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diff --git a/48258.txt b/48258.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 067cbd9..0000000 --- a/48258.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,12078 +0,0 @@ - THE OLD DOMINION - - - - -This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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 -http://www.gutenberg.org/license. If you are not located in the United -States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you are -located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: The Old Dominion -Author: Mary Johnston -Release Date: February 14, 2015 [EBook #48258] -Language: English -Character set encoding: US-ASCII - - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OLD DOMINION *** - - - - -Produced by Al Haines. - - - - - -[Illustration: Mary Johnston] - - - - - *THE OLD - DOMINION* - - - BY - - MARY JOHNSTON - - Author of "By Order of the Company" "Audrey" - and "Sir Mortimer" - - - - LONDON - ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE & CO LTD - 1907 - - - - -1st Impression, January, 1899 -2nd " August, 1899 -3rd " May, 1900 -4th " July, 1900 -5th " October, 1900 -6th " February, 1901 -7th " August, 1901 -8th " August, 1902 -9th " April, 1904 -10th " (Pocket Edition) March, 1906 -11th " " " Sept. 1907 - - - - - TO MY FATHER - - - - - *CONTENTS* - -CHAPTER - - I. A Sloop comes in - II. Its Cargo - III. A Colonial Dinner Party - IV. The Breaking Heart - V. In the Three-Mile Field - VI. The Hut on the Marsh - VII. A Mender of Nets - VIII. The New Secretary - IX. An Interrupted Wooing - X. Landless pays the Piper - XI. Landless becomes a Conspirator - XII. A Dark Deed - XIII. In the Tobacco House - XIV. A Midnight Expedition - XV. The Waters of Chesapeake - XVI. The Face in the Dark - XVII. Landless and Patricia - XVIII. A Capture - XIX. The Library of the Surveyor-General - XX. Wherein the Peace Pipe is smoked - XXI. The Duel - XXII. The Tobacco House again - XXIII. The Question - XXIV. A Message - XXV. The Road to Paradise - XXVI. Night - XXVII. Morning - XXVIII. Bread cast upon the Waters - XXIX. The Bridge of Rock - XXX. The Backward Track - XXXI. The Hut in the Clearing - XXXII. Attack - XXXIII. The Fall of the Leaf - XXXIV. An Accident - XXXV. The Boat that was not - XXXVI. The Last Fight - XXXVII. Vale - - - - - *CHAPTER I* - - *A SLOOP COMES IN* - - -"She will reach the wharf in half an hour." - -The speaker shaded her eyes with a great fan of carved ivory and painted -silk. They were beautiful eyes; large, brown, perfect in shape and -expression, and set in a lovely, imperious, laughing face. The divinity -to whom they belonged was clad in a gown of green dimity, flowered with -pink roses, and trimmed about the neck and half sleeves with a fall of -yellow lace. The gown was made according to the latest Paris mode, as -described in a year-old letter from the court of Charles the Second, and -its wearer gazed from under her fan towards the waters of the great bay -of Chesapeake, in his Majesty's most loyal and well beloved dominion of -Virginia. - -The object of her attention was a large sloop that had left the bay and -was sailing up a wide inlet or creek that pierced the land, cork-screw -fashion, until it vanished from sight amidst innumerable green marshes. -The channel, indicated by a deeper blue in the midst of an expanse of -shoal water, was narrow, and wound like a gleaming snake in and out -among the interminable succession of marsh islets. The vessel, following -its curves, tacked continually its great sail, intensely white against -the blue of inlet, bay and sky, and the shadeless green of the marshes, -zigzagging from side to side with provoking leisureliness. The girl who -had spoken watched it eagerly, a color in her cheeks, and one little -foot in its square-toed, rosetted shoe tapping impatiently upon the -floor of the wide porch in which she stood. - -Her companion, lounging upon the wooden steps, with his back to a -pillar, looked up with an amused light in his blue eyes. - -"Why are you so eager, cousin?" he drawled. "You cannot be pining for -your father when 't is scarce five days since he went to Jamestown. Do -the Virginia ladies watch for the arrival of a new batch of slaves with -such impatience?" - -"The slaves! No, indeed! But, sir, in that boat there are three cases -from England." - -"Ah, that accounts for it! And what may these wonderful cases contain?" - -"One contains the dress in which I shall dance with you at the party at -Green Spring which the governor is to give in your honor--if you ask me, -sir. Oh, I take it for granted that you will, so spare us your -protestations. 'T is to have a petticoat of blue tabby and an overdress -of white satin trimmed with yards and yards of Venice point. The -stockings are blue silk, and come from the French house in Covent -Garden, as doth the scarf of striped gauze, and the shoes, gallooned -with silver. Then there are my combs, gloves, a laced waistcoat, a red -satin bodice, a scarlet taffetas mantle, a plumed hat, a pair of clasped -garters, a riding mask, a string of pearls, and the latest romances." - -"A pretty list! Is that all?" - -"There are things for aunt Lettice, petticoats and ribbons, a gilt -stomacher and a China monster, and for my father, lace ruffles and -bands, a pair of French laced boots, a periwig, a new scabbard for his -rapier, and so on." - -The young man laughed. "'T is a curious life you Virginians lead," he -said. "The embroidered suits and ruffles, the cosmetics and perfumes of -Whitehall in the midst of oyster beds and tobacco fields, savage Indians -and negro slaves." - -The girl put on a charming look of mock offense. "We _are_ a little bit -of England set down here in the wilderness. Why should we not clothe -ourselves like gentlefolk as well as our kindred and friends at home? -And sure both England and Virginia have had enough of sad colored -raiment. Better go like a peacock than like a horrid Roundhead." - -Her companion laughed musically and sang a stave of a cavalier love -song. He was a slender, well-made man, dressed in the extreme of the -mode of the year of grace, sixteen hundred and sixty-three, in a richly -laced suit of camlet with points of blue ribbon, and the great scented -periwig then newly come into fashion. The close curled rings of hair -descending far over his cravat of finest Holland framed a handsome, -lazily insolent face, with large steel-blue eyes and beautifully cut, -mocking lips. A rapier with a jeweled hilt hung at his side, and one -white hand, half buried in snowy ruffles, held a beribboned cane with -which, as he talked, he ruthlessly decapitated the pink and white -morning-glories with which the porch was trellised. - -The house to which the porch belonged was long and low, built of wood, -with many small windows, and at either end a great brick chimney. From -the porch to the water, a hundred yards away, stretched a walk of -crushed shells bisecting an expanse of green turf dotted with noble -trees--the cedar and the cypress predominating. Diverging from this -central walk were two narrower paths which, winding in and out in -eccentric figures, led, on the one hand, to a rustic summer-house -overgrown with honeysuckle and trumpet-vine, and on the other to a tiny -grotto constructed of shells and set in a tangle of periwinkle. Along -one side of the house, and protected by a stout locust paling overrun -with grape-vines, lay the garden, where flowers and vegetables -flourished contentedly side by side, the hollyhocks and tall white -lilies, the hundred-leaved roses and scarlet poppies showing like gilded -officers amidst the rank and file of sober essuculents. Behind the -house were clustered various offices, then came an orchard where the -June apples and the great red cherries were ripening in the hot -sunshine, then on the shore of a second and narrower creek rose the -quarters for the plantation servants, white and black--a long double row -of cabins, dominated by the overseer's house and shaded by ragged yellow -pines. Along one shore of this inlet was planted the Indian corn -prescribed by law, and from the other gleamed the soft yellow of -ripening wheat, but beyond the water and away to the westward stretched -acre after acre of tobacco, a sea of vivid green, broken only by an -occasional shed or drying house, and merging at last into the darker hue -of the forest. Over all the fair scene, the flashing water, the velvet -marshes, the smiling fields, the fringe of dark and mysterious woodland, -hung a Virginia heaven, a cloudless blue, soft, pure, intense. The air -was full of subdued sound--the distant hum of voices from the fields of -maize and tobacco, the faint clink of iron from the smithy, the wash and -lap of the water, the drone of bees from the hives beneath the eaves of -the house. Great bronze butterflies fluttered in the sunshine, -brilliant humming-birds, plunged deep into the long trumpet-flowers; -from the topmost bough of a locust, heavy with bloom, came the liquid -trill of a mock bird. - -It was a fair domain, and a wealthy. The Englishman thought of certain -appalling sums lost to Sedley and Roscommon, and there flitted through -his brain a swift little calculation as to the number of hogsheads of -Orenoko or sweet-scented it would take to wipe off the score. And the -girl beside him was beautiful enough to take Whitehall by storm, to be -berhymed by Waller, and to give to Lely a subject above all flattery. -He set his lips with the air of a man who has made up his mind, and -turned to his companion, who was absorbed in watching the white sail -grow slowly larger. - -"How long, now, cousin?" - -"But a few minutes unless the wind should fail." - -"And then you will have your treasures. But, madam, when you have -assumed all the panoply your sex relies on to increase its charms 't -will be but to 'gild refined gold or paint the lily.' The Aphrodite of -this western ocean needs no adornment." - -The girl looked at him with laughter in her eyes. "You make me too many -pretty speeches, cousin," she said demurely. "We know the value of the -fine things you court gallants are perpetually saying." - -"Upon my soul, madam, I swear"-- - -"Do you know the amount of the fine for swearing, Sir Charles? See how -large the sail has grown! When the boat rounds the long marsh she will -come more quickly. We will soon be able to see my father wave his -handkerchief." - -The young man bit his lip. "You are pleased to be cruel to-day, madam, -but I am your slave and I obey. We will look together for Colonel -Verney's handkerchief. How many black slaves does he bring you?" - -She laughed. "But half a dozen blacks, but there will be several -redemptioners if you prefer to be numbered with them." - -"Redemptioners! Ah, yes! the English servants who are sold for their -passage money. I thank you, madam, but _my_ servitude is for life." - -"The men my father will bring may not be the ordinary servants who come -here to better their condition. He may have obtained them from a batch -of felons from Newgate who have been kept in gaol in Jamestown until -word could be got to the planters around. I am sure I wish the ship -captains and the traders would stop bringing in the wretches. It is -different with the negroes: we can make allowance for the poor silly -things that are scarce more than animals, and they grow attached to us -and we to them, and the simple indented servants are well enough too. -There are among them many honest and intelligent men. But these gaol -birds are dreadful. It sickens me to look at them. Thieves and -murderers every one!" - -"I should not think the colony served by their importation." - -"It is not indeed, and we have hopes that it will cease. I beg my -father not to buy them, but he says that one man cannot stop an -abuse--that as long as his fellow-planters use them he might as well do -so too." - -Sir Charles Carew delicately smothered a yawn. "The ship that brought me -over a fortnight ago," he said lazily, "had a consignment of such -rascals. It was amusing to watch their antics, crowded together as they -were in the hold. There were two wild Irishmen whom we used to have on -deck to dance for us. Gad! what figures they cut! The captain and I -had a standing wager of five of the new guineas as to which of the -rascals could hold out longest, promising a measure of rum to the -victorious votary of Terpsichore. When I had lost a score of guineas I -found that the captain was in the habit of priming his man before he -came upon deck. Naturally, being filled with Dutch courage, he won." - -"Poor Sir Charles! What did you do?" - -"Sent the captain a cartel and fought him on his own deck. There was -one man in the villainous company whom, I protest, I almost pitied, -though of course the rogue had but his deserts." - -"What was he?" - -"A man of about thirty. A fellow with a handsome face and a lithe -well-made figure which he managed with some grace. He had the air of -one who had seen better days. I remember, one day when the captain was -bestowing upon him some especially choice oaths, seeing him clap his -hand to his side as though he expected to touch a rapier hilt. He was -cleanly too; kept his rags of clothing as decent as circumstances -allowed, and looked less like a wild beast in a litter of foul straw -than did his fellows. But he was an ill-conditioned dog. We had some -passages together, he and I. He took it upon himself to defend what he -was pleased to call the honor of one of his precious company. It was -vastly amusing.... After that I fell into the habit of watching him -through the open hatches. A little thing provides entertainment at sea, -Mistress Patricia. He would sit or stand for hours looking past me with -a perfectly still face. The other wretches were quick to crowd up, -whining to me to pitch them half pence or tobacco, but try as I would, I -could not get word or look from him. Sink me! if he did n't have the -impudence to resent my being there!" - -"It was cruel to stare at misery." - -"Lard, madam! such vermin are used to being stared at. In London, -Newgate, and Bridewell are theatres as well as the Cockpit or the King's -House, and the world of mode flock to the one spectacle as often as to -the other. But see! the sloop has passed the marsh and has a clean -sweep of water between her and the wharf." - -"Yes, she is coming fast now." - -"What is coming?" asked a voice from the doorway. - -"The Flying Patty, Aunt Lettice," the girl answered over her shoulder. -"Get your hood and come with us to the wharf." - -Mistress Lettice Verney emerged from the hall, two red spots burning in -her withered cheeks, and her tall thin figure quivering with excitement. - -"I am all ready, child," she quavered. "But, mark my words, Patricia, -there will be something wrong with my paduasoy petticoat, or Charette -will not have sent the proper tale of green stockings or Holland smocks. -Did you not hear the screech owl last night?" - -"No, Aunt Lettice." - -"It remained beneath my window the entire night. I did not sleep a wink. -And this morning Chloe upset the salt cellar, and the salt fell towards -me." Mistress Lettice rolled her eyes heavenward and sighed -lugubriously. Patricia laughed. - -"I dreamed of flowers last night, Aunt Lettice; miles and miles of them, -waxen and cold and sweet, like those they strew over the dead." - -Mistress Lettice groaned. "'T is a dreadful sign. Captain Norton's wife -(she that was Polly Wilson) dreamed of flowers the night before the -massacre of 'forty-four. The only thing the poor soul said when the -warwhoop wakened them in the dead of the night and the door came -crashing in, was, 'I told you so.' They were her last words. Then -Martha Westall dreamed of flowers, and two days later her son James -stepped on a stingray over at Dale's Gift. And I myself dreamed of -roses the week before those horrid Roundhead commissioners with the -rebel Claiborne at their head and a whole fleet at their back, compelled -us to surrender to their odious Commonwealth." - -"At least that evil is past," said the girl with a gay laugh. "And ill -fortune will never come to me aboard the Flying Patty, so I shall go -down to the wharf to see her in. Darkeih! my scarf!" - -A negress appeared in the doorway with a veil of tissue in her hand. -Sir Charles took it from her and flung it over Patricia's golden head, -then offered his arm to Mistress Lettice. - -The wharf was but a stone's throw from the wooden gates, and they were -soon treading the long stretch of gray, weather-beaten boards. Others -were before them, for the news that the sloop was coming in had drawn a -small crowd to the wharf to welcome the master. - -The dozen or so of boatmen, white and black, who had been tinkering -about in the various barges, shallops and canoes tied to the mossy -piles, left their employments and scrambled up upon the platform, and a -trio of youthful darkies, fishing for crabs with a string and a piece of -salt pork, allowed their lines to fall slack and their intended victims -to walk coolly off with the meat, so intense was their interest in the -oncoming sail. A knot of negro women had left the great house kitchen -and stood, hands on hips, chatting volubly with a contingent from the -quarters, their red and yellow turbans nodding up and down like -grotesque Dutch tulips. The company was made up by an overseer with a -broadleafed palmetto hat pulled down over his eyes and a clay pipe stuck -between his teeth, a pale young man who acted as secretary to the master -of the plantation, and by three or four small land-owners and tenants -for whom Colonel Verney had graciously undertaken various commissions in -Jamestown, and who were on hand to make their acknowledgments to the -great man. - -They all made deferential way for the two ladies and Sir Charles Carew. -Mistress Lettice commenced a condescending conversation with one of the -tenants, Darkeih added a white tulip to the red and yellow ones, and -Patricia, followed by Sir Charles, walked to the edge of the wharf, and -leaning upon the rude railing looked down the glassy reaches of the -water to the approaching boat. - -The wind had sunk into a fitful breeze and the white sail moved very -slowly. The tide was in, and the water lapped with a cooling sound -against the dark green piles. In the distance the blue of the bay -melted into the blue of the sky, while the nearer waters mirrored every -passing gull, the masts of the fishing boats, the tall marsh grass, the -dead twigs marking oyster beds--each object had its double. On a point -of marshy ground stood a line of cranes, motionless as soldiers on -parade, until, taking fright as the great sail glided past, they whirred -off, uttering discordant cries and with their legs sticking out like -tail feathers. Slowly, and keeping to the middle of the channel, the -boat came on. Upon the long low deck men were preparing to lower the -sail, and a portly gentleman standing in the bow was vigorously waving -his handkerchief. The sail came down with a rush, the anchor swung -overboard, and half a dozen canoes and dugouts shot from under the -shadow of the wharf and across the strip of water between it and the -sloop. The gentleman with the handkerchief, followed by a man plainly -dressed in brown, sprang into the foremost; the others waited for their -lading of merchandise. - -Before the boat had touched the steps the master of the plantation began -to call out greetings to his expectant family. - -"Patricia, my darling, are you in health? Charles, I am happy to see -you again! Sister Lettice, Mr. Frederick Jones sends you his humble -services." - -"La, brother! and how is the dear man?" screamed Mistress Lettice. - -"As well as't is in nature to be, with his heart at Verney Manor and his -body at Flowerdieu Hundred." - -The boat jarred against the piles and the planter stepped out, grasping -Sir Charles's extended hand. - -"Again, I am happy to see you, Charles," he cried in a round and jovial -voice. "I have been telling my up-river good friends that I have the -most topping fellow in all London for my guest, and you will have -company enough anon." - -Sir Charles smiled and bowed. "I hope, sir, that you were successful in -the business that took you to Jamestown?" - -"Fairly so, fairly so. Haines here," with a wave of the hand towards -the man in brown, "had a lot picked out for me to choose from. I have -six negroes and three of those blackguards from Newgate--mighty poor -policy to shoulder ourselves with such gaol sweepings. I doubt we 'll -repent it some day. The blacks come by way of Boston, which means that -they will have to be cockered up considerably before they are fit for -work. Is that you, Woodson? How have things gone on?" - -The overseer took his pipe from between his teeth and made an awkward -bow. - -"Glad to see your Honor back," he said deferentially. "Everything 's all -right, sir. The last rain helped the corn amazingly, and the tobacco 's -prime. The lightning struck a shed, but we got the flames out before -they reached the hogsheads. The Nancy got caught in a squall; lost both -masts and ran aground on Gull Marsh. The tide will take her off at the -full of the moon. Sambo 's been playing 'possum again. Said he 'd cut -his foot with his hoe so badly that he could n't stand upon it. Said I -could see that by the blood on the rag that tied it up. I made him take -off the rag and wash the foot, and there wa'n't no cut there. The blood -was puccoon. If he 'd waited a bit he could 'a' had all he wanted to -paint with, for I gave him the rope's end lively, until Mistress -Patricia heard him yelling and made me stop." - -"All right, Woodson. I reckon the plantation knows by this time that -what Mistress Patricia says is law. Here come the boats with the boxes. -Tell the men to be careful how they handle them." - -After a hearty word or two to tenants and land owners the worthy Colonel -joined his daughter and sister; and together with Sir Charles Carew they -watched the precious boxes conveyed up the slippery steps, the overseer -shouting directions, plentifully sprinkled with selected, unfinable -oaths to the panting boatmen. When all were safely piled upon the wharf -ready to be wheeled to the great house, the empty boats swung off to -make room for others, laden with the colonel's Jamestown purchases. - -One by one the articles climbed the stairs, each as it reached the level -being claimed by the overseer and told off into a lengthening line. Six -were negroes, gaunt and hollow-eyed, but smiling widely. They gazed -around them, at the heap of clams and oysters piled upon the wharf, at -the marshes, alive with wild fowl, at the distant green of waving corn, -the flower-embowered great house, the white quarters from which arose -many little spirals of savory smoke, and a bland and child-like content -took possession of their souls. With eager and obsequious "Yes Mas'rs" -they obeyed the overseer's objurgatory indications as to their -disposition. - -There next arose above the landing the head of a white man--a -countenance of sullen ferocity, with a great scar running across it, and -framed in elf locks of staring red. The body belonging to this -prepossessing face was swollen and unshapely, and its owner moved with a -limp and a muttered curse towards the place assigned him. He was -followed by a sallow-faced, long-nosed man, with black oily hair and an -affected smirk which twitched the corners of his thin lips. Singling -out his master's family with a furtive glance from a pair of sinister -greenish eyes, he made a low bow and stepped jauntily into line. - -The third man rose above the landing. Sir Charles, standing by -Patricia, laughed. - -"This world is a place of fantastic meetings, cousin," he said, airily. -"Now who would suppose that I would ever again see that chipping from a -London gaol I told you of--my shipmate of cleanly habit and unsocial -nature. Yet there he is." - - - - - *CHAPTER II* - - *ITS CARGO* - - -The afternoon sunshine lay hot upon the house and garden of Verney -Manor--the leaves drooped motionless, the glare of the white paths hurt -the eye, the flowers seemed all to be red. The odor of rose and -honeysuckle was drowned in the heavy cloying sweetness of the pendant -masses of locust bloom. Down in the garden the bees droned in the vines, -and on the steps the flies buzzed undisturbed about the sleeping hounds. -Above the long, deserted wharf and the green velvet of the marshes -quivered the heated air, while to look upon the water was like gazing -too closely at blue flame. From the tobacco fields floated the notes of -a monotonous many-versed chant, and a soft, uninterrupted cooing came -from the dove cot. Heat and fragrance and drowsy sound combined to give -a pleasant somnolence to the wide sunny scene. - -Deep in the cavernous shade of the porch lounged the master of the -plantation, his body in one chair, his legs in another, and a silver -tankard of sack standing upon a third, over the back of which had been -flung his great peruke and his riding coat of green cloth, discarded -because of the heat. Thin, blue clouds curled up from his long pipe, -and obscured his ruddy countenance. - -His shrewd gray eyes under their tufts of grizzled hair were half closed -in a lazy contentment, born of the hour, the pipe, and the drink. The -world went very well just then in Colonel Verney's estimation. His crop -of the preceding year had been a large and profitable one: this year it -bid fair to be still more satisfactory. During the past few months he -had acquired a number of servants and slaves, and his head rights would -add a goodly number of acres to his already enormous holdings; land, -land, always more land! being the ambition and the necessity of the -seventeenth century Virginia planter. Trader, planter, magistrate, -member of the council of state, soldier, author on occasion, and fine -gentleman all rolled into one, after the fashion of the times; Cavalier -of the Cavaliers, hand in glove with Governor Berkeley, and possessed of -a beautiful daughter, for whose favor one half of the young gentlemen of -the counties of York and Gloucester were ready to draw rapier on the -other half,--Colonel Verney's world was a fair and stirring one, and -gave him plentiful food for meditation on a fine afternoon. - -Opposite him sat his kinsman and guest, Sir Charles Carew. He was -similarly equipped with pipe and sack, but there the resemblance to his -host ended, Sir Charles Carew being a man who made it a point of honor -to be clad like the lilies of the field on every possible occasion in -life, from the carrying a breach to the ogling a milkmaid. The sultry -afternoon had no power to affect the scrupulous elegance of his attire, -or to alter the careful repose of his manner. In his hand he held a -volume of "Hudibras," but his thoughts were not upon the book, wandering -instead, with those of his kinsman, over the fertile fields of Verney -Manor. - -"You have a princely estate, sir, in this fair, new world," he said at -last, in a sweetly languid voice. - -The planter roused himself from considering at what point of his newly -acquired land he should begin the attack upon the forest. "It 's a fair -enough home for a man to end his days in," he said with complacence. - -"We of the court have very erroneous ideas as to Virginia. I confess -that my expectation of finding a courteous and loving kinsman," a -gracious smile and inclination of the head towards the older man, "is -the only one in which I have not been disappointed. I thought to see a -rude wilderness, and I find, to borrow the language of our Roundhead -friends, a very land of Beulah." - -"Ay, ay. D' ye remember what old Drayton sings? - - 'Virginia! - Earth's only paradise!' - -And a paradise it is, with mighty few drawbacks, now that the King has -come to his own again, if you except these d--d canting Quakers and -Anabaptists, and those yelling red devils on the frontier, and the -danger of a servant insurrection, and the fact that his Majesty (God -bless him!) and the Privy Council fleece us more mercilessly than did -old Noll himself. I verily think they believe our tobacco plants made of -gold like those they say Pizarro saw in Peru. But 'tis a sweet land! -Why, look around you!" he cried, warming to his subject. "The waters -swarm with fish, the marshes with wild fowl. In the winter the air -rings with the _cohonk! cohonk!_ of the wild geese. They darken the air -when they come and go. There in the forest stand the deer, waiting for -your bullet; badgers and foxes, bears, wolves, and catamounts are more -plentiful than are hares in England. You taste pleasure indeed when you -ride full tilt through the frosty moonlight, down the ringing glades of -the forest, and hear the hounds in full cry, and see before you, black -against the silver snow, a pack of yelling wolves. Then in summer the -woods are full of singing birds and of such flowers as you in England -only dream of. Strawberries make the ground red, and there are wild -melons and grapes and mulberries, and more nuts than squirrels, which is -saying much for the nuts. Everything grows here. 'T is the garden of -the world. And what is there fairer than the green of the tobacco and -the golden corn tassels? And the noble rivers, whose head waters no man -has ever found, hidden by the Lord in the Blue Mountains near to the -South Sea! Sir, Virginia is God's country!" - -"You in these lowlands have no trouble with the Indians?" - -"None to speak of since 'forty-four, when Opechancanough came down upon -us. The brush with the Ricahecrians seven years ago was nothing. They -are utterly broken, both here and in Accomac. Further up the rivers the -devil still holds his own, we hearing doleful tales of the butchery of -pioneers with their wives and children; and above the falls of the far -west, in the Monacan country, and towards the Blue Mountains, is his -stronghold and capitol; but here in the lowlands all's safe enough. -There is no fear of the savages. Would we could say as much of the -servants!" - -"Why, what do you fear from them?" - -"It 's hard to say; but an uneasy feeling has prevailed for a year or -more. It's this d--d Oliverian element among them. You see, ever since -his Majesty's blessed restoration, gang after gang of rebels have been -sent us--Independents, Muggletonians, Fifth Monarchy men, dour Scotch -Whigamores--dangerous fanatics all! Many are Naseby or Worcester -rogues, Ironsides who worship the memory of that devil's lieutenant, -Oliver. All have the gift of the gab. We disperse them as much as -possible, not allowing above five or six to any one plantation, we of -the Council realizing that they form a dangerous leaven. Should there -be trouble, which heaven forbid! they would be the instigators, restless -mischief-makers and overturners of the established order of things that -they are! Then there are their fellow criminals, the highwaymen, -forgers, cutpurses and bullies of whom we relieve his Majesty's -government. They are few in number, but each is a very plague spot, -infecting honester men. The slaves, always excepting the Portuguese and -Spanish mulattoes from the Indies, who are devils incarnate, have not -brain enough to conspire. But in the actual event of a rising they -would be fiends unchained." - -"A pleasant state of affairs!" - -"Oh, it is not so serious! We who govern the Colony have to take all -possibilities, however unpleasant, into consideration. I myself do not -think the danger imminent, and many in the Council and among the -Burgesses, and well-nigh all outside will not allow that there is danger -at all. We passed more stringent servant laws last year, and we depend -upon them, and upon the great body of indented servants, who are, for -the most part, honest and amenable and know upon which side their bread -is buttered, to repress the unruly element." - -"What will you do with the convicts you brought with you this morning?" - -"Use them in the tobacco fields just now when all hands are needed to -weed and sucker the plants, and afterwards put them to hewing down the -forest. I told Woodson to bring them around to me this afternoon when -they had been decently clothed. I always give the scoundrels a piece of -my mind to begin with. It saves trouble." - -"Do they give you much trouble?" - -"Not on this plantation. Woodson and Haines are excellent overseers." - -The planter refilled his pipe, struck a light with his flint and steel, -and leaning back amidst the fragrant clouds, allowed his eyelids to -droop and his mind to wander over a pleasant sunshiny tract of nothing -in particular. - -Sir Charles tasted his sack, adjusted his ruffles, and resumed his -reading. But even the delectable adventures of the Presbyterian knight, -over whom all London was laughing, palled on such an afternoon, and the -young gentleman, after listlessly turning a page or two, laid the book -across his knee, and with closed eyes commenced the construction of an -air castle of his own. - -He was roused by the sound of approaching footsteps upon the shell path -leading to the back of the house, and by the harsh voice of the -overseer. - -"Here come your hopeful purchases, sir," he said lazily. - -The overseer turned the corner of the house and came forward with the -three convicts at his heels. He doffed his hat to the two gentlemen, -then turned to his charges. "Fall into line, you dogs, and salute his -Honor!" - -The first man, he of the long nose and the twitching lip, smiled -sweetly, and bent so low that his fell of greasy hair well-nigh swept -the steps; the second, with a brow like a thunder cloud, gave a vicious -nod; the third, with as impassive a countenance as Sir Charles's own, -bowed gravely, and stood with folded arms and a quietly attentive mien. - -The planter gathered himself up from his chair and came forward to the -top of the steps, his tall, corpulent figure towering above the men -below much as his fortunes towered above theirs. - -"Now, men," he said, speaking sternly and with slow emphasis. "I have -just one word to say to you. Listen well to it. I am your master; you -are my servants. I reckon myself a good master, it not being my way to -treat those belonging to me, whether white or black, like dumb beasts. -Give me obedience and the faithful work of your hands, and you shall -find me kind. But if you are stubborn or rebellious, by the Lord, you -will rue the day you left Newgate! Whipping-post and branding-irons are -at hand, and death is something closer to a felon in Virginia than in -England. Be careful! Now, Woodson, what have you put these men to?" - -"They 'll go into the three-mile field to-morrow morning, your honor, -unless you wish other disposition made of them." - -"No, that will do. Take them away." - -The overseer faced about and was marching off with the recruits for the -three-mile field when his master's voice arrested him. - -"Take those two in front on with you, Woodson, and send me back the -brown-haired one." - -The "brown-haired one" turned as his companions disappeared around a -hedge of privet and came slowly back to the steps. - -"You wished to speak to me, sir?" he said quietly. - -"Yes. You are the man who was tolerably helpful in the squall last -night?" - -"I was so fortunate as to be of some small service, sir." - -"You understand the handling of a boat?" - -"Yes, sir." - -"Hum. I will tell Woodson to try you with a sloop when the press of -work in the fields is past. What is your name?" - -"Godfrey Landless." - -"Chevalier d'Industrie and frequenter of the Newgate Ordinary," put in -Sir Charles lazily. "Of the Roundhead persuasion too, if I mistake -not,--from robbery in the large, descended to thievery in the small; -from the murder of a King to knives and a black alley mouth. Commend me -to these grave rogues for real knaves! Pray inform us to what little -mishap we owe the honor of your company. Did you mercifully incline to -relieve weary travelers over Hounslow Heath by disburdening them of -their heavy purses? Or did you mistake your own handwriting for that of -some one else? Or did you woo a mercer's wife a thought too roughly? -Or perhaps--" - -The man shot a fiery upward glance at the slim, elegant figure and -mocking lips of his tormentor, but kept silence. Colonel Verney, who -had returned to his pipe, interposed. "What is all this, Charles? What -are you saying to the man?" - -"Oh, nothing, sir! This gentleman and I were shipmates, and I did but -ask after his health since the voyage." - -"Sir Charles Carew is very good," the man said proudly. "I assure him -that the object of his solicitude is well, and only desires an -opportunity to repay, with interest, those little attentions shown him -by his courteous fellow voyager." - -The planter looked puzzled: Sir Charles laughed. - -"Our liking is mutual, I see," he said coolly. "I--but what is this, -Colonel Verney! Venus descending from Olympus?" - -Out of the doorway fluttered a brilliant vision, all blue and white like -the great butterflies hovering over the clove pinks. Behind it appeared -the faded countenance of Mrs. Lettice, and a group of turbaned heads -peered, grinning, from out the cool darkness of the hall. - -"Papa!" cried the vision. "I want to show you my new dress! Cousin -Charles, you are to tell me if it is all as it should be!" - -Sir Charles bowed, with his hand upon his heart. "Alas, madam! I could -as soon play critic to the choir of angels. My eyes are dazzled." - -"Stand out, child," said her father gazing at her with eyes of love and -pride, "and let us see your finery. D' ye know what the extravagant -minx has upon her back, Charles? Just five hogsheads of prime tobacco!" - -Mistress Lettice struck in: "Well, I 'm sure, brother, 't is much the -prettiest use to put tobacco to, to turn it into lace and brocade and -jewels,--much better, say I, than to be forever using it to accumulate -filthy slaves." - -Patricia floated to the centre of the porch and stood sunning herself in -a stray shaft of light, like a very bird of paradise. The "tempestuous -petticoat," sky-blue and laced with silver, swelled proudly outwards, -the gleaming satin bodice slipped low over the snowy shoulders and the -heaving bosom, and the sleeves, trimmed with magnificent lace and looped -with pearls, showed the rounded arms to perfection. Around the slender -throat was wound a double row of pearls, and the golden ringlets were -partially confined by a snood of blue velvet. She unfurled a wonderful -fan, and lifted her skirts to show the tiny white and silver shoes and -the silken silver-clocked ankles. Her eyes shone like stars, faint wild -roses bloomed in her cheeks, charming half smiles chased each other -across her dainty mouth. Such a picture of radiant youth and loveliness -did she present that the Englishman's pulses quickened, and he swore -under his breath. "Surely," he muttered, "this is the most beautiful -woman in the world, and my lucky stars have sent me to this No Man's -Land to win her." - -"How do you like me?" she cried gayly. "Is't not worth the five -hogsheads?" - -Her father drew her to him and kissed the smooth forehead. - -"You look just as your mother did, child, the day that we were -betrothed. I could not give you higher praise than that, sweetheart." - -"And does it really lack nothing, cousin?" she cried anxiously. "Is it -in truth such a dress as they wear at Court?" - -"Not at Whitehall, madam, nor at Brussels, nor even at St. Germains have -I seen anything more point device than the dress,--nor as beautiful as -the wearer," he added in a lower voice and with a lulling look. - -The girl's face dimpled with pleasure and innocent, gratified vanity. -She swept him a magnificent courtesy, and he bent low over the slender -fingers she gave him. Suddenly he felt them stiffen in his clasp, and -looking up, saw a curious expression of fear and aversion pass like a -shadow across her face. She spoke abruptly. "That man! I did not see -him! What does he here?" - -Sir Charles wheeled. The convict, forgotten by the two gentlemen, had -been left standing at the foot of the steps, and his sombre eyes were -now fixed upon the girl in a look so strange and intent as fully to -explain her perturbation. Through his parted lips the breath came -hurriedly, in his eyes was a mournful exaltation as of one who looks -from a desert into Paradise. He stood absorbed, unconscious of aught -save the splendid vision above him. For a moment she stared at him in -return, her eyes, held by his, slowly widening and the color quite gone -from her face. With a slow, involuntary movement one white arm rose, -and stiffened before her in a gesture of repulsion. The fan fell from -her hand upon the floor with a click of breaking tortoise shell. The -sound broke the spell, and with a strong shudder she turned her eyes -away. "Make him go," she said in a trembling voice. "He frightens me." - -Sir Charles sprang forward with an oath. "Curse you, you dog! Take -your ill-omened eyes from the lady! Colonel Verney, do you not see that -the fellow is annoying your daughter?" - -The planter had fallen into a reverie born of recollections of the -Patricia of his youth, long laid in her grave, but he roused himself at -the words of his guest. - -"What's that?" he cried. "Annoying Patricia!" He walked to the head of -the steps and raised his cane threateningly. - -"Hark ye, sirrah! The servants of Verney Manor, white or black, felon -or indented, need all their eyesight for their work. They have none to -waste in idle gazing at their betters. Begone to your mates!" - -The man who, at Sir Charles's intervention, had started as from a dream, -colored deeply and compressed his lips, then glanced from one to the -other of the group above him. There was pain, humiliation, almost -supplication in the look which he directed to the girl who had brought -this rating upon him. He glanced at his master with a countenance -studiously devoid of expression, at Mistress Lettice with indifference, -at Sir Charles Carew with chill defiance. Then, with a grave -inclination of his head, he turned, and a moment later had disappeared -behind the hedge. - - - - - *CHAPTER III* - - *A COLONIAL DINNER PARTY* - - -Three days later the master of Verney Manor gave a dinner party. - -At Jamestown, twenty miles away, the Assembly had just adjourned after a -busy session. A law debarring that "turbulent people" the Quakers from -further admittance into the colony, and providing cold comfort for those -already within its doors, was passed with acclamation, as was another -against Anabaptists, and a third concerning the hue and cry for -absconding servants and slaves. The selling rates for wines and strong -waters were fixed, a proper penalty attached to the planting of tobacco -contrary to the statute, a regulation for the mending of the highways -adopted, a fine imposed for non-attendance at church, the Navigation Act -formally protested against, the trainbands strengthened, an -appropriation made for the erection of new whipping-posts and pillories, -a cruel mistress deprived of the slave she had mistreated, a harborer of -schismatics publicly reproved, and a conciliatory message and present -sent to the up-river Indians--when the Assembly adjourned with the -consciousness of having nobly done its duty. The only measure upon -which there was not unanimity of opinion was one proposing the erection -of schoolhouses at convenient cross-roads, and the Governor's weight -being thrown into the balance against it, it was promptly quashed. - -The burgesses from the fourteen counties filled the twenty houses that -constituted the town to suffocation. Up-river planters, too, had come -in, choosing the time the Assembly was in session to attend to their -interests in the "city." Several ships were in harbor, and their -captains, professing themselves tired of salt water, threw themselves -upon the hospitality of their friends ashore. The crowded population -overflowed into the houses of the neighboring planters, who, after the -manner of their kind, entertained profusely, giving jovial welcome and -good liquor to all comers. There was a constant jingling of reins along -the bridle paths, a constant passing of white-sailed sloops upon the -river, as gentlemen in riding coats and jack boots, or in laced coats -and silk stockings, fared to and fro between plantation and town. In -the intervals of business the worthy burgesses and their fellow planters -made merry. They were good times--for king's men--and it behooved every -loyal subject to follow (at a respectful distance) his Majesty's -example, and get all possible enjoyment from a laughing world. So there -were horse-races and cock-fights and bear-baitings, as well as dinners -and suppers, at which much sack and aqua vitae was drunk to king, -church, and reigning beauties. And if a quarrel sprung, full armed, -from the heated brains of young gallants, crossed rapiers did but add a -piquancy, a dash of cayenne, to life. - -Popular with the elder gentlemen because of his excellent Madeira, quick -wit, jovial soul, and friendship with the Governor, and with the younger -by virtue of being father to Mistress Patricia Verney, Colonel Richard -Verney had no difficulty in securing a score of guests for a day's -entertainment at Verney Manor. - -About ten in the morning of the appointed day the guests began to -arrive, some by water, some on horseback, Colonel Verney meeting each -arrival with a stately bow and a high-flown speech of welcome, and -handing him on to the hall where stood Sir Charles Carew and the ladies -of the household. - -Upon a pillion behind her father, Major Miles Carrington, -Surveyor-General to the Colony, came Mistress Betty Carrington, bosom -friend to Mistress Patricia Verney. Her sweetly serious face, pensive -eyes, and smooth, dark hair, with her dress of sober silk and kerchief -of finest lawn, demurely crossed over her bosom, contrasted finely with -Patricia's radiant beauty, decked in shimmering satin and rich lace, and -heightened by a tinge of vermilion upon the smooth cheek, and a long -black patch beneath the left temple. The two met like friends whom -weary years have parted, and indeed they had not seen each other for -nearly a week. - -All the guests, save one, had arrived. Colonel Verney fidgeted, sent a -servant wench to look at the kitchen clock, and dispatched his secretary -to an upstairs window, whence was visible a long stretch of what -courtesy called the highroad. - -The secretary returned and whispered his master. "God be thanked!" -exclaimed the latter. "I feared that his machine had mired in the -Two-Mile Swamp, or had toppled into a gully coming through the Devil's -Strip. Gentlemen, the Governor's coach is in sight. Shall we adjourn to -the porch and there await his Excellency?" - -A mighty straining, jingling and lumbering came with the breeze down the -road and proceeded from a pillar of dust which was approaching the house -with reasonable rapidity. Presently the road changed from a trough of -dust into a ribbon of greensward. The cloud dissipated itself, streaming -away like the tail of a comet, and a ponderous and much begilt coach, -drawn by six horses, their manes and tails tied with red ribbons, and -outriders in gorgeous livery at the heads of each pair, rolled, or -rather bumped into sight. With a seasick motion it undulated over the -green acclivities of the road, and finally drew up beside the great -horse-block at the gate. - -Two lackeys sprang from their perch behind the vehicle, flung open the -door, and lowered a short flight of steps. A very stately gentleman, -richly dressed, with a handkerchief of point in one hand and a jeweled -snuff-box in the other, descended the steps, placing one shapely leg in -its maroon-colored stocking before the other with the mannered grace of -the leader of a Coranto. - -Colonel Verney met him with a low bow and smiling face, after which the -two embraced, for they were old friends. - -"My dear Governor!" - -"My dear Colonel!" - -"I am charmed to welcome your Excellency to my poor house." - -"My dear Colonel, I am charmed to be here. Gad! the possession of the -only chariot in the Colony is a burdensome honor! I thought dinner -would be over, and the stirrup cup in order while I was creeping, like a -snail with his house on his back, over these 'fair and pleasant -roads'--as I call them in my book, eh, Dick! But you have a goodly -company, I see; Ludwell, Fitzhugh, Carey, Anthony Nash, mine ancient -enemy Lawrence, Wormeley, Carrington our Puritan convert and his pretty -daughter, young Peyton, and that pretty fellow, your nephew or cousin, -is he? Odzooks! he is much what I was at his age, begotten of Delilah -and Lucifer, hand of iron in glove of velvet, eh, Dick! I hear he is -hail-fellow-well-met with the King and with Buckingham and Killigrew and -their wild set. Ah, boys will be boys! 'We have heard the chimes at -midnight,' eh, Dick?" - -And the Governor in high good humor skipped up the steps with the -agility of youth, bent low with sugared compliments over the hands of -his hostesses and of Mistress Betty Carrington, and gave courteous -greeting to the assembled gentlemen, after which the company flowed back -into the grateful twilight of hall and "great room," where the weather, -the state of the crops, and the last horse-race engaged them until the -announcement of dinner. - -With a flourish of his costly handkerchief, the Governor offered his arm -to the young mistress of the house, and led the way to the dining-room, -where old Humfrey, the butler, marshaled the guests to their seats. -Mistress Betty Carrington had for her cavalier Sir Charles Carew, to -whose honeyed words she listened with a species of awe, wondering in her -innocent soul if all the wild tales they told of this very fine, -smooth-tongued, handsome gentleman could be true. - -Doctor Anthony Nash made a long and fluent grace wherein much latinity -was aired, a neat allusion made to the _jus divinum_, and an anathema -hurled against those "who break down the carved work of the sanctuary." -Then was uncovered the mighty saddle of mutton, reposing in the dish of -honor, the roast pig, the haunch of venison, the sirloin of beef, the -breast of veal, the powdered goose, the noble dish of sheeps-head and -bluefish, and the pasty in which was entombed a whole flock of pigeons. -These _pieces de resistance_ were flanked by bowls of oysters, by rows -of wild fowl skewered together, by mince pies and a grand salad, while -upon the outskirts of the damask plain were stationed trenchers piled -with wheat bread, platters of pease and smoking potatoes, cauliflower -and asparagus, and a concoction of rice and prunes, seasoned with mace -and cinnamon and a pinch of assafoetida. A great silver salt-cellar -stood in the centre of the table, and smaller receptacles of the same -metal held pepper and spices. Silver flagons of cider and ale were -placed at intervals, the Madeira, Fayal and Rhenish awaiting upon the -sideboard the moment when, the cloth drawn and the ladies gone, a -gentlemanly carousal should be inaugurated. - -The company drew their Russian leather chairs closer to the table, -spread over their silken knees the fringed damask napkins, and for a -space little was to be heard but the sound of knife and spoon (forks -there were none), for the morning ride had sharpened appetites. The -servants passed from chair to chair; the master, seconded by his -daughter and sister, pricked his guests on to fresh attacks, pressing a -third slice of mutton on one, a fresh helping of capon upon another, -protesting that a third ate as though it were a fast day, and that a -fourth drank as though the October were sea-water. - -When the cloth was drawn and the banquet put on, tongues were loosened. -The Governor quoted passages from his "Lost Lady" to Patricia, lifting -her lovely flushed face from the carving of a tart with wonderfully -constructed towering walls. Behind a second turreted marvel of pastry, -Mistress Lettice and Mr. Frederick Jones sighed and ogled with antique -grace. Sir Charles Carew, fingering his cherries, told a piquant little -court anecdote to Mistress Betty Carrington, and was lazily amused at -the blush and veiled eyelids with which the young lady received it. -Young Mr. Peyton, on her other side, looked very black. - -The wine was put on and the toast to King and Church drunk standing, -after which the ladies dipped their white fingers into the basin of -perfumed water, dried them on the silver-fringed napkin, and sailed to -the door, through which, after the profoundest of courtesies on the one -side and the lowest of bows upon the other, they vanished, leaving the -gentlemen to wine and wassail. - -Colonel Verney drank to the Governor; the Governor to Colonel Verney; -Sir Charles to the author of the "Lost Lady" and the "Discourse and View -of Virginia," so tickling the Governor's vanity thereby that he became -altogether charming. Mr. Peyton toasted Mistress Betty Carrington, and -Mr. Frederick Jones, Mistress Lettice Verney, "fairest and most discreet -of ladies." They drank to Captain Laramore's next voyage, to Mr. -Wormeley's success in vine planting, to Major Carrington's conversion. -They drank confusion to Quakers, Independents, Baptists and infidels, to -the heathen on the frontier and the Papists in Maryland, the Dutch on -the Hudson and the French on the St. Lawrence,--"Quebec in exchange for -Dunkirk!" In short, there were few things in heaven or earth but -justified draughts of Madeira. - -The room filled with a blue and fragrant mist proceeding from twenty -pipe-bowls. Mr. Peyton sang a pretty song of his own composing. The -company applauded. Sir Charles Carew, in a richly plaintive tenor -voice, sang a lyric of Rochester's. Several of the gentlemen looked -askance (the clergyman had left the room with the ladies), but on the -Governor's crying out "Excellent!" they considered themselves -over-squeamish, and clapped loudly. - -Sir Charles, being dry after his song, drank to Hospitality,--"A duty," -he said, smiling, "that you gentlemen make so paramount that you must -wonder at the omission of 'Thou shalt be hospitable' from the -Decalogue." - -"Faith, sir!" cried Mr. Peyton, "God is too good a Virginian not to -consider such a commandment superfluous." - -The Governor commenced a story which all present, but one, had heard a -dozen times. It mattered the less, as it was a good one. Sir Charles -capped it with a better. The Governor told a weird tale of Lunsford's -men, the "babe-eating" regiment. Sir Charles recounted a little -adventure of His Grace of Buckingham with a quack astrologer, a Court -lady, and an orange girl, which made the company die of laughter. - -"Rat me! but you tell a story well, sir!" said the Governor, wiping his -eyes. - -"I serve King Charles the Second, your Excellency." - -"And so have to live by your wit, eh, sir?" - -"Precisely, your Excellency." - -"Emigrate to Virginia, man! to the land of good eating, good drinking, -good fighting, stout men, and pretty women--who make angelic wives." -And the Governor, who loved his own wife with chivalric devotion, kissed -a locket which he wore at his neck. "Come to Virginia where we need -loyal men and true. Lord! we all thought the millennium was come with -the king, but damme! if it doesn't seem as far off as ever! Not that -his Majesty is to blame," he added quickly, as though fearing that his -words might be taken as an aspersion upon Charles's ability to conduct -the millennium single-handed. "The naughty spirit of the age sets -itself against the Lord's Anointed. The Puritan snake is but scotched, -not killed. It's the old prate of freedom of conscience, government by -the people, and the like disgusting stuff (no offense to you, Major -Carrington) that makes the trouble of the times both here and at home. -I sigh for the good old days when, for eleven sweet years, no Parliament -sat to meddle in affairs of state, when Wentworth kept down faction and -the saintly Laud built up the Church which he adorned." And the -Governor buried his woes in the Rhenish. - -"Sir William Berkeley's loyalty is proverbial," said Sir Charles -suavely. "The King knows that while he is at the helm in Virginia, the -colony is on the high road to that era of peace and prosperity which his -majesty so ardently desires--for his tax-paying people. And I have -thought more than once of late that I might do worse than to dispose of -my majority in the 'Blues,' bid the Court adieu, and obtaining from his -Majesty a grant of land, retire here to Virginia to pass my days on my -own land and amid a little court of my own, in the patriarchal fashion -you gentlemen affect. Under certain circumstances it is a course I -might possibly pursue." He glanced at his kinsman, whose countenance -showed high approval of a plan which dovetailed nicely with one of his -own making. - -"Can you guess the 'certain circumstances' which are to give us the -pleasure of his confounded company?" whispered Mr. Peyton to Mr. Carey. - -"An easy riddle, Jack. Damn the insolent, smooth-spoken knave of -hearts, and confound the women! They all drop to a court card." - -"Not Mistress Betty Carrington. She looks below the surface." - -"Humph! What does she see below thine? An empty gourd with a few -madrigals and sonnets, and fine images, conned from the 'Grand Cyrus,' -rattling about like dried seeds?" - -"Hush, thou green persimmon! the Governor is speaking." - -The governor rose with care to his feet. His wig was awry, his cravat -of fine mechlin under one ear. Benevolent smiles played like summer -lightning across his flushed face. He raised his tankard slowly and -with attentive steadiness. "Gentlemen," he said in a high voice, "we -have eaten and we have drunken. Dick Verney's wine is as old as the -hills and as mellow as sunlight. It groweth late, gentlemen, and some -of you have miles to travel, and it takes cool heads to ride the -'planter's pace.' For William Berkeley, gentlemen, Governor of Virginia -by the grace of God and his Majesty, King Charles the Second, it takes -more than Dick Verney's wine to fluster him. I call a final toast. I -drink again to our loving friend and host, the worshipful Colonel -Richard Verney, to his beauteous daughter and sister, to his man-servant -and his maid-servant, his ox and his ass, and the stranger which is -within his gates." He smiled benignly at a reflection of Sir Charles in -a distant mirror. "Gentlemen, the devil, you see, can quote scripture. -Let the cup go roun' go roun', go roun'." - -The toast was drunk with fervor, and the party broke up. - -The Governor, with Colonel Ludlow and Captain Laramore, was to sleep at -Verney Manor, and Mistress Betty Carrington was left by her father to -bear Patricia company for a day or two. One by one the remainder of the -company rode or sailed away, those who had an even keel beneath them -being in much better case than their brethren on horseback. - -When the last sail showed a white speck in the distance, Patricia and -Betty came out upon the porch and sat them down, one on either side of -the Governor, with whom they were great favorites. Colonel Ludlow and -Captain Laramore were at dice at a table within the hall, and Colonel -Verney had excused himself in order to hear the evening report from his -overseers. Sir Charles Carew, very idle and purposeless-looking, -lounged in a great chair, and studied the miniature upon his snuff-box. -The Governor, whom the wine had mellowed into a genial softness, a kind -of sunset glow, alternately puffed wide rings of smoke into the air, and -paid compliments to the young ladies. The evening breeze had sprung up, -rustling the leaves of the trees, and bringing with it the sound of the -water. In the western sky crimson islets forever shifted shapes in a -sea of gold. A rosy light suffused the earth. In it the water turned -to the pink of a shell, the marshes became ethereal and far away, earth -and sky seemed one. The flashing wings of gull and curlew were like -fairy sails faring to and fro. - -"If I had wings," said Patricia dreamily, her hands clasped over her -knees, "I would fly straight to that highest island of cloud. The one, -Betty, that looks like a field of daffodils, with those beautiful peaks -rising from it, and the violet light in the hollows. I would set up my -standard there, Sir William, and the island should be mine, and I would -rule the fairies that must inhabit it, with a rod of iron--as you rule -Virginia," she ended with a laugh. - -The Governor laughed with her. "You would have no such stiff-necked -folk to deal with, my love, as have I." - -"No, they should all be good Cavaliers and Churchmen--no Roundheads, no -servants--and if Indians on neighboring isles threatened we would pray -for a wind and sail away from them, around and around the bright blue -sky." - -"And when you are gone to take possession of your castle in the air what -will poor Virginia do?" gallantly demanded the governor. - -"Oh, she would still exist! But I am not going to-night. The princess -of the castle in the air is engaged to his Excellency the Governor of -Virginia for a game of chess. In the mean time here comes my father, -who shall entertain your Excellency while Betty and I go for a walk. -Come, Lady-bird." - -The two graceful figures twined arms and moved off down the walk. Sir -Charles looked after them a moment, then, with a "Permit me, sir," to -the Governor, he snapped the lid of his snuff-box and started down the -steps. The Governor laughed. "We will excuse you, sir," he said -graciously. "Dick," to Colonel Verney, as the young gentleman hastened -after the ladies, "that fine spark is to be your son-in-law, eh?" - -"It is the wish of my heart, William." - -"Humph!" - -"He has birth and breeding. His father was my good friend and kinsman, -and as loyal a Cavalier as ever gave life and lands for the blessed -Martyr. He died in my arms at Marston Moor, and with his last breath -commended his son to me. My dear wife was then expecting the birth of -our child, of Patricia. I can see him now as he smiled up at me (he was -ever gay) and said, 'If it's a girl, Dick, marry her to my boy.' Well! -he died, and his brother took the boy, and my wife and I came over seas, -and I never saw the lad from that day to this, when he comes at my -invitation to visit us." - -"Well, he is a very pretty fellow! And what does Patricia say to him?" - -"Patricia is a good daughter," said the Colonel sedately, "and is -possessed of sense beyond the average of womenkind. She knows the -advantages this match offers. Sir Charles Carew can give her a title, -and a name that's as old as her own. He is a man of parts and -distinction, has served the King, is familiar with the courts of Europe. -I do not pin my faith to the tales that are told of him. His father was -a gallant gentleman, and I am not the man to believe ill of his son. -Moreover, if, as he hath half promised, he will come to Virginia, he -will throw off here the vices of the Court, the faults of youth, and -become an honest Virginia gentleman, God-fearing, law-abiding, -reverencing the King, but not copying him too closely--such an one as -them or I, William. The king should give him large grants of land, and -so, with what Patricia will have when I am gone, there will be laid the -foundation of a great and noble estate, which, please God, will belong -in the fair future of this fair land to a great and noble family sprung -from the union of Verney and Carew. Patricia, trust me, sees all this -with my eyes." - -"Humph!" said the Governor again. - - - - - *CHAPTER IV* - - *THE BREAKING HEART* - - -Sir Charles was up with the two girls before they reached the garden; -and they passed together through the gate and into the spicy wilderness. -The dew was falling and as they sauntered through the narrow paths, -Betty held back her skirts that the damp leaves of sage and marjoram -might not brush them; but Patricia, gathering larkspur and -sweet-william, was heedless of her finery. At the further end of the -garden was a wicket leading into a grove of mulberries. The three -walked on beneath the spreading branches and the broad, heart-shaped -leaves, until they came to a tree of extraordinary height and girth -whose roots bulged out into great, smooth excrescences like inverted -bowls. Patricia stopped. "Betty is tired," she said kindly, "and she -shall sit here and rest. Betty is a windflower, Sir Charles, a little -tender timid flower, frail and sweet--are you not, Betty?" She sat down -upon one of the bowls, and pulled her friend down beside her. Sir -Charles leaned against the trunk of the tree. "Betty is a little -Puritan," continued Patricia; "she would not wear the set of ribbons I -had for her; and that hurt me very much." - -"O Patricia!" cried Betty, with tears in her eyes. "If I thought you -really cared! But even then I could not wear them!" - -"No, you little martyr," said the other, with a kiss. "You would go to -the stake any day for what you call your 'principles.' And I honor you -for it, you know I do. Cousin Charles, do you know that Betty thinks it -wrong to hold slaves?" - -Sir Charles laughed, and Betty's delicate face flushed. - -"O Patricia!" she cried. "I did not say that! I only said that we -would not like it ourselves." - -"'Pon my soul, I don't suppose we would," said Sir Charles coolly. -"But, Mistress Betty, the negroes have neither thin skins nor nice -feelings." - -"I know that," said Betty bravely; "and I know that our divines and -learned men cannot yet decide whether or not they have souls. And, of -course, if they have not, they are as well treated as other animals; but -all the same I am sorry for them, and I am sorry for the servants too." - -"For the servants!" cried Patricia, arching her brows. - -"Yes," said Betty, standing to her guns. "I am sorry for the servants, -for those who must work seven years for another before they can do aught -for themselves. And often when their time is out they are bowed and -broken; and those whom they love at home, and would bring over, are -dead: and often before the seven years have passed they die themselves. -And I am sorry for those whom you call rebels, for the Oliverians; and -for the convicts, despised and outcast. And for the Indians about us, -dispossessed and broken, and--yes, I am sorry for the Quakers." - -"I waste no pity on the under dog," said Sir Charles. "Keep him -down--and with a heavy hand--or he will fly at your throat." - -"Hark!" said Patricia. - -Some one in the distance was singing:-- - - "Gentle herdsman, tell to me - Of courtesy I thee pray, - Unto the town of Walsingham, - Which is the right and ready way? - - "Unto the town of Walsingham - The way is hard for to be gone, - And very crooked are those paths - For you to find out all alone." - - -The notes were wild and plaintive, and sounded sadly through the -gathering dusk. A figure flitted towards them between the shadowy tree -trunks. - -"It is Mad Margery," said Patricia. - -"And who is Mad Margery?" asked Sir Charles. - -"No one knows, cousin. She does not know herself. Ten years ago a ship -came in with servants, and she was on it. She was mad then. The -captain could give no account of her, save that when, the day after -sailing, he came to count the servants, he found one more than there -should have been, and that one a woman, stupid from drugs. She had been -spirited on board the ship, that was all he could say. It's a common -occurrence, as you know. She never came to herself,--has always been -what she is now. She was sold to a small planter, and cruelly treated -by him. After a time my father heard her story and bought her from her -master. She has been with us ever since. Her term of service is long -out; but there is nothing that could drive her from this plantation. -She wanders about as she pleases, and has a cabin in the woods yonder; -for she will not live in the quarters. They say that she is a white -witch; and the Indians, who reverence the mad, lay maize and venison at -her door." - -The voice, shrill and sweet, rang out close at hand. - - "Thy years are young, thy face is fair, - Thy wits are weak, thy thoughts are green, - Time hath not given thee leave as yet, - For to commit so great a sin." - - -"Margery!" called Patricia softly. - -The woman came towards them with a peculiar gliding step, swift and -stealthy. Within a pace or two of them she stopped, and asked, "Who -called me?" in a voice that seemed to come from far away. She was not -old, and might once have been beautiful. - -"I called you, Margery," said Patricia gently. "Sit down beside us, and -tell us what you have been doing." - -The woman came and sat herself down at Patricia's feet. She carried a -stick, or light pole, wound with thick strings of wild hops, which she -laid on the ground. Taking one of the wreaths from around it, she -dropped the pale green mass into Patricia's lap. - -"Take it," she said. "They are flowers I gathered in Paradise, long -ago. They wither in this air; but if you fan them with your sighs, and -water them with your tears, they will revive.... Paradise is a long way -from here. I have been seeking the road all day; but I have not found -it yet. I think it must lie near Bristol Town, Bristol Town, Bristol -Town." - -Her voice died away in a long sigh, and she sat plucking at the fragrant -blooms. - -Patricia said softly, "She talks much of Bristol Town, and she is always -seeking the road to Paradise. I think that once some one must have said -to her, 'We will meet in Paradise.'" - -"I know little of Paradise, Margery," said Sir Charles, good-naturedly; -"but Bristol Town is many leagues from here, across the great ocean." - -"Yes, I know. It lieth in the rising of the sun. I have never seen it -except in my dreams. But it is a beautiful place--not like this world -of trees. The church bells are ever ringing there, ... and the children -sing in the streets. It is all fair, and smiling and beautiful, all but -one spot, one black, black, black spot. I will tell you." She sunk her -voice to a whisper and looked fearfully around. "The mouth of the Pit -is there, the Bottomless Pit that the Preacher tells about. It is a -small room, dark, dark, ... and there is a heavy smell in the air, ... -and there are fiends with black cloth over their faces. They hold a -draught of hell to your mouth, and they make you drink it; ... it burns, -burns. And then you go down, down, down, into everlasting blackness." - -She broke off, and shuddered violently, then burst into eldritch -laughter. - -"Shall I tell you what I found just now while I was looking for -Paradise?" - -"Yes," said Patricia. - -"A breaking heart." - -"A breaking heart!" - -Margery nodded. "Yes," she said. "I thought it would surprise you. I -find many things, looking for Paradise. The other day I found a brown -pixie sitting beneath a mushroom, and he told me curious things. But a -breaking heart is different. I know all about it, for once upon a time -my heart broke; but mine was soft and easy to break. It was as soft, -and weak as a baby's wrist, a little, tender, helpless thing, you know, -that melts under your kisses. But this heart that I found will take a -long time to break. Proud anger will strengthen it at first; but one -string will snap, and then another, and another, until, at last--" she -swept her arms abroad with a wild and desolate gesture. - -"What does she mean?" asked Sir Charles. - -"I do not know," answered Patricia. - -Margery rose and took up her leafy staff, - -"Come," she said. "Come and see the breaking heart." - -"O Patricia!" cried Betty, "do not go with her!" - -"Why not?" asked Patricia resolutely. "Come, cousin, let us find out -what she means. We will go with you, Margery; but you must not take us -far. It grows late." - -Margery laughed weirdly. "It is never late for Margery. There is a -star far up in heaven that is sorry for Margery, and it shines for her, -bright, bright, all night long, that she may not miss the road to -Paradise." - -She glided in front of them, and moved rapidly down the dim alley of -trees, her feet seeming scarce to touch the short grass, and the long -green wreaths, stirred by the wind, coiling and uncoiling around her -staff like serpents. Patricia, with Betty and Sir Charles, followed her -closely. She led them out of the mulberry grove, through a small -vineyard, and into a patch of corn, beyond which could be seen the