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

All Attention, As If He Understood What Was

Said, And, When Winthrop Had Concluded, Took The Loaded Skin And

Handed It To His Follower. The Inferior Indian Shrunk As He Received

The Portentous Powder And Shot In Their Strange Envelope, But Whatever

Apprehensions He Felt, He Succeeded In Conquering Them, Taking Care

However To Hold The Missive At A Little Distance From His Person.

  

 

"Tender Now Our Hospitality," Said Winthrop To The Knight, "So Long As

They Remain Among Us."

  

 

"But The Taranteens Showed No Disposition To Accept The Offer.

Something Was Growled By The Principal One, Which Sir Christopher

Interpreted To Intimate A Desire To Depart.

  

 

"Be It So," Replied Winthrop. "Moulton," He Added, Calling A Soldier,

"Take With You Gamlyn, And Escort These Savages With All Civility To

Their Canoes. And Should They Desire Anything To Promote The Comfort

Of Their Return, Let It Be Furnished And Placed To My Account." 

 

 

The Orders Of The Governor Were Explained To The Indians By The

Knight, And They Left The Room In The Care Of The Soldiers.

  

 

"Sir Christopher," Said Winthrop, On Their Departure, "This Is A

Miserable Coil. Now Will These Misguided Savages, Instigated I Doubt

Not By The Emissaries Of Rome, Soon Be Yelling Upon Our Borders, And

Seeking To Imbrue Their Hands In Our Blood. Were We Dealing Only With

The Natives, There Might Be Some Hope Of Soothing Their Ferocity And

Averting An Outbreak Of Their Insane Rage; But Nothing Can Be Done

With The Jesuit--More Subtle Than The Serpent, More Fell Than The

Hyrcanian Tiger."

  

 

"Have The Disciples Of Loyola Penetrated To This Fierce Tribe?"

Inquired Sir Christopher.

  

 

"Art Thou Ignorant That The Cunning Father Le Jeune, The Daring

Brebeuf, And I Know Not What Instigators Of Mischief Besides, Are Said

To Be Among Them? Pity Is It Truly That So Much Learning And So Great

Zeal Should Be Expended In So Bad A Cause."

  

 

"It Was Known Before I Left England That These Men Had Made Some

Little Progress Among The Natives In Southern America, Where Gold And

Silver Abound; But Who Would Have Looked For Them In These Colder And

Comparatively Inhospitable Regions? May There Not Be Some Error In

This Matter, And Our Fears Of The Dreaded Order Have Converted

Interested And Malignant Traders Into Members Of The So-Styled Company

Of Jesus?"

  

 

"It May Be So, For Our Information Is Not So Accurate As I Wish; But

This We Do Know, That A Strange Activity Hath Of Late Manifested

Itself In The Movements Of These Foul Conspirators, Against

Uncorrupted Christianity The World Over; And Only A Short Time Since

Was It That Godly Mr. Eliot Discovered, On The Neck Of A Squaw, One Of

Their Brass Idols Made Into The Image Of The Crucified, Which, In

Righteous Indignation, He Took Away From The Woman. Deluded And

Deluding, Alas, If They Have Found Their Way Into This Land!"

  

 

"It Is Not Necessary To Suppose The Presence Of Any Member Of The

Company Of Jesus, In Order To Account For The Image On The Neck Of The

Indian Woman. The French Traders Are Catholics, And One Of Them Might

Have Given It To Her."

  

 

"True; Yet Doth My Jealous Mind Connect These Men With Every

Perversion And Corruption Of Gospel Truth. They Are At This Moment As

Well The Plotting Mind As The Executing Arm Of The Rotten Church Of

Rome. The Spirit Of Loyola Would Seem Lately To Have Left Hades, To

Animate His Followers Upon Earth. Be Sure, Sir Christopher, That Where

Error And Mischief Are, There Is The Jesuit."

  

 

"It Is Ever A Consolation," Said The Knight, Devoutly, "And In

Especial In These Troublous Times, That The Founder Of The Church Hath

Promised To Be With Her To The End Of The World, And That The Gates Of

Hell Shall Not Prevail Against Her."

  

 

"If They Have Stolen Among The Innocent Natives To Intercept That

Knowledge Of Divine Truth Which It Is Our Purpose To Impart, We Will,

By God's Grace, Defeat Their Designs And Bring To Naught Their

Inventions. In This Christian Work It May Be My Desire To Engage Your

Services, Sir Christopher."

