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diff --git a/6607.txt b/6607.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..30b2f7b --- /dev/null +++ b/6607.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1228 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Isle of Manhattoes and Nearby, by Charles M. Skinner + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Isle of Manhattoes and Nearby + Myths And Legends Of Our Own Land, Volume 2. + +Author: Charles M. Skinner + +Release Date: October 22, 2006 [EBook #6607] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ISLE OF MANHATTOES AND NEARBY *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + + MYTHS AND LEGENDS + OF + OUR OWN LAND + + By + Charles M. Skinner + + Vol. 2. + + + THE ISLE OF MANHATTOES AND NEARBY + + + + +CONTENTS: + +Dolph Heyliger +The Knell at the Wedding +Roistering Dirck Van Dara +The Party from Gibbet Island +Miss Britton's Poker +The Devil's Stepping-Stones +The Springs of Blood and Water +The Crumbling Silver +The Cortelyou Elopement +Van Wempel's Goose +The Weary Watcher +The Rival Fiddlers +Wyandank +Mark of the Spirit Hand +The First Liberal Church + + + + + +THE ISLE OF MANHATTOES AND NEARBY + + + +DOLPH HEYLIGER + +New York was New Amsterdam when Dolph Heyliger got himself born there,--a +graceless scamp, though a brave, good-natured one, and being left +penniless on his father's death he was fain to take service with a +doctor, while his mother kept a shop. This doctor had bought a farm on +the island of Manhattoes--away out of town, where Twenty-third Street now +runs, most likely--and, because of rumors that its tenants had noised +about it, he seemed likely to enjoy the responsibilities of landholding +and none of its profits. It suited Dolph's adventurous disposition that +he should be deputed to investigate the reason for these rumors, and for +three nights he kept his abode in the desolate old manor, emerging after +daybreak in a lax and pallid condition, but keeping his own counsel, to +the aggravation of the populace, whose ears were burning for his news. + +Not until long after did he tell of the solemn tread that woke him in the +small hours, of his door softly opening, though he had bolted and locked +it, of a portly Fleming, with curly gray hair, reservoir boots, slouched +hat, trunk and doublet, who entered and sat in the arm-chair, watching +him until the cock crew. Nor did he tell how on the third night he +summoned courage, hugging a Bible and a catechism to his breast for +confidence, to ask the meaning of the visit, and how the Fleming arose, +and drawing Dolph after him with his eyes, led him downstairs, went +through the front door without unbolting it, leaving that task for the +trembling yet eager youth, and how, after he had proceeded to a disused +well at the bottom of the garden, he vanished from sight. + +Dolph brooded long upon these things and dreamed of them in bed. He +alleged that it was in obedience to his dreams that he boarded a schooner +bound up the Hudson, without the formality of adieu to his employer, and +after being spilled ashore in a gale at the foot of Storm King, he fell +into the company of Anthony Vander Hevden, a famous landholder and +hunter, who achieved a fancy for Dolph as a lad who could shoot, fish, +row, and swim, and took him home with him to Albany. The Heer had +commodious quarters, good liquor, and a pretty daughter, and Dolph felt +himself in paradise until led to the room he was to occupy, for one of +the first things that he set eyes on in that apartment was a portrait of +the very person who had kept him awake for the worse part of three nights +at the bowerie in Manhattoes. He demanded to know whose picture it was, +and learned that it was that of Killian Vander Spiegel, burgomaster and +curmudgeon, who buried his money when the English seized New Amsterdam +and fretted himself to death lest it should be discovered. He remembered +that his mother had spoken of this Spiegel and that her father was the +miser's rightful heir, and it now appeared that he was one of Heyden's +forbears too. In his dream that night the Fleming stepped out of the +portrait, led him, as he had done before, to the well, where he smiled +and vanished. Dolph reflected, next morning, that these things had been +ordered to bring together the two branches of the family and disclose the +whereabouts of the treasure that it should inherit. So full was he of +this idea that he went back to New Amsterdam by the first schooner, to +the surprise of the Heer and the regret of his daughter. + +After the truant had been received with execrations by the doctor and +with delight by his mother, who believed that spooks had run off with +him, and with astonishment, as a hero of romance, by the public, he made +for the haunted premises at the first opportunity and began to angle at +the disused well. Presently he found his hook entangled in something at +the bottom, and on lifting slowly he discovered that he had secured a +fine silver porringer, with lid held down by twisted wire. It was the +work of a moment to wrench off the lid, when he found the vessel to be +filled with golden pieces. His fishing that day was attended with such +luck as never fell to an angler before, for there were other pieces of +plate down there, all engraved with the Spiegel arms and all containing +treasure. + +By encouraging the most dreadful stories about the spot, in order to keep +the people wide away from it, he accomplished the removal of his prizes +bit by bit from their place of concealment to his home. His unaccounted +absence in Albany and his dealings with the dead had prepared his +neighbors for any change in himself or his condition, and now that he +always had a bottle of schnapps