gleam -of water, faintly pink from the faded sunset. - -"She is taking us towards the quarters!" exclaimed Patricia. "Margery! -Margery!" - -But Margery held on, moving swiftly through the waist-deep corn. Betty -looked down with a little sigh at her dainty shoes, which were suffering -by their contact with the dew-laden leaves of pumpkins and macocks. Sir -Charles put aside the long corn blades with his cane, and so made a way -for the girls. He felt mildly curious and somewhat bored. - -Suddenly they emerged upon the banks of the inlet, within a hundred -yards of the quarters. Patricia would have spoken, but Margery put her -finger to her lips and flitted on towards the row of cabins. - -Before them stretched a long, narrow lane, sandy and barren, with a -pine-tree rising here and there. Rude cabins, windowless and with mud -chimneys, faced each other across the lane. Half way down was an open -space, or small square, in the centre of which stood a dead tree with a -board nailed across its trunk at about a man's height from the ground. -In either end of the board was cut a round hole big enough for a man's -hand to be squeezed through, and above hung a heavy stick with leathern -thongs tied to it, the whole forming a pillory and whipping-post, rude, -but satisfactory. - -It was almost dark. The larger stars had come out, and the fireflies -began to sparkle restlessly. The wind sighed in the pines, and a strong -salt smell came from the sea. Overhead a whippoorwill uttered its -mournful cry. - -The long day's work, from sunrise to sunset, was over, and the -population of the quarter had drifted in from the fields of tobacco and -maize, the boats, the carpenter's shop, the forge, the mill, the -stables, and barns. Hard-earned rest was theirs, and they were prepared -to enjoy it. It was supper-time. In the square a great fire of -brush-wood had been kindled, and around it squatted a ring of negroes, -busy with bowls of loblolly and great chunks of corn bread. They -chattered like monkeys, and one who had finished his mess raised a chant -in which one note was a yell of triumph, the next a long-drawn plaintive -wail. The rich barbaric voice filled the night. A figure, rising, -tossed aside an empty bowl, and began to dance in the red fire-light. - -The white men ate at their cabin doors, sitting upon logs of wood, or in -groups of three or four messed at tables made by stretching planks from -one tree-stump to another. It was meat-day; and they, too, made merry. -From the women's cabins also came shrill laughter. Snatches of song -arose, altercations that suddenly began and as suddenly ceased, a babel -of voices in many fashions of speech. Broad Yorkshire contended with -the thin nasal tones of the cockney; the man from the banks of the Tweed -thrust cautious sarcasms at the man from Galway. A mulatto, the color -of pale amber, spoke sonorous Spanish to an olive-hued piece of -drift-wood from Florida. An Indian indulged in a monologue in a tongue -of a far-away tribe of the Blue Mountains. - -The glare from the fire and from flaring pine-knots played fitfully over -the motley throng, now bringing out in strong relief some one face or -figure, then plunging it into profoundest shadow. It burnished the high -forehead and scalp lock of the Indian, and made to gleam intensely the -gold earring in the ear of the mulatto. The scarlet cloth wound about -the head of a Turk seemed to turn to actual flame. Under the baleful -light vacant faces of dully honest English rustics became malignant, -while the negro, dancing with long, outstretched arms and uncouth -swayings to and fro, appeared a mirthful fiend. - -The three gentlefolk and their mad conductress gazed from out the shadow -and at a safe distance. Sir Charles Carew, a man of taste, felt strong -artistic pleasure in the Rembrandtesque scene before him--the leaping -light, the weird shadows, resolving themselves into figures posed with -savage freedom, the dancing satyr, the sombre pines above, and, beyond -the pines, the stillness of the stars. Betty drew a little shuddering -breath, and her hand went to clasp Patricia's. The latter was looking -steadily upward at the slender crescent moon. - -"Do not look, Betty," she said quietly. "I do not. It is a horror to -me--a horror. I am going back," she said, turning. - -But she had reckoned without Margery, who caught her by the arm. -"Come," she said imperiously. "Come and see the breaking heart!" -Patricia hesitated, then yielded to curiosity and the insistent pressure -of the skeleton fingers. - -The cabins nearest them were deserted, their occupants having joined -themselves to the groups further down the lane where the firelight beat -strongest and the torches were more numerous. With no more sound than a -moth would make, flitting through the dusk, the mad woman led them to -the outermost of these cabins. Within five paces of the door she -stopped and pointed a long forefinger. - -"The breaking heart!" she said in a triumphant whisper. - -A man lay, face downwards, in the coarse and scanty grass. One arm was -bent beneath his forehead, the other was outstretched, the hand -clenched. It was the attitude of one who has flung himself down in dumb, -despairing misery. As they looked, he gave a long gasping sob that -shook his whole frame, then lay quiet. - -A burst of revelry came down the lane. The man raised his head -impatiently, then let it drop again upon his arm. - -Patricia turned and walked quickly back the way they had come. Betty -and Sir Charles followed her; Margery, her whim gratified, had vanished -into the darkness of the pines. - -No one spoke until they were again amidst the wet and rustling corn. -Then said Betty with tears in her voice, "O Patricia, darling! there is -so much misery in the world, fair and peaceful as it looks to-night. -That poor man!" - -"That 'poor man,' Betty," answered Patricia in a hard voice, "is a -criminal, a felon, guilty of some dreadful, sordid thing, a gaol-bird -reclaimed from the gallows and sent here to pollute the air we breathe." - -"It was the convict, Landless, was it not?" asked Sir Charles. - -"Yes." - -"But, Patricia," said the gentle Betty, "whatever he may have done, he -is wretched now." - -"He has sowed the wind; let him reap the whirlwind," said Patricia -steadily. - -They went on to the house and into the great room where the myrtle -candles were burning softly, the dimity curtains shutting out the night. -Mrs. Lettice was at the spinet, with Captain Laramore to turn the leaves -of her song book, and the Governor, with the chess table out and the -pieces in battle array, awaited (he said) the arrival of the Princess of -the Castle in the Air. - - - - - *CHAPTER V* - - *IN THE THREE-MILE FIELD* - - -In a far corner of the Three-mile Field Landless bent over tobacco plant -after tobacco plant, patiently removing the little green shoots or -"suckers" from the parent stem. - -His back and limbs ached from the unaccustomed stooping, the fierce -sunshine beat upon his head, the blood pounded behind his temples, his -tongue clave to the roof of his mouth,--and the noontide rest was still -two hours away. As, with a gasp of weariness, he straightened himself, -the endless plain of green rose and fell to his dazzled eyes in misty -billows. The most robust rustic required several months of seasoning -before he and the Virginia climate became friends, and this man was -still weak from privation and confinement in prison and in the noisome -hold of the ship. - -He turned his weary eyes from the vivid gold green of the fields to the -shadows of the forest. It lay within a few yards of him, just on the -other side of a little stream and a rail fence that zigzagged in gray -lines hung with creepers. At the moment he defined happiness as a -plunge into the cool, perfumed darkness, a luxurious flinging of a tired -body upon the carpet of pine needles, a shutting out, forever, of the -sunshine. - -Suddenly he felt that eyes were upon him, and his glance traveled from -the fringe of trees to meet that of an Indian seated upon a log in an -angle of the fence. - -He was a man of gigantic stature, dressed in coarse canvas breeches, and -with a handkerchief of gaudy dye twisted about his head. His bold -features wore the usual Indian expression of saturnine imperturbability, -and he half sat, half reclined upon the log as motionless as a piece of -carven bronze, staring at Landless with large, inscrutable eyes. - -Landless, staring in return, saw something else. The rank growth of -weeds in which the log was sunk moved ever so slightly. There was a -flash as of a swiftly drawn rapier, and something long and mottled hung -for an instant upon the shoulder of the Indian, and then dropped into -its lair again. - -With a sudden lithe twist of his body, the savage flung himself upon it, -and holding it down with one hand, with the other beat the life out with -a heavy stick. The creature was killed by the first stroke, but he -continued to rain vindictive blows upon it until it was mashed to a -pulp. Then, with a serenely impassive mien, he resumed his seat upon -the log. - -Landless sprang across the stream, and went up to him. - -"You are bitten! Is there aught I can do?" - -The Indian shook his head. With one hand he pulled the shoulder -forward, trying, as Landless saw, to meet the wound with his lips: but -finding that it could not be done, he desisted and sat silent, and to -all appearance, unconcerned. - -Landless cried out impatiently, "It will kill you, man! Do you know no -remedy?" - -The Indian grunted. "Snake root grow deep in the forest, a long way -off. Besides, an Iroquois does not die for a little thing like a pale -face or a dog of an Algonquin." - -"Why did you try to reach the sting with your mouth?" - -"To suck out the evil." - -"Is that a cure?" - -The Indian nodded. Landless knelt down and examined the shoulder. -"Now," he said, "tell me if I set about it in the right way," and -applied his lips to the swollen, blue-black spot. - -The Indian gave a grunt of surprise, and his white teeth flashed in a -smile; then he sat silent under the ministrations of the white man who -sucked at the wound, spitting the venom upon the ground, until the dark -skin was drawn and wrinkled like the hand of a washerwoman. - -"Good!" then said the Indian, and pointed to the stream. Landless went -to it, rinsed his mouth, and brought back water in his cap with which he -laved the shoulder of his new acquaintance, ending by binding it up with -the handkerchief from the man's head. - -A guttural sound from the Indian made him look up. At the same instant -the whip of the overseer, descending, cut him sharply across the -shoulders, he sprang to his feet, the veins in his forehead swollen, his -frame tense with impotent anger. The overseer, having gained his -attention, thrust the whip back into his belt. - -"If you don't want to get what will hurt as bad as a snake bite," he -said grimly, "you had best tend to your tobacco and let vagrom Indians -alone. That row is to be suckered before dinner-time or your pork and -beans will go begging. As for you," turning to the Indian, "what are -you doing on this plantation? Where 's your pass?" - -The Indian took from his waistband a slip of paper which he handed to -the overseer, who looked at it and gave it back with a grudging--"It's -all right this time, but you 'd better be careful. It's my opinion that -Major Carrington lets his servants run about a deal more than 's good -for them. Anyhow, you 've no business in this field. Clear out!" - -The Indian arose and went his way. But as he passed Landless, suckering -a plant with angry energy, he touched him, as if by accident, with his -sinewy hand. - -"Monakatocka never forgives an enemy," came in a sibilant whisper too -low to be heard by the watchful overseer. "Monakatocka never forgets a -friend. Some day he will repay." - -The red-brown body slipped away through the tall weeds and clumps of -alder, like the larger edition of the thing that had hung upon its -shoulder. The overseer strode off down the field, sending keen glances -to right and left. He was a conscientious man and earned every pound of -his wages. - -Landless, left alone, worked steadily on, for he had no mind to lose his -midday meal, uninviting as he knew it would prove to be. Moreover, he -was one who did with his might what his hand found to do. His body was -weary, and his heart sick within him, but the green shoots fell thick -and fast. - -"Yon was a kindly thing you did. Pity 't was in no better cause than -the saving of a worthless natural." - -The speaker, who was at work on the next row of plants, had caught up -with Landless from behind, and now moved his nimble fingers more slowly, -so as to keep pace with the less expert new hand. - -Landless, raising his head, stared at a figure of positively terrifying -aspect. Upon a skeleton body of extraordinary height was set a head -bare of any hair. Scalp, forehead and cheeks were of one dull, ivory -hue like an eastern carving. Upon the smooth, dead surface of the right -cheek sprawled a great red R, branded into the flesh, and through each -large protruding ear went a ragged hole. For the rest, the lips were of -iron, and the small, deep-set eyes were so bright and burning that they -gave the impression that they were red like the great letter. It might -have been the face of a man of sixty years, though it would have been -hard to tell wherein lay the semblance of age, so smooth was the skin -and so brilliant the eyes. - -"The Indian needed help. Why should I not have given it him?" said -Landless. - -"Because it is written, 'Cursed are the heathen who inhabit the land.'" - -Landless smiled. "So you would not help an Indian in extremity. What -if it had been a negro?" - -"Cursed are the negroes! 'Ye Ethiopians also, ye shall be slain by the -sword.'" - -"A Quaker?" - -"Cursed are the Quakers! 'Silly doves that have no heart.'" - -Landless laughed. "You have cursed pretty well all the oppressed of the -land. I suppose you reserve your blessings for the powers that be." - -"The powers that be! May the plagues of Egypt light upon them, and the -seven vials rain down their contents upon them! Cursed be they all, -from the young man, Charles Stuart, to that prelatical, tyrannical, -noxious Malignant, William Berkeley! May their names become a hissing -and an abomination! Roaring lions are their princes, ravening wolves are -their judges, their priests have polluted the sanctuary! May their flesh -consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes consume -away in their holes, and their tongues consume away in their mouths, and -may there be mourning among them, even as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in -the valley of Megiddon!" - -"You are a Muggletonian?" - -"Yea, verily am I! a follower of the saintly Ludovick Muggleton, and of -the saintlier John Reeve, of whom Ludovick is but the mouthpiece, even -as Aaron was of Moses. They are the two witnesses of the Apocalypse. -They are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks. To them and to -their followers it is given to curse and to spare not, to prophesy -against the peoples and kindred and nations and tongues whereon is set -the seal of the beast. Wherefore I, Win-Grace Porringer, testify -against the people of this land; against Prelatists and Papists, -Presbyterians and Independents, Baptists, Quakers and heathen; against -princes, governors, and men in high places; against them that call -themselves planters and trample the vineyard of the Lord; against their -sons and their daughters who are haughty, and walk with stretched-forth -neck and wanton eyes, walking and mincing and making a tinkling with -their feet. Cursed be they all! Surely they shall be as Sodom and -Gomorrah, even the breeding of salt-pits and a perpetual desolation!" - -"Your curses seem not to have availed, friend," said Landless. "Curses -are apt to come home to roost. I should judge that yours have returned -to you in the shape of branding-irons." - -The man raised a skeleton hand and stroked the red letter. - -"This," he said coolly, "was given me when I ran away the second time. -The first time I was merely whipped. The third time I was shaven and -this shackle put upon my leg." He raised his foot and pointed to an -iron ring encircling the ankle. "The fourth time I was nailed by the -ears to the pillory, whence come these pretty scars." - -Landless burst into grim laughter. "And after your fifth attempt, what -then?" - -The man gave him a sidelong look. "I have not made my fifth attempt," -he said quietly. - -They worked in silence for a few minutes. Then said Master Win-Grace -Porringer:-- - -"I was sent to the plantations, because, in defiance of the Act of -Uniformity (cursed be it, and the authors thereof), I attended a meeting -of the persecuted and broken remnant of the Lord's people. What was your -offense, friend, for I reckon that you come not here of your free will, -being neither a rustic nor a fool?" - -"I came from Newgate," said Landless, after a pause. "I am a convict." - -The man's hand stopped in the act of pulling off a shoot. He gave a -slow upward look at the figure beside him, let his eyes rest upon the -face, and looked slowly down again with a shake of the head. - -"Humph!" he said. "The society in Newgate must be improved since my -time." - -They worked without speaking until they had nearly reached the end of -the long double row, when said the Muggletonian:-- - -"You are too young, I take it, to have seen service in the wars?" - -"I fought at Worcester." - -"Upon which side?" - -"The Commonwealth's." - -"I thought as much. Humph! You were all, Parliament and Presbytery, -Puritan and Independent, Hampden and Vane and Oliver, in the gall of -bitterness and the bond of iniquity, very far from the pure light in -which walk the followers of the blessed Ludovick. At the last the two -witnesses will speak against you also. But in the mean time it were -easier for the children of light to walk under the rule of the Puritan -than under that of the lascivious house of Jeroboam which now afflicts -England for her sins. But the Lord hath a controversy with them! An -east wind shall come up, the wind of the Lord shall come up from the -wilderness! They shall be moved from their places! They shall lick the -dust like serpents, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the -earth, and be utterly destroyed! Think you not as I do, friend?" he -asked, turning suddenly upon Landless. - -"I think," said Landless, "that you are talking that which, if -overheard, might give you a deeper scar than any you bear." - -"But who is to hear? the tobacco, the Lord in heaven, and you. The -senseless plant will keep counsel, the Lord is not like to betray his -servant, and as for you, friend,--" he looked long and searchingly at -Landless. "Despite the place you come from, I do not think you one to -bring a man into trouble for being bold enough to say what you dare only -think." - -Landless returned the look. "No," he said quietly. "You need have no -fear of me." - -"I fear no one," said the other proudly. - -Presently he craned his long body across the plant between them until -his lips almost touched the ear of the younger man. - -"Shall you try to escape?" he whispered. - -A smile curled Landless's lip. "Very probably I shall," he said dryly. -He looked down the long lines of broad green leaves at the toiling -figures, black and white, dull peasants at best, scoundrels at worst; -and beyond to the huddled cabins of the quarter, and to the great house, -rising fair and white from orchard and garden; seeing, as in a dream, a -man, young in years but old in sorrow, disgraced, outcast, friendless, -alone, creeping down a vista of weary years, day after day of -soul-deadening toil, of association with the mean and the vile, of -shameful submission to whip and finger. Escape! The word had beaten -through brain and heart so long and so persistently, that at times he -feared lest he should cry it aloud. - -Win-Grace Porringer shook his head. - -"It's not an easy thing to escape from a Virginia plantation. With dogs -and with horses they hunt you down, yea, with torches and boats. They -band themselves together against the fleeing sparrow. They call in the -heathen to their aid. And it is a fearful land, for great rivers bar -your way, and forests push you back, and deep quagmires clutch you and -hold you until the men of blood come up. And when you are taken they -cruelly maltreat you, and your term of service is doubled." - -"And yet men have gotten away," said Landless. - -"Yes, but not many. And those that get away are seldom heard of more. -The forest swallows them up, and after a while their skulls roll about -the hills, playthings for wolves, or the deep waters flow over their -bones, or they lie in a little heap of ashes at the foot of some Indian -torture stake." - -"Why did you try to escape?" asked Landless. - -The man gave him another sidelong look. - -"I tried because I was a fool. I am no longer a fool. I know a better -way." - -"A better way!" - -"Hush!" The man looked over his shoulder and then whispered, "Will you -go with me to-night?" - -"Go with you! Where?" - -"To a man I know--a man who gives good advice." - -"Many can do that, friend." - -"Ay, but not show the way to profit by it as doth this man." - -"Who is he?" - -"A servant even as we are servants,--a learned and godly man, albeit not -a follower of the blessed Ludovick. Listen! About the rising of the -moon to-night, slip from your cabin and come to the blasted pine on the -shore of the inlet. There will be a boat there and I will be in it. We -will go to the cabin of the man of whom I speak. He is a cripple, and -knowing that he cannot run away, the godless and roistering Malignant -who calls himself our master hath given him a hut among the marshes, -where he mendeth nets. Come! I may not say more than that it will be -worth your while." - -"If we are caught--" - -"Our skins pay for us. But the Lord will shut the eyes of the overseers -that they see not, and their ears that they hear not, and we will be -safely back before the dawn. You will come?" - -"Yes," said Landless. "I will come." - - - - - *CHAPTER VI* - - *THE HUT ON THE MARSH* - - -It was shortly after midnight when the two servants slipped along the -inlet, silently and warily, and keeping their boat well under the shore. -It was a crazy affair, barely large enough for two, and requiring -constant bailing. When they had made half a mile from the quarters, the -Muggletonian, who rowed, turned the boat's head across the inlet, and -ran into a very narrow creek that wound in many doubles through the -marshes. They entered it, made the first turn, and the broad bosom of -the inlet, lit by a low, crimson moon, was as if it had never been. On -every side high marsh grass soughed in the night wind,--plains of -blackness with the red moon rising from them. The tide was low. So -close were the banks of wet, black earth, that they heard the crabs -scuttling down them, and Porringer made a jab with his pole at a great -sheepshead lying _perdu_ alongside. The water broke before them into -spangles, glittering phosphorescent ripples. A school of small fish, -disturbed by the oars, rushed past them, leaping from the water with -silver flashes. A turtle plunged sullenly. From the grass above came -the sleepy cry of marsh hens, and once a great white heron rose like a -ghost across their path. It flapped its wings and sailed away with a -scream of wrath. - -The boat had wound its tortuous way for many minutes before Porringer -said in a low voice: "We can speak safely now. There is nothing human -moving on these flats unless the witch, Margery, is abroad. Cursed may -she be, and cursed those who give her shelter and food and raiment and -lay offerings at her door, for surely it is written, 'Thou shalt not -suffer a witch to live.'" - -"Is there anything a Muggletonian will not curse?" asked Landless. - -"Yea," answered the other complacently. "There are ourselves, the salt -of the earth. There are a thousand or more of us." - -"And the remainder of the inhabitants of the earth are reprobate and -doomed?" - -"Yea, verily, they shall be as the burning of lime, as thorns cut up -will they be burned in the fire." - -"Then why have you to do with me, and with the man to whom we are -going?" - -"Because it is written: 'Make ye friends of the mammon of -unrighteousness;' and moreover there be degrees even in hell fire. I do -not place you, who have some inkling of the truth, nor the Independents -and Fifth Monarchy men (as for the Quakers they shall be utterly damned) -in the furnace seven times heated which is reserved for the bigoted and -bloody Prelatists who rule the land, swearing strange oaths, foining -with the sword, and delighting in vain apparel; keeping their feast days -and their new moons and their solemn festivals. They are the rejoicing -city that dwells carelessly, that says in her heart, 'I am, and there is -none beside me.' The day cometh when they shall be broken as the -breaking of a potter's vessel, yea, they shall be violently tossed like -a ball into a far country." - -Here they struck a snag, well-nigh capsizing the boat. When she -righted, and Landless had bailed her out with a gourd, they proceeded in -silence. Landless was in no mood for speech. He did not know where they -were going, nor for what purpose, nor did he greatly care. He meant to -escape, and that as soon as his strength should be recovered and he -could obtain some knowledge of the country, and he meant to take no one -into his counsel, not the Muggletonian, whose own attempts had ended so -disastrously, nor the 'man who gave good advice.' As to this midnight -expedition he was largely indifferent. But it was something to escape -from the stifling atmosphere of the cabin where he had tossed from side -to side, listening to the heavy breathing of the convict, Turk, and -peasant lad with whom he was quartered, to the silver peace of -moon-flooded marsh and lapping water. - -They made another turn, and in front of them shone out a light, gleaming -dully like a will-of-the-wisp. It looked close at hand, but the creek -turned upon itself, coiled and writhed through the marsh, and trebled -the distance. - -The Muggletonian rested on his oar, and turned to Landless. - -"Yonder is our bourne," he said gravely. "But I have a word to say to -you, friend, before we reach it. If, to curry favor with the -uncircumcised Philistines who set themselves over us, thou speakest of -aught thou mayest see or hear there to-night, may the Lord wither thy -tongue within thy mouth, may he smite thee with blindness, may he bring -thee quick into the pit! And if not the Lord, then will I, Win-Grace -Porringer, rise and smite thee!" - -"You may spare your invectives," said Landless coldly. "I am no -traitor." - -"Nay, friend," said the other in a milder tone. "I thought it not of -thee, or I had not brought thee thither." - -He shoved the nose of the boat into the shore, and caught at a stake, -rising, water-soaked and rotten, from below the bank. Landless threw -him the looped end of a rope, and together they made the boat fast, then -scrambled up the three feet of fat, sliding earth to the level above -where the ground was dry, none but the highest of tides ever reaching -it. Fifty yards away rose a low hut. It stood close to another bend in -the creek, and before it were several boats, tied to stakes, and softly -rubbing their sides together. The hut had no window, but there were -interstices between the logs through which the light gleamed redly. - -When the two men had reached it, the Muggletonian knocked upon the heavy -door, after a peculiar fashion, striking it four times in all. There -was a shuffling sound within, and (Landless thought) two voices ceased -speaking. Then some one said in a low voice and close to the door: "Who -is it?" - -"The sword of the Lord and of Gideon," answered the Muggletonian. - -A bar fell from the door, and it swung slowly inwards. - -"Enter, friends," said a quiet voice. Landless, stooping his head, -crossed the threshold, and found himself in the presence of a man with a -high, white forehead and a grave, sweet face, who, leaning on a stick, -and dragging one foot behind him, limped back to the settle from which -he had risen, and fell to work upon a broken net as calmly as if he were -alone. Besides themselves he was the only inmate of the room. - -A pine torch, stuck into a cleft in the table, cast a red and flickering -light over a rude interior, furnished with the table, the settle, a -chest and a straw pallet. From the walls and rafters hung nets, torn or -mended. In one corner was a great heap of dingy sail, in another a sheaf -of oars, and a third was wholly in darkness. Lying about the earthen -floor were several small casks to which the man motioned as seats. - -Leaving Landless near the door, Win-Grace Porringer dragged a keg to the -side of the settle, and sitting down upon it, approached his death mask -of a face close to the face of the mender of nets, and commenced a -whispered conversation. To Landless, awaiting rather listlessly the -outcome of this nocturnal adventure, came now and then a broken -sentence. "He hath not the look of a criminal, but--" "Of Puritan -breeding, sayest thou?" "We need young blood." Then after prolonged -whispering, "No traitor, at least." - -At length the Muggletonian arose and came towards Landless. "My friend -would speak with you alone," he said, "I will stand guard outside." He -went out, closing the door behind him. - -The mender of nets beckoned Landless. "Will you come nearer?" he asked -in a quiet refined voice that was not without a ring of power. "As you -see, I am lame, and I cannot move without pain." - -Landless came and sat down beside the table, resting his elbow upon the -wood, and his chin upon his hand. The mender of nets put down his work, -and the two measured each other in silence. - -Landless saw a man of middle age who looked like a scholar, but who -might have been a soldier; a man with a certain strong, bright sweetness -of look in a spare, worn face, and underlying the sweetness a still and -deadly determination. The mender of nets saw, in his turn, a figure -lithe and straight as an Indian's, a well-poised head, and a handsome -face set in one fixed expression of proud endurance. A determined face, -too, with dark, resolute eyes and strong mouth, the face of a man who -has done and suffered much, and who knows that he will both do and -suffer more. - -"I am told," said the mender of nets, "that you are newly come to the -plantations." - -"I was brought by the ship God-Speed a month ago." - -"You did not come as an indented servant?" - -Landless reddened. "No." - -"Nor as a martyr to principle, a victim of that most iniquitous and -tyrannical Act of Uniformity?" - -"No." - -"Nor as one of those whom they call Oliverians?" - -"No." - -The mender of nets tapped softly Against the table with his thin, white -fingers. Landless said coldly:-- - -"These are idle questions. The man who brought me here hath told you -that I am a convict." - -The other looked at him keenly. "I have heard convicts talk before -this. Why do you not assert your innocence?" - -"Who would believe me if I did?" - -There was a silence. Landless, raising his eyes, met those of the -mender of nets, large, luminous, gravely tender, and reading him like a -book. - -"I will believe you," said the mender of nets. - -"Then, as God is above us," said the other solemnly, "I did not do the -thing! And He knows that I thank you, sir, for your trust. I have not -found another--" - -"I know, lad, I know! How was it?" - -"I was a Commonwealth's man. My father was dead, my kindred attainted, -and I had a powerful enemy. I was caught in a net of circumstance. And -Morton was my judge." - -"Humph! the marvel is that you ever got nearer to the plantations than -Tyburn. Your name is--" - -"Godfrey Landless." - -"Landless! Once I knew--and loved--a Warham Landless--a brave soldier, -a gallant gentleman, a true Christian. He fell at Worcester." - -"He was my father." - -The mender of nets covered his eyes with his hand. "O Lord! how -wonderful are thy ways!" he said beneath his breath, then aloud, "Lad, -lad, I cannot wholly sorrow to see you here. Wise in counsel, bold in -action, patient, farseeing, brave, was thy father, and I think thou hast -his spirit. Thou hast his eyes, now that I look at thee more closely. -I have prayed for such a man." - -"I am glad you knew my father," said Landless simply. - -After a long silence, in which the minds of both had gone back to other -days, the mender of nets spoke gravely. - -"You have no cause to love the present government?" - -"No," said Landless grimly. - -"You were heart and hand for the Commonwealth?" - -"Yes." - -"You mean to escape from this bondage?" - -"Yes." - -The mender of nets took from his bosom a little worn book. "Will you -swear upon this that you will never reveal what I am about to say to -you, save to such persons as I shall designate? For myself I would take -your simple word, for we are both gentlemen, but other lives than mine -hang in the balance." - -Landless touched the book with his lips. "I swear," he said. - -The man brought his serene, white face nearer. - -"What would you have given," he asked solemnly, "for the cause for which -your father died?" - -"My life," said Landless. - -"Would you give it still?" - -"A worthless gift," said Landless bitterly. "Yea, I would give it, but -the cause is dead." - -The other shook his head. "The cause of the just man dieth not." - -There was a pause broken by the mender of nets. - -"Thou art no willing slave, I trow. The thought of escape is ever with -thee." - -"I shall escape," said Landless deliberately. "And if they track me -they shall not take me alive." - -The mender of nets gave a melancholy smile. "They would track you, never -fear!" He leaned forward and touched Landless with his hand. "What if -I show you a better way?" he asked in a whisper. - -"What way?" - -"A way to recover your liberty, and with it, the liberty of downtrodden -brethren. A way to raise the banner of the Commonwealth and to put down -the Stuart." - -Landless stared. "A miserable hut," he said, "in the midst of a -desolate Virginia marsh, and within it, a brace of slaves, the one a -cripple, the other a convict,--and Charles Stuart on his throne in -Whitehall! Friend, this dismal place hath turned your wits!" - -The other smiled. "My wits are sound," he said, "as sound as they were -upon that day when I gave my voice for the death (a sad necessity!) of -this young man's father. And I do not think to shake England,--I speak -of Virginia." - -"Of Virginia!" - -"Yea, of this goodly land, a garden spot, a new earth where should be -planted the seeds of a mighty nation, strong in justice and simple -right, wise, temperate, brave; an enlightened people, serving God in -spirit and in truth, not with the slavish observance of prelatist and -papist, nor with the indecent familiarity of the Independent; loyal to -their governors, but exercising the God-given right of choosing those -who are to rule over them: a people amongst whom liberty shall walk -unveiled, and to whom Astroea shall come again; a people as free as the -eagle I watched this morning, soaring higher and ever higher, strongly -and proudly, rejoicing in its progress heavenward." - -"In other words, a republic," said Landless dryly. - -"Why not?" answered the other with shining, unseeing eyes. "It is a -dream we dreamed ten years ago, I and Vane and Sidney and Marten and -many others,--but Oliver rudely wakened us. Then it was by the banks of -the Thames, and it was for England. Now, on the shores of Chesapeake I -dream again, and it is for Virginia. You smile!" - -"Have you considered, sir,--I do not know your name." - -"Robert Godwyn is my name." - -"Have you considered, Master Godwyn, that the Virginians do not want a -republic, that they are more royalist and prelatical than are their -brethren at home; that they out-Herod Herod in their fantastic loyalty?" - -"That is true of the class with whom you have come into contact,--of the -masters. But there is much disaffection among the people at large. And -there are the Nonconformists, the Presbyterians, Independents, Baptists, -even the Quakers, though they say they fight not. To them all, Charles -Stuart is the Pharaoh whose heart the Lord hardened, and William -Berkeley is his task-master." - -"Any one else?" - -"There are those of the gentry who were Commonwealth's men, and who -chafe sorely under the loss of office and disfavor into which they have -fallen." - -"And these all desire a republic?" - -"They desire the downfall of the royalists with William Berkeley at -their head. The republic would follow." - -"And when a handful of Puritan gentlemen, a few hundred Nonconformists, -and the rabble of the colony shall have executed this project, have -usurped the government, dethroning the king, or his governor, which is -the same thing,--then will come in from the mouth of Thames a couple of -royal frigates and blow your infant republic into space." - -"I do not think so. Thu frigates would come undoubtedly, but I am of -another opinion as to the result of their coming. They would not take -us unprepared as those of the Commonwealth took William Berkeley in -fifty-two. And with a plentiful lack of money and a Dutch war -threatening, Charles Stuart could not send unlimited frigates. -Moreover, if Virginia revolted, Puritan New England would follow her -example, and she would find allies in the Dutch of New Amsterdam." - -"You spin large fancies," said Landless, with some scorn. "I suppose -you are plotting with these gentlemen you speak of?" - -"No," said the man, with a scarcely perceptible hesitation. "No, they -are few in number and scattered. Moreover, they might plot amongst -themselves but never with--a servant." - -"Then you are concerned with the Nonconformists?" - -"The Nonconformists are timid, and dream not that the day of deliverance -is at hand." - -Landless began to laugh. "Do you mean to say," he demanded, "that you -and I, for I suppose you count on my assistance, are to enact a kind of -Pride's Purge of our own? That we are to drive from the land the King's -Governor, Council, Burgesses and trainbands; sweep into the bay Sir -William Berkeley and Colonel Verney, and all those gold-laced planters -who dined with him the other day? That we are to take possession of the -colony as picaroons do of a vessel, and hoisting our flag,--a crutch -surmounted by a ball and chain on a ground sable,--proclaim a republic?" - -"Not we alone." - -"Oh, ay! I forgot the worthy Muggletonian." - -"He is but one of many," said the mender of nets. - -Landless leaned forward, a light growing in his eyes. "Speak out!" he -said. "What is it that will break this chain?" - -The mender of nets, too, bent forward from his settle until his breath -mingled with the breath of the younger man. - -"A slave insurrection," he said. - - - - - *CHAPTER VII* - - *A MENDER OF NETS* - - -"A slave insurrection!" - -Landless, recoiling, struck with his shoulder the torch, which fell to -the floor. The flame went out, leaving only a red gleaming end. "I -will get another," said the mender of nets, and limped to the corner -where the shadow had been thickest. Landless, left in darkness, heard a -faint muttering as though Master Robert Godwyn were talking to himself. -It took some time to find the torch; but at length Godwyn returned with -one in his hand, and kindled it at the expiring light. - -Landless rose from his seat, and strode to and fro through the hut. His -pulses beat to bursting; there was a tingling at his finger-tips; to his -startled senses the hut seemed to expand, to become a cavern, -interminable and unfathomable, wide as the vaulted earth, filled with -awful, shadowy places and strange, lurid lights. The mender of nets -became a far-off sphinx-like figure. - -Godwyn watched him in silence. He had a large knowledge of human -nature, and he saw into the mind and heart of the restless figure. He -himself was a philosopher, and wore his chains lightly, but he guessed -that the iron had entered deeply into the soul of the man before him. -The sturdy peasants, indented servants with but a few short years to -serve, better fed and better clad than their fellows at home, found life -on a Virginia plantation no sweet or easy thing; the political and -ecclesiastical offenders enjoyed it still less, while the small criminal -class found their punishment quite sufficiently severe. To this man the -life must be a slow _peine fort et dure_, breaking his body with toil, -crushing his soul with a hopeless degradation. The thought of escape -must be ever present with him. But escape in the conventional manner, -through pathless forests and over broad streams, was a thing rarely -attained to. Ninety-nine out of a hundred failed; and the last state of -the man who failed was worse than his first. - -Landless strode over to the table, and leaned his weight upon it. - -"Listen!" he said. "God knows I am a desperate man! My attempt to -escape failing, there is naught but his word between me and the deepest -pool of these waters. I am no saint. I hate my enemies. Restore to me -my sword, pit me against them one by one, and I will fight my way to -freedom or die.... A fair fight, too, a rising of the people against -oppression; a challenge to the oppressor to do his worst; a gallant -leading of a forlorn hope.... But a slave insurrection! a midnight -butchery! There was one who used to tell me tales of such risings in -the Indies. Murder and rapine, fire rising through the night, planters -cut down at their very thresholds, shrieking women tortured, children -flung into the flames,--a carnival of blood and horror!" - -"We are not in the Indies," said the other quietly. "There will be no -such devil's work here. Sit down and listen while I put the thing -before you as it is. There are, most iniquitously held as slaves in this -Virginia, some four hundred Commonwealth's men, each one of whom, at -home and in his own station, was a man of mark. Many were Ironsides. -And each one is a force in himself,--cool, determined, intrepid,--and -wholly desperate. With them are many victims of the Act of Uniformity, -godly men, eaten up with zeal. For their freedom they would dare much; -for their faith they would spill every drop of their blood." - -"They are like our friend, the Muggletonian, fanatics all, I suppose," -said Landless. - -"Possibly. Your fanatic is the best fighting machine yet invented. Do -you not see that these two classes form a regiment against which no -trainbands, no force which these planters could raise, would stand?" - -"But they are scattered, dispersed through the colony!" - -"Ay, but they can be brought together! And to that end, seeing how few -there are upon any one plantation, upon the day when they rise, they -must raise with them servants and slaves. Then will they overpower -masters and overseers, and gathering to one point, form there a force -which will beat down all opposition. It is simple enough. We will but -do that which it was proposed to do ten years ago. You know the -instructions given by the Parliament to the four commissioners?" - -"They were to summon the colony to surrender to the Commonwealth. If it -did so, well and good; if not, war was to be declared, and the servants -invited to rise against their masters and so purchase their freedom." - -"Precisely. Berkeley submitted, and there was no rising. This time -there will be no summons, but a rising, and a very great one. It will -be, primarily, a rising of four hundred Oliverians, strong to avenge -many and grievous wrongs; but with them will rise servants and slaves, -and to the banner of the Commonwealth, beneath which they will march, -will flock every Nonconformist in the land, and, when success is -assured, then will come in and give us weight and respectability those -(and they are not a few) of the better classes who long in their hearts -for the good days of the Commonwealth, and yet dare not lift a finger to -bring them back." - -"And the royalists?" - -"If they resist, their blood be upon them! But there shall be no -carnage, no butchery. And if they submit they shall be unmolested, even -as they were ten years ago. There is land enough for all." - -"The servants and slaves?" - -"They that join with us, of whatever class, shall be freed." - -"This insurrection is actually in train?" - -"Let us call it a revolution. Yes, it is in train as far as regards the -Oliverians. We have but begun to sound servants and slaves." - -"And you?" - -"I am, for lack of a better, General to the Oliverians." - -"And you believe yourself able to control these motley forces,--men -wronged and revengeful, fanatics, peasants, brutal negroes, mulattoes -(whom they say are devils), convicts,--to say to them, 'Thus far must -you go, and no farther.' You invoke a fiend that may turn and rend -you!" - -Godwyn shaded his eyes with his hand. "Yes," he said at last, speaking -with energy. "I do believe it! I know it is a desperate game; but the -stake! I believe in myself. And I have four hundred able adjutants, -men who are to me what his Ironsides were to Oliver, but none--" he -stretched out his hand, thin, white, and delicate as a woman's, and laid -it upon the brown one resting upon the table. "Lad," he said in a -gravely tender voice, "I have none upon this plantation in whom I can -put absolute trust. There are few Oliverians here, and they are like -Win-Grace Porringer, in whom zeal hath eaten up discretion. Lad, I need -a helper! I have spoken to you freely; I have laid my heart before you; -and why? Because I, who was and am a gentleman, see in you a gentleman, -because I would take your word before all the oaths of all the peasant -servants in Virginia, because you have spirit and judgment; because,--in -short, because I could love you as I loved your father before you. You -have great wrongs. We will right them together. Be my lieutenant, my -confidant, my helper! Come! put your hand in mine and say, 'I am with -you, Robert Godwyn, heart and soul.'" - -Landless sprang to his feet. "It were easy to say that," he said -hoarsely, "for, in all the two years I lay rotting in prison, and in -these weeks of sordid misery here in Virginia, yours is the only face -that has looked kindly upon me, yours the only voice that has told me I -was believed.... But it is a fearful thing you propose! If all go as -you say it will,--why WELL! but if not, Hell will be in the land. I -must have time to think, to judge for myself, to decide--" - -The door swung stealthily inward, and in the opening appeared the dead -white face, with the great letter sprawling over it, of Master Win-Grace -Porringer. - -"There are boats on the creek." he said. "Two coming up, one coming -down." - -Godwyn nodded. "I hold conference to-night with men from this and the -two neighboring plantations. You will stay where you are and see and -hear them. Only you must be silent; for they must not know that you are -not entirely one with us, as I am well assured you will be." - -"They are Oliverians?" - -"All but two or three." - -"I secured the mulatto," interrupted the Muggletonian. - -"Ay," said Godwyn, "I thought it well to have one slave representative -here to-night. These mulattoes are devils; but they can plot, and they -can keep a still tongue. But I shall not trust him or his kind too -far." - -The peculiar knock--four strokes in all--sounded upon the door, and -Porringer went to it. "Who is there?" passed on the one side, and "The -sword of the Lord and of Gideon" on the other. The door swung open, and -there entered two men of a grave and determined cast of countenance. -Both had iron-gray hair, and one was branded upon the forehead with the -letter that appeared upon the cheek of the Muggletonian. Again the -knock sounded, the countersign was given, and the door opened to admit a -pale, ascetic-looking youth, with glittering eyes and a crimson spot on -each cheek, who stooped heavily and coughed often. He was followed by -another stern-faced Commonwealth's man, and he in turn by a brace of -broad-visaged rustics and a smug-faced man, who looked like a small -shop-keeper. After an interval came two more Oliverians, grim of eye, -and composed in manner. - -Last of all came the mulatto of the pale amber color and the gold -ear-rings; and with him came the long-nosed, twitching-lipped convict in -whose company Landless had crossed the Atlantic. His name was Trail; -and Landless, knowing him for a villainous rogue, started at finding him -amongst the company. - -His presence there was evidently unexpected; Godwyn frowned and turned -sharply upon the mulatto. "Who gave you leave to bring this man?" he -demanded sternly. - -The mulatto was at no loss. "Worthy Senors all," he said smoothly, -addressing himself to the company in general. "This Senor Trail is a -good man, as I have reason to know. Once we were together in San -Domingo, slave to a villainous cavalier from Seville. With the help of -St. Jago and the Mother of God, we killed him and made our escape. Now, -after many years, we meet here in a like situation. I answer for my -friend as I answer for myself, myself, Luiz Sebastian, the humble and -altogether-devoted servant of you all, worshipful Senors." - -The man with the branded forehead muttered something in which the only -distinguishable words were, "Scarlet woman," and "Papist half-breed," -and the smug-faced man cried out, "Trail is a forger and thief! I -remember his trial at the Bailey, a week before I signed as storekeeper -to Major Carrington." - -This speech of the smug-faced man created something of a commotion, and -one or two started to their feet. The mulatto looked about him with an -evil eye. - -"My friend has been in trouble, it is true," he said, still very -smoothly. "He will not make the worse conspirator for that. And why, -worthy Senors, should you make a difference between him and one other I -see in company? Mother of God! they are both in the same boat!" He -fixed his large eyes on Landless as he spoke, and his thick lips curled -into a tigerish smile. - -Landless half rose, but Godwyn laid a detaining hand upon his arm. "Be -still," he said in a low voice, "and let me manage this matter." - -Landless obeyed, and the mender of nets turned to the assembly, who by -this time were looking very black. - -"Friends," he said with quiet impressiveness, "I think you know me, -Robert Godwyn, well enough to know that I make no move in these great -matters without good and sufficient reason. I have good and sufficient -reason for wishing to associate with us this young man,--yea, even to -make him a leader among us. He is one of us--he fought at Worcester. -And that he is an innocent man, falsely accused, falsely imprisoned, -wrongfully sent to the plantations, I well believe,--for I will believe -no wrong of the son of Warham Landless." - -There was a loud murmur of surprise through the room, and one of the -Oliverians sprung to his feet, crying out, "Warham Landless was my -colonel! I will follow his son were he ten times a convict!" - -Godwyn waited for the buzz of voices to cease and then calmly proceeded, -"As to this man whom Luiz Sebastian hath brought with him, I know -nothing. But it matters little. Sooner or later we must engage his -class,--as well commence with him as with another. He will be faithful -for his own sake." - -The dark faces of his audience cleared gradually. Only the youth with -the hectic cheeks cried out, "I have hated the congregation of evil -doers, and I will not sit with the wicked!" and rose as if to make for -the door. Win-Grace Porringer pulled him down with a muttered, "Curse -you for a fool! Shall not the Lord shave with a hired razor? When -these men have done their work, then shall they be cut down and cast -into outer darkness, until when, hold thy peace!" - -The company now applied itself to the transaction of business. Trail -was duly sworn in, not without a deal of oily glibness and unnecessary -protestation on his part. The man who held the little, worn Bible now -turned to Landless, but upon Godwyn's saying quietly, "I have already -sworn him," the book was returned to the bosom of its owner. - -Each conspirator had his report to make. Landless listened with grave -attention and growing wonder to long lists of plantations and the -servant and slave force thereon; to news from the up-river estates, and -from the outlying settlements upon the Rappahannock and the Pamunkey, -and from across the bay in Accomac; to accounts of secret arsenals -slowly filling with rude weapons; to allusions to the well-affected -sailors on board those ships that were likely to be in harbor during the -next two months;--to the details of a formidable and far-reaching -conspiracy. - -The Oliverians spoke of the hour in which this mine should be sprung as -the great and appointed day of the Lord, the day when the Lord was to -stretch forth his hand and smite the malignants, the day when Israel -should be delivered out of the hand of Pharaoh. The branded man -apostrophized Godwyn as Moses. Their stern and rigid features relaxed, -their eyes glistened, their breath came short and thick. Once the youth -who had wished to avoid the company of the wicked broke into hysterical -sobbing. The two rustics spoke little, but possibly thought the more. -To them the day of the Lord translated itself the day of their obtaining -a freehold. The smug-faced shopkeeper put in his oar now and again, but -only to be swept aside by the torrent of Biblical quotation. The newly -admitted Trail kept a discreet silence, but used his furtive greenish -eyes to good purpose. Luiz Sebastian sat with the stillness of a great, -yellow, crouching tiger cat. - -Godwyn heard all in silence. Not till the last man had had his say did -he begin to speak, approving, suggesting, directing, moulding in his -facile hands the incongruous and disjointed mass of information and -opinion into a rounded whole. The men, listening to him with breathless -attention, gave grim nods of approval. At one point of his discourse -the branded man cried out:-- - -"If the Puritan gentry you talk of would gird themselves like men, and -come forth to the battle, how quickly would the Lord's work be done! -They are the drones within the hive! They expect the honey, but do not -the work." - -"It is so," said Godwyn, "but they have lands and goods and fame to -lose. We have naught to lose--can be no worse off than we are now." - -"If the Laodicean, Carrington,"--began the branded man. - -Godwyn interrupted him. "This is beside the matter. Major Carrington -is a godly man who hath, though in secret, done many kindnesses to us -poor prisoners of the Lord. Let us be content with that." - -A moment later he said, "It waxeth late, friends, and loath would I be -for one of you to be discovered. Come to me again a week from to-night. -The word will be, 'The valley of Jehoshaphat.'" - -The conspirators dropped away, in twos and threes gliding silently off -in their stolen boats between the walls of waving grass. When, last of -all save Landless and the Muggletonian, Trail and Luiz Sebastian -approached the door, Godwyn stopped them with a gesture. - -"Stay a moment," he said. "I have a word to say to you. We may as well -be frank with you. I distrust you, of course. It is natural that I -should. And you distrust me as much. It is natural that you should. I -would do without the aid of you and the class you represent if I could, -but I cannot. You would do without my aid if you could, but you cannot. -Betray me, and whatever blood money you get, it will not be that freedom -which you want. We are obliged to work together, unequal yoke-fellows -as we are. Do I make myself understood?" - -"To a marvel, Senor," said Luiz Sebastian. - -"Damn my soul, but you 're a sharp one!" said Trail. - -Godwyn smiled. "That is enough, we understand one another. -Good-night." - -The two glided off in their turn, and Godwyn said to the Muggletonian, -"Friend Porringer, that mended sail must be bestowed in the large boat -before the hut against Haines' coming for it in the morning. Will you -take it to the boat for me? And if you will wait there this young man -shall join you shortly." - -The Muggletonian nodded, piled the heap of dingy sail upon his head and -strode off. The mender of nets turned to Landless. - -"Well," he said. "What do you think?" - -"I think," said Landless, raising his voice, "that the gentleman in the -dark corner must be tired of standing." - -There was a dead silence. Then a piece of shadow detached itself from -the other heavy shadows in the dark corner and came forward into the -torch light, where it resolved itself into a handsome figure of a man, -apparently in the prime of life, and wearing a riding cloak of green -cloth and a black riding mask. Not content with the concealment afforded -by the mask, he had pulled his beaver low over his eyes and with one -hand held the folds of the cloak about the lower part of his face. He -rested the other ungloved hand upon the table and stared fixedly at -Landless. "You have good eyes," he said at last, in a voice as muffled -as his countenance. - -"It is a warm night," said Landless with a smile. "If Major Carrington -would drop that heavy cloak, he would find it more comfortable." - -The man recoiled. "You know me!" he cried incredulously. - -"I know the Carrington arms and motto. _Tenax et Fidelis_, is it not? -You should not wear your signet ring when you go a-plotting." - -The Surveyor-General of the Colony dropped his cloak, and springing -forward seized Landless by the shoulders. - -"You dog!" he hissed between his teeth, "if you dare betray me, I 'll -have every drop of your blood lashed out of your body!" - -Landless wrenched himself free. "I am no traitor," he said coldly. - -Carrington recovered himself. "Well, well," he said, still breathing -hastily, "I believe you. I heard all that passed to-night, and I -believe you. You have been a gentleman." - -"Had I my sword, I should be happy to give Major Carrington proof," said -Landless sternly. - -The other smiled. "There, there, I was hasty, but by Heaven! you gave -me a start! I ask your pardon." - -Landless bowed, and the mender of nets struck in. "I was sorry to keep -you so long, Major Carrington, in such an uncomfortable position. But -the arrival of the Muggletonian before he was due, together with your -desire for secrecy, left me no alternative." - -"I surmise, friend Godwyn, that you would not have been sorry had this -young man proclaimed his discovery in full conclave," said Carrington -with a keen glance. - -Godwyn's thin cheek flushed, but he answered composedly, "It is -certainly true that I would like to see Major Carrington committed -beyond withdrawal to this undertaking. But he will do me the justice to -believe that if, by raising my finger, I could so commit him, I would -not do so without his permission." - -"Faith, it is so!" said the other, then turned to Landless with a stern -smile. "You will understand, young man, that Miles Carrington never -attended, nor will attend, a meeting wherein the peace of the realm is -conspired against by servants. If Miles Carrington ever visits Robert -Godwyn, servant to Colonel Verney, 't is simply to employ him (with his -master's consent) in the mending of nets, or to pass an idle hour -reading Plato, Robert Godwyn having been a scholar of note at home." - -"Certainly," said Landless, answering the smile. "Major Carrington and -Master Godwyn are at present much interested in the philosopher's pretty -but idle conception of a Republic, wherein philosophers shall rule, and -warriors be the bulwark of the state, and no Greek shall enslave a -fellow Greek, but only outer barbarians--all of which is vastly pretty -on paper--but they agree that it would turn the world upside down were -it put into practice." - -"Precisely," said Carrington with a smile. - -"You had best be off, lad," put in Godwyn. "Woodson is an early riser, -and he must not catch you gadding.... You will think on what you have -heard to-night, and will come to me again as soon as you can make -opportunity?" - -"Yes," said Landless slowly. "I will come, but I make no promises." - -He found Porringer seated in their boat, patiently awaiting him. They -cast off and rowed back the way they had come through the stillness of -the hour before dawn. The tide being full, the black banks had -disappeared, and the grass, sighing and whispering, waved on a level -with their boat. When they slid at last into the broader waters of the -inlet, the stars were paling, and in the east there gleamed a faint rose -tint, the ghost of a color. A silver mist lay upon land and water, and -through it they stole undetected to their several cabins. - -Meanwhile the two men, left alone in the hut on the marsh, looked one -another in the face. - -"Are you sure that he can be trusted?" demanded Carrington. - -"I would answer for his father's son with my life." - -"What of these scruples of his? Faith! an unusual conjunction--a -convict and scruples! Will you manage to dispose of them?" - -Godwyn smiled with wise, sad eyes. "Time will dispose of them," he said -quietly. "He is new to the life. Let him taste its full bitterness. -It will plead powerfully against his--scruples. He has as yet no -special and private grievance. Wait until he gets into trouble with -Woodson or his master. When he has done that and has taken the -consequences, he will be ours. We can bide our time." - - - - - *CHAPTER VIII* - - *THE NEW SECRETARY* - - - "Tell me not, sweet, I am unkind - That, from the nunnery - Of thy chaste breast and quiet mind, - To war and arms I flee.... - - "Yet this inconstancy is such - As you too shall adore. - I could not love thee, dear, so much, - Loved I not honor more." - - -The rich notes rang higher and higher, filling the languid air, and -drowning the trill of the mockingbirds. Patricia, filling her apron with -midsummer flowers, sang with a careless passion, her mind far away in -the midst of a Whitehall pageant, described to her the night before by -that silver-tongued courtier, Sir Charles Carew. - -Still singing, she went up the steps of the porch and into the cool wide -hall. In her face there was a languorous beauty born of the sunshine -outside; a soft color glowed in her cheeks, her eyes were large and -dreamy, little damp tendrils of gold strayed about her temples. She -threw down her hat, and loosened the kerchief of delicate lawn from -about her warm young throat; then, with the flowers still in her arms, -she raised the latch of the door of a room held sacred to Colonel -Verney, and entered, to find herself face to face with the convict, -Godfrey Landless, who sat at a table covered with papers, busily -writing. - -She started violently, and the mass of flowers fell to the floor, -shattering the petals from the roses and poppies. Landless came -forward, knelt down, and, picking them up, restored them to her without -a word. - -"I thank you," she said coldly. "I thought my father was here." - -"Colonel Verney is in the next room, madam." - -She moved to the door leading into the great room with the gait of a -princess, and Landless went back to his work. - -Colonel Verney, on his knees before the richly carven chest containing -his library, looked up from the two score volumes to behold a mass of -brilliant blooms transferred from two white arms to the ground outside -the open window. - -"Well, sweetheart," he said. "What is it?" - -"Papa," she said, coming to his side, and looking down upon him with a -vexed face: "you promised me that you would employ no more convicts in -the house." - -"Why, so I did, my dear," answered her father, comfortably seating -himself upon "Purchas: His Pilgrimmes." "And I meant to keep my word, -but this is the way of it. The day after you went to Rosemead with -Betty Carrington, down comes young Shaw with the fever, and has to be -sent home to his mother. His illness came at a precious inconvenient -season, for the gout was in my fingers again, and I was bent on -disappointing William Berkeley, who hath wagered a thousand pounds of -sweet scented that my 'Statement of the Evil Wrought by the Navigation -Laws to His Majesty's Colony of Virginia' won't be finished in time for -the sailing of the God-Speed. So I told Woodson to find me some one -among the men who knew how to write. He brought me this fellow, and I -vow he is an improvement on young Shaw. He does n't ask questions, and -he is a very pretty Latinist. The paper will be finished to-day. I was -but searching for a neat quotation to close with. Then the fellow will -go back to the tobacco, and you will be no longer annoyed by his -presence in the house. Now kiss me, sweet chuck, and begone, for I am -busied upon affairs of state." - -Left alone, Colonel Verney pored over his books until he found what he -wanted, when, after rearranging his library in the carved chest, he rose -stiffly to his feet, and went into the next room and up to the -writing-table. Landless rose from his seat, and, resigning it to his -master, stood gravely by while the Colonel looked over the manuscript -upon which he had been employed. - -"Ha!" said the Colonel. "A very fair copy! You have numbered and -headed the pages, I observe. Let me see, let me see, let me see," and -he ran them over between his fingers. "Oppressive Nature of the -Act.--Grave Dissatisfaction.--It advantageth No One save Small Traders -at Home.--Increase of Revenue to His Majesty if 't were repealed.--Dutch -Bottoms.--Trade with Russia.--His Majesty's Poor Planters Throw -Themselves upon His Majesty's Mercy. Very good, very good!" - -"It is nigh finished, sir," said Landless. - -"Ay, ay! By the Lord Harry, William Berkeley will repent his wager! A -pretty paper it is, and containeth many excellent points and much good -Latin, and you have copied it fairly and cleanly. It is a pity, my -man," he added not unkindly, "that you should have lived so evilly as to -bring yourself to this pass, for you have in you the making of an -excellent secretary." - -"Is it your will, sir, that I finish the copy now?" - -"Yes, but take it to the small table within the window there. I myself -will sit here and jot down some ideas for my dedication which you can -afterwards amplify." - -The worthy colonel pulled the big Turkey worked chair closer to the -table, turned back his ruffles and fell to work. Landless retired to -the table within the window, and for a while naught was heard in the -quiet room but the scratching of quills, as master and man drove them -across the whitey-brown sheets. - -At length the master pushed his chair back and stretched himself with a -prodigious yawn. "The Lord be thanked!" he said, addressing the air. -"That's done! And it is time to see to the dressing of that sore upon -Prince Rupert's shoulder; and I remember Haines said that one of the -hounds had been gored by Carrington's bull. Haines can't dress a wound. -Haines is a bungler. But, by the Lord Harry! Richard Verney is as good -a veterinary as he is a statesman." - -He lifted his burly figure from the depths of the chair, and going over -to Landless, dropped upon the table before him a page of hieroglyphics -for him to decipher at his leisure. Then with another word of -commendation for the beauty of the copy, he walked heavily from the -room. A moment later Landless heard him whistle to his dogs, and then -break into a stave of a cavalier drinking song, sung at the top of a -full manly voice, and dying away in the direction of the stables. - -Landless' hand moved to and fro across the paper with a tireless -patience. He did not go back to the central table, for the light was -better in the window, and a vagrant breath of air strayed in now and -then. The window was a deep one, and heavy drugget curtains hung between -it and the rest of the room. - -The door opened and a man's voice said: "This room is darkened into -delicious coolness. Shall we try it, cousin?" - -Patricia entered like a sunbeam, and after her sauntered Sir Charles -Carew, languid, debonair, and perfectly appareled. - -Landless, seeing them plainly, did not realize that in the shadow of the -heavy curtains he was himself unseen. He had grown so accustomed to the -quiet insolence that overlooks the presence of an inferior as it does -that of any other article of furniture, that he did not doubt that the -fine lady and gentleman before him were perfectly aware of the presence -in the room of the slave whom his master's caprice had raised for the -moment to the post of secretary. It was some few minutes before he -began to consider within himself that he might be mistaken. - - - - - *CHAPTER IX* - - *AN INTERRUPTED WOOING* - - -Sir Charles pushed forward the big chair for Patricia, and himself -dropped upon a stool at her feet. Taking her fan from her, he began to -play with it, lightly commenting on the picture of the Rape of Europa -with which it was adorned. Suddenly he closed it, tossed it aside, and -leaning forward, possessed himself of her hand. - -"Madam, sweet cousin, divinest Patricia," he exclaimed in a carefully -impassioned tone; "do you not know that I am your slave, the captive of -your bow and spear, that I adore you? I adore you! and you, -flinty-hearted goddess, give no word of encouragement to your prostrate -worshiper. You trample upon the offering of sighs and tears which he -lays at your feet; you will not listen when he would pour into your ear -his aspirations towards a sweeter and richer life than he has ever -known. Will it be ever thus? Will not the goddess stoop from her -throne to make him the happiest of mortals, to win his eternal -gratitude, to become herself forever the object of the most respectful, -the most ardent, the most devoted love?" - -He flung himself upon his knee and pressed her hand to his heart with -passion not all affected. He had come to consider it a piece of -monstrous good luck, that, since he must make a wealthy match, -Providence (or whatever as a Hobbist he put in place of Providence), -had, in pointing him the fortune, pointed also to Patricia Verney. But -the night before, in the privacy of his chamber, he had suddenly sat up -between the Holland sheets with a startled and amused expression upon -his handsome face, swathed around with a wonderful silken night-cap, and -had exclaimed to the carven heads surmounting the bed-posts, "May the -Lard sink me! but I 'm in love!" and had lain down again with an -astonished laugh. While sipping his morning draught he made up his mind -to secure the prize that very day, in pursuance of which determination -he made a careful toilet, assuming a suit that was eminently becoming to -his blonde beauty. Also his valet slightly darkened the lower lids of -his eyes, thereby giving him a larger, more languishing and melancholy -aspect. - -Patricia, from the depths of the Turkey worked chair, gazed with calm -amusement upon her kneeling suitor. - -"You talk beautifully, cousin," she said at length. "'Tis as good as a -page from 'Artemene.'" - -Sir Charles bit his lip. "It is a page from my heart, madam; nay, it is -my heart itself that I show you." - -"And would you forsake all those beautiful ladies who are so madly in -love with you?