wine, +equally unobserved by all and unobserving; to him he dealt a glance of +murderous suspicion, and turned direct upon his wife. The wine-shop had +lain hitherto, a space of shelter, the scene of a few ceremonial +passages and some whispered conversation, in the howling river of the +wind; the clock had not yet ticked a score of times since Paradou's +appearance; and now, as he suddenly gave tongue, it seemed as though the +mistral had entered at his heels. + +"What ails you, woman?" he cried, smiting on the counter. + +"Nothing ails me," she replied. It was strange; but she spoke and stood +at that moment like a lady of degree, drawn upward by her aspirations. + +"You speak to me, by God, as though you scorned me!" cried the husband. + +The man's passion was always formidable; she had often looked on upon +its violence with a thrill, it had been one ingredient in her +fascination; and she was now surprised to behold him, as from afar off, +gesticulating but impotent. His fury might be dangerous like a torrent +or a gust of wind, but it was inhuman; it might be feared or braved, it +should never be respected. And with that there came in her a sudden glow +of courage and that readiness to die which attends so closely upon all +strong passions. + +"I do scorn you," she said. + +"What is that?" he cried. + +"I scorn you," she repeated, smiling. + +"You love another man!" said he. + +"With all my soul," was her reply. + +The wine-seller roared aloud so that the house rang and shook with it. + +"Is this the ----?" he cried, using a foul word, common in the South; +and he seized the young countryman and dashed him to the ground. There +he lay for the least interval of time insensible; thence fled from the +house, the most terrified person in the county. The heavy measure had +escaped from his hands, splashing the wine high upon the wall. Paradou +caught it. "And you?" he roared to his wife, giving her the same name in +the feminine, and he aimed at her the deadly missile. She expected it, +motionless, with radiant eyes. + +But before it sped, Paradou was met by another adversary, and the +unconscious rivals stood confronted. It was hard to say at that moment +which appeared the more formidable. In Paradou, the whole muddy and +truculent depths of the half-man were stirred to frenzy; the lust of +destruction raged in him; there was not a feature in his face but it +talked murder. Balmile had dropped his cloak: he shone out at once in +his finery, and stood to his full stature; girt in mind and body; all +his resources, all his temper, perfectly in command; in his face the +light of battle. Neither spoke; there was no blow nor threat of one; it +was war reduced to its last element, the spiritual; and the huge +wine-seller slowly lowered his weapon. Balmile was a noble, he a +commoner; Balmile exulted in an honourable cause. Paradou already +perhaps began to be ashamed of his violence. Of a sudden, at least, the +tortured brute turned and fled from the shop in the footsteps of his +former victim, to whose continued flight his reappearance added wings. + +So soon as Balmile appeared between her husband and herself, +Marie-Madeleine transferred to him her eyes. It might be her last +moment, and she fed upon that face; reading there inimitable courage and +illimitable valour to protect. And when the momentary peril was gone by, +and the champion turned a little awkwardly towards her whom he had +rescued, it was to meet, and quail before, a gaze of admiration more +distinct than words. He bowed, he stammered, his words failed him; he +who had crossed the floor a moment ago, like a young god, to smite, +returned like one discomfited; got somehow to his place by the table, +muffled himself again in his discarded cloak, and for a last touch of +the ridiculous, seeking for anything to restore his countenance, drank +of the wine before him, deep as a porter after a heavy lift. It was +little wonder if Ballantrae, reading the scene with malevolent eyes, +laughed out loud and brief, and drank with raised glass, "To the +champion of the Fair." + +Marie-Madeleine stood in her old place within the counter; she disdained +the mocking laughter; it fell on her ears, but it did not reach her +spirit. For her, the world of living persons was all resumed again into +one pair, as in the days of Eden; there was but the one end in life, the +one hope before her, the one thing needful, the one thing possible,--to +be his. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE PRINCE + + +That same night there was in the city of Avignon a young man in distress +of mind. Now he sat, now walked in a high apartment, full of draughts +and shadows. A single candle made the darkness visible; and the light +scarce sufficed to show upon the wall, where they had been recently and +rudely nailed, a few miniatures and a copper medal of the young man's +head. The same was being sold that year in London, to admiring +thousands. The original was fair; he had beautiful brown eyes, a +beautiful bright open face; a little feminine, a little hard, a little +weak; still full of the light of youth, but already beginning to be +vulgarised; a sordid bloom come upon it, the lines coarsened with a +touch of puffiness. He was dressed, as for a gala, in peach-colour and +silver; his breast sparkled with stars and was bright with ribbons; for +he had held a levee in the afternoon and received a distinguished +personage incognito. Now he sat with a bowed head, now walked +precipitately to and fro, now went and gazed from the uncurtained +window, where the wind was still blowing, and the lights winked in the +darkness. + +The bells of Avignon rose into song as he was gazing; and the high notes +and the deep tossed and drowned, boomed suddenly near or were suddenly +swallowed up, in the current of the mistral. Tears sprang in the pale +blue eyes; the expression of his face was changed to that of a more +active misery; it seemed as if the voices of the bells reached, and +touched and pained him, in a waste of vacancy where even pain was +welcome. Outside in the night they continued to sound on, swelling and +fainting; and the listener heard in his memory, as it were their +harmonies, joy-bells clashing in a northern city, and the acclamations +of a multitude, the cries of battle, the gross voices of cannon, the +stridor of an animated life. And then all died away, and he stood face +to face with himself in the waste of vacancy, and a horror came upon his +mind, and a faintness on his brain, such as seizes men upon the brink of +cliffs. + +On the table, by the side of the candle, stood a tray of glasses, a +bottle, and a silver bell. He went thither swiftly, then his hand +lowered first above the bell, then settled on the bottle. Slowly he +filled a glass, slowly drank it out; and, as a tide of animal warmth +recomforted the recesses of his nature, stood there smiling at himself. +He remembered he was young; the funeral curtains rose, and he saw his +life shine and broaden and flow out majestically, like a river sunward. +The smile still on his lips, he lit a second candle and a third; a fire +stood ready built in a chimney, he lit that also; and the fir-cones and +the gnarled olive billets were swift to break in flame and to crackle on +the hearth, and the room brightened and enlarged about him like his +hopes. To and fro, to and fro, he went, his hands lightly clasped, his +breath deeply and pleasurably taken. Victory walked with him; he marched +to crowns and empires among shouting followers; glory was his dress. And +presently again the shadows closed upon the solitary. Under the gilt of +flame and candle-light, the stone walls of the apartment showed down +bare and cold; behind the depicted triumph loomed up the actual failure: +defeat, the long distress of the flight, exile, despair, broken +followers, mourning faces, empty pockets, friends estranged. The memory +of his father rose in his mind: he, too, estranged and defied; despair +sharpened into wrath. There was one who had led armies in the field, who +had staked his life upon the family enterprise, a man of action and +experience, of the open air, the camp, the court, the council-room; and +he was to accept direction from an old, pompous gentleman in a home in +Italy, and buzzed about by priests? A pretty king, if he had not a +martial son to lean upon! A king at all? + +"There was a weaver (of all people) joined me at St. Ninians; he was +more of a man than my papa!" he thought. "I saw him lie doubled in his +blood and a grenadier below him--and he died for my papa! All died for +him, or risked the dying, and I lay for him all those months in the rain +and skulked in heather like a fox; and now he writes me his advice! +calls me Carluccio--me, the man of the house, the only king in that +king's race." He ground his teeth. "The only king in Europe! Who else? +Who has done and suffered except me? who has lain and run and hidden +with his faithful subjects, like a second Bruce? Not my accursed cousin, +Louis of France at least, the lewd effeminate traitor!" And filling the +glass to the brim, he drank a king's damnation. Ah, if he had the power +of Louis, what a king were here! + +The minutes followed each other into the past, and still he persevered +in this debilitating cycle of emotions, still fed the fire of his +excitement with driblets of Rhine wine: a boy at odds with life, a boy +with a spark of the heroic, which he was now burning out and drowning +down in futile reverie and solitary excess. + +From two rooms beyond, the sudden sound of a raised voice attracted him. + +"By.... + + + + +FABLES + + + + +FABLES + + + + +I + +THE PERSONS OF THE TALE + + +After the 32nd chapter of "Treasure Island," two of the puppets strolled +out to have a pipe before business should begin again, and met in an +open place not far from the story. + +"Good-morning, Cap'n," said the first, with a man-o'-war salute, and a +beaming countenance. + +"Ah, Silver!" grunted the other. "You're in a bad way, Silver." + +"Now, Cap'n Smollett," remonstrated Silver, "dooty is dooty, as I knows, +and none better; but we're off dooty now; and I can't see no call to +keep up the morality business." + +"You're a damned rogue, my man," said the Captain. + +"Come, come, Cap'n, be just," returned the other. "There's no call to be +angry with me in earnest. I'm on'y a chara'ter in a sea story. I don't +really exist." + +"Well, I don't really exist either," says the Captain, "which seems to +meet that." + +"I wouldn't set no limits to what a virtuous chara'ter might consider +argument," responded Silver. "But I'm the villain of this tale, I am; +and speaking as one sea-faring man to another, what I want to know is, +what's the odds?" + +"Were you never taught your catechism?" said