for the men and a pot of tea for the +women, and was good to his mother, they said that they had always known +that when he changed it would be for the better,--at which his old +detractors lifted their eyebrows significantly--and when asked to dinner +by him they always accepted. + +Moreover, they made merry when the day came round for his wedding with +the little maid of Albany. They likewise elected him a member of the +corporation, to which he bequeathed some of the Spiegel plate and often +helped the other city fathers to empty the big punch-bowl. Indeed, it was +at one of these corporation feasts that he died of apoplexy. He was +buried with honors in the yard of the Dutch church in Garden Street. + + + + +THE KNELL AT THE WEDDING + +A young New Yorker had laid such siege to the heart of a certain +belle--this was back in the Knickerbocker days when people married for +love--that everybody said the banns were as good as published; but +everybody did not know, for one fine morning my lady went to church with +another gentleman--not her father, though old enough to be--and when the +two came out they were man and wife. The elderly man was rich. After the +first paroxysm of rage and disappointment had passed, the lover withdrew +from the world and devoted himself to study; nor when he learned that she +had become a widow, with comfortable belongings derived from the estate +of the late lamented, did he renew acquaintance with her, and he smiled +bitterly when he heard of her second marriage to a young adventurer who +led her a wretched life, but atoned for his sins, in a measure, by dying +soon enough afterward to leave a part of her fortune unspent. + +In the lapse of time the doubly widowed returned to New York, where she +met again the lover of her youth. Mr. Ellenwood had acquired the reserve +of a scholar, and had often puzzled his friends with his eccentricities; +but after a few meetings with the object of his young affection he came +out of his glooms, and with respectful formality laid again at her feet +the heart she had trampled on forty years before. Though both of them +were well on in life, the news of their engagement made little of a +sensation. The widow was still fair; the wooer was quiet, refined, and +courtly, and the union of their fortunes would assure a competence for +the years that might be left to them. The church of St. Paul, on +Broadway, was appointed for the wedding, and it was a whim of the groom +that his bride should meet him there. At the appointed hour a company of +the curious had assembled in the edifice; a rattle of wheels was heard, +and a bevy of bridesmaids and friends in hoop, patch, velvet, silk, +powder, swords, and buckles walked down the aisle; but just as the bride +had come within the door, out of the sunlight that streamed so +brilliantly on the mounded turf and tombstones in the churchyard, the +bell in the steeple gave a single boom. + +The bride walked to the altar, and as she took her place before it +another clang resounded from the belfry. The bridegroom was not there. +Again and again the brazen throat and iron tongue sent out a doleful +knell, and faces grew pale and anxious, for the meaning of it could not +be guessed. With eyes fixed on the marble tomb of her first husband, the +woman tremblingly awaited the solution of the mystery, until the door was +darkened by something that made her catch her breath--a funeral. The +organ began a solemn dirge as a black-cloaked cortege came through the +aisle, and it was with amazement that the bride discovered it to be +formed of her oldest friends,--bent, withered; paired, man and woman, as +in mockery--while behind, with white face, gleaming eyes, disordered +hair, and halting step, came the bridegroom, in his shroud. + +"Come," he said,--"let us be married. The coffins are ready. Then, home to +the tomb." + +"Cruel!" murmured the woman. + +"Now, Heaven judge which of us has been cruel. Forty years ago you took +away my faith, destroyed my hopes, and gave to others your youth and +beauty. Our lives have nearly run their course, so I am come to wed you +as with funeral rites." Then, in a softer manner, he took her hand, and +said, "All is forgiven. If we cannot live together we will at least be +wedded in death. Time is almost at its end. We will marry for eternity. +Come." And tenderly embracing her, he led her forward. Hard as was the +ordeal, confusing, frightening, humiliating, the bride came through it a +better woman. + +"It is true," she said, "I have been vain and worldly, but now, in my +age, the truest love I ever knew has come back to me. It is a holy love. +I will cherish it forever." Their eyes met, and they saw each other +through tears. Solemnly the clergyman read the marriage service, and when +it was concluded the low threnody that had come from the organ in key +with the measured clang of the bell, merged into a nobler motive, until +at last the funeral measures were lost in a burst of exultant harmony. +Sobs of pent feeling and sighs of relief were heard as the bridal party +moved away, and when the newmade wife and husband reached the portal the +bell was silent and the sun was shining. + + + + +ROISTERING DIRCK VAN DARA + +In the days when most of New York stood below Grand Street, a roistering +fellow used to make the rounds of the taverns nightly, accompanied by a +friend named Rooney. This brave drinker was Dirck Van Dara, one of the +last of those swag-bellied topers that made merry with such solemnity +before the English seized their unoffending town. It chanced that Dirck +and his chum were out later than usual one night, and by eleven o'clock, +when all good people were abed, a drizzle set in that drove the watch to +sleep in doorways and left Broadway tenantless. As the