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

Begged Him To Intercede With The Savage.

 

  

"I Have Done So Already," Answered Philip; "But He Will Not Listen To

Me, And Has Deprived Me Of My Arms."

 

  

"Speak To Him Again--He Will Regard What You Say. Save My Life, And I

Will Make Recompense A Thousandfold For Any Wrong I Have Done You Or

Him."

 

  

The Pequot, Smiling, Stood By, Quietly Listening To The Colloquy, And

Before Philip Could Address Him, Said:

 

 

"Did Sassacus Promise His White Brother To Let The Dog (Pointing To

Spikeman) Run Away?"

 

  

"You Did; But Care No More For Your Word Than If You Were No Chief."

  

 

"My Brother's, Is A Pappoos Speech. Sassacus Never Broke His Word; He

Only Tried Whether The Dog Was As Brave As He Was Bad. White Man," He

Added, Turning To The Assistant, "Thou Art Free. A Great Chief

Disdains To Give Thee The Death Of A Warrior. Go Back To Thy People,

And Tell Them What Return The Sagamore Of The Pequots Makes For Thy

Breach Of Hospitality. His Promise To His Brother Saves Thy Life This

Time. But, Beware! A Sagamore Does Not Forget. Be A Snail That Keeps

Its Head Within Its Shell. If The Snail Puts It Out, Sassacus Will

Step Upon It. Depart."

  

 

He Gave Directions To A Couple Of His Sanops To Conduct The Assistant

To The Verge Of The Forest, And, Turning Away, Walked To His Lodge. He

Was Followed By Philip, Who Had Now Recovered From His Amazement, And,

Understanding The Conduct Of The Chief, Felt Ashamed At His Own Want

Of Discernment And Distrust.

 

  

"Is My Brother Satisfied?" Inquired The Pequot.

 

 

"Sagamore," Answered Philip, "I Wronged Thee. It Shall Be A Lesson To

Make Me More Cautious In Judging Of Thy Actions."

 

  

"It Is Well. My Brother Will Hereafter Remember That The Thoughts Of A

Chief Do Not Always Shine In His Face Or Sound In His Words. My

Brother Will Forgive Me," He Added, Smiling, "For Shutting His Eyes A

Little While Very Tight. It Was That My Brother Might Be The More

Pleased When He Opened Them."

 

 

"A Trusty Friend, This Indian, After All, In His Way, (Thought Philip,

As He Gazed On The Face Of The Pequot, Which Had Settled Into Its

Usual Gravity), And Loves A Jest, Too. Who Would Have Thought It?

Methinks He Has The Better Of It With Master Spikeman, Though I

Misdoubt If He Considers The Score As Settled."

 

  

As For The Assistant, Thus Suddenly And Unexpectedly Reprieved From A

Shocking Death That Seemed Certain, He Was Stupified At The Abrupt

Change In His Circumstances, And, As He Hurried On, Half Doubted

Whether It Were Not A Dream. As He Threaded The Intricacies Of The

Wood, He Had Time To Compare And Weigh Events, And Was Thus Enabled To

Come To Some Sort Of Conclusion. He Recollected Now Many Little Things

In The Conduct Of Prudence, Which Would Have Opened The Eyes Of Any

One Not Blinded By An Absurd Passion, And Saw How, While Seeming Not

Averse To His Pursuit, She Had, In Fact, Only Tempted On From One

Folly To Another, Until His Whole Being Lay Disclosed To Her, Without

Herself Making Any Corresponding Return. He Doubted Not That She Had

Been All The Time In Correspondence With Joy, And With Him Had

Concerted The Plan Whereby He Had Been Betrayed Into The Hands Of The

Savage, To Be Outraged And Mocked, And Made To Suffer All But The

Bitterness Of Death. He Gnashed His Teeth With Rage As These

Reflections Stormed Through His Mind, And, Far From Being Grateful For

His Deliverance, Resolved To Exert The Whole Force And Subtlety Of

Which He Was Capable, To Revenge Himself On His Tormentors. The Fire

Of His Indignation Burnt Not So Fiercely Against The Pequot, Yet He,

Too, Was Embraced In The Schemes For Vengeance, For Spikeman Fully

Comprehended, From His Parting Words, That The Enmity Betwixt Them

Could Be Satisfied Only By The Destruction Of One Or Both. Turning All

These Things Over In His Mind, He Quickly Formed A Plan, Which He

Determined To Put As Soon As Possible Into Execution.

