The Knight Of The Golden Melice, John Turvill Adams [the reading list TXT] 📗

Desired To Be Silent

Respecting What Had Happened, And Indeed No Caution Was Necessary. He,

Therefore, Said, In Answer: 

 

 

"None Shall Know The Exploits Of Sassacus Till He Tells Them Himself."

   

"If Soog-U-Gest Asks, My Brother May Tell. He And Sassacus Lie Under

One Skin."

  

 

Thus Betrayed Itself The Simple Vanity Of The Savage, Who, With All

His Caution, Was Unwilling That His Prowess Should Remain Concealed;

Yet Preferred Its Announcement From Some Tongue Other Than His Own. It

Was The First Intimation To Arundel That The Knight And Chief Were

Acquainted, Though Sassacus Had Once Before Spoken Of Sir Christopher.

But The Words Of The Pequot Implied More, Viz: That An Intimacy

Existed Between Them, And This Stimulated His Curiosity. The Anxiety

Of Sir Christopher That The Indian Should Be Warned Of The Danger

Which Threatened Him, Was Now Explained. They Were Friends, But Why

Should The Knight Conceal The Fact?

  

 

"Has My Brother Been Long Acquainted With Soog-U-Gest," Inquired

Arundel. 

 

 

"Ne-Ka-Tunch Nee-Zusts," (Six Moons), Replied The Indian, Holding Up

Six Fingers.

 

  

"Will The Chief Tell Me What He Pleases About Him?" Said The Young

Man, Whose Ingenuous Nature Revolted At Any Attempt By Insidious

Questions To Extract From The Savage A Knowledge Which He Desired To

Conceal. It Appeared Unworthy Of Himself, And A Wrong To Both His

Friends. "I Know Little Of Soog-U-Gest, And Would Like To Learn More."

 

  

The Fine, Bold Face Of The Indian Looked Pleased At The Frankness Of

Arundel, And, It Is Probable, That He Was More Communicative Than If

He Had Been Adroitly Questioned. His Native Subtlety Might Then Have

Taken Alarm, And Cunning Been Met By Cunning. But Sassacus Felt No

Desire, On His Own Account, For Concealment. The Two Young Men Had

Been Strongly Attached To Each Other From The First, And On The Side

Of The Indian, At Least, Was Springing Up A Friendship For The Other,

More Like That Which Plato Celebrates Among The Greeks, Or Cicero

Dilates Upon, Than The Feeling Of Modern Times.

  

 

"Listen, My Brother," Said The Chief. "It Is More Than Six Moons Since

Soog-U-Gest Came Into The Woods. Sassacus Was Laughing When He Said

That Six Moons Only Had Lighted The Path Betwixt Him And Soog-U-Gest,

But He Is Not Laughing Now. The White Chief Built His Wigwam In The

Woods Because He Loves The Indians And The Sound Of Their Language,

And Sassacus Loves Him For That Reason, And Because He Has Sat In The

Lodge On The Pleasant Bank Of The Pequot River, And Ate Venison With

Sassacus From The Same Fire. All Indians Love To Hear Him Tell How

Great And Happy They Might Be. He Knows More Of The Tribes Than Any

Other White Man, And Has Been Far Toward The Setting Sun, Even Beyond

The Country Of The Maquas. Soog-U-Gest Is Very Wise, And His Eyes

Pierce Far Into The Darkness. And Now Let My Brother Bend Down His

Head, So That Not One Of My Words May Be Lost. Soog-U-Gest Has

Promised To Teach The Indians To Become Wise And Powerful Like The

White Men. Perhaps Now That My Brother Knows That, He Will Help."

  

 

"But Governor Winthrop And The Ministers Will Teach All That Can Be

Taught You, And So Will All The English."

  

 

"My Brother Is Mistaken," Said Sassacus, Earnestly. "Sachem Winthrop's

Men Are Jealous Of Their Great Manito, And Do Not Wish To Teach The

Indians How To Talk With Him, Lest He Should Like Us Better Than

Themselves. Now, We Want To Know How To Talk With The Manito Who

Instructed Them In So Many Things. If They Are Good For Owanux, They

May Be Good For Us Too."

  

 

"Certain Am I, Sassacus," Said Arundel, "Nothing Would Delight The

Noble Heart Of The Governor More Than To Have You Christians."

 

  

"Sassacus Wishes Not To Be A Christian. He Was Born An Indian, And

Will Live And Die True To The Traditions Of His Race. Christian Is

Good For Owanux, But Is Very Bad For The Red Men. The Beavers Build

Dams In The Streams, While The Eagle Flies Among The Clouds. The

English Are Beavers, But Sassacus Is An Eagle."

  

 

"But How Can You Attain To The Knowledge Of The White Men, Without

Becoming Like Them?"