two choice spirits +reeled out of a hostelry near Wall Street and saw the lights go out in +the tap-room windows they started up town to their homes in Leonard +Street, but hardly had they come abreast of old St. Paul's when a strange +thing stayed them: crying was heard in the churchyard and a +phosphorescent light shone among the tombs. Rooney was sober in a moment, +but not so Dirck Van Dara, who shouted, "Here is sport, friend Rooney. +Let's climb the wall. If the dead are for a dance, we will take partners +and show them how pigeons' wings are cut nowadays." + +"No," exclaimed the other; "those must perish who go among the dead when +they come out of their graves. I've heard that if you get into their +clutches, you must stay in purgatory for a hundred years, and no priest +can pray you out." + +"Bah! old wives' tales! Come on!" And pulling his friend with him, they +were over the fence. "Hello! what have we here?" As he spoke a haggard +thing arose from behind a tombstone, a witchlike creature, with rags +falling about her wasted form and hair that almost hid her face. The +twain were set a-sneezing by the fumes of sulphur, and Rooney swore +afterwards that there were little things at the end of the yard with +grinning faces and lights on the ends of their tails. Old Hollands are +heady. Dirck began to chaff the beldam on her dilapidation, but she +stopped his talk by dipping something from a caldron behind her and +flinging it over both of her visitors. Whatever it was, it burned +outrageously, and with a yell of pain they leaped the wall more briskly +than they had jumped it the other way, and were soon in full flight. They +had not gone far when the clock struck twelve. + +"Arrah! there's a crowd of them coming after," panted Rooney. "Ave Mary! +I've heard that if you die with witch broth being thrown over you, you're +done for in the next world, as well as this. Let us get to Father +Donagan's. Wow!" + +As he made this exclamation the fugitives found their way opposed by a +woman, who looked at them with immodest eyes and said, "Dirck Van Dara, +your sire, in wig and bob, turned us Cyprians out of New York, after +ducking us in the Collect. But we forgive him, and to prove it we ask you +to our festival." + +At the stroke of midnight the street before the church had swarmed with a +motley throng, that now came onward, waving torches that sparkled like +stars. They formed a ring about Dirck and began to dance, and he, nothing +loth, seized the nymph who had addressed him and joined in the revel. Not +a soul was out or awake except themselves, and no words were said as the +dance went wilder to strains of weird and unseen instruments. Now and +then one would apply a torch to the person of Dirck, meanly assailing him +in the rear, and the smart of the burn made him feet it the livelier. At +last they turned toward the Battery as by common consent, and went +careering along the street in frolic fashion. Rooney, whose senses had +thus far been pent in a stupor, fled with a yell of terror, and as he +looked back he saw the unholy troop disappearing in the mist like a +moving galaxy. Never from that night was Dirck Van Data seen or heard of +more, and the publicans felt that they had less reason for living. + + + + +THE PARTY FROM GIBBET ISLAND + +Ellis Island, in New York harbor, once bore the name of Gibbet Island, +because pirates and mutineers were hanged there in chains. During the +times when it was devoted to this fell purpose there stood in Communipaw +the Wild Goose tavern, where Dutch burghers resorted, to smoke, drink +Hollands, and grow fat, wise, and sleepy in each others' company. The +plague of this inn was Yan Yost Vanderscamp, a nephew of the landlord, +who frequently alarmed the patrons of the house by putting powder into +their pipes and attaching briers beneath their horses' tails, and who +naturally turned pirate when he became older, taking with him to sea his +boon companion, an ill-disposed, ill-favored blackamoor named Pluto, who +had been employed about the tavern. When the landlord died, Vanderscamp +possessed himself of this property, fitted it up with plunder, and at +intervals he had his gang ashore,--such a crew of singing, swearing, +drinking, gaming devils as Communipaw had never seen the like of; yet the +residents could not summon activity enough to stop the goings-on that +made the Wild Goose a disgrace to their village. The British authorities, +however, caught three of the swashbucklers and strung them up on Gibbet +Island, and things that went on badly in Communipaw after that went on +with quiet and secrecy. + +The pirate and his henchmen were returning to the tavern one night, after +a visit to a rakish-looking vessel in the offing, when a squall broke in +such force as to give their skiff a leeway to the place of executions. As +they rounded that lonely reef a creaking noise overhead caused +Vanderscamp to look up, and he could not repress a shudder as he saw the +bodies of his three messmates, their rags fluttering and their chains +grinding in the wind. + +"Don't you want to see your friends?" sneered Pluto. "You, who are never +afraid of living men, what do you fear from the dead?" + +"Nothing," answered the pirate. Then, lugging forth his bottle, he took a +long pull at it, and holding it toward the dead felons, he shouted, +"Here's fair weather to you, my lads in the wind, and if you should be +walking the rounds to-night, come in to supper." + +A clatter of bones and a creak of chains sounded like a laugh. It was +midnight when the boat pulled in at Communipaw, and as the storm +continued Vanderscamp, drenched to the skin, made quick time to the Wild +Goose. As he entered, a sound of revelry overhead smote his ear, and, +being no less astonished than