--I vow, sir, you told me so yourself! Let me see, there -was Lady Mary and Lady Betty, Mistress Winifred, the Countess of ---- -and Madame la Duchesse de ----. Will Corydon leave all the nymphs -lamenting to run after a little salvage wench who does not want him?" - -"'S death, madam! you mock me!" cried the baronet, starting to his feet. - -"Sure, I meant no harm, cousin; I but put in a good word for the poor -ladies at Whitehall. I fear that you are but a recreant wooer." - -"Will you marry me, madam?" demanded Sir Charles, standing before her -with folded arms. - -She slowly shook her head. "I do not love you, cousin." - -"I will teach you to do so." - -"I do not think you can," she said demurely. "Though I am sure I do not -know why I do not. You are a very fine gentleman, a soldier and a -courtier, witty, brave and handsome--and this match"--a sigh--"is my -father's dearest wish. But I do not love you, sir, and I shall not -marry you until I do." - -"Ah!" cried Sir Charles, and sunk again upon his knee. "You give me -hope! I will teach you to love me! I will exhibit towards you such -absolute fidelity, such patient devotion, such uncomplaining submission -to your cruel probation, that you will perforce pity me, and pity will -grow by soft degrees into blessed love. I do not despair, madam!" He -pressed her hand to his lips and cast his fine eyes upward in a killing -look. - -Patricia gave a charming laugh. "As you please, Sir Charles. In the -mean time let us be once more simply good friends and loving cousins. -Tell me as much as you please of Lady Mary's charms, but leave Patricia -Verney's alone." - -Sir Charles rose from his knees, smarting under an amazed sense of -failure, and very angry with the girl who had discarded him, Charles -Carew, as smilingly as if he had been one of the very provincial youths -whom he awed into awkward silence every time they came to Verney Manor. -Without doubt she deserved the condign punishment which it was in his -power to inflict by sailing away upon the next ship which should leave -for England. But he was now obstinately bent upon winning her. If not -to-day, to-morrow; and if not to-morrow, the next day; and if not that, -the day after. He was of the school of Buckingham and Rochester. He -could devote to the capture of a woman all the tireless energy, the -strategic skill, the will, the patience, the daring, of a great general. -He could mine and countermine, could plan an ambuscade here, and lead a -forlorn hope there, could take one intrenchment by storm, and another by -treachery. And victory seldom forsook her perch upon his banners. - -Life in Virginia was pleasant enough, and he could afford to devote -several months to this siege. As to how it would terminate he had not -the slightest doubt. But just now it was the course of wisdom to retreat -upon the position held yesterday, and that as quickly as possible. So -he smoothed his face into a fine calm, modulated his voice into its -usual tone of languor, and said with quiet melancholy:-- - -"You are pleased to be cruel, madam. I submit. I will bide my time -until that thrice happy day when you will have learnt the lesson I would -teach, when Love, tyrannous Love, shall compel your allegiance as he -does mine." - -"A far day!" said Patricia with soft laughter. "You had best return to -Lady Mary. I do not think that I shall ever love." - -She lifted her white arms, and clasping them behind her head, gazed at -him with soft, bright, untroubled eyes and smiling lips. The sunlight, -filtering through the darkened windows in long bright stripes, laid a -shaft of gold athwart her shoulder and lit her hair into a glory. From -out the distance came the colonel's voice:-- - - "In his train see sweet Peace, fairest Queen of the sky, - Ev'ry bliss in her look, ev'ry charm in her eye. - Whilst oppression, corruption, vile slav'ry and fear - At his wished for return never more shall appear. - Your glasses charge high, 'tis in great Charles' praise, - In praise, in praise, 'tis in great Charles' praise." - - -Some one outside the door coughed, and then rattled the latch -vigorously. These precautions taken, the door was opened and there -appeared Mistress Lettice, gorgeously attired, and with an extra row of -ringlets sweeping her withered neck, and a deeper tinge of vermilion -upon her cheeks,--for she had waked that morning with a presentiment -that Mr. Frederick Jones would ride over in the course of the day. Sir -Charles rose to hand her to a chair, but she waved him back with a thin, -beringed hand. - -"I thank you, Sir Charles: but I will not trouble you. I am going down -to the summer-house by the road, as I think the air there will cure my -migraine. Patricia, love, I am looking for my 'Clelie,'--the fourth -volume. Have you seen it?" - -"No, Aunt Lettice." - -"It is very strange," said Mrs. Lettice plaintively. "I am sure that I -left it in this room. 'T is that careless slut of a Chloe who deserves -a whipping. She hides things away like a magpie." - -"Look in the window; you may have left it there," said Patricia. - -Mrs. Lettice approached the window, laid a hand upon the curtain, and -started back with a scream. - -"What is it, madam?" cried the baronet. - -"'T is a man! a horrid, horrid man hiding there, waiting to cut all our -throats in the dead of night as the Redemptioner did to the family at -Martin-Brandon! Oh! Oh! Oh!" and Mrs. Lettice threw her apron over her -head, and sank into the nearest chair. Patricia started up. Sir -Charles, striding hastily towards the window, his hand upon his sword, -was met by the emerging figure of Landless. - -The two gazed at each other, Sir Charles' first haughty surprise fast -deepening into passion as he remembered that the man before him had -assisted at the scene of a while before, had witnessed his discomfiture, -had seen him upon his knees, baffled, repulsed, even laughed at! - -He was the first to speak. "Well, sirrah," he said between his teeth, -"what have you to say for yourself?" - -"That I ask your pardon," said Landless steadily. "I should have made -known my presence in the room. But at first I thought you aware of it; -and when I discovered that you were not, I ... it seemed best to remain -silent. I was wrong. I should have made some sign even then. Again, I -beg your pardon." He turned to Patricia, who stood, tall, straight, and -coldly indignant, beside the chair from which she had risen. "Madam," -he said in a voice that faltered, despite himself, "I crave your -forgiveness." - -She bit her coral under lip, and looked at him from under veiled -eyelids. It was a cruel look, very expressive of scorn, abhorrence, and -perhaps of fear. - -"My father hath many unmannerly servants," she said coldly and clearly, -"who often provoke me. But I pardon them because they know no better. -It seems that like allowance cannot be made for you. However," she -smiled icily, "I shall not complain of you to my father, which assurance -will doubtless content you." - -Landless turned from burning red to deadly white. His eyes, fixed upon -the floor, caught the rich shimmer of her skirts as she moved towards -the door; a moment and she was gone, leaving the two men facing each -other. - -Between them there existed a subtle but strong antagonism. Sir Charles -Carew, courtier in a coarse and shameless court masquerading under a -glittering show of outward graces, had taken lazy delight in heaping -quiet insults upon the man who could not resent them. This amusement had -beguiled the tedium of the Virginia voyage; and when chance threw them -together upon a Virginia plantation, where life flowed on in one long, -placid lack of variety, the sport became doubly prized. It had to be -pursued at longer intervals, but pursued it was. Heretofore the -amusement had been all upon one side; now, Sir Charles felt a chagrined -suspicion that it was he who had afforded the entertainment. -Simultaneously with arriving at this conclusion he arrived at a point -where he was coldly furious. - -Landless returned his look coolly and boldly. He considered that he had -made quite sufficient apology for an offense which was largely -involuntary, and he was in no mood for further abasement. - -"You are an insolent rascal," said the baronet smoothly. - -Landless smiled. "Sir Charles Carew should be a good judge of -insolence." - -Sir Charles took a leisurely pinch of snuff, shook the fallen grains -from his ruffles, snapped the lid of the box, looked languishingly at -the miniature that adorned it, replaced the box in his pocket, and -remarked, "Well, I am waiting!" - -"And for what?" - -"To hear your petition that I forbear to bring this matter to the notice -of your master. The lady mercifully gave you her promise. I suppose I -must follow so fair an example." - -"Sir Charles Carew may wait till doomsday to hear that or any other -request made by me to him or to the lady--who does not seem always -mercifully inclined--" he broke off with a slight and expressive smile. - -Sir Charles took another pinch of snuff. "May the Lard blast me," he -drawled, "if they do not teach repartee at Newgate! But I forget that -the tongue is the only weapon of women and slaves." - -"Some day I hope to teach you otherwise." - -The other laughed. "So the slave thinks he can use a sword? Where did -he learn? In Newgate, from some broken captain, as payment for -imparting the trick of stealing by the Book?" - -Landless forced himself to stand quiet, his arms folded, his fingers -tightly clenching the sleeves of his coarse shirt. "Shall I tell Sir -Charles Carew where I first used my sword with good effect?" he said in -an ominously quiet voice. "At Worcester I was but a stripling, but I -fought by the side of my father. I remember that, young as I was, I -disabled a very pretty perfumed and ringleted Cavalier. I think he was -afterwards sold to the Barbadoes. And my father praised my sword play." - -"Your father," said the other, bringing his strong white teeth together -with a click. "Like father, like son. The latter a detected rogue, -gaol-bird, and slave; the former a d--d canting, sniveling Roundhead -hypocrite and traitor, with a text ever at hand to excuse parricide and -sacrilege." - -Landless sprang forward and struck him in the face. - -He staggered beneath the weight of the blow; then, recovering himself, -he whipped out his rapier, but presently slapped it home again. "I am a -gentleman," he said, with an airy laugh. "I cannot fight you." And -stood, slightly smiling, and pressing his laced handkerchief to his -cheek whence had started a few drops of blood. - -Mrs. Lettice, whom curiosity or the search for the fourth volume of -"Clelie" had detained in the room, screamed loudly as the blow fell; and -Colonel Verney, appearing at the door, stopped short, and stared from -one to the other of the two men. - - - - - *CHAPTER X* - - *LANDLESS PAYS THE PIPER* - - -The hut of the mender of nets stood upon a narrow isthmus connecting two -large tracts of marsh. That to the eastward was partially submerged at -high tide; that to the west, being higher ground, waved its long grass -triumphantly above the reaching waters. Upon this side the marsh was -separated from the mainland of forest and field by a creek so narrow -that the great pines upon one margin cast their shadows across to the -other, and one fallen giant quite spanned the sluggish waters. - -The grass of this marsh was annually cut for hay; for though the great -herds of cattle belonging to the different plantations roamed at large -through all seasons of the year, seeking their sustenance from forest or -marsh, the more provident of the planters were accustomed to make some -slight provision against the winter, which might prove a severe one with -snow and ice. - -It was late afternoon, and the hay was cut. The half dozen mowers threw -themselves down upon the stubble, stretching out tired limbs and -pillowing heated foreheads upon their arms. They had been given until -sunset to do the work. Having no taskmaster over them, and being hid -from the tobacco-fields by a convenient coppice of pine and cedar, they -had set to work in a fury of diligence, had cut and stacked the grass in -a race with time, and now found themselves possessed of a precious hour -in which to dawdle, and swap opinions and tobacco before the sunset horn -should call them to quarters. - -Three were indented servants, lumbering, honest-visaged youths whose -aims in life were simple and well defined. Their creed had but four -articles: "Do as little as you can consistently with keeping out of the -overseer's black books; get your full share of loblolly and bacon, and -some one else's if you are clever enough; embrace every opportunity for -reasonable mischief that is offered you; honor Church and King, or say -you do, and Colonel Verney will overlook most pranks." Of the others, -one was the Muggletonian, one the mulatto, Luiz Sebastian, and one a -convict, not Trail, but the red-haired, pock-marked, sullen wretch who -had come to the plantation with Trail and Landless, and whose name was -Roach. - -One of the rustics, who seemed more intelligent than his fellows, and -who had a good-humored deviltry in his young face and big blue eyes, -began an excellent imitation of Dr. Nash's exhortation to submission and -obedience delivered upon the last instruction day for servants, and soon -had his audience of two guffawing with laughter. The mulatto and the -convict edged by imperceptible degrees farther and farther away from the -others, until, within the shadow of a stack of grass, they lay side by -side and commenced a muttered conversation. The countenance of the -white man, atrocious villainy written large in every lineament, became -horribly intent as his amber-hued companion talked in fluent low tones, -emphasizing what he had to say by a restless, peculiar, and sinister -motion of his long, yellow fingers. At a little distance lay the -Muggletonian, his elbows on the ground, his ghastly face in his hands, -and his eyes riveted upon the Geneva Bible which he had drawn from his -bosom. - -When he had brought his entertainment to a finish, the blue-eyed youth -rolled himself over and over the stubble to where the Muggletonian lay, -intent upon a chapter of invective. The youth covered the page with one -enormous paw and playfully attempted to insert the little finger of the -other into the hole in Porringer's ear. "What now, old Runaway," he -said, lazily, "hunting up fresh curses to pour on our unfort'net heads?" - -"Cursed be he who makes a mock of age," said the Muggletonian, grimly. -"May he be even as the wicked children who cried to the prophet, 'Go up, -thou baldhead!'" - -The boy laughed. "Tell me when you see brown bear a-coming," quoth he. -"Losh! a bear steak would taste mighty good after eternal bacon!" - -Porringer closed his book and restored it to his bosom. "Tell me," he -said, abruptly, "have you seen aught of the young man called Landless?" - -"'The young man called Landless,'" answered the other, petulantly, "has -a d--d easy berth of it! Yesterday evening I carried water from the -spring to the great house to water Mistress Patricia's posies, and every -time I passes the window of the master's room I see that fellow -a-sitting at his ease in a fine chair before a fine table, writing away -as big as all out of doors. And every time I says to him, says I, 'I -reckon you think yourself as fine as the Lord Mayor of London? A pretty -sec'tary you make!'" - -"Have you seen him to-day?" - -"No, I have n't seen him to-day,--but I see someone else. Mates," he -exclaimed, "Witch Margery's coming down t' other side of creek. I 'll -call her over." - -Scrambling to his feet he gave a low halloo through his hands, "Margery! -Margery! Come and find the road to Paradise!" - -Margery waved her hand to signify that she heard and understood, and -presently stepped upon the fallen tree that spanned the stream. It was -a narrow and a slippery bridge, but she flitted across it with the -secure grace of some woodland thing, and, staff in hand, advanced -towards the men. Between them and the western sun she stood still, a -dark figure against a halo of gold light, and threw an intent and -searching glance over the unbroken green of the marsh and the blue of -the waters beyond. Then with a wild laugh she came up to them and cast -her staff wreathed with dark ivy upon the ground. - -"The road is not here," she cried. "Here is all green grass, and beyond -is the weary, weary, weary sea! There is no long, bright, shining road -to Paradise." She sat down beside her staff, and taking her chin into -her hand, stared fixedly at the ground. - -The men gathered around her, with the exception of the Muggletonian, -who, after audibly comparing her to the Witch of Endor, turned on his -side and drew his cap over his eyes as if to shut out the hated sight. -The convict took up the staff and began to pull from it the strings of -ivy. - -"Put it down!" she said quickly. - -The man continued to strip it of its leafy mantle. - -"Put it down, can't you?" said the youth. "She never lets any one touch -it. She says an angel gave it to her to help her on her way." - -With a snarling laugh the convict threw it from him with all his force. -Whirling through the air it struck the water midway from shore to shore. -Margery sprang to her feet with a loud cry. The boy rose also. - -"D--n you!" he said, wrathfully. "I'd like to break it over your -misshapen back! Here, Margery, don't fret. I 'll get it for you." - -He ran to the bank, dived into the water, and in three minutes was back -with the dripping mass in his arms. He gave it into Margery's hands, -saying kindly while he shook himself like a large spaniel; "There! it is -n't hurt a mite!" - -With a cry of delight Margery seized the "angel's gift" and kissed the -hand that restored it. Then she turned upon the convict. - -"When I go back to my cabin in the woods," she said, solemnly, and with -her finger up, "I shall whistle all the fairy folk into a ring, all the -elves and the pixies, and the little brown gnomes who burrow in the -leaves and look for all the world like pine cones, and I shall tell them -what you did, and to-night they will come to your cabin, and will pinch -you black and blue, and stick thorns into you, and rub you with the -poison leaf until you are blotched and swelled like the great bull frog -that croaks, croaks, in these marshes." - -There was an uneasy ring in the convict's laugh, full of bravado as he -meant it to be. Margery continued with an ominously extended -forefinger. "And then they will fly to the great house where the master -lies sleeping, and they will whisper to him that you took away the -angel's gift from poor, lost Margery, and he will be angry, for he is -good to Margery, and to-morrow he will make Woodson do to you what he -did to-day to the Breaking Heart." - -"To the Breaking Heart!" exclaimed her auditors. - -Margery nodded. "Yes, the Breaking Heart. You call him Landless." - -The Muggletonian sat up. "What dost thou mean, wretched woman! fit -descendant of the mother of all evil?" - -Margery, offended by his tone, only pursed up her lips and looked wise. - -"What did the master have done to Landless, Margery?" asked the youth. - -Margery threw her worn figure into a singular posture. Standing -perfectly straight, she raised her arms from her sides and spread them -stiffly out, the hands turned inward in a peculiar fashion. Then, still -with extended arms, she swayed slightly forward until she appeared to -lean against, or to be fastened to, some support. Next she threw her -head back and to one side, so that her face might be seen in three -quarter over her shoulder. Her mobile features wreathed themselves in -an expression of pain and rage. Her brows drew downward, her thin lips -curled themselves away from the gleaming teeth, and, at intervals of -half a minute or more, her eyelids quivered, she shuddered, and her -whole frame appeared to shrink together. - -The pantomime was too expressive to be misunderstood by men each of whom -had probably his own reasons for recognizing some one or all of its -features. The convict broke into a yelling laugh, in which he was -joined, though in a subdued and sinister fashion, by Luiz Sebastian. -The rustics looked at each other with slow grins of comprehension, and -the blue-eyed youth uttered a long shrill whistle. The great letter -upon the cheek of the Muggletonian turned a deeper red, and his eyes -burned. The youth was curious. - -"Tell us all about it, Margery," he said, coaxingly, "and when the -millons are ripe, I 'll steal you one every night." - -Margery was nothing loth. She had attained the reputation of an -accomplished _raconteuse_, and she was proud of it. Her crazed -imagination peopled the forest with weird uncanny things, and fearful -tales she told of fays and bugaboos, of spectres and awful voices -speaking from out the dank stillness of twilight hollows. Often she -sent quaking to their pallets men who would have heard the war-whoop -with scarcely quickened pulses. And she could tell of every-day -domestic happenings as well as of the doings of the powers of darkness. - -Her audience listened greedily to the instance of plantation economy -which she proceeded to relate. - -"When was this, woman?" demanded the Muggletonian, when she had -finished. - -Margery pointed to the declining sun and then upwards to a spot a little -past the zenith. - -"Just after the nooning," said the Muggletonian, and began to curse. - -Margery stood up, her staff in her hand, and said airily, "Margery must -be going. The sun is growing large and red, and when he has slipped -away behind the woods, the voices will begin to call to Margery from the -hollow where the brook falls into the black pool. She must be there to -answer them." She moved away with a rapid and gliding step, flitted -across the fallen tree, and was lost to sight in the shadow of the pines -beyond. - -As the last flutter of her light robe vanished, a figure appeared, -walking rapidly along the opposite margin of the creek. The youth's -sight was keen. He sent a piercing glance across the intervening -distance and broke into an astonished laugh. "Lord in Heaven! it's the -man himself!" he cried in an awed tone. "Ecod! he must be made of iron!" - -Landless crossed the bridge and came towards the staring group. His -face was white and set, and there were dark circles beneath his eyes, -which had the wide unseeing stare of a sleep-walker. He walked lightly -and quickly, with a free, lithe swing of his body. The men looked at -one another in rough wonder, knowing what was hidden by the coarse -shirt. He passed them without a word, apparently without knowing that -they were there, and went on towards the hut of the mender of nets. -Presently they saw him enter and shut the door. - -The rustics and the convict, after one long stare of amazement at the -distant hut, began to comment freely and with much recondite blasphemy -upon the transaction recorded by Margery. Luiz Sebastian only smiled -amiably, like a lazy and well-disposed catamount, and the boy whistled -long and thoughtfully. But the countenance of Master Win-Grace Porringer -wore an expression of secret satisfaction. - - - - - *CHAPTER XI* - - *LANDLESS BECOMES A CONSPIRATOR* - - -As Landless entered the hut Godwyn looked up with a pleased smile from -the net he was mending. The two men had not seen each other since the -night upon which Landless had been brought to the hut by the -Muggletonian. Twice had Landless laid his plans for a second visit, -only to be circumvented each time by the watchfulness of the overseer. - -The smile died from Godwyn's face as he observed his visitor more -closely. - -"What is it?" he asked quickly. - -Landless came up to him and held out his hand. "I am with you, Robert -Godwyn, heart and soul," he said steadily. - -The mender of nets grasped the hand. "I knew you would come," he said, -drawing a long breath. "I have needed you sorely, lad." - -"I could not come before." - -"I know: Porringer told me you were prevented. I--" He still held -Landless' hand in both his own, and as he spoke his slender fingers -encircled the young man's wrist. - -"What is the matter with your pulse?" he demanded. "And your eyes! They -are glazing! Sit down!" - -"It is nothing," said Landless, speaking with effort. - -"I have been a physician, young man," retorted the other. "Sit down, or -you will fall." - -He forced him down upon a settle from which he had himself risen, and -stood looking at him, his hand upon his shoulder. Presently his glance -fell to the shoulder, and he saw upon the white cloth where his hand -pressed it against the flesh, a faint red stain grow and spread. - -The face of the mender of nets grew very dark. "So!" he said beneath his -breath. - -He limped across the hut and drew from some secret receptacle above the -fireplace a flask, from which he poured a crimson liquid into an earthen -cup; then hobbled back to Landless, sitting with closed eyes and head -bowed upon the table. - -"Drink, lad," he said with grave tenderness. "'T is a cordial of mine -own invention, and in the strength it gave me I fled from Cropredy -Bridge though woefully hacked and spent. Drink!" - -He held the cup to the young man's lips. Landless drained it and felt -the blood gush back to his heart and the ringing in his ears to cease. -Presently he raised his head. "Thank you," he said. "I am a man -again." - -"How is it that you are here?" - -Landless smiled grimly. "I imagine it's because Woodson thinks me -effectually laid by the heels. When he goes the rounds at supper time he -will be surprised to find my pallet empty." - -"You must be in quarters before then. You must not get into further -trouble." - -"Very well," was the indifferent reply. - -They were silent for a few moments, and then Landless spoke. - -"I am come to tell you, Master Godwyn, that I will join in any plan, -however desperate, that may bring me release from an intolerable and -degrading slavery. You may use me as you please. I will work for you -with hands and head, ay, and with my heart also, for you have been kind -to me, and I am grateful." - -The mender of nets touched him softly upon the hand. "Lad," he said, "I -once had a son who was my pride and my hope. In his young manhood he -fell at the storming of Tredah. But the other night when I talked with -you, I seemed to see him again, and my heart yearned over him." - -Landless held out his hand. "I have no father," he said simply. - -"Now," at length said Godwyn, "to business! I must not keep you now, -but come to me to-morrow night if you can manage it. You may speak to -Win-Grace Porringer, and he will help you. I will then tell you all my -arrangements, give you figures and names, possess you, in short, with -all that I, and I alone, know of this matter. And my heart is glad -within me, for though my broken body is tied to my bench here, I shall -now have a lieutenant indeed. I have conceived; you shall execute. The -son of Warham Landless, if he have a tithe of his father's powers, will -do much, very much. For more than a year I have longed for such an -one." - -"Tell me but one thing," said Landless, "and I am content. You have so -planned this business that there shall be no wanton bloodshed? You -intend no harm, for instance, to the family yonder?" with a motion of -his head towards the great house. - -"God forbid!" said the other quickly. "I tell you that not one woman or -innocent soul shall suffer. Nor do I wish harm to the master of this -plantation, who is, after the lights of a Malignant, a true and kindly -man, and a gentleman. This is what will happen. Upon an appointed day -the servants, Oliverian, indented and convict, upon all the plantations -seated upon the bay, the creeks, the three rivers, and over in Accomac, -will rise. They will overpower their overseers and those of their -fellows who may remain faithful to the masters, will call upon the -slaves to follow them, and will march (the force of each plantation -under a captain or captains appointed by me), to an appointed place in -this county. All going well, there should be mustered at that place -within the space of a day and a night a force of some two thousand -men--such an army as this colony hath never seen, an army composed in -large measure of honest folk, and officered by four hundred men who, -bold and experienced, and strong in righteous wrath, should in -themselves be sufficient to utterly deject the adversary. We will make -of that force, motley as it is, a second New Model, as well disciplined -and as irresistible as the first; and who should be its general but the -son of that Warham Landless whom Cromwell loved, and whose old regiment -is well represented here? Then will we fight in honest daylight with -those who come against us--and conquer. And we will not stain our -victory. Your nightmare vision of midnight butchery is naught. There -will be no such thing." - -Through the quiet of the evening came to them the clear, sweet, and -distant winding of a horn. - -"'Tis the call to quarters," said Godwyn. "You must go, lad." - -Landless rose. "I will come to-morrow night if I can. Till then, -farewell,--father." He ended with a smile on his dark, stern face that -turned it into a boy's again. - -"May the Lord bless thee, my son," said the other in his gravely tender -voice. "May he cause His face to shine upon thee, and bring thee out of -all thy troubles." - -As Landless turned to leave the hut the mender of nets had a sudden -thought. "Come hither," he said, "and let me show you my treasure -house. Should aught happen to me, it were well that you should know of -it." - -He took up the precious flask from the table, and followed by Landless, -limped across the hut to the fireplace. The logs above it appeared as -solid, gnarled and stained by time as any of the others constituting the -walls of the hut, but upon the pressure of Godwyn's finger upon some -secret spring, a section of the wood fell outwards like the lid of a -box, disclosing a hollow within. - -From this hollow came the dull gleam of gold, and by the side of the -little heap of coin lay several folded papers and a pair of handsomely -mounted pistols. - -Godwyn touched the papers. "The names or the signs of the Oliverians -are here," he said, "together with those of the leaders of the indented -servants concerned with us. It is our solemn League and Covenant--and -our death warrant if discovered. The gold I had with me, hidden upon my -person, when I was brought to Virginia. The pistols were the gift of a -friend. Both may be useful some day." - -"Hide them! Quick!" said Landless in a low voice, and wheeled to face a -man who stood in the doorway, blinking into the semi-darkness of the -room. - -The lid of the hollow swung to with a click, the log assumed its wonted -appearance, and the mender of nets, too, turned upon the intruder. - -It was the convict Roach who had pushed the door open and now stood with -his swollen body and bestial face darkening the glory of the sunset -without. There was no added expression of greed or of awakened -curiosity upon his sullenly ferocious countenance. He might have seen or -he might not. They could not tell. - -"What do you want?" asked Landless sternly. - -"Thought as you might not have heard the horn, comrade, and so might get -into more trouble. So I thought I 'd come over and warn you." All this -in a low, hoarse and dogged voice. - -"Don't call me comrade. Yes: I heard the horn. You had best hasten or -you may get into trouble yourself." - -The man received this intimation with a malevolent grin. "Talking big -eases the smart, don't it?" and he broke into his yelling laugh. - -"Get out of this," said Landless, a dangerous light in his eyes. - -The man stopped laughing and began to curse. But he went his way, and -Landless, too, after waiting to give him a start, left the hut and -turned his steps towards the quarters. - -Upon the other side of the creek, sitting beneath a big sweet gum, and -whittling away at a piece of stick weed, he found the boy who, the day -before, had accused him of feeling as fine as the Lord Mayor of London. -He sprang to his feet as Landless approached, and cheerfully remarking -that their paths were the same, strode on side by side with him. - -"I say," he said presently with ingenuous frankness, "I asks your pardon -for what I said to you yesterday. I dessay you make a very good -Sec'tary, and Losh! the Lord Mayor himself might n't have dared to -strike that d--d fine Court spark. They say he has fought twenty -duels." - -"You have my full forgiveness," said Landless, smiling. - -"That's right!" cried the other, relieved. "I hates for a man to bear -malice."' - -"I have seen you before yesterday. I forget how they call you." - -"Dick Whittington." - -"Dick Whittington!" - -"Ay. Leastways the parish over yonder," a jerk of his thumb towards -England, "called me Dick, and I names myself Whittington. And why? -Because like that other Dick I runs away to make my fortune. Because -like him I 've little besides empty pockets and a hopeful heart. And -because I means to go back some fine day, jingling money, and wearing -gold lace, and become the mayor of Banbury. Or maybe I 'll stop in -Virginia, and become a trader and Burgess. I could send for Joyce -Witbread, and marry her here as well as in Banbury." - -Landless laughed. "So you ran away?" - -"Yes; some four years ago, just after I came to man's estate." (He was -about nineteen.) "Stowed myself away on board the Mary Hart at -Plymouth. Made the Virginny voyage for my health, and on landing was -sold by the captain for my passage money. Time 's out in three years, -but I may begin to make my fortune before then, for--" He stopped -speaking to give Landless a sidelong glance from out his blue eyes, and -then went on. - -"A voice speaks through the land, from the Potomac to the James, and -from the falls of the Far West to the great bay. What says the voice?" - -Landless answered, "The voice saith, 'Comfort ye, my people, for the -hour of deliverance is at hand.'" - -"It 's all right!" cried the boy gleefully. "I thought you was one of -us. We are all in the fun together!" - -"We are in for a desperate enterprise that may hang every man of us," -said Landless sternly. "I do not see the 'fun,' and I think you talk -something loudly for a conspirator." - -The boy was nothing abashed. "There's none to hear us," he said. "I -can be as mum as t' other Dick's cat when there are ears around. As for -fun, Losh! what better fun than fighting!" - -"You seem to have a pretty good time as it is." - -"Lord, yes! Life 's jolly enough, but you see there 's mighty little -variety in it." - -"I have found variety enough," said Landless. - -"Oh, you 've been here only a few weeks. Wait until you've spent years, -and have gone through your experience of to-day half a dozen times, and -you will find it tame enough." - -"I shall not wait to see." - -"Then a man gets tired of working for another man, and hankers for the -time when he can set up for himself, especially if there 's a pretty -girl waiting for him." A tremendous sigh. "And then there 's the fun -of the rising. Losh! a man must break loose now and then!" - -"For all of which good reasons you have become a conspirator?" - -"Ay, it does n't pay to run away. You are hunted to death in the first -place, and well nigh whipped to death if you are caught, as you always -are. And then they double your time. This promises better." - -"If it succeeds." - -"Oh, it will succeed! Why should n't it with old Godwyn, who is more -cunning than a red fox or a Nansemond medicine-man, at its head? -Besides, if it fails, hanging is the worst that can happen, and we will -have had the fun of the rising." - -"You are a philosopher." - -"What's that?" - -"A wise man. Tell me: If this plot remains undiscovered, and the rising -actually takes place, there will be upon each plantation before we can -get away an interval of confusion and perhaps violence. 'T is then that -the greatest danger will threaten the planters and their families. You -yourself have no ill feeling towards your master or his family? You -would do them no unprovoked mischief?" - -The boy opened his big blue eyes, and shook his head in a vehement -negative. - -"Lord bless your soul, no!" he cried. "I would n't hurt a hair of -Mistress Patricia's pretty head, nor of Mistress Lettice's wig, neither. -As for the master, if he lets us go peaceably, we 'll go with three -cheers for him! Bless you! they 're safe enough!" - -The sanguine youth next announced that he smelt bacon frying, and that -his stomach cried "Trencher!" and started off in a lope for the -quarters, now only a few yards distant. Landless followed more -sedately, and reached his cabin without being observed by the overseer. - - - - - *CHAPTER XII* - - *A DARK DEED* - - -Three weeks passed, weeks in which Landless saw the mender of nets some -eight times in all, making each visit at night, stealthily and under -constant danger of detection. Thrice he had assisted at conferences of -the Oliverians from the neighboring plantations, who now, by virtue of -his descent, his intimacy with Godwyn, and his very apparent powers, -accepted him as a leader. Upon the first of these occasions he had set -his case before them in a few plain, straightforward words, and they -believed him as Godwyn had done, and he became in their eyes, not a -convict, but, as he in truth was, an Oliverian like themselves, and a -sufferer for the same cause. The remaining interviews had been between -him and Godwyn alone. In the lonely hut on the marsh, beneath starlight -or moonlight, the two had held much converse, and had grown to love each -other. The mender of nets, though possessed of a calm and high serenity -of nature that defied trials beneath which a weaker soul had sunk, was a -man of many sorrows; he had the wisdom, too, of years and experience, -and he sympathized with, soothed, and counseled his younger yoke-fellow -with a parental tenderness that was very grateful to the other's more -ardent, undisciplined, and deeply wounded spirit. - -Upon the night of their eighth meeting they held a long and serious -consultation. Affairs were in such train that little remained to be -done, but to set the day for the rising, and to send notice by many -devious and underground ways to the Oliverian captains scattered -throughout the Colony. Landless counseled immediate action, the firing -of the fuse at once by starting the secret intelligence which would -spread like wildfire from plantation to plantation. Then would the mine -be sprung within the week. There was nothing so dangerous as delay, when -any hour, any moment might bring discovery and ruin. - -Godwyn was of a different opinion. It was then August, the busiest and -most unhealthy season of the year, when the servants and slaves, -weakened by unremitting toil, were succumbing by scores to the fever. It -was the time when the masters looked for disaffection, when the -overseers were most alert, when a general watchfulness pervaded the -Colony. The planters stayed at home and attended to their business, the -trainbands were vigilant, the servant and slave laws were construed with -a harshness unknown at other seasons of the year. There were few ships -in harbor compared with the number which would assemble for their fall -lading a month later, and Godwyn counted largely upon the seizure of the -ships. In a month's time the tobacco would be largely in,--a weighty -consideration, for tobacco was money, and the infant republic must have -funds. The ships would be in harbor, and their sailors ready for -anything that would rid them of their captains; the heat and sickness of -the summer would be abated; the work slackened, and discipline relaxed. -The danger of discovery was no greater now than it had been all along, -and the good to be won by biding their time might be inestimable. The -danger was there, but they would face it, and wait,--say until the -second week in September. - -Landless acquiesced, scarcely convinced, but willing to believe that the -other knew whereof he spoke, and conscious, too, that his own impatience -of the yoke which galled his spirit almost past endurance might incline -him to a reckless and disastrous haste. - -It was past midnight when he rose to leave the hut on the marsh. Godwyn -took up his stick. "I will walk with you to the banks of the creek," he -said. "'T is a feverish night, and I have an aching head. The air will -do me good, and I will then sleep." - -The young man gave him his arm with a quiet, protecting tenderness that -was very dear to the mender of nets, and leaning upon it, he limped -through the fifty feet of long grass to the border of the creek. - -"Shall I not wait to help you back?" asked Landless. - -"No," said the other, with his peculiarly sweet and touching smile. "I -will sit here awhile beneath the stars and say my hymn of praise to the -Creator of Night. You need not fear for me; my trusty stick will carry -me safely back. Go, lad, thou lookest weary enough thyself, and should -be sleeping after thy long day of toil." - -"I am loth to leave you to-night," said Landless. - -Godwyn smiled. "And I am always loth to see you go, but it were selfish -to keep you listening to a garrulous, wakeful old man, when your young -frame is in sore need of rest. Good-night, dear lad." - -Landless gave him his hands. "Good-night," he said. - -He stood below the other at the foot of the low bank to which was moored -his stolen boat. Godwyn stooped and kissed him upon the forehead. "My -heart is tender to-night, lad," he said. "I see in thee my Robert. -Last night I dreamed of him and of his mother, my dearly loved and -long-lost Eunice, and ah! I sorrowed to awake!" - -Landless pressed his hand in silence, and in a moment the water widened -between them as Landless bent to his oars and the crazy little bark shot -out into the middle of the stream. At the entrance of the first -labyrinthine winding he turned and looked back to see Godwyn standing -upon the bank, the moonlight silvering his thin hair and high serene -brow. In the mystic white light, against the expanse of solemn heaven, -he looked a vision, a seer or prophet risen from beneath the sighing -grass. He waved his hand to Landless, saying in his quiet voice, "Until -to-morrow!" The boat made the turn, and the lonely figure and the hut -beyond it vanished, leaving only the moonlight, the wash and lap of -water, and the desolate sighing of the marsh grass. - -There were many little channels and threadlike streams debouching from -the main creek, and separated from it by clumps and lines of partially -submerged grass, growing in places to the height of reeds. While -passing one of these clumps it occurred to Landless that the grass -quivered and rustled in an unusual fashion. He rested upon his oars and -gazed at it curiously, then stood up, and parting the reeds, looked -through into the tiny channel upon the other side. There was nothing to -be seen, and the rustling had ceased. "A heron has its nest there, or a -turtle plunged, shaking the reeds," said Landless to himself, and went -his way. - -Some three hours later he was roused from the heavy sleep of utter -fatigue by the voice of the overseer. Bewildered, he raised himself -upon his elbow to stare at Woodson's grim face, framed in the doorway -and lit by the torch held by Win-Grace Porringer, who stood behind him. -"You there, you Landless!" cried the overseer, impatiently. "You sleep -like the dead. Tumble out! You and Porringer are to go to Godwyn's -after that new sail for the Nancy. Sir Charles Carew has taken it into -his head to run over to Accomac, and he 's got to have a spick and span -white rag to sail under. Hurry up, now! He wants to start by sun up, -and I clean forgot to send for it last night. You 're to be back within -the hour, d'ye hear? Take the four-oared shallop. There's the key," -and the overseer strode away, muttering something about patched sails -being good enough for Accomac folk. - -Landless and the Muggletonian stumbled through the darkness to the wharf -behind the quarters, where they loosed the shallop, and in it shot -across the inlet towards the mouth of the creek. - -"I will row," said the Muggletonian with grim kindness; "you look worn -out. I suppose you were out last night?" - -Landless nodded, and the other bent to the oars with a will that sent -them rapidly across the sheet of water. A cold and uncertain light -began to stream from the ashen east, and the air was dank and heavy with -the thick mist that wrapped earth and water like a shroud. It swallowed -up the land behind them, and through it the nearer marshes gloomed -indistinctly, dark patches upon the gray surface of the water. The -narrow creek was hard to find amidst the universal dimness. The -Muggletonian rowed slowly, peering about him with small, keen eyes. At -length with a grunt of satisfaction he pointed to a pale streak dividing -two masses of gray, and had turned the boat's head towards it, when -through the stillness they caught the sound of oars. The next moment a -boat glided from the creek and began to skirt the shores of the inlet, -hugging the banks and moving slowly and stealthily. It was still so -dark that they could tell nothing more than that it held one man. - -"Now, who is that?" said the Muggletonian. "And what has he been doing -up that creek?" - -"Hail him," Landless replied. - -Porringer sent a low halloo across the water, but if the man heard he -made no sign. The boat, one of the crazy dugouts of which every -plantation had store, held on its stealthy way, but being over close to -the bank presently ran upon a sand bar. Its occupant was forced to rise -to his feet in order to shove it off. He stood upright but a moment, but -in that moment, and despite the partial darkness, Landless recognized -the misshapen figure. - -"It is the convict, Roach!" he exclaimed. - -"Ay," said the Muggletonian, "and an ill-omened night bird he is! May -he be cursed from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head! May -there be no soundness in him! May-- What are you about, friend?" he -cried, interrupting himself. "There 's no need of two pair of oars. We -have plenty of time." - -Landless bent to the second pair of oars. "He came down the creek," he -said in a voice that sounded strained and unnatural. - -The other stared at him. "What do you mean?" he demanded. - -"Nothing: but let us hasten." - -Porringer stared, but fell in with the humor of his companion, and the -shallop, impelled by strong arms, shot into the creek and along its mazy -windings with the swiftness of a bird. - -Landless rowed with compressed lips and stony face, a great fear tugging -at his heart. Porringer too was silent. The vapor hung so heavily upon -the plains of marsh level with their heads that they seemed to be -piercing a dense, low cloud. The light was growing stronger, but the -earth still lay like a corpse, livid, dumb, cold and still. There was a -chill stagnant smell in the air. - -Arriving at the stake in the bank below the hut, they fastened the boat -to it, and stepping out, moved through the dense mist to where the hut -loomed indistinctly before them, looking in the blank and awful -stillness like a forlorn wreck drifting upon an infinite sea of -soundless foam. - -"The door is open," said Landless. - -"Ay, I see," answered Porringer. "Does he wish to die before his time -of the fever, that he lets this graveyard mist and stench creep in upon -him in his sleep?" - -They spoke in low tones as though they feared to waken the sleeper whom -they had come to waken. When they reached the hut, they knocked upon the -lintel of the door and called Godwyn by name, once, twice, thrice. -There was no answer. - -"Come on!" said Landless hoarsely, and entered the hut, followed by the -other. The cold twilight, filtering through the low and narrow doorway, -was powerless to dispel the darkness within. Landless groped his way to -the pallet and stooped down. - -"He is not here," he said. - -The Muggletonian stumbled over a sheaf of oars, sending them to the -floor with a noise that in the utter stillness, and to their strained -ears, sounded appalling. - -"It's the darkness of Tophet," muttered Porringer. "If I could find his -flint and steel; there are pine knots, I know, in the corner--God in -Heaven!" - -"What is it? What is the matter?" cried Landless, as he staggered -against him. - -"It's his face!" gasped the other. "There upon the table! I put my -hand upon it. It's cold!" - -Landless rushed to the fireplace where he knew the tinder-box to be -kept, and then groped for and found the heap of pine knots. A moment -more and the fat wood was burning brightly, casting its red light -throughout the hut, and choking back the pale daylight. - -The familiar room with its familiar furnishing of chest and settle and -pallet, of hanging nets and piles of dingy sail, sprung into sight, but -with it sprung into sight something unfamiliar, strange, and dreadful. - -It was the body of the mender of nets, flung face upwards across the -rude table, the head hanging over the edge, and the face, which but a -few short hours before had looked upon Landless with such a bright and -patient serenity, blackened and distorted. Upon the throat were dark -marks, the print of ten murderous fingers. - -With a bitter cry Landless fell upon his knees beside the table, and -pressed his face against the cold hand flung backwards over the head of -the murdered man. Porringer began to curse. With white lips and -burning eyes he hurled anathemas at the murderer. He cursed him by the -powers of light and darkness, by the earth, the sea, and the air: by all -the plagues of the two Testaments. Landless broke the torrent of his -maledictions. - -"Silence!" he said sternly. "_He_ would have forgiven." Presently he -rose from the ground, and taking the body in his arms, placed it upon -the pallet, and reverently composed the limbs. Then he turned to the -fireplace. It was easy to see that the hiding-place had been visited. -The spring was broken, and the lid had been struck and jammed into place -by a powerful and hasty hand. Landless wrenched it off. Before him lay -the pistols; but the gold and papers were gone. He turned to the -Muggletonian, standing beside him with staring eyes. - -"Listen!" he said. "There was gold here. The wretch whom we passed but -now knew of it--never mind how--and for it he has murdered the only -friend I had on earth. There will come a day when I will avenge him. -There were papers here, lists with the signatures of Oliverians, -Redemptioners, sailors,--of all classes concerned in this undertaking, -save only the slaves and the convicts. There were letters from Maryland -and New England, and a correspondence which would provide whipping-post -and pillory for other Nonconformists than the Quakers. All these, the -actual proofs of this conspiracy, are in his--that -murderer's--hands,--where they must not stay." - -"What wilt thou do, friend?" said the Muggletonian eagerly. "Wilt thou -take the murderer aside in the gate to speak with him quietly, and smite -him under the fifth rib, as did Joab to Abner the son of Ner, who slew -his brother Asahel?" - -"God forbid," said Landless. "But I will take them from him before he -knows their contents. One moment, and we will go." - -He crossed to the pallet and stood beside it, looking down on the shell -that lay upon it with a stern and quiet grief. One of the cold white -hands was clenched upon something. He stooped, and with difficulty -unclasped the rigid fingers. The something was a ragged lock of coarse -red hair. - -"You see," he said. - -"Ay," said the Muggletonian grimly. "It's evidence enough. There 's -but one man in this county with hair like that. Leave that lock where -it is, and that dead man holds the rope that will hang his murderer." - -"It shall be left where it is," said Landless, and reclosed the fingers -upon it. - -He took a piece of sail-cloth from the floor, and with it covered the -dead man from sight. Next he turned to the hollow above the fireplace, -and took from it the pistols, concealing them in his bosom. "I may need -them," he said. "Come." - -They left the hut and its dead guardian, and rowed back through the -summer dawn. The sky was barred with crimson and gold, the fiery rim of -the sun just lifting above the eastern waters, the mist, a bridal veil -of silver and pearl drawn across the face of a virgin earth. - -They rowed in silence until they neared the wharf, when Porringer said, -"You are leader now." - -The other raised his haggard eyes. "It is a trust. I will go through -with it, God helping me. But I would I were lying dead beside him in -yonder hut." - -They left the boat at the wharf, and went towards the quarters. Meeting -one of the blowzed and slatternly female servants, Landless asked where -they might find the overseer. He had gone to the three-mile field half -an hour ago, after bestowing upon the two dilatory servants a hearty -cursing, and promising to reckon with them at dinner-time. "Where was -the master?" He had gone to the mouth of the inlet with Sir Charles -Carew, who had grown impatient, and had sailed away under the Nancy's -patched sail. The under overseer was in the far corn-field, two miles -off. - -"Are all the men in the fields, Barb?" asked Landless. - -Barb informed him that they were, "as he might very well know, seeing -that the sun was half an hour high." - -"Have you seen the man called Roach?" - -No: Barb had not seen him; but she had heard the overseer tell Luiz -Sebastian to take two men and go to the strip of Orenoko between the -inlet and the third tobacco house, and Luiz Sebastian, had been calling -for Roach and Trail. - -Landless thanked her, and moved away without offering to bestow upon her -that which Barb probably thought her information merited. - -"Do you find Woodson," he said to the Muggletonian, "and report this -murder, saying nothing, however, of what we know. I myself will go to -the tobacco house." - -"Had I not best come with thee to hold up thy hands?" said Porringer. -"I would take up my text from the thirty-fifth of Numbers, and from -Revelation, twenty-second, thirteen, and deal mightily with the -murderer." - -"No," answered Landless. "Woodson must be seen at once, or we ourselves -will fall under suspicion. And, friend, ask that thou and I may be the -ones to bury _him_." - - - - - *CHAPTER XIII* - - *IN THE TOBACCO HOUSE* - - -The third tobacco house was built upon a point of land jutting into the -larger inlet, and screened off from the wide expanse of fields by a belt -of cedars. It was a lonely, retired spot, and the high, dark, windowless -structure with its heavy, low-browed door had a menacing aspect. -Landless expected to find the men within the building, instead of -outside attending to their work, and he was not disappointed. As he -walked through the doorway into the pungent gloom the three started up -from the debris of casks, sticks, and pegs, amidst which they had been -squatting, with their heads ominously close together. - -Landless strode up to Roach. "You murderer!" he said. - -The convict recoiled; then with a bestial sound, half snarl, half bellow -of rage, he gathered himself for a rush. Landless awaited him with bent -body and sinewy, outstretched arms; but the mulatto interposed. Laying -his long, beautifully shaped, yellow hands upon Roach, he forced him -back against a cask, and, pinning him there, whispered in his ear. The -face of the wretch gradually resumed its usual expression of low -brutality, though an ugly sweat broke out upon it, and the mouth opened -and shut as though he had been running. He turned upon Landless with a -half threatening, half cringing air. - -"So you 've found out what I was about last night, eh, pardner? But you -'ll keep a still tongue. You 're not one to peach on your comrade as -was in hell or Newgate with you, and as crossed the ocean with you to -this d--d Virginia, and as has always liked you, and has the same spite -as you have against the man what bought us. You say naught, comrade, -and you 'll not stand to lose by it." - -"I go from here to give you up to Colonel Verney," said Landless. - -The wretch gave a snarl of rage and fear. Luiz Sebastian laid a -soothing hand upon his shoulder. - -"If I thought that," snarled the convict, "you 'd never live to reach -that door." - -"I shall live to see you hanged," said the other coolly. - -Here the mulatto slipped something into Roach's hand. "So you 'll give -me up?" said the latter in a peculiar voice. - -"I have said so." - -"Then, by the Lord! I 'll be even with you!" Roach cried with savage -triumph. "Do you see this, and this, and this?" fluttering a mass of -folded papers before the other's eyes. "Ah! I was wise, I was, when I -could n't hide everything about me, to take the papers, and leave the -weapons. I 've got you now. Here 's the lists that the old fool who is -dead and gone to hell had hidden behind the gold! Here 's enough to -hang you and your d--d Cromwellians higher than Haman. There will be -more than one giving up, I 'm thinking! I 've got you under my thumb, -and I 'll squeeze you!" - -"You cannot read; you do not know what those papers contain," said -Landless steadily. - -"But I can," put in Trail smoothly. "I was but just running them over -to our friend whose education has been so sadly neglected, when you came -in." - -Landless drew a pistol from his bosom, cocked it, and leveled it at the -murderer. "You see," he said with an ominously quiet eye and voice, -"you were not altogether wise to leave the weapons. Now, give me those -lists." - -"Damnation!" cried the convict, and Luiz Sebastian glided towards the -door. - -Landless, quick of eye and active of body, saw the movement, and sprang -backwards to the opening before the other could reach it. He covered -the three with his pistol. - -"I will shoot the first of you that stirs," he said sternly. "You, -Roach, lay those papers upon that bit of board, and push them towards me -with your foot." - -"I 'll go to hell first," was the sullen reply. - -"As you please. I will give you until I count twenty. If those papers -are not in my hands, then I will shoot you like the dog you are." - -The murderer uttered a dreadful curse. Landless began to count. Roach -made an irresolute motion or the hand that held the lists. Landless -counted on, "fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen--" With another oath -and a grin of rage Roach dropped the papers upon the board at his feet. -"Now push it towards me," said Landless. - -With a brow like midnight the other did as he was bid. Still covering -his men, Landless stooped quickly, and took up the precious papers, -assured himself that they were all there, and placed them in his bosom. - -"Now," he said, leaning his back against the door-post, and regarding -the three baffled rogues with a grim eye, "I have a few words to say to -you. I speak first to you, Trail, and to you, Luiz Sebastian. These -papers have told you little that you did not know before. It was not -the information that you gained from them that made them so valuable; it -was the possession of them, the possession of actual proofs of this -conspiracy which you might hold over our heads, or, if the notion took -you, might sell to Colonel Verney?" - -"Senor Landless sees the thing as it is," said Luiz Sebastian. - -"Well, you no longer possess these proofs, and are therefore just where -you were yesterday." - -"Listen, Senor Landless," said Luiz Sebastian gloomily. "This plot does -not please us. It is too much in the hands of those who call themselves -soldiers and martyrs, whom our master calls fanatic Oliverians, and whom -I, Luiz Sebastian, call accursed heretics. The servants have no say in -the matter; they are to follow like sheep where these others lead. The -slaves are not even to know of it until the last moment. A handful of -us who have white blood in our veins are let into the secret, that we -may incite the blacks when the time is come; but are we consulted? Are -our opinions asked, our wishes deferred to? I, Luiz Sebastian, who have -been through three insurrections in the Indies, and who know how such -things should be managed; has my advice been craved as to this or that? -You make us promises. Mother of God! how do we know that those promises -will be kept? By St. Jago! the insurrection may arrive, and the -planters be put down, and next year may find us slaves still, with but a -change of masters!" - -"It is too late now for such questions," said Landless steadily. "You -must accept the conspiracy as it is. In liberating themselves, these -men will of necessity free you even as they will free me, who am not, as -you know, of their class. I shall take my chance, as I think you will -take yours." - -The mulatto played with a tobacco peg, striking it against his great, -white teeth. At length he said slowly and with a sinister upward glance -at the figure by the door, "Certainly, Senor Landless, it seems our -best, our only chance, for freedom." - -And with this Landless had perforce to be content. He turned to the -murderer, saying sternly, "Now for my word with you. I hold your life -in my hands, for I heard you last night in the marsh, and Porringer and -I saw you stealing from the creek this morning, and I can swear that you -knew of the gold hidden in the hut. You have it on you at this moment. -I could hold you here with this pistol until the overseer should come -and search you. But I let you go, choosing rather your safety than the -endangerment of that which was dearer than life to the man you murdered. -The unsupported assertion of a murderer as to the contents of papers -which he had not got to show, might not go for much, but I prefer that -you should not make it. I have warned you;--you had best make your -escape at once." - -"If you hold your tongue, there 's no reason why I should run." - -"Oh, yes, there is! There is a reason in the hut on the marsh." - -"What do you mean?" - -"I mean that clasped in the hand of the man you murdered is the missing -half of that torn lock upon your forehead." - -With a yell Roach sprang to the door only to be confronted by the muzzle -of Landless' pistol. - -"Wait a moment," he said composedly. "Oh, you need not be afraid! I -intend to let you go. But you don't leave this tobacco house until -after I have left it myself." - -"Curse you!" cried the other, foaming at the lips. - -"You are ungrateful. I not only promise not to witness against you, but -I aid you to escape." - -"For reasons of your own," suggested Trail. - -"Precisely: for reasons of my own. If you are taken, I will hold my -tongue just so long as you hold yours. If you escape now, I will pray -that my day of reckoning will yet come. And it will be a heavy -reckoning." - -"Ay, that it will!" cried the murderer with brutal fury. "You 've got -the upper hand now: but wait! Every dog has his day, and I 'll have -mine! and when it comes, I 'll do for you! I 'll smash your beauty! I -'ll draw more blood from you than ever the whip of the overseer did! I -'ll use you worse than I used that old man last night, who writhed and -struggled, and tried to pray! I 'll--" - -With white lips and blazing eyes Landless sprang forward, and clapped -the mouth of the pistol to the ruffian's temple. Roach recoiled, then -sunk upon his knees with an abject whine for mercy. - -Landless let his hand drop, and moved slowly back to the door. "You had -need to cry for mercy," he said in a low, distinct voice, "for you were -never so near to death before. I let you go now, but one day I shall -kill you. Until which day--take care of yourself!" Still with his face -upon them he passed out of the door, then turned and walked away with a -steady step, but with a heart bleeding for the loss of his friend, and -heavy with forebodings for the future. - -In the tobacco house the murderer, the forger, and the mulatto sat -stricken into silence until the last crisp footfall had died away. Then -amidst a torrent of curses Roach made for the door. Trail plucked him -back. "Where are you going?" he cried. - -"I don't know! To the devil!" - -"The bloodhounds will be upon your trail before noon." - -The wretch cried out and struck his hand against the wall with a force -that laid the knuckles bare and bleeding. - -"There is a way," said Luiz Sebastian slowly, "a way that only I know. -You must take to the inlet here, and swim up it until you come to the -mouth of the brook yonder in the forest. You must wade up that brook -until you come to a second, and up that until you come to a third. When -you have gone a mile up that one, leave it, and strike through the -woods, going towards the north. Another mile will bring you to a -village of the Chickahominies upon the Pamunkey.