 

 

"My Brother Must Not Be Angry When Sassacus Says, That Is A Pappoose

Question. See! I Can Teach My Brother To Make Bows And Shoot Arrows.

Can He Not Instruct Sassacus How To Make Guns, And The Little Black

Seeds Which Cause The Lightning?"

  

 

"That Is Not So Easy As Thou Thinkest. I Know Not Myself How To Make

Guns, And The Powder Which Thou Callest Seeds."

  

 

"Toh!" Replied The Indian, Shaking His Head, "My Brother Is Afraid

Sassacus Might Hurt Himself With The Lightning."

  

 

"Why Should The Chief Doubt My Word? I Tell Thee That Only Certain Men

Among Us Make Guns. They Are All Brought From A Great Island Beyond

The Sea."

 

  

"The English Are Very Cunning. They Make Them In Secret, So That The

Indians May Not Learn."

 

  

"It Grieves Me That My Friend Thinks I Speak To Him With Two Tongues.

But I Will Not Be Offended. Are We Not Brothers?"

 

  

"When My Brother Loves Sassacus More He Will Tell Him All About These

Things, And They Will Then Have One Head And One Heart."

  

 

"They Both Belong To Sassacus Now. But What Does He Intend To Do? Will

He Return With Me To Boston?"

  

 

"Let My Brother Go To Shawmut, And If There Is Any Danger He Will Let

Me Know, Sassacus Will Remain."

  

 

"You Judge Rightly. There Were Peril In Showing Thyself There Now. But

How Shall I Find Thee Again?"

 

  

"When My Brother Journeys In The Forest, And Would See Sassacus, Let

Him Make A Noise Like The Gues-Ques-Kes-Cha, And Sassacus, Or One Of

His Sanops Will Find Him." He Whistled The Peculiar Note Of The Bird,

(The Robin,) And Smiled At The Awkward Imitation Of Arundel.

  

 

"Good For Indian. My Sanops, When They Hear, Will Know Who Is The

Gues-Ques-Kes-Cha."

 

 

Thus Parted The Two Friends. As Arundel Pursued His Lonely Way, He

Kept Running Over In His Mind The Events Of The Day Before, And Of The

Past Night. He Admired The Sagacity And Courage Of The Pequot Sachem,

Who, Assisted Either By His Own Men, Or Friendly Aberginians, Had Been

Able To Take A Bloody Revenge For The Attempt On His Life. But No

Satisfactory Reason Occurred To Him Why The Body Of Pieskaret Should

Have Been Fastened To The Raft. It Seemed A Wanton Act Of Bravado,

Which He Could Not Reconcile With The Known Qualities Of Sassacus.

Concealment And Not Exposure, He Thought, Should Have Been The Policy,

But On The Contrary, The Very Course Had Been Adopted Most Likely To

Lead To Discovery. Why Again, He Thought, Is The Chief Of A Distant

Tribe Lurking In These Woods? He Surely Can Cherish No Evil Design

Against The Colony, For There Is No Misunderstanding Betwixt The

English And The Pequots.

 

  

His Thoughts Then Dwelt Upon The Knight, And Upon His Connection With

The Savage. Who Was This Man, Who, In The Flower Of His Age, And With

All The Accomplishments Of A Gentleman, Chose To Retire From The

World, And With His Sad Companion, Immure Himself In The Woods? He Was

No Sour Anchorite, Who Regarded With Displeasure The Innocent

Enjoyments Of Life, Nor Did He Appear To Be An Unprincipled

Adventurer, Who Had Fled From Restraint In The Old World, In Order To

Give License To His Passions In The New. He Was Evidently A Man Of

Consideration In The Colony. He Was Treated With Attention By All,

Courted By The Whites, And Held In High Estimation By The Indians.

That Such A Man As Sir Christopher Gardiner Should Adopt That Wild

Life Of Seclusion, Did Not Indeed Strike The Mind Of Arundel With The

Degree Of Surprise Wherewith Our Own Are Affected, For It Was A Time

Of Adventure And Romance; The Poetry Of Life Was Not Bound Up

Principally In Books, But Was Acted Out In Deeds; And The Occurrence

Of Daily Wonders, While It Destroyed Their Singularity, Abated

Curiosity On Their Account. Hence Men Expressed No Astonishment At The

Course Of Life Of The Knight; Hence, When Arundel Became Acquainted

With Him, He Felt None, And It Was Only Upon More Intimate

Acquaintance--After Sir Christopher Began To Take An Interest In Him;

After He Had Noted The Influence Exercised By The Knight Over The

Ambassadors; And After He Had Discovered, As He Supposed, A Community

Of Aims Betwixt The Knight And Sassacus, That His Curiosity Awoke. To

Judge From The Communication Of The Indian Chief, It Would Seem As If

The Knight Were A Sort Of Missionary Among The Natives, To Teach Them

The Arts And Practices Of Civilized Life; But Nothing That Arundel

Himself Had Noticed, Justified Any Such Suspicion. All He Knew Of Sir

Christopher Was, That He Was Passionately Fond Of The Chase, Which

Frequently Led Him Deep Into The Forest, And Had Been Known In Some

Instances To Detain Him Several Days Away From Home.