 

  

The Dawn Broke Before His Guides Left The Assistant; But It Was Too

Early To Venture To Return Home, Instead Of Which, He Sought His

Store-House, And There Passed, Meantime, Awhile, Brooding Over Schemes

Of Revenge. Of Himself He Was Powerless; It Was Therefore Necessary To

Set Other Forces At Work, And, In The Letters Which Had Been Received

Reflecting On The Character Of The Knight, He Thought He Saw The Means

Of Driving, Not Only Him, But Arundel Also, Out Of The Colony; And

They Being Once Removed, He Trusted To His Ingenuity To Rid Himself Of

The Simple Soldier And The Indian. The Political Power Of The Colony,

In Short, Was To Be Compelled To Effect His Private Designs. This, In

The Condition Of The Little State, Was No Difficult Enterprise. In A

Strange Land, Hemmed In By Savages, Whose Power They Were Unable To

Estimate With Any Degree Of Certainty, And Who, However Contemptible

Singly, Were Formidable By Reason Of Their Number--Upon Whose

Friendship They Could Never Securely Rely--On The Eve Of A War,

Probably, With The Taranteens--Distrustful Of Even Some Of Their Own

People, Who Murmured At The Severity Of The Discipline They Were

Subjected To--The Government Felt That They Had Need Of All The Eyes

Of Argus, And Of As Many Ears, To Guard Against The Dangers By Which

They Were Beset. They Were Like, In One Respect, To The Timorous

Rabbit, Snuffing The Faintest Hint Of Danger In The Breeze; But Unlike

Him In That, They Sought Safety, Not In Avoiding, But In Anticipating

And Confronting Danger.

  

 

"Dear Life!" Cried Dame Spikeman, As The Haggard Face Of Her Husband

Presented Itself In The Morning, "Where Hast Thou Been All The Night?

You Look Mightily Cast Down, And--O Lord! Heaven Forgive Me!--You Have

A Wound On The Side Of Your Head. Husband, What Is The Matter?"

 

  

"Why, Dame," Answered The Assistant, "Is It A New Thing For Me To Be

Absent One Night? Bethink Thee How Often My Occasions Call Me To The

Plantation?"

  

 

"Out Upon The Weariful Plantation! O, Sweetheart!" Said The Jealous

But Fond Wife, "I Like Not These Absences. But, How Got You This

Hurt?" She Inquired, Parting His Hair On The Temple, And Exposing The

Dried Blood.

 

  

"It Is Only A Scratch I Received In The Forest, And Hardly Worthy Thy

Notice, Dame. But Where Is Mistress Eveline? And I See Not Prudence?"

  

 

"The Young Lady Is Still In Her Chamber, And, As For The Waiting Maid,

I Heard Her But Five Minutes Since Singing Away As If There Were No

Music In The World But Her Own. Truly, It Sounded More Like A Snatch

From Some Profane Ballad Than A Godly Hymn. I Will Tutor Her About

This Levity. Now Do Not Be Angry, Dear Life," Added The Dame, Whose

Heart Was Made More Tender, And Her Tongue More Communicative, By The

Anxieties She Had Suffered During The Night, On Her Husband's Account;

"But I Have Fancied That You Looked At The Girl Oftener, Sometimes,

Than Was Becoming In A Man Who Had A Wedded Wife Who Never Said Him

Nay."

  

 

"Fie, Dame," Said The Assistant, Laughing, And Pinching, And Kissing

Her Still Tempting Cheek; "What Crazy Fancies Be These? Consider My

Years, And Profession, And Dignity, And, Most Of All, My Love For

Thee. Why, This Is Very Midsummer Madness."

  

 

"I Suppose I Am Foolish," Replied The Dame, Wiping A Tear Away, "But I

Feared, Lest The Girl Might Derive Some Encouragement From It, Though