the Captain. "Don't you +know there's such a thing as an Author?" + +"Such a thing as a Author?" returned John derisively. "And who better'n +me? And the p'int is, if the Author made you, he made Long John, and he +made Hands, and Pew, and George Merry--not that George is up to much, +for he's little more'n a name; and he made Flint, what there is of him; +and he made this here mutiny, you keep such a work about; and he had Tom +Redruth shot; and--well, if that's a Author, give me Pew!" + +"Don't you believe in a future state?" said Smollett. "Do you think +there's nothing but the present story-paper?" + +"I don't rightly know for that," said Silver; "and I don't see what it's +got to do with it, anyway. What I know is this: if there is sich a thing +as a Author, I'm his favourite chara'ter. He does me fathoms better'n he +does you--fathoms, he does. And he likes doing me. He keeps me on deck +mostly all the time, crutch and all; and he leaves you measling in the +hold, where nobody can't see you, nor wants to, and you may lay to that! +If there is a Author, by thunder, but he's on my side, and you may lay +to it!" + +"I see he's giving you a long rope," said the Captain. "But that can't +change a man's convictions. I know the Author respects me; I feel it in +my bones: when you and I had that talk at the blockhouse door, who do +you think he was for, my man?" + +"And don't he respect me?" cried Silver. "Ah, you should 'a' heard me +putting down my mutiny, George Merry and Morgan and that lot, no longer +ago'n last chapter; you'd 'a' heard something then! You'd 'a' seen what +the Author thinks o' me! But come now, do you consider yourself a +virtuous chara'ter clean through?" + +"God forbid!" said Captain Smollett solemnly. "I am a man that tries to +do his duty, and makes a mess of it as often as not. I'm not a very +popular man at home, Silver, I'm afraid!" and the Captain sighed. + +"Ah," says Silver. "Then how about this sequel of yours? Are you to be +Cap'n Smollett just the same as ever and not very popular at home, says +you? And if so, why, it's 'Treasure Island' over again, by thunder; and +I'll be Long John and Pew'll be Pew, and we'll have another mutiny as +like as not. Or are you to be somebody else? And if so, why, what the +better are you? and what the worse am I?" + +"Why, look here, my man," returned the Captain; "I can't understand how +this story comes about at all, can I? I can't see how you and I who +don't exist should get to speaking here, and smoke our pipes for all the +world like reality? Very well, then, who am I to pipe up with my +opinions? I know the Author's on the side of good; he tells me so, it +runs out of his pen as he writes. Well, that's all I need to know; I'll +take my chance upon the rest." + +"It's a fact he seemed to be against George Merry," Silver admitted, +musingly. "But George is little more'n a name at the best of it," he +added, brightening. "And to get into soundings for once. What is this +good? I made a mutiny, and I been a gentleman o' fortune; well, but by +all stories, you ain't no such saint. I'm a man that keeps company very +easy; even by your own account, you ain't, and to my certain knowledge +you're a devil to haze. Which is which? Which is good and which bad? Ah, +you tell me that! Here we are in stays, and you may lay to it!" + +"We're none of us perfect," replied the Captain. "That's a fact of +religion, my man. All I can say is, I try to do my duty; and if you try +to do yours, I can't compliment you on your success." + +"And so you was the judge, was you?" said Silver, derisively. + +"I would be both judge and hangman for you, my man, and never turn a +hair," returned the Captain. "But I get beyond that: it mayn't be sound +theology, but it's common sense, that what is good is useful too--or +there and thereabout, for I don't set up to be a thinker. Now, where +would a story go to if there were no virtuous characters?" + +"If you go to that," replied Silver, "where would a story begin, if +there wasn't no villains?" + +"Well, that's pretty much my thought," said Captain Smollett. "The +Author has to get a story; that's what he wants; and to get a story, and +to have a man like the doctor (say) given a proper chance, he has to put +in men like you and Hands. But he's on the right side; and you mind your +eye! You're not through this story yet; there's trouble coming for you." + +"What'll you bet?" asked John. + +"Much I care if there ain't," returned the Captain. "I'm glad enough to +be Alexander Smollett, bad as he is; and I thank my stars upon my knees +that I'm not Silver. But there's the ink-bottle opening. To quarters!" + +And indeed the Author was just then beginning to write the words: + + CHAPTER XXXIII + + + + +II + +THE SINKING SHIP + + +"Sir," said the first lieutenant, bursting into the Captain's cabin, +"the ship is going down." + +"Very well, Mr. Spoker," said the Captain; "but that is no reason for +going about half-shaved. Exercise your mind a moment, Mr. Spoker, and +you will see that to the philosophic eye there is nothing new in our +position: the ship (if she is to go down at all) may be said to have +been going down since she was launched." + +"She is settling fast," said the first lieutenant, as he returned from +shaving. + +"Fast, Mr. Spoker?" asked the Captain. "The expression is a strange one, +for time (if you will think of it) is only relative." + +"Sir," said the lieutenant, "I think it is scarcely worth while to +embark in such a discussion when we shall all be in Davy Jones's Locker +in ten minutes." + +"By parity of reasoning," returned the Captain gently, "it would never +be worth while to begin any inquiry of importance; the odds are always +overwhelming that we must die before we shall have brought it to an end. +You have not considered, Mr. Spoker, the situation of man," said the +Captain, smiling, and shaking his head. + +"I am much more engaged in considering the position of the ship," said +Mr. Spoker. + +"Spoken like a good officer," replied the Captain, laying his hand on +the lieutenant's shoulder. + +On deck they found the men had broken into the spirit-room, and were +fast getting drunk. + +"My men," said the Captain, "there is no sense in this. The ship is +going down, you will tell me, in ten minutes: well, and what then? To +the philosophic eye, there is nothing new in our position. All our lives +long, we may have been about to break a blood-vessel or to be struck by +lightning, not merely in ten minutes, but in ten seconds; and that has +not prevented us from eating dinner, no, nor from putting money in the +Savings Bank. I assure you, with my hand on my heart, I fail to +comprehend your attitude." + +The men were already too far gone to pay much heed. + +"This is a very painful sight, Mr. Spoker," said the Captain. + +"And yet to the philosophic eye, or whatever it is," replied the first +lieutenant, "they may be said to have been getting drunk since they came +aboard." + +"I do not know if you always follow my thought, Mr. Spoker," returned +the Captain gently. "But let us proceed." + +In the powder magazine they found an old salt smoking his pipe. + +"Good God!" cried the Captain, "what are you about?" + +"Well, sir," said the old salt apologetically, "they told me as she were +going down." + +"And suppose she were?" said the Captain. "To the philosophic eye, there +would be nothing new in our position. Life, my old shipmate, life, at +any moment and in any view, is as dangerous as a sinking ship; and yet +it is man's handsome fashion to carry umbrellas, to wear indiarubber +overshoes, to begin vast works, and to conduct himself in every way as +if he might hope to be eternal. And for my own poor part I should +despise the man who, even on board a sinking ship, should omit to take a +pill or to wind up his watch. That, my friend, would not be the human +attitude." + +"I beg pardon, sir," said Mr. Spoker. "But what is precisely the +difference between shaving in a sinking ship and smoking in a powder +magazine?" + +"Or doing anything at all in any conceivable circumstances?" cried the +Captain. "Perfectly conclusive; give me a cigar!" + +Two minutes afterwards the ship blew up with a glorious detonation. + + + + +III + +THE TWO MATCHES + + +One day there was a traveller in the woods in California, in the dry +season, when the trades were blowing strong. He had ridden a long way, +and he was tired and hungry, and dismounted from his horse to smoke a +pipe. But when he felt in his pocket he found but two matches. He struck +the first, and it would not light. + +"Here is a pretty state of things!" said the traveller. "Dying for a +smoke; only one match left; and that certain to miss fire! Was there +ever a creature so unfortunate? And yet," thought the traveller, +"suppose I light this match, and smoke my pipe, and shake out the dottle +here in the grass--the grass might catch fire, for it is dry like +tinder; and while I snatch out the flames in front, they might evade and +run behind me, and seize upon yon bush of poison oak; before I could +reach it, that would have blazed up; over the bush I see a pine-tree +hung with moss; that, too, would fly in fire upon the instant to its +topmost bough; and the flame of that long torch--how would the +trade-wind take and brandish that through the inflammable forest! I hear +this dell roar in a moment with the joint voice of wind and fire, I see +myself gallop for my soul, and the flying conflagration chase and +outflank me through the hills; I see this pleasant forest burn for days, +and the cattle roasted, and the springs dried up, and the farmer ruined, +and his children cast upon the world. What a world hangs upon this +moment!" + +With that he struck the match, and it missed fire. + +"Thank God!" said the traveller, and put his pipe in his pocket. + + + + +IV + +THE SICK MAN AND THE FIREMAN + + +There was once a sick man in a burning house, to whom there entered a +fireman. + +"Do not save me," said the sick man. "Save those who are strong." + +"Will you kindly tell me why?" inquired the fireman, for he was a civil +fellow. + +"Nothing could possibly be fairer," said the sick man. "The strong +should be preferred in all cases, because they are of more service in +the world." + +The fireman pondered a while, for he was a man of some philosophy. +"Granted," said he at last, as a part of the roof fell in; "but for the +sake of conversation, what would you lay down as the proper service of +the strong?" + +"Nothing can possibly be easier," returned the sick man; "the proper +service of the strong is to help the weak." + +Again the fireman reflected, for there was nothing hasty about this +excellent creature. "I could forgive you being sick," he said at last, +as a portion of the