  

 

As For The Pale Lady Who, Always Clothed In Black, Appeared To Be

Devoured By Some Secret Sorrow, And Whom The Knight Called His Cousin,

It Did Not Seem At All Strange That She Should Love Retirement, To

Indulge The Sad Luxury Of Grief. A Bruised Heart Loves Darkness And

Silence.

  

 

The Conclusion To Which Arundel Came Was, That It Was Partly Affection

For His Fair Cousin, And Partly A Love Of Adventure, Which Had Brought

Sir Christopher For A Season To America, And That His Kindness To The

Indians, And Familiarity With Them, Had Induced Sassacus, And Perhaps

Others, To Indulge Hopes As Wild And Improbable Of Execution, As Their

Ignorance Was Boundless. Pursuing These Meditations, He Proceeded On

To The Settlement, And Arrived At The Wharf, Whither He Was Attracted

By The Little Crowd A Short Time After The Departure Of The

Taranteens, Who Were Still In Sight. 

 

 

It Was At The Moment When The Knight Was About To Part From The Deputy

Governor, That The Young Man Came Up. He Remarked The Disturbed

Countenance Of The Latter; But That Of The Former, Whatever He Felt,

Betrayed No Emotion. 

 

 

"Young Sir," Said Dudley, "I Have Not Seen Thee For A Long Time. How

Continues Master Arundel To Like The New World?"

  

 

"Indifferently Well," Replied Arundel. "Of Every Land, New Or Old,

Something Favorable May Be Said."

 

  

"I Observe Thou Dost Hanker After The Flesh Pots Of Egypt, And Art

Lean In The Midst Of Abundance. It Is Because Thou Lackest Those Views

Of Truth, And That Sustaining Faith Which Can Make All Trials Welcome

For Their Sake."

  

 

"Methinks," Said The Knight, With A Smile, "That The Fair Rosy Cheeks,

And Rounded Limbs Of Our Young Friend, Indicate No Want Of The

Reasonable Comforts Of Life."

  

 

"I Doubt Not," Said The Rough Dudley, Without Heeding The Observation,

"That To Them Who Come Hither Through An Idle Curiosity, Or For Wanton

Pastime, Or For Purposes Still More Unworthy, This Fair Land Possesses

Only Temporary Attractions; But For Those Who, With Faith In The

Promises, Have Cast In Their Lot With The People Of God, It Is The

Land Of Promise. Here From Altars Unpolluted By The Abominations Of

Rome, And Free From The Besotted Mimicry Of The Church Of England, So

Called, Shall Ascend Hosannas From The Church And The Armies Of

Israel. Here, Into The Congregation, Shall Enter Nothing That Telleth

A Lie, Or Causeth To Offend."

  

 

He Bowed Formally, And Involuntarily Grasping With His Left Hand The

Sword That Hung At His Side, Departed.

  

 

"Rude, Unjust, Fanatical, I Had Almost Said Blasphemous," Exclaimed

The Knight, Looking After Him. "Ungracious Dudley! Success Crown All

Thy Plans, Whereon The True Church Shall Indeed Set Her Seal, And

Confounded Be The Devices Of Her Enemies."

  

 

"Softly," With No Heightened Color, With No Elevation Of The Voice,

With Eyes Turned Up To Heaven As If He Were Uttering A Benediction,

Spoke Sir Christopher. "And Now, Master Arundel," He Inquired, Taking

The Young Man's Arm, "Hast Found Sassacus? 

 

 

Arundel Did Not Hesitate, After The Permission Given By The Indian,

Which Rightly Seemed More Like A Request, To Acquaint His Friend With

The Adventures Of The Night. Sir Christopher Listened Attentively,

Making No Comment Till The Narrative Was Concluded. He Then Said:

 

  

"The Mystery Of The Morning Is Explained." And Now, In His Turn, He

Related The Discovery Of The Dead Body And The Indignation Of The

Indians, And Pointed To Their Canoes Fading In The Distance.

 

  

"The Circumstances," He Added, "In Which We Have Obtained Knowledge Of

The Secret Locks It Per Force In Our Breasts; And, Besides, Sassacus

Is Faultless, Having Only Protected Thy Life And Saved His Own, Which

Is An Additional Reason. But, Aside From These Considerations, I See

Not How The Disclosure Could Be Attended With Any Advantage. The Chief

Hath Not Shown Himself Hostile, Or Done Aught To Make Himself Amenable

To Our Jurisdiction. Were The Story To Get Wind, It Could Only Excite

More The Revengeful Feeling Of The Taranteens And The