[#] They are at odds -with Governor and Council, and they will hide you. Moreover, I once did -their sachem a service, and they are my friends." - - -[#] The modern York. - - -"I 'm off," said Roach, breaking from the detaining grasp. - -"Wait," said Luiz Sebastian. "There as time enough. Woodson will not -come for a long while. When he does, he shall find Senor Trail and -myself busily at work there outside, and we will say that you left us, -and went down the inlet a long time before. But now we want to talk to -you." - -"Be quick then," growled the other, "I 've no mind to swing for this -job." - -Luiz Sebastian brought his handsomely malevolent face close to the -other's hideous countenance. - -"Would you not like to ruin that devil who but now robbed you of your -hard-earned property?" - -"Would I not?" cried the murderer with a tremendous oath. "I 'd give -everything but life and gold to do it, as that cunning devil well knew. -I 'd give my soul!" - -"Would you like to be shown how to get more gold than old Godwyn's -store, twenty times told? To get your freedom? To have some black, -sweet hours in which to work your will on them at the house yonder? To -plunge your arms to the elbow in the master's money chest, to become -drunken with his wine; to strike him down, and that smiling imp his -cousin, and that other devil, Woodson; to hear the women cry for -mercy--and cry in vain? You would like all this?" - -"Show me the way!" cried the brute with a ferocious light in his -bloodshot eyes. "Show me the way to do it safely, and I 'll--" He -broke off and threatened the air with malignant fists. - -"Go to the village on the Pamunkey," said Luiz Sebastian with his most -feline expression. "I will come to you there the first night I can slip -away, I and our friend, the Senor Trail. There we will have our little -conference. Mother of God! Senor Landless may find that others can -plot as well as he and his accursed heretics." - - - - - *CHAPTER XIV* - - *A MIDNIGHT EXPEDITION* - - -Four nights later, the hour before midnight found Landless walking -steadily through the forest, bound upon a mission which he had had in -his mind since the night after the murder of Godwyn. This was the first -night since that event upon which he had deemed it advisable to leave -the quarters, having no mind to be captured as a runaway by one of the -many search parties which were scouring the peninsula between the two -great rivers for the murderer of Robert Godwin. But the search was now -trending northward towards Maryland, to which colony runaways usually -turned their steps, and he felt that he might venture. - -There was little undergrowth in the primeval forest, and the rows of -vast and stately trees were as easy to thread as the pillared aisles of -a cathedral. When he came to one of the innumerable streamlets that -caught the land in a net of silver, he removed his coarse shoes and -stockings, and waded it. The great branches overhead shut in a night -that was breathlessly hot and still. He could see the stars only when -he crossed the streams or emerged into one of the many little open -glades. He walked warily, making no sound, and now and then stopping to -listen for the distant halloo, or bark of a dog, which might denote that -he was followed, or that there was a search party abroad, but he heard -nothing save the usual forest sounds,--the dropping of acorns, the -sighing leaves, the cry of some night bird,--sounds that seemed to make -the night more still than silence. - -He was nearing his destination when from out a shadowy clump of alders, -standing upon the bank of the stream which he had just crossed, there -shot a long arm, and the next moment he was wrestling with a dark and -powerful figure whose naked body slipped from his hold as though it had -been greased. But Landless, too, was strong and determined, and the two -swayed and strained backwards and forwards through the darkness, wary -and resolute, neither giving his antagonist advantage. The hand of the -unknown writhed itself from the other's clasp and stole downwards -towards his waist. Landless felt the motion and intercepted it. Then -the figure, with an angry guttural sound, began to put forth its full -strength. The arms encircled Landless with a slowly tightening iron -band; the great dark shoulder came forward with the force of a -battering-ram; the limbs twined like boa-constrictors around the limbs -of the other. Locked together, the two reeled into a little fairy glade, -where the short grass, pearled with dew, lay open to the moon. Here, -borne backwards by the overwhelming force of his assailant, Landless -fell heavily to the ground. The figure falling with him, pinned him to -the earth with its knee upon his breast. In the moonlight he saw the -gleam of the lifted knife. - -He had had but time for a half-tittered, half-thought prayer when the -pressure upon his breast relaxed; the knife fell, indeed, but harmlessly -upon the grass, and the figure rose to its height with an astonished -"Ugh!" - -Landless, rising also, began to think that he recognized the gigantic -form towering through the pale moonlight. - -"Ugh!" said the figure again. "The great Spirit threw us into the light -in time. Monakatocka had been forever shamed had his knife drunk the -life of his friend." - -"Why did you set upon me?" demanded Landless, still breathless from the -struggle, while the Indian was as calmly composed as upon the day of -their first meeting. - -"Monakatocka took you for the man for whom they hunt with dogs through -the forest, scaring the deer from the licks and the partridge from the -fern. Two nights ago Major Carrington said to Monakatocka, 'Find me -that man and kill him, and to the twenty arms' length of roanoke which -the county will pay to Monakatocka, I will add a gun with store of -powder, and with a bullet for every stag between Werowocomico and -Machot.' When he heard you a long way off, moving over the leaves, -trying to make no sound, Monakatocka thought he held the gun of the -pale-face Major in his hand. But now--" he waved his hand with a -gesture eloquent of resignation. - -"I am sorry to disappoint you," said Landless, amused at his air of calm -regret. - -"I am glad to have proved the strength of my brother," was the -sententious reply. "Where goes my brother through the woods, which are -full of danger to him to-night? Or has he a pass?" - -"I have business at Rosemead," answered Landless. "I am close to the -house, I think?" - -The Indian pointed through the trees. "It lies twelve bowshots before -you. The overseer with the dogs has gone to the great swamp to look for -the man with the red hair." - -"Thanks for the information, friend," said Landless. "I ask you, -moreover, to say nothing of this encounter. I have no pass." - -"I have but one friend," answered the Indian. "His secret is my secret." - -"Are you, too, then, so lonely?" asked Landless, touched by his tone. - -"Listen," said the Indian, leaning his back against a great oak. "I -will tell my brother who I am.... Many years ago the Conestogas, they -whom the palefaces call the Susquehannocks, came down the great bay and -fought with the palefaces. Monakatocka was then but a lad on his first -war-path. Agreskoi was angry: he hid his face behind a cloud. With -their guns the palefaces beat the Conestogas like fleeing women back to -their village on the banks of a great river, and themselves returned in -triumph to their board wigwams, bearing with them many captives. -Monakatocka, son to a great chief, was one. The palefaces made him to -work like a squaw in their fields of tobacco and maize. When he ran -away they put forth a long arm and plucked him back and beat him. -Agreskoi was angry, for Monakatocka had not any offering to make him. -One by one his fellow captives have dropped away like the leaves that -fall in the moon of Taquetock, until, behold! he is left alone. The -palefaces are his enemies. He thinks of the village beside the pleasant -stream, and he hates them. A warrior of the long house takes no friend -from the wigwam of an Algonquin. Monakatocka is alone." - -He spoke with a wild pathos, his high, stern features working in the -moonlight, and his bold glance softened into an exquisite melancholy. - -"I too am friendless," said Landless, "and bound to a far more degrading -captivity than that you suffer. Our fate is the same." - -The Indian took his hand in his, and raising it, pressed the forefinger -against a certain spot upon his shoulder. "You have a friend," he said. - -"You make too much of a very slight service," said Landless. "But I -embrace your offer of friendship--there 's my hand upon it. And now I -must be going upon my way. Good-night!" - -The Indian gave a guttural "Good-night," and Landless strode on through -the thinning woods. Shortly he emerged from the forest and saw before -him tobacco fields and a house, and beyond the house the vast sheet of -the Chesapeake slumbering beneath the moon. There was a beaten path -leading to the house. Landless struck into it and followed it until it -led him beneath a window which (having been once sent with a message to -the Surveyor-General), he knew to belong to the sleeping-chamber of -Major Carrington. Stopping beneath this window he listened for any -sound that might warn him of aught stirring within or without the -mansion,--all was silent, the house and its inmates locked in slumber. - -He took a handful of pebbles from the path and threw them, one by one, -against the wooden shutter, the thud of the last pebble being answered -by a slight noise from within the room. Presently the shutter was -opened and an authoritative voice demanded:-- - -"Who is it? What do you want?" - -Landless came closer beneath the window. "Major Carrington," he said in -a low voice, "It is I, Godfrey Landless. I must have speech with you." - -There was a moment's silence, and then the other said coldly, "'Must' is -a word that becomes neither your lips nor my ears. I know no reason why -Miles Carrington _must_ speak with the servant of Colonel Verney." - -"As you please: Godfrey Landless craves the honor of a word with Major -Carrington." - -"And what if Major Carrington refuses?" said the other sharply. - -"I do not think he will do so." - -The Surveyor-General hesitated a moment, then said:-- - -"Go to the great door. I will open to you in a moment. But make no -noise." - -Landless nodded, and proceeded to follow his directions. Presently the -door swung noiselessly inward, and Carrington, appearing in the opening, -beckoned Landless within, and led the way, still in profound silence, -across the hall to the great room. Here, after softly closing the door, -he lighted candles, saw to it that the heavy wooden shutters were -securely drawn across the windows, and turned to face his visitor in a -somewhat different guise than the riding suit and jack boots, the mask -and broad flapping beaver, in which he had appeared in their encounter -in the hut on the marsh. His stately figure was now wrapped in a -night-gown of dark velvet, his bare feet were thrust into velvet -slippers, and a silken nightcap, half on and half off, imparted a rakish -air to his gravely handsome countenance. He threw himself into a great -armchair and tapped impatiently upon the table. - -"Well!" he said dryly. - -Landless standing before him began to speak with dignity and to the -point. Godwyn, the head of a great conspiracy, was dead, leaving him, -Landless, in some sort his successor. In a conference of the leading -conspirators held but a few nights before the murder, Godwyn had -announced that not only had he given to the son of Warham Landless his -complete confidence, but that in case aught should happen to himself -before the time for action, he would wish the young man to succeed him -in the leadership of the revolt. There had been some demur, but Godwyn's -influence was boundless, and on his advancing reason after reason for -his preference, the Oliverians had acquiesced in his judgment and had -given their solemn promise to respect his wishes. Three nights later, -Godwyn was murdered. Since that dreadful blow, Landless had seen only -such of the conspirators as were in his immediate neighborhood. -Confounded at the turn affairs had taken, and utterly at a loss, they -had turned eagerly to him as to one having authority. For his own -freedom, for the sake of his promise to the dead man, he would do his -utmost. He had come to-night to discover, if possible, Major -Carrington's intentions-- - -Carrington, who had listened thus far with grave attention, frowned -heavily. - -"If my memory serves me, sirrah, I told you once before that Miles -Carrington stirs not hand or foot in this matter. I may wish you well, -but that is all." - -"'T is a poor friend that cries 'Godspeed!' to one who struggles in a -bog, and gives not his hand to help him out." - -"Your figure does not hold," said the other, dryly. "I have not cried -'Godspeed!' I have said nothing at all, either good or bad. I have -nothing to do with this conspiracy. You are the only man now living -that knows that I am aware that such a thing exists. And I hope, sir, -that you will remember how you gained that knowledge." - -"I am in no danger of forgetting." - -"Very well. Your journey here to-night was a useless as well as a -dangerous one. I have nothing to say to you." - -"Will you tell me one thing?" said Landless, patiently. "What will -Major Carrington have to say to me upon the day when I speak to him as a -free man with free men behind me?" - -"Upon that day," said the other, composedly, "Miles Carrington will -submit to the inevitable with a good grace, having been, as is well -known, a friend to the Commonwealth, and having always, even when there -was danger in so doing, spoken against the cruel and iniquitous -enslavement of men whose only offense was non-conformity, or the having -served under the banners of Cromwell." - -"If he should be offered Cromwell's position in the new Commonwealth, -what then?" - -"Pshaw! no such offer will be made." - -"We must have weight and respectability, must identify ourselves with -that Virginia in which we are strangers, if we are to endure," said -Landless, with a smile. "A fact that we perfectly recognize--as does -Major Carrington. He probably knows who is of, and yet head and -shoulders above, that party in the state upon whose support we must -ultimately rely, who alone could lead that party; who alone might -reconcile Royalist and Puritan;--and to whom alone the offer I speak of -will be made." - -Carrington smiled despite himself. "Well, then, if the offer is made, I -will accept it. In short, when your man is out of the bog I will lend -my aid to cleanse him of the stains incurred in the transit. But he -must pull himself out of the mire. I am safe upon the bank, I will not -be drawn with him into a bottomless ruin. Do I make myself plain?" - -"Perfectly," said Landless, dryly. - -The other flushed beneath the tone. "You think perhaps that I play but -a craven part in this game. I do not. God knows I run a tremendous risk -as it is, without madly pledging life and honor to this desperate -enterprise!" - -"I fail to see the risk," said Landless, coldly. - -The other struck his hand against the table. "I risk a slave -insurrection!" he said. - -A noise outside the door made them start like guilty things. The door -opened softly and a charming vision appeared, to wit, Mistress Betty -Carrington, rosy from sleep and hastily clad in a dressing-gown of -sombre silk. Her little white feet were bare, and her dark hair had -escaped from its prim, white night coif. She started when she saw a -visitor, and her feet drew demurely back under the hem of her gown, -while her hands went up to her disheveled hair: but a second glance -showing her his quality, she recovered her composure and spoke to her -father in her soft, serious voice. - -"I heard a noise, my father, and looking into your room, found it empty, -so I came down to see what made you wakeful to-night." - -"'T is but a message from Verney Manor, child," said her father. "Get -back to bed." - -"From Verney Manor!" exclaimed Betty. "Then I can send back to-night -the song book and book of plays lent me by Sir Charles Carew, and which, -after reading the first page, I e'en restored to their wrappings and -laid aside with a good book a-top to put me in better thoughts if ever I -was tempted to touch them again. I will get them, good fellow, and you -shall carry them back to their owner with my thanks, if it so be that I -can find words that are both courteous and truthful." - -"Stop, child!" said her father as she turned to leave the room. "The -volumes, which you were very right not to read, may rest awhile beneath -the good book. This is a secret mission upon which this young man has -come. It is about a--a matter of state upon which his master and I have -been engaged. No one here or at Verney Manor must know that he has been -at Rosemead." - -"Very well, my father," said Betty, meekly, "the books can wait some -other opportunity." - -"And," with some sternness, "you will be careful to hold your tongue as -to this man's presence here to-night." - -"Very well, father." - -"You are not to speak of it to Mistress Patricia or to any one." - -"I will be silent, my father." - -"Very well," said the Major. "You are not like the majority of women. -I know that your word is as good as an oath. Now run away to bed, -sweetheart, and forget that you have seen this messenger." - -"I am going now, father," said Betty, obediently. "Is Mistress Patricia -well, good fellow?" - -"Quite well, I believe, madam." - -"She spake of crossing to Accomac with Mistress Lettice and Sir Charles -Carew, when the latter should go to visit Colonel Scarborough. Know you -if she went?" - -"I think not, madam. I think that Sir Charles Carew went alone." - -"Ah! They have fallen out then," said Betty, half to herself, and with -a demure satisfaction in her wild flower face. "I am glad of it, for I -like him not. Thanks, good fellow, for your answering my idle -questions." - -Landless bowed gravely. Betty bent her pretty head, and with a hasty, -"I am going, father!" in answer to an impatient movement on the part of -the Major, vanished from the room. - -Carrington waited until the last light footfall had died away, and then -said, "Our interview is over. Are you satisfied?" - -"At least, I understand your position." - -"Yes," said Carrington, thoughtfully, "it is as well that you should -understand it. It is simple. I wish you well. I am in heart a -Commonwealth's man. I love not the Stuarts. I would fain see this fair -land freed from their rule and returned to the good days of the -Commonwealth. And I may as well acknowledge, since you have found it -out for yourself,"--a haughty smile,--"that I have my ambitions. What -man has not?" He rose and began to pace the room, his hands clasped -behind him, his handsome head bent, his rich robe trailing upon the -ground behind him. - -"I could rule this land more acceptably to the people than can William -Berkeley with his parrot phrases, 'divine right,' and 'passive -obedience.' I know the people and am popular with them, with Royalist -and Churchman as well as with Nonconformist and Oliverian. I know the -needs of the colony--home rule, self taxation, free trade, a more -liberal encouragement to emigrants, religious tolerance, a rod of iron, -for the Indians, the establishment of a direct slave trade with Africa -and the Indies. I could so rule this colony that in a twelvemonth's -time, Richard Verney or Stephen Ludlow, hot Royalists though they be, -would be forced to acknowledge that never, since the day Smith sailed up -the James, had Virginia enjoyed a tithe of her present prosperity." - -"''T is a consummation devoutly to be desired,'" said Landless, dryly. -"In the mean time, like the cat i' the adage--" - -"You are insolent, sirrah!" - -"When a stripling I served under one who took the bitter with the sweet, -the danger as well as the reward, who led the soldiers from whom he took -his throne." - -"Cromwell, sirrah," said Carrington sternly, "led soldiers. You would -require Miles Carrington to lead servants, to place himself, a gentleman -and a master, at the head of a rebellion which, if it failed, would -plunge him into a depth of ignominy and ruin proportionate to the height -from which he fell. He declines the position. When you have won your -freedom he will treat with you. Not before." - -"Then," said Landless slowly, "upon the day on which the flag of the -Commonwealth floats over the Assembly hall at Jamestown, then--" - -"Then I will join myself to you as I have said, and I will bring with me -those without whom your revolution would be but short-lived--the Puritan -and Nonconformist element in the colony, gentle and simple." - -"That is sufficiently explicit," said Landless, "and I thank you." - -"I have trusted you fully, young man," said the other, stopping before -him, "not only because you cannot betray me if you would, seeing that -not one scrap of writing exists to inculpate me in this matter, and that -your word would scarce be taken before mine, but because I believe you -to be trustworthy. I believe also"--graciously--"that Robert Godwyn -(whose death I sincerely mourn) showed his usual wisdom and knowledge of -mankind when he chose you as his confidant and co-worker. I wish you -well through with a dangerous and delicate piece of work and in -enjoyment of your reward, namely, your freedom, and the esteem of the -Commonwealth of Virginia. I will myself see to it that any past -offenses which you are supposed to have committed (for myself, I believe -you to have been harshly used), shall not stand in your light." - -"Major Carrington is very good," said Landless, calmly. "I shall study -to deserve his commendation." - -The other took a restless turn or two through the room, stopping at -length before the younger man. - -"You may tell me one thing," he said in a voice scarcely above a -whisper, and with his eyes bent watchfully upon the other's composed -face. "Had Godwyn set the day?" - -"Yes." - -"And you will adhere to it?" - -"Yes." - -"What day?" - -"The thirteenth of September." - -"Humph! Two weeks off! Well, my tobacco will be largely in, and I -shall send my daughter upon a visit to her Huguenot kindred upon the -Potomac. Good night." - -"Good night," answered Landless. - - - - - *CHAPTER XV* - - *THE WATERS OF CHESAPEAKE* - - -Patricia was ennuyee to the last degree. That morning Sir Charles had -ridden to Green Spring with her father; Mistress Lettice was in the -still room decocting a face wash from rose leaves, dew and honey; young -Shaw on his knees in the master's room, disconsolately poring over piles -of musty papers in search of a misplaced deed which the colonel had -ordered him to find against his return. It was a hot and listless -afternoon. Patricia read a page of "The Rival Ladies," tried her -spinet, had a languid romp with her spaniels, and finally sauntered into -the porch, and leaning her white arms upon the railing, looked towards -the dazzling blue waters of the Chesapeake. Presently an idea came to -her. She went swiftly into the hall, and called for Darkeih. When that -handmaiden appeared:-- - -"Darkeih, go down to the quarters, and tell the first man you meet to -find Woodson, and send him to me." - -Darkeih departed, and in half an hour's time the overseer appeared at -the foot of the porch steps, red and heated from his rapid walk from the -Three-Mile field. - -"What's wrong, Mistress Patricia?" he asked quickly. - -Patricia opened her lovely eyes. - -"Nothing is wrong, Woodson. What should be? I sent for you, because I -want to go to Rosemead." - -"To Rosemead!" exclaimed the overseer. - -"Yes, to Rosemead, and I want a couple of men to take me." - -The overseer gave a short, vexed laugh. "I can't spare the men, -Mistress Patricia. You ought to have known that every man jack on the -plantation is busy cutting. If I had a known this was all that was -wanted! Fegs! I thought something dreadful was the matter." - -"Something dreadful is the matter," said the young lady calmly. "I am -bored to death." - -"Sorry for ye, missy, but I can't spare the men." - -"Oh, yes, you can!" said Patricia with unruffled composure. - -The overseer, knowing his lady, began to weaken. - -"Anyhow, you would n't want two men. You might go on a pillion behind -old Abraham. I could spare _him_." - -"I shall not go a-horseback. 'T is too hot and dusty. I shall go in -one of the sail-boats--the Bluebird, I think." - -"Now, in the name of all that's contrary, what do you want to do that -for, Mistress Patricia?" cried the harassed overseer. "It's twice as -far by water." - -"I 'll reach Rosemead before dark. The men can bring the boat back -to-night, and Major Carrington will send me home on a pillion -to-morrow." - -"Have you forgotten that to-morrow is Sunday?" said the overseer -severely, and with a new-born anxiety for the proper observance of the -holy day. "Will you have the Colonel pay a fine for you?" - -"I will go to service with the Carringtons then, and come home on -Monday," said the lady serenely. - -"There 's a squall coming up this afternoon." - -"There isn't a cloud in the sky," said his mistress with calm -conviction, looking straight before her at a low, tumbled line of creamy -peaks along the horizon. - -"If the Colonel were here--" - -"He would say, 'Woodson, do exactly as Mistress Patricia tells you.'" -This with great sweetness. - -The overseer gave it up. "I reckon he would, missy," he said with a -grin. "You wind him and all of us around your finger." - -"'T is all for your good, Woodson," with a soft, bright laugh. Then, -coaxingly, "Am I to have the Bluebird?" - -"I reckon so, Mistress Patricia, seeing that you have set your heart -upon it," said the still reluctant overseer. - -"That's a good Woodson. I want Regulus to be one of the boatmen. You -can send any other you choose. I shall take Darkeih with me." - -"You can't have Regulus, Mistress Patricia," answered the overseer -positively. "He 's worth any two men in the field. I can't let him -go." - -"Let him be at the wharf in half an hour. I will be ready by then." - -"You can't have him, Missy." - -Patricia stamped her pretty foot. "Am I mistress of this plantation, or -am I not, Woodson?" - -"Lord knows you are!" groaned the overseer. - -"Then when I say I want Regulus, I will have Regulus and no other." - -The overseer sighed resignedly. "Very well, Mistress Patricia, I 'll -send for him." - -Patricia danced away, and the overseer strode down the path, viciously -crunching the pebbles and bits of shell beneath his feet. At the wharf -he found a detachment of the infant population of the quarters busily -crabbing; all of whom, save two little Indians who fished stoically on, -scrambled to their feet, and pulled a forelock. The overseer touched -one urchin upon the shoulder with the butt end of his whip. - -"You, Piccaninny, run as fast as your legs will carry you to the field -by the swamp, and tell Regulus to leave his work, and come to the big -wharf. Mistress Patricia wants to go a pleasuring." - -Piccaninny's black shanks and pink heels flew up and out, and he was -away like a flash. The overseer kept on to the end of the wharf, where -were clustered the boats, some tied to the piles, some anchored a little -way out. "Haines was to send a man to caulk a seam in the Nancy," he -muttered. "Whoever he is, he 'll have to go in the Bluebird. I 'm not -going to take another man from the tobacco. What fools women are! But -they get their way,--the pretty ones at least." He leaned over the -railing, and called,-- - -"You there, in the Nancy!" - -Godfrey Landless looked up from his work. "What is it?" - -The overseer chuckled grimly. "It's that fellow Landless who angered -her once before," he said to himself with a malicious grin. "Well, 't -is n't my business to know which of all the servants on this plantation -she most dislikes to come near her. She 'll have to put up with him -to-day. There is n't a better boatman on the place anyhow." - -To Landless he said, "Bring the Bluebird up to the wharf, and see that -she is sweet and clean inside. Mistress Patricia starts for Rosemead in -half an hour, and you and Regulus are to take her. You 'll bring the -boat back to-night. Step lively now!" - -Landless brought the Bluebird, a sixteen-foot open boat, up to the -wharf, made the inside, and especially the seat in the stern, spotlessly -clean, put up the sail, and sat down to wait. Presently Regulus -appeared above him, and swung himself down into the boat with a grin of -delight, for he much preferred sailing with "'lil missy" to cutting -tobacco. He had a great burly form and a broad, ebony face, and he was -the devoted slave of Patricia, and or Patricia's maid, Darkeih. -Moreover, he enjoyed the distinction of being the first negro born in -the Colony, his parents having been landed from the Dutch privateer -which in 1619 introduced the slave into Virginia. Viewed through a -vista of nigh three hundred years, he appears a portent, a tremendous -omen, a sign from the Eumenides. Upon that tranquil summer afternoon in -the Virginia of long ago he was simply a good-humored, docile, -happy-go-lucky, harmless animal. - -"'Lil Missy 's comin'," he remarked, with bonhommie, to his fellow -boatman. - -Darkeih, laden with cushions, appeared at the edge of the wharf. -Landless, standing in the bow below her, relieved her of her burdens, -and taking her by the hands, swung her down into the boat. She thanked -him with a smile that showed every tooth in her comely brown -countenance, and tripped aft, where, with the assistance of Regulus, she -proceeded to arrange a cushioned seat for her mistress. - -Landless waited for the lady of the manor to come forward. In the act -of extending her hands to the boatman, she glanced at him, crimsoned, -and drew back. Landless, interpreting color and action aright, buckled -his armor of studied quiet more closely over a hurt and angry heart. - -"I was ordered to attend you, madam," he said proudly. "But if you so -desire, I will find the overseer and tell him that you wish for some one -else in my place." - -"There is not time," was the cold reply. "And as well you as any other. -Let us be going." - -Landless held out his arms again. She measured with her eyes the -distance between her and the boat. "I do not need any help," she said. -"If you will stand aside, I can spring from here to the prow. - -"And strike the water instead, madam," said Landless, grimly, "when I -would have to touch more than your hand in order to pull you out." - -She colored angrily, but held out her hands. Landless lifted her down -and steadied her to her seat in the stern. She thanked him coldly, and -began at once to talk to Regulus with the playful familiarity of a -child. Regulus grinned delight; he had been "'lil Missy's" slave from -her childhood. Landless untied the boat from the piles and pushed her -off; Regulus, who was to steer, pulled the tiller towards him, and the -little Bluebird glided from the wharf, made a wide and graceful sweep, -and proceeded leisurely down the inlet towards the waters of the great -bay. - -Landless seated himself in the bow, and turned his face away from the -group in the stern. Patricia leaned back amidst her cushions, and -opened a book; Darkeih, upon the other side of the rudder, held a -whispered flirtation with Regulus, squatting at her feet, the tiller in -his hand. There was but little wind, but what there was came from the -land, and the Bluebird moved steadily though listlessly down the inlet, -between the velvet marshes. The water broke against the sides of the -boat with a languid murmur. It was very hot, and the sky above was of a -steely, unclouded blue that hurt the eyes. Only in the southwest the -line of cloud hills was erecting itself into an Alpine range. The glare -of the sun upon the white pages of her book dazzled Patricia's eyes; the -heat and the lazy swaying motion made her drowsy; With a sigh of -oppression she closed her book, and taking her fan from Darkeih, laid it -across her face, and curled herself among her cushions. - -"I will sleep awhile," she said to her hand-maiden, and serenely glided -into slumberland. - -She was in a balcony with Sir Charles Carew, looking down upon a -fantastic procession that wound endlessly on, with flaunting banners, -and to the sound of kettle-drums and trumpets, when she was aroused by -Landless' voice. She opened her eyes and looked up from her nest of -cushions to see him standing above her. - -"What is it?" she asked frigidly. - -"I grieve to waken you, madam, but there is a heavy squall coming up." - -She sat up and looked about her. The Bluebird had left the inlet and -was rising and falling with the long oily swell of the vast sheet of -water that stretched before them to a horizon of vivid blue. North and -east the water met the sky; a mile to the westward was the low wooded -shore which they were skirting. - -"The sun is shining," said Patricia, bewildered. "The sky is blue." - -"Look behind you." - -She turned and uttered an exclamation. The Alpine range had vanished, -and a monstrous pall of gray-black cloud was being slowly drawn upward -and across the smiling heaven. Even as she looked, it blotted out the -sun. - -"We had better make for the shore at once," said Landless. "We can -reach it before the storm breaks and can find shelter for you until it -is over." - -Patricia exclaimed: "Why, we cannot be more than three miles from -Rosemead! Surely we can reach it before that cloud overtakes us!" - -"I think not, madam." - -"Regulus!" cried his mistress imperiously. "We can reach Rosemead -before that storm breaks, can we not?" - -Among other amiable qualities, Regulus numbered a happy willingness to -please, even at the expense of truth. - -"Sho-ly, 'lil Missy," he said with emphasis. - -"And it will not be much of a squall, besides, will it, Regulus?" - -"No, 'lil Missy, not much ob squall," answered the obliging Regulus. - -"There is much wind in it," said Landless. "Look at those white clouds -scudding across the black; and these squalls strike with suddenness and -fury. I may put the boat about, madam?" - -"Certainly not. Regulus, who must know the Chesapeake and its squalls -much better than you possibly can, says there is no danger. I have no -mind to be set ashore in these woods with night coming on and Indians or -wolves prowling around." - -"I beg that you will be advised by me, madam." - -She looked at him as she had done that day in the master's room. "Is it -that you are _afraid_ of a Virginia squall? If so, you will have to -conquer your tremor. Regulus, keep the boat as it is." - -Landless went back to his seat in the bow, with tightened lips. The -wind freshened, coming in hot little puffs, and the Bluebird slid more -swiftly over the low hills. The water turned to a livid green and the -air slowly darkened. Across the black pall, looming higher and higher, -shot a jagged streak of fierce gold, followed by a low rumble of -thunder. A mass of gray-white, fantastically piled clouds whirled lip -from the eastern horizon to meet the vast blank sullen sheet overhead. -There came a more vivid flash and a louder roll of thunder. - -Landless walked aft and took the tiller from Regulus' hand, motioning -him forward to the place he had himself occupied. The negro stared, but -went with his accustomed docility. Patricia sat upright in indignant -surprise. - -"What are you doing?" - -"I am about to head the boat for the shore," suiting the action to the -word. - -Her eyes blazed. "Did you not hear me say that I wished to proceed to -Rosemead?" - -"Yes, madam, I did." - -"I order you, sir--" - -"And I choose to disobey." - -"I shall report you to Colonel Verney." - -"As you please, madam." - -From the prow, where he had been taking observations, Regulus cried in a -startled voice: "De win's comin'! De win 's comin' mighty quick!" - -Landless thrust the tiller into Patricia's hands. "Keep it there, just -where it is, for your life!" he cried authoritatively, and bounded -forward to where Regulus was already struggling with the sail. They got -it in and lashed to the mast just in time, for, with the shriek of a -thousand demons, the squall whirled itself upon them. In an instant -they were enveloped in a blinding horror of furious wind and rain, glare -of lightning and incessant, ear-splitting thunder. A leaden darkness, -illuminated only by the lightning, settled around them, and the air grew -suddenly cold. Beneath the whip of the wind the Chesapeake woke from -slumber, stirred, and rose in fury. The Bluebird danced dizzily upon -white crests or swooped into black and yawning chasms. Steadying -himself by the thwarts, Landless went back to Patricia, sitting pale and -with clasped hands, but making no sound. Darkeih, with a moan of fear, -had thrown herself down at her mistress' feet, and was hiding her face -in her skirts. Landless took a scarf from among the pile of cushions, -and wrapped it around Patricia. "'T is a poor protection against wet -and cold," he said, "but it is better than nothing." - -"Thank you," she said then, with an effort. "Do you think this squall -will last long?" - -"I cannot tell, madam. It is rather a hurricane than a squall. But we -must do the best we can." - -As he spoke there came a fresh access of wind with a glare of -intolerable light. The mast bent like a reed, snapped off clear to the -foot and fell inward, the loosened beam striking Regulus upon the head, -and bearing him down with it. The boat careened violently, and half -filled with water. Darkeih screamed, and Patricia sprang to her feet, -but sat down again at Landless' stern command, "Sit still! She will -right in a moment." - -He lifted and flung overboard the mass of splintered wood and flapping -cloth, then fell to bailing with all his might, for the danger of -swamping was imminent. Presently Patricia touched him upon the arm. "I -will bail if you will see to Regulus," she said, in a low, strained -voice. "I think he is dead." - -Landless resigned the pail into her hands and lifted the negro's head -and shoulders from the water in which he was lying, pillowing them upon -the stern seat. He was unconscious, and bleeding from a cut on the -forehead. - -"He is not dead nor like to die," Landless said. "He will revive before -long." - -The girl gave a long, quivering sigh of relief. Landless finished the -bailing and sat down at her feet. - -Some time later she asked faintly: "Do you not think the worst is over -now?" - -"I am afraid not," he answered gently. "There is a lull now, but I am -afraid the storm is but gathering its forces. But we will hope for the -best--" - -Another flash and crash cut him short. It was followed by rain that -fell, not in drops, but in sheets. The wind, which had been blowing a -heavy gale, rose suddenly into a tornado. With it rose the sea. The -masses of water, hissing and smoking under the furious pelting of the -rain, flung themselves upon the hapless Bluebird, laboring heavily in -the trough of the waves, or staggering over their summits. A constant -glare lit the heaving, tossing world of waters, and the air became one -roar of wind, rain, and thunder. - -Darkeih crouched moaning at her mistress' feet Regulus lay unconscious, -breathing heavily. Suddenly, with a quick intake of his breath, Landless -seized Patricia, pulled her down into the bottom of the boat, and held -her there. - -"I see," she said in a low, awed voice. "It is Death!" - -Through the glare a long green wall bore down upon them. The Bluebird -leaped to meet it. It lifted her up, up to meet the lightning, then -hurled her into black depths, and passed on, leaving her staggering in -the trough, water-logged and helpless. - - - - - *CHAPTER XVI* - - *THE FACE IN THE DARK* - - -Patricia lifted her white face from her hands. "We rode that dreadful -wave?" she cried incredulously. - -"By God's mercy, yes," said Landless gravely. - -"Is there any hope for us?" - -Landless hesitated. "Tell me the truth," she said imperiously. - -"We are in desperate case, madam. The boat is half filled with water. -Another such sea will sink us." - -"Why do you not bail the boat?" - -"The bucket is gone; the tiller also." - -She shivered, and Darkeih began to wail aloud. Landless laid a heavy -hand upon the latter's shoulder. "Silence!" he said sternly. "Here! I -shall lay Regulus' head in your lap, and you are to watch over him and -not to think of yourself. There 's a brave wench!" - -Darkeih's lamentations subsided into a low sobbing, and Landless turned -to her mistress. - -"Try to keep up your courage, madam," he said. "Our peril is great; but -while there is life there is hope." - -"I am not afraid," she said. "I--" The pitching of the boat threw her -against Landless, and he put his arm about her. "You must let me hold -you, madam," he said quietly. She shrank away from his touch, saying -breathlessly, "No, oh no! See! I can hold quite well by the gunwale." -He acquiesced in silence, only lifting her into a more secure position. -"I thank you," she said humbly. - -The storm continued to rage with unabated fury. Flash and detonation -succeeded flash and detonation; the rain poured in torrents: and the -wind whooped on the angry sea like a demon of destruction. The Bluebird -pitched and tossed at the mercy of the great waves that combed above -her. Time passed, and to the darkness of the storm was added the -darkness of the night. The occupants of the boat, drenched by the rain -and the seas she had shipped, shivered with cold. Regulus began to stir -and mutter. "He is coming to himself," Landless cried to Darkeih. "When -you see that he is conscious, make him lie still. He must not move -about." - -"Do you know where we are?" asked Patricia. - -"No, madam; but I fear that the wind is driving us out into the bay." - -"Ah!" - -She said it with a sob, for a sudden vision of home flashed across the -cold and darkness; and presently Landless could hear that she was -weeping. - -The sound went to his heart. "I would God could help you, madam," he -said gently. "Take comfort! You are in the hands of One who holds the -sea in the hollow of His hand." - -In a little while she was quiet. There passed another long interval of -silent endurance, broken by Patricia's saying piteously, "My hands are -so numbed with cold that I cannot hold to the side of the boat And my -arms are bruised with striking against it." - -Without a word Landless put his arm around her, and held her steady -amidst the tossings of the boat. "You are shivering with cold!" he said. -"If I had but something to wrap you in!" - -She drooped against him, and the lightning showed him her face, still -and white, with parted lips, and long lashes sweeping her marble cheek. - -"Madam, madam!" he cried roughly. "You must not swoon! You must not!" - -With a strong effort she rallied. "I will try to be brave," she said -plaintively. "I am not frightened,--not very much. But oh! I am cold -and tired!" - -He drew her head down upon his knee. "Let it lie there," he said, -speaking as to a tired child. "I will hold you quite steady. Now shut -your eyes and try to sleep. The storm is no worse than it was; and -since the boat has lived this long in this sea, she may live through the -night. And with morning may come many chances of safety. Try to rest -in that hope." - -Faint and exhausted from cold and terror, she submitted like a child, -and lay with closed eyes in a sort of stupor within his arms. - -There was less lightning now, and the thunder sounded in long booming -peals, instead of short, sharp cannon cracks. The rain, too, had -ceased; but the wind blew furiously, and the sea ran in tremendous -waves. Regulus stirred, groaned, and struggled into a sitting posture. -"Lie down again!" ordered Darkeih. "We 's all on de way to Heaben, but -if nigger shake de boat, we 'll get dere befo' de Lawd ready for us. -Lie down!" Regulus, muttering to himself, looked stupidly about him, -then dropped his head back into her lap. In three minutes he was -snoring. Darkeih's whimpering died away, and her turbaned head sank -lower and lower, until it rested upon that of Regulus, and she, too, -slept. - -Landless sat very still, holding his burden lightly and tenderly, and -staring into the darkness. Against the steep slope of the sea, a -picture framed itself, melted away, and was followed by others in long -procession. He saw a ruinous, ivy-grown hall, and an old, grave, formal -garden, where, between long box hedges broken by fantastic yews, there -walked a boy, book in hand. A man with a stately figure and a stern, -careworn face met the boy, and they leaned upon a broken dial, and the -father reasoned with the son of Right and Truth and Liberty, and -something touched upon the Tyrannicides of old. The yew trees drooped -their sombre boughs about the figures, and they were gone, and in their -place roared and swelled the Chesapeake.... The sound of the storm -became the sound of a battle-cry. He saw a clanging fight where sword -clashed upon armor, and artillery belched fire and thunder, and horse -and man went down in the melee, and were trampled under foot amidst -shrieks and oaths and stern prayers. The boy who had leaned upon the -dial fought coolly, desperately, drunk with the joy of battle, stung to -fierce effort by his father's eyes. The great banner, blazoned with the -Cross of Saint George, streamed in crimson and azure between the battle -and the lonely watcher in the storm-tossed boat, and the vision was -gone.... The spires of a great city, where men walked with long faces -and church bells made the only music, rose through the gloom, and he saw -a dingy chamber in a dingy stack of buildings, and within it, bending -over great tomes of law, a man, impoverished and orphaned, but young, -strong, and full of hope,--a man well spoken of and allowed to be on the -road to high preferment. The chamber wavered into darkness; but the -city spires flashed light, and the slow ringing changed to mad peals -from joy bells. Some one had been restored--to drop balm upon the -bleeding heart of a nation, to bring light to them that sit in -darkness,--so said the joy bells.... He saw a loathsome prison, and the -man who had sat in the dingy chamber lying therein under accusation of a -crime which he had not committed. He saw him pining there, week after -week, month after month, untried, forgotten, at the mercy of an enemy to -his house whose day had come with the Restored One.... The prison -vanished, and the waves that tossed around him were the waves of the -Atlantic. A ship ploughed her way through them. He saw into her -hold,--a horrible place of stench and filth and darkness,--a place where -hounds would not have kenneled. Men and women were there who cursed and -fought for the scanty, worm-eaten food that was thrown them. Some wore -gyves: they were heavy upon the wrists and ankles of the man of his -vision. He saw a face looking down upon this man, a handsome -supercilious face, with insolent amusement in the languid eyes and in -the curves of the lips. The hatches were battened down upon the cargo -of misery, and the ship with its brutal captain and its handful of -gold-laced, dicing, swearing passengers vanished.... He saw a sandy, -grass-grown street, and a row of mean houses, and a low, brick building -with barred windows. There was a crowd before this building, and a man -standing upon the platform of a pillory was selling human flesh and -blood. He saw the boy who had stood beneath the yews of the old Hull, -who had fought at Worcester beneath his father's eye; the man who had -lain in prison and in the noisome hold of the ship, put up and sold to -the highest bidder. He saw him carried away with other merchandise to -the home of his purchaser. He saw a Virginia plantation lying fair and -serene beneath a Virginia heaven; and a wide porch, and standing therein -an angelic vision, all grace and beauty, vivid youth and splendor. - -The picture vanished into the night that raved about him, and with a -long shaken sigh he let his eyes fall from the watery steeps to the face -of the woman who lay within his arms. He had not looked at her before, -conceiving that she might be awake and feel his glance upon her. Now he -could tell from her breathing that she slept. He gazed upon the pure -pale face with the golden hair falling about it, in a passion of pity -and tenderness. She moaned now and then in her sleep, or turned -uneasily in his arms. Once she spoke a few words, and he bent eagerly to -catch them, thinking that she had awakened and was speaking to him. -They were:-- - -"Ah, your Excellency! where I reign there shall be only good Churchmen -and loyal Cavaliers--no Roundheads, no rebel or convict servants!" and -she laughed in her sleep. - -Landless shrank as from a mortal blow, then broke into a bitter laugh, -and said to himself, "Thou art a fool, Godfrey Landless. It were but -too easy to forget to-night what thou art and what thou must seem to -her. Thou art answered according to thy folly." He sighed impatiently, -and withdrawing his gaze from the sleeping face, fell into a sombre -reverie. - -He was roused to active consciousness by a sudden and death-like pause -in the gale. The lightning showed the pall of cloud hanging low, black, -and unbroken; but the wind had sunk into an ominous calm. He looked -anxiously around him, then softly disengaging himself from Patricia, -leaned across her, and shook Regulus awake. The negro started up, -stupid from sleep and from his wound. - -"What is it, massa?" he queried. "Wake mighty early at Rosemead.... -Lawd hab mercy! we 's still on de Chesapeake!" - -"We will be in the Chesapeake in a moment," said Landless sternly, "if -you stagger about in that way. Sit down and pull your wits together. -You are like to need them all directly." He touched Darkeih and said, -as her eyes, wide with alarm, opened upon him, "Listen, my wench! -Whatever happens, you are to trust yourself to Regulus. He is a strong -swimmer and he will take care of you. You hear, Regulus!" - -"What is it?" exclaimed Patricia, as he bent over her. "Why have you -waked Regulus? And oh! has not that dreadful wind died away?" - -"It has stopped, madam, stopped suddenly and utterly," he said gravely. -"But it will come upon us from another quarter, and it will bring the -sea with it." He raised her, and held her with his arm. "Trust yourself -to me when it comes," he said gently. "If I can save you, I will." - -There was no time for more. Above them broke a new and more terrible -storm. A ball of fire shot from the cloud into the sea; it was followed -by a crash that seemed to shake the earth. A cataract of rain -descended. From the northeast there swooped upon them a wind to which -the gale of an hour before seemed a zephyr. It drove the boat before it -as if she had been the bird from which she took her name. It piled wave -on wave until the sea ran in mountains. Athwart the storm came a dull -booming roar, and above the great hills of water appeared a long ridge -crested with white. - -"It is coming," said Landless. - -Patricia looked up at him with great, despairing, courageous eyes. "I -have caused your death," she said. "Forgive me." - -There came a vivid flash, and a loud scream from Darkeih. "De lan'! de -bressed, bressed, lan'!" - -Landless wheeled. Silhouetted against the lit sky he saw a fringe of -pines, and below it a low, shelving shore where the waves were breaking -in foam and thunder. The Bluebird, driven by the wind, was hurrying -towards it in mad bounds. The great wave overtook her, bore her onward -with it, and sunk her within fifty feet of the shore. - -Ten minutes later Landless, breathless and exhausted, staggered from out -the hell of pounding waves and blinding, stinging spray on to the shore. -Unlocking Patricia's arms from about his neck he laid her gently down -upon the sand and turned to look for the other occupants of the hapless -Bluebird. They were close behind him. In a few minutes the two men, -battling against wind and rain, had borne the women out of reach of the -waves, and had placed them in the shelter of a low bank of sand. As -Landless set his burden down he said reverently, "I thank God, madam." - -"And I thank God," she answered, in the same tone. - -He tried to shield her from the wind with his body. "It is frightful," -he said, "that you should be exposed to such a night. I pray God that -you take no harm." - -"Would it not be more sheltered higher up the shore, under those trees?" - -"Perhaps, but I fear to risk you there with the lightning so near. -Later, when the storm subsides, we will try it." - -He seated himself so as to screen her as much as possible from wind and -rain, and a silence fell upon the party so suddenly snatched from death. -Regulus stretched himself upon the sand and pulled Darkeih down beside -him. Within a few minutes they were both asleep. The white man and -woman sat side by side without speaking, watching the storm. - -By degrees it raved itself out. The rain fell in less and less volume, -the lightning became infrequent, the thunder pealed less loudly, and the -wind died from a hurricane into a breeze. In two hours' time from the -swamping of the boat the booming of the sea, and a ragged mass of cloud, -lit by an occasional flash and slowly falling away from a pale and -watery moon, were the only evidences of the tornado which had raged so -lately. - -"The storm is over," said Patricia, breaking a long silence. - -"Yes," said Landless. "You have nothing to fear now. Would you not -like to walk a little? You must be sadly chilled and weary with long -sitting." - -"Yes, I would," she answered, with a sigh of relief. "Let us walk -towards those trees, and see if forest or water be beyond them." - -He helped her to her feet, and they left the slaves sleeping upon the -ground, and moved slowly, for she was numbed with cold, towards the -fringe of pines. - -Landless walked beside her without speaking. A while ago she had been -simply a woman in danger of death--something for him to protect and to -save. He had well nigh forgotten: he knew that she had quite forgotten. -She was safe now, and was become once more the lady of the manor to -whose soil he was fettered, he had remembered, and she was beginning to -remember, for presently she said timidly and sweetly, but with -condescension in her voice;-- - -"I am not ungrateful for all that you have done for me to-night, for -saving my life. And, trust me, you will not find your mas--my father, -ungrateful either. We will find some way to reward--" - -"I neither merit nor desire reward, madam," said Landless, proudly and -sadly, "for doing but my duty as a man and as your servant." - -"But--" she began kindly, when he interrupted her with sudden passion. - -"Unless you wish to cut me to the heart, to bitterly humiliate me, you -will not speak of payment for any service I may have done you. I have -been a gentleman, madam. For this one night treat me as such." - -"I beg your pardon," she said at once. - -They reached the belt of trees and entered it. Outside, the broken -clouds had permitted an occasional gleam of watery moonshine; within the -shadow of the trees it was gross darkness. Above them the wet branches, -moved by the wind which still blew strongly, clashed together with a -harsh and mournful sound, showering them with heavy raindrops. Their -feet sank deeply in cushions of soaked moss and rotting leaves. - -"There is nothing to be done here," said Landless. "It is better beneath -the open sky." - -There came a last, vivid flash of lightning that for a moment lit the -wood, showing long colonnades of glistening tree trunks, with here and -there a blasted and fallen monster. It showed something more, for -within ten feet of them, from out a tangle of dripping, rain-beaten -vines looked the face of the murderer of Robert Godwyn. - - - - - *CHAPTER XVII* - - *LANDLESS AND PATRICIA* - - -For one moment the parties to this midnight encounter stared at each -other with starting eyeballs; the next, down came the curtain of -darkness between them. - -With a cry of terror Patricia seized and clung to Landless's arm, -trembling violently, and with her breath coming in long, gasping sobs. -Exhausted by the previous terrors of the night, this last experience -completely unnerved her--she seemed upon the point of swooning. -Divining what would soonest calm her, Landless hurried her out of the -wood and down the shore to the bank, beneath which lay the sleeping -slaves. Here she sank upon the sand, her frame quivering like an aspen. -"That dreadful face!" she said in a low, shaken voice. "It is burned -upon my eyeballs. How came it there? Was it--dead?" - -"No, no, madam," Landless said soothingly. "'Tis simple enough. The -murderer is in hiding within these woods, and we stumbled upon his -lair." - -She gazed fearfully around her. "I see it everywhere. And may he not -follow us down here? Oh, horrible!" - -"He is not likely to do that," said Landless, with a smile. "You may -rest assured that he is far from this by now." - -She drew a long breath of relief. "Oh! I hope he is!" she cried -fervently. "It was dreadful! No storm could frighten me as did that -face!" and she shuddered again. - -"Try not to think of it," he said. "It is gone now; try to forget it." - -"I will try," she said doubtfully. - -Landless did not answer, and the two sat in silence, watching out the -dreary night. But not for long, for presently Patricia said humbly:-- - -"Will you talk to me? I am frightened. It is so still, and I cannot -see you, nor the slaves, only that horrid, horrid face. I see it -everywhere." - -Landless came nearer to her, and laid one hand upon the skirt of her wet -robe. "I am here, close to you, madam," he said; "there can nothing -harm you." - -He began to speak quietly and naturally of this and that, of what they -should do when the day broke, of Regulus's wound, of the storm, of the -great sea and its perils. He told her something of these latter, for he -knew the sea; piteous tales of forlorn wrecks, brave tales of dangers -faced and overcome, of heroic endurance and heroic rescue. He told her -tales of a wild, rockbound Devonshire coast with its scattered fisher -villages; of a hidden cave, the resort of a band of desperadoes, half -smugglers, half pirates, wholly villains; of how this cave had been long -and vainly searched for by the authorities; of how, one night, a boy -climbed down a great precipice, scaring the sea-fowl from their nests, -and lighted upon this cavern with the smugglers in it, and in their -midst a defenseless prisoner whom they were about to murder. How he had -shouted and made wailing, outlandish noises, and had sent rocks hurtling -down the cliffs, until the wretches thought that all the goblins of land -and sea were upon them, and rushed from the cavern, leaving their work -undone. Whereupon, the boy reclimbed the cliff, and hastening to the -nearest village, roused the inhabitants, who hurried to their boats, and -descending upon the long-sought-for cave, surprised the smugglers, cut -them down to a man, and rescued the prisoner. - -The man who told these things told them well. The wild tales ran like a -strain of sombre music through the night. His audience of one forgot -her terror and weariness, and listened with eager interest. - -"Well--" she said, as he paused. - -"That is all. The ruffians were all killed and the prisoner rescued." - -"And the boy?" - -"Oh, the boy! He went back to his books." - -"Did you know him?" - -"Yes, I knew him. See, madam, it has quite cleared. How the moon -whitens those leaping waves!" - -"Yes, it is beautiful. I am glad the prisoner escaped. Was he a -fisherman?" - -"No; an officer of the Excise--a gallant man, with a wife and many -children. Yes, I suppose he prized life." - -"And I am glad that the smugglers were all killed." - -Landless smiled. "Life to them was sweet, too, perhaps." - -"I do not care. They were wicked men who deserved to die. They had -murdered and robbed. They were criminals--" - -She stopped short, and her face turned from white to red and then to -white again, and her eyes sought the ground. - -"I had forgotten," she muttered. - -The hot color rose to Landless's cheek, but he said quietly:-- - -"You had forgotten what, madam?" - -She flashed a look upon him. "You know," she said icily. - -"Yes, I know," he answered. "I know that the perils of this night had -driven from your mind several things. For a little while you have -thought of, and treated me, as an equal, have you not? You could not -have been more gracious to,--let us say, to Sir Charles Carew. But now -you have remembered what I am, a man degraded and enslaved, a felon,--in -short, the criminal who, as you very justly say, should not be let to -live." - -She made no answer, and he rose to his feet. - -"It is almost day, and the moon is shining brightly. You no longer fear -the face in the dark? I will first waken the slaves, and then will push -along the shore, and strive to discover where we are." - -She looked at him with tears in her eyes. "Wait," she said, putting out -a trembling hand. "I have hurt you. I am sorry. Who am I to judge -you? And whatever you may have done, however wicked you may have been, -to-night you have borne yourself towards a defenseless maiden as truly -and as courteously as could have done the best gentleman in the land. -And she begs you to forget her thoughtless words." - -Landless fell upon his knee before her. "Madam!" he cried, "I have -thought you the fairest piece of work in God's creation, but harder than -marble towards suffering such as may you never understand! But now you -are a pitying angel! If I swear to you by the honor of a gentleman, by -the God above us, that I am no criminal, that I did not do the thing for -which I suffer, will you believe me?" - -"You mean that you are an innocent man?" she said breathlessly. - -"As God lives, yes, madam." - -"Then why are you here?" - -"I am here, madam," he said bitterly, "because Justice is not blind. -She is only painted so. Led by the gleam of gold she can see well -enough--in one direction. I could not prove my innocence. I shall -never be able to do so. And any one--Sir William Berkeley, your father, -your kinsman--would tell you that you are now listening to one who -differs from the rest of the Newgate contingent, from the coiners and -cheats, the cut-throats and highway robbers in whose company he is -numbered, only in being hypocrite as well as knave. And yet I ask you -to believe me. I am innocent of that wrong." - -The moonlight struck full upon his face as he knelt before her. She -looked at him long and intently, with large, calm eyes, then said softly -and sweetly:-- - -"I believe you, and pity you, sir. You have suffered much." - -He bowed his head, and pressed the hem of her skirt to his lips. - -"I thank you," he said brokenly. - -"Is there nothing?" she said after a pause, "nothing that I can do?" - -He shook his head. "Nothing, madam. You have given me your belief and -your divine compassion. It is all that I ask, more than I dared dream -of asking an hour ago. You cannot help me. I must dree my weird. I -would even ask of your goodness that you say nothing of what I have told -you to Colonel Verney or to any one." - -"Yes," she said thoughtfully. "If I cannot help you, it were wiser not -to speak. I might but make your hard lot harder." - -"Again I thank you." He kissed the hem of her robe once more, and rose -to his feet with a heart that sat lightly on its throne. - -The day began to break. With the first faint flush Landless woke the -slaves, who at length yawned and shivered themselves into consciousness -of their surroundings. "What are we to do now?" demanded Patricia. - -"We had best strike through that belt of woods until we come to some -house, whence we may get conveyance for you to Verney Manor." - -"Very well. But oh! do not let us enter the forest here where we saw -that fearful face. Let us walk along the shore until the light grows -stronger. It is still night within the woods." - -Landless acquiesced with a smile, and the four--he and Patricia in -front, the negroes straying in the rear--set out along the shore. The -air was chill and heavy, but there was no wind, and the unclouded sky -gave promise of a hot day. In the east the rosy flush spread and -deepened, and a pink path stretched itself across the fast subsiding -waters. The wet sand dragged at their feet, and made walking difficult, -moreover Patricia was chilled and weary, so their progress was slow. -There were dark circles beneath her eyes, and her lips had a weary, -downward curve; her golden hair, broken from its fastenings, hung in -damp, rich masses against her white throat and blue-veined temples, and -amidst the enshrouding glory her perfect face looked very small and -white and childlike. The magnificent eyes carried in their clear, brown -depths an expression new to Landless. Heretofore he had seen in them -scorn and dislike; now they looked at him with a grave and wondering -pity. - -As the sun rose, the shipwrecked party left the shore, and entered the -forest. A purple light filled its vast aisles. Far overhead bits of -azure gleamed through the rifts in the foliage, but around them was the -constant patter and splash of rain drops, falling slow and heavy from -every leaf and twig. There was a dank, rich smell of wet mould and -rotting leaves, and rain-bruised fern. The denizens of the woodland -were all astir. Birds sang, squirrels chattered, the insect world -whirred around the yellow autumn blooms and the purpling clusters of the -wild grape; from out the distance came the barking of a fox. The -sunlight began to fall in shafts of pale gold through openings in the -green and leafy world, and to warm the chilled bodies of the wayfarers. - -"It is like a bad dream," said Patricia gayly, as Landless held back a -great, wet branch of cedar from her path. "All the storm and darkness, -and the great hungry waves and the danger of death! Ah! how happy we -are to have waked!" - -Her glance fell upon Landless's face, and there came to her a sudden -realization that there were those in the world, to whom life was not one -sweet, bright gala day. She gazed at him with troubled eyes. - -"I hope you care to live," she said. "Death is very dreadful." - -"I do not think so," he answered. "At least it would be forgetfulness." - -She shuddered. "Ah! but to leave the world, the warm, bright, beautiful -world! To die on your bed, when you are old--that is different. But to -go young! to go in storm and terror, or in horror and struggling as did -that man who was murdered! Oh, horrible!" - -The thought of the murdered man brought another thought into her mind. - -"Do you think," she said, "that we had better tell that we saw the -murderer at the first house to which we come, or had we best wait until -we reach Verney Manor?" - -Landless gave a great start. "You will tell Colonel Verney that?" - -She opened her eyes widely. "Why, of course! What else should we do? -Is not the country being scoured for him? My father is most anxious -that he should be captured. Justice and the weal of the State demand -that such a wretch should be punished." She paused and looked at him -gravely as he walked beside her with a clouded face. "You say nothing! -This man is guilty, guilty of a dreadful crime. Surely you do not wish -to shield him, to let him escape?" - -"Not so, madam," said Landless in desperation. "But--but--" - -"But what?" she asked as he stopped in confusion. - -He recovered himself. "Nothing, madam. You are right, of course. But -I would not speak before reaching Verney Manor." - -"Very well." - -Landless walked on, bitterly perplexed and chagrined. The strife and -danger of the night, the intoxicating sweetness of the morning hours -when he knew himself believed in and pitied by the woman beside him, had -driven certain things into oblivion. He had been dreaming, and now he -had been plucked from a fool's paradise, and dashed rudely to the -ground. Yesterday and the life and thoughts of yesterday, which had but -now seemed so far away, pressed upon him remorselessly. And to-morrow! -He did not want Roach to be taken. Always there would have been danger -to himself and his associates in the capture of the murderer, but now -when the vindictive wretch would assuredly attribute his disaster to the -man to whom the lightning flash had revealed his presence on the shores -of the bay, the danger was trebled. And it was imminent. He had little -doubt that another night would see Roach in custody, and he had no doubt -at all that the scoundrel would make a desperate effort to save his neck -by betraying what he knew of the conspiracy--and thanks to Godwyn's -lists he knew a great deal--to Governor and Council. - -Patricia began to speak again. "It imports much that men should see -that there is no weakness in the arm the law stretches out to seize and -punish offenders. My father and the Governor and Colonel Ludlow believe -that there is afoot an Oliverian plot-- What is the matter?" - -"Nothing, madam." - -"You stood still and caught your breath. Are you ill, faint?" - -"It is nothing, madam, believe me? You were saying?" - -"Oh! the Oliverians! Nothing definite has been discovered as yet, but -there is thunder in the air, my father says, and I know that he and the -Governor and the rest of the council are very watchful just now. But -yesterday my father said that those few hundred men form a greater -menace to the Colony than do all the Indians between this and the South -Sea." - -They walked on in silence for a few moments, and then she broke out. -"They are horrible, those grim, frowning men! They are rebels and -traitors, one and all, and yet they stand by and shake curses on the -heads of true men. They slew the best man, the most gracious sovereign; -they trampled the Church under foot, they made the blood of the noble -and the good to flow like water, and now when they receive a portion of -their deserts, they call themselves martyrs! They, martyrs! Roundhead -traitors!" - -"Madam," interrupted Landless with a curious smile upon his lips, "did -you not know that I was, that I am, what you call a Roundhead?" - -"No," she said, "I did not know," and stood perfectly still, looking -straight before her down the long vista of trees. He saw her face -change and harden into the old expression of aversion. The slaves came -up to them, and Regulus asked if 'lil Missy wanted anything. "No, -nothing at all," she answered, and walked quietly onward. - -Landless, an angry pain tugging at his heart, kept beside her, for they -were passing through a deep hollow in the wood where the gnarled and -protruding roots of cypress and juniper made walking difficult, and -where a strong hand was needed to push aside the wet and pendent masses -of vine. Regulus, fifty yards behind them, began to sing a familiar -broadside ballad, torturing the words out of all resemblance to English. -The rich notes rang sweetly through the forest. Down from the far -summit of a pine flashed a cardinal bird, piercing the gloom of the -hollow like a fire ball thrown into a cavern. Landless held aside a -curtain of glistening leaves that, mingled with purple clusters of -fruit, hung across their path. Patricia passed him, then turned -impulsively. "You think me hard!" she said. "Many people think me so, -but I am not so, indeed.... And there are good Puritans. Major -Carrington, they say, is Puritan at heart, and he is a good man and a -gentleman.... And you saved my life.... At least you are not like -those men of whom I spoke. You would not plot against the good peace -which we enjoy! You would not try to array servant against master?" - -It was a direct question asked with large, straight-forward eyes fixed -upon his. He tried to evade it, but she asked again with insistence, -and with a faint doubt lurking in her eyes, "If these men are plotting, -which God forbid! you know nothing of it? You have great wrongs, but -you would take no such dastard way to right them?" - -Landless's soul writhed within him, but he told the inevitable lie that -was none the less a lie that it was also the truth. He said in a low -voice, "I trust, madam, that I will do naught that may misbecome a -gentleman." - -She was quite satisfied. He saw that he had regained the ground lost by -his avowal of a few minutes before, and he cursed himself and cursed his -fate. - -Soon afterwards they emerged from the forest upon a tobacco patch, from -the midst of which rose a rude cabin, in whose doorway stood a woman -serving out bowls of loblolly to half a dozen tow-headed children. - -Half an hour later, Patricia, rested and refreshed, took her seat behind -the oxen, which the owner of the cabin had harnessed up, with much -protestation of his eagerness to serve the daughter of Colonel Verney, -emptied her purse in the midst of the open-mouthed children, and bade -kindly adieu to the good wife. Darkeih curled herself up in the bottom -of the cart, and Landless and Regulus walked beside it. - -In two hours' time they were at Verney Manor, where they found none but -women to greet them. Rendered uneasy by the storm, Woodson had -despatched a messenger to Rosemead, who had returned with the tidings -that no boat from Verney Manor had reached that plantation. The -overseer had ill news with which to greet the Colonel and Sir Charles -when at midnight they arrived unexpectedly from Green Spring. Since -then every able-bodied man had deserted the plantation. There were no -boats at the wharf, no horses in the stables. The master and Sir -Charles were gone in the Nancy, the two overseers on horseback. A -Sabbath stillness brooded over the plantation, until a negro woman -recognized the occupants of the ox-cart lumbering up the road. Then -there was noise enough of an exclamatory, feminine kind. The shrill -sounds penetrated to the great room, where, behind drawn curtains, -surrounded by essences, and an odor of burnt feathers, with Chloe to fan -her, and Mr. Frederick Jones to murmur consolation, reclined Mistress -Lettice. As Patricia stepped upon the porch, Betty Carrington flew down -the stairs and through the hall, and the two met with a little -inarticulate burst of cries and kisses. Mistress Lettice in the great -room went into hysterics for the fifth time that morning. - - - - - *CHAPTER XVIII* - - *A CAPTURE* - - -At noon the next day returned the search party, dispatched by the -Colonel on receipt of his daughter's information, and headed by Woodson -and Sir Charles Carew. In their midst, bound with ropes, and seated -behind one of the mounted men, was Roach. His clothing hung from him in -tatters, and witnessed, moreover, to the quagmires and mantled pools -through which he had struggled; his arm had been injured, and was tied -with a bloody rag; blood was caked upon his villainous face, scratched -and torn in his breathless bursting through thickets; his red hair fell -over his eyes in matted elf-locks; his lips were drawn back in a snarl -over discolored fangs; he panted like a dog, his thick red tongue -hanging out. He looked hardly human. The man behind whom he rode was -Luiz Sebastian. - -The party dismounted in the small square, in the midst of the quarters. -It being the noon rest, the entire servant population was on hand, and -leaving its cabins and smoking messes of bacon and succotash, it -hastened to a man to the square, where, beneath the dead tree and its -sinister appendage, stood the master, listening to Woodson's account of -the capture, and to Sir Charles's airy interpolations. Roach, dragged -from the horse by a dozen officious hands, staggered with exhaustion. -Luiz Sebastian caught him by the arm and so held him during the ensuing -interview. - -When the unusual bustle, the neighing of the horses, and the excited -voices of the crowd brought the news of the capture to Landless, -sitting, sunk in anxious thought, within his cabin, he rose and began to -pace to and fro in the narrow room. Past his door hurried men, women -and children on their way to the square. One or two beckoned him to -follow, but he shook his head. "If he betray me," he thought, "my fate -will come to me soon enough. I will not go to meet it." - -In his restless pacing to and fro, he stopped before a shelf where, -beside some coarse eating utensils and the heap of tobacco pegs, the -cutting of which occupied his spare moments, lay a little worn book. It -had been Godwyn's. He opened it at random, and read a few verses. With -a heavy sigh he laid his arm along the shelf and rested his burning -forehead upon it. "'Let not your heart be troubled,'" he said beneath -his breath; and again, "'Let not your heart be troubled.'" He -recommenced his pacing up and down the room. "'Peace I leave with you, -My peace I give unto you.'" Going to the doorway he leaned against it -and looked out into a world of sunshine, and up to where the topmost -branches of a pine slept against the blue. "There may be peace beyond," -he said. "I have not found it here." - -Down the lane came a murmur of voices; then the overseer's harsh tones; -then a light and mocking laugh. Seized by an uncontrollable impulse he -left the cabin and directed his steps towards the square. As he passed a -cabin some doors from his own, a gaunt figure arose from the doorstep -and joined itself to him. - -"The murderer is here," said the sepulchral voice of Master Win-Grace -Porringer. "Verily the blood hath been taken out of his mouth, and his -abominations from between his teeth. Cursed be the shedder of innocent -blood!" - -"Amen," said Landless, then. "This capture is like to be our ruin. -This wretch will not keep silence." - -"But he has no proofs. Since you destroyed those lists there exists not -a scrap of writing about this affair. And we have covered our tracks as -carefully as if we were the cursed heathen of the land upon the -war-path. Let him say what he will. The Malignants, besotted fools! -will think he lies to save his neck." - -"A week ago they might have thought so," said Landless. "But not now. -Something has gotten abroad. Already Governor and Council think they -smell a plot." - -The Muggletonian caught his breath. "How do you know this?" - -"No matter how: I know it." - -Porringer raised his scarred face to heaven. "God," he said, "we are -thy people! Save us! Let destruction come upon them unawares; let them -go down a dark and slippery way to death; make them to be as blind and -deaf adders that see not the foot of the destroyer! Yea, shake thy hand -upon these Malignants and make them a spoil to their servants!" He -turned his ghastly face and burning eyes upon Landless. "Curse them with -me!" he cried. - -Landless shook his head. "Thou and I look not alike at things, friend," -he said. - -"Thou art a Laodicean!" cried the other wildly. "Thou hast not an eye -single to the Lord's work as had thy father before thee. Thou wouldst -not smite the Amalekites hip and thigh, root and branch! One damsel -would thou save alive, and for her sake thy heart is soft towards the -whole accursed brood! Look to it lest the Lord spew thee out of His -mouth! Woe, woe, to him that putteth his hand to the plough and looketh -back!" He laughed wildly and tossed out his arms. - -"I think thou hast eaten of the Jamestown weed!" said Landless fiercely. -"Collect thy senses, man! And speak something less loudly, or Roach's -betrayal will be superfluous. As to myself, if I curse not, I act; and -as for my motives for what you call lukewarmness, and I call common -humanity, you will please to let them alone!" - -The excitement faded from the fanatic's face, and he said more quietly, -"You are right, friend. I was mad for a moment, mad to see that freedom -which is so near us so imperiled. I meant not to quarrel with you who -have shown in the conduct of this work the discernment of a young -Daniel, yea, who have so borne yourself, that I have grown to care for -you as I never thought to care again for human being. I have prayed -much that you should be brought from the twilight of Calvinism into the -pure light wherein walk the disciples of the blessed Ludovick." - -They reached the square and mingled with the motly crowd that lined its -sides, leaving the centre occupied only by the murderer, his captors, -and the master. Followed by the Muggletonian, Landless made his way to -where the yellow locks of young Dick Whittington towered above the -crowd. The boy saw him coming, and edging past a knot of blacks, met -him in a little open space, whose only occupants were two or three -women, and an Indian squatting upon the ground. Leaning against a pine, -and fixing his gaze and, to all appearance, his attention upon the -central group where the overseer was just finishing a circumstantial -account of the chase, Landless said quietly:-- - -"You were of the party that took him?" - -"That I was!" answered the boy gleefully. "Losh! but it was fun!" His -blue eyes danced with impish delight; a noiseless laugh showed all his -strong white teeth. "We went straight to the spot where you and -Mistress Patricia saw him by the lightning. There the dogs struck his -trail and the fun commenced. Over streams and fallen trees, and -chinquepin ridges; through bogs and myrtle thickets and miles of grape -vines--swounds! but it was hot work! Just look at the scratches on my -face and hands! Joyce Whitbread would n't know me! The Court spark, he -wore a mask and saved his beauty. He's a well-plucked one, though, took -the lead and kept it, and when it was over, treated us to usquebaugh at -Luckey Doughty's store. Well, we run the fox to earth in a Chickahominy -village. Lord! I 'm sorry for the half king of the Chickahominies! -He'll have to answer to Governor and Council for letting red fox burrow -in his village. Found him squatted in a sassafras patch. Snarled and -fought and tried to bite like the beast he is. Woodson and the Court -spark took him." - -"Do you know what will be done with him now?" - -"He 'll be taken on to the gaol at the court-house." - -"That is five miles from here," said Landless. - -"Yes, near to the village where we took him. He 'll be kept there until -they can try him. And they'll make short work of him. He 'll be food -for crows directly." - -The throng pressed upon them, forcing them nearer to the group beneath -the dead tree. The overseer had finished his account, and the master -was clearing his throat to speak. Landless found himself upon the inner -verge of the mass of spectators, directly opposite the murderer, and -confronted by him with a look so dark, wild and malignant, that he could -not doubt the intention that lay behind those scowling eyes. Luiz -Sebastian, still with the murderer's arm in his grasp, gave him a -peculiar look which he could not translate. In the background he saw -Trail's sinister face peering over the shoulder of an Indian. - -"You dog!" said the planter, addressing himself directly to Roach. -"What have you to say for yourself?" - -The murderer made an uncertain sound with his dry lips, and his -bloodshot eyes roamed around the circle from one staring face to -another, until they returned to rest upon the watchful, amber-hued -countenance beside him. - -"Speak!" said his master sternly. - -"I 'll say nothing," was the dogged reply, "until I stands my trial. I -demands a fair trial." - -"Remember that this is your last chance to speak to me, to speak to any -one in authority before you are tried. Of course you will hang for -this. Have you anything to say? Do you wish to speak to me in -private?" - -The murderer raised his head, and shaking the tangled hair from about -his face, cast at Landless, standing ten paces beyond the planter, such -a look of deadly and blasting hatred, that for a moment the blood ran -cold in the young man's veins. He set his teeth and braced himself to -meet the blow at plans and hopes and life that should follow such a -look. - -To his astonishment the blow did not fall. Roach changed the basilisk -gaze with which he had regarded him to a vacant stare. - -"I 've naught to say," he whined, "except that I hopes your honor will -see that I has a fair trial--no d--d Tyburn or Newgate hocus-pocussing." - -The master beckoned to the overseer. "Take him away," he said. "Take -two or three men and carry him on to the gaol." - -He turned on his heel and walked to where Sir Charles Carew leaned -against a tree, idly flicking the mud from his boots with his riding -cane. Landless standing near and listening with strained ears heard the -master say in answer to the other's lifted brows:-- - -"Nothing to be learnt in that quarter. If there 's rebellion brewing, -he knows nothing of it." - -Fresh horses were brought from the stables. "You, Luiz Sebastian, -Taylor, and Mathew," said the overseer, swinging himself into the -saddle. The men designated mounted, and Roach, bound and scowling, was -hoisted to his former seat behind Luiz Sebastian. The cavalcade started. -As the horse that bore the double load passed Landless, the murderer -twisted himself about in his seat, and, with a venomous look, spat at -him. Luiz Sebastian smiled evilly. - -The shaven head and fleshless face of Win-Grace Porringer protruded -themselves over Landless's shoulder. - -"What does it mean?" he muttered. - -"God knows," answered the other. "Come to the trysting place to-night. -We must act, and act quickly." - -That night ten men met in the deserted hut on the marsh, having stolen -with the caution of Indians from their respective plantations. Five -were men who had fought at Edgehill and Naseby and Worcester, or had -followed Cromwell through the breach at Drogheda. Four were victims of -the Act of Uniformity; darker, sterner, more determined if possible, -than the veterans of the New Model. The tenth man was Landless. When, -late at night, he and Porringer crept stealthily back to the quarters, -it was with the conviction that this was the last time they should so -steal through the darkness. The date of the rising had been fixed for -the thirteenth of September; this night, by Landless's advice, it was -brought forward to the tenth--and it was now the sixth. - -Groping his way past the slumbering forms of the three other occupants -of his cabin, Landless threw himself down upon his pallet with a heavy -sigh. - -"Liberty!" he said beneath his breath. "Goddess, whom I and mine have -sought through long years, whom once we thought we held, and waked to -find thee gone,--once I thought thee fairer than aught beside; thought -no price too great to pay for thee. But now!" - -He hid his face in his hands with a stifled groan, When at length he -fell into a troubled sleep, it was to see again a storm-tossed boat, and -a woman's face, set like a star against the blackness of the night. - - - - - *CHAPTER XIX* - - *THE LIBRARY OF THE SURVEYOR-GENERAL* - - -At a long, low table stood Mistress Betty Carrington, her slender figure -enveloped in an apron of blue dowlas, her sleeves of fine holland rolled -above her elbows, and her white and rounded arms plunged deep into a -great bowl filled with the purple globes of the wild grape. A row of -children knelt on the brick floor at her feet, busily stripping the -fruit from the stems, and negresses, hard by, strained with sinewy hands -the crimson juice from the pulpy mass into jars of earthenware. To this -group suddenly entered a breathless urchin. - -"Ohe, mistis! de Gov'nor an' Massa Peyton comin' up de road!" - -Betty suspended her operations with a little cry. "The Governor!" she -exclaimed in dismay. "And my father is gone a-processioning;--and my -gown is not seemly;--and he cannot be kept waiting!" She threw off her -apron, dipped her hands into the water the slaves poured for her, and -was at the hall door in time to courtesy to the Governor, as, followed -by a groom, and attended by Mr. Peyton, he rode up to the house. - -With the agility of youth his Excellency sprung from his horse, threw -the reins to the groom, and advanced to greet the lady. A richly laced -riding-suit became his still slight and elegant figure to a marvel; his -gilt-spurred, Spanish leather boots were of the newest, most approved -cut; his periwig was fresh curled, and framed with distinction a -handsome, if somewhat withered, countenance. He doffed his Spanish hat -with a bow and flourish: Betty courtesied profoundly. - -"Welcome to Rosemead, your Excellency." - -"I greet you well, pretty Mistress Betty," said the Governor, and took a -governor's privilege. Mr. Peyton looked as though he would have liked -to follow his Excellency's example, but was fain to content himself with -the lady's hand, resigned to the respectful pressure of his lips with a -charming blush and a dropping of long-fringed eyelids. - -"Where is your father, sweetheart?" demanded the Governor. - -"Ah! your Excellency, he is unfortunate. The vestry hath appointed this -day for the examination of boundaries in this parish, and as his -Majesty's Surveyor-General he leads the procession. But will not your -Excellency await his return? He will be here anon, and with him Colonel -Verney." - -"Then will I wait, pretty one; for I have weighty matters to discuss -both with him and with Dick Verney." - -Betty ushered them into the great room, cool, dark, and fragrant of -roses. - -"If your Excellency will permit me to withdraw, I will order some -refreshment for you after your long ride." - -The Governor sank into an armchair, and smiled graciously. - -"Faith! a bit of pasty comes not amiss after a morning canter. And -prithee see to the sack thyself, Mistress Betty. And a dish of pippins -and cheese," continued the Governor, meditatively, "and a rasher of -bacon." - -"There was a fine comb taken from the hive this morning. Will your -Excellency choose a bit? And there are dates, sent my father by the -captain of the Barbary vessel, and a quince tart--" - -"We will taste of it all," said his Excellency, graciously, "and -afterwards a pipe and a saucer of sweet scented, and your company, my -love. Mr. Peyton, the lady may find the honeycomb too heavy for her -lifting. We will excuse you to her assistance." - -"I am your Excellency's most obedient servant," quoth Mr. Peyton with -due submission, and hastened after his blushing mistress. - -The Governor, left alone, strolled to the window and looked out upon the -Chesapeake, lying blue and unruffled beneath the dazzling sunshine; to -the mantel-piece, and smelt of the roses in the blue china bowl; to the -spinet, and picked out "Here 's to Royal Charles" with one finger;--and -finally brought up before a corner cupboard, found the key in the door, -turned it, and came upon the Surveyor-General's library. - -"H'm, what has he here?" soliloquized his Excellency. "'Purchas; His -Pilgrimes,' of course; 'General History of Virginia, New England and the -Summer Isles,' well and good; 'Good News from Virginia,' humph! that -must have been before my time; 'Public Good without Private Interest,' -humph! What's this? 