wall fell out, "but I cannot bear your being such a +fool." And with that he heaved up his fireman's axe, for he was +eminently just, and clove the sick man to the bed. + + + + +V + +THE DEVIL AND THE INNKEEPER + + +Once upon a time the devil stayed at an inn, where no one knew him, for +they were people whose education had been neglected. He was bent on +mischief, and for a time kept everybody by the ears. But at last the +innkeeper set a watch upon the devil and took him in the fact. + +The innkeeper got a rope's end. + +"Now I'm going to thrash you," said the innkeeper. + +"You have no right to be angry with me," said the devil. "I am only the +devil, and it is my nature to do wrong." + +"Is that so?" asked the innkeeper. + +"Fact, I assure you," said the devil. + +"You really can't help doing ill?" asked the innkeeper. + +"Not in the smallest," said the devil; "it would be useless cruelty to +thrash a thing like me." + +"It would indeed," said the innkeeper. + +And he made a noose and hanged the devil. + +"There!" said the innkeeper. + + + + +VI + +THE PENITENT + + +A man met a lad weeping. "What do you weep for?" he asked. + +"I am weeping for my sins," said the lad. + +"You must have little to do," said the man. + +The next day they met again. Once more the lad was weeping. "Why do you +weep now?" asked the man. + +"I am weeping because I have nothing to eat," said the lad. + +"I thought it would come to that," said the man. + + + + +VII + +THE YELLOW PAINT + + +In a certain city there lived a physician who sold yellow paint. This +was of so singular a virtue that whoso was bedaubed with it from head to +heel was set free from the dangers of life, and the bondage of sin, and +the fear of death for ever. So the physician said in his prospectus; and +so said all the citizens in the city; and there was nothing more urgent +in men's hearts than to be properly painted themselves, and nothing they +took more delight in than to see others painted. There was in the same +city a young man of a very good family but of a somewhat reckless life, +who had reached the age of manhood, and would have nothing to say to the +paint: "To-morrow was soon enough," said he; and when the morrow came he +would still put it off. So he might have continued to do until his +death; only, he had a friend of about his own age and much of his own +manners; and this youth, taking a walk in the public street, with not +one fleck of paint upon his body, was suddenly run down by a water-cart +and cut off in the heyday of his nakedness. This shook the other to the +soul; so that I never beheld a man more earnest to be painted; and on +the very same evening, in the presence of all his family, to appropriate +music, and himself weeping aloud, he received three complete coats and a +touch of varnish on the top. The physician (who was himself affected +even to tears) protested he had never done a job so thorough. + +Some two months afterwards, the young man was carried on a stretcher to +the physician's house. + +"What is the meaning of this?" he cried, as soon as the door was opened. +"I was to be set free from all the dangers of life; and here have I been +run down by that self-same water-cart, and my leg is broken." + +"Dear me!" said the physician. "This is very sad. But I perceive I must +explain to you the action of my paint. A broken bone is a mighty small +affair at the worst of it; and it belongs to a class of accident to +which my paint is quite inapplicable. Sin, my dear young friend, sin is +the sole calamity that a wise man should apprehend; it is against sin +that I have fitted you out; and when you come to be tempted you will +give me news of my paint." + +"O!" said the young man, "I did not understand that, and it seems rather +disappointing. But I have no doubt all is for the best; and in the +meanwhile, I shall be obliged to you if you will set my leg." + +"That is none of my business," said the physician; "but if your bearers +will carry you round the corner to the surgeon's, I feel sure he will +afford relief." + +Some three years later, the young man came running to the physician's +house in a great perturbation. "What is the meaning of this?" he cried. +"Here was I to be set free from the bondage of sin; and I have just +committed forgery, arson, and murder." + +"Dear me!" said the physician. "This is very serious. Off with your +clothes at once." And as soon as the young man had stripped, he examined +him from head to foot. "No," he cried with great relief, "there is not a +flake broken. Cheer up, my young friend, your paint is as good as new." + +"Good God!" cried the young man, "and what then can be the use of it?" + +"Why," said the physician, "I perceive I must explain to you the nature +of the action of my paint. It does not exactly prevent sin; it +extenuates instead the painful consequences. It is not so much for this +world as for the next; it is not against life; in short, it is against +death that I have fitted you out. And when you come to die, you will +give me news of my paint." + +"O!" cried the young man, "I had not understood that, and it seems a +little disappointing. But there is no doubt all is for the best; and in +the meanwhile, I shall be obliged if you will help me to undo the evil I +have brought on innocent persons." + +"That is none of my business," said the physician; "but if you will go +round the corner to the police office, I feel sure it will afford you +relief to give yourself up." + +Six weeks later the physician was called to the town gaol. + +"What is the meaning of this?" cried the young man. "Here am I literally +crusted with your paint; and I have broken my leg, and committed all the +crimes in the calendar, and must be hanged to-morrow; and am in the +meanwhile in a fear so extreme that I lack words to picture it." + +"Dear me!" said the physician. "This is really amazing. Well, well; +perhaps if you had not been painted, you would have been more frightened +still." + + + + +VIII + +THE HOUSE OF ELD + + +So soon as the child began to speak, the gyve was riveted; and the boys +and girls limped about their play like convicts. Doubtless it was more +pitiable to see and more painful to bear in youth; but even the grown +folk, besides being very unhandy on their feet, were often sick with +ulcers. + +About the time when Jack was ten years old, many strangers began to +journey through that country. These he beheld going lightly by on the +long roads, and the thing amazed him. "I wonder how it comes," he asked, +"that all these strangers are so quick afoot, and we must drag about our +fetter?" + +"My dear boy," said his uncle, the catechist, "do not complain about +your fetter, for it is the only thing that makes life worth living. None +are happy, none are good, none are respectable, that are not gyved like +us. And I must tell you, besides, it is very dangerous talk. If you +grumble of your iron, you will have no luck; if you ever take it off, +you will be instantly smitten by a thunderbolt." + +"Are there no thunderbolts for these strangers?" asked Jack. + +"Jupiter is long-suffering to the benighted," returned the catechist. + +"Upon my word, I could wish I had been less fortunate," said Jack. "For +if I had been born benighted, I might now be going free; and it cannot +be denied the iron is inconvenient, and the ulcer hurts." + +"Ah!" cried his uncle, "do not envy the heathen! Theirs is a sad lot! +Ah, poor souls, if they but knew the joys of being fettered! Poor souls, +my heart yearns for them. But the truth is they are vile, odious, +insolent, ill-conditioned, stinking brutes, not truly human--for what +is a man without a fetter?--and you cannot be too particular not to +touch or speak with them." + +After this talk, the child would never pass one of the unfettered on the +road but what he spat at him and called him names, which was the +practice of the children in that part. + +It chanced one day, when he was fifteen, he went into the woods, and the +ulcer pained him. It was a fair day, with a blue sky; all the birds were +singing; but Jack nursed his foot. Presently, another song began; it +sounded like the singing of a person, only far more gay; at the same +time there was a beating on the earth. Jack put aside the leaves; and +there was a lad of his own village, leaping, and dancing and singing to +himself in a green dell; and on the grass beside him lay the dancer's +iron. + +"O!" cried Jack, "you have your fetter off!" + +"For God's sake, don't tell your uncle!" cried the lad. + +"If you fear my uncle," returned Jack, "why do you not fear the +thunderbolt?" + +"That is only an old wives' tale," said the other. "It is only told to +children. Scores of us come here among the woods and dance for nights +together, and are none the worse." + +This put Jack in a thousand new thoughts. He was a grave lad; he had no +mind to dance himself; he wore his fetter manfully, and tended his ulcer +without complaint. But he loved the less to be deceived or to see others +cheated. He began to lie in wait for heathen travellers, at covert parts +of the road, and in the dusk of the day, so that he might speak with +them unseen; and these were greatly taken with their wayside questioner, +and told him things of weight. The wearing of gyves (they said) was no +command of Jupiter's. It was the contrivance of a white-faced thing, a +sorcerer, that dwelt in that country in the Wood of Eld. He was one like +Glaucus that could change his shape, yet he could be always told; for +when he was crossed, he gobbled like a turkey. He had three lives; but +the third smiting would make an end of him indeed; and with that his +house of sorcery would vanish, the gyves fall, and the villagers take +hands and dance like children. + +"And in your country?" Jack would ask. + +But at this, the travellers, with one accord, would put him off; until +Jack began to suppose there was no land entirely happy. Or, if there +were, it must be one that kept its folk at home; which was natural +enough. + +But the case of the gyves weighed upon him. The sight of the children +limping stuck in his eyes; the groans of such as dressed their ulcers +haunted him. And it came at last in his mind that he was born to free +them. + +There was in that village a sword of heavenly forgery, beaten upon +Vulcan's anvil. It was never used but in the temple, and then the flat +of it only; and it hung on a nail by the catechist's chimney. Early one +night Jack rose, and took the sword, and was gone out of the house and +the village in the darkness. + +All night he walked at a venture; and when day came, he met strangers +going to the fields. Then he asked after the Wood of Eld and the house +of sorcery; and one said north, and one south; until Jack saw that they +deceived