in need of cordials, he hastened up-stairs +and flung open the door. A table stood there, furnished with jugs and +pipes and cans, and by light of candles that burned as blue as brimstone +could be seen the three gallows-birds from Gibbet Island, with halters on +their necks, clinking their tankards together and trolling forth a +drinking-song. + +Starting back with affright as the corpses hailed him with lifted arms +and turned their fishy eyes on him, Vanderscamp slipped at the door and +fell headlong to the bottom of the stairs. Next morning he was found +there by the neighbors, dead to a certainty, and was put away in the +Dutch churchyard at Bergen on the Sunday following. As the house was +rifled and deserted by its occupants, it was hinted that the negro had +betrayed his master to his fellow-buccaneers, and that he, Pluto, was no +other than the devil in disguise. But he was not, for his skiff was seen +floating bottom up in the bay soon after, and his drowned body lodged +among the rocks at the foot of the pirates' gallows. + +For a long time afterwards the island was regarded as a place that +required purging with bell, book, and candle, for shadows were reported +there and faint lights that shot into the air, and to this day, with the +great immigrant station on it and crowds going and coming all the time, +the Battery boatmen prefer not to row around it at night, for they are +likely to see the shades of the soldier and his mistress who were drowned +off the place one windy night, when the girl was aiding the fellow to +escape confinement in the guard-house, to say nothing of Vanderscamp and +his felons. + + + + +MISS BRITTON'S POKER + +The maids of Staten Island wrought havoc among the royal troops who were +quartered among them during the Revolution. Near quarantine, in an old +house,--the Austen mansion,--a soldier of King George hanged himself +because a Yankee maid who lived there would not have him for a husband, +nor any gentleman whose coat was of his color; and, until ghosts went out +of fashion, his spirit, in somewhat heavy boots, with jingling spurs, +often disturbed the nightly quiet of the place. + +The conduct of a damsel in the old town of Richmond was even more stern. +She was the granddaughter, and a pretty one, of a farmer named Britton; +but though Britton by descent and name, she was no friend of Britons, +albeit she might have had half the officers in the neighboring camp at +her feet, if she had wished them there. Once, while mulling a cup of +cider for her grandfather, she was interrupted by a self-invited +myrmidon, who undertook, in a fashion rude and unexpected, to show the +love in which he held her. Before he could kiss her, the girl drew the +hot poker from the mug of drink and jabbed at the vitals of her amorous +foe, burning a hole through his scarlet uniform and printing on his burly +person a lasting memento of the adventure. With a howl of pain the fellow +rushed away, and the privacy of the Britton family was never again +invaded, at least whilst cider was being mulled. + + + + +THE DEVIL'S STEPPING-STONES + +When the devil set a claim to the fair lands at the north of Long Island +Sound, his claim was disputed by the Indians, who prepared to fight for +their homes should he attempt to serve his writ of ejectment. Parley +resulted in nothing, so the bad one tried force, but he was routed in +open fight and found it desirable to get away from the scene of action as +soon as possible. He retreated across the Sound near the head of East +River. The tide was out, so he stepped from island to island, without +trouble, and those reefs and islands are to this day the Devil's +Stepping-Stones. On reaching Throgg's Neck he sat down in a despairing +attitude and brooded on his defeat, until, roused to a frenzy at the +thought of it, he resolved to renew the war on terms advantageous +entirely to himself. In that day Connecticut was free from rocks, but +Long Island was covered with them; so he gathered all he could lay his +hands on and tossed them at the Indians that he could see across the +Sound near Cold Spring until the supply had given out. The red men who +last inhabited Connecticut used to show white men where the missiles +landed and where the devil struck his heel into the ground as he sprang +from the shore in his haste to reach Long Island. At Cold Spring other +footprints and one of his toes are shown. Establishing himself at Coram, +he troubled the people of the country for many years, so that between the +devil on the west and the Montauks on the east they were plagued indeed; +for though their guard at Watch Hill, Rhode Island, and other places +often apprised them of the coming of the Montauks, they never knew which +way to look for the devil. + + + + +THE SPRINGS OF BLOOD AND WATER + +A great drought had fallen on Long Island, and the red men prayed for +water. It is true that they could get it at Lake Ronkonkoma, but some of +them were many miles from there, and, beside, they feared the spirits at +that place: the girl who plied its waters in a phosphor-shining birch, +seeking her recreant lover; and the powerful guardians that the Great +Spirit had put in charge to keep the fish from being caught, for these +fish were the souls of men, awaiting deliverance into another form. The +people gathered about their villages in bands and besought the Great +Spirit to give them drink. His voice was heard at last, bidding their +chief to shoot an arrow into the air and to watch where it fell, for +there would water gush out. The chief obeyed the deity, and as the arrow +touched the earth a spring of sweet water spouted into the air. Running +forward with glad cries the red men drank eagerly of the liquor, laved +their faces in it, and were made strong