'Areopagitica,' John Milton! John Hypocrite and -Parricide! A pretty author, and a pretty cause he advocates,--I thank -God there are no schools and no printing presses in this colony, nor are -like to be,--and a courageous Surveyor-General to keep by him such -pestilent stuff in the present year of grace. 'Abuses Stript and -Whipt,' 'Anglia Rediva,' 'Diary of Nehemiah Wallington,' 'Bastwick's -Litany!' Miles Carrington, Miles Carrington! I have my eye on thee! -Thou hadst need to walk warily! 'Zion's Plea against Prelacy,' -damnation! 'Speech of Mr. Hampden,' death and hell! 'Eikonoklastes,' -may the foul fiend fly away with my soul!" - -And the Governor closed the cupboard door with a bang, and, with a very -red and frowning face, went back to his seat, and there sank into a -reverie, which lasted until the entrance of Mistress Betty and Mr. -Peyton, followed by two slaves bearing an ample repast. - -An hour later came home the Surveyor-General, bringing with him Colonel -Verney, Sir Charles Carew, and Captain Laramore. - -The Surveyor-General made stately apologies to his Excellency for his -unavoidable absence: his Excellency, holding himself very erect, heard -him out, and then said coldly, "Major Carrington may rest at ease. I was -sufficiently amused." - -"Truly the county knows Mr. Peyton's powers of entertainment," said the -Surveyor-General with a bow and smile for that young gentleman. - -"Mr. Peyton had other occupation," said the Governor dryly. "And I fear -that his is too cavalier a wit, and that his sonnets and madrigals savor -too much of loyalty to the Anointed of the Lord and to His Church to -have proved acceptable to the worshipful company with whom I have been -engaged. I have to congratulate his Majesty's Surveyor-General on the -possession of such a library as, I dare swear, is to be found in no -other house in this, his Majesty's _loyal_ dominion of Virginia." - -Carrington glanced towards the cupboard, and bit his lip. - -"I am pleased," he said stiffly, "that your Excellency hath found -wherewithal to pass an idle hour." - -"It is, indeed, a choice collection," said the Governor, with a smooth -tongue, but with an angry light in his eyes. "May I ask by whom it was -chosen; who it was that so carefully culled nightshade and poison oak?" - -"_I_ choose my own reading," said Carrington haughtily. "And I see not -why Sir William Berkeley should concern himself--" - -"This passes!" exclaimed the Governor, giving rein to his fury and -striking his hand against the table. "It doth concern me much, Major -Carrington, both as a true man, and as the Governor of this Colony, the -representative of his blessed Majesty, King Charles the Second, may all -whose enemies, private and open, be confounded! that a gentleman who -holds a high office in this Colony should have in his possession--ay! -and read, too, for 't is a well-thumbed copy--that foul emanation from a -fouler mind, that malicious, outrageous, damnable, proscribed book, -called 'Eikonoklastes!'" - -"If Sir William Berkeley doubts my loyalty--" began Carrington fiercely. - -"Major Carrington, you are too popular a man!" broke in the Governor as -fiercely. "When, upon that black day, ten years ago, the usurper's -frigates entered the Chesapeake, and taking us unprepared, compelled -(God forgive me!) my submission, who but Miles Carrington welcomed and -entertained the four commissioners (commissioners from a Roundhead -Parliament to a King's Governor!)? Who but Miles Carrington was hand in -glove with the shopkeeper Bennett and the renegade Matthews? Oh! they -used their power mildly, I deny it not! They were gracious and -long-suffering; they left to the loyal gentlemen, their sometime -friends, life and lands; they contented themselves with banishing a -loyal Governor to his own manor-house, and not, as they might have done, -to the wilderness, to perish amongst the savages. O, they were -exemplary despots! What, when a turn of Fortune's wheel brought them up, -could grateful, loyal gentlemen, could a grateful King's Governor do, -but follow the example set them and be civil to the officers of the late -Commonwealth, and something more than civil to the gentleman who so -gracefully avowed that he had but bowed to the times, and that the -restored sovereign had no more faithful subject than he? When his -Majesty was graciously pleased to continue that gentleman (at the -solicitation of his loyal kindred at home) in the office of -Surveyor-General to this colony, sure, we all rejoiced. It is not with -the past of Major Carrington that I quarrel; it is with the present. In -his case, that which should speak loudest for his recovered loyalty is -wanting. Others there are who have that witness. Let Mr. Digges ride -abroad, and from his cabin-door some prick-eared cur cried out, -'Renegade!' (Pardon me, the word is not mine.) The Oliverian and -schismatic servants spit at him. Is it so with Major Carrington? By -G--d, no! These people uncover to him as though he were the arch rebel -himself. Speak of his Majesty's Surveyor-General before an Oliverian, -and the fellow pricks up his ears like a charger that scents the battle. -Nay, I am told that in their conventicles the schismatics pray for him, -that he may be brought back into the fold, and may become a second -Moses, and lead them out of Egypt! Even the Quakers have a good word -for him. Major Carrington asks me if I question his loyalty. I answer -that I know not, but I do know that the discontented and mutinous of the -land do look upon him with too favorable a regard. And his loyalty is -of that tender age that it may well be susceptible to the influence of -the evil eye." The Governor, who was now in a white heat of passion, -stopped for breath. - -"Sir William Berkeley, you shall answer to me for this!" said the -Surveyor-General, with white lips. - -"With all the pleasure in life," said the Governor, clapping his hand to -his rapier. - -Carrington folded his arms. "Not now," he said, with stern courtesy. -"I believe your Excellency sleeps at Verney Manor? I, too, am invited -thither. There, and it please you, we will adjust our little difference. -For the present, you are my guest." - -The Governor choked down his passion, though with difficulty. "Till -to-night then--" he began, when Colonel Verney interposed. - -"Neither to-night, nor at any other time," he said sturdily. "Gadzooks! -have not his Majesty's servants enough on hand without employing their -time in pinking one another? Here are the Chickahominies restive, and -those plaguy Ricahecrians amongst us, and the Nansemond Independents -prophesying the end of the world, and the witches' trial coming on, and -the Quakers to be routed out, and on top of it all this story that -Ludlow brings of a redemptioner's assertion that there is afoot an -Oliverian plot. And his Majesty's Governor, and his Majesty's -Surveyor-General with drawn rapiers! For shame, gentlemen! Major -Carrington, my good friend and neighbor, for whose loyalty to our -present gracious sovereign I would answer for as I would for my own, -forget the hasty words which I am sure Sir William Berkeley already -regrets. Come, Sir William, acknowledge that you were over-choleric." - -"I 'll be d--d if I do!" cried the Governor. - -"We meet to-night," said the Surveyor-General. - -The Colonel turned to Sir Charles Carew, who had been a highly amused -spectator of this little scene. - -"Charles," he said impressively, "report hath it that you have figured -in more affairs of honor than any man of your age at court. You should -be a nice judge of such gear. Join me in assuring these gentlemen that -they may be reconciled, and their honor receive not the least taint; and -so avert a duel which would be a scandal to the community, and a menace -to the state." - -Sir Charles glanced from the pacific Colonel to the sternly collected -Surveyor-General, and thence to the fiery Governor, whose white, jeweled -fingers twitched with impatience. - -"Certainly, sir," he said lazily, "you are welcome to my poor opinion, -which is that, considering the nature of the provocation, and the -standing of the parties, there is one way out of the affair with honor." - -"Exactly!" said the Colonel eagerly. - -Sir Charles locked his hands behind his head. "There 's a very pretty -piece of ground behind your orchard, sir," he said, dreamily regarding -the ceiling. "I noticed it the other day, and sink me! if I did not wish -for Harry Bellasses with whom I have fought three times. 'T is ever a -word and a blow with Harry! The light just at sunset is excellent, -though your twilight cometh over soon. May I venture to suggest to your -Excellency that your _riposte_ is more brilliant than safe? Major -Carrington, your parade is somewhat out of fashion. I could teach you -the newest French mode in five minutes. - -"I am obliged for your offer, sir," said the Surveyor-General dryly. -"The other has served my turn, and must do so again." - -"Sir Charles Carew will do me the honor to be my second?" asked the -Governor of that gentleman, who answered with a low bow, and a "The -honor is mine." - -"Captain Laramore?" said the Surveyor-General. - -"At your service, Major," cried the Captain, a dashing, black-a-vised -personage, with large gold rings in his ears, a plume a yard long in his -castor, and a general Draweansir air. - -"Will Captain Laramore fight?" inquired Sir Charles. "I have had the -honor of changing the date for sailing for several gentlemen of his -profession." - -"Even so accomplished a swordsman as Sir Charles Carew is allowed to be, -hath yet a lesson to learn," said the doughty captain. - -"And that is--" - -"Pride shall have a fall--to-night." - -Sir Charles smiled politely. "The ship that is anchored off yonder -point is yours, is it not? Would you not like to take a last look at -her? Or to leave instructions for your lieutenant and successor? There -is time for you to gallop to the point and back." - -"Am I to have the honor of crossing swords with you, Colonel Verney?" -asked Mr. Peyton. - -"No, sir!" exclaimed the vexed Colonel. "You are not! I wash my hands -of this foolish fray. William Berkeley, I have never scrupled to tell -thee when I thought thee in the wrong. I think so now. Charles, thou -art an impudent fellow! I have it in my mind to wish that the Captain -may give thee the lesson he talks of." - -"Thank you, sir," drawled the gentleman addressed. "Mr. Peyton looks -quite disconsolate. Sink me! if it's not a shame to leave him out in -the cold. If he will wait his turn I will be happy to oblige him when I -have disposed of the Captain." - -"You will do no such thing!" retorted his kinsman. "Mr. Peyton, take -your hand off your sword! At least there shall be two sane men at this -meeting. I suppose, gentlemen, you agree with me that this affair -cannot be kept too private? To that end you had best ride with me to -Verney Manor, and there have it out on this plot of ground Charles talks -of. It is at least retired." - -"'T is a most sweet spot," said Sir Charles. - -"Good!" quoth the Governor. "And now that this little matter is -settled, I am once more, and for the present, sir, simply your obliged -guest and servant," and he bowed to the Surveyor-General. - -Carrington returned the bow. "We will drink to our better acquaintance -to-night. Pompey! the sack and the aqua vitae. And, Pompey! a handful -of mint." - -The company fell to drinking, and then to tobacco. The Governor, whose -fits of passion were as short as they were violent, arrived by rapid -degrees at a pitch of high good humor. The company listened gravely for -the fiftieth time to stories of the court of the first James; of -Buckingham's amours, of the beauty of Henrietta Maria, of a visit to -Paris, an interview with Richelieu, a duel with a captain of -Mousquetaires, a kiss imprinted upon the fair hand of Anne of Austria. -The charmed stream of the old courtier's reminiscences flowed on--he -stopped for breath, and Sir Charles took the word and proceeded to -unfold before their dazzled eyes a gorgeous phantasmagoria. The King, -the Duke, Sedley and Buckingham, Mesdames Castlemaine, Stuart and -Gwynne, Dryden and Waller and Lely, the King's house, the Queen's -chapel, the Queen's duennas, the Tityre Tus, Paul's Walk, the Russian -Ambassador, astrologers, orange girls, balls, masques, pageants, duels, -the court of Louis le Grand, the King's hunting parties, Madame -d'Orleans, Olympe di Mancini. - -The Governor listened with dilating nostrils and sparkling eyes; Colonel -Verney's vexed countenance smoothed itself; Captain Laramore, sitting -with outstretched legs, and head hidden in clouds of tobacco smoke, -rumbled from out that obscurity laughter and strange oaths. Even Mr. -Peyton, after vainly trying to fix his attention upon the construction -of a sonnet to his mistress's eyebrow, succumbed to the enchantment, and -sat with parted lips, drinking in wonders; but the Surveyor-General, -though he listened courteously, listened with forced smiles and with an -attention which was hard to preserve from wandering. - -In the midst of a brilliant account of the nuptials of the Chevalier de -Grammont came an interruption. - -"De horses am fed an' brought roun', massa." - -The Governor started up. "Rat me, if good sack and good stories make -not a man forget all else beside! Colonel Verney, I wish you, as -lieutenant of this shire, to ride with me to this Chickahominy village -where I have promised an audience to the half king of the tribe. Plague -on the unreasonable vermin! Why can they not give way peaceably? If -the colony needs and takes their lands, it leaves them a plenty -elsewhere. Let them fall back towards the South Sea. Sir Charles, I -grieve for the necessity, but we must leave the court and come back to -the wilderness. Gentlemen, will you ride with Verney and me, or shall -we part now to meet at sunset in his orchard?" - -"We had best ride with your Excellency," said Carrington gravely. "I -like not the temper of the Chickahominies, who ever mean most when they -say least. And these roving Ricahecrians, their guests, are of a -strange and fierce aspect. It is as well to go in force." - -"Those vagrants from the Blue Mountains have been here overlong," said -the Governor. "I shall send them packing! Well, gentlemen, since we -are to have the pleasure of your company, boot and saddle is the word!" - - - - - *CHAPTER XX* - - *WHEREIN THE PEACE PIPE IS SMOKED* - - -The sun had some time passed the meridian when the party saw through the -widening glades of the forest the gleam of a great river, and upon its -bank an Indian village of perhaps fifty wigwams, set in fields of maize -and tobacco, groves of mulberries, and tangles of wild grape. The -titanic laughter of Laramore and the drinking catch which Sir Charles -trolled forth at the top of a high, sweet voice had announced their -approach long before they pushed their horses into the open; and the -population of the village was come forth to meet them with song and -dance and in gala attire. The soft and musical voices of the young -women raised a kind of recitative wherein was lauded to the skies the -virtue, wisdom and power of the white father who had come from the banks -of the Powhatan to those of the Pamunkey to visit his faithful -Chickahominies, bringing (beyond doubt) justice in his hand. The deeper -tones of the men chimed in, and the mob of naked children, bringing up -the rear of the procession, added their shrill voices to the clamor, -which, upon the booming in of a drum and the furious shaking of the -conjurer's rattle, became deafening. - -The chant came to an end, but the orchestra persevered. Ten girls left -the throng, formed themselves into line, and advancing one after the -other with a slow and measured motion, laid at the feet of the Governor -(who had dismounted) platters of parched maize, beans and chinquapins, -with thin maize cakes. They were succeeded by two stalwart youths -bearing, slung upon a pole between them, a large buck which they -deposited upon the ground before the white men. There came a tremendous -crash from the drum, and a discordant scream from a long pipe made of a -reed. The crowd opened, and from out their midst stalked a venerable -Indian. - -"My fathers are welcome," he said gravely. - -"Where is the half king?" demanded the Governor sharply. "I have no -time for these fooleries. Make them stop that infernal racket, and lead -us to your chiefs at once." - -The Indian frowned at this cavalier reception of the village civilities, -but he waved his arm for the music to cease, and proceeded to conduct -the visitors through a lane made by two rows of dusky bodies and staring -faces, to a large wigwam in the centre of the village. Before this hut -stood a mulberry tree of enormous size, and seated upon billets of wood -in the shade of its spreading branches were the half king of the tribe -and the principal men of the village. - -Their faces and the upper portions of their bodies were painted red--the -color of peace. They wore mantles of otter skins, and from their ears -depended strings of pearl and bits of copper. To the earring of the -half king were attached two small, green snakes that twisted and writhed -about his neck; his body had been oiled and then plastered with small -feathers of a brilliant blue, and upon his head was fastened a stuffed -hawk with extended wings. - -To one side of this group stood a band of Indians, two score or more in -number, who differed in appearance and attire from the Chickahominies. -The iron had entered the soul of the latter; they had the bearing of a -subject race. Not so with the former. They were men of great size and -strength, with keen, fierce faces; their clothing was of the scantiest -possible description; ornaments they had, but of a peculiar -kind--necklaces and armlets of human bones, belts in which long tufts of -silk grass were interwoven with a more sinister fibre. They leaned on -great bows, and each sternly motionless figure looked a bronze Murder. - -The chief of the Chickahominies raised his eyes from the ground as the -Governor and his party entered the circle. "My white fathers are -welcome," he said. "Let them be seated," and looked at the ground -again. The "white fathers" took possession of half a dozen billets, and -waited in silence the next move of the game. After a while, the half -king lifted from the log beside him a pipe with a stem a yard long and a -bowl in which an orange might have rested. An Indian, rising, went to -where a fire burned beneath a tripod, and returning with a live coal -between his fingers, calmly and leisurely lighted the pipe. The half -king, still in dead silence, lifted it to his lips, smoked for five -minutes, and handed it to the Indian, who bore it to the Governor. The -Governor drew two or three tremendous whiffs and passed it on to Colonel -Verney, who in his turn transferred it to the Surveyor-General. When -the monster pipe had been smoked by each of the white men, it went the -round of the savages. An Indian summer haze began to settle around the -company. Through it the patient gazing throng on the outskirts of the -circle became shadowy, impalpable; the face of the half king, now hidden -in shifting smoke wreaths, now darkly visible, like that of an eastern -idol before whom incense is burned. There was no sound save the wash of -the waters below them, the sighing of the wind, the drone of the cicadas -in the trees. The Indians sat like statues, but the white men were more -restive. The elders managed to restrain their impatience, but Laramore -began to whistle, and when checked by a look from the Governor, turned -to Sir Charles with a comically disconsolate face and a shrug of the -shoulders. Whereupon the latter drew from his pocket, dice and a -handful of gold pieces. Laramore's face brightened, and the two, -screened from observation by the Colonel's shoulders, which were of the -broadest, fell to playing noiselessly, cursing beneath their breath. -Mr. Peyton leaned his elbow on his knee, and his chin upon his hand, and -allowed the dreamy beauty of the afternoon to overflow a poetic soul. - -At length, and when the patience of the whites was well-nigh exhausted, -the pipe came back to where the half king sat with lowered eyes and -impassive face. He laid it down beside him and rose to his feet, -gathering his mantle around him. - -"My white fathers are welcome," he said in a sonorous voice. "Very -welcome to the Chickahominies is the face of the white father, who rules -in the place of the great white father across the sea. Their corn feast -is not yet, and yet my people rejoice. Our hearts were glad when my -father sent word that he would this day visit his faithful -Chickahominies. Our ears are open: let my father speak." - -"I thank Harquip and his people for their welcome," said the Governor -coldly. "I have ever found them full of words. They profess loyalty to -the great white father beyond the seas, but they forget his good laws -and disobey his officers. I am weary of their words." - -"Tell me," said Harquip, with a sombre face, "are they good laws which -drive us from our hunting grounds? Are they good laws which take from -us our maize fields? Does the great white father love to hear our women -cry for food? or is his heart Indian and longs for the sound of the war -whoop?" - -"That is a threat," the Governor said sternly. - -The Indian waved his hands. "Have we not smoked the peace pipe?" he -said coldly. - -"Humph!" said the Governor then, "I am not come to listen to idle -complaints. Your grievances as to the land shall be laid before the -next Assembly, and it will pass judgment upon them--justly and -righteously, of course." - -"Ugh!" said the Indian. - -"I am here," continued the Governor, "to ask certain questions of the -Chickahominies, and to lay certain commands upon them which they will do -well to obey." - -"Let my father speak," said the Indian calmly. - -"Why did you shelter in your village the man with the red hair? Word -was sent to all the tribes, to the Nansemonds, the Wyanokes, the -Cheskiacks, the Paspaheghs, the Pamunkeys, the Chickahominies, that he -should be delivered up if they found him among them. Why did the -Chickahominies hide him?" - -"In the night time, the red fox came to the village of the -Chickahominies and burrowed there. The eyes of my people were closed: -they saw him not." - -"Humph! Why did you not carry your guns to the Court House when the -tribes were ordered to do so, a fortnight ago, and leave them there, -taking in exchange roanoke and fire-water?" - -"My fathers asked much," said the half king gloomily. "My young men -love their sticks-that-speak. They love to see the deer go down before -them like maize before the hail storm. My fathers asked much." - -"How many guns has your village?" - -"Five," was the prompt reply. - -"Humph! To-morrow you will deliver ten guns to the captain of the -trainband at the court-house. When do these men," pointing to the -stranger band, "return to their tribe?" - -"They are our friends. They wait to dance the corn dance with us. Then -will they return to the Blue Mountains, and will tell the Ricahecrians -of the great things they have seen, and of the wisdom and power of my -white fathers." - -"When is your corn feast?" - -"Seven suns hence." - -"They must be gone to-morrow." - -The face of the half king darkened, and there was a slight, instantly -repressed movement among the circle of braves. - -"My father asks very much," said the half king with emphasis. - -"Not more than I can, and will, enforce," said the Governor sternly, and -getting to his feet as he spoke. "You, Harquip, shall be answerable to -me and to the Council for these men's departure to-morrow. If by -sunrise of the next morning their canoes are far up the river, headed -for the Blue Mountains, if by the same hour the guns which you have -retained in defiance of the express decree of the Assembly, be given up -to those at the Court House, then will I overlook your hiding the man -with the red hair, and the Assembly will listen to your complaints as to -your hunting grounds. Disobey, and my warriors shall come, each with a -stick-that-speaks in his hand. I have spoken," and the Governor -beckoned to the servants who held the horses. - -The half king rose also. "My white father shall be obeyed," he said -with gloomy dignity. "He is stronger than we. Otee has been angry with -the real men for many years. He is gone over to the palefaces and helps -their god against the real men. My young men shall take their guns back -to the palefaces to-morrow, and shall bring back fire-water, and we will -drink, and forget that the days of Powhatan are past and that Otee -fights against us. Also when the Pamunkey is red with to-morrow's -sunset, my brothers from the Blue Mountains shall turn their faces -homewards. My father is content?" - -"I am content," said the Governor. - -"There is a thing which my brothers have to say to my white fathers," -continued the half king. "Will they hear the great chief, Black Wolf?" - -The Governor pulled out a great watch, glanced at it, and sighed -resignedly. "Gentlemen, have patience a moment longer. Harquip, I will -listen to the Ricahecrian until the shadow of that tree reaches the -fire. What says he?" - -The half king spoke to the strangers in their own tongue--their ranks -broke, and an Indian stalked forward to the centre of the circle. His -tall, powerful, nearly nude figure was thickly tatooed with -representations of birds and beasts; he wore an armlet of a dull, yellow -metal ("Gold! by the Eternal!" ejaculated the Governor to Colonel -Verney); over his naked, deeply scarred breast hung three strings of -hideous mementoes of torture stakes; the belt that held tomahawk and -scalping knife was fringed with human hair; beside his streaming -scalplock was stuck the dried hand of an enemy. The face beneath was -cunning, relentless, formidable. He spoke in his own language, and the -half king translated. - -"Black Wolf is a great chief. In his village in the Blue Mountains are -fifty wigwams--the largest is his. There are a hundred braves--he leads -the war parties. The Monacans run like deer, the hearts of the -Tuscaroras become soft, they hide behind their squaws! Black Wolf is a -great chief. Seven moons of cohonks have passed since the Ricahecrians -sharpened their hatchets and came down from the mountains to where the -waters of Powhatan fall over many rocks. There they met the palefaces. -The One above all was angry with his Ricahecrians. They saw for the -first time the guns of the palefaces. They thought they were gods who -spat fire at them and slew them with thunder. Their hearts became soft, -and they fled before the strange gods. Some the palefaces slew, and -some they took prisoner. Black Wolf saw his brother, the great chief -Grey Wolf, fall. The Ricahecrians went back to the Blue Mountains, and -their women raised the death chant for those whom they left stretched -out on the bank of the great river.... Seven times had the maize -ripened, when Black Wolf led a war party against a tribe that dwelt on -the banks of the Pamunkey where a fallen pine might span it. The waters -ran red with blood. When there were no more Monacans to kill, when the -fires had burnt low, Black Wolf looked down the waters of the Pamunkey. -He had heard that it ran into a great water that was salt, whose further -bank a man could not see. He had heard that the palefaces rode in -canoes that had wings, great and white. He thought he would like to -know if these things were true, or if they were but tales of the singing -birds. To find out, Black Wolf and his young men dipped their oars into -the water of the Pamunkey, and rowed towards the moonrise. In the -morning they met twenty men of the Pamunkeys in three canoes. The -Pamunkeys lie deep in the slime of the river; the eels eat them; their -scalps shall hang before the wigwams of Black Wolf and his young men. -In the afternoon, they drove their canoes into the reeds and went into -the forest to find meat. Black Wolf's arrow brought down a buck and -they feasted. Afterwards they caught a hunter who saw only the deer he -was chasing. They tied him to a tree and made merry with him. When he -was dead, they drew their boats from out the reeds, and rowed on down -the broadening river. The next day, at the time of the full sun-power, -they came to this village. Many years before the palefaces came, the -Chickahominies were a great nation, reaching to the foot of the Blue -Mountains, and then were they and the Ricahecrians friends and allies. -When Black Wolf showed them the totem of his tribe upon his breast, they -welcomed him and his young men. That was ten suns ago. Black Wolf and -his young men have seen many things. When they go back to the Blue -Mountains, the Ricahecrians will think they listen to singing birds. -They will tell of the great salt water, of the boats with wings, of the -palefaces, of their fields of maize and tobacco, of the black men who -serve them, of their temples, werowanees and women. They will tell of -the great white father who rules, of his power, his wisdom, his open -hand--" - -"I thought it would come at last," quoth the Governor. "What does he -want, Harquip?" - -"The Ricahecrian starts for his wigwam in the Blue Mountains to-morrow -as my father commands. He says: 'Shall I not return to my people with a -gift from the great white father in my hand?'" - -The Governor laughed. "Let one of your young men go to the court-house. -I will give him an order for beads, for a piece of red cloth, and yes, -rat me! he shall have a mirror! I hope he is satisfied!" - -The half king's eyes gleamed covetously. "My father gives large gifts. -He has indeed an open hand. But the Ricahecrian desires another thing. -He says: 'Seven years ago, at the falls of the Powhatan, Black Wolf saw -his brother fall before the stick-that-speaks of the palefaces. Grey -Wolf was a great chief. The village in the Blue Mountains mourned very -much. Nicotee, his squaw, went wailing into the land of shadows. His -son hath seen but seven moons of corn, but he dreams of the day when he -shall sharpen the hatchet against the slayers of his father.... The -Chickahominies have told Black Wolf that his brother was wounded and not -slain by the palefaces. They brought him captive to their great board -wigwams. There they tied him not to the torture stake; they knew that a -Ricahecrian laughs at the pine splinters. They tortured his spirit. -They made him a woman. The great chief of the Ricahecrians no longer -throws the tomahawk--the guns of the palefaces are about him. He dances -the corn dance no more--his back is bowed with burdens. His arrow brings -not down the fleeing deer, he tracks not the bear to his den--he toils -like a squaw in the fields of the palefaces. Black Wolf says to the -white father: 'Give back the Sagamore to the Ricahecrians, to his son, -to the village by the falling stream in the Blue Mountains. Then will -the Ricahecrians be friends with the palefaces forever. To-morrow Black -Wolf and his young men row towards the sunset; let the captive chief be -in their midst. This is the gift which Black Wolf asks of his white -fathers. He has spoken.'" - -In the midst of a dead silence the half king took his seat and studied -the ground. The Chickahominies, squatted round the circle, stirred not -a finger, and the outer row of spectators, motionless against a -background of interlacing branches patched with vivid blue, seemed a -procession in tapestry. The Ricahecrians and their formidable chief -maintained a stony gloom. Whatever interest they felt in the fate of -their captive chief was carefully concealed. The sun, now hanging, -broad and red, low in the heavens might have been the Gorgon's head and -the whole village staring at it. - -The Governor began to laugh. Sir Charles chimed in musically and -Laramore followed suit. The Surveyor-General frowned, but the Colonel, -after one or two attempts at sobriety of demeanor, succumbed, and the -trio became a quartette. The glades of the forest rang to the jovial -sound--it was as though there were enchantment in the golden afternoon, -or in the ring of dark and frowning countenances before them, for they -laughed as though they would never stop. Even the servants at the -horses' heads were infected, and laughed at they knew not what. - -The Surveyor-General lost patience. "I think the Jamestown weed groweth -in these woods," he said dryly. - -The Governor pulled himself together. "Faith! I believe you are -right!" he said airily. "But rat me! if the impudence of the varlets be -not the most amusing thing since the Quaker's plea for toleration!" - -"The amusement seems to be on our side," said the Surveyor-General. - -The Governor cast a careless glance in the direction indicated by the -other. "Pshaw! a fit of the sulks! They will get over it. Is this -precious captive the giant whom I have seen at Rosemead, Major -Carrington?" - -"Not so, your Excellency. My man is a Susquehannock." - -"I believe I may lay claim to the fellow, Sir William," said the -Colonel, wiping his eyes. - -"Is he the Indian who was whipt the other day?" asked Sir Charles, -taking snuff. - -"For stealing fire-water--yes." - -The Governor began to laugh again. "Of course you will release the -rascal, Colonel? The Blue Mountains threaten war if you do not. Fling -yourself into the breach, and so prevent a 'scandal to the community and -a menace to the State,' to quote your words of this morning. -Consistency is a jewel, Dick the Peacemaker. Wherefore let the savage -go." - -"I 'll be d--d if I do!" cried the Colonel. - -The Governor, shaking with laughter, got to his feet. At a signal his -groom brought up his horse and held the stirrup for him to mount. His -Excellency swung himself into the saddle and gathered the reins into his -gauntleted hands; the remainder of the company, too, got to horse. The -Governor's steed, a fiery, coal black Arabian, danced with impatience. - -"Selim scents a fray!" cried his Excellency. "Come on, gentlemen! -'Twill be sunset before we reach that sweet piece of earth behind -Verney's orchard." - -The half king rose from his scat, took three measured strides, and stood -side by side with the Ricahecrian chief. - -"My white father will give to the Ricahecrian the gift he asks?" - -A gust of passion took the Governor. "No!" he thundered, turning in his -saddle. "The Ricahecrian may go to the devil and the Blue Mountains -alone!" He struck spurs into his horse's sides. "Gentlemen, we waste -time!" - -The Arabian dashed down one of the winding glades of the forest; the -remainder of the party spurred their horses into the mad gallop known as -the "planter's pace," and in an instant the whole cavalcade had whirled -out of sight. A burst of laughter, made elfin by distance, came back to -the village on the banks of the Pamunkey, then all was quiet again. The -gold-laced, audacious company had vanished like a troop of powerful -enchanters, leaving behind them a sullen throng of native genii, kept -down by a Solomon's Seal which is _not_ always unbreakable. - -Something stirred in the midst of the great mulberry tree, a tree so -vast and leafy that it, might have hidden many things. A man swung -himself down with a lithe grace from limb to limb, and finally dropped -into the circle of Indians who stood or sat in a sombre stillness which -might mean much or little. Only on the outskirts the crowd of women, -children and youths, had commenced a low, monotonous, undefined noise -which had in it something sinister, ominous. It was like the sound, -dull and heavy, of the ground swell that precedes the storm. The man -who dropped from the tree was Luiz Sebastian, and his appearance seemed -in no degree to surprise the Indians. There followed a short and -sententious conversation between the mulatto, the half king and the -Ricahecrian chief. Beside the half king lay the still smoking peace -pipe. When the colloquy was ended, he raised it. At a signal an Indian -brought water in a gourd, and into it the half king plunged the glowing -bowl. The fire went out in a cloud of hissing steam. The sound of the -ground swell became louder and more threatening. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXI* - - *THE DUEL* - - -The trees of the orchard stood out black against a crimson sky. "Faith! -it is a color we shall see more of presently," said Laramore, divesting -himself of his doublet. - -His antagonist, passing a laced handkerchief along a gleaming blade, -smiled politely. "A pretty tint. Wine, the lips of women, Captain -Laramore's blood--Lard! 't is a color I adore!" - -"Gentlemen!" cried Colonel Verney. "Once more I beg of you to forego -this foolish quarrel. William Berkeley, for the first time in your -life, be reasonable!" - -The Governor turned sharply, his chest, beneath his shirt of finest -holland, swelling, each closely cropped hair upon his head, bared for -action, stiff with injured dignity. - -"Colonel Richard Verney forgets himself," he began angrily; then, -"Confound you, Dick! keep your hands out of this. I don't want to fight -you too! I say not that this gentleman is disloyal, but I do say, and I -will maintain it with the last drop of my blood, that he strives to draw -to himself a party in the State, with what intent he best knows. If he -choose to pocket that assertion and withdraw, I am content." - -"On guard, sir," said Carrington, raising his sword. - -The Colonel shrugged his shoulders, and returned to his post beside Mr. -Peyton. - -"Very well, gentlemen, since you will not be ruled. Are you ready?" - -The rapiers clashed together, and the game began. - -The Governor fenced brilliantly, if a trifle wildly; his antagonist with -a cool steadiness of manner and an iron wrist. Laramore fought with -bull-like ferocity, striving to beat down his opponent's guard, making -mad lunges, stamping, and keeping up a continuous rumble of oaths. Sir -Charles, always smiling, and with an air as if his thoughts were -anywhere but at that particular spot, put aside his thrusts with the -ease with which the toreador avoids the bull. - -Mr. Peyton was moved to reluctant admiration. "When I was in London, -sir," he said in an excited whisper to the Colonel, "I did see Mathews -fight with Westwicke, and thought I had seen fencing indeed, but your -cousin--ah!" - -Laramore's sword described a curve in the air, and lodged in the boughs -of an apple-tree, while its owner staggered forward and fell heavily to -the ground. At the same instant Carrington wounded the Governor in the -wrist. Colonel Verney struck up the weapons. "By the Lord, gentlemen! -you shall go no further! Jack Laramore's down, run through the shoulder! -Major Carrington, you have drawn blood--it is enough." - -"If Sir William Berkeley is content," began Carrington, bowing to his -antagonist. - -"Rat me! I 've no choice," said the Governor ruefully. "You've -disabled my sword arm, and the gout has the other." - -"I shall be happy to wait until the wound shall have healed," said the -Surveyor-General, with another bow. - -"No, no," said his Excellency, with a laugh. "We 'll cry quits. And -rat me! if now that we have had it out, I do not love thee better, Miles -Carrington, than ever I did before. In the morning when thou goest -home, burn thy library, burn Milton and Bastwick, and Withers, and the -rest of the rogues, forswear such rascally company forever, and rat me! -if I will not maintain that thou art the honestest, as well as the -longest-headed, man in the colony. There 's my hand on it, and to-night -we 'll have a rouse such as would make old Noll turn in his grave if he -had one." - -Carrington took the proffered hand courteously, if coldly. "I thank -your Excellency for your advice. Your Excellency should have your wound -attended to at once. You are losing a deal of blood." - -"Tut, a trifle!" said the Governor, airily, winding a handkerchief about -the bleeding member. - -"Is there ever a chirugeon upon the place?" asked Sir Charles in his -most dulcet tones. "If not, I fear that Captain Laramore will very -shortly make his last voyage." - -"Egad! that will never do!" cried the Colonel, dropping upon his knees -beside the wounded man. "A bad thrust! Charles, thou art the very -devil!" - -"Shall I ride for the doctor?" cried Mr. Peyton. - -"No. Anthony Nash is at the house. Run, lad, and fetch him. He is -surgeon as well as divine." - -Mr. Peyton disappeared; and presently there stood in the midst of the -group gathered about the unconscious captain, a man clad in a clerical -dress and of a very dignified and scholarly demeanor. - -"Ha, gentlemen!" he said gravely, looking with bright, dark eyes from -one to the other. "This is a sorry business. Shirts, drawn rapiers, -trampled turf, Sir William bleeding, Captain Laramore senseless upon the -ground! His Excellency the Governor; Major Carrington, the -Surveyor-General; Colonel Verney, the lieutenant of the -shire;--scandalous, gentlemen!" - -"And Anthony Nash who would give his chance of a mitre to have been one -of us," cried the Governor. "Ha! Anthony! dost remember the fight -behind Paul's, three to one,--and the baggage that brought it about?" - -The divine, on his knees beside Laramore, looked up with a twinkle in -his eye from his work of tying laced handkerchiefs into bandages. "That -was in the dark ages, your Excellency. My memory goeth not back so far. -Ha! that is better! He is coming to himself. It is not so bad after -all." - -Laramore groaned, opened his eyes, and struggled into a sitting posture. - -"Blast me! but I am properly spitted. Sir Charles Carew, my compliments -to you. You are a man after my own heart. Ha, your Excellency! I find -myself in good company. Dr. Anthony Nash, I shall have you out! You -have torn the handkerchief Mistress Lettice Verney gave me." - -The Doctor laughed. "You must be got to the house at once, and to bed, -where Mistress Lettice, who is as skillful in healing as in making -wounds, shall help me to properly dress this one." - -Laramore staggered to his feet. "Give me an arm, Doctor; and Peyton, -clap my periwig upon my head, will you? and fetch me my sword from where -I see it, adorning yonder bough. Sir Charles Carew, I am your humble -servant. Damme! it's no disgrace to be worsted by the best sword at -Whitehall." And the gallant captain, supported by the clergyman and Mr. -Peyton, reeled off the ground; the remainder of the party waiting only -to assume doublets and wigs before following him to the house. - -Two hours later Sir Charles Carew rose from the supper-table, and -leaving the gentlemen at wine, passed into the great room, and came -softly up to Patricia, sitting at the spinet. - -"My heart was not there," he said, answering her smile and lifted brows. -"I am come in search of it." - -She laughed, fingering the keys. "Did you leave it on the field of -honor? Fie, sir, for shame! Doctor Nash says that Captain Laramore will -not use his arm for a fortnight." - -"What--" said Sir Charles, dropping his voice and leaning over -her--"what if I had been the wounded one?" - -"I would have made your gruel with great pleasure, cousin." - -She laughed again, and looked at him half tenderly, half mockingly. -There were silver candlesticks upon the spinet and the light from the -tall wax tapers fell with a white radiance over the slender figure in -brocade and lace, the gleaming shoulders, the beautiful face, and the -shining hair. Her eyes were brilliant, her mouth all elusive, mocking, -exquisite curves. - -He raised a wandering lock of gold to his lips. "The King hath written, -commanding me home to England," he said abruptly. - -"Yes, my father told me. He says the King loves you much." - -Sir Charles left her side, twice walked the length of the room, and came -back to her. "Am I to go as I came--alone?" he asked, standing before -her with folded arms. - -"If you so desire, sir?" - -"Will you go with me?" - -"Yes." - -He caught her in his arms; but she cried out and freed herself. - -"No, no, not yet!" she said breathlessly. "Listen to me." - -She moved backwards a step or two, and stood facing him, her hand at her -bosom, a color in her cheek, her eyes like stars. "I do not know that I -love you, Sir Charles Carew. At times I have thought that I did; at -times, not. There is an unrest here," touching her heart, "which has -come to me lately. I do not know--it may be the beginning of love. -Last night my father had much talk with me. It is his dearest wish that -you and I should wed. He has been my very good father always. If you -will take me as I am, not loving you yet, but with a heart free to -learn, why--" Her voice broke. - -Sir Charles flung himself at her feet, and, taking possession of her -hands, covered them with kisses. A voice passed the window, singing -through the night:-- - - "Martinmas wind, when wilt thou blow, - And shake the green leaves from the tree; - O gentle death, when wilt thou come? - For of my life I am weary." - - -"Margery again?" said Sir Charles, rising. - -"Yes," said Patricia, with a troubled voice. - -The voice began the stanza again:-- - - "Martinmas wind, when wilt thou blow, - And shake the green leaves from the tree?" - - -"What is the matter?" cried Sir Charles in alarm. - -Patricia stared at him with wide, unseeing eyes. "Martinmas wind," she -said in a low, clear, even voice. "Martinmas wind! The leaves drift in -clouds, yellow and red, red like blood. Look at the river flowing in -the sunshine! And the tall gray crags! Ah!" and she put her hands -before her face. - -"What is it?" cried her suitor. "What is the matter? You are ill!" - -She dropped her hands. "I am well now," she said tremulously. "I do -not know what it was. I had a vision--" she broke into wild laughter. - -"I am fey, I think," she cried. "Let me go to my room; I am better -there." - -He held the door open, and she passed him quickly with lowered eyes. He -watched her run up the stairs, and then threw himself into a chair and -stared thoughtfully at the floor. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXII* - - *THE TOBACCO HOUSE AGAIN* - - -The master of Verney Manor and his guests slept late, for the carouse of -the night before had been deep and prolonged. The master's daughter -rose with the sun, and went down into the garden, and thence through the -wicket into the mulberry grove, where she found Margery sitting on the -ground, tieing goldenrod to her staff. "Come and walk with me, -Margery," she said. - -Margery rose with alacrity. "Where shall we go?" she asked in a -whisper. "To the forest? There were eyes in the forest last night, not -the great, still, solemn eyes that stare at Margery every night, but -eyes that glowed like coals, and moved from bush to bush. Margery was -afraid, and she left the forest, and sat by the water side all night, -listening to what it had to say. A star shot, and Margery knew that a -soul was on its way to Paradise, where she would fain go if only she -could find the way.... There are purple flowers growing by the creek -between the cedar wood and the marsh. Let us go gather them, and trim -Margery's staff very bravely." - -"I care not where we go," said her mistress. "There as well as -elsewhere." - -"Come, then," said Margery, and took the lead. - -When they had entered the strip of cedars which lay between the wide -fields and the point of land on which stood the third tobacco house, -Patricia stopped beneath a great tree. "We will go no further, -Margery," she said. - -Margery objected. "The purple flowers grow by the water side." - -"Do you go and gather them then," said Patricia wearily. "I will wait -for you here." - -Margery glided away, and her mistress sat down upon the dark-red earth -at the foot of the tree. There was a cold and sombre stillness in the -wood. The air smelt chill and dank, and the light came through the low, -closely woven roof of foliage, as though it were filtered through crape, -but at the end of the vista of trees shone a glory of sea and sky and -gold-green marsh. Patricia gazed with dreamy eyes. "It is all fair," -she said. "What was it that Dr. Nash read? 'My lines are fallen in -pleasant places.' Riches and honor, and, they say, beauty, and many to -love me.--O Lord God! I wish for happiness!" She laid her cheek -against the cool earth, and the splendor before her wavered into a mist -of rose and azure. "Why should I weep," she said, "that my lines are -laid in pleasant places?" - -Margery with her arms filled with flowers appeared at her side. "Here -are the purple flowers," she said. "Here is farewell-summer for me and a -passion-flower for you." She threw the blooms upon the ground, and -sitting down at her mistress's feet, began to weave them into garlands. -Presently she took up the passion-flower. "This grew beside the tobacco -house, close to the wall. Margery saw it, and ran to pluck it. The -door of the tobacco house was closed, but above the passion-flower was a -great crack between the logs." She began to laugh. "Margery heard a -strange thing, while she was plucking the passion-flower. Shall she tell -it to you?" - -"If you like, Margery," said Patricia indifferently. - -Margery leaned forward, and laid a cold, thin hand upon her mistress' -arm. - -"There were seven men in the tobacco house. One said, 'When the -Malignants are put down, what then?' and another answered, 'Surely we -will possess their lands and their houses, their silver and their gold, -for is it not written, "The Lord hath given them a spoil unto their -servants."' Then the first said, 'Shall we not kill the Malignant, -Verney?' Margery heard no more. She came away." - -Patricia rose to her feet, pale, with brilliant eyes. - -"You heard no more?" - -"No." - -"Margery, show me the place where you listened." - -Margery took up her staff, and led the way to the outskirts of the wood. -"There," she said, pointing with her staff. "There, where the elder -grows." - -Patricia laid her hand on the mad woman's shoulder. "Listen to me, -Margery," she said in a low, distinct voice. "Listen very carefully. -Go quickly to the great house, and to my father, or to Woodson, or to -Sir Charles Carew give the message I am about to give you. Do you -understand, Margery?" - -Margery nodding emphatically, Patricia gave the message, and watched her -flit away through the gloom of the cedars into the sunlight beyond; then -turned and went swiftly and noiselessly across the strip of field to the -tall, dark, windowless tobacco house. As she neared it, there came to -her a low and undistinguishable murmur of voices which rose into -distinctness as she entered the clump of alders. - -Within the tobacco house were assembled the Muggletonian, the man -branded upon the forehead, the youth with the hectic cheek (who acted as -Secretary to the Surveyor-General), two newly purchased servants of -Colonel Verney, Trail and Godfrey Landless. In the uncertain light which -streamed from above through rents in the roof and crevices between the -upper logs the interior of the tobacco house looked mysterious, -sinister, threatening. Here and there tobacco still hung from the poles -which crossed from wall to wall, and in the partial light the long, -dusky masses looked wonderfully like other hanging things. The great -casks beneath had the appearance of shadowy scaffolds, and the men, -sitting or standing against them, looked larger than life. All was -dusk, subdued, save where a stray sunbeam, sifting through a crack in -the opposite wall, lit the ghastly face and shaven crown of the -Muggletonian. - -Landless, leaning against a cask, addressed a man of a grave and -resolute bearing--one of the newly acquired servants of Verney Manor. - -"Major Havisham, you are a wise and a brave man. I will gladly listen to -any counsel you may have to give anent this matter." - -Havisham shook his head. "I have nothing to say. The spirit of the -father lives in the son. Skillful in planning, bold in action was -Warham Landless!" - -"I am but the tool of Robert Godwyn," said Landless. "You approve, then, -of our arrangements?" - -"Entirely. It is a daring enterprise, but if it succeeds--" he drew a -long breath. - -"And if it fails," said Landless, "there is freedom yet." - -The other nodded. "Yes, death hath few terrors for us." - -"What is death?" cried the hectic youth. "A short, dim passage from -darkness into light; the antechamber of the white court of God; the -curtain that we lift; the veil that we tear--and SEE! My soul longeth -for death, yea, even fainteth for the courts of God! But He will not -call His servants until His work is done. Wherefore let us haste to -rise up and slay, to work the Lord's work, and go from hence!" - -"Yea!" cried the Muggletonian. "I fear not death! I fear not the -Throne and the Judgment seat. The Two Witnesses will speak for me! But -Death is not upon us; he passeth by the weak, and seizeth upon the -strong. The Malignants shall die, for the word of the Lord has gone out -against them. 