him. So then, when he asked his way of any man, he showed the +bright sword naked; and at that the gyve on the man's ankle rang and +answered in his stead; and the word was still _Straight on._ But the +man, when his gyve spoke, spat and struck at Jack, and threw stones at +him as he went away; so that his head was broken. + +So he came to that wood, and entered in, and he was aware of a house in +a low place, where funguses grew, and the trees met, and the steaming of +the marsh arose about it like a smoke. It was a fine house, and a very +rambling; some parts of it were ancient like the hills, and some but of +yesterday, and none finished; and all the ends of it were open, so that +you could go in from every side. Yet it was in good repair, and all the +chimneys smoked. + +Jack went in through the gable; and there was one room after another, +all bare, but all furnished in part, so that a man could dwell there; +and in each there was a fire burning, where a man could warm himself, +and a table spread where he might eat. But Jack saw nowhere any living +creature; only the bodies of some stuffed. + +"This is a hospitable house," said Jack; "but the ground must be quaggy +underneath, for at every step the building quakes." + +He had gone some time in the house, when he began to be hungry. Then he +looked at the food, and at first he was afraid; but he bared the sword, +and by the shining of the sword, it seemed the food was honest. So he +took the courage to sit down and eat, and he was refreshed in mind and +body. + +"This is strange," thought he, "that in the house of sorcery there +should be food so wholesome." + +As he was yet eating, there came into that room the appearance of his +uncle, and Jack was afraid because he had taken the sword. But his uncle +was never more kind, and sat down to meat with him, and praised him +because he had taken the sword. Never had these two been more pleasantly +together, and Jack was full of love to the man. + +"It was very well done," said his uncle, "to take the sword and come +yourself into the House of Eld; a good thought and a brave deed. But now +you are satisfied; and we may go home to dinner arm in arm." + +"O dear no!" said Jack. "I am not satisfied yet." + +"How!" cried his uncle. "Are you not warmed by the fire? Does not this +food sustain you?" + +"I see the food to be wholesome," said Jack; "and still it is no proof +that a man should wear a gyve on his right leg." + +Now at this the appearance of his uncle gobbled like a turkey. + +"Jupiter!" cried Jack, "is this the sorcerer?" + +His hand held back and his heart failed him for the love he bore his +uncle; but he heaved up the sword and smote the appearance on the head; +and it cried out aloud with the voice of his uncle; and fell to the +ground; and a little bloodless white thing fled from the room. + +The cry rang in Jack's ears, and his knees smote together, and +conscience cried upon him; and yet he was strengthened, and there woke +in his bones the lust of that enchanter's blood. "If the gyves are to +fall," said he, "I must go through with this, and when I get home I +shall find my uncle dancing." + +So he went on after the bloodless thing. In the way he met the +appearance of his father; and his father was incensed, and railed upon +him, and called to him upon his duty, and bade him be home, while there +was yet time. "For you can still," said he, "be home by sunset; and then +all will be forgiven." + +"God knows," said Jack, "I fear your anger; but yet your anger does not +prove that a man should wear a gyve on his right leg." + +And at that the appearance of his father gobbled like a turkey. + +"Ah, heaven," cried Jack, "the sorcerer again!" + +The blood ran backward in his body, and his joints rebelled against him +for the love he bore his father; but he heaved up the sword, and plunged +it in the heart of the appearance; and the appearance cried out aloud +with the voice of his father; and fell to the ground; and a little +bloodless white thing fled from the room. + +The cry rang in Jack's ears, and his soul was darkened; but now rage +came to him. "I have done what I dare not think upon," said he. "I will +go to an end with it, or perish. And when I get home, I pray God this +may be a dream, and I may find my father dancing." + +So he went on after the bloodless thing that had escaped; and in the way +he met the appearance of his mother, and she wept. "What have you +done?" she cried. "What is this that you have done? O, come home (where +you may be by bedtime) ere you do more ill to me and mine; for it is +enough to smite my brother and your father." + +"Dear mother, it is not these that I have smitten," said Jack; "it was +but the enchanter in their shape. And even if I had, it would not prove +that a man should wear a gyve on his right leg." + +And at this the appearance gobbled like a turkey. + +He never knew how he did that; but he swung the sword on the one side, +and clove the appearance through the midst; and it cried out aloud with +the voice of his mother; and fell to the ground; and with the fall of +it, the house was gone from over Jack's head, and he stood alone in the +woods, and the gyve was loosened from his leg. + +"Well," said he, "the enchanter is now dead, and the fetter gone." But +the cries rang in his soul, and the day was like night to him. "This has +been a sore business," said he. "Let me get forth out of the wood, and +see the good that I have done to others." + +He thought to leave the fetter where it lay, but when he turned to go, +his mind was otherwise. So he stooped and put the gyve in his bosom; and +the rough iron galled him as he went, and his bosom bled. + +Now when he was forth of the wood upon the highway, he met folk +returning from the field; and those he met had no fetter on the right +leg, but, behold! they had one upon the left. Jack asked them what it +signified; and they said, "that was the new wear, for the old was found +to be a superstition." Then he looked at them nearly; and there was a +new ulcer on the left ankle, and the old one on the right was not yet +healed. + +"Now, may God forgive me!" cried Jack. "I would I were well home." + +And when he was home, there lay his uncle smitten on the head, and his +father pierced through the heart, and his mother cloven through the +midst. And he sat in the lone house and wept beside the bodies. + +MORAL + + Old is the tree and the fruit good, + Very old and thick the wood. + Woodman, is your courage stout? + Beware! the root is wrapped about + Your mother's heart, your father's bones; + And like the mandrake comes with groans. + + + + +IX + +THE FOUR REFORMERS + + +Four reformers met under a bramble-bush. They were all agreed the world +must be changed. "We must abolish property," said one. + +"We must abolish marriage," said the second. + +"We must abolish God," said the third. + +"I wish we could abolish work," said the fourth. + +"Do not let us get beyond practical politics," said the first. "The +first thing is to reduce men to a common level." + +"The first thing," said the second, "is to give freedom to the sexes." + +"The first thing," said the third, "is to find out how to do it." + +"The first step," said the first, "is to abolish the Bible." + +"The first thing," said the second, "is to abolish the laws." + +"The first thing," said the third, "is to abolish mankind." + + + + +X + +THE MAN AND HIS FRIEND + + +A man quarrelled with his friend. + +"I have been much deceived in you," said the man. + +And the friend made a face at him and went away. + +A little after, they both died, and came together before the great white +Justice of the Peace. It began to look black for the friend, but the man +for a while had a clear character and was getting in good spirits. + +"I find here some record of a quarrel," said the Justice, looking in his +notes. "Which of you was in the wrong?" + +"He was," said the man. "He spoke ill of me behind my back." + +"Did he so?" said the Justice. "And pray how did he speak about your +neighbours?" + +"O, he had always a nasty tongue," said the man. + +"And you chose him for your friend?" cried the Justice. "My good fellow, +we have no use here for fools." + +So the man was cast in the pit, and the friend laughed out aloud in the +dark and remained to be tried on other charges. + + + + +XI + +THE READER + + +"I never read such an impious book," said the reader, throwing it on the +floor. + +"You need not hurt me," said the book; "you will only get less for me +second-hand, and I did not write myself." + +"That is true," said the reader. "My quarrel is with your author." + +"Ah, well," said the book, "you need not buy his rant." + +"That is true," said the reader. "But I thought him such a cheerful +writer." + +"I find him so," said the book. + +"You must be differently made from me," said the reader. + +"Let me tell you a fable," said the book. "There were two men wrecked +upon a desert island; one of them made believe he was at home, the other +admitted----" + +"O, I know your kind of fable," said the reader. "They both died." + +"And so they did," said the book. "No doubt of that. And everybody +else." + +"That is true," said the reader. "Push it a little further for this +once. And when they were all dead?" + +"They were in God's hands, the same as before," said the book. + +"Not much to boast of, by your account," cried the reader. + +"Who is impious now?" said the book. + +And the reader put him on the fire. + + The coward crouches from the rod, + And loathes the iron face of God. + + + + +XII + +THE CITIZEN AND THE TRAVELLER + + +"Look round you," said the citizen. "This is the largest market in the +world." + +"O, surely not," said the traveller. + +"Well, perhaps not the largest," said the citizen, "but much the best." + +"You are certainly wrong there," said the traveller. "I can tell you...." + +They buried the stranger at the dusk. + + + + +XIII + +THE DISTINGUISHED STRANGER + + +Once upon a time there came to this earth a visitor from a neighbouring +planet. And he was met at the place of his descent by a great +philosopher, who was to show him everything. + +First of all they came through a wood, and the stranger looked upon the +trees. "Whom have we here?" said he. + +"These are only vegetables," said the philosopher. "They are alive, but +not at all interesting." + +"I don't know about that," said the stranger. "They seem to have very +good manners. Do they never speak?" + +"They lack the gift," said the philosopher. + +"Yet I think I hear them sing," said the other. + +"That is only the wind among the leaves," said the philosopher. "I will +explain to you the theory of winds: it is very interesting." + +"Well," said the stranger, "I wish I knew what they are thinking." + +"They cannot