again; and in memory of that +event they called the place the Hill of God, or Manitou Hill, and Manet +or Manetta Hill it is to this day. Hereabouts the Indians settled and +lived in peace, thriving under the smile of their deity, making wampum +for the inland tribes and waxing rich with gains from it. They made the +canal from bay to sea at Canoe Place, that they might reach open water +without dragging their boats across the sand-bars, and in other ways they +proved themselves ingenious and strong. + +When the English landed on the island they saw that the Indians were not +a people to be trifled with, and in order to properly impress them with +their superiority, they told them that John Bull desired a treaty with +them. The officers got them to sit in line in front of a cannon, the +nature of which instrument was unknown to them, and during the talk the +gun was fired, mowing down so many of the red people that the survivors +took to flight, leaving the English masters at the north shore, for this +heartless and needless massacre took place at Whale's Neck. So angry was +the Great Spirit at this act of cruelty and treachery that he caused +blood to ooze from the soil, as he had made water leap for his thirsting +children, and never again would grass grow on the spot where the murder +had been done. + + + + +THE CRUMBLING SILVER + +There is a clay bank on Little Neck, Long Island, where metallic nodules +are now and then exposed by rain. Rustics declare them to be silver, and +account for their crumbling on the theory that the metal is under a +curse. A century ago the Montauks mined it, digging over enough soil to +unearth these pellets now and again, and exchanging them at the nearest +settlements for tobacco and rum. The seeming abundance of these lumps of +silver aroused the cupidity of one Gardiner, a dweller in the central +wilderness of the island, but none of the Indians would reveal the source +of their treasure. One day Gardiner succeeded in getting an old chief so +tipsy that, without realizing what he was doing, he led the white man to +the clay bed and showed him the metallic spots glittering in the sun. +With a cry of delight Gardiner sprang forward and tore at the earth with +his fingers, while the Indian stood by laughing at his eagerness. + +Presently a shade crossed the white man's face, for he thought that this +vast treasure would have to be shared by others. It was too much to +endure. He wanted all. He would be the richest man on earth. Stealing +behind the Indian as he stood swaying and chuckling, he wrenched the +hatchet from his belt and clove his skull at a blow. Then, dragging the +body to a thicket and hiding it under stones and leaves, he hurried to +his house for cart and pick and shovel, and returning with speed he dug +out a half ton of the silver before sunset. The cart was loaded, and he +set homeward, trembling with excitement and conjuring bright visions for +his future, when a wailing sound from a thicket made him halt and turn +pale. Noiselessly a figure glided from the bush. It was the Indian he had +killed. The form approached the treasure, flung up its arm, uttered a few +guttural words; then a rising wind seemed to lift it from the ground and +it drifted toward the Sound, fading like a cloud as it receded. + +Full of misgiving, Gardiner drove to his home, and, by light of a +lantern, transferred his treasure to his cellar. Was it the dulness of +the candle that made the metal look so black? After a night of feverish +tossing on his bed he arose and went to the cellar to gloat upon his +wealth. The light of dawn fell on a heap of gray dust, a few brassy +looking particles showing here and there. The curse of the ghost had been +of power and the silver was silver no more. Mineralogists say that the +nodules are iron pyrites. Perhaps so; but old residents know that they +used to be silver. + + + + +THE CORTELYOU ELOPEMENT + +In the Bath district of Brooklyn stands Cortelyou manor, built one +hundred and fifty years ago, and a place of defence during the Revolution +when the British made sallies from their camp in Flatbush and worried the +neighborhood. It was in one of these forays on pigs and chickens that a +gallant officer of red-coats met a pretty lass in the fields of +Cortelyou. He stilled her alarm by aiding her to gather wild-flowers, and +it came about that the girl often went into the fields and came back with +prodigious bouquets of daisies. The elder Cortelyou had no inkling of +this adventure until one of his sons saw her tryst with the red-coat at a +distance. Be sure the whole family joined him in remonstrance. As the +girl declared that she would not forego the meetings with her lover, the +father swore that she should never leave his roof again, and he tried to +be as good, or bad, as his word. The damsel took her imprisonment as any +girl of spirit would, but was unable to effect her escape until one +evening, as she sat at her window, watching the moon go down and paint +the harbor with a path of light. A tap at the pane, as of a pebble thrown +against it, roused her from her revery. It was her lover on the lawn. + +At her eager signal he ran forward with a light ladder, planted it +against the window-sill, and in less than a minute the twain were running +toward the beach; but the creak of the ladder had been heard, and +grasping their muskets two of the men hurried out. In the track of the +moon the pursuers descried a moving form, and, without waiting to +challenge, they levelled the guns and fired. A woman's cry followed the +report; then a dip of oars was heard that fast grew fainter until it +faded from hearing. On returning to the house they found the girl's room +empty, and next morning her slipper was brought in from the mud at the +landing. Nobody inside of the American lines ever learned what that shot +had done, but if it failed to take a life it robbed Cortelyou of his +mind. He spent the rest of his days in a single room, chained to a staple +in the floor, tramping around and around, muttering and gesturing, and +sometimes startling the passer-by as he showed his white face and ragged +beard at the window. + + + + +VAN WEMPEL'S GOOSE + +Allow us to introduce Nicholas Van Wempel, of Flatbush: fat, phlegmatic, +rich, and henpecked. He would like to be drunk because he is henpecked, +but the wife holds the purse-strings and only doles out money to him when +she wants groceries or he needs clothes. It was New Year's eve, the eve +of 1739, when Vrouw Van Wempel gave to her lord ten English shillings and +bade him hasten to Dr. Beck's for the fat goose that had been bespoken. +"And mind you do not stop at the tavern," she screamed after him in her +shrillest tone. But poor Nicholas! As he went waddling down the road, +snapping through an ice-crust at every step, a roguish wind--or perhaps +it was one of the bugaboos that were known to haunt the shores of +Gravesend Bay--snatched off his hat and rolled it into the very doorway +of the tavern that he had been warned, under terrible penalties, to +avoid. + +As he bent to pick it up the door fell ajar, and a pungency of schnapps +and tobacco went into his nostrils. His resolution, if he had one, +vanished. He ordered one glass of schnapps; friends came in and treated +him to another; he was bound to do as much for them; shilling by shilling +the goose money passed into the till of the landlord. Nicholas was heard +to make a muttered assertion that it was his own money anyhow, and that +while he lived he would be the head of his own house; then the mutterings +grew faint and merged into snores. When he awoke it was at the low sound +of voices in the next room, and drowsily turning his head he saw there +two strangers,--sailors, he thought, from their leather jackets, black +beards, and the rings in their ears. What was that they said? Gold? On +the marshes? At the old Flatlands tide-mill? The talkers had gone before +his slow and foggy brain could grasp it all, but when the idea had fairly +eaten its way into his intellect, he arose with the nearest approach to +alacrity that he had exhibited in years, and left the place. He crunched +back to his home, and seeing nobody astir went softly into his shed, +where he secured a shovel and lantern, and thence continued with all +consistent speed to the tumbledown tide-mill on the marsh,--a trying +journey for his fat legs on a sharp night, but hope and schnapps impelled +him. + +He reached the mill, and, hastening to the cellar, began to probe in the +soft, unfrozen earth. Presently his spade struck something, and he dug +and dug until he had uncovered the top of a canvas bag,--the sort that +sailors call a "round stern-chest." It took all his strength to lug it +out, and as he did so a seam burst, letting a shower of gold pieces over +the ground. He loosed the band of his breeches, and was filling the legs +thereof with coin, when a tread of feet sounded overhead and four men +came down the stair. Two of them he recognized as the fellows of the +tavern. They saw the bag, the lantern, then Nicholas. Laden though he was +with gold until he could hardly budge, these pirates, for such they were, +got him up-stairs, forced him to drink hot Hollands to the success of +their flag, then shot him through the window into the creek. As he was +about to make this unceremonious exit he clutched something to save +himself, and it proved to be a plucked goose that the pirates had stolen +from a neighboring farm and were going to sup on when they had scraped +their gold together. He felt the water and mud close over him; he +struggled desperately; he was conscious of breathing more freely and of +staggering off at a vigorous gait; then the power of all the schnapps +seemed to get into his head, and he remembered no more until he heard his +wife shrilling in his ears, when he sat up and found himself in a +snow-bank close to his house, with a featherless goose tight in his +grasp. + +Vrouw Van Wempel cared less about the state of her spouse when she saw +that he had secured the bird, and whenever he told his tale of the +pirates she turned a deaf ear to him, for if he had found the gold why +did he not manage to bring home a few pieces of it? He, in answer, asked +how, as he had none of his own money, she could have come by the goose? +He often told his tale to sympathetic ears, and would point to the old +mill to prove that it was true. + + + + +THE WEARY WATCHER + +Before the opening of the great bridge sent commerce rattling up +Washington Street in Brooklyn that thoroughfare was a shaded and +beautiful avenue, and among the houses that attested its respectability +was one, between Tillary and Concord Streets, that was long declared to +be haunted. A man and his wife dwelt there who seemed to be fondly +attached to each other, and whose love should have been the stronger +because of their three children none grew to years. A mutual sorrow is as +close a tie as a common affection. One day, while on a visit to a friend, +the wife saw her husband drive by in a carriage with a showy woman beside +him. She went home at once, and when the supposed recreant returned she +met him with bitter reproaches. He answered never a word, but took his +hat and left the house, never to be seen again in the places that had +known him. + +The wife watched and waited, daily looking for his return, but days +lengthened into weeks, months, years, and still he came not. Sometimes +she lamented that she had spoken hastily and harshly, thinking that, had +she known all, she might have