'Thy foot shall be dipped in the blood of thy enemies, -and the tongue of thy dogs into the same! They shall fall by the sword, -they shall be a portion for foxes; as smoke is drawn away so shall they -vanish, as wax melteth before the fire so shall they perish! He that -sitteth in the heavens shall have them in derision. And the righteous -shall rejoice in His vengeance!'" - -"Amen," drawled Trail through his nose. "Verily, we will fatten on the -good things of the land, we will spend our days in ease and -pleasantness! The Malignants shall work for us. They shall toil in our -tobacco fields, their women shall be our handmaidens, we will drink -their wines, and wear their rich clothing, and our pockets shall be -filled with their gold and silver--" - -"Silence!" cried Landless fiercely. "Once more I tell you, mad dreamers -that you are, that there shall be no such devil's work! Major Havisham, -there are not among us many of this ilk. Two thirds of our number are -men of the stamp of Robert Godwyn and yourself. These men rave." - -"I heed them not," said Havisham with a slighting gesture of the hand; -then, "Let us recapitulate. Upon this appointed day we whom they call -Oliverians, and the great majority of the redemptioners, are to rise -throughout the colony. We--" - -"Are to do no damage to property nor offer any unnecessary violence to -masters and overseers," said Landless firmly. - -"We are simply to arm ourselves, seize horses or boats, and resort to -this appointed place." - -"Yes." - -"Calling upon the slaves to follow us?" - -"Which they will do. Yes." - -"And when all are assembled, to oppose any force sent against us?" - -"Yes." - -"And if we conquer, then--" - -"Then the Republic,--Commonwealth,--anything you choose--at any rate, -freedom." - -"It is a desperate plan." - -"We are desperate men." - -"Yes," Havisham said thoughtfully: "it is the best chance for that -escape of which we all dream, and which two of our number, I see, have -attempted in vain. I had set to-morrow night for my own attempt. This -promises better." - -"Yea," said Porringer, "the stars in their courses fight against the -refugee! Four times have I tried, to be retaken, and handled, as you -see. Twice has this man tried and failed. And the murderer of Robert -Godwyn failed." - -"That remains to be seen," said Trail. "Roach has broken gaol." - -The Muggletonian exclaimed, and Landless turned upon the forger. "How -do you know?" he asked sternly. - -"I heard," was the smooth reply. - -"I am sorry for it," said Landless grimly, and stood with a sternly -thoughtful countenance. - -There was a silence in the tobacco house broken by Havisham. - -"And now--for time passes and the overseer may come and find us not at -our tasks--tell me the day upon which we are to rise, and the place to -which all are to resort." - -"Both are close at hand," said Landless slowly. "The day is--" he broke -off and leaned forward, staring through the dusk. - -"What is it?" cried Havisham. - -"My eyes met other eyes. There, behind that great crack between the -logs!" - -The Muggletonian rushed to the door, flung it open, and vanished; the -branded man followed. The remaining occupants of the tobacco house -started to their feet, and Havisham picked from the floor a pole and -broke from it a stout cudgel. Godfrey Landless strode forward into the -broad shaft of sunshine that entered through the opened door and met the -eavesdropper face to face, as, with either arm in the rude grasp of the -fanatics, she crossed the threshold. - -The conspirators, recognizing the lady of the manor, were stricken dumb. -In the three minutes of dead silence which ensued they saw their plans -defeated, their hopes ruined, their cause vanquished, their lives lost. -The graceful figure with white scorn in the beautiful face was death -come upon them. The shadow fell heavy and cold upon their souls, the -very air seemed to darken and grow chill around them. - -The figure of the woman in their midst gathered up the sunshine, became -ethereal, transplendent, a triumphant white and gold Spirit of Evil. - -Landless was the first to speak. "Unhand her!" he said in a suppressed -voice. - -The men obeyed, but the Muggletonian placed himself between his prisoner -and the door. She saw the movement and said scornfully, "You need not -fear; I shall not run away." Upon her bare, white arms, where they had -been clasped too rudely, were fast darkening marks. She glanced from -them to the scarred face of the Muggletonian. "_They_ will wear out," -she said. - -"Madam," said Landless hoarsely, "how long were you in that place?" - -She flashed upon him a look that was like a blow. "Liar! be silent!" -she said, then turned to the row of faces that frowned upon her from out -the shadow. "To you others I address myself. Traitors, rebellious -servants, base plotters! I hold your lives in my hand." - -"And your own?" said Trail. - -"Cursed daughter of the mother of evil!" cried the Muggletonian, a -baleful light burning in his eyes. "Scarlet woman, whose vain apparel, -whose uncovered hair and bared bosom, whose light songs and laughter -have long been an offense and a stumbling-block to the righteous--thy -cup of iniquity is full, thy life is forfeit, thy hour is come!" He -drew a knife from his bosom and with an unearthly cry flourished it -above his head, then rushed upon her, to be met by Landless, who hurled -himself upon the would-be murderer with a force that sent them both -staggering against the wall. A struggle ensued, which ended in Landless -securing the knife. With it in his hand he sprang to the side of the -girl, who stood unflinching, a pride that was superb in her still white -face and steadfast eyes. - -"Who touches her dies," he said between his teeth. - -Havisham came to his aid. "Men, are you mad? You cannot murder a -defenseless woman! Moreover such a deed would prove our utter ruin." - -"If her body were found, yes!" cried the hectic youth. "But the water -is near, and who is to know that the devil sent her hither?" - -"It is her death or ours," cried the branded man. - -The Muggletonian tossed his arms into the air. - -"The cause! the cause! Cursed be he that putteth his hand to the plough -and finisheth not the furrow! Ride on! Ride on! though it were over -the bodies of a thousand painted Jezebels such as this!" - -"Time presses!" cried the branded man. "Woodson may come!" - -They closed in upon the three who stood at bay. In their dark faces were -a passion and an exaltation--they saw in the woman fallen into their -hands, a sacrifice bound to the altar. Trail alone looked uneasy and -held back, muttering between his teeth. - -Landless stepped in front of Patricia and faced them with a still and -deadly eye, and with the hand that held the knife drawn back against his -breast, Knowing them, he saw no use in any appeal; also he saw that it -was indeed her life or theirs. On the one hand, the downfall of all -their hopes, the death or perpetual enslavement of many, and for himself -surely the gibbet and the rope; on the other-- - -He made a gesture of command. "Thou shalt do no murder!" he cried. - -"It is not murder; it is sacrifice." - -"There must be another way!" cried Havisham. - -"Find it!" - -Havisham turned to the prisoner. "Madam, will you swear to be silent -concerning what you have heard?" - -The Muggletonian laughed wildly. "Who trusts a woman's oath!" - -"You shall have no need," said the lady of the manor calmly. She paused -and her eyes went to the door in an intent and listening gaze, then came -back to the faces about her with a strange light in their depths. -"Rebel servants," she said in a clear, low voice, "I defy you! And you, -false slave, stand from before me. I need not your hateful aid." In -the moment of ominous silence that followed, she swayed towards the -door, her hand at her throat, her soul in her eyes. Suddenly she cried -out, "My father! Charles! help!" - -From without came an answering cry, followed by a rush of men through -the door, and in an instant the room was filled with struggling forms as -the two parties threw themselves upon each other. The newcomers were -half a dozen blacks, the two overseers and Sir Charles Carew. The -overseers had pistols and Sir Charles his sword. With it he met the -rush of the youth with the hectic cheek, who came towards him in long, -hound-like leaps, brandishing a piece of wood above his head, and drove -the blade deep into the chest of the fanatic. The wretched man -staggered and fell, then rose to his knees. Flinging his arms above his -head, he turned his worn face towards the flood of sunshine pouring in -through the door, and cried in a loud voice, "I see!" A stream of blood -gushed from his lips, his arms dropped, and without a groan he fell -back, dead. - -Landless, wrestling with the slave Regulus, at length succeeded in -hurling the powerful figure to the ground, where it lay stunned, and -turned to find himself confronted by Woodson's pistol and the point of -Sir Charles's rapier. A glance showed him the remaining conspirators, -overpowered, and in the act of being bound with the ropes that had lain, -coiled for use in packing, in the corners of the tobacco house. The -hectic youth lay, a ghastly spectacle, in a pool of blood across the -doorway. At his feet was the branded man, a bullet through his brain, -and near him the groaning figure of Havisham's mortally wounded -companion. The woman who had brought all this to pass stood unharmed, -white, with tragic, exultant eyes. - -Sir Charles, serene and debonair, lowered his point. "Your hand is -played," he said with a fine smile. Landless's stern, despairing gaze -passed him and went on to the overseer. "I surrender to you," he said -briefly. - -Woodson chuckled grimly and stuck his pistol in his belt. He was in -high good humor, visions of reward and thanks from the Assembly dancing -before his eyes. "I 've had my eye on you for some time, young man," he -said almost genially. "I 've suspected that you were up to something, -but Lord! to think that a woman's wit should have trapped you at last! -Haines, bring that rope over here." - -Sir Charles went over to Patricia and offered her his arm. "Dearest and -bravest of women!" he said in a caressing whisper. "Come with me from -this place, which must be dreadful to you." - -She did not answer him at once, but stood looking past him at the -picture of laughing water and waving forest framed in the doorway. - -"I thought I should never see the sunshine again," she said dreamily. -"Did Margery give _you_ the message?" - -"Yes, she met me under the mulberries. I would not wait to rouse your -father, but calling the overseers and the blacks from the fields, came -at once." - -"I owe you my life," she said. "You and--" - -Her eyes left the summer outside and came back to the shadowy forms -within the tobacco house. "I will go with you directly, cousin," she -said quietly, "but first I wish to speak to that man." - -He shot a swift glance at her face, but drew back with a bow, and she -walked with a steady step up to Landless. "Fall back a little," she -said with an imperious wave of her hand to the men about him. They -obeyed her. Landless, left standing before her, his arms bound to his -sides, raised his head and looked her in the face. She met his eyes. -"You lied to me," she said in a low, even voice. - -"Once, madam, and to save others," he said proudly. - -"Not once, but twice. Do you think that now I believe that tale you -told me that night, that fairy tale of persecuted innocence? When I -think that I ever believed it I hate myself." - -"Nevertheless, it is true, madam." - -"It is false! Yesterday I thought of you as a gallant gentleman, -greatly wronged ... and I pitied you. To-day I am wiser." - -He held her eyes with his own for a moment, then let them go. "Some day -you will know," he said. - -She turned from him and held out her hands to Sir Charles. He hurried -to her and she clung to him. "Take me away," she said in a whisper. -"Take me home." - -He put his arm about her. "You are faint," he said tenderly. "Come! -the air will revive you." - -Supporting her on his arm, he guided her from the house. As they passed -the body stretched across the threshold, the skirt of her robe touched -the blood in which it was lying. She saw it and shuddered. - -"Blood is upon me!" she said. "It is an omen!" - -"A good one, then," said her companion coolly, "for it is the blood of a -fanatic traitor. Think not of it." He turned at the threshold and cast -a careless glance back into the tobacco house. "Woodson, get rid of -this carrion, and bring these men quietly to the great house, where your -master will deal with them." - - - - - *CHAPTER XXIII* - - *THE QUESTION* - - -"We know all but two things, but those are the most important of all," -said the Governor, tapping his jeweled fingers against the table. - -"It is much to be regretted," said the Surveyor-General, "that the -presence of the young lady was so soon discovered. Otherwise--" - -"Otherwise we might have had further information on more than one -subject," said the Governor dryly. - -"We must make the best of what we have," continued Carrington calmly. -"After all, it is enough." - -The Governor rose and began to pace the floor, his head thoughtfully -bent, his unwounded hand tugging at the curls of his periwig. "It is -not enough," he said at length, pausing before the great table around -which the company were seated. "Thanks to the gallant daughter of the -gallant Verneys,"--a bow and smile to Patricia, sitting enthroned in the -great chair in their midst,--"we know much, but it is not enough. These -rogues have set a day upon which to rise; they have appointed a place to -which they are to resort. That day may be to-morrow, that place any -point in any one of a dozen counties." - -"I apprehend that the cockatrice was to be hatched near by," said Sir -Charles. - -"It is the likeliest thing," answered the Governor, "seeing that their -ringleader belongs to this plantation. But we do not know. And there -may not be time to reach the planters, to give them warning, to arrest -these d--d traitors, scattered as they are from the James to -Rappahannock, and from Henricus to the Chesapeake. It might be best to -assemble the trainbands at this cursed spot if it can be found, and to -await their coming in force. But to know neither time nor place--to -start a hue and cry and have the storm burst before it reaches ten -plantations--to guard one point and see fire rise at another a dozen -leagues away--impossible! Gentlemen, we must come at the heart of this -matter!" - -"It is most advisable," said Colonel Verney gravely. "Examine the -prisoners again," suggested Sir Charles. - -"One of them is no wiser than we. You are certain as to this, Mistress -Patricia?" - -"Yes, your Excellency." - -"Humph! one does not know; three are dead, there remain, then, that -shaven and branded runaway and the two convicts." - -"You will learn naught from the runaway, your Excellency!" called out -the overseer from where he stood at a respectful distance from the -company. "He 's one of them crazy fanatics that wild horses could n't -draw truth from. No Indian torture stake could make him speak if he did -n't want to,--nor keep him from it if he did." - -"I know that kind," said the Governor, with a short laugh, "and we will -not waste time upon him, but will try if the convict--he who seems to -have been their leader--be not more amenable. Bring him in, Woodson." - -When the overseer had gone, a silence fell upon the company gathered in -the master's room. The Governor paced to and fro, perplexity in his -face; the Colonel knit his grizzled brows and studied the floor; Dr. -Anthony Nash brought the writing materials displayed upon the table, -closer to him, and held a quill ready poised for dipping into the ink -horn, while the Surveyor-General with a carefully composed countenance -toyed with a pink which he took from the bowl of flowers before him. -Sir Charles leaned back in his seat and looked at Patricia who, seated -between him and her father, stared before her with hard, bright eyes. -Her lips were like a scarlet flower against the absolute pallor of her -face; her hair was a crown of pale gold. In the great chair, her white -arms resting upon the dark wood, her feet upon a carved footstool, she -looked a queen, and the knot of brilliantly dressed gentlemen her -attendant council. - -The door opened and the two overseers appeared with Landless, who -advanced and stood, silent and collected, before the ring of hostile -faces. - -"What is your name, sirrah?" said the Governor, throwing himself into -his chair and frowning heavily. - -"Godfrey Landless." - -"I am told that you are son to one Warham Landless, a so-called colonel -in the rebel army and hand in glove with the usurper himself." - -"I am the son of Colonel Warham Landless of the forces of the -Commonwealth, and friend to his Highness the Lord Protector." - -"Humph! And did you fight in these same forces yourself?" - -"At Worcester, yes." - -"Humph! the son of a traitor and rebel--traitor and rebel yourself--and -convict to boot! A pretty record! On what day was this rising to -occur?" - -No answer. The Governor repeated the question. "On what day was this -precious mine to be sprung? And to what place were you to resort?" - -Landless remaining silent, the Governor's face began to flush and the -veins in his forehead to swell. "Have you lost your tongue?" he said -fiercely. "If so, we will find a way to recover it." - -"I shall not answer those questions," said Landless firmly. - -"It is your one chance for life," said the Governor sternly. "Answer me -truly, and you may escape the gallows. Refuse, and you hang, so surely -as I sit here." - -"I shall not answer them." - -"Sink me if I ever knew a Roundhead so careless of his own interests," -drawled Sir Charles. The Governor whispered to the master of the -plantation, then turned again to the prisoner. - -"I give you one more chance," he said harshly. "When is this day? Where -is this place?" - -"I shall not tell you." - -"We will see about that," said his Excellency with compressed lips. -"Verney, send your daughter from the room. Woodson, you understand this -gear, having been in the Indies. This man is to tell us all that he -knows of this business. Call in a trustworthy slave or two to help -you." - -Patricia uttered a low cry, and the Surveyor-General crushed the flower -between his fingers and turned upon the Governor. "Your Excellency! I -protest! This that you would do is not lawful! Surely such harsh -measures are not needed." - -The Governor's fury exploded. "Not needful!" he exclaimed in a high -voice. "Not needful, when upon these questions hang the fortunes of the -Colony! when if we fail, to-morrow may usher in a blacker forty-four! -And not lawful! I am the law in this State, Major Carrington; I am the -King's representative, and this is my prerogative! and I say that by -fair means or foul this information must be gained. This is no time to -prate of humanity. We are to show humanity to ourselves; we are to -stamp out this lit fuse. Or does Major Carrington wish it to burn on?" - -"No," said Carrington coldly. "I spoke hastily. You are right, of -course, and I will interfere no further." - -An hour later Patricia stood before the hall window looking out upon the -dazzling water and the green velvet of the marshes with wide, unseeing -eyes. Her hands were clenched at her sides and upon each cheek burned a -crimson spot. Beside her crouched Betty Carrington who, upon the first -rumor of trouble at Verney Manor, had ridden over from Rosemead. Their -strained ears caught no sound from the room opposite other than the -occasional sound of the Governor's voice, raised in interrogation. -There came no answering voice. Patricia stood motionless, with eyes -that never wandered from the rich scene without, and with lips pressed -together, but Betty hid her face in the other's skirts and shivered. -The door of the master's room opened and both started violently. The -overseer strode down the hall and had laid his hand upon the latch of -the door leading to the offices, when his mistress called him to her. -"Do they know? Has the man told?" she asked with an effort. - -Woodson shook his head. "He 's as dumb as an oyster. Might as well try -to get anything from an Indian. They 're going to try t' other--Trail." - -He left the hall, but was back in five minutes' time with the forger. -They entered the master's room, and Patricia, seized by a sudden -impulse, followed them, leaving Betty trembling in the window scat. - -Unnoted by all but one of the company, she slipt to a seat in the shadow -of her father's burly shoulders. He was leaning forward, talking to the -Governor, who sat very erect, his features fixed in an expression of -dogged determination. The Surveyor-General sat well behind the table, -and upon the polished wood before him lay a little heap of torn petals -and broken stems. At the far end of the room and leaning heavily against -the wall was the prisoner whose examination was just finished. - -Sir Charles had seen the entrance of the lady of the manor, and he now -rose from his seat and came to her. "Not a syllable," he whispered in -answer to the question in her eyes. "Roundhead obstinacy! But I think -that this fellow will prove more malleable." - -His prediction was verified. Ten minutes later the Governor rose to his -feet triumphant. "So!" he said, drawing a long breath. "We are, I -think, gentlemen, at the very core at last. The time, day after -to-morrow; the place, Poplar Spring in this county. And now to work! -Those of these d--d Oliverians whom we can reach must be arrested at -once. Swift messengers must be sent to all plantations far and near. -The trainbands must be called out. Time presses, gentlemen!" - -"And these men?" said the Colonel. - -"Must go to Jamestown gaol, where the one shall hang as surely as my -name is William Berkeley. For the other--" - -"Your Excellency has promised me my life," said Trail cringingly, but -with an inscrutable something that was not fear in his sinister green -eyes. - -"An escort must be gotten together," said the Colonel, "and the day is -far advanced. I advise keeping them here until the morning." - -"See that you keep them straitly then," said the Governor. - -"Trust me for that, your Excellency," said the overseer grimly. - -"Then to work, gentlemen," cried the Governor, "for there is much to do -and but little time to do it in. Major Carrington, you with Mr. Peyton -will ride with me to Jamestown. Colonel Verney, you will know what -measures to take for the safety of your shire. Woodson, have the horses -brought around at once." - -The Council broke up in haste and confusion, and its members, talking -eagerly, streamed into the hall. Carrington was the last in line, and he -paused before Landless. The under overseer and the slave Regulus were -at a little distance replacing the cords about Trail's arms. The -Surveyor-General cast a quick glance towards the door, saw that the last -retreating figure was that of Mr. Peyton, and approached his lips close -to Landless's ear. - -"You are a brave man," he said in a low and troubled voice. "From my -soul I honor you! I would have saved you, would save you now if I -could. But I am cruelly placed." - -"I have no hope for this life--and no fear," said Landless calmly. - -Carrington paused irresolute, and a flush rose to his face. "I would -like to hear you say that you do not blame me," he said at last with an -effort. - -"I do not blame you," said Landless. - -Woodson appeared in the doorway. "The Governor is waiting, Major -Carrington." - -"If I can do ought to help you, I will," said Carrington hastily, and -left the room. A moment later came the jingling of reins and the sound -of rapid hoofs quickening into the planter's pace as the Governor and -the Surveyor-General whirled away. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXIV* - - *A MESSAGE* - - -In an unused attic room of the great house lay Godfrey Landless, cords -about his ankles, and his arms bound to his sides by cords and by a -thick rope, one end of which was fastened to a beam on the wall. He was -alone, for the Muggletonian, Havisham and Trail were confined in the -overseer's house. Opposite him was a small window framing a square of -sky. He had watched light clouds drift across it, and the sun pass -slowly and majestically down it, and the sunset turn the clouds into -floating blood-red plumes. He had been there since noon. Thick walls -kept from him all sound in the house below--it might have been a house -of the dead. Through the closed window came the low, incessant hum of -the summer world without, but no unusual noise. He had heard the sunset -horn, and the song of the slaves coming from the fields, and as dusk -began to fall, the cry of a whip-poor-will. - -When the door had closed upon the retreating figures of the men who -brought him there, he had thrown himself upon the floor where he lay, -faint from physical anguish, in a stupor of misery, conscious only of a -sick longing for death. This mood had passed and he was himself again. - -As he lay with his eyes following the fiery, shifting feathers of cloud, -he remembered that the gaol at Jamestown faced the south, and he -thought, "This is the last sunset I shall ever see." He had the strong -abiding faith of his time and party, and he looked beyond the clouds -with an awe and a light in his eyes. Verses learnt at his mother's knee -came back to him; he said them over to himself, and the tender, solemn, -beneficent words fell like balm upon his troubled heart. He thought of -his mother who had died young, and then of scenes and occurrences of his -childhood. All earthly hope was past, there could be no more struggling; -in a little while he would be dead. Dying, his mind reverted, not to the -sordid misery from which death would set him free, but to the long past, -to the child at the mother's knee, to the boy who had climbed down great -cliffs in search of a smuggler's cave. The unearthly light that rests -upon that time so far behind us shone strong for him--he saw every twig -in the rooks' nests in the lofty elms, every ivy leaf about a ruined -oriel, black against a gold sky; the cool, dark smell of the box alleys -filled his nostrils: the sound of the sea came to him; he heard his -mother singing on the terrace. He bowed his face with a sudden rain of -tender, not sorrowful, tears. - -Something crashed in at the window, splintering the coarse glass and -falling upon the floor at a little distance from him. It was a large -pebble, to which was tied a piece of paper. He started up and made for -it, to be brought up within two feet of it by the tug of the rope which -bound him to the wall. He thought a moment, then lay down upon the -floor and found that he could touch the end of the string that tied the -paper to the pebble. He took it between his teeth and slowly drew it -towards him, then, rising to his knees, he strained with all his might -at the cords that bound his arms. They were tightly drawn, but when at -length he desisted, panting, he had so loosened them that he could move -one hand a very little way. With it and with his teeth he disengaged -the paper from the pebble and spread it upon his knee. There was just -light enough to read the sprawling schoolboy hand with which it was -covered. It ran thus:-- - -"I don't know as this will ever reach you. I am doing all I can. Luiz -Sebastian has not let me get at arm's length from him since I overheard -him and the Turk, and a sailor from Captain Laramore's ship and _Roach_ -at the hut on the marsh, two hours ago. They would have killed me -there, but I ran, and he did not catch me until I was almost to the -quarters. He will kill me though in a little while, I know; he has a -knife and he is sitting on the door-step, and the Turk is with him, and -I can not pass them. He held his hand over my mouth and the knife to my -heart when Woodson went the rounds, and I could n't make no sound--Lord -have mercy upon me! I write this with my blood, on a leaf from your -Bible, while he sits there whispering to the Turk. He goes to his own -cabin directly and he will take me with him and kill me there, I know he -will. He goes to the stables first and I must go with him. If we pass -close enough, and if I can do it without his seeing me I will throw this -in at the window of the room where I know you are, if not--the Lord help -us all! ... Landless, for God's sake! before moonrise to-night the -Chickahominies and the Ricahecrians from the Blue Mountains will come -down on the plantation. With them are leagued Luiz Sebastian, the Turk, -Trail, Roach, and most of the slaves.... When all is over, the Indians -will take the scalps and Grey Wolf and will make for the Blue Mountains; -Luiz Sebastian and the others will seize the boats and put off for the -ship at the Point. Her crew will give her up and they will all turn -pirate together. The women go with them if they can keep them from the -Indians; the men are all to be killed.... I have told you all I heard. -For God's sake, save them if you can,--and remember poor Dick -Whittington." - -Dropping the paper, Landless strained with all his might, first at the -cords which bound his arms, and then at the rope which fastened him to -the wall. Again and again he put forth the strength of despair--his -muscles cracked, great beads stood upon his forehead--but the ropes -held. As well as he could with his shackled feet he stamped upon the -floor; he called aloud, but there came no answering voice or sound from -below. He was at the end of the house over unused chambers, and the -walls and flooring were very thick. He clenched his teeth and began -again the battle with the cords which held him. All in vain. He -shouted until he was hoarse--it was crying aloud in a desert. With a -groan he leaned against the wall, gathering strength for another effort. -It was dark now and the moon rose at eleven.... There was a piece of -glass upon the floor, one of the splinters from the shattered window. -He remembered noticing it--a long narrow piece like the blade of a -knife. Sinking to his knees he felt for it, and after a long time found -it. He now had a knife, but he could not move the hand that held it six -inches from his side. Stooping, he took the splinter between his teeth, -and making the rope taut, drew the sharp edge of the glass across it. -Again and again he drew it across, and at length he perceived that a -strand was severed. With a thrill of joy he settled to the slow, -laborious and painful task. Time passed, a long, long time, and yet the -rope was but half severed. As he worked he counted the moments with -feverish dread, his heart throbbed one passionate prayer: "Lord, let me -save her!" Now and then he glanced at the blackness of the night -outside with a terrible fear--though he knew it could not be yet--that -he should see it waver into moonlight. Another interval of toil, and he -stood erect, gathered his forces, made one supreme effort--and was free! -There was not time for the cords about his arms, but he must get rid of -those which fettered his ankles. An endless task it seemed, but hand -and friendly splinter accomplished it at last: and he sprang to the -door. It was locked. He dashed himself against it, once, twice, -thrice, and it crashed outwards, precipitating him into a large, bare -room. He crossed this, managed to open its unlocked door with his free -hand, descended a winding stair and came into the upper hall. It was in -darkness, but up the wide staircase streamed the perfumed light of many -myrtle candles, and with it laughter, and the sound of a man's voice -singing to a lute. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXV* - - *THE ROAD TO PARADISE* - - -The family and guests of Verney Manor were assembled in the great room. -The day had been one of confusion, haste and anxiety; but it was past, -and the stillness and forced inaction of the night was upon them. With -the readiness of those to whom danger is no novelty they seized the hour -and made the most of it. Sufficient unto the morrow was the evil -thereof. - -The Colonel, weary from hard riding, but well satisfied with his -afternoon's work, had sunk into a great chair and challenged Dr. Anthony -Nash to a game of chess. "Everything is in train," he told them, "and -all quiet upon the plantations in this shire at least. I believe the -danger past. God be thanked!" Upon a settle piled with cushions lay -Captain Laramore, with a bandaged shoulder, a long pipe between his -teeth, and at his elbow a tankard of sack and an elderly Hebe in the -person of Mistress Lettice Verney. Patricia, sumptuously clad and -beautiful as a dream, sat in the great window with Betty and Sir -Charles. Her eyes shone with a feverish brilliancy, her white hands were -never still, she laughed and jested with her lover, touching this or -that with light wit. Once or twice she broke into song, rich, -passionate, throbbing through the night. The gentle Betty looked at her -in wonder, but Sir Charles was enchanted. - -Steps sounded on the stairs and in the hall. "Who is that?" cried the -master, taking his hand from his rook. - -"The overseer, probably," said Dr. Nash. "Check to your king." - -A loud scream from Mistress Lettice. The master leaped to his feet, -knocking over the chess-table and sending the pieces rattling into -corners. Sir Charles, drawing his rapier, sprang to his side, the -wounded Captain started up from amidst his pillows and the divine -snatched a brass andiron from the fireplace. - -Framed in the doorway, looking larger than life against the blackness of -the space behind him, stood the arch plotter, the Roundhead, the -convict, the rebellious servant whom the Governor had sworn to hang. -Blood dropped from his face, cut by the glass with which he had severed -the rope, to meet the blood upon his arms and chest, lacerated by his -savage straining at his bonds. For a moment he stood, blinded by the -light, then advanced into the room. His master seized him. "Still -bound!" he cried with an oath. "He is alone then! How did you get -here? What are you doing here'? Speak, scoundrel!" - -"I bring you this paper, sir," said Landless hoarsely. "Will you take -it from me. I cannot raise my hands." - -The Colonel snatched the paper, glanced at it, read it with a face from -which all the ruddy color had fled, and held it out to Sir Charles with -a shaking hand. "Read it," he gasped. "Read it aloud," and sank into -his chair breathing heavily. - -Sir Charles read. "Damnation!" he cried, crushing the paper in his -hand. Laramore started up with a roar of "My ship!" and then broke into -a torrent of oaths. Mistress Lettice's screams filled the room until -her brother roughly silenced her by clapping his hand over her mouth. -"By the Lord Harry, Lettice, I will throw you out to them if you do not -hush! Gentlemen, in God's name, what are we to do?" - -"Barricade door and window and hold the house against them," said the -baronet. - -"Send for help to Rosemead and to Fitzhugh and Ludwell!" cried the -divine. - -"Five men and three women to hold this house against a hundred Indians -and negroes! And no help could come for hours and it is now nearly ten! -Moreover, the messenger would have to pass through the savages lying in -the woods,--he would never reach Rosemead with his scalp on!" - -"I will be your messenger," said Nash rising, "and as every moment is -more precious than rubies, I had best start at once." - -"You, Anthony! God forbid!" cried the Colonel. "You would go to certain -death." - -"I would stay to certain death, would I not?" retorted the other. "But -my mare, Pixie, and I can shew clean heels to the red villains, were -they as thick as chinquepins. Give me the stable-key, Verney. I know -the way to the jade's stall, and she will follow her master through fire -and water without a whinny. I don't want a light. Not a soul on the -place must know that I have left Verney Manor." - -"Anthony, Anthony, I am loth to see you go, old friend!" cried the -Colonel. - -"Tut, tut, as well leave my scalp in the woods as in Dick Verney's -parlor! but I shall do neither. Hold the house as long as you can, and -look for Carrington, and Fitzhugh, and Ludwell, and myself with a -hundred men at our heels before the dawn. Until then _vale_." - -He was gone. "And now the doors and windows," said Sir Charles. - -"The windows, save those in this room, are secured as they always are at -night. The shutters are heavy and strongly barred, and we have but to -draw the chains across the doors. They will find it hard work to fire -the house, for the logs are wet from this morning's shower. There is -ammunition enough, and the shutters are loopholed. If we were in force, -we might hold out, but, my God! what can we do? Even with the overseers -whom we must manage to call to us, if we can do so without arousing -suspicion, we are not enough to defend one face of the house.' - -"Are there no honest servants?" - -"How can I tell the true men from the knaves? To rouse the quarters -would be to show that we know, and to ourselves spring the mine which is -to destroy us. And if we brought men into the house, who are leagued -with the fiends outside, then would their work be done for them. There -are a very few whom I know to be faithful, but how to secure them -without giving the alarm--my God! how helpless we are!" - -"Perhaps I can help you, Colonel Verney," said Landless. - -In the midst of a dead silence the eyes of each occupant of the -room,--the master, the courtier, the wounded captain, the women, -trembling in each other's arms,--were turned upon the speaker who stood -before them, haggard, torn and bleeding, but with a quiet power in his -dark face and steadfast eyes. - -"You?" said the master sternly. "What can you do?" - -"I will tell you," said Landless, "but I must be freed from these bonds -first." - -Another pause, and then Sir Charles, responding to a nod from his -kinsman, walked over to Landless, and with his rapier cut the ropes -which bound him. - -"Now speak!" said the Colonel. - - -The quarters lay, to all appearance, wrapt in the profoundest -slumber--no movement in the low-browed cabins, or in the lane or square; -no sound other than the croak of the frogs in the marshes, the wail of -the whip-poor-wills, and the sighing of the night wind in the pines. -All was dark save in the east, where the low stars were beginning to -pale. Below them glowed a dull red spark, shining dimly across a long -expanse of black marsh and water, and coming from Captain Laramore's -ship, anchored off the Point. - -One moment it seemed the only light in the wide landscape of darkness; -the next the flame of a torch, streaming sidewise in the wind, cast an -orange glare upon the dead tree in the centre of the square and upon the -windowless fronts of the cabins surrounding it. The torch was in the -hand of the overseer, who went the rounds, striking upon each door, and -summoning the inmates of the cabin to the square. "The master wants a -word with you," was all the answer he vouchsafed to startled, sullen, or -suspicious inquiries. In five minutes the square was thronged. White -and black, servant and slave, rustic, convict, Jew, Turk, Indian, -mulatto, quadroon, coal black, untamed African--the motley crowd pressed -and jostled towards that end of the square at which stood the master, -his kinsman, the overseer, and Godfrey Landless. Behind them on the -steps of the overseer's house were the Muggletonian, Havisham, and -Trail. They had been unbound. In the Muggletonian's scarred face was -stolid indifference, but Trail looked furtively about until he spied -Luiz Sebastian, when he signaled "What is it?" with his eyes. The -mulatto shook his head, and continued to shoulder his way through the -press until he stood in the front row, face to face with the party from -the great house. On one side of him was the Turk, on the other an -Indian. - -The master stepped a pace or two in front of his companions, and held up -his hand for silence. When the excited muttering had sunk into a -breathless hush, he beckoned to Landless, and the young man stepped to -his side. There were many streaming lights by now, and men saw each -other, now clearly, now darkly, as the fitful glare rose and fell. - -"Now, my man," said the master in a loud, slow voice, "you will point -out to me, as you have agreed to do, every man concerned in the plot -discovered this morning. And you whom he designates, I command you, in -the name of the King, to surrender peaceably. Your hope of pardon -depends upon your doing so. Now, Landless!" - -"John Havisham," said Landless. - -"Taken redhanded," quoth the master. "Place him here, Woodson, in front -of us. When all are in line, I shall have a word to say to them." - -Havisham advanced with quiet dignity, passing Landless as if unaware of -his presence. "I surrender," he said, raising his voice, "because I -have no choice. And I advise those of our number here present to do the -same. Our plans known, our friends taken, betrayed and deserted by the -man in whom we trusted most, whom we called our leader, we have, indeed, -no choice." - -"Win-Grace Porringer," said Landless. - -The Muggletonian threw up his arms. "Iscariot!" he cried wildly. "Woe, -woe to him by whom offenses come! Well for thee, son of Warham -Landless, hadst thou never been born! By the power given to the Two -Witnesses and to their followers I curse thee! Thou shalt be anathema -maranatha! Famine, thirst, and a violent death be thy portion in this -life, and in the world to come mayest thou burn forever, howling! Amen -and amen!" With a wild laugh he stalked to the side of Havisham, -leaving Trail standing alone upon the doorstep. The eyes of the forger -met the eyes of Luiz Sebastian in another puzzled inquiry, but the -latter shook his head with a frown. Not doubting that his name would be -the next called, Trail had already taken a step forward, but Landless's -eyes passed him over, and rested upon the face of a man standing near -Luiz Sebastian. - -"John Robert!" he cried. - -The man, a Baptist preacher suffering under the Act of Uniformity, -turned a gentle, reproachful face upon him, and stepping from the crowd, -joined himself to Havisham and the Muggletonian. - -"James Holt!" said Landless. - -A rustic, standing behind Luiz Sebastian, uttered a dreadful -imprecation. "You may hang me and welcome, your Honor," he cried as he -took his place, "if you 'll just let me see this d--d Judas hung first!" - -Luiz Sebastian fixed his great eyes upon Landless. "If he calls my -name," said the wicked brain behind the blandly smiling face, "shall I, -or shall I not--? It is many minutes to moonrise yet." - -But Landless did not call him. He passed him by as he had passed Trail, -and named another rustic at some little distance from the mulatto, then -a Fifth Monarchy man, then a veteran of Cromwell's, then the plantation -miller and the carpenter, then two more Oliverians, then more peasants. -Each man, as his name was called, stepped forward into the lengthening -line that faced the master and his party, standing with pistols leveled -and cocked; and each man bestowed upon Godfrey Landless a curse, or a -look that was bitterer than a curse. - -"Humfrey Elder!" called Landless. - -The old butler shot from out the crowd, as though impelled from a -catapult. "Your Honor!" he screamed, "the man as says _I_ plot against -a Verney, lies! I that fought with your Honor at Naseby! I that you -brought from home with you when Mistress Patricia was a baby, and that -has poured your wine from that day to this! I plot with these -rapscallions and Roundheads! Your Honor, he lies in his throat!" - -"Fall into line, Humfrey," said his master quietly; "I will hear you out -later, but now, obey me." - -The watchful eyes of Luiz Sebastian were growing very watchful indeed. - -"Regulus!" cried Landless. - -Under cover of a burst of protestation from Regulus, the Turk whispered -to the mulatto, "By Allah! this is the slave you would not approach! -You said he would die for his master." - -"He is not of them," returned the other. "St. Jago! if I understand it! -But what can it matter? The moon will rise in less than an hour." - -"Dick Whittington!" cried Landless. - -There was a moment's silence, broken by the mulatto, who had stepped out -of line, and now stood facing the party from the great house. "I grieve -to say, senors," he said in his silkiest tone, "that the poor Dick was -but now taken with the fever, and lies in a stupor within his cabin. -To-morrow, perhaps, he will be better, and will answer when you call." - -"That is your cabin, just beyond you there, is it not?" demanded -Landless. - -"Assuredly," with a quick glance. "And what then?" - -Landless raised his voice to a shout. "Dick Whittington!" - -"Mother of God! what do you mean?" exclaimed the mulatto. "Your voice -cannot reach him, deaf and dumb from the fever, lying in his cabin at -the far end of the lane." - -"Dick Whittington!" again loudly called Landless. - -A cry arose from the crowd behind the mulatto and between him and his -cabin. The next instant there broke through them the figure, bound and -gagged, of young Dick Whittington. As he rushed past the mulatto, the -latter, with a snarl of fury, grappled with him, but animated with, the -strength of despair, the boy, bound as he was, broke from him and rushed -to Landless, at whose feet he dropped in a dead faint. Upon the crowd -fell a silence so intense that nature herself seemed to have ceased to -breathe. Luiz Sebastian, darting glances here, there, and everywhere, -from eyes in which doubt was fast growing into certainty, came upon -something which told its own tale. The women's cabins were at some -distance from the square, and nearer to the great house, and from the -one to the other was passing a hurried line of women and children with -the under overseer at their head. - -With the sight vanished the last remnant of doubt from the mind of the -mulatto.... Landless saw that he saw; saw the intention with which he -slipped out of range of the pistols; saw the wicked light in his face; -saw him beckon to the Indian and point to the forest; saw the glistening -and rolling eyeballs and the working lips of the throng of slaves who -had by imperceptible degrees separated from the whites, and were now -massing together at one side of the square; saw the Turk with a knife in -his hand; saw Trail edging away from the group before the overseer's -cabin--and sprang forward, his powerful figure instinct with -determination, the set calm of the face with which he had met Havisham's -quiet disdain and the imprecations of the other conspirators, broken up -into fire and passion, high and resolved. Blood was upon it still, and -upon his arms and half naked breast; his eyes burned; and as he threw up -his arm in a gesture of command, he looked the very genius of war, and -he seized and held every eye and ear. - -"Men!" he cried, addressing himself to the line he had called into -being. "Havisham, Arnold, Allen, Braxton! we fought in the same cause -once, fought for God and the Commonwealth! To-night we will fight -again, and together; fight for our lives and for the honor of women! -Comrades, I am no traitor! I have not sold you! You have cursed me -without cause. Listen! Colonel Verney, will you repeat the oath you -swore to me an hour ago?" - -The master stepped to his side. "I swear," he cried, in his loud, manly -voice, "by the faith of a Christian, by the honor of a gentleman, that -not one of you whose names have been given by this man, shall in any way -suffer by having been privy to this plot. I will so work with the -Governor and Council that your bodies shall not be touched, nor your -time of service increased. Bygones shall be bygones between us. This -applies to all save this man, the head and front of the conspiracy. Him -I cannot save. He must pay the penalty, but he shall be the scapegoat -for the rest of you. You have my promise, the promise of a man who -never breaks his word for good or evil." - -"In the woods yonder are Indians," cried Landless. "They wait but for -moonrise, for the appointed hour, to fall upon the plantation. You -called me traitor! It is Luiz Sebastian and Trail who are the traitors, -the betrayers! They are leagued with the Indians and with the slaves. -Look at them, and see that I speak truth!" - -The look was sufficient. The dusky mass of slaves had swayed forward -with one low, deep, bestial growl. Crouched for the spring, they were -yet held in leash by the menace of the pistols, leveled upon them and -gleaming in the torchlight, and by the restraining gesture and voice of -Luiz Sebastian. In the crowd of servants, now quite separated from the -slaves, was noise and confusion, and behind the Turk, standing midway -between the parties, was forming a phalanx of villainous white -faces--the dissolute, the convict, the refuse of the plantation,--and at -his side, suddenly as though sprung from the earth, appeared the evil -face and red hair of the murderer of Robert Godwyn. - -The silence of the Oliverians, stricken dumb by this new turn of -affairs, was broken by Havisham's crying to Landless,-- - -"What are we to do, friend?" - -"Make for the house and defend it and our lives," answered Landless, -"but first I call upon all true men among you yonder to leave those -murderers and join yourselves to us." - -"In the name of the King!" cried the Colonel. - -"In the name of God!" said Landless. - -Some seven or eight broke from the opposite throng and with lowered -heads ran to them across the open space. Landless stooped, and lifting -the senseless figure at his feet swung it over his shoulder. - -"We are ready, Colonel Verney. Steady, men! Follow me!" He turned to -the great house, rising vast and dark, two hundred yards away. - -A gigantic, coal black Ashantee chief broke from the throng opposite -and, uttering his war cry, bounded across the space between them. -Another instant and he would have been upon them, and close after him a -yelling pack of hell hounds--the overseer's pistol cracked, and the -black giant fell dead. A yell arose from the crowd, but they stood -irresolute. For firearms, so strictly kept from servants and slaves, so -pre-eminently pertaining to the dominant class, they had a superstitious -dread. Four pistols meant four lives picked from the foremost to -advance. - -"Let them go," cried the mulatto, with a taunting laugh. "Let them go! -Let them go cage themselves in wooden walls where we will take them all -together--rats in a trap. We will wait for the Chickahominies who have -guns, senors, and for the Ricahecrians whose scalping knives are very -bright. Until moonrise, senors from the great house, and you others who -go with them! Mother of God! look well upon it, for it is the last you -will ever see!" - -Fifteen minutes later saw the house of Verney Manor garrisoned by some -thirty desperate men. They had entered to find a scene of confusion--the -hall and lower rooms filled with frightened women and crying children. -Patricia with white cheeks and brilliant eyes had come forward to meet -her father, carrying a three days' child in her arms. Beyond her was -Betty, bending her sweet, pale face over the mother, caught up from her -pallet and carried to the house in the arms of the under overseer. -Mistress Lettice was alternately wailing that they were all undone and -murdered, and wringing her hands over the obstinacy of Captain Laramore -who, rapier in left hand, would stand guard at the door, instead of -keeping quiet as the Doctor had said he must. The master's stern -command for silence reduced the clamor of women and children to an -undertone of lamentation. "We must to work at once," he said, "and -apportion our forces. There are about thirty men, are there not, -Woodson? I shall take the front with ten: Charles, thou shalt have one -side, Woodson the other, and Haines the back. Laramore, thou must let -us fight for thee, man, though I know thou findest it a bitter pill. Do -you marshal the men, Woodson, and divide them into four parties, one for -each face, and tell the women to leave off their whimpering and prepare -to load the muskets. Haines, have the arms taken down from the racks -and distribute them. Men and women, one and all, you are to remember -that you are fighting for your lives and for more than your lives. You -know what you have to expect if you are taken." - -Sir Charles, followed by Landless, the Muggletonian and some three or -four others, entered the great room, which, with the master's room, -occupied that side of the house allotted to the baronet. The wax -candles still burned upon the spinet, and upon the high mantel, and in -the middle of the floor lay the overturned chess table. Three of the -four windows were closely shuttered, but the fourth was open, and before -it stood a graceful figure, looking out into the darkness. - -Sir Charles strode hurriedly over to it. "Cousin! this is madness! You -know not to what danger you may be exposing yourself. Come away!" - -"I am watching for the moonrise," she said dreamily. "It is very near -now. Look at the white glow above the water, and how pale the stars -are! How beautiful it is, and how cool the wind upon your forehead! -Listen! that was the cry of a jay, surely! and yet why should we hear it -at night?" - -"It is the cry of a jay, sure enough," said the overseer, pausing in his -hurried passage through the room, "but it was made by Indian lips." - -"Come away, for God's sake!" cried the baronet. - -"Look! there is the moon!" she answered. - -Above the level of marsh and water appeared a thin line of silver. It -thickened, rounded, became a glorious orb. The marshes blanched from -black to gray, and across the water, from the dim land to the great -silver globe, stretched a long, bright, shimmering path. - -A knot of women appeared in the doorway, laden with powder-flasks and -platters filled with bullets. One, with only a stick wound with faded -flowers in her hand, left them and glided to the open window. - -"Margery!" said Patricia softly. - -The mad woman, pressing in front of her mistress, looked out into the -night and saw the white shining road cutting through the darkness and -stretching endlessly away. She threw up her arms with a cry of rapture. - -"The road to Paradise! the road to Paradise!" - -An arrow whistled through the window and struck into her bosom--into her -heart--the staff dropped from her hand, and she swayed forward and fell -at her mistress's feet. - -The night, so placid, still and beautiful, was rent and in an instant -made hideous by a sound so long, loud, and dreadful, that it might have -been the shriek of a legion of exultant fiends. It rose to the stars, -sunk to the earth and rose again, unearthly, menacing, curdling the -blood and turning the heart to stone. - -"The war-whoop," said Woodson. "Close the window, quick." - - - - - *CHAPTER XXVI* - - *NIGHT* - - -That terrible cadence preluded pandemonium, the hush of horror that -followed it being broken by one deep and awful roar of voices as the -insurgents, red, white, and black, joined forces and swept down upon the -devoted house. - -"They will try the front first," quoth the master from his loophole. -"Steady, men, until I give the word! Now, let them have it with a -wannion!" - -The muskets cracked and a louder yell arose from without. - -"Two," said the master composedly, receiving a fresh musket from his -daughter's hand. - -"They will try to dash in the door, your Honor!" cried the overseer from -his post of observation. "They have the trunk of a pine with them." - -"Let them come," said his master grimly. "They will find a warm -welcome." - -A double line of savages raised the great trunk from the ground and -advanced with it at a run, yelling as they came. They had reached the -steps leading up into the porch when from the loopholed door and window -within there poured a deadly fire. Three fell, but the battering-ram -came on and struck against the door with tremendous force. The door -held, and but twelve of the twenty who had entered the porch returned to -their fellows. - -"They won't try that again," said the master with a short laugh. - -"They are dividing," cried the overseer. "They will surround the house. -Every man to his post!" - -Around the corner of the house to the moonlit sward beneath the great -room windows swept a tide of Indians and negroes with Luiz Sebastian and -the two Ricahecrian brothers at their head. A few of the Indians had -guns; the slaves were armed with axes, scythes, knives--the plunder of -the tool house--or with jagged pieces of old iron, or with oars taken -from the boats and broken into dreadful clubs. They came on with a din -that was terrific, the savages from the eastern hemisphere howling like -the beasts within their native forests, those from the western uttering -at intervals their sterner, more appalling cry. - -Within the great room Sir Charles, languidly graceful as ever, stood -beside the small square opening in the door that led down into the -garden, and fired again and again into the mob without. He fought with -an air as became the fine gentleman of the period, but underneath the -elaborate carelessness of demeanor was a cool precision of action. The -hand that so nonchalantly brushed away the grains of powder from his -white ruffles, was steady enough at the trigger; the eye that turned -from the red death without to cast languishing glances at his mistress -where she stood directing the women, was quick to note the minutest -change in savage tactics. He jested as he fought--once he drew a -tremulous wail of laughter from Mistress Lettice's lips. - -A bullet sung through the aperture and grazed his arm. "The first -blood," he said, with a laugh. - -"There's a man killed in the master's room and two in the hall!" cried -young Whittington, from his post at the far window. - -"And Margery," said Patricia, coming forward with the kerchief from her -neck in her hand. "Let me bind up your wound, cousin." - -He held out his arm with a smile and a few low, caressing words, and she -wound the lawn that was not whiter than her face about it; then moved -back to where the women worked, loading and passing the muskets to the -men who kept up an incessant fire upon the assailants. - -The whole house filled with smoke through which the figures of the -besieged loomed large and indistinct, and the noise--the crack of the -muskets, the loud commands and oaths, the scream of a frightened woman -or child, the groans of the wounded, of whom there were now many--became -deafening. The attack was now general, and the men on each face had -their hands full. Without was horrible clamor, oaths, shots, yells, -crashing blows against door and window; within was noise and confusion, -and fear, stern and controlled, but blanching the lip of the men and -showing in the agony of the women's eyes. - -Sir Charles, turning for a fresh musket, after a highly successful shot -as the yell outside had testified, found Patricia at his elbow. "There -are very few bullets left, cousin, and this is all the powder." - -The baronet drew in his breath. "Peste! we are unfortunate! One of you -men go beg, borrow, or steal from the others." - -Landless left his loophole in charge of the Muggletonian and went -swiftly into the hall, where he found the master, his wig off, his shirt -torn, his face and hands blackened with powder, now firing with his own -hand, now shouting encouragement to the panting men. - -"Powder and shot!" he cried. "God help us! are you out? Not a grain or -a bullet can we spare, for if we keep them not from the great door we -are dead men!" - -Landless went to the overseer. "Two more rounds and _we_ are out," said -Woodson coolly, firing as he spoke. - -"There is no sign that they have had enough," said Landless, as the -clamor outside redoubled, and a man fell heavily back from his loophole -with a bullet through his brain. - -"Enough! Damn them, no!" said the overseer. "When they've had our lives -they will have had enough--not before! They're paying dearly for their -fun though." - -Landless went back to the great room with empty hands. - -"They are all in like case," he said, in answer to Sir Charles's lifted -eyebrows. - -The other shrugged his shoulders. "What will be, will be. If we could -have saved our fire--but we had to keep them from the door! Get to your -post, and we will hold them back as long as may be. Then a short -passage to eternal nothingness! - -"A short passage!" muttered the Muggletonian at Landless's ear. "Well -for those who find that at the hands of the uncircumcised heathen. -Eternal nothingness! The fool hath said in his heart There is no -God--and he is being dashed headlong upon the judgment bar of the God -who saith, I will repay. Cursed be the Atheist! May he find the -passage, fiery though it be, as nothing to the flames of the avenging -God; may he go to his appointed place where the worm dieth not and the -fire is not quenched; may--" - -The trunk of a tree was dashed against the door with a force that shook -the room. "Dey 're comin'!" shouted Regulus, who stood behind Sir -Charles, and raised the axe with which he was armed above his head. -Another crash and the wood splintered. Through the ragged opening was -thrust a red hand--the axe, wielded by Regulus's powerful arms, flashed -downwards, and the hand, severed at the wrist, fell with a dull thud -upon the floor. A yell from without, and another blow, widening the -opening. Landless fired his last bullet into the crowd, and clubbing -his musket sprang to the door, in front of which were now massed all the -defenders of that side of the house. Sir Charles threw down his useless -musket, and drew his sword. "Cousin," he said over his shoulder to -Patricia, standing white and erect in the midst of the cowering women, -"you had best betake yourselves to the hall, and that quickly. This -will be no ladies' bower presently." - -"Come," said Patricia to the women, and led the way towards the door -leading into the hall. As she passed Sir Charles she put out her hand, -and he caught it, sunk to his knee, and pressed his lips upon it. - -"I am going to my father," she said steadily, "and I shall pray him as -he loves me to pass his sword through my heart when they break into the -hall. So it is farewell, cousin." - -She drew her hand away and moved towards the door, passing Landless so -closely that her rich skirts brushed him, but without a change in the -white calm of her face. The terrified women had pressed before her into -the hall, only Betty Carrington keeping by her side. Her foot was upon -the threshold, when with loud screams they surged back into the great -room. A thundering crash in the hall was followed by a babel of oaths, -screams, triumphant yells. The voice of the master made itself heard -above all the hubbub, "Charles, Woodson, Haines, they are upon us! -Defend the women to the last, as you are men, all of you!" - -The splintered plank between them in the great room and the murderers -without was dashed inwards. An Indian, naked, horribly painted, -brandishing a tomahawk, sprang through the opening, and Sir Charles ran -him through with his sword. A second followed, and Landless dashed his -brains out with the butt of his musket. A third, and the Muggletonian -struck at him through the wildly flaring light and the drifting smoke -wreaths, and missed his aim. The knife of the savage gleamed high in -air, then, descending, stuck quivering in the breast of the fanatic. He -sunk to his knees, flung up his skeleton arms, and raised his scarred -face, into which a light that was not of earth had come, then cried in a -loud voice, "Turn ye, turn ye to the Stronghold, ye prisoners of Hope!" -His eyes closed and he fell forward upon his face, his blood making the -ground slippery about the feet of the others. - -Landless closed with the Indian, finally slew him, and turned to behold -a stream, impetuous, not to be withstood, of Indians and negroes pouring -through the doorway. From the hall came the clash of weapons and a most -terrific din, and presently there burst into the great room the Colonel, -Laramore, Woodson, and Haines, followed by some fifteen men--making, -with the five in the great room, all that were left of the defenders of -Verney Manor. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXVII* - - *MORNING* - - -The women crouched in a far corner of the room behind a barricade of -chairs and tables; the men stood between them and the thirsters for -blood, and fought coolly, desperately, with such effect that, fearful as -were the odds, a glimmering of hope came to them. The ammunition on -both sides was exhausted, and it had become a hand to hand struggle in -which the advantage of position and weapons was with the assailed. - -"Damme, but we will beat them yet!" cried Laramore, panting, and leaning -heavily upon his rapier. "They 're drawing off; we 've tired them out!" - -"They 'll never tire while that hellhound of an Indian whoops them on, -and that yellow devil, Luiz Sebastian, backs him up," said the overseer. - -"They are gathering for a rush," said Landless. - -The assailants had fallen back to the opposite wall, leaving a space, -cumbered with the dead and slippery with blood, between them and the -defenders of the house. In this space now appeared the lithe figure, -and the watchful, large-eyed, amber countenance of Luiz Sebastian. - -"Ohe!" he cried, "slaves, all of you! Ashantees, Popoes, Angolans, -Fidas, Malimbe, Ambrice! you who are all black! think of the jungle and -the village; think of the wives and the children! think of the slaver -and the slave ship! You from the Indies, you who are like me, Luiz -Sebastian, think of the blood which is the white man's blood and yet the -blood of a slave--and hate the white man as I, Luiz Sebastian, hate him! -Kill them and take the women!" - -The swollen figure and dreadful face of Roach appeared at his side. -"Ay!" cried the murderer, with a tremendous oath. "Kill them! Smash -them, batter them, hear them scream! In the old man's pocket is the key -of his money chest. It is filled with bright yellow gold. Kill him and -get the money, and away to turn pirate and get more!" - -"It grows late!" cried Trail. "We must up sail, and away before the -dawn!" - -The gigantic, horribly painted form of the Ricahecrian chief stalked -into the open space and commenced a harangue in his own tongue. It was -short, but effective. - -"God!" said the Colonel, under his breath, and grasped his blood-stained -sword more closely. - -With one shrill and horrible cry Indians, negroes, mulattoes, and -villainous whites were upon them, breaking their line, forcing them -apart into knots of two and three away from the frail barrier, behind -which cowered the screaming women, striking with knife and tomahawk, axe -and club. Two of the Colonel's men fell, one under the knife of the -seven-year-captive Ricahecrian, the other beaten down by the jagged and -knotted club with which Roach, foaming at the mouth, and swearing -horribly, struck madly to left and right. The Ricahecrian, drawing the -knife from the heart of his victim, rushed on to where Landless and Sir -Charles still maintained, by dint of desperate fighting, their position -before the women, but Luiz Sebastian with Roach and half a dozen negroes -swept between him and his prey. He swerved aside, and, bounding into -the midst of the women, seized the one who chanced to be in his path,--a -young and beautiful girl, newly come over from Plymouth, and a favorite -with the ladies of Verney Manor. The despairing scream which the poor -child uttered rang out above all the tumult. Landless turned, saw, and -darted to her aid--but too late. With one hand the savage gathered up -the loosened hair, with the other he passed the scalping knife around -the young head--when Landless reached them, she who so short time before -had been so fair to see, lay a shocking spectacle, writhing in her death -agony. With white lips and burning eyes Landless swung his gun above -his head, and brought it down upon the shaven crown of Grey Wolf. It -cracked like an egg shell, and the Indian dropped across the body of his -victim. - -Landless, springing back to the post he had quitted, found Sir Charles -in desperate case, but as coolly composed as ever, and with the air of -the Court still about him despite his bared head and torn and -blood-stained clothing, treating those who came against him to an -exhibition of swordsmanship such as the New World had probably rarely -witnessed. Landless, striking down a cutpurse from Tyburn, saw him run -the Turk through, and saw behind him the nightmare visage and the raised -club of Roach. He uttered a warning cry, but the club descended, and -the handsome, careless face fell backwards, and the slender debonair -figure swayed and fell. Landless caught him, saw that he was but -stunned, and letting him drop to the floor at his feet, wrenched the -sword from his hand, and stood over him, facing Roach with a stern -smile. - -The murderer raised his club again. - -"We've met at last!" he cried with a taunting laugh. "Do you remember -the tobacco house, and what I said? I says: 'Every dog has its day, and -I 'll have mine.' It 's my day now! - -"And I said," rejoined Landless, "'I let you go now, but one day I will -kill you.' And _that_ day has come. - -With an oath Roach brought down the club. Landless swerved, and the -blow fell harmlessly; before the arm could be again raised, he caught -it, held it with a grasp of steel, and shortened his sword. The -miscreant saw his death, and screamed for mercy. "Remember Robert -Godwyn!" said Landless, and drove the blade home. - -The sword was a more effective weapon than the gun, and with it he kept -the enemy at bay, while he glanced despairingly around. There were as -many dead as living within the room by this. The floor was piled with -the slain; they made traps for the living who in the wild surging to and -fro stumbled over them, and fell, and were slain before they could rise. -Three fourths of the dead belonged to the insurgents, but the attacked -had suffered severely. Of the thirty men with whom the defense had -commenced there now remained but twelve, and of that number several were -wounded. The Colonel was bleeding from a cut on the head, the under -overseer had a ball through his arm, Sir Charles still lay without -movement at Landless's feet. - -Forced, together with almost all of his party, by the mad rush of the -assailants to the farther end of the room, the master had seen with -agony the women left well-nigh defenseless. Followed by Woodson, -Havisham, Regulus, and young Whittington, he had all but cut his way -back to them, when a fresh influx from the hall of slaves and whites who -had been engaged in plundering the house, drove them apart again. - -The newcomers came fresh to the work, maddened, moreover, by the -master's wines. They advanced upon the Colonel and his party with -drunken shouts, some brandishing rude weapons, others silver salvers and -tankards, the spoil of the plate chest. The voice of Luiz Sebastian -rang through the room. "Quick work of them, friends; I smell the -morning!" With a laugh and a scrap of Spanish song upon his lips he -came at Landless with a knife, but a turn of the white man's wrist sent -the weapon hurling through the air. - -"Curse you!" cried the mulatto, springing out of reach of the deadly -point, and holding his arm from which the blood was flowing. "Mother of -God! but I will have you yet!" and bounded towards his weapon. Landless, -steadily watchful, and pointing that fatal sword this way or that -against all comers, cleared for himself and the still senseless man at -his feet a circle into which few cared to intrude, for the fame of that -blade had gone through the room. "Leave him until we have dealt with -the others," said the mulatto between his teeth. "Then will we give him -reason to wish that he had never been born." - -A touch upon his arm, and Landless turned to find Patricia standing -beside him. "Go back," he cried. "Go back!" - -"They are murdering them all over there," she said steadily. "My father -is dead. I saw him fall." - -"Not so, madam. He did but stumble over the dead. See, Woodson fights -them back from him. For God's sake, get back behind the barricade!" - -She shook her head. "He is dead. They will all be dead directly, my -cousin and all. My father cannot help me, and he who lies here cannot -help me. I will not be taken alive by these devils, and I have no -knife. Will you kill me?" - -"My God!" - -"Quick!" she said in the same low, steady tones. "They are coming; they -will beat us down in a moment. Kill me!" - -For answer Landless raised his voice until it rang high above the -uproar, and arrested the attention of the combatants on both sides. -"Fight with a will, men," he cried, "for help is at hand! Do you not -bear the hoofs of the horses?" - -"By God! you are right!" cried the Colonel, suddenly struggling to his -feet. "Hold out, men! Anthony Nash reached Rosemead, and has brought us -aid!" - -"The dog priest!" the mulatto cried fiercely to Trail. "Was he here? -Then they have sent for help, and Mother of God! it is here!" - -"And coming at the planter's pace," answered Trail. "They will be upon -us before we reach the boats." - -The mulatto glanced at the friend with whom he had fled the Indies with -a sinister smile. "Ay," he muttered to himself. "They will be upon us -indeed, before we reach the boats, wherefore Luiz Sebastian goes not to -turn pirate this time. He throws in his lot with the Ricahecrians whose -canoes are close at hand in the inlet that winds into the Pamunkey. They -are very swift, and in the Blue Mountains there is safety. But one -thing first." - -He gave a shrill and peculiar whistle which brought to him half a dozen -Indians. He pointed to the body of Grey Wolf and then to Landless. A -yell burst from the lips of the savages, and they rushed upon the -latter. He met them, ran his sword through the heart of the first, of -the second: Sir Charles moaned, stirred, and struggled to his knees. A -third raised his knife; it would have descended, but Landless darted -between the savage and the half-dazed, utterly helpless man at whom the -blow was aimed, struck up the arm, and plunged his sword into the dark -breast. A broken oar, snatched from the floor by the mulatto, descended -upon his head, and with a woman's scream sounding in his ear, he fell -heavily to the floor, and lay as one dead. - -When he came to himself, it was to find the great room still crowded -with men, and filled with noise and confusion, but the thronging figures -and the excited voices were those of friends--of servants from the -neighboring plantations, of small planters and tenants of Colonels -Ludwell and Fitzhugh, the Surveyor-General, and Dr. Anthony Nash. He -saw the master, panting, bleeding, but exultant, seize Dr. Nash's hands -in his own. He saw Sir Charles smile and extend his box of richly -scented snuff to Colonel Ludwell, and the women leaving their corner of -refuge with hysterical laughter and tears; saw Betty Carrington in her -father's arms, and Mistress Lettice being helped across a heap of dead -by Captain Laramore. Indians, negroes, mulatto, scoundrel whites, were -gone. - -"They got off clear--the d--d villains," said Dick Whittington, -appearing beside him, "just before the horses came up. But Woodson has -gone after the slaves and the convicts with a party of Carrington's men. -He 'll catch them, I 'm thinking, and they 'll come to a pirate's -end--that 's all the pirating they 'll get. The Indians will get clean -away; they 're most to the Pamunkey by now, I reckon." - -Landless staggered to his feet, and put his hand to his head, which was -bleeding. "The women are all safe?" he demanded. - -"All but poor Annis," said the boy. "When I saw the poor maid fall, I -thanked the Lord that Joyce Whitbread was safe in her mother's cottage -at Banbury. But none of the others were hurt. There is Mistress -Lettice and Mistress Betty Carrington--I do not see Mistress Patricia." - -The master of Verney Manor, pouring forth a rapid account of the late -affair to the gentlemen who crowded around him, was brought to a dead -stop by the appearance of a man who had burst through the throng, and -now stood before him, half naked, bleeding, with white, drawn face and -wild eyes. - -"What is it? Speak!" cried the master, terror of he knew not what -growing in his eyes. - -"Your daughter, Colonel Verney!" cried Landless. "She is not here. The -Ricahecrians have carried her off." - -With a sound between a groan and a scream the Colonel staggered, and -would have fallen had not Carrington caught him. "Gone! Impossible!" -cried Sir Charles vehemently, all his studied insouciance thrown to the -winds. "She was with the women behind the barrier that we made. She is -here." - -He began to call her by name, loudly, appealingly, but there came no -answering voice. - -"She will not answer," said Landless hoarsely. "She is not here. She -was with the women until just before the last. She saw her father fall, -and thought him dead, and you dead, too, Sir Charles Carew, and she came -to me, and prayed me to kill her. Then we heard the sound of the -horses, and six Indians--Ricahecrians--with Luiz Sebastian, came against -me. She stood at my side while I killed three. Then I was struck down, -and I heard her scream as I fell." - -The master freed himself from Carrington's supporting arm, and raised -from his hands a face that had suddenly become that of an old man. But -the voice was steady with which he said quietly,-- - -"Let them search the room thoroughly, for the child may be laying in a -faint beneath these dead, though my soul doth tell me that it is as this -man says, and that she is gone. But we will after them at once, and, -please God, we will have her back, safe and sound. They have but an -hour's start." - -"Ay," muttered young Whittington to Havisham. "Only an hour. But the -Chickahominies build the swiftest canoes in this corner of the world, -and I have heard that the canoes of the Ricahecrians are to the canoes -of the Chickahominies as swallows are to cranes." - - - - - *CHAPTER XXVIII* - - *BREAD CAST UPON THE WATERS* - - -Great trees, drooping from the banks of the Pamunkey, shadowed into inky -blackness the water below them; but between the lines of darkness slept -a charmed sheet, glassy, fiery red from the sunken sun. Three boats -moved silently and swiftly up the crimson stream, until, rounding a low -point, they came upon an Indian village, nestling amidst vines and -mulberries, and girt with a green ribbon of late maize, when they swung -round from the middle stream and made for the bank. They were rowed by -stalwart servants, and in the foremost sat the master of Verney Manor -and Sir Charles Carew. In the second boat was the Surveyor-General and -Dr. Anthony Nash, and in the third the overseer, and among the rowers of -this last was Godfrey Landless. - -As they neared the bank their occupants saw that the usual sleepy -evening stillness was not upon the village above them. A shrill sound -of wailing from women and children rose and fell through the gathering -dusk, and in the open space round which the bark wigwams were built, -dark figures moved to and fro in a kind of measured dance, slow and -solemn, and marked at intervals by dismal cries. As the boats touched -the shore and the white men sprang out, a boy, stationed as scarecrow -upon the usual scaffold in the midst of the maize fields, raised a -shrill whoop of warning which brought the lamentation of the women and -the dance of the men to a dead stop. The latter rushed down to the -river side, brandishing their weapons, and yelling; but there seemed -little strength in the arms that flourished the tomahawk; the voices -sounded cracked and shrill, and the weak fury and noise died away when a -nearer approach showed the newcomers to be white. A very aged man, with -a face all wrinkles and a chest all scars, stepped from out the throng -which was now augmented by the women and children. - -"My white fathers are far from the salt water. Seldom do the Pamunkeys -see their faces coming up the narrowing stream or through the forest. -They are welcome. Let my fathers tarry and my women shall bring them -chinquepin cakes and tuckahoe, pohickory and succotash, and my young -men--" - -He paused, and a low wailing murmur like the sound of the wind in the -forest rose from the women. - -"Where are your young men, your braves?" demanded the Surveyor-General. -"Here are only the very old and the very young--they who have not seen a -Huskanawing." - -The Indian pointed to the crimson flood below. "There are my young men; -there are my braves. Among them were a werowance and a sagamore. They -two have strings of pearl thicker than the stem of the grape vine; they -are painted with puccoon, and the feathers of the bluebird and the -redbird are upon them. They have hills of hatchets and of arrow heads, -sharp and clean, and very much tobacco, and they sing and dance in the -great wigwam of Okee, in the home of Kiwassa, in the land beyond the -setting sun. But the rest--they lie deep in the slime of the river; it -is red with their blood: their wives wail for them; their village is -left desolate.... When the time of the full sun power was past the -smoking of three pipes, came up the Pamunkey, swift as the swallow that -skims its waters, the Ricahecrian dogs who, passing down towards the -salt water twelve suns ago, slew the young men of a village that lieth -below us. My young men went out against them, but a cloud came up and -Kiwassa hid his face behind it. They came not back, their boats were -sunk, the Ricahecrians laughed and went their way, swift as swallows."' - -"Ask him," said the