think," said the philosopher. + +"I don't know, about that," returned the stranger: and then, laying his +hand upon a trunk: "I like these people," said he. + +"They are not people at all," said the philosopher. "Come along." + +Next they came through a meadow where there were cows. + +"These are very dirty people," said the stranger. + +"They are not people at all," said the philosopher; and he explained +what a cow is in scientific words which I have forgotten. + +"That is all one to me," said the stranger. "But why do they never look +up?" + +"Because they are graminivorous," said the philosopher; "and to live +upon grass, which is not highly nutritious, requires so close an +attention to business that they have no time to think, or speak, or look +at the scenery, or keep themselves clean." + +"Well," said the stranger, "that is one way to live, no doubt. But I +prefer the people with the green heads." + +Next they came into a city, and the streets were full of men and women. + +"These are very odd people," said the stranger. + +"They are the people of the greatest nation in the world," said the +philosopher. + +"Are they indeed?" said the stranger. "They scarcely look so." + + + + +XIV + +THE CART-HORSES AND THE SADDLE-HORSE + + +Two cart-horses, a gelding and a mare, were brought to Samoa, and put in +the same field with a saddle-horse to run free on the island. They were +rather afraid to go near him, for they saw he was a saddle-horse, and +supposed he would not speak to them. Now the saddle-horse had never seen +creatures so big. "These must be great chiefs," thought he, and he +approached them civilly. "Lady and gentleman," said he, "I understand +you are from the colonies. I offer you my affectionate compliments, and +make you heartily welcome to the islands." + +The colonials looked at him askance, and consulted with each other. + +"Who can he be?" said the gelding. + +"He seems suspiciously civil," said the mare. + +"I do not think he can be much account," said the gelding. + +"Depend upon it he is only a Kanaka," said the mare. + +Then they turned to him. + +"Go to the devil!" said the gelding. + +"I wonder at your impudence, speaking to persons of our quality!" cried +the mare. + +The saddle-horse went away by himself. "I was right," said he, "they are +great chiefs." + + + + +XV + +THE TADPOLE AND THE FROG + + +"Be ashamed of yourself," said the frog. "When I was a tadpole, I had no +tail." + +"Just what I thought!" said the tadpole. "You never were a tadpole." + + + + +XVI + +SOMETHING IN IT + + +The natives told him many tales. In particular, they warned him of the +house of yellow reeds tied with black sinnet, how any one who touched it +became instantly the prey of Akaaenga, and was handed on to him by Miru +the ruddy, and hocussed with the kava of the dead, and baked in the +ovens and eaten by the eaters of the dead. + +"There is nothing in it," said the missionary. + +There was a bay upon that island, a very fair bay to look upon; but, by +the native saying, it was death to bathe there. "There is nothing in +that," said the missionary; and he came to the bay, and went swimming. +Presently an eddy took him and bore him towards the reef. "Oho!" thought +the missionary, "it seems there is something in it after all." And he +swam the harder, but the eddy carried him away. "I do not care about +this eddy," said the missionary; and even as he said it, he was aware of +a house raised on piles above the sea; it was built of yellow reeds, one +reed joined with another, and the whole bound with black sinnet; a +ladder led to the door, and all about the house hung calabashes. He had +never seen such a house, nor yet such calabashes; and the eddy set for +the ladder. "This is singular," said the missionary, "but there can be +nothing in it." And he laid hold of the ladder and went up. It was a +fine house; but there was no man there; and when the missionary looked +back he saw no island, only the heaving of the sea. "It is strange about +the island," said the missionary, "but who's afraid? my stories are the +true ones." And he laid hold of a calabash, for he was one that loved +curiosities. Now he had no sooner laid hand upon the calabash than that +which he handled, and that which he saw and stood on, burst like a +bubble and was gone; and night closed upon him, and the waters, and the +meshes of the net; and he wallowed there like a fish. + +"A body would think there was something in this," said the missionary. +"But if these tales are true, I wonder what about my tales!" + +Now the flaming of Akaaenga's torch drew near in the night; and the +misshapen hands groped in the meshes of the net; and they took the +missionary between the finger and the thumb, and bore him dripping in +the night and silence to the place of the ovens of Miru. And there was +Miru, ruddy in the glow of the ovens; and there sat her four daughters, +and made the kava of the dead; and there sat the comers out of the +islands of the living, dripping and lamenting. + +This was a dread place to reach for any of the sons of men. But of all +who ever came there, the missionary was the most concerned; and, to make +things worse, the person next him was a convert of his own. + +"Aha," said the convert, "so you are here like your neighbours? And how +about all your stories?" + +"It seems," said the missionary, with bursting tears, "that there was +nothing in them." + +By this the kava of the dead was ready, and the daughters of Miru began +to intone in the old manner of singing: "Gone are the green islands and +the bright sea, the sun and the moon and the forty million stars, and +life and love and hope. Henceforth is no more, only to sit in the night +and silence, and see your friends devoured; for life is a deceit, and +the bandage is taken from your eyes." + +Now when the singing was done, one of the daughters came with the bowl. +Desire of that kava rose in the missionary's bosom; he lusted for it +like a swimmer for the land, or a bridegroom for his bride; and he +reached out his hand, and took the bowl, and would have drunk. And then +he remembered, and put it back. + +"Drink!" sang the daughter of Miru. "There is no kava like the kava of +the dead, and to drink of it once is the reward of living." + +"I thank you. It smells excellent," said the missionary. "But I am a +blue-ribbon man myself; and though I am aware there is a difference of +opinion even in our own confession, I have always held kava to be +excluded." + +"What!" cried the convert. "Are you going to respect a taboo at a time +like this? And you were always so opposed to taboos when you were +alive!" + +"To other people's," said the missionary. "Never to my own." + +"But yours have all proved wrong," said the convert. + +"It looks like it," said the missionary, "and I can't help that. No +reason why I should break my word." + +"I never heard the like of this!" cried the daughter of Miru. "Pray, +what do you expect to gain?" + +"That is not the point," said the missionary. "I took this pledge for +others, I am not going to break it for myself." + +The daughter of Miru was puzzled; she came and told her mother, and Miru +was vexed; and they went and told Akaaenga. + +"I don't know what to do about this," said Akaaenga; and he came and +reasoned with the missionary. + +"But there _is_ such a thing as right and wrong," said the missionary; +"and your ovens cannot alter that." + +"Give the kava to the rest," said Akaaenga to the daughters of Miru. "I +must get rid of this sea-lawyer instantly, or worse will come of it." + +The next moment the missionary came up in the midst of the sea, and +there before him were the palm-trees of the island. He swam to the shore +gladly, and landed. Much matter of thought was in that missionary's +mind. + +"I seem to have been misinformed upon some points," said he. "Perhaps +there is not much in it, as I supposed; but there is something in it +after all. Let me be glad of that." + +And he rang the bell for service. + + MORAL + + The sticks break, the stones crumble, + The eternal altars tilt and tumble, + Sanctions and tales dislimn like mist + About the amazed evangelist. + He stands unshook from age to youth + Upon one pin-point of the truth. + + + + +XVII + +FAITH, HALF-FAITH, AND NO FAITH AT ALL + + +In the ancient days there went three men upon pilgrimage; one was a +priest, and one was a virtuous person, and the third was an old rover +with his axe. + +As they went, the priest spoke about the grounds of faith. + +"We find the proofs of our religion in the works of nature," said he, +and beat his breast. + +"That is true," said the virtuous person. + +"The peacock has a scrannel voice," said the priest, "as has been laid +down always in our books. How cheering!" he cried, in a voice like one +that wept. "How comforting!" + +"I require no such proofs," said the virtuous person. + +"Then you have no reasonable faith," said the priest. + +"Great is the right, and shall prevail!" cried the virtuous person. +"There is loyalty in my soul; be sure, there is loyalty in the mind of +Odin." + +"These are but playings upon words," returned the priest. "A sackful of +such trash is nothing to the peacock." + +Just then they passed a country farm, where there was a peacock seated +on a rail; and the bird opened its mouth and sang with the voice of a +nightingale. + +"Where are you now?" asked the virtuous person. "And yet this shakes not +me! Great is the truth, and shall prevail!" + +"The devil fly away with that peacock!" said the priest; and he was +downcast for a mile or two. + +But presently they came to a shrine, where a Fakeer performed miracles. + +"Ah!" said the priest, "here are the true grounds of faith. The peacock +was but an adminicle. This is the base of our religion." And he beat +upon his breast, and groaned like one with colic. + +"Now to me," said the virtuous person, "all this is as little to the +purpose as the peacock. I believe because I see the right is great and +must prevail; and this Fakeer might carry on with his conjuring tricks +till doomsday, and it would not play bluff upon a man like me." + +Now at this the Fakeer was so much incensed that his hand trembled; and, +lo! in the midst of a miracle the cards fell from up his sleeve. + +"Where are you now?" asked the virtuous person. "And yet it shakes not +me!" + +"The devil fly away with the Fakeer!" cried the priest. "I really do not +see the good of going on with this pilgrimage." + +"Cheer up!" cried the virtuous person. "Great is the right, and shall +prevail!" + +"If you are quite sure it will prevail," says the priest. + +"I pledge my word for that," said the virtuous person. + +So the other began to go on again with a better heart. + +At last one came running, and told them all was lost: that the powers of +darkness had besieged the Heavenly Mansions, that Odin was to die, and +evil triumph. + +"I have been grossly deceived," cried the virtuous person. + +"All is lost now," said the priest. + +"I wonder if it is too late to make it up with the devil?" said the +virtuous person. + +"O, I hope not," said the priest. "And at any rate we can but try.