found him blameless. There was no family to +look after, no wholesome occupation that she sought, so the days went by +in listening and watching, until, at last, her body and mind gave way, +and the familiar sight of her face, watching from a second floor window, +was seen no longer. Her last day came. She had risen from her bed; life +and mind seemed for a moment to be restored to her; and standing where +she had stood so often, her form supported by a half-closed shutter and a +grasp on the sash, she looked into the street once more, sighed +hopelessly, and so died. It was her shade that long watched at the +windows; it was her waxen face, heavy with fatigue and pain, that was +dimly seen looking over the balusters in the evening. + + + + +THE RIVAL FIDDLERS + +Before Brooklyn had spread itself beyond Greenwood Cemetery a stone could +be seen in Martense's Lane, south of that burial-ground, that bore a hoof +mark. A negro named Joost, in the service of the Van Der +Something-or-others, was plodding home on Saturday night, his fiddle +under his arm. He had been playing for a wedding in Flatbush and had been +drinking schnapps until he saw stars on the ground and fences in the sky; +in fact, the universe seemed so out of order that he seated himself +rather heavily on this rock to think about it. The behavior of the stars +in swimming and rolling struck him as especially curious, and he +conceived the notion that they wanted to dance. Putting his fiddle to his +chin, he began a wild jig, and though he made it up as he went along, he +was conscious of doing finely, when the boom of a bell sent a shiver down +his spine. It was twelve o'clock, and here he was playing a dance tune on +Sunday. However, the sin of playing for one second on the Sabbath was as +great as that of playing all day; so, as long as he was in for it, he +resolved to carry the tune to the end, and he fiddled away with a +reckless vehemence. Presently he became aware that the music was both +wilder and sweeter than before, and that there was more of it. Not until +then did he observe that a tall, thin stranger stood beside him; and that +he was fiddling too,--composing a second to Joost's air, as if he could +read his thought before he put it into execution on the strings. Joost +paused, and the stranger did likewise. + +"Where de debble did you come frum?" asked the first. The other smiled. + +"And how did you come to know dat music?" Joost pursued. + +"Oh, I've known that tune for years," was the reply. "It's called 'The +Devil's joy at Sabbath Breaking.'" + +"You're a liar!" cried the negro. The stranger bowed and burst into a +roar of laughter. "A liar!" repeated Joost,--"for I made up dat music dis +very minute." + +"Yet you notice that I could follow when you played." + +"Humph! Yes, you can follow." + +"And I can lead, too. Do you know the tune 'Go to the Devil and Shake +Yourself?'" + +"Yes; but I play second to nobody." + +"Very well, I'll beat you at any air you try." + +"Done!" said Joost. And then began a contest that lasted until daybreak. +The stranger was an expert, but Joost seemed to be inspired, and just as +the sun appeared he sounded, in broad and solemn harmonies, the hymn of +Von Catts: + +"Now behold, at dawn of day, Pious Dutchmen sing and pray." + +At that the stranger exclaimed, "Well, that beats the devil!" and +striking his foot angrily on the rock, disappeared in a flash of fire +like a burst bomb. Joost was hurled twenty feet by the explosion, and lay +on the ground insensible until a herdsman found him some hours later. As +he suffered no harm from the contest and became a better fiddler than +ever, it is supposed that the recording angel did not inscribe his feat +of Sabbath breaking against him in large letters. There were a few who +doubted his story, but they had nothing more to say when he showed them +the hoof-mark on the rock. Moreover, there are fewer fiddlers among the +negroes than there used to be, because they say that the violin is the +devil's instrument. + + + + +WYANDANK + +From Brooklyn Heights, or Ihpetonga, "highplace of trees," where the +Canarsie Indians made wampum or sewant, and where they contemplated the +Great Spirit in the setting of the sun across the meeting waters, to +Montauk Point, Long Island has been swept by the wars of red men, and +many are the tokens of their occupancy. A number of their graves were to +be seen until within fifty years, as clearly marked as when the warriors +were laid there in the hope of resurrection among the happy hunting +grounds that lay to the west and south. The casting of stones on the +death-spots or graves of some revered or beloved Indians was long +continued, and was undoubtedly for the purpose of raising monuments to +them, though at Monument Mountain, Massachusetts, Sacrifice Rock, between +Plymouth and Sandwich, Massachusetts, and some other places the cairns +merely mark a trail. Even the temporary resting-place of Sachem +Poggatacut, near Sag Harbor, was kept clear of weeds and leaves by +Indians who passed it in the two centuries that lapsed between the death +of the chief and the laying of the road across it in 1846. This spot is +not far from Whooping Boy's Hollow, so named because of a boy who was +killed by Indians, and because the rubbing of two trees there in a storm +gave forth a noise like crying. An older legend has it that this noise is +the angry voice of the magician who tried to slay Wyandank, the +"Washington of the Montauks," who is buried on the east end of the +island. Often he led his men into battle, sounding the warwhoop, copied +from the scream of the eagle, so loudly that those who heard it said that +the Montauks were crying for prey. + +It was while killing an eagle on Block Island, that he might use the +plumes for his hair, that this chief disclosed himself to the hostiles +and brought on a fight in which every participant except himself was +slain. He was secretly followed back to Long Island by a magician who had +hopes of enlisting the evil ones of that region against him,--the giants +that left their tracks in "Blood-stone Rock" and "Printed Rock," near +Napeague, and such renegades as he who, having betrayed his people, was +swallowed by the earth, his last agony being marked by a stamp of the +foot that left its print on a slab near the Indian burial-ground at +Kongonok. Failing in these alliances the wizard hid among the hollows of +the moors, and there worked spells of such malice that the chief's hand +lost steadiness in the hunt and his voice was seldom heard in council. +When the haunt of this evil one was made known, a number of young men +undertook to trap him. They went to the hills by night, and moved +stealthily through the shrubbery until they were almost upon him; but his +familiars had warned him of their approach, though they had wakened him +only to betray him for a cloud swept in from the sea, fell about the +wretch, burst into flame, and rolled back toward the ocean, bearing him +in the centre of its burning folds. Because of the cry he uttered the +place long bore the name of Whooping Hollow, and it used to be said that +the magician visited the scene of his ill-doing every winter, when his +shrieks could be heard ringing over the hills. + + + + +MARK OF THE SPIRIT HAND + +Andover, New Jersey, was quaint and quiet in the days before the +Revolution--it is not a roaring metropolis, even yet--and as it offered +few social advantages there was more gathering in taprooms and more +drinking of flip than there should have been. Among those who were not +averse to a cheering cup were three boon companions, Bailey, Hill, and +Evans, farmers of the neighborhood. They loved the tavern better than the +church, and in truth the church folk did not love them well, for they +were suspected of entertaining heresies of the most forbidden character. +It was while they were discussing matters of belief over their glasses +that one of them proposed, in a spirit of bravado, that whichever of the +trio might be first to die should come back from the grave and reveal +himself to the others--if he could--thus settling the question as to +whether there was a future. + +Not long after this agreement--for consent was unanimous--Hill departed +this life. His friends lamented his absence, especially at the tavern, +but they anticipated no attempt on his part to express the distinguished +consideration that he had felt for his old chums. Some weeks passed, yet +there was no sign, and the two survivors of the party, as they jogged +homeward to the house where both lived, had begun to think and speak less +frequently of the absent one. But one night the household was alarmed by +a terrible cry. Bailey got a light and hurried to the bedside of his +friend, whom he found deathly white and holding his chest as if in pain. +"He has been here!" gasped Evans. "He stood here just now." + +"Who?" asked Bailey, a creep passing down his spine. + +"Hill! He stood there, where you are now, and touched me with a hand that +was so cold--cold--" and Evans shivered violently. On turning back the +collar of his shirt the impression of a hand appeared on the flesh near +the shoulder: a hand in white, with one finger missing. Hill had lost a +finger. There was less of taverns after that night, for Evans carried the +token of that ghostly visit on his person until he, too, had gone to +solve the great secret. + + + + +THE FIRST LIBERAL CHURCH + +In 1770 the brig Hand-in-Hand went ashore at Good Luck, New Jersey. Among +the passengers on board the vessel, that it would perhaps be wrong to +call ill fated, was John Murray, founder of Universalism in America. He +had left England in despair, for his wife and children were dead, and so +broken was he in his power of thought and purpose that he felt as if he +should never preach again. + +In fact, his rescue from the wreck was passive, on his part, and he +suffered himself to be carried ashore, recking little whether he reached +it or no. After he had been for half an hour or so on the soil of the new +country, to which he had made his entrance in so unexpected a manner, he +began to feel hungry, and set off afoot along the desolate beach. He came +to a cabin where an old man stood in a doorway with a basket of fish +beside him. "Will you sell me a fish?" asked Murray. + +"No. The fish is all yours. I expected you." + +"You do not know me." + +"You are the man who is to tell us of God." + +"I will never preach of Him again." + +"I built that log church yonder. Don't say that you will not preach in +it. Whenever a clergyman, Presbyterian, Methody, or Baptist, came here, I +asked him to preach in my kitchen. I tried to get him to stay; but no--he +always had work elsewhere. Last night I saw the brig driven on the bar, +and a voice said to me, 'In that ship is the man who will teach of God. +Not the old God of terrors, but one of love and mercy. He has come +through great sorrow to do this work.' I have made ready for you. Do not +go away." + +The minister felt a strange lifting in his heart. He fell on his knees +before the little house and offered up a prayer. Long he staid in that +place, preaching gentle doctrines and ministering to the men and women of +that lonely village, and when the fisherman apostle, Thomas Potter, died +he left the church to Murray, who, in turn, bequeathed it, "free, for the +use of all Christian people." + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Isle of Manhattoes and Nearby +by Charles M. 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