  

 

"It Needs Not That I Should Make Protestations Of Zeal, Or Offers Of

My Poor Self; Yet Do My Feelings Prompt Me To Say That My Badge 'The

Honey-Bee,' Is Not More Diligent In Collecting His Precious Store Than

I Will Be In Such A Cause."

  

 

"Then Expect To Have Thy Zeal And Courage Put To The Test. Should I

Request Thee To Visit The Taranteens In Their Own Country, What WouldBe Thy Reply? 

 

 

The Knight Paused, As If The Question Was Of Importance Sufficient To

Require Consideration, So Long, Indeed, That Winthrop Thought It

Proper To Resume.

  

 

"I Know," He Said, "That It Is A Service Not Unattended With Danger;

Yet Did Danger Never Frighten A Noble Soul, But Doth Ever Act As An

Incentive. There Is No One Save Thyself Well Acquainted With The

Tongue Of These Savages, (Mr. Eliot's Knowledge Thereof, I Observe, Is

Imperfect, And He Is In Other Respects But Poorly Qualified For The

Enterprise), And Who Would Be Able To Make The Impression Upon Them

And Obtain The Information Which I Desire."

  

 

"Disclose More Perfectly Your Wishes, Right Worshipful Sir," Said Sir

Christopher.

   

"I Call Thee To A Danger Which, Possessed I Thy Marvellous Skill In

Languages, I Myself Would Meet. I Will Unbosom Myself. The Thought Of

A Conflict With The Taranteens Distresses Me. It Can Result Only In

Ruin To Them And Injury To The Budding Prospects Of Our Colony. Our

Interest Is Peace. We Want Trade With The Natives. We Want Their

Confidence. Without The Latter There Can Be No Trade, Neither Can We

Counteract The Plots Of Our Enemies, Nor Find Opportunity To Introduce

The Gospel Among Them. The Mysterious Calamity Which Befel The Embassy

Hath Sadly Shaken My Expectations; But I Am Unwilling To Abandon The

Field. What Means Are In My Power I Will Apply To Restore A Good

Understanding. Moreover, I Would Be More Fully Assured Of The Truth Or

Falsehood Of The Reports That There Are Jesuits Among The Taranteens.

Where Is The Man More Competent To Take Upon Himself This Important

Trust--One Which Hath For Its Object To Prevent Effusion Of Blood--To

Detect The Traitorous Plots Of A Wily And Deadly Foe, And To Advance

The Cause Of Unadulterated Religion, Than Thyself?"

  

 

The Knight Bowed In Acknowledgment Of The Compliment, But Said

Nothing.

  

 

"I Seem To See The Finger Of God Displayed," Continued Winthrop. "For

This Very Purpose Wert Thou Sent Among Us; Yet, Noble Sir,

Notwithstanding The Importance Of The Object To Be Attained And The

Honor To Accrue To Him Who Shall Secure Them For Us, Let Me Not Urge

Thee Unreasonably. Seest Thou Imminent Danger In The Enterprise,

Undertake It Not. I Pray Thee, Without Regarding Aught That I Have

Said, To Act According To Thy Better Judgment."

  

 

"It Was Through No Apprehension Of Peril That I Was Silent," Said The

Knight. "Danger And I Have Been Too Long Acquainted To Distrust One

Another. I Did But Turn Over In My Mind The Proper Means To Accomplish

Your Designs. I Place Myself At Your Disposal, And Am Only Rejoiced

That (Lamenting The Occasion) I Can Be Employed In Any Manner To

Advance A Good Work."

  

 

"Heartily I Thank Thee, Sir Christopher, For The Cheerful Tender Of

Thy Service, Though It Was Only What Was To Be Expected From A Man Of

Thy Chivalric Temper. I Will Take This Thing Into Further

Consideration, And Will Shortly Acquaint Thee With My Conclusion."

 

  

"And, Meanwhile, I Will Prepare Myself To Fulfil The Wishes Of Your

Worship," Answered The Knight, Preparing To Take Leave.

  

 

"Commend Me," Said Winthrop, "To The Friendly Thoughts Of Lady

Geraldine, With Sincerest Hopes That The Peace Which Surpasseth

Understanding May Nestle Into Her Heart To Chase Away Her Melancholy,

And May Her Steps Be Guided Unto The True Fold, Where Only Safety Is

To Be Found."

  

 

"With Many Thanks," Returned The Knight, "I Seek My Hermitage In The

Woods."

Chapter XVII ("A Something Light As Air--A Look-- A Word Unkind, Or Wrongly Taken-- Oh, Love! That Tempest Never Shook, A Breath, A Touch Like This, Hath Shaken.")