--But +what are you doing with your axe?" says he to the rover. + +"I am off to die with Odin," said the rover. + + + + +XVIII + +THE TOUCHSTONE + + +The King was a man that stood well before the world; his smile was sweet +as clover, but his soul withinsides was as little as a pea. He had two +sons; and the younger son was a boy after his heart, but the elder was +one whom he feared. It befell one morning that the drum sounded in the +dun before it was yet day; and the King rode with his two sons, and a +brave array behind them. They rode two hours, and came to the foot of a +brown mountain that was very steep. + +"Where do we ride?" said the elder son. + +"Across this brown mountain," said the King, and smiled to himself. + +"My father knows what he is doing," said the younger son. + +And they rode two hours more, and came to the sides of a black river +that was wondrous deep. + +"And where do we ride?" asked the elder son. + +"Over this black river," said the King, and smiled to himself. + +"My father knows what he is doing," said the younger son. + +And they rode all that day, and about the time of the sunsetting came to +the side of a lake, where was a great dun. + +"It is here we ride," said the King; "to a King's house, and a priest's, +and a house where you will learn much." + +At the gates of the dun, the King who was a priest met them; and he was +a grave man, and beside him stood his daughter, and she was as fair as +the morn, and one that smiled and looked down. + +"These are my two sons," said the first King. + +"And here is my daughter," said the King who was a priest. + +"She is a wonderful fine maid," said the first King, "and I like her +manner of smiling." + +"They are wonderful well-grown lads," said the second, "and I like their +gravity." + +And then the two Kings looked at each other, and said, "The thing may +come about." + +And in the meanwhile the two lads looked upon the maid, and the one grew +pale and the other red; and the maid looked upon the ground smiling. + +"Here is the maid that I shall marry," said the elder. "For I think she +smiled upon me." + +But the younger plucked his father by the sleeve. "Father," said he, "a +word in your ear. If I find favour in your sight, might not I wed this +maid, for I think she smiles upon me?" + +"A word in yours," said the King his father. "Waiting is good hunting, +and when the teeth are shut the tongue is at home." + +Now they were come into the dun, and feasted; and this was a great +house, so that the lads were astonished; and the King that was a priest +sat at the end of the board and was silent, so that the lads were filled +with reverence; and the maid served them smiling with downcast eyes, so +that their hearts were enlarged. + +Before it was day, the elder son arose, and he found the maid at her +weaving, for she was a diligent girl. "Maid," quoth he, "I would fain +marry you." + +"You must speak with my father," said she, and she looked upon the +ground smiling, and became like the rose. + +"Her heart is with me," said the elder son, and he went down to the lake +and sang. + +A little while after came the younger son. "Maid," quoth he, "if our +fathers were agreed, I would like well to marry you." + +"You can speak to my father," said she; and looked upon the ground, and +smiled and grew like the rose. + +"She is a dutiful daughter," said the younger son, "she will make an +obedient wife." And then he thought, "What shall I do?" and he +remembered the King her father was a priest; so he went into the temple, +and sacrificed a weasel and a hare. + +Presently the news got about; and the two lads and the first King were +called into the presence of the King who was a priest, where he sat upon +the high seat. + +"Little I reck of gear," said the King who was a priest, "and little of +power. For we live here among the shadow of things, and the heart is +sick of seeing them. And we stay here in the wind like raiment drying, +and the heart is weary of the wind. But one thing I love, and that is +truth; and for one thing will I give my daughter, and that is the trial +stone. For in the light of that stone the seeming goes, and the being +shows, and all things besides are worthless. Therefore, lads, if ye +would wed my daughter, out foot, and bring me the stone of touch, for +that is the price of her." + +"A word in your ear," said the younger son to his father. "I think we do +very well without this stone." + +"A word in yours," said the father. "I am of your way of thinking; but +when the teeth are shut the tongue is at home." And he smiled to the +King that was a priest. + +But the elder son got to his feet, and called the King that was a priest +by the name of father. "For whether I marry the maid or no, I will call +you by that word for the love of your wisdom; and even now I will ride +forth and search the world for the stone of touch." So he said farewell, +and rode into the world. + +"I think I will go, too," said the younger son, "if I can have your +leave. For my heart goes out to the maid." + +"You will ride home with me," said his father. + +So they rode home, and when they came to the dun, the King had his son +into his treasury. "Here," said he, "is the touchstone which shows +truth; for there is no truth but plain truth; and if you will look in +this, you will see yourself as you are." + +And the younger son looked in it, and saw his face as it were the face +of a beardless youth, and he was well enough pleased; for the thing was +a piece of a mirror. + +"Here is no such great thing to make a work about," said he; "but if it +will get me the maid I shall never complain. But what a fool is my +brother to ride into the world, and the thing all the while at home!" + +So they rode back to the other dun, and showed the mirror to the King +that was a priest; and when he had looked in it, and seen himself like a +King, and his house like a King's house, and all things like themselves, +he cried out and blessed God. "For now I know," said he, "there is no +truth but the plain truth; and I am a King indeed, although my heart +misgave me." And he pulled down his temple and built a new one; and then +the younger son was married to the maid. + +In the meantime the elder son rode into the world to find the touchstone +of the trial of truth; and whenever he came to a place of habitation, he +would ask the men if they had heard of it. And in every place the men +answered: "Not only have we heard of it, but we alone, of all men, +possess the thing itself, and it hangs in the side of our chimney to +this day." Then would the elder son be glad, and beg for a sight of it. +And sometimes it would be a piece of mirror, that showed the seeming of +things; and then he would say, "This can never be, for there should be +more than seeming." And sometimes it would be a lump of coal, which +showed nothing; and then he would say, "This can never be, for at least +there is the seeming." And sometimes it would be a touchstone indeed, +beautiful in hue, adorned with polishing, the light inhabiting its +sides; and when he found this, he would beg the thing, and the persons +of that place would give it him, for all men were very generous of that +gift; so that at the last he had his wallet full of them, and they +chinked together when he rode; and when he halted by the side of the way +he would take them out and try them, till his head turned like the sails +upon a windmill. + +"A murrain upon this business!" said the elder son, "for I perceive no +end to it. Here I have the red, and here the blue and the green; and to +me they seem all excellent, and yet shame each other. A murrain on the +trade! If it were not for the King that is a priest and whom I have +called my father, and if it were not for the fair maid of the dun that +makes my mouth to sing and my heart enlarge, I would even tumble them +all into the salt sea, and go home and be a King like other folk." + +But he was like the hunter that has seen a stag upon a mountain, so that +the night may fall, and the fire be kindled, and the lights shine in his +house; but desire of that stag is single in his bosom. + +Now after many years the elder son came upon the sides of the salt sea; +and it was night, and a savage place, and the clamour of the sea was +loud. There he was aware of a house, and a man sat there by the light of +a candle, for he had no fire. Now the elder son came in to him, and the +man gave him water to drink, for he had no bread; and wagged his head +when spoken to, for he had no words. + +"Have you the touchstone of truth?" asked the elder son; and when the +man had wagged his head, "I might have known that," cried the elder son. +"I have here a wallet full of them!" And with that he laughed, although +his heart was weary. + +And with that the man laughed too, and with the fuff of his laughter the +candle went out. + +"Sleep," said the man, "for now I think you have come far enough; and +your quest is ended and my candle is out." + +Now when the morning came, the man gave him a clear pebble in his hand, +and it had no beauty and no colour; and the elder son looked upon it +scornfully and shook his head; and he went away, for it seemed a small +affair to him. + +All that day he rode, and his mind was quiet, and the desire of the +chase allayed. "How if this poor pebble be the touchstone, after all?" +said he: and he got down from his horse and emptied forth his wallet by +the side of the way. Now, in the light of each other, all the +touchstones lost their hue and fire, and withered like stars at morning; +but in the light of the pebble, their beauty remained, only the pebble +was the most bright. And the elder son smote upon his brow. "How if this +be the truth?" he cried, "that all are a little true?" And he took the +pebble and turned its light upon the heavens, and they deepened about +him like the pit; and he turned it on the hills, and the hills were cold +and rugged, but life ran in their sides so that his own life bounded; +and he turned it on the dust, and he beheld the dust with joy and +terror; and he turned it on himself, and knelt down and prayed. + +"Now, thanks be to God," said the elder son, "I have found the +touchstone; and now I may turn my reins, and ride home to the King and +to the maid of the dun that makes my mouth to sing and my heart +enlarge." + +Now when he came to the dun, he saw children playing by the gate where +the King had