Colonel huskily. - -"Had they a captive with them--a woman, a paleface woman?" demanded -Carrington. - -"With hair like the sunshine and a white robe. And a man, the color of -the falling sycamore leaf, one of those who work in the fields of the -white fathers. The arms of the woman were bound, but his were not--he -fought with the Ricahecrian dogs." - -"Luiz Sebastian!" said the overseer with a muttered oath. "I thought as -much when we found that he was not with the drunken scoundrels whom we -took before they reached the Point. And we had better have killed him -than all the rest put together, for he is the devil incarnate." - -"Let us get on!" Sir Charles cried impatiently. "We waste time when -every moment is precious." - -The Colonel, who had been speaking to the Surveyor-General, came over to -him. All the jovial life and fire was gone from his face, his eyes were -haggard and bloodshot, he stooped like an old man, but the voice with -which he spoke was steady and authoritative as ever. - -"Ay," he said. "We must on at once, but not all of us. Richard Verney -must not forget the danger of the state, in the danger of his child, nor -let his private quarrel take precedence. I had hoped when we left the -Manor at dawn to have been up with the villains ere now, but it was not -to be. This will be a long chase and a stern one, and how it will end -God only knows. We go into a wilderness from which we may never return. -Behind us in the settlement is turmoil and danger, a conspiracy to be -put down, the Chickahominies to be subdued, the strong hand needed -everywhere. Every man should be at his post, and Richard Verney, -Lieutenant of his shire, and Colonel of the trainbands, is many leagues -from the danger which threatens the colony, and with his face to the -west. He must on, but Major Carrington must go back to do his duty to -the King, and Anthony Nash must not desert his flock. And you, Woodson, -I send back to the Manor to do what you can to repair the havoc there, -and to protect Mistress Lattice. My kinsman will go on with me; is it -not so, Charles?" - -"Assuredly, sir," said the baronet quietly. - -"I 'd a sight rather go with your Honor," growled the overseer, "but I -'ll do my best both by the plantation and by Mistress Lettice, and I -look for your Honor and Mistress Patricia back in no time at all. We are -to take the small boat, I reckon?" - -"Yes, with four men to row you. We will press a boat and a crew from -the next Pamunkey village. Pick out your men, and let us be gone." - -"Humph! There 's one that I reckon had best go back with us. Does your -Honor know that you've got with you the head of all this d--d Oliverian -business, the man that Trail swore was their general--that they all -obeyed as though he were Oliver himself?" - -"No! How came he here?" cried the master, staring at Landless, who -stood at some distance from them with folded arms and compressed lips, -gazing steadily up the glowing reaches of the river. - -"Found him in the boat when I stepped into it myself. I did n't say -anything then, for we were in a mortal hurry and he 's a good rower. -But I reckon your Honor will send him back with me? He 'll give you the -slip the first chance he gets." - -"Of course he must go back," the master said peremptorily. "He should -never have been brought thus far. A dozen or so of these Oliverians -must swing as an example to the rest, and he, their leader, and a felon -to boot, at their head. The service he did us last night can not help -him--be fought for his own life. The Governor has sworn to hang him, -and I am accountable for his safe delivery at Jamestown. Bind him and -take him back with you, and send him at once to Jamestown under a strong -escort." He turned from the overseer to the two gentlemen who were to -go down the river. "Carrington, Anthony Nash, old friends, farewell--it -may be forever. Anthony, pray that I may find my child safe and -spotless." - -They embraced, and he wrung their hands, and, stepping hastily into the -boat, sank down and covered his face with his cloak. The -Surveyor-General stood with a pale and troubled face, and Dr. Anthony -Nash prayed aloud. The rowers took their places and the boat shot out -into the middle stream. - -Landless, seeing the second boat filling, and supposing that the third -would receive its load in a moment, stepped towards it. As he passed -the overseer, standing a little to one side with two servants belonging -to Colonel Fitzhugh, a tenant of Colonel Verney, and an Indian from -Rosemead, Woodson put forth an arm and stopped him. - -"No, no, my man," he said with a grim smile but with a watchful eye, and -nodding to the men to close in around them. "Your way's down, not up." - -"What do you mean?" cried Landless, recoiling. - -"I mean that the Doctor and the Major and I and these men go back to the -settlements to look after things there, and that you are going to renew -your acquaintance with Jamestown gaol." - -For a moment Landless stood, turned to stone, within the other's grasp, -then with a cry he broke from him and rushed to the water's edge. The -boat containing the master had turned her head up stream and was beyond -call; in the second boat the men held the oars poised while Sir Charles, -with one foot upon the gunwale, gave a gravely courteous farewell to the -Surveyor-General and the divine. - -"Sir Charles Carew!" cried Landless. "I pray you to take me with you!" - -Without moving, Sir Charles looked at him coldly, a peculiar smile just -curling his lip. - -"I remember a day," he said, "when you said that I might wait until -doomsday and not hear favor asked of me by you." - -"You are not generous," Landless said slowly, "but I ask the favor. I -ask it on my knees. Let me go with you." - -Sir Charles stepped into the boat and took the seat reserved for him. -"I regret," he said politely, "that it comports not with my duty as a -gentleman and an officer of the King to assist you in your very natural -endeavors to escape the gibbet. Push off, men." - -The boat shot from the shore and up the darkening stream, hastening to -overtake its consort. Sir Charles raised his Spanish hat and fluttered -a lace handkerchief. "To a happier meeting, gentlemen!" The -Surveyor-General and the divine returned the salute, and stood in -silence watching the canoe with its brawny rowers and the slender, -elegant figure in the stern. It caught up with the Colonel's boat and -the two grow smaller and smaller, until they become mere black dots and -the dusk swallowed them up. - -Landless watched them too with a face set like a stone. The overseer, -backed by two of the servants, approached him with caution, but there -was no need,--he submitted to be bound without a word, or struggle, or -change in the expression of his face. He turned mechanically towards -the boat, but the overseer plucked him back. "Not yet," he said. "We -are all dead beat, and we have not the need to hurry that have those who -are gone on. The Major 's commander now, and he says sleep here a few -hours. I 'll fasten you so that you can't get away, I promise ye! Fegs! -it's a pity that a man who can fight as you fought last night should -have to die a dog's death after all! But you 've only yourself to thank -for it." - -The red glow died from the river like the scarlet from cooling iron, and -it lay dark and silent, dimly reflecting a myriad of stars. The sloping -bank, the maize fields, tobacco patch and mulberry grove, the plateau -upon which were ranged the wigwams of the Indians, the dark and endless -forest--all the wide, sombre earth--had their stars also--myriads on -myriads of fire-flies, restlessly sparkling lanterns swung by legions of -fairies. There was no wind; the cataracts of wild grape descending from -the tops of the tallest trees stirred not a leaf: the pines were -soundless. But the whip-poor-wills wailed on, and once a catamount -screamed, and the deer, coming to a lick close by, made a trampling over -the fern. - -Landless, tightly bound to a great bay tree with thongs of deerskin, -watched the night grow old with hard, despairing eyes. The stars paled -and the moon rose softly above the tree-tops, silvering the world -beneath. By her light he saw the little glade of which the tree to -which he was bound marked the centre, and the recumbent forms of those -who were to return to the settlements stretched on Indian mats laid upon -the short grass. Worn out with the toil of the day and the storm and -stress of the night before, they slumbered heavily. The watcher in -their midst thought, "If I could sleep!" and resolutely closed his eyes, -but the vision of a flying canoe and a brightness of golden hair, which -had vexed him, passing up the reaches of the river over and over and -over again, was with him still, and he opened them and raised them to -the stars, thinking, "She may be above them now." - -How still it was! no air, no breath, no sound--the thongs, that, wound -many times around his body, bound him to the tree, fell at his feet, a -figure slipped from behind the trunk, laid a hand, in which was a knife -that gleamed in the mooonlight, upon his arm, and whispering, "Follow," -glided over the grass, past the sleepers and into the forest. - -Swiftly but cautiously Landless went after it. The overseer lay within -ten feet of him; he passed him, passed the unconscious servants, crossed -a strip of moonlight, entered the shadow of a locust, and all but -stumbled over a man lying asleep beneath it. He recoiled, and a twig -snapped beneath his foot. The sleeper stirred, turned upon his side, -and opened his eyes. The moon, now high in the heavens, shone so -brightly that there was soft light even beneath the heavy branches of -the trees, and by this light his Majesty's Surveyor-General and his -Majesty's rebellious, convicted, and condemned servant recognized each -other. For one long minute they stared each at the other, then, without -a word or sign to denote that he was aware that aught stood between him -and the moonlight, Carrington lay down again, pillowed his head upon his -arm and closed his eyes. Landless was passing on with a light and steady -step and the ghost of a smile upon his lips when the apparently -slumbering figure put forth an arm and laid something long and dark -across his pathway. He glanced quickly around, but the Surveyor-General -lay motionless, with closed eyes. Stooping, he took up the object, -which proved to be a richly inlaid musket with flask and pouch. He -paused again, but no sign coming from the quietly breathing form on the -grass he lightly and silently left it and the tiny encampment and -entered the forest, where he found a dark figure leaning against a tree, -waiting for him. Without a word it moved forward into the dense shadow -of the forest, and in the same silence he followed it. They were now in -thick woods, moving beneath interlocking branches and a vast canopy of -wild grape that, stretching from the summit of one lofty tree to that of -another, formed a green and undulating roof upon which beat the -moonbeams that could not penetrate the close darkness of the world -below. They came to a small and sluggish stream, flowing without noise -between the towering trees, and stepping into the water, walked up it -for a long while with giant blacknesses on either hand and above them -the moon. - -All this time the figure had stalked along before Landless without -speaking or turning its head, but now, the trees thinning, and they -coming upon a field of wild flax that lay fair and white beneath the -moon, it quitted the lazy stream, and turning upon Landless as he too -stepped upon the bank, showed him the bronze countenance and the -gigantic form of the Susquehannock to whom he had once done a kindness, -and with whom he had fought on such a night as this, in such a moonlight -space. - -"Monakatocka, I thought it had been you," said Landless quietly. - -With the never failing "Ugh!" the Indian took Landless's hand and with -it touched his own dark shoulder. - -"I too am grateful, and with far more reason," said Landless smiling. -"I will be yet more so if you will bring me out upon the bank of the -river at some distance above yonder encampment." - -"What will my brother do then?" - -"I will go up the river." - -"After the canoes in which sit the palefaces from whom my brother -flees?" - -"After the canoe which those canoes pursue." - -"If my brother wishes to take the warpath against the Algonquin dogs," -said the Indian quietly, "he must not follow the Pamunkey, but the -Powhatan." - -"They passed this village yesterday, going up the Pamunkey!" cried -Landless. - -"A false trail. Let my brother come a little further and I will show -him." - -He stepped in front of the white man, and moving rapidly across the -field of flax, dived into the forest again. Following the stream in its -windings they came to where it debouched into a wide and muddy creek, -which, in its turn, flowed into an expanse of water that lay like molten -silver beyond the fringe of trees. - -"The Pamunkey!" exclaimed Landless. - -The Indian nodded and led the way to a thicket of dwarf willow and alder -that grew upon the very brink of the creek. - -"While the palefaces slept, Monakatocka was busy. Look!" he said, -parting the bushes and pointing. - -Within the thicket, drawn up upon the sloping mud, were two large -canoes, quite empty save for a debris of broken oars. - -Landless gasped. "How do you know them to be the same?" - -The Indian stooped and pointed to dark stains. "Blood. They had wounded -among them. And this." He put something into the other's hand. -Landless looked at it, then thrust it into his bosom. "You are right. -It is a ribbon which the lady wore. But why have they left their boats, -and where are they?" - -The Indian pointed to the side of the larger canoe. "The hatchets of -the Pamunkeys were sharp. They fought like real men. This canoe could -go no further. See, it is wet within--they had to ply the gourd very -fast to keep afloat so far. One canoe would not hold them all, so they -hid both here. They knew the palefaces would follow up the river, so -they cared not to stay upon its banks; the Pamunkeys, too, are their -enemies. They have gone through the forest towards the Powhatan. My -brother cannot see their trail, for the eyes of the palefaces are -clouded, but Monakatocka sees it." - -Landless turned upon him. "Will Monakatocka go with me against the -Ricahecrians?" - -"Monakatocka has dreamt of the village on the pleasant river where he -was born. The arm of the white men cannot reach him here, in these -woods, far from their wigwams and warriors and guns; it cannot pluck him -back to be beaten. He toils no more in their fields. He is a real man -again, a warrior of the long house, a chief of the Conestogas. Let my -white brother go with him, across the great rivers, through the forest, -until they come to the Susquehanna and the village of the Conestogas. -There will the maidens and the young men welcome Monakatocka with song -and dance, and my brother shall be welcome also and shall become a great -chief and shall take the warpath against the Algonquin and against the -paleface at the side of Monakatocka. In the Blue Mountains is Death. -Let us go to the pleasant river, to the hunting grounds of the -Conestogas." - -Landless shook his head. "My thanks and good wishes go with you, -friend, but my path lies towards the Blue Mountains. Farewell." - -He put out his hand, but the Indian did not touch it. Instead, he -stooped and examined the ground about him with attention, then, -beckoning the other to follow, he moved rapidly and silently along the -border of the creek. Landless overtook him and laid his hand upon his -arm, "This is my path, but yours lies across the river, to the north." - -"If my brother will not go with me, I will go with my brother," said the -Conestoga. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXIX* - - *THE BRIDGE OF ROCK* - - -For twenty days they had followed the Ricahecrians. At times the trail -lay before them so plain that even Landless's unaccustomed eyes could -read it; at times he saw nothing but untrodden ways--no sign to show -that man had been in that wilderness since the beginning of the -world--but the Susquehannock saw and went steadily onward; at times they -lost it altogether, to find it hours, days afterwards.... It had led -them westward, then south to the banks of the Powhatan, then westward -again. At first they had to avoid an occasional clearing with the cabin -of a pioneer rising from it, or some frontier post, or the village of -one of the Powhatan tribes, but that time had long past. The world of -the white man was far behind them, so far that it might have been -another planet for all it threatened them; the Indian villages were few -and far between and inhabited by tribes whose tongue the Susquehannock -did not know. For the most part they gave these villages a wide berth, -but sometimes in the quiet of the evening they entered one, and were met -by the eldest man and conducted to the stranger's lodging where slim -brown maidens came to them with platters of maize cakes and nuts and -broiled fish, and the warriors and old men gathered around, marveling at -the color of the one and conversing with the other in stately gesture. -Sometimes, crouched in a tangle of vines or behind the giant bole of -some fallen tree they watched a war party file past, noiseless, like -shadows, disappearing in the blue haze that filled the distant aisles of -the forest. Once a band of five attacked them, coming upon them in -their sleep. Three they killed and the others fled. They dipped into -the next stream that crossed their path and swam up it a long distance, -then emerged and went their way, tolerably confident that they had -covered their trail. Sometimes they struggled for hours through coverts -of wild grape, thick with fruit: sometimes they walked for miles down -endless colonnades of pine trees, where the needle-strewn ground was -like ice for slipperiness, and the blue sky gleamed faintly through the -far away tree tops. The wind in the pines rose and fell in long, -measured cadences. It made the only sound there, for the birds forgot -to sing and the insect world kept silence in those vast and sombre -cathedrals. - -On the afternoon of the twentieth day they came to a halt upon the bank -of a small stream that fell purling over a long, smooth slide of -limestone into the river. Mountains had loomed into existence in the -last few days. In the distance they made a vast blue rampart which -seemed to prop the western skies. When the sun sank behind them it was -as though a mighty warrior had entered his fortress. Nearer at hand -they fell into lofty hills, over which the forest undulated in unbroken -green. In front the river made a sudden turn and was lost to sight, -disappearing through a frowning gateway of gray cliffs as completely as -though it had plunged into the bowels of the earth.... Landless sat -down on the bank of the stream above the fall and, chin in hand, gazed -at the mountain-piled horizon. The Indian, leaning against a great -sycamore whose branches trailed in the water, watched him attentively. - -"My brother is tired," he said at last. - -Landless shook his head. The Susquehannock paused, still with his eyes -upon the other's face, and then went on, "We have searched and have -found nothing. There have been five suns since the great rains blotted -out the trail. My brother has done very much. Let him say so and we -will go back to the falls of the far west and thence to the northward, -to the pleasant river, to Monakatocka's people, to the graves of his -fathers. And my brother will be welcome to the Conestogas, and he shall -be made one of them, and become a great warrior, and both he and -Monakatocka will forget the evil days when they were slaves--until they -meet a paleface from the great water. My brother has but to speak." - -"If these hills in front of us," said Landless with gloomy emphasis, -"were higher than the Alps, I would climb them. If behind them there -were another range, and then another, and another, if we looked upon the -nearest wave of an ocean of mountains, I would climb them all. If they -are before us, sooner or later I shall find them. But not to know that -they are before us! To know that they may be to the north of us, may be -to the south of us! that we may even have passed them! it is maddening!" - -"We have not passed them," said his companion slowly, "for--" he stopped -abruptly, broke off a bough from a sumach bush beside him, and falling -on his knees, leaned far out over the stream. There were many tiny -cascades in the brook with little eddies below them where sticks and -leaves circled gaily around before they were drawn on to the next -miniature fall, and into one of these eddies the Indian plunged the -bough. The next moment he drew it carefully towards him, something -white clinging to one of its twigs. It proved to be a fragment of -lace--not more than an inch or two--and it might have been torn from a -woman's kerchief. Landless's hand closed over it convulsively. - -"It came down the stream!" he cried. - -The other nodded. "Monakatocka saw it slip over that fall. It has not -been in the water long." - -"Then--my God!--they are close at hand! They are up this stream!" - -The Indian nodded again with a look of satisfaction upon his bronze -features. Landless raised his eyes to the cloudless blue, and his lips -moved. Then, without a word he turned his face up the mountain stream, -and the Indian followed him. - -For an hour they crept warily onward, following the stream in its -capricious wanderings. A broken trailer of grapevine, a pine cone that -had been crushed under foot, the print of a moccasin on a bit of muddy -ground told them that they had indeed recovered the long lost trail. -They moved silently, sometimes creeping on hands and knees through the -long grass where the bank was barren of bushes, sometimes gliding -swiftly through a friendly covert of alder or sumach. The hills closed -in upon them, and became more precipitous. The stream made another -bend, and they were in a ravine where the water flowed over a rocky bed -between banks too steep to afford them secure foothold. The -Susquehannock swung himself down into the shallow water, and motioned to -his companion to do likewise. "Monakatocka smells fire," he whispered. - -A moment later they rounded an overhanging, fern-clad rock, and came -full upon that at which Landless stared with a sharp intake of his -breath, and which even his impassive guide greeted with a long-drawn -"Ugh!" of amazement. - -Towards them brawled the impetuous stream through a wonderful gorge. -The precipitous hillsides, clothed with a stately growth of oak and -chestnut, changed suddenly into a sheer and awful mass of rock. On -either side of the stream towered up the mighty walls until, two hundred -feet above the water, they swept together, spanning the chasm with a -majestic arch. Great trees crowned it; trailers of grape and clematis -made the span one emerald; below, through the vast opening, shone the -evening sky with little, rosy clouds floating across it. A bird, -flashing downwards from the far-off trees, showed black against the -carnation of the heavens. - -The Indian uttered another "Ugh!" then stole forward a pace or two, -stood still, and waited for the other to come up. "My brother sees," he -said simply. - -From a covert of arbor-vitae they looked directly up the creek and -through the archway. Beneath it, and for a few yards on the hither -side, the water flowed in a narrower channel, leaving a little strip of -boulder-strewn shore. With a leap of his heart Landless saw, rising -from this shore, the blue smoke of a newly kindled fire, and squatting -about it, or flitting from place to place, a dozen or more dark figures. -At a little distance from the fire, close against the wall of rock, had -been hastily constructed a rude shed or arbor. As he gazed at this -frail shelter, he saw the flutter of a white gown pass the opening which -served as door. - -"Night soon," said Monakatocka at his ear. "Then will my brother see -one Iroquois cheat all these Algonquin dogs." - -They drew further back into the dense shade of the overhanging boughs. -A large flat boulder afforded them a secure resting-place, and drawing -their feet from the stream, the two curled themselves up side by side -upon its friendly surface. The Indian took some slices of venison from -his wallet, and they made a slender meal, then set themselves patiently -to await the night and the time for action. The tiny encampment was -hidden from them by the thick boughs, but through the screen of -delicate, aromatic leaves they could see the bridge of rock. Around -them was the stir and murmur of the summer afternoon--the wind in the -trees, the whir of insects, the song of birds, the babble of the -water--but far above, where the great arch cut the sky, the world seemed -asleep. The trees dreamed, resting against the crimson and gold of the -heavens. The Indian's appreciation of the wonders of nature was -limited--with a grunted, "All safe: wake before moonrise," he turned -upon his side, and was asleep. - -His Anglo-Saxon neighbor watched the pensive beauty of the evening with -a softened heart. The glory behind the tremendous rock faded, giving -place to tender tints of pearl and amethyst. Above the distant tree -tops swam the evening star. In the half light the shadowy forest on -either hand blended with the great bridge carved by some mysterious -force from the everlasting hills. Together they made a mountain of -darkness pierced by a titanic gateway through which one looked into -heavenly spaces. The chant of the wind swelled louder. It was like the -moan of distant breakers. The night fell, and the stars came out one by -one until the blue vault was thickly studded. Up and down the sides of -the ravine flickered millions of fireflies. Their restless glimmer -wearied the eyes. Landless raised his to the one star, large, calm and -beautiful, and prayed, then thought of all that star shone upon that -night--most of the white town of his boyhood, lying fair and still like -a dream town, above a measureless, slumberous sea. A great calm was -upon him. Toil and danger were past; passionate hope and settled -despair were past. That he would do what he had come this journey to -do, he now had no doubt,--would not have doubted had there been encamped -between him and the frail shed built against the rock all the Indians -this side of the South Sea. - -The stars that shone through the great archway slowly paled, the stream -became dull silver, and down the towering darkness on either hand fell a -soft and tremulous light like a veil of white gauze. Landless put out -his hand to waken the sleeping Indian, and touched bare rock. A moment -later the branches before him parted. He had heard no sound, but there, -within three feet of him, were the high features and the bold eyes of -the Susquehannock. - -"Monakatocka has been to the great rock," he said in a guttural whisper. -"The Algonquin dogs sleep sound, for they do not know that a Conestoga -is on their trail. They have camped beneath the rock three days, and -they will move on the morrow. They have built a shed for the maiden -against the rock. About it lie the Ricahecrians, the moccasins of one -touching the scalp lock of another. They keep no watch, hut they have -scattered dried twigs over all the ground. Tread on them, and the god of -the Algonquins will make them speak very loud. But a Conestoga is -cunning. Monakatocka has found a way." - -"Then let us go," said Landless, rising. - -As they crept from out their leafy covert, the moon appeared over the -tree-tops far above them, flooding the glen with light, and making a -restless shimmer of diamonds of the rushing brook. The two men moved -warily up the stream, setting their feet with care upon the slippery -stones. Once Landless stumbled, but caught at a huge boulder, and saved -himself from falling, sending, however, a stone splashing down into the -water. They drew themselves up within the shadow of the rock, and -listened with straining ears, but there came no answering sound save the -cry of a whip-poor-will, and they went on their way. When they were -within a hundred feet of the encampment, the Indian left the stream, -crossed the strip of earth between it and the cliff, and pointed to a -broken and uneven line that ran at a height of some five feet from the -ground along the face of the cliff. Landless looked and saw a very -narrow ledge, a mere projection here and there of jagged and broken -rock, a pathway perilous and difficult as might well be imagined. So -narrow and insignificant it looked, such a mere seam along the vast -wall, that a white man passing through the ravine might never have -noticed it. - -"It is our path," said the Susquehannock. "It leads above the heads of -these dogs and their crackling twigs, straight to where lies the -maiden." - -Without a word Landless caught at the stem of a cedar projecting from a -fissure in the rock, and swung himself up to the cleft. The Indian -followed, and with silence and caution they commenced their dangerous -journey. Landless was no novice at such work. When a boy, he had often -rounded the face of frowning white cliffs with the sea breaking in -thunder a hundred feet below. Then a bird's nest had been the prize of -high daring, death the penalty of dizziness or a misstep. Now, although -not two yards below him was the solid earth, a misstep would send him -crashing down to a more fearful doom--but the prize! A light was in his -eyes as he crept nearer and nearer to the shed built against the rock. - -They passed the smouldering embers of a large fire, and came full upon -the circle of sleeping Indians. They lay in the moonlight like fallen -statues, their bronze limbs motionless, their high, stern features -impassive as death. From their belts came the glint of tomahawk and -scalping knife, and beside each warrior lay his bow and quiver of -arrows. Only one man had a gun. It lay in the hollow of his arm, its -barrel making a gleaming line against his dark skin. The skin was not -so dark as was that of the other recumbent figures, and the face, flung -back and pillowed on the arm, was not the face of an Indian. It was -Luiz Sebastian. He lay somewhat nearer to the shed than did the -Ricahecrians, and directly in front of the doorway; as Landless paused -above him, he turned and laughed in his sleep. - -Slowly and cautiously Landless swung himself down from the ledge, his -moccasined feet touching ground that was clear of pebbles and beyond the -line of twigs. He glanced back to see the gigantic figure of the -Susquehannock, standing upright against the rock, knife in hand, and -watchful eyes roving from one to the other of the sleeping warriors, -then stepped lightly across the body of the mulatto, and entered the -hut. - -Within it the darkness was gross. Pausing a moment to accustom his eyes -to the blackness, there came to him from without the hoot of an owl. It -was the signal agreed upon between him and his companion, and he wheeled -to face the danger it announced. - -The lithe, yellow figure that had lain in front of the doorway had -waked. As Landless gazed, it rose to its knees, then with a quick, -cat-like grace to its feet, stretched itself, cast a listening look -around the sleeping circle, and laid its gun softly down, then with a -noiseless step and a smile upon its evil face, it, too entered the hut. - -Landless waited until the mulatto was well across the threshold, and -then sprang upon him, dragging him to the ground, where he held him with -his knee against his chest. He writhed and struggled, but the white man -was the stronger, and held him down: he tried to cry out, but the -other's hands were at his throat choking the life from him. Putting all -his strength into one hand, Landless felt with the other for his knife. -The movement brought his face forward into the shaft of moonlight that -trembled through the opening. "You!" said the eyes of the mulatto, and -his clutching hands tore at the hand about his throat. The hand pressed -closer, and with the other Landless struck the knife into the yellow -bosom. When the writhing form was quite still, he rose from his knees, -and looked down upon the evil face flung back to meet the moonlight. -The struggle had lasted but a minute, and had been without sound--not a -sleeping savage had stirred. But he now heard frightened breathing -within the hut. By this his eyes were accustomed to the darkness, and -he made out something white niched into the corner opposite. As he -advanced towards it, it started away, and would have brushed past him, -but he seized it. "Madam!" he whispered. "Do not scream. It is I, -Godfrey Landless." - -In the darkness he felt the rigor of terror leave the form which he -held. It swayed against him, and the head fell back across his arm. He -raised the fainting figure, and stepping across the body of the mulatto -issued from the shed, to find Monakatocka standing beside the entrance, -knife in hand, and watchfully regardful of the sleeping Ricahecrians. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXX* - - *THE BACKWARD TRACK* - - -Landless turned to the pathway by which they had come, but the Indian -shook his head, and pointing to the stream which, making a sudden turn, -brawled along at their very feet, stepped noiselessly down into the -water, first, however, possessing himself of Luiz Sebastian's gun, which -lay upon the ground beside the hut. Landless, following him in silence, -would have turned his face towards the river, but again the -Susquehannock shook his head and began to make his way slowly and warily -up stream. - -The other knew how to obey. Holding with one arm the unconscious form -of the woman he had come so many leagues to seek, and with the other -steadying himself by boulder and projecting cliff, he followed his -companion past the sleeping Ricahecrians, out of the shadow of the great -arch, into the splendor of the moonlight beyond. It was not until they -had gone a long distance, past vast, scarred cliffs, through close, -dark, scented tunnels formed by the overarching boughs of great -arbor-vitaes, up smooth slides where the water came down upon them in -long, unbroken, glassy green slopes, that Landless said, in a low voice: -"Why do we go up this stream instead of back to the river? It is their -road we are traveling." - -The faint, reluctant smile of the Indian crossed the Susquehannock's -face. "The white man is very wise except when he is in the woods. Then -he is as if every brook ran fire-water and he had drunk of them all. A -pappoose could trick him. When these Algonquin dogs wake and find the -fawn fled and the yellow slave killed, they will cast about for our -trail, and they will find that we came up from the river. Then, when -they find no backward track, but only that we entered the water there, -before the maiden's hut, they will think that we have gone down the -stream, back to the river. They will go down to the river themselves, -but when they have reached it they will not know what to do. They will -think, 'They who come after the Ricahecrians into the Blue Mountains -must be many, with great hearts and with guns.' They will think, 'They -came in boats, and one of their braves and one Iroquois, stealing up -this stream, came upon the Ricahecrians when Kiwassa had closed their -eyes and their ears, and stole away the fawn that the Ricahecrians had -taken, and killed the man who fled with them from the palefaces.' And -it will take a long time for them to find that there were no boats and -that but two real men have followed them into the Blue Mountains, for I -covered our trail where this stream runs into the river very carefully. -After a while they will find it, and after another while they will find -that the chief of the Conestogas and his white brother and the maiden -have gone up the stream, and they will come after us. But that will not -be until after the full sun power, and by then we must be far from -here." - -"It is good," said Landless briefly. "Monakatocka has the wisdom of the -woods." - -"Monakatocka is a great chief," was the sententious reply. - -"Do you think they will follow us when they find how greatly we have the -start of them?" - -"They will be upon our track, sun after sun, keen-eyed as the hawk, -tireless as the wild horses, hungry as the wolf, until we reach the -tribes that are friendly to the palefaces. And that will be many suns -from now. I told my brother that we followed Death into the Blue -Mountains. Now Death is upon our trail." - -They came to a rivulet that emptied itself into the larger stream, and -the Susquehannock led the way up its bed. Presently they reached a -gently sloping mass of bare stone, a low hill running some distance back -from the margin of the stream. - -"Good," grunted the Susquehannock. "The moccasin will make no mark here -that the sun will not wipe out." - -They clambered out upon the rock and stood looking down the ravine -through which they had come. "My brother is tired," said the Indian. -"Monakatocka will carry the maiden." - -"I am not tired," Landless answered. - -The Indian looked at the face, thrown back upon the other's shoulder. -"She is fair, and whiter than the flowers the maidens pluck from the -bosom of the pleasant river." - -"She is coming to herself," said Landless, and laid her gently down upon -the rock. - -Presently she opened her eyes quietly upon him as he knelt beside her. -"You came," she said dreamily. "I dreamt that you would. Where are my -father and my cousin?" - -"Seeking you still, madam, I doubt not, though I have not seen them -since the day after you were taken. They went up the Pamunkey and so -missed you. Thanks to this Susquehannock, I am more fortunate." - -She lay and looked at him calmly, no surprise, but only a great peace in -her face. "The mulatto," she said, "I feared him more than all the -rest. When I saw him enter the hut I prayed for death. Did you kill -him?" - -"I trust so," said Landless, "but I am not certain, I was in too great -haste to make sure." - -"I do not care," she said. "You will not let him hurt me--if he -lives--nor let the Indians take me again?" - -"No, madam," Landless said. - -She smiled like a child and closed her eyes. In the moonlight which -blanched her streaming robe and her loosened hair that, falling to her -knees, wrapped her in a mantle of spun gold, she looked a wraith, a -creature woven of the mist of the stream below, a Lorelei sleeping upon -her rock. Landless, still upon his knee beside her, watched her with a -beating heart, while the Susquehannock, leaning upon his gun, bent his -darkly impassive looks upon them both. At length the latter said, "We -must be far from here before the dogs behind us awake, and the Gold Hair -cannot travel swiftly. Let us be going." - -"Madam," said Landless. - -She opened her eyes and he helped her to her feet. "We must hasten on," -he said gently. "They will follow us and we must put as many leagues as -possible between us before they find our trail." - -"I did not think of that!" she said, with dilating eyes. "I thought it -was all past--the terror--the horror! Let us go, let us hasten! I am -quite strong; I have learned how to walk through the woods. Come!" - -The Indian glided before them and led the way over the friendly rocks. -They left them and found themselves upon a carpet of pine needles, and -then in a dell where the fern grew rankly and the rich black earth gave -like a sponge beneath their feet. Here the Indian made Landless carry -Patricia, and himself came last, walking backwards in the footprints of -the other, and pausing after each step to do all that Indian cunning -could suggest to cover their trail. They came to more rocky ledges and -walked along them for a long distance, then found and went up a wide and -shallow stream. Slowly the pale light of dawn diffused itself through -the forest. In the branches overhead myriads of birds began to flutter -and chirp, the squirrels commenced their ceaseless chattering, and -through the white mist, at bends of the stream, they saw deer coming -from the fern of the forest to drink. A great hill rose before them, -bare of trees, covered only with a coarse growth of grass and short blue -thistles in which already buzzed a world of bees; they climbed it and -from the summit watched a ball of fire rise into the cloudless blue. The -morning wind, blowing over that illimitable forest, fanned their brows, -and a tide of woodland sound and incense swept up to them from the world -below. Around them were the Blue Mountains--gigantic masses, cloudy -peaks, vast ramparts rising from a sea of mist--mysterious fastnesses, -scarcely believed in and never seen by the settlers of the level land--a -magic country in which they placed much gold and the wandering colonists -of Roanoke, the South Sea, and long-gowned Eastern peoples. - -"Oh, the mountains!" said Patricia. "The dreadful, frowning mountains! -When will we be quit of them? When, will we reach the level land and -the blue water?" - -"Before many days, I trust," said Landless. "See, our faces are set to -the east---towards home." - -She stood in silence for a moment, her face lifted, the color slowly -coming back to her cheeks and the light to her eyes, then said -suddenly:-- - -"Did my father send you after me?" - -"No, madam." - -"Then how are you here?" - -He looked at her with a smile. "I broke gaol--and came." - -A shadow crossed her face, but it was gone in a moment. "I am very -grateful," she said. "You have saved me from worse than death." - -"It is I that am thankful," he answered. - -They descended the hill in silence and found the Susquehannock, who had -preceded them, squatted before a fire which he had kindled upon a flat -rock beside one of the innumerable streamlets that wound here and there -over the land. - -"The dogs yonder will need Iroquois eyes to spy out this trail," he said -with grim satisfaction, as they came up to him. "Let my brother and the -Gold Hair rest by the fire, and Monakatocka will go into the forest and -get them something to eat." - -He was gone, his gigantic figure looking larger than life as he moved -through the mist which still filled the hollow between the hills, and -Landless and Patricia sat themselves down beside the fire. Landless -piled upon it the dead wood with which the ground was strewn, and the -flames leaped and crackled, sending up thin blue smoke against the -hillside and reddening the bosom of the placid stream. When he had -finished his task and taken his seat, there fell a silence and -constraint upon the man and woman, brought through so many strange and -wayward paths, through lives so widely differing, to this companionship -in the heart of a waste and savage world. They sat opposite each other -in the ruddy light of the fire, and each, looking into the dark or -glowing hollows, saw there the same thing--the tobacco house and what -had there passed. - -"I wish to believe in you," said Patricia at last, lifting appealing -eyes to the opposite face. "But how can I? You lied to me!" - -Landless raised his head proudly. "Madam, will you listen to me--to my -defense if you will? You are a Royalist: I am a Commonwealth man. Can -you not see, that as ten years ago, in the estimation of you and yours, -it was all that was just and heroic for a Cavalier to plot the downfall -of the Government which then was, both here and at home, so they of the -Commonwealth saw no disgrace in laboring for their cause, a cause as -real and as high and as holy to them, madam, as was that of the Stuart -and the Church to the Cavalier.... And will not the slave fight for his -liberty? Is it of choice, do you think, that men lie rotting in prison, -in the noisome holds of ships, are bought and sold like oxen, are -chained to the oar, to the tobacco field, are herded with the refuse of -the earth, are obedient to the finger, to the whip? We--they who are -known as Oliverians, and they who are felons, and I who am, if you -choose, of both parties, were haled here with ropes. What allegiance -did we owe to them who had cast us out, or to them who bought us as they -buy dumb beasts? As God lives, none! We were no longer regarded as -men, we were chattels, animals, slaves, caged, and chained. And as the -caged beast will break his bars if he can, so we strove to break ours. -You have been a captive, madam. Is not freedom sweet to you? We also -longed for it. We staked our lives upon the throw--and lost. That -dream is over,--let it go! ... There is honor among rebels, madam, as -among thieves. That morning after the storm, I had the choice of lying -to you or of becoming a traitor indeed.... But as to what I had before -asked you to believe, that was the truth, is the truth. I know that in -your eyes I am still the rebel to the King, well deserving the doom -which awaits me, but if, after what I say to you, by the faith of a -gentleman, before the God who is above the stillness of these hills, you -still believe me criminal in aught else, you wrong me much, you wrong -yourself!" - -He ceased abruptly, and rising, began to heap more wood upon the fire. -The figure of the Indian, with something dark upon its shoulder, emerged -from the spectral forest, and came towards them through the mist. - -"Monakatocka has found our breakfast," said Landless, forcing himself to -speak with indifference, and without looking at his companion. "I am -glad of it, for you must be faint from hunger." - -"I am very thirsty," she said in a low voice. - -"If you will come to the water's edge, that at least can be quickly -remedied." - -She rose from the rock upon which she had been seated and followed him -down to the brink of the little stream. "I would I had a cup of gold," -he said, "and here is not even a great leaf. Will you drink from my -hands, madam?" - -"Yes," she said; then deliberately, after a pause, "for I well believe -them to be clean hands." - -Her own hand touched his as she spoke, and he put it to his lips in -silence. Kneeling upon the turf by the stream, he raised the water in -his hands and she stooped and drank from them, and then they went back -to the fire and sat beside it without speaking until the arrival of -Monakatocka, laden with a wild turkey. An hour later the Susquehannock -carefully extinguished the fire, raked all the embers and ashes into the -stream, hid beneath great rocks the debris of their morning meal, -obliterated all moccasin prints, and having made the little hollow -between the hills to all appearance precisely as it was a few hours -before, when the foot of man had probably never entered it, stepped into -the stream and announced that they were ready to pursue their journey. -Before midday, the stream winding to the south, they left it, and -plunging into the dark heart of the forest pushed rapidly on with their -faces to the east. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXXI* - - *THE HUT IN THE CLEARING* - - -Five days later saw the wayfarers some thirty leagues to the eastward of -the hollow in the hills. They had traveled swiftly, sleeping but a few -hours of each night and in the daytime pausing for rest only when -Landless, quietly watchful, saw the weariness growing in the eyes of the -woman beside him, or noted her lagging footsteps. They had left the -higher mountains behind them, but still moved through what seemed an -uninhabited territory. No Indian village crowned the hills above the -streams; they encountered no roving bauds; no solitary hunter met them; -nowhere was there sign of human life. If their enemies were upon their -track, they knew it not--perfect peace, perfect solitude seemed to -encompass them. Still the Indian was vigilant; covering their trail -with unimaginable ingenuity, taking advantage of every running stream, -every stony hillside, building a fire only in some hidden hollow or fold -of the hills, using his bow and arrow to bring down the deer or wild -fowl which furnished them food--he stalked behind them, or sat bolt -upright against the tree or rock beneath which they had made their -resting place, tireless, watchful, the breathing image of caution. If -he slept, it was a sleep from which the sound of a falling acorn, the -sleepy stir of a partridge in the fern was sufficient to awaken him. -Sometimes they rested by fires, for they heard the wolves through the -darkness; upon the nights when this was necessary the Susquehannock sat -with his gun across his knees, piercing the darkness in every direction -with keen and restless eyes. Nothing worse than the wolves--cowardly as -yet, for though drawing swiftly nearer, winter and famine were still -distant--threatened them; no sound other than the forest sounds -disturbed them; through the scant undergrowth or over the moss and -partridge berry brushed nothing more appalling than bear or badger. But -the Indian watched on. - -Day after day Landless and Patricia walked side by side through the -reddening forest. His hands steadied her over crags or down ravines, or -broke a way for her through vast beds of sassafras or mile-long tangles -of wild grape, and when their way lay along the bed of streams he -carried her. She had no need to complain of fatigue, for he saw when -she was weary, and called a halt. At their rustic meals he waited upon -her with grave courtesy, and when they halted for the night he made her -couch of fallen leaves and wove for it a screen of branches. They spoke -but little and only of the needs of the hour. She bore herself towards -him kindly and gently, thanking him with voice and smile for all that he -did for her, and there was no mistrust in her eyes; but he saw, or -fancied he saw, a shadow in their depths, and thinking, "She does not -forget, and neither must I," he set a watch upon himself, and bounds, -across which he was not to step. - -Upon the afternoon of the sixth day they were passing through a deep and -narrow ravine--a mere crack between two precipitous, heavily wooded -mountains--when the Indian stopped short in his tracks and uttered a -warning "Ugh!" then bent forward in a listening attitude. - -"What is it?" asked Landless in a low voice. "I hear nothing." - -"It is a sound," said the other in the same tone. "I do not know what -yet, for it is far off. But it is in front of us." - -"Shall we go on?" demanded Landless, and the Indian nodded. - -It was late afternoon, and the hills which closed in behind them as the -gorge writhed to left and right hid the sun. Great trees, too, pine and -chestnut, walnut and oak, leaned towards each other from the opposing -banks, and together with the overhanging rocks, mantled with fern, made -a twilight of the pass beneath. Here and there the silver stem of a -birch stood up tall and straight, and looked a ghostly sentinel. "Do -you hear it still?" demanded Landless when they had gone some distance -in dead silence. - -"Yes." - -"And still in front of us?" - -"Yes." - -"Ah, what can it be?" cried Patricia, turning her white face upon -Landless. - -A cold wind, blowing from open spaces beyond, rushed up the ravine. "I -hear a very faint sound," said Landless, "like the tapping of a -woodpecker in the heart of the forest." - -"It is the sound of the axe of the white man," said the Indian. "Some -one is cutting down a tree." - -"There can be no ranger or pioneer within many leagues of us!" exclaimed -Landless. "No white man hath ever come so far. It must be an Indian!" - -The Susquehannock shook his head. "Why should an Indian cut down a -tree? We kill them and let them stand until they are bare and white -like the bones of a man when the wolves have finished with him, and they -fall of themselves." - -"If my father still searches for me," said Patricia in a low voice, "may -it not be his party that we hear? There may be a stream there. They may -make canoes." - -"With all my heart I pray that it be so, madam," said Landless. "But we -will soon know. See, Monakatocka has gone on ahead." - -She did not answer, and they walked on through the gloom of the defile. -Presently their path became rough and broken, blocked with large stones -and heavily shadowed by cedars projecting from the rocks above and -draped with vines. He held out his hands and she took them, and he -helped her across the rough places. He felt her hands tremble in his, -and he thought it was with the ecstasy of the hope which inspired her. - -"If it is indeed so," she said once in a voice so low that he had to -bend to catch the words, "if it is indeed my father, then this is the -last time you will help me thus." - -"Yes," he answered steadily. "The last time." - -They passed the rocks and came to where the ravine widened. The sound -that had perplexed them was now plainly audible; there was no mistaking -the quick, ringing strokes of the axe. They rounded a jutting cliff and -abruptly emerged from the chill darkness of the gorge upon a noble -landscape of hill and valley, autumn woods and flowing water, all bathed -in the golden light of the sinking sun and inestimably bright and -precious of aspect after the gloom through which they had been -traveling. But it was not the beauty of the scene which drew an -exclamation from them both. At a little distance rose a knoll, covered -with short grass and fading golden-rod, and with its base laved by a -crystal stream of some width, and upon the knoll, shaded by a couple of -magnificent maples, and covered with the pale and feathery bloom of the -wild clematis, stood a small, rude hut. Smoke rose from its crazy -chimney, and upon the strip of greensward before the door rolled a -little, half-naked child--a white child. As the travelers stared in -amazement, a woman's voice rang out, freshly and sweetly, in an English -ballad. The trees had been cleared away from around the knoll, and in -their place rose the yellowing stalks of Indian corn. The little mound, -feathered with the gold of the golden-rod and girt with the gold of the -maize, rose like a fairy isle from the limitless sea of forest, and the -apparition of a troop of veritable elves would have astonished the -wanderers less than did the tiny cabin, the romping child, and the clear -song of the woman. - -The Indian glided to their side from behind the trunk of an oak. "Ugh," -he said with emphasis. "He is mad and so he has his scalp still." As he -spoke he pointed to where, at a little distance, a man, with his back -turned to the forest, was busily felling a tree. - -"He dares much," said Landless. "We did not think to see the face of a -white man--pioneer, ranger, trapper or trader--for many a league yet. -He has built his house in the jaws of the wolf." - -Patricia gazed at the hut with wistful eyes. "There is a woman there," -she said, and Landless heard her voice tremble for the first time in -their long, toilsome and painful journey. "There is no need to pass -them by, is there? It looks very fair and peaceful. May we not rest -here for this one night?" - -"Yes," said Landless gently, reading, as he read all her fancies and -desires, her longing for the companionship of a woman, though for so -short a time. The Indian, too, nodded assent. "Good! but Monakatocka -will watch to-night." - -They moved through the checkered light and shade towards the man who -worked at the foot of the knoll. They were quite near him when the -woman, whose voice they had heard, came to the door of the cabin, shaded -her eyes with her hand, looked towards the ravine, and saw the three -figures emerging from it. With a loud cry she snatched up the child at -her feet and rushed down the knoll towards the man, who at the sound of -her voice dropped his axe, caught up a musket which leaned against a -stump beside him, and wheeling, presented the gun at the newcomers. - -"Give me your kerchief, madam," said Landless, and advanced with the -white lawn in his hand. - -"Halt!" cried the man with the gun. - -"We are friends," called Landless. "This lady and I are from the -Settlements. This Indian is not Algonquin, but Iroquois--a -Susquehannock, as you may tell by his size. You need have no fear. We -are quite alone." - -The man slowly lowered his gun. "What, in the name of all the fiends, -do you here?" he said, wiping away with the back of his hand the cold -sweat that had sprung to his forehead. He was a tall man with a sinewy -frame and a dare-devil face, tanned to well-nigh the hue of the Indian. - -"I might ask the same question of you," said Landless, coming up to him -with a smile. "This lady was captured and carried off by a band of -roving Ricahecrians who bore her into the Blue Mountains. We ask your -hospitality for to-night. The lady is very weary, and she has not seen -the face of a woman for many weeks. Your good wife will entreat her -kindly, I know." - -The woman, who now stood beside the man, smiled, but doubtfully; the -man's face too was clouded, and there was an uneasy light in his eyes. -Landless, looking steadily at him, saw upon his forehead a mark which -served to explain his evident perturbation. - -"You need not fear me," he said quietly. "'T is none of our business -how you come to be here in this wilderness, so far from what has been -counted the furthest outpost." - -The man, feeling his gaze upon him, raised his hand with an involuntary -motion to his forehead, then dropped it, awkwardly enough. - -"I see," said Landless. "I understand. I have been--I am--a servant. -A runaway, too, if you like. I have been in trouble. I would not betray -you if I could: that I cannot, goes without saying. Now, will you -shelter us for this night?" - -"Yes," said the man, his face clearing. "As you say, you could n't do -us harm if you would, seeing that masters, and d--d overseers, and -bloodhounds are at the world's end for us. We are beyond their reach. -Bring up the lady. Joan, here, will see to her." - -An hour later the woman and Patricia sat side by side upon the doorstep -in the long mountain twilight. At their feet the little child crowed and -clapped its hands, and plucked at the golden-rod growing about the door. -Below them, beside the placid stream, the owner of the hut and Godfrey -Landless paced slowly up and down, now disappearing into the shadow of -the trees, now dimly seen in the open spaces, while the Indian lay at -full length beneath the maples, with his eye upon the blackness of the -ravine down which they had come. - -"It is fair to look upon, and peaceful," Patricia said dreamily, "but -Danger lives in these dreadful mountains. Why did you come here?" - -"We came because we loved," the woman said simply. - -"But why into the very land of the savages, so far from safety, so far -from the Settlements?" - -The woman turned her eyes upon the beautiful face beside her and studied -it in silence. - -"I will tell you," she said at last, "for I believe you are as good as -you are beautiful, and you are as beautiful as an angel. And, though I -can see that you are a lady, yet you are woman too, as I am, and you -have suffered much, as I have, and have loved too, I think, as I have -loved." - -"I have never loved," said Patricia. - -The woman smiled, and shook her head. "There is a look in the eyes that -only comes with that. I know it." She gathered the child to her, and -beating its little hand against her bosom, began her story:-- - -"It is four years since I signed to come to the Plantations, to become -the servant of an up-river planter--and to better myself. It was a hard -life, my lady, a hard life--you cannot guess how hard.... One day a -neighboring planter sent a message to my master, and I (for I served in -the house) took it from the messenger. The messenger was one that I had -known in the village at home, in England. He had left home to make his -fortune, and I had not heard of him for a long time. They used to call -me his sweetheart. When I saw him I cried out, and he caught my hands -in his.... After that we met whenever we could, on Sundays, on -Instruction days, whenever chance offered. He had tried to run away -twice before we met, but he never tried afterwards. His master was a -hard man--mine was worse ... After a while we began to meet in -secret--at night ... You are a lady--that is different--you cannot -understand; but I loved him, loved him as well as any lady in the land -could love; better, maybe ... There came a night when I was followed, -and taken, and he with me." She broke off to smell at the scentless -spear of golden-rod which the child held up, and to say, "Yes, my -darling, pretty, pretty, pretty," then went on with her eyes following -the figures walking up and down beside the stream. "The next night -found us in the sheriff's hands, in the gaol at the courthouse. Oh that -blank, dreadful, heavy night! I felt the lash already--I did not mind -that--but I saw the platform and the post, and the gaping crowd beneath. -I thought of him, and my heart was sick; I thought of my mother, and my -tears fell like rain.... There was a noise at the window, and I stood -upon my stool to see what it was. It was he! He had a knife and he -worked and wrenched at the bars until he had wrenched them away, then -dragged me through the window and we stood together beneath the -stars--free! Another moment and we were down at the water side and into -a boat which was fastened there. We loosed it and rowed with all our -speed up the river. He had killed the gaoler and gotten away, bringing -with him a musket and an axe. All that night we rowed, and when morning -broke we were well-nigh past the settlements, for we had been far up -river to begin with. That day we hid in the reeds, but when night came -we sped up the stream. We came to the falls of the far west and left -our boat there. For many days we walked through the woods, hurrying on, -day after day, for when we lay down at night, I saw in my dreams the -flash of the torches and heard the baying of the hounds. After a long -while we came to an Indian village not many leagues from here, and there -we found the mercies of the savage kinder than the mercies of the white -man. They may have thought us mad--I do not know--but they did not harm -us. There we dwelt for a time, in the stranger's wigwam, and there the -child was born." She pressed the little hand which she held, and which -she had never ceased to beat against her bosom, to her lips. "He would -have stayed in the village, but in sleep I still heard the bloodhounds, -and we left the friendly Indians and pressed on. We came upon this -knoll on just such an evening as this--the light in the west, and the -stream very still, with a large white star shining down upon it. We lay -down beside it, and that night I slept without a dream.... We have been -here ever since, and here we shall stay until we die." - -"It is fair now," said Patricia, "but in a little while it will be -winter and very cold." - -"Bitterly cold," said the woman. "The snow lies long in these hills, -and the wind howls down the ravine." - -"And the wolves are bold in winter." - -"Very bold. This scar upon my arm is from the teeth of one which I -fought here, on the very threshold." - -"The Indians threaten always, summer or winter." - -"Ay, sooner or later they will come against us. We shall die that way at -last. But what does it matter--so that we die together?" - -The lady of the manor turned her pure, pale face upon the other with -wonder, and yet with comprehension, written upon it. - -"You are happy!" she said, almost in a whisper. - -"Yes, I am happy," the woman answered, a light that was not from the -faintly crimson west upon her face. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXXII* - - *ATTACK* - - -About midnight, Landless, lying upon the dirt floor of the lean-to -attached to the one room of the cabin, felt a hand upon his shoulder and -opened his eyes upon a shadowy figure, blocking up the starlight that -came faintly in at the open door. - -"Hist!" said the figure. "Ricahecrians!" - -Landless sprang to his feet. "My God! You are sure?" - -"They are coming out of the ravine. You will hear the whoop directly." - -The owner of the hut, stirred by the Susquehannock's foot, started up. -Such an alarm being about the least surprising thing that could happen, -he kept his wits, and after the first intake of the breath and -exclamation of, "Indians!" he went about his preparations coolly enough. -Rushing into the cabin where Landless had already waked the women, he -groped for his tinder box, and with a steady hand struck a light and -fired a pine knot which he stuck into a block of wood pierced to receive -it; then jerked from the wall his musket and powder horn. - -"You both have guns," he said coolly. "Good! We 'll die fighting." The -woman had flown to the door, had seen that the heavy wooden bars were -drawn across it, and now stood beside him with a resolute face, and an -axe in her hands. - -A moment of silence, and then the quiet night was cleft by the war -whoop--dreadful sound, forerunner of death and torture, concentrating in -its savage cadence all ideas of terror! A moment more, and there came -the sound of many moccasined feet and the hurling of many bodies against -the door. The door held, and the man put the muzzle of his gun in one -of the cracks between the logs and fired. The explosion was followed by -a yell. Shot and cry preluded pandemonium. Without were demoniacal -cries, quick crashing blows against the door, stealthy feet, clambering -forms; within were smoke and the noise of the muskets, the crying of the -child, and a red and flickering light which now brought out each detail -of the rude interior, now plunged all into shadow. - -"We are making it hot for them," cried the owner of the hut, reloading -his musket. "There 's some shall go to hell before we do. Joan, my -girl--" - -An arrow, whistling through a crack, pierced his brain and he fell to -the ground with a crash. The shriek that the woman set up was answered -from without by a triumphant yell, and then one voice was heard -speaking. - -"It is the mulatto!" cried Patricia, clasping her hands. - -"Yes," answered Landless grimly. "I thought I had done for that devil, -but it seems not. May I have better luck this time!" - -"Ugh!" said the Indian, and pointed to the roof, which was low and -thatched with dried grass and moss. - -"I see," said Landless. "The cabin is on fire. We must leave it in five -minutes, come what may." - -"We will never leave it alive," the Indian said calmly. "The dogs have -us fast. The Chief of the Conestogas will die in a strange land; his -bones will be a plaything for the wolves of the mountains; his scalp -will hang before the wigwam of an Algonquin dog. He will never see the -village and the pleasant river, never will he smoke the peace pipe, he -and his braves, with the Wyandots and the Lenni Lenape, sitting beneath -the mulberries in front of the lodge. He will never see the cornfeast. -He will never dance the war dance again, nor will he lead the war party. -The sagamore dies, and who will tell his tribe? He falls like a leaf in -the forest, like a pebble that is cast into the water. The leaf is not -seen: the stream closes above the pebble--it is gone!" His voice rose -into a chant, stern and mournful, and his vast form appeared to expand, -to become taller. He threw down his gun and drew his long, bright -knife. - -"They are upon us!" cried Landless, and thrust Patricia behind him. - -The rude door, constructed of the trunks of saplings, bound together -with withes, crashed inwards, coming to the floor with a tremendous -noise, and a dozen savages precipitated themselves into the cabin. -Landless fired, bringing one to his knee; then clubbed his musket and -swung it over his shoulder. Between him and the Susquehannock, standing -beside him with bent body and knife drawn back against his breast, and -the invaders, was a space some few feet in width, and in this space -something dreadful now happened. - -On one side lay the body of the man with the woman crouched above it, on -the other a pile of skins upon which lay the little child. It had -sobbed itself into exhaustion and quiet, but terrified afresh by the -savage forms pouring through the doorway, the increased and awful -clamor, the flames which had now seized upon the walls, and the choking -smoke which filled the hut, it now scrambled from the pallet, and with a -weak cry started across the space towards its mother. It crossed the -path of the Ricahecrian chief--he glanced downwards, saw the tiny -tottering figure with its outstretched arms, caught it up, and holding -it by its feet, dashed its head against the ground. The cry which the -child uttered as he raised it reached the until then deaf ears of the -mother. She started up with a shriek that rang high above the yelling -of the savages, and darted forward, only to receive at her very feet the -mangled form of the baby she had sung to sleep but a few hours before. -She caught it to her breast and with another dreadful cry rushed upon -the savage. He met her, seized her free arm, raised it, and plunged his -knife into her bosom. Still clasping the child to her bosom, she fell -without a groan, while the Indian bounded on towards the three who yet -remained alive. - -The Susquehannock met him. "A chief for a chief," he said with a cold -smile, and the two locked together in a deadly embrace. When the -Ricahecrian was dead, the Susquehannock turned to find Landless--one -Indian dead before him, another writhing away like a wounded -snake--confronting across the body at his feet the graceful figure and -the amber-hued, evil, smiling face of Luiz Sebastian. So strong were -the flames by now, and so dense and stifling the smoke, that of the -score or more who had broken into the cabin but few remained within its -walls, which were fast becoming those of a furnace, the majority -retreating to the fresh air outside, whence they whooped on to their -devil's work the bolder spirits within. - -These now bore down _en masse_ upon the devoted three. One threw his -tomahawk; it whistled within half an inch of Landless's head, and stuck -into the wall behind him. Another struck at him with his knife, but he -beat him down with his musket, and turned again to the mulatto, who, -knife in hand, watched his chance to run in upon him. - -"Look to the yellow slave, my brother," cried the Susquehannock, "I will -care for these dogs," and hurled his gigantic form upon them. One went -down before his knife; he broke the back of another, bending him like a -reed across his knee; a third fell, cleft to the brain by his -tomahawk--there was a fresh influx from without, and he was borne down -and knives thrust into him. Struggling to his feet, with one last -superhuman exertion of his vast strength, he shook them off as a stag -shakes off the dogs, and stretching out his arm, cried to Landless, -dimly seen through the ever thickening smoke;-- - -"My brother, farewell! I said we should find Death in the Blue -Mountains.... The Iroquois laughs at the Algonquin dogs, laughs at -Death--dies laughing." - -He broke into wild, unearthly, choking laughter, his figure swaying to -and fro like a pine in a storm. The laughter, an indescribable and most -dreadful sound, became low, choked, a mere rattle in the throat, died -into silence, and the laugher crashed to the ground like a pine for -which the storm has been too much. - -Landless drew a breath that was like a moan, but kept his eyes upon the -yellow menace before him. - -"The Ricahecrians are my good friends," said Luiz Sebastian. "They -promise me a wigwam in their village in the Blue Mountains. I shall -lead to it a bride, and she shall be no Indian girl." - -Landless struck at him over the dead body between them, but the mulatto, -springing back, avoided the blow. - -"It is my hour," he said, still with a smile. - -A portion of the roof fell in, making a barrier of flame between them. -A volume of smoke arose, and through it Landless and Patricia dimly saw -Indians and mulatto making for the doorway, driven forth by the -intolerable heat and the imminent danger of the burning walls and the -remainder of the roof caving in upon them. Beyond Landless was the -square opening leading into the tiny shed in which he had been sleeping -when this midnight visitation came upon them. Raising Patricia in his -arms, he made for it, and they presently found themselves in temporary -security. It was but for a moment, he knew, for the flames were already -taking hold upon the shed, but as he set his burden down he whispered -encouraging words. - -"I know," she answered. "We are in God's hands. I would rather die than -to come into that man's power. But the door to the shed is open and the -way seems clear. Could we not escape even now?" - -"Alas! madam, the flames make it as light as day around the cabin. They -would certainly see us. And yet if we stay, we burn. When the fire -reaches this straw above our heads we will try it. - -"I would rather stay here," said Patricia. - -Behind them the flames roared and crackled, the cabin burning like a -torch, and with the flames rose and fell the triumphant cries of the -savages, who, unaware of the existence of the tiny shed, so covered with -the vines that draped the cabin that it seemed one with it, congregated -in front of the gap in the wall where had been the door, and waited for -their still living victims to emerge from it. - -"Look!" breathed Patricia, grasping Landless's arm. - -They stood facing the open door of the shed, and gazing through it down -the lit slope of the knoll. Into the light, out of the darkness at the -foot of the hill, now glided a man, naked save for the loin cloth, and -painted with horrible devices; in the figure, noiseless and bent -forward, savage cunning; in the eyes, the lust for blood. In his -footsteps came his double, then a third, in all points exactly similar, -then a fourth, a fifth--a long line, creeping as silently as shadows--a -nightmare procession--up through the lurid light. - -Landless drew Patricia further into the shadow. - -"Wait," he said. "They may prove our deliverance." - -The stealthy line reached the summit of the knoll, then broadened into a -disc, and swept past the frail shelter in which stood the fugitives. A -moment, and the war whoop rang out, to be answered by a burst of yells -from the Ricahecrians, and then by prolonged and awful clamor. - -"Now is our time," said Landless. - -Hand in hand they ran from the shed that was now in a light flame, and -down the slope up which had come the band of unconscious Samaritans. - -"The stream!" said Landless. "There is a small raft upon it if they -have not destroyed it." - -They made for the water, found the raft hidden in a clump of reeds and -uninjured, and stepped upon it. In ten minutes' time from the appearance -of the new factor in the sum they were moving steadily, if slowly, down -a stream so wide that in Europe it would have been called a river. The -glare from the burning cabin faded, the flaming mass itself shrunk until -it looked a burning bush, then dwindled to a star. The noise of the -struggle upon the mount was with them longer, but at length it, too, -died away. - -"Which will conquer?" said Patricia at last, from where she crouched at -the feet of Landless, who stood erect, poling. - -"The Ricahecrians were the stronger," he answered. "But they may be so -handled that they will not come at us again. That must be our hope." - -There followed a long silence, broken by Patricia. - -"The baby," she said in a quivering voice, "the poor, pretty, innocent -little thing!" - -"It is well with it," said Landless. "It is spared all toil and -suffering. It is better as it is." - -"The man and woman went together," said Patricia, still with the sob in -her voice. "They would have chosen it so, I think. But the poor -Indian--" - -"He was my friend," said Landless slowly, "and I brought him death." - -"It is I that brought him death!" cried Patricia, tossing up her arms. -"I that shall bring you death!" - -Her voice rose into a cry that echoed drearily from the hills about -them, and she beat her hands against the raft with a sudden passion. - -"You would bring me no unwelcome gift," said Landless steadily, -"provided only that the time when I could serve you with my life were -past." - -She did not answer, and they floated on in silence down the little -river, between banks lined with dwarf willows and sighing reeds. With -the dawn they came to rapids through which they could not pilot their -frail craft. Leaving the water, they turned their faces towards the -rising sun, and pursued their journey through the forest that seemed to -stretch to the end of the world. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXXIII* - - *THE FALL OF THE LEAF* - - -Days passed, and the forest put on a beauty, austere, yet fantastic, -bizarre. Above it hung a pale blue sky; within it, a perpetual, pale -blue haze, through which blazed the scarlet and gold of the trees--great -bonfires which did not warm, flaming pyres which were never consumed. -Morning and evening a shroud of chill, white mist fell upon them, or -they would have mocked the sunrise and the sunset. Along the summit of -low hills ran a comb of fire--the scarlet of the sumach, leaf and berry; -underfoot were crimson vines like trails and splashes of blood; into the -streams from which the wanderers stooped to drink, fell the gold of the -sycamore. From the hills they looked down upon a red and yellow world, -a gorgeous bourgeoning and blossoming that put the spring to shame, a -sea of splendor with here and there a dark-green isle of cedar or of -pine. Day after day saw the same calm blue sky, the same blue haze, the -same slow drifting of crimson and gold to earth. The winds did not -blow, and the murmur of the forest was hushed. All sound seemed muffled -and remote. The deer passed noiseless down the long aisles, the beaver -and the otter slipped noiseless into the stream, the bear rolled its -shambling bulk away from human neighborhood like a shapeless shadow. At -times vast flocks of wild pigeons darkened the air, but they passed like -a cloud. The singing birds were gone. Only at night did sound awake, -for then the wolves howled, and the infrequent scream of the panther -chilled the blood, and the fires which the wanderers must needs build -roared and crackled through the darkness. In the daytime beauty, vast -and melancholy; in the night, shadows and mysteries, the voice of wild -beasts and the stillness of the stars; at all times an enemy, they knew -not how far away or how near at hand, behind them. - -Through this world which seemed more a phantasm than a reality, Landless -and Patricia fared, and were happy. All passion, all fear, all mistrust -and anger slept in that enchanted calm. They never spoke of the past, -they had well-nigh ceased to think of it. When they knelt upon the turf -beside some crystal brook, and drank of the water which seemed red wine -or molten gold according to the nature of the trees above it, it might -have been the water of Lethe. - -In the illimitable forest, too, in the monotony of sunshine and shade, -of glade and dell, of crystal streams and tiny valleys, each the -counterpart of the other, in dense woods and grassy savannahs; in the -yesterday so like to-day, and the to-day so like to-morrow, there was no -hint of the future. It was enchanted ground, where to-morrow must -always be like to-day. They kept their faces to the east, and they -walked each day as many leagues as her strength would permit, and -Landless, imitating as best he could the dead Susquehannock, took all -precautions to cover their trail; but that done all was done, and they -put care behind them. Landless, walking in a dream, knew that it was a -dream, and said to himself, "I must awaken, but not yet. I will dream -and be happy yet a little while." But Patricia dreamt and knew it not. -She kept her wonted state, or, rather, with a quiet insistence he kept -it for her. He never addressed her save as "Madam," and he cared for -her comfort, and in all things bore himself towards her with the formal -courtesy he would have shown a queen. He said to himself, "Godfrey -Landless, Godfrey Landless, thou mayst forget much, perhaps, for a -little while; but not this! If thou dost, thou art no honorable man." - -Master of himself, he walked beside her, cared for her, tended her, -guarded her, served her as if he had been a knight-errant out of a -romance, and she a distressed princess. And she rewarded him with a -delicate kindliness, and a perfectly trustful, childlike dependence upon -his strength, wisdom, and resource. All her bearing towards him was -marked by an inexpressible charm, half-playful, wholly gracious and -womanly. The lady of the manor was gone, and in her place moved the -Patricia Verney of the enchanted forest--a very different creature. - -Thus they fared through the dying summer, and were happy in the present -of soft sunshine, tender haze, fantastic beauty. Sometimes they walked -in silence, too truly companions to feel the need of words; at other -times they talked, and the hours flew past, for they both had wit, -intelligence, quick fancy, high imagination. Sometimes their laughter -rang through the glades of the forest, and set the squirrels in the oaks -to chattering; sometimes in the melancholy grace of the evening when the -purple twilight sank through the trees, and the large stars came out one -by one, they spoke of grave things, of the mysteries of life and death, -of the soul and its hereafter. She had early noticed that he never lay -down at night without having first silently prayed. There had been a -time when she would have laughed at this as Puritan hypocrisy, but now, -one dark night, when the noises of the forest were loud about them, and -the wind rushed through the trees, she came close to him and knelt -beside him. Thenceforward each night, before they lay down beside their -fire, and when from out the darkness came all weird and mournful sounds, -when the owl hooted, and the catamount screamed, and the long howl of -the wolf was answered by its fellow, he stood with bared head, and in a -few short, simple words commended them both to God. "I will both lay me -down in peace and sleep, for Thou, Lord, only makest me to dwell in -safety." - -There came a day when they sat down to rest upon the dark, smooth ground -in a belt of pines, and looked between rows of stately columns to where, -in the distance, the arcade was closed by a broken and confused glory of -crimson oak and yellow maple. Landless told her that it was like gazing -at a rose window down the long nave of a cathedral. - -"I have never seen a cathedral," she said; "I have dreamed of them, -though, of your Milton's 'dim religious light,' and of the rolling -music." - -"I have seen many," he answered. "But none of them are to me what the -abbey at Westminster is. If you should ever see it--" - -Something in her face stopped him: there was a silence, and then he said -quietly:-- - -"When you shall see it, is perhaps better, madam?" - -"Yes," she answered, gazing before her with wide fixed eyes. - -He did not finish his sentence, and neither spoke again until they had -left the pines and were forcing their way through the tall grass and -reeds of a wide savannah. They came to a small, clear stream, dotted -with wild fowl and mirroring the pale blue sky, and he lifted her in his -arms as was his wont and bore her through the shallow water. As he set -her gently down upon the other side, she said in a low voice, "I thought -you knew. Had it not been for that night, that night which sets us -here, you and I,--I should be now in London, at Whitehall, at some -masque or pageant perhaps. I should be all clad in brocade and jewels, -not like this--" She touched her ragged gown as she spoke, then burst -into strange laughter. "But God disposes! And you--" - -"I should be in a place which is never mentioned at Court, madam," said -Landless grimly. "The grave, to wit. Unless indeed his Excellency -proposed hanging me in chains." - -She cried out as though she had been struck. "Don't!" she said -passionately. "Don't speak to me so! I will not bear it!" and ran past -him into the woods beyond the savannah. - -When he came up with her he found her lying on a mossy bank with her -face hidden. - -"Madam," he said, kneeling beside her, "forgive me." - -She lifted a colorless face from her hands. "How far are we from the -Settlements?" she demanded. - -"I do not know, madam. Some twenty leagues, probably, from the frontier -posts." - -"How far from the friendly tribes?" - -"Something less than that distance." - -"Then when we reach them, sir," she said imperiously, "you are to leave -me with them at one of the villages above the falls." - -"To leave you there!" - -"Yes. You will tell them that I am the daughter of one of the paleface -chiefs, of one whom the great white chief calls 'brother,' and then they -will not dare to harm me or to detain me. They will send me down the -river to the nearest post, and the men there will bring me on to -Jamestown, and so home." - -"And why may not I bring you on to Jamestown--and so home?" demanded -Landless with a smile. - -"Because--because--you know that you are lost if you return to the -Settlements." - -"And nevertheless I shall return," he said with another smile. - -She struck her hands together. "You will be mad--mad! If you had not -been their leader!--but as it is, there is no hope. Leave me with the -friendly Indians, then go yourself to the northward. Make for New -Amsterdam. God will carry you through the Indians as he has done so -far. I will pray to him that he do so. Ah, promise me that you will -go!" - -Landless took her hand and kissed it. "Were you in absolute safety, -madam," he said gently, "and if it were not for one other thing, I would -go, because you wish it, and because I would save you any pang, however -slight, that you might feel for the fate of one who was, who is, your -servant--your slave. I would go from you, and because it else might -grieve you, I would strive to keep my life through the forest, through -the winter--" - -"Ah, the winter!" she cried. "I had forgotten that winter will come." - -"But to do that which you propose," he continued, "to leave you to the -mercy of fierce and treacherous Indians, but half subdued, friends to -the whites only because they must--it is out of the question. To leave -you at a frontier post among rude trappers and traders, or at some half -savage pioneer's, is equally impossible. What tale would you have to -tell Colonel Verney? 'The Ricahecrians carried me into the Blue -Mountains. There your servant Landless found me and brought me a long -distance towards my home. But at the last, to save his own neck, -forfeit to the State, he left me, still in the wilderness and in danger, -and went his way.' My honor, madam, is my own, and I choose not to so -stain it. Again: I must be the witness to your story. You have wandered -for many weeks in a wilderness, far beyond the ken of your friends. To -your world, madam, I am a rebel, traitor and convict, a wretch capable -of any baseness, of any crime. If I go back with you, throwing myself -into the power of Governor and Council, at least I shall be credited -with having so borne myself towards my master's daughter as to fear -nothing from their hands on that score. The idle and censorious cannot -choose but believe when you say, 'I am come scatheless through weeks of -daily and hourly companionship with this man. Rebel, and traitor, and -gaol-bird, though he be, he never injured me in word, thought, or deed.' -... For all these reasons, madam, we must be companions still." - -She had covered her face while he was speaking, and she kept it hidden -when he had finished. The slowly lengthening shadows of the trees had -barred the little glade with black when he spoke again. It was only to -ask in his usual voice if she were rested and ready to continue their -journey. - -She raised her head and looked at him with swimming eyes, then held out -two trembling hands. He took them, helped her to her feet, and before -releasing them, bent and touched them with his lips. Then side by side -and in silence they traveled on through the halcyon calm of the world -around them. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXXIV* - - *AN ACCIDENT* - - -It was early morning, and the mist lay heavy upon the forest and on the -bosom of the James. Landless and Patricia raked together the dying -embers of their fire and heaped fresh wood upon them. The flames leaped -up, warming their chilled bodies and filling the hollow that had been -their camping place with a cheerful light, in which the moisture that -clothed tree bole and fallen log and withered fern glistened like -diamonds. Their breakfast of deer meat and broiled fish, nuts and a few -late clusters of grape, with coldest water from a spring hard by, was -eaten amidst laughter and pleasant talk. When they had lingered through -it and when Landless had carefully extinguished their fire and had seen -to the priming of his gun, they addressed themselves to their journey. - -A bowshot away was the river, and Patricia willed that they walk along -its banks that they might see the white mist lift, and the silver flash -of fish rising from the water, and the swoop of the kingfisher. Landless -agreeing, they went down to the river, and standing upon a rocky spit of -ground which ran far out into the stream, they looked down the misty -expanse, then turned involuntarily and looked up. At that moment the -fog lifted. - -"Ah!" cried Patricia, and shrunk back, cowering almost to the ground. - -Landless seized her in his arms and ran with her across the shingle and -up the bank. Plunging into the woods he made for the little stream -which flowed past their camping place, and entering the water, walked -rapidly up it. - -"Did they see us?" Patricia asked in a low, strained voice. - -"I am afraid so." - -"They turned their boats towards the land. They are in the forest by -now." - -"Yes." - -"And there is no doubt that they are the same. I saw the scarlet -handkerchief upon the head of the mulatto." - -"Yes, they are the same." - -"They were such a little way from us. Oh, they may be upon us at any -moment!" - -"We are in great danger," he answered gravely, "but it is not so -imminent as that. They were nearly a mile above us, and they have to -land, to hide their boats and to find our trail, all of which will take -time. We may count on having an hour's start of them, and we will do -all in our power to increase it by breaking our trail as we are doing -now. Then we cannot be many leagues from the falls, and the post below -them, or we may stumble at any moment upon some Monacan village which -will not need our urging to fly out against the Ricahecrians. Please -God, we will win through them yet." - -Somewhat comforted, she lay within his arms without speaking until they -left the stream, when he set her down, and giving her his hand, ran with -her over the fallen leaves down the long aisles of the forest. - -Red gold showers fell upon them; fiery vines clutched at their feet, or, -swinging from the trees, struck at their faces with vicious tendrils; -the pines made the ground beneath like ice; rotting logs covered with -gorgeous fungi barred their way; dark and poisonous swamps appeared -before them, and had to be skirted--the forest leagued itself with its -children and did them yeoman service. - -The two aliens hastened breathlessly on. The sun climbed above the tree -tops and looked down upon them through the half denuded branches. -Midday came, and the short bright afternoon, and still they went fast -through the woods, and still they heard no other sound than the rustle -and sough of the leaves and the beating of their own hearts. They came -to rising ground, and mounting it, found themselves upon a chinquepin -ridge, and before them an abrupt descent of rain-washed, boulder-strewn -earth. It was so nearly a precipice that Patricia shrunk back with an -exclamation of dismay. - -"I will go first," said Landless. "Give me your hands. So!" - -Half way down, the earth began to slip. Patricia, looking up and over -her shoulder, uttered a cry. A great boulder, imbedded in the earth -directly above them, was dislodging itself, was falling! At her cry -Landless raised his eyes, saw the threatening mass, caught her around -the waist, and with one supreme effort swung her out of the path of the -avalanche which descended the next moment, bearing him with it to the -ground beneath. - -He was recalled to consciousness by the dash of water against his face, -and opened his eyes to behold Patricia bending over him, very white, -with tragic eyes, and lips pressed closely together. She had run to the -river, flowing through the sunshine a hundred yards away, for water, -which she had brought back in his cap, and she had taken the kerchief -from her neck, wet it, and laid it upon his forehead. Her hands were -torn and bleeding, he saw them and uttered an exclamation. "It is -nothing," she said; "I had to move the rock." Scarcely fully conscious -as yet, his eyes glanced from her to the great rock which lay upon one -side, and upon which there were bloodstains. "I have had a bad fall," -he said unsteadily, but with an attempt to speak lightly because of the -trouble in her eyes, "but it is over. Come! we must hurry on. We have -no time to lose." - -As he spoke he strove to rise, but with the effort came a pang of -anguish, and he sank back, faint and sick, upon the ground. - -"Ah! you cannot!" cried Patricia with a great sob in her voice. "It is -your foot. The rock fell upon it." - -After a moment of lying with closed eyes, he sat up and with his knife -began to cut away the moccasin from the wounded limb. Presently he -looked up. "Yes, it is badly crushed. There is no doing anything with -it." - -For many moments they gazed at each other in a despairing silence, -broken by Patricia's low, "What are we to do now?" - -"We must go on," answered Landless. "It is death to stay here." - -Holding by the bank against which he had leaned, he dragged himself up -and stood for an instant with eyes dark with pain; then, setting his -lips, took a step forward. The bronze of his face paled, and beads of -anguish stood upon his brow, but he took another step. Patricia, the -tears running down her cheeks, came to him and put his arm around her -shoulder. "I will be your crutch," she said, striving to smile. "I will -carry the gun, too." - -Before them was a steeply sloping, grass-grown ascent rising to a broken -line of cliffs, scarred and gray, crowned with cedars and hung here and -there with crimson creepers, and with a chance medley of huge gray -boulders scattered about their base. Up this ascent they labored, so -slowly that the crags seemed like the mountain in the Arabian tale, ever -receding as they advanced. Twice Landless staggered and fell to his -knee, but when, after what seemed an eternity of pain and distress, they -reached the summit and Patricia would have had him rest, he shook his -head and motioned with his hand towards the narrow, boulder-strewn -plateau at the foot of the crags. - -With her accustomed unquestioning obedience she turned towards the -rocks, and after another interval of painful toil they found themselves -in a sort of rocky chamber, a natural blockhouse, of which the sheer -cliff formed one wall and boulders of varying height and shape the -others. - -Above them gleamed the blue sky; through the gaps between the rocks they -looked down upon the shining river and the parti-colored woods, and -behind them towered the cliffs. A strong wind was blowing and it sent -red leaves from the vines that draped the rock whirling down upon them. - -"The tall gray crags," said Patricia in a strange voice, "and the -Martinmas wind. The river flowing in the sunshine too." - -Landless sank upon the rocky floor. "I can go no further," he said. -"God help me!" - -"I do not think another man could have come so far," she answered. -"What are we to do now?" - -"You must go on without me." - -She cried out angrily, "What do you mean? I don't understand you." - -"Listen," he said earnestly, dragging himself closer to her. "We can be -but a very few leagues from the falls, still fewer from the Indian -villages above them. Reach one of those villages and you are safe from -these devils at least. We have kept the start of them. They may not -reach this spot for several hours, and when they come, I will keep them -here, God helping me, for more hours than one. This place is a natural -fortress, and they have no guns. They will not take me until my -ammunition is exhausted, and you know there is store of bullets and -powder. They will think that you are with me, hidden behind the -rocks--" - -"And I shall be with you!" she cried vehemently. - -"No, no. You must go through this pass in the cliff to the right of us, -and thence down the river with all your speed. Please God, to-morrow -will find you in safety. It is the only way. To stay here is to fall -into their hands. And you must not delay. You must go at once." - -"And you--" she said in a whisper. - -"What does it matter if I lose my life to-day instead of a few weeks -hence? I grieve for this," with a glance at his foot, "because it keeps -me from being with you, from guarding you into perfect safety. Otherwise -it does not matter. You lose time, madam." - -She stood with heaving bosom and foot tapping the ground, an expression -that he could not read in her wonderful eyes. "I am not going," she -said at last. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXXV* - - *THE BOAT THAT WAS NOT* - - -"You will not go!" cried Landless. - -"No, I will not!" she answered passionately. "Why should you think such -a thing of me? See! we have been together, you and I, for long weeks! -You have been my faithful guide, my faithful protector. Over and over -again you have saved my life. And now, now when you are the helpless -one, when it is through me that you lie there helpless, when it is -through me that you are in this dreadful forest at all, you tell me to -go! to leave you to the fate I have brought upon you! to save myself! I -will not save myself! But the other day it was dishonor in you to leave -me below the falls--almost in safety. Mine the dishonor if I do what -you bid me do!" - -"Madam, madam, it is not with women as with men!" - -"I care not for women! I care for myself. Never, never, will I leave, -helpless and wounded, the man who dies for me!" - -"Upon my knees I implore you!" Landless cried in desperation. "You -cannot save me, you cannot help me. It is you that would make the -bitterness of my fate. Let me die believing that you have escaped these -fiends, and then, do what they will to me, I shall die happy, blessing -with my last breath the generous woman who lets me give--how proudly and -gladly she will never know--my worthless life in exchange for hers, so -young, bright, innocent. Go, go, before it is too late!" - -He dragged himself a foot nearer, and grasping the hem of her dress, -pressed it to his lips. "Good-bye," he said with a faint smile. "Keep -behind the rocks for some distance, then follow the river. Think kindly -of me. Good-bye." - -"It is too late," she said. "I can see the river through this crack -between the rocks. One of those two canoes has just passed, going down -the river. In it were seven Ricahecrians and the mulatto. I saw him -quite plainly, for they row close to the bank with their faces turned to -the woods. They will land at some point below this and search for our -trail. When they do not find it, they will know that we are between -them and the rest of the band, and they will come upon us from behind. -If I go now, it will be to meet them. Shall I go?" - -"No, no," groaned Landless. "It is too late. God help you! I cannot." - -The large tears gathered in her eyes and fell over her white cheeks. -"Oh, why," she said plaintively, "why did He let you hurt yourself just -now?" She turned her face to the rock against which she was standing, -and hiding it in her arm, broke into a low sobbing. It went to the -heart of the man at her feet to hear her. - -Presently the weeping ceased. She drew a long tremulous sigh, and -dashed the tears from her eyes. Her hands went up to her disheveled hair -in a little involuntary, feminine gesture, and she looked at him with a -wan smile. - -"I did not mean to be so cowardly," she said simply. "I will be brave -now." - -"You are the bravest woman in the world," he answered. - -Below them waved the painted forest flaunting triumphant banners of -crimson and gold. A strong south wind was blowing, and it brought to -them a sound as of the whispering of many voices. The shining river, -too, murmured to its reeds and pebbles, and in the air was the dull -whirr of wings as the vast flocks of wild fowl rose like dark smoke from -the water, or, skimming along its surface, broke it into myriad diamond -sprays. Around the horizon towered heaped-up masses of cloud--Ossa -piled on Pelion--fantastic Jack-and-the-Beanstalk castles, built high -above the world, with rampart and turret and bastion of pearl and coral. -Above rose the sky intensely blue and calm. - -All the wealth, the warmth and loveliness of the world they were about -to leave flowed over the souls of the doomed pair. In their hearts they -each said farewell to it forever. Patricia stood with uplifted face and -clear eyes, looking deep into the azure heaven. "I am trying to think," -she said, "that death is not so bitter after all. To-day is -beautiful--but ours will be a fairer morrow! After to-day we will never -be tired, or fear, or be in danger any more. I am not afraid to die; but -ah! if it could only come to us now, swiftly, silently, out of the blue -yonder; if we could go without the blood--the horror--" she broke off -shuddering. Her eyes closed and she rested her head against the rock. -Landless watched the beautiful, pale face, the quivering eyelids, the -coral underlip drawn between the pearly teeth, in a passion of pity and -despair. Horrid visions of torture flashed through his brain; he saw -the delicate limbs writhing, heard the agonized screams.... If he -killed the mulatto, it might come to that; if the mulatto lived, he knew -that she would kill herself. He had given her the knife that had been -Monakatocka's, and she had it now, hidden in her bosom.... The glory of -the autumn day darkened and went out, the bitter waters of affliction -surged over him, an immeasurable sea; it seemed to him that until then -he had never suffered. A cold sweat broke out upon him, and with an -inarticulate cry of rage and despair he struck at his wounded foot as at -a deadly foe. The girl cried out at the sound of the blow. - -"Oh, don't, don't! What are you doing? You have loosened the bandage, -and it is bleeding afresh." - -Despite his effort to prevent her she readjusted the kerchief which she -had wound about the torn and crushed foot, very carefully and tenderly. -"It must hurt you very much," she said pityingly. - -He took the little ministering hands in his and kissed them. "Oh, -madam, madam!" he groaned. "God knows I would shed every drop of my -blood a thousand times to save you. Death to me is nothing, nor life so -fair that I should care to keep it. The grave is a less dreadful prison -than those on earth, and I think to find in God a more merciful Judge. -But you--so young and beautiful, with friends, love--" - -She stopped him with a gesture full of dignity and sweetness. "That -life is gone forever,--it is thousands of miles and ages on ages away. -It is a world more distant than the stars, and we are nearer to Heaven -than to it.... It is strange to think how we have drifted, you and I, -to this rock. A year ago we had never seen each other's faces, had -never heard each other's names, and yet you were coming to this rock -from prison and over seas, and I was coming to meet you.... And it is -our death place, and we will die together, and to-morrow maybe the -little birds will cover us with leaves as they did the children in the -story. They were brother and sister.... When our time comes I will not -be afraid, for I will be with you ... my brother." - -Landless covered his face with his hands. - -The shadows grew longer and the cloud castles began to flush rosily, -though the sun still rode above the tree tops. A purple light filled -the aisles of the forest, through which a herd of deer, making for some -accustomed lick, passed like a phantom troop. They vanished, and from -out the stillness of the glades came the sudden, startled barking of a -fox. A shadow darted across a sunlit alley from gloom to gloom, paused -on the outskirts of the wood below the crags while one might count ten, -then turned and flitted back into the darkness from whence it came. -They beneath the crags did not see it. - -Suddenly Landless raised his head. Upon his face was the look of one -who has come through much doubt and anguish of spirit to an immutable -resolve. He looked to the priming of his gun and laid it upon the rock -beside him, together with his powderhorn and pouch of bullets. Raising -himself to his knees he gazed long and intently into the forest below. -There was no sign of danger. On the checkered ground beneath two mighty -oaks squirrels were playing together like frolicsome kittens, and -through the clear air came the tapping of a woodpecker. The forest was -silent as to the shadow that had flitted through it. It can keep a -secret very well. - -Landless sank back against the rock. He had lost much blood, and that -and the pain of his mangled foot turned him faint and sick for minutes -at a time. He clenched his teeth and forced back the deadly faintness, -then turned to the woman who stood beside him, her hands clasped before -her, her eyes following the declining sun, her lips sometimes set in -mournful curves, sometimes murmuring broken and inaudible words of -prayer. He called her twice before she answered, turning to him with -eyes of feverish splendor which saw and yet saw not. "What is it?" she -asked dreamily. - -"Come back to earth, madam," he said. "There is that that I wish to say -to you. Listen to me kindly and pitifully, as to a dying man." - -"I am listening," she answered. "What is it?" - -"It is this, madam: I love you. For God's sake don't turn away! Oh, I -know that I should have been strong to the end, that I should not vex -you thus! It is the coward's part I play, perhaps, but I must speak! I -cannot die without. I love you, I love you, I love you!" - -His voice rose into a cry; in it rang long repressed passion, hopeless -adoration, fierce joy in having broken the bonds of silence. He spoke -rapidly, thickly, with a stammering tongue, now throwing out his hands -in passionate appeal, now crushing between his fingers the dried moss -and twigs with which the ground was strewn. "I loved you the day I -first saw you. I have loved you ever since. I love you now. My God! -how I love you! Die for you? I would die for you ten thousand times! -I would live for you! Oh, the day I first saw you! I was in hell and I -looked at you as lost Dives might have looked at the angel on the other -side of the gulf.... I never thought to tell you this. I know that -never, never, never.... But this is the day of our death. In a few -hours we shall be gone. Do not leave the world in anger with me. Say -that you pity, understand, forgive.... Speak to me, madam!" - -The sun sank lower and the shadows lengthened and deepened, and still -Patricia stood silent with uplifted and averted face, and fingers -tightly locked together. With a moan of mortal weakness Landless -dragged himself nearer until he touched with his forehead the low -pedestal of rock upon which she stood. "I understand," he said quietly. -"After all, there is nothing to be said, is there? Try to forget -my--madness. Think of it, if you will, as the raving of one at death's -door. Let it be as it was between us." - -Patricia turned--her beautiful face transfigured. Roses bloomed in her -cheeks, her eyes were fathomless wells of splendor, an exquisite smile -played about her lips; with her nimbus of golden hair she looked a rapt -mediaeval saint. Her slender figure swayed towards Landless, and when -she spoke her voice was like the tone of a violin, soft, rich, -caressing, tremulous. - -"There was no boat," she said. - -"No boat!" he cried. "What do you mean?" - -"The canoe going down the river. I told you that it held seven Indians -and the mulatto. I lied to you. There were no Indians, no mulatto, no -canoe. The shadows of the clouds have been upon the river, and the wild -fowl, and once a fish-hawk plunged. I have seen nothing else." - -Landless gazed at her with staring eyeballs. "You have thrown away your -life," he said at last in a voice that did not seem his own. - -"Yes, I have thrown away my life." - -"But why--why--" - -The rich color surged over her face and neck. She swayed towards him -with the grace of a wind-bowed lily, her breath fanning his forehead, -and her hand touching his, softly, flutteringly, like a young bird. - -"Can you not guess why?" she said with an enchanting smile. - -All the anguish of a little while back, all the terror of the fate that -hung over her, all the white calm of despair was gone. The horror that -moved nearer and nearer, moment by moment, through the painted forest, -was forgotten. She looked at him shyly from under her long lashes and -with another wonderful blush. - -Landless gazed at her, comprehension slowly dawning in his eyes. For -five minutes there was a silence as of the dead beneath the crags. Then -with a great cry he caught her hands in his and drew her towards him. -"Is it?" he cried. - -"Yes," she answered with laughter trembling on her lips. "Death hath -enfranchised us, you and I. Give me my betrothal kiss, my only love." - -For them one moment of Paradise, of bliss ineffable and supreme. The -next, the crags behind them rang to the sound of the war whoop. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXXVI* - - *THE LAST FIGHT* - - -Out from the forest rushed the remnant of that band which had smoked the -peace pipe with the Governor one sunny afternoon on the banks of the -Pamunkey. Tall and large of limb, painted with all fantastic and -ghastly devices, and decorated with hideous mementoes of nameless deeds; -with the lust of blood written large in every fierce lineament and dark -and rolling eye; with raised hands grasping knife and tomahawk, and lips -uttering cries that seemed not of earth--a more appalling vision could -not have issued from out the beautiful, treacherous forest, a more -crashing discord have come into the music of the golden evening. - -For the two in their rocky fortress beneath the crags the apparition had -no terrors. All the pain, the anguish, the hopelessness of the world -was passing from them--the cry that swelled through the forest was its -knell. They smiled to hear it, and with raised faces looked beyond the -many-tinted evening skies into clear spaces where Love was all. The -intoxication of the moment when hidden and despairing love became love -triumphant and acknowledged abode with them. In the very grasp of death -ineffable bliss possessed them. Their countenances changed; the lines -of care and pain, the marks of tears, were all gone, and the beauty of -the happy soul shone out. For that brief space of time transcendent -youth and loveliness was theirs. About them, as about the sun now -sinking behind the low hills, there breathed a glory, a dying splendor -as bright as it was fleeting. They felt, too, a lightness and gaiety of -spirit--they had drunk of the nectar of the gods, and no leaden weight -of care, no heavy sorrow, could ever touch them, ever drag them down -again to the sad earth. - -"You are beautiful," said Landless, gazing at her, even in the act of -raising his gun to his shoulder; "as beautiful as you were the day I -first saw you. I hear the drone of the bees in the vines at Verney -Manor. I smell the roses. I look up and see the Rose of the World. My -eyes were dazzled then, are dazzled now, my Rose of the World." - -"That day I wore brocade and lace, and there were pearls around my -throat," she said with a laugh of pure delight. "There was rouge upon -my cheeks, too, sir, and my eyes were darkened. To-day I go a beggar -maid, in rags, burnt by the sun--" - -"The nut-brown maid," he said. - -"Ay," she answered, "the nut-brown maid--'For in my mind of all -mankind'--you may e'en finish it yourself, sir." - -The Ricahecrians had paused at the foot of the ascent to hold a council. -It was soon over. With another burst of cries they rushed up the steep -and upon the rocks, behind which were hidden their victims. Landless, -kneeling to one side of the gap between the boulders by which he and -Patricia had entered, fired, and the foremost of the savages threw up -his arms, uttered a dreadful cry, and fell across the path of his -fellows. For one moment the rush was checked, the next on they came, -yelling furiously and brandishing their weapons. Landless fired and -missed, fired again and pierced the thigh of a gigantic warrior, -bringing him crashing to the ground. The line wavered, paused, then -turning, swept to one side and so passed out of sight. - -"They have found this pass too formidable," said Landless. "They will -try now to force an entrance from the side. Do you watch the front, my -queen, while I face them, coming over the rocks." - -"I looked only at the mulatto," she said. "The others are shadows to -me." - -"His time is come," said Landless. "Do not fear him, sweetheart." - -"I fear not," she answered. "I have the perfect love." - -Along the top of a tall boulder to their right appeared a dark red -line--the arm of a savage, with clutching fingers. Above it, very -slowly and cautiously, there rose first an eagle's feather, then coarse -black scalp lock, then a high forehead and fierce eyes. The echo of -Landless's shot reverberated through the cliffs, and when the smoke -cleared only the bare gray boulder faced him. But from behind it came a -derisive yell. - -"Thou wilt think me a poor marksman, my dear," he said, smiling, as he -reloaded his musket. "I have missed again." - -"It is because you are wounded," she said. "I would I had thy wounds." - -"I had a wounded heart, but you have healed it," he said, and looked at -her with shining eyes. - -The sun sank and the long twilight of the hills set in. The evening -star was brightening through the pale amethyst of the sky when Landless -said quietly: "The last charge," and emptied it into an arm which for -one incautious moment had waved above the rocks. - -"It is the end, then," said Patricia. - -"Yes, it is the end. We have beaten them back for the moment, but -presently they will find that all we could do we have done, and then--" - -She left her post beside the gap in the front, and came and knelt beside -him, and he took her in his arms. - -"It is not Death before us, but Life," she said in a low voice. - -"It is God and Love, naught else," he answered. "But the river between -will be bitter for you to cross, sweetheart." - -"We cross it together," she said, "and so--" She raised her head that -he might see her radiant smile, and their lips met. - -"Hark!" she said directly with her hand on his. "What is that sound?" - -He shook his head. "The wind has risen, and the forest rustles and -sighs. There is nothing more." - -"It is far off," she answered, "but it is like the dip of oars. Ah!" - -Over against them, framed in the narrow opening between the rocks, his -lithe, half-nude figure dark against the crimson west, and with a smile -upon his evil lips and in his evil eyes, stood Luiz Sebastian. In the -dead silence that succeeded he looked with a smiling countenance from -the musket, now useless and thrown aside, to his enemy, wounded and -unarmed save for a knife, and to the woman in that enemy's arms; then, -without turning, he said a few words in an Indian tongue. From the -dusky mass behind him came one short, wild cry of savage triumph, -followed by another dead silence. - -Still holding Patricia in one arm, Landless rose from his knee, and -stood confronting him. - -"We are met again, Senor Landless," said Luiz Sebastian smoothly. -Receiving no answer, he spoke again with a tigerish expansion of his -thick lips. "You have had an accident, I see. Mother of God! that foot -must pain you! But you will forget it presently in the pleasure of the -pine splinters." - -"I will forget it in the pleasure of this," said Landless, releasing -Patricia, and springing upon the mulatto with a suddenness and violence -that sent them both staggering through the opening between the rocks, -out upon the narrow plateau and into the ring of Ricahecrians. Luiz -Sebastian was strong, with the easy masked strength of the panther, but -Landless had the strength of despair. The mulatto, thrown heavily to -the ground, and pinned there by his adversary's knee, saw the gleam of -the lifted knife, and would have seen nothing more in this life, but -that a woman's cry rang out and saved him. Landless heard, turned, saw -Patricia dragged from the shelter of the rocks, leaped to his feet, -leaving his work undone, and rushed upon the knot of savages with whom -she was struggling. A moment saw him beside her with the Indian who had -held her dead at his feet. Behind them was the great boulder which had -formed the front wall of their chamber of defense. He put his arm -around her, and drew her back with him until they stood against this -rock, then faced the advancing savages with uplifted knife. - -So determined was his attitude, so terribly had they proved his power, -so certain it was that before he should be taken one at least of their -number would taste that knife, that the Ricahecrians paused, swaying to -and fro, yelling, working themselves into a fury that should send them -on like maddened brutes, blind and deaf to all things but their lust for -blood. - -"I hear a sound of footsteps over the leaves," said Patricia. - -"The wind rustles in them, or the deer pass," answered Landless. "Oh, -my life! are you content?" - -She answered with a low, clear laugh. "I hold happiness fast," she -said. "It cannot escape us now." - -"They are coming," he said. "The last kiss, heart of my heart." - -Their lips met, and their eyes with a smile in them met, and then he put -her gently behind him, and turned to again face Luiz Sebastian. - -With his eyes fixed upon the yellow face, he had raised his hand to -strike at the yellow breast, spotted and barred with the black of the -war paint, when an Indian, gliding between, struck up his arm, and sent -the knife tinkling down upon the rocks. With a yell of triumph the -savage snatched up the weapon, and brandished it, showing it to his -fellows, who, seeing their work accomplished, and the two whom they had -tracked so far actually in their hands, made the forest ring with their -exultant shouts. A few closed in around the devoted pair, directing at -them fiendish cries and no less fiendish laughter, and menacing them -with knife and tomahawk, but the majority streamed down the steep and -into the forest at its base. - -"They go to gather wood," said the still smiling Luiz Sebastian. "By -and by we are to have a bonfire. Senor Landless has often carried wood, -I think, in those old times when he was a slave, and when the pretty -mistress behind him there treated him as such--unless she gave him -favors in secret. But, Mother of God! now that she has made him master, -we must carry the wood for him!" - -Landless, standing with folded arms, looked at him with quiet scorn. -"It is the nature of the viper to use his venom," he said calmly. "Such -a thing cannot anger me." - -"At the same time it is as well to crush the viper," said a voice at his -elbow. - -The speaker, who was Sir Charles Carew, had come from behind the -boulders which ran in a straggling line down the hillside toward the -river. He had his drawn sword in his hand, and as he spoke, he ran the -mulatto through the body. The wretch, his oath of rage and astonishment -still upon his lips, fell to the ground without a groan, writhed there a -moment or two, and then lay still forever. - -From the forest below rose a loud confusion of shouts and cries, -followed by a volley of musketry. At the sound the half dozen savages -upon the plateau turned and plunged down the hillside, to be met before -they reached the bottom by the upward rush of a portion of the rescuing -party. For a short while the twilight glades, low hills and frowning -crags rang to the sound of a miniature battle, to the quick crack of -muskets, the clear shouts of the whites, and the whoops of the savages. -But by degrees these latter became fainter, further between, died -away--a short ten minutes, and there were no warriors left to return to -the village in the Blue Mountains. Fierce shedders of blood, they were -paid in their own coin. - -On the hill-top Sir Charles shot his rapier into its scabbard, and -strode over to Patricia, standing white and still against the rock. "I -was in time," he said. "Thank God!" - -She made no motion to meet his extended hands, but stood looking past -him at Landless. Her face was like marble, her eyes one dumb question. -Landless met their gaze, and in his own she read despair, renunciation, -strong resolve--and a long farewell. - -"You are come in time, Sir Charles Carew," he said. "A little more, and -we should have been beyond your reach. You will find the lady safe and -well, though shaken, as you see, by this last alarm. She will speak for -me, I trust, will tell you that I have used her with all respect, that I -have done for her all that I could do.... Madam, all danger is past. -Will you not collect yourself and speak to your kinsman and savior?" - -He spoke with a certain calm stateliness of voice and manner, as of one -who has passed beyond all emotion, whether of hope or fear, and in his -eyes which he kept fixed upon her there was a command. - -"Speak to me, my cousin; tell me that I am welcome," said Sir Charles, -flinging himself upon his knee before her. - -With a strong shudder she looked away from the still, white, and sternly -composed face opposite to the darkening river and the evening star -shining calmly down upon a waste world. - -At length she spoke. "I was all but beyond this world, cousin, so -pardon me if I seem to come back to it somewhat tardily. You have my -thanks, of course--my dear thanks--for saving my life--my life which is -so precious to me." - -She gave him her hand with a strange smile, and he pressed his lips upon -it. "Your father is below, dearest cousin. Shall we descend to meet -him? As to this--gentleman," turning with a smile that was like a frown -to Landless, "I regret that circumstances combine to prevent our -rewarding him as the guardian (a trusty one, I am sure) of so precious a -jewel should be rewarded. But Colonel Verney will do--I will do--all -that is possible. In the mean time I observe with regret that he is -wounded. If he will allow me, I will send him my valet, who is below, -and is the best barber surgeon in the three kingdoms. Come, dearest -madam." - -He bowed low and ceremoniously to Landless, who returned the salute with -grave courtesy, and gave his hand to Patricia. For one moment she -looked at Landless with wide, dark eyes, then, her spirit obedient to -his spirit, she turned and went from him without one word or backward -look. - -The color had quite faded from the west, and the stars were thickening -when Landless became conscious that the overseer was standing beside -him. "You are the hardest one to hold that ever I saw," said that -worthy grimly, and yet with a certain appreciation of the qualities that -made the man at his feet hard to hold showing in his tone, "but I fancy -we 've got you at last. You 've gone and put yourself in bilboes." - -Landless smiled. "This time you may keep me. I shall not interfere. -But tell me how you come here. You were sent back to the Plantations." - -"Ay," said the other, "and there was the devil to pay, I can tell you, -when I had to report you missing to Sir William. But Major Carrington -stood my friend, and I got off with a tongue-drubbing. Well, after -about three weeks or so, during which time the dogs and the searchers -brought back most all of the run away niggers, and Mistress Lettice had -hysterics every day, back comes the Colonel and Sir Charles with ten of -the twenty men who had rowed them up the Pamunkey. The rest had fallen -in a brush with the Monacans. They had n't come up with the -Ricahecrians, had n't seen hair nor hide of them, had but one report -from the Indian villages along the river, and that was that no -Ricahecrians had passed that way. So after a while they were forced to -believe that they were upon a false scent, and back they comes post -haste to the Plantations to get more men, and go up the Rappahannock. -Well, they went up the Rappahannock, and found nothing to their purpose, -so back they came again to try the James and the country above the -Falls. This time they found the Settlements, which had been before like -an overturned hive, pretty quiet, the ringleaders of your precious plot -having all been strung up, and the rest made as mild as sheep with -branding and whipping and doubling of times. So, the tobacco being in -and the plantation quiet, things were left to Haines, and I came along -with the Colonel. Major Carrington, too, who they say is in the -Governor's black books, though Lord knows he was active enough in -stamping out this insurrection, asked to be allowed to join in the -search for his old friend's daughter, and so he's down in the woods -yonder. And Mr. Cary is there, and Mr. Peyton (Mistress Betty -Carrington made _him_ come) and Mr. Jaclyn Carter. Fegs! half the young -gentry in the colony pressed their services on the Colonel. It got to -be the fashion to volunteer to run their heads into the wolf's mouth for -Mistress Patricia. But Sir Charles choked most of them off. -'Gentlemen,' he says, says he, 'despite the saying that there cannot be -too much of a good thing, I beg to remind you that the disastrous -fortunes of those who first struggled with the forest and the Indians in -this western paradise are attributed to the fact that they were two -thirds gentlemen. Wherefore let us shun the rock upon which they -split'--" - -"How many of my fellow conspirators were put to death?" interrupted -Landless. - -"All the principal ones--them that Trail denounced as leaders. The rest -we pardoned after giving them a lesson they won't soon forget. We let -bygones be bygones with the redemptioners and slaves--all but those -devils who got away that night at Verney Manor, and with Trail at their -head, made for Captain Laramore's ship which was going to turn pirate. -Well, they got to the boats, and one lot got off safe to the ship which -hoisted the black flag, and sailed away to the Indies, and is sailing -there, murdering and ruining, to this day, I reckon. But the other boat -was over full, and the steersman was drunken, and she capsized before -she got to the middle of the channel. Some were drowned, and those that -got ashore we hung next morning. But Trail was in the first boat." - -"When do you--do we--start down the river?" - -"At midnight. And it's the Colonel's orders that until then you stay -here among the rocks and not show yourself to the men below. He 'll see -you before we start. In the mean time I 'll keep you company." And the -overseer took out his pipe and tobacco pouch, filled the former, lighted -it, and leaning back against the rock fell to smoking in contented -silence. - -Landless too sat in silence, with his head thrown back against the rock -and his face uplifted to the growing splendor of the skies. The night -wind, blowing mournfully around the bare hill and the broken crag, -struck upon his brow with a hint of winter in its touch. With it came -the tide of forest sounds--the sough of the leaves, the dull creaking of -branch against branch, the wash of the water in the reeds, the whirr of -wings, the cries of night birds--all the low and stealthy notes of the -earth chant which had become to him as old and tenderly familiar as the -lullabies of his childhood. Below him, at the foot of the hill, a -square of dark and stately pines was irradiated by a great fire which -burnt redly, casting flickering shadows far across the smooth brown -earth, and around which sat or moved many figures. Laughter and jest, -oaths and scraps of song floated up to the lonely watcher upon the -hilltop. He heeded them not--he was above that world--and no sound came -from that other and smaller fire blazing at some distance from the -first--and the tree trunks between were so many and so thick that he -could see naught but the light. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXXVII* - - *VALE* - - -The overseer knocked the ashes from his pipe and stuck it in his belt. -"The master," he said curtly, getting to his feet as three cloaked -figures, followed by a negro bearing a torch, came up the hillside and -into the waste of stones beneath the crags. Advancing to meet them, he -took the torch from Regulus's hand and fired a mass of dead and leafless -vine depending from the cliff. In the bright light which sprang up, -filling the rocky chamber and burnishing the face of the crags into the -semblance of a cataract of fire, the parties to the interview gazed at -one another in silence. - -Colonel Verney was the first to speak. "I am sorry to see that you are -wounded," he said gravely. - -"I thank you, sir,--it is nothing." - -The Colonel walked the length of the plateau twice, then came back to -his prisoner's side. "My daughter has told me all," he said somewhat -huskily. "That you and the Susquehannock sought for her and found her; -that you fought for her bravely more than once; that after the Indian -was slain you guided and protected her through the forest; that you have -in all things borne yourself towards her faithfully and reverently, not -injuring her by word, thought or deed. My daughter is very dear to -me--dearer than life. I am not ungrateful. I thank you very heartily." - -"Mistress Patricia Verney is dear to me also," said Sir Charles, coming -forward to stand beside his kinsman. "I too thank the man who restores -her to her friends--to her lover." - -"And I would to God," said the third figure, advancing, "that we could -save the brave man to whom so much is owed. If I were Governor of -Virginia--" - -"You could do naught, Carrington," broke in the Colonel impatiently. -"The man is convict--outside the pale! A convict, and the head of an -Oliverian plot! Scarce the King himself could pardon him! And if he -did, how long d' ye think the walls of the gaol at Jamestown would keep -him from the rabble--and the nearest tree? No, no, William Berkeley -does but his duty. And yet--and yet--" - -He began to pace the rocks again, frowning heavily, and pulling at the -curls of his periwig. "You are a brave man," he said at last, stopping -before Landless and speaking with energy, "and from my soul I wish I -could save you. I would gladly overlook all that is over and done with, -would gladly free you, aid you, help you, so far as might be, to -retrieve your past--but I cannot. My hands are tied; it is -impossible--you must see for yourself that it is impossible." - -"None can see that so clearly as myself, Colonel Verney," Landless said -steadily. "I thank you for the will none the less." - -"To take you back with me," the other continued, beginning to stride up -and down again, "is to take you back, bound, to certain death. And -there is but one alternative--to leave you here in the wilderness. Your -presence here is known only to those upon whose discretion I can depend. -They would hold their tongues, and none need ever be the wiser. But the -Settlements will be barred to you forever, and hundreds of leagues -stretch between this spot and the Dutch or the New Englanders. -Moreover, your description hath been sent to the authorities of each -colony. And you are wounded, and winter is at hand. It may be but a -choice of deaths! I would to God there were some other way--but there -is none! You must choose." - -In the dead silence that ensued the Colonel moved back to the side of -the Surveyor-General, and the two stood, thoughtfully regardant of the -prisoner. The light from the partially consumed vines beginning to -wane, the overseer motioned to Regulus to collect and apply his torch to -a quantity of the fagots with which the ground was strewn. The negro -obeyed, and stood behind the light flame and curling smoke which he had -evoked, like the genie of an Arabian tale. Sir Charles, left standing in -the centre of the rocky chamber, hesitated a moment, then walked with -his usual languid grace over to where Landless leaned against a boulder, -his eyes, shaded by his hand, fixed upon the ground. - -"Whichever you choose--Scylla or Charybdis--" said Sir Charles in his -most dulcet tones, "this is probably the last time you and I will ever -speak together. There have been passages between us in the past, which, -in the light of after event, I cannot but regret. You have just -rendered me an inestimable service. I have learnt, too, that you saved -my life the night of the storming of the Manor House. I beg to -apologize to you, sir, for any offense I may have given you by word or -deed." And he held out his hand with his most courtly smile. - -"It becomes a dying man to be in charity with the world he leaves," said -Landless, somewhat coldly, but with a smile too, "and so I do that which -I never thought to do," and he touched the other's fingers with his own. - -Sir Charles looked at him curiously. "You make a good enemy," he said -lightly. "Had it not been predestined that we were to hate each other, -I could find it in my heart to desire you for a friend. You remain in -the forest, I dare swear?" - -"Yes," answered Landless, with his eyes upon the light in the glade -below. "I choose the easier fate." - -"The easier for all concerned," said the other with a peculiar -intonation. - -Landless glanced at him keenly, but the courtier face and the -inscrutable smile told nothing. "The easier for myself, whom alone it -concerneth," said Landless sternly. - -Dragging himself up by the rock behind him, he turned to the two elder -men. "I have decided, Colonel Verney," he said slowly, "I will stay -here, an it please you." - -"You shall have all that we can leave you," said the Colonel eagerly and -with some emotion. "Ammunition in plenty, food, blankets, an axe--it's -little enough I can do, God knows, but I do that little most willingly." - -"Again I thank you," said Landless wearily. - -Sir Charles caught the inflection. "You stand in need of rest," he said -courteously, "and, this matter settled, our farther intrusion upon you -is as unnecessary as it must be unwelcome. Had we not best descend, -gentlemen?" - -"Ay," said the Colonel. "We have done all we could." Then, to -Landless, "With the moonrise we drop down the river--from out your sight -forever. I have told you frankly there is no hope for you amongst your -kind in the world to which we return. I believe there to be none. But -have you thought of what we must needs leave you to? Humanly speaking, -it is death, and death alone, in the winter forest." - -"I have thought," said Landless. - -"From my soul I wish that some miracle may occur to save you yet!" - -"An ill wish!" said the other, smiling, "with but little chance, -however, of its fulfillment." - -"I fear not," said the Colonel with something like a groan, "but I wish -it, nevertheless. Here is my hand, and with it my heartfelt thanks for -your service to my daughter. And I wish you to believe that I deeply -deplore your fate, and that I would have saved you if I could." - -"I believe it," Landless said simply. - -The Colonel took and wrung his hand, then turned sharply away, and -beckoning the overseer to follow, strode out of the circle of rocks. - -Sir Charles raised his feathered hat. "We have been foes," he said, -"but the strife is over--and when all is said, we are both Englishmen. -I trust we bear each other no ill will." - -"I bear none," said Landless. - -Sir Charles, his eyes still fixed upon the pale quiet of the other's -face, passed out of the opening between the rocks, and his place was -taken by the Surveyor-General. - -"I would have saved you if I could," he said in a low and troubled -voice. "I bow to a brave man and a gallant gentleman," and he too was -gone. - -In the glade below, the movement, the laughter and the song sank -gradually into silence as the gentlemen adventurers, the rangers, Indian -guides, and servants composing the rescuing party threw themselves down, -one by one, beside the blazing fires for a short rest before moonrise -and the long pull down the river. - -Among the crags, high above the twinkling watch-fires and the wash of -the dark river, there was the stillness of the stars, of the white frost -and the bare cliffs. In the northern heavens played a soft light, and -now and then a star shot. The man who marked its trail across the -studded skies thought of himself as of one as far withdrawn as it from -the world of lower lights in the forest at his feet. Already he felt a -prescience of the loneliness of the morrow, and the morrow, and the -morrow, of the slow drift of the days in the waning forest, the hopeless -nights, the terror of that great solitude--and felt, too, a feverish -desire to hasten that approach, to embrace that which was to be -henceforth bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. He wished for the -clash of oars in the dark stream below and for the rise of the moon -which was to shine coldly down upon him, companionless, immerged in that -vast fortress from which he might never hope to emerge. - -The sound of cautious footsteps among the rocks brought his sick and -wandering fancy back to the present. Raising himself upon his elbow and -peering intently into the darkness, he made out two figures, one tall -and large, the other much slighter, advancing towards him. Presently -the larger figure stopped short, and, seating itself upon a flat rock at -the brink of the hill, turned its face towards the fires in the woods -below. The other came on lightly and hurriedly--another moment, and -rising to his knees, he clasped her in his arms and laid his head upon -her bosom. - -"I never thought to see you again," he said at last. - -"I made Regulus bring me," she answered. "The others do not know--they -think me asleep." - -She spoke in a low, even, monotonous voice, and the hand which she laid -upon his forehead was like marble. "My heart is dead, I think," she -said. "I wish my body were so too." - -He drew her closer to him and covered her face and hands with kisses. -"My love, my lady," he said. "My white rose, my woodland dove!" - -She clung to him, trembling. "Down there I was going mad," she -whispered. "But now--now--I feel as though I could weep." He felt her -tears upon his face, but in a moment she was calm again. "Do you -remember the bird we found the other day, all numbed with cold?" she -said. "It had been gay and free and light of heart, but it had not -strength to flutter when I took it in my hands and tried to warm it--and -could not. I am like that bird. The world is very gray and cold, and -my heart--it will never be warm again." - -"God comfort you," he said brokenly. - -"They have told me that at moonrise we leave this place--and you. They -say that it is all they can do for you--to leave you here. All!--Oh, my -God!" - -"They have done what they could," he said gravely. "I recognize that. -And I wish you to do so too, sweetheart." - -She looked at him wildly. "I have been silent," she said, pressing her -clasped hands against her bosom. "I have not told them. I have obeyed -what I read in your eyes. But was it well? Oh, my dear, let me speak!" - -He took her hands from her breast and laid them against his own. "No," -he said with a smile, "I love you too well for that." - -From the woods across the river came the crying of wolves, then a -silence as of the grave; then a whisper arose in the long dry grass and -the leafless vines, and a cold breeze lifted the hair from their -foreheads. The whisper grew into a murmur, prolonged and deep, a sound -as of a distant cataract, or of the dash of surf upon a far away -shore--the voice of the wind in the world of trees. A star shot, -leaving a stream of white fire to fade out of the dark blue sky. From -the forest came again the cry of the wolves. In the camp below there -seemed some stir, and the figure seated on the rock turned its head -towards them and lifted a warning hand. - -"You must go," said Landless. "It was madness for you to venture here. -See, the light is growing in the east." - -With a low, desolate moaning sound she wrung the hands he released and -raised her face to his. He kissed her upon the brow, the eyes and the -mouth. "Good-by, my life, my love, my heart," he said. "We were happy -for an hour. Good-by!" - -"I will be brave," she answered. "I will live my life out. I will pray -to God. And, Godfrey, I will be ever true to you. I shall never see -you again, my dear, never hear of you more, never know till my latest -day whether you are of this world still, or whether you have waited for -me a long time, up there beyond those lights. If it--if death--should -come soon, wait for me--beyond--in perfect trust, my dear, for I will -come to you--I will come to you as I am, Godfrey." - -He bowed his face upon her hands. - -The breeze freshened, and the sound of the surf became the sound of -breakers. In the east the pale light strengthened. The figure below -them stood up and beckoned. - -"The moon is coming," said Patricia. "Once before I watched for it--in -terror, with pride and anger in my heart. Then, when I thought of you, -I hated you. It is strange to think of that now. Kiss me good-by." - -"I too will be strong," he said. "I will await the pleasure of the -Lord. Until His good time, my bride!" - -Rising to his feet he held her in his arms, then kissed her upon the -lips and put her gently from him. For a moment she stood like a statue, -then with a lifted face and hands clasped at her bosom, she turned, and -slowly, but without a backward look, left the circle of rocks. Through -the opening he saw the slave come up to her, and saw her motion to him -to fall behind--another moment, and both dark figures had sunk below the -brow of the hill. - -Stronger and stronger blew the wind, louder and louder swelled the voice -of the forest. Below, the wash of the river in its reeds, the dull -groaning of branch grating against branch, the fall of leaf and acorn, -the loud sighing of the pines, the cry of the owl, the panther and the -wolf--above, the vast dome of the heavens and the fading stars. An -effulgence in the oast: a silver crest, like the white rim of a giant -wave, upon the eastern hills; a pale splendor mounting slowly and calmly -upward--a dead world,--all her passion, all her pain, all toil and -strife over and done with,--shining down upon a sadder earth. - -From beneath the shadowy banks there shot out into the middle of the -broad moonlit stream a long canoe, followed by a second and a third, and -turning, went swiftly down that long, bright, shimmering, rippling path. - -In the last and smallest of the three boats a man rose from his seat in -the stern, and with his eyes upon the line of moon-whitened cliffs above -him, raised his plumed hat with a courteous gesture, then bent and spoke -to a cloaked and hooded figure sitting, still and silent, between him -and a burlier form. This canoe was rowed by negroes, and as they rowed -they sang. The wild chant--half dirge, half frenzy--that they raised was -suited to that waste which they were leaving. - -The black lines upon the silver flood became mere dots, and the wailing -notes came up the stream faintly and more faintly still. For a while -the echoes rolled among the folded hills and the tall gray crags, but at -length they died away forever. - - - - Butler & Tanner, The Selwood Printing Works, Frome, and London. - - - - - - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OLD DOMINION *** - - - - -A Word from Project Gutenberg - - -We will update this book if we find any errors. - -This book can be found under: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48258 - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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. -Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this -license, apply to copying and distributing Project Gutenberg(tm) -electronic works to protect the Project Gutenberg(tm) concept and -trademark. 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