 

 

 

Moore.

 

 

Sir Christopher, On Leaving The Governor, Proceeded In The Direction

Of The Hostelry, Where He Had Left His Horse; And On His Way Was

Greeted With One Of Those Sights To Be Seen Only In This Strange

Commonwealth. It Was A Woman In The Stocks, Being No Other Than An Old

Acquaintance, Dame Bars, The Wife Of The Jailer. The Good Woman

Possessed A Kind Heart, But She Was Not Perfection. She Had A Weakness

For A Pot Of Ale; And, If Justice Had In Anywise Been Done To The

Proportion Of Malt Therein, It Was Very Apt To Make Her Eloquent To An

Extraordinary Degree. On These Occasions, Feeling Herself To Be

Clearly In The Right, She Found It Difficult To Endure Contradiction,

Considering It Excessively Unreasonable And Rude, And Expressing Her

Sentiments Thereupon With Great Freedom. In One Of These Moods, She

Had Been Overheard By Master Prout, In A Colloquy With One Of Her

Gossips, Contrasting The "Wearyful And Forlorn" Condition Of Women In

The Colony With The Merry Times She Used To Have In England; And Upon

Her Friend Suggesting A Few Words In Favor Of The Change, Bursting Out

With Sundry Epithets More Sounding Than Musical, And More Energetic

Than Complimentary.

  

 

We Will Not Pretend To Say Whether Master Prout Was More Scandalized

By The Sentiment Of Dissatisfaction At The Colony, Or By There

Proaches Lavished On The Other Goody, Who, Indeed, To Do Her Justice,

Was Not Slow In The Use Of That Formidable Weapon Wherewith Nature, As

If To Make Amends For Physical Weakness, Has Armed The Lovelier Sex.

It May Be That Both Combined Roused His Righteous Indignation, In

Consequence Whereof Dame Bars Had To Expiate The Sins Of Her Tongue By

Silencing Its Eloquence In A Cleft Stick, And Cooling Her Heels In The

Stocks.

 

  

But The Appearance Of The Poor Woman Was Now Anything But Belligerent.

So Far From Manifesting A Refractory Disposition, Her Face Was Covered

With Her Hands, And Tears Of Shame And Mortification Were Stealing

Through The Fingers. Her Husband Was Standing By Her Side, And

Endeavoring To Comfort Her, While Master Prout, With His Long Staff,

Was Threatening Some Idle School-Boys, Who, With The Mischief Natural

To Their Age, Were Showing An Inclination To Proceed To Extremities

Against The Captive, Which Was Not Approved By The Grave _Custode_ Of

Order.

  

 

As The Knight Drew Nigh, A Feeling Of Pity Was Excited In Him, And He

Stopped, And Addressed Some Words To The Officer Of The Law.

 

  

"I Am Unwilling," Said Master Prout, In Reply, "To Refuse Any Thing To

A Gentleman So Highly Esteemed By The Governor, As Yourself, Sir

Christopher, And Therefore Will I Release The Woman; But Truly Was It

My Intention To Detain Her An Hour Or Two Longer, In Order That She

Might Have Time For Serious And Profitable Reflection. Verily, As

Saith James, In His Epistle, The Tongue Can No Man Tame; It Is An

Unruly Evil, Full Of Deadly Poison."

  

 

"Methinks Then," Said The Knight, Smiling, "Thou Hast Performed An

Achievement Which Holy St. James Himself Might Deem A Miracle, For The

Good Dame's Tongue Is Tame Enough At Present."

  

 

Master Prout's Demure Features Ventured As Near To A Smile At The

Jest, As His Principles Would Permit, And Then Approaching The Woman,

He Unfastened The Stocks, And Allowed Her To Withdraw The Imprisoned

Members.

  

 

"Good Woman," He Said, "Thank This Noble Knight For Thy Deliverance,

And May This Be The Last Time That These Wooden Bars Shall Contract A

Friendship For Thee."

  

 

So Spoke Master Prout, With A Twinkle Of The Eye At The Knight, On

Account Of The Good Thing Which He Fancied He Had Said, And The Woman

Lost No Time In Extricating Herself From Durance. Her Face Was

Crimsoned With Blushes; She Dropped A Curtsey To The Knight, And

Hurried Off With Her Husband.

 

  

"Master Prout," Said The Knight, As He Turned Away, "Accept My Thanks

For The Courtesy, And Believe Me That Thou Hast Made Me So Much Thy

Friend,