met him in the old days; and this stayed his pleasure, for +he thought in his heart, "It is here my children should be playing." And +when he came into the hall, there was his brother on the high seat and +the maid beside him; and at that his anger rose, for he thought in his +heart, "It is I that should be sitting there, and the maid beside me." + +"Who are you?" said his brother. "And what make you in the dun?" + +"I am your elder brother," he replied. "And I am come to marry the maid, +for I have brought the touchstone of truth." + +Then the younger brother laughed aloud. "Why," said he, "I found the +touchstone years ago, and married the maid, and there are our children +playing at the gate." + +Now at this the elder brother grew as grey as the dawn. "I pray you have +dealt justly," said he, "for I perceive my life is lost." + +"Justly?" quoth the younger brother. "It becomes you ill, that are a +restless man and a runagate, to doubt my justice, or the King my +father's, that are sedentary folk and known in the land." + +"Nay," said the elder brother, "you have all else, have patience also; +and suffer me to say the world is full of touchstones, and it appears +not easily which is true." + +"I have no shame of mine," said the younger brother. "There it is, and +look in it." + +So the elder brother looked in the mirror, and he was sore amazed; for +he was an old man, and his hair was white upon his head; and he sat down +in the hall and wept aloud. + +"Now," said the younger brother, "see what a fool's part you have +played, that ran over all the world to seek what was lying in our +father's treasury, and came back an old carle for the dogs to bark at, +and without chick or child. And I that was dutiful and wise sit here +crowned with virtues and pleasures, and happy in the light of my +hearth." + +"Methinks you have a cruel tongue," said the elder brother; and he +pulled out the clear pebble and turned its light on his brother; and +behold the man was lying, his soul was shrunk into the smallness of a +pea, and his heart was a bag of little fears like scorpions, and love +was dead in his bosom. And at that the elder brother cried out aloud, +and turned the light of the pebble on the maid, and, lo! she was but a +mask of a woman, and withinsides she was quite dead, and she smiled as a +clock ticks, and knew not wherefore. + +"O, well," said the elder brother, "I perceive there is both good and +bad. So fare ye all as well as ye may in the dun; but I will go forth +into the world with my pebble in my pocket." + + + + +XIX + +THE POOR THING + + +There was a man in the islands who fished for his bare bellyful, and +took his life in his hands to go forth upon the sea between four planks. +But though he had much ado, he was merry of heart; and the gulls heard +him laugh when the spray met him. And though he had little lore, he was +sound of spirit; and when the fish came to his hook in the mid-waters, +he blessed God without weighing. He was bitter poor in goods and bitter +ugly of countenance, and he had no wife. + +It fell in the time of the fishing that the man awoke in his house about +the midst of the afternoon. The fire burned in the midst, and the smoke +went up and the sun came down by the chimney. And the man was aware of +the likeness of one that warmed his hands at the red peats. + +"I greet you," said the man, "in the name of God." + +"I greet you," said he that warmed his hands, "but not in the name of +God, for I am none of His; nor in the name of Hell, for I am not of +Hell. For I am but a bloodless thing, less than wind and lighter than a +sound, and the wind goes through me like a net, and I am broken by a +sound and shaken by the cold." + +"Be plain with me," said the man, "and tell me your name and of your +nature." + +"My name," quoth the other, "is not yet named, and my nature not yet +sure. For I am part of a man; and I was a part of your fathers, and went +out to fish and fight with them in the ancient days. But now is my turn +not yet come; and I wait until you have a wife, and then shall I be in +your son, and a brave part of him, rejoicing manfully to launch the boat +into the surf, skilful to direct the helm, and a man of might where the +ring closes and the blows are going." + +"This is a marvellous thing to hear," said the man; "and if you are +indeed to be my son, I fear it will go ill with you; for I am bitter +poor in goods and bitter ugly in face, and I shall never get me a wife +if I live to the age of eagles." + +"All this have I come to remedy, my Father," said the Poor Thing; "for +we must go this night to the little isle of sheep, where our fathers lie +in the dead-cairn, and to-morrow to the Earl's Hall, and there shall you +find a wife by my providing." + +So the man rose and put forth his boat at the time of the sunsetting; +and the Poor Thing sat in the prow, and the spray blew through his bones +like snow, and the wind whistled in his teeth, and the boat dipped not +with the weight of him. + +"I am fearful to see you, my son," said the man. "For methinks you are +no thing of God." + +"It is only the wind that whistles in my teeth," said the Poor Thing, +"and there is no life in me to keep it out." + +So they came to the little isle of sheep, where the surf burst all about +it in the midst of the sea, and it was all green with bracken, and all +wet with dew, and the moon enlightened it. They ran the boat into a +cove, and set foot to land; and the man came heavily behind among the +rocks in the deepness of the bracken, but the Poor Thing went before him +like a smoke in the light of the moon. So they came to the dead-cairn, +and they laid their ears to the stones; and the dead complained +withinsides like a swarm of bees: "Time was that marrow was in our +bones, and strength in our sinews; and the thoughts of our head were +clothed upon with acts and the words of men. But now are we broken in +sunder, and the bonds of our bones are loosed, and our thoughts lie in +the dust." + +Then said the Poor Thing: "Charge them that they give you the virtue +they withheld." + +And the man said: "Bones of my fathers, greeting! for I am sprung of +your loins. And now, behold, I break open the piled stones of your +cairn, and I let in the noon between your ribs. Count it well done, for +it was to be; and give me what I come seeking in the name of blood and +in the name of God." + +And the spirits of the dead stirred in the cairn like ants; and they +spoke: "You have broken the roof of our cairn and let in the noon +between our ribs; and you have the strength of the still-living. But +what virtue have we? what power? or what jewel here in the dust with us, +that any living man should covet or receive it? for we are less than +nothing. But we tell you one thing, speaking with many voices like bees, +that the way is plain before all like the grooves of launching: So forth +into life and fear not, for so did we all in the ancient ages." And +their voices passed away like an eddy in a river. + +"Now," said the Poor Thing, "they have told you a lesson, but make them +give you a gift. Stoop your hand among the bones without drawback, and +you shall find their treasure." + +So the man stooped his hand, and the dead laid hold upon it many and +faint like ants; but he shook them off, and behold, what he brought up +in his hand was the shoe of a horse, and it was rusty. + +"It is a thing of no price," quoth the man, "for it is rusty." + +"We shall see that," said the Poor Thing; "for in my thought it is a +good thing to do what our fathers did, and to keep what they kept +without question. And in my thought one thing is as good as another in +this world; and a shoe of a horse will do." + +Now they got into their boat with the horse-shoe, and when the dawn was +come they were aware of the smoke of the Earl's town and the bells of +the Kirk that beat. So they set foot to shore: and the man went up to +the market among the fishers over against the palace and the Kirk; and +he was bitter poor and bitter ugly, and he had never a fish to sell, but +only a shoe of a horse in his creel, and it rusty. + +"Now," said the Poor Thing, "do so and so, and you shall find a wife and +I a mother." + +It befell that the Earl's daughter came forth to go into the Kirk upon +her prayers; and when she saw the poor man stand in the market with only +the shoe of a horse, and it rusty, it came in her mind it should be a +thing of price. + +"What is that?" quoth she. + +"It is a shoe of a horse," said the man. + +"And what is the use of it?" quoth the Earl's daughter. + +"It is for no use," said the man. + +"I may not believe that," said she; "else why should you carry it?" + +"I do so," said he, "because it was so my fathers did in the ancient +ages; and I have neither a better reason nor a worse." + +Now the Earl's daughter could not find it in her mind to believe him. +"Come," quoth she, "sell me this, for I am sure it is a thing of price." + +"Nay," said the man, "the thing is not for sale." + +"What!" cried the Earl's daughter. "Then what make you here in the +town's market, with the thing in your creel and nought beside?" + +"I sit here," says the man, "to get me a wife." + +"There is no sense in any of these answers," thought the Earl's +daughter; "and I could find it in my heart to weep." + +By came the Earl upon that; and she called him and told him all. And +when he had heard, he was of his daughter's mind that this should be a +thing of virtue; and charged the man to set a price upon the thing, or +else be hanged upon the gallows; and that was near at hand, so that the +man could see it. + +"The way of life is straight like the grooves of launching," quoth the +man. "And if I am to be hanged let me be hanged." + +"Why!" cried the Earl, "will you set your neck against a shoe of a +horse, and it rusty?" + +"In my thought," said the man, "one thing is as good as another in this +world; and the shoe of a horse will do." + +"This can never be," thought the Earl; and he stood and looked upon the +man, and bit his beard. + +And the man looked up at him and smiled. "It was so my fathers did in +the ancient ages," quoth he to the Earl, "and I have neither a better +reason nor a worse." + +"There is no sense in any of this," thought the Earl, "and I must be +growing old." So he had his daughter on one side, and says he: "Many +suitors have you denied, my child. But here is a very strange matter +that a man should cling so to a shoe of a horse, and it rusty; and that +he should offer it like a thing on sale, and yet not sell it; and that +he should sit there seeking a wife. If I come not to the bottom of this +thing, I shall have no more pleasure in bread; and I can see no way, but +either I should hang or you should marry him." + +"By my troth, but he is bitter ugly," said the Earl's daughter. "How if +the gallows be so near at hand?" + +"It was not so," said the Earl, "that my fathers did in the ancient +ages. I am like the man, and can give you neither a better reason nor a +worse. But do you, prithee, speak with him again." + +So the Earl's daughter spoke to the man. "If you were not so bitter +ugly," quoth she, "my father the Earl would have us marry." + +"Bitter ugly am I," said the man, "and you as fair as May. Bitter ugly +I am, and what of that? It was so my fathers----" + +"In the name of God," said the Earl's daughter, "let your fathers be!" + +"If I had done that," said the man, "you had never been chaffering with +me here in the market, nor your father the Earl watching with the end of +his eye." + +"But come," quoth the Earl's daughter, "this is a very strange thing, +that you would have me wed for a shoe of a horse, and it rusty." + +"In my thought," quoth the man, "one thing is as good----" + +"O, spare me that," said the Earl's daughter, "and tell me why I should +marry." + +"Listen and look," said the man. + +Now the wind blew through the Poor Thing like an infant crying, so that +her heart was melted; and her eyes were unsealed, and she was aware of +the thing as it were a babe unmothered, and she took it to her arms and +it melted in her arms like the air. + +"Come," said the man, "behold a vision of our children, the busy hearth, +and the white heads. And let that suffice, for it is all God offers." + +"I have no delight in it," said she; but with that she sighed. + +"The ways of life are straight like the grooves of launching," said the +man; and he took her by the hand. + +"And what shall we do with the horse-shoe?" quoth she. + +"I will give it to your father," said the man; "and he can make a kirk +and a mill of it for me." + +It came to pass in time that the Poor Thing was born; but memory of +these matters slept with him, and he knew not that which he had done. +But he was a part of the eldest son; rejoicing manfully to launch the +boat into the surf, skilful to direct the helm, and a man of might where +the ring closes and the blows are going. + + + + +XX + +THE SONG OF THE MORROW + + +The King of Duntrine had a daughter when he was old, and she was the +fairest King's daughter between two seas; her hair was like spun gold, +and her eyes like pools in a river; and the King gave her a castle upon +the sea beach, with a terrace, and a court of the hewn stone, and four +towers at the four corners. Here she dwelt and grew up, and had no care +for the morrow, and no power upon the hour, after the manner of simple +men. + +It befell that she walked one day by the beach of the sea when it was +autumn, and the wind blew from the place of rains; and upon the one hand +of her the sea beat, and upon the other the dead leaves ran. This was +the loneliest beach between two seas, and strange things had been done +there in the ancient ages. Now the King's daughter was aware of a crone +that sat upon the beach. The sea-foam ran to her feet, and the dead +leaves swarmed about her back, and the rags blew about her face in the +blowing of the wind. + +"Now," said the King's daughter, and she named a holy name, "this is the +most unhappy old crone between two seas." + +"Daughter of a King," said the crone, "you dwell in a stone house, and +your hair is like the gold: but what is your profit? Life is not long, +nor lives strong; and you live after the way of simple men, and have no +thought for the morrow and no power upon the hour." + +"Thought for the morrow, that I have," said the King's daughter; "but +power upon the hour, that have I not." And she mused with herself. + +Then the crone smote her lean hands one within the other, and laughed +like a sea-gull. "Home!" cried she. "O daughter of a King, home to your +stone house; for the longing is come upon you now, nor can you live any +more after the manner of simple men. Home, and toil and suffer, till the +gift come that will make you bare, and till the man come that will bring +you care." + +The King's daughter made no more ado, but she turned about and went home +to her house in silence. And when she was come into her chamber she +called for her nurse. + +"Nurse," said the King's daughter, "thought is come upon me for the +morrow, so that I can live no more after the manner of simple men. Tell +me what I must do that I may have power upon the hour." + +Then the nurse moaned like a snow wind. "Alas!" said she, "that this +thing should be; but the thought is gone into your marrow, nor is there +any cure against the thought. Be it so, then, even as you will; though +power is less than weakness, power shall you have; and though the +thought is colder than winter, yet shall you think it to an end." + +So the King's daughter sat in her vaulted chamber in the masoned house, +and she thought upon the thought. Nine years she sat; and the sea beat +upon the terrace, and the gulls cried about the turrets, and wind +crooned in the chimneys of the house. Nine years she came not abroad, +nor tasted the clean air, neither saw God's sky. Nine years she sat and +looked neither to the right nor to the left, nor heard speech of any +one, but thought upon the thought of the morrow. And her nurse fed her +in silence, and she took of the food with her left hand, and ate it +without grace. + +Now when the nine years were out, it fell dusk in the autumn, and there +came a sound in the wind like a sound of piping. At that the nurse +lifted up her finger in the vaulted house. + +"I hear a sound in the wind," said she, "that is like the sound of +piping." + +"It is but a little sound," said the King's daughter, "but yet it is +sound enough for me." + +So they went down in the dusk to the doors of the house, and along the +beach of the sea. And the waves beat upon the one hand, and upon the +other the dead leaves ran; and the clouds raced in the sky, and the +gulls flew widdershins. And when they came to that part of the beach +where strange things had been done in the ancient ages, lo! there was +the crone, and she was dancing widdershins. + +"What makes you dance widdershins, old crone?" said the King's daughter; +"here upon the bleak beach, between the waves and the dead leaves?" + +"I hear a sound in the wind that is like a sound of piping," quoth she. +"And it is for that that I dance widdershins. For the gift comes that +will make you bare, and the man comes that must bring you care. But for +me the morrow is come that I have thought upon, and the hour of my +power." + +"How comes it, crone," said the King's daughter, "that you waver like a +rag, and pale like a dead leaf before my eyes?" + +"Because the morrow has come that I have thought upon, and the hour of +my power," said the crone; and she fell on the beach, and, lo! she was +but stalks of the sea tangle, and dust of the sea sand, and the +sand-lice hopped upon the place of her. + +"This is the strangest thing that befell between two seas," said the +King's daughter of Duntrine. + +But the nurse broke out and moaned like an autumn gale. "I am weary of +the wind," quoth she; and she bewailed her day. + +The King's daughter was aware of a man upon the beach; he went hooded so +that none might perceive his face, and a pipe was underneath his arm. +The sound of his pipe was like singing wasps, and like the wind that +sings in windlestraw; and it took hold upon men's ears like the crying +of gulls. + +"Are you the comer?" quoth the King's daughter of Duntrine. + +"I am the comer," said he, "and these are the pipes that a man may hear, +and I have power upon the hour, and this is the song of the morrow." And +he piped the song of the morrow, and it was as long as years; and the +nurse wept out aloud at the hearing of it. + +"This is true," said the King's daughter, "that you pipe the song of the +morrow; but that ye have power upon the hour, how may I know that? Show +me a marvel here upon the beach, between the waves and the dead leaves." + +And the man said, "Upon whom?" + +"Here is my nurse," quoth the King's daughter. "She is weary of the +wind. Show me a good marvel upon her." + +And, lo! the nurse fell upon the beach as it were two handfuls of dead +leaves, and the wind whirled them widdershins, and the sand-lice hopped +between. + +"It is true," said the King's daughter of Duntrine; "you are the comer, +and you have power upon the hour. Come with me to my stone house." + +So they went by the sea margin, and the man piped the song of the +morrow, and the leaves followed behind them as they went. Then they sat +down together; and the sea beat on the terrace, and the gulls cried +about the towers, and the wind crooned in the chimneys of the house. +Nine years they sat, and every year when it fell autumn, the man said, +"This is the hour, and I have power in it"; and the daughter of the King +said, "Nay, but pipe me the song of the morrow." And he piped it, and it +was long like years. + +Now when the nine years were gone, the King's daughter of Duntrine got +her to her feet, like one that remembers; and she looked about her in +the masoned house; and all her servants were gone; only the man that +piped sat upon the terrace with the hood upon his face; and as he piped +the leaves ran about the terrace and the sea beat along the wall. Then +she cried to him with a great voice, "This is the hour, and let me see +the power in it." And with that the wind blew off the hood from the +man's face, and, lo! there was no man there, only the clothes and the +hood and the pipes tumbled one upon another in a corner of the terrace, +and the dead leaves ran over them. + +And the King's daughter of Duntrine got her to that part of the beach +where strange things had been done in the ancient ages; and there she +sat her down. The sea-foam ran to her feet, and the dead leaves swarmed +about her back, and the veil blew about her face in the blowing of the +wind. And when she lifted up her eyes, there was the daughter of a King +come walking on the beach. Her hair was like the spun gold, and her eyes +like pools in a river, and she had no thought for the morrow and no +power upon the hour, after the manner of simple men. + + + + +END OF VOL. XXI + + +PRINTED BY CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED, LA BELLE SAUVAGE, LONDON, E.C. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson, +Volume XXI, by Robert Louis Stevenson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WORKS OF STEVENSON *** + +***** This file should be named 30650.txt or 30650.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/6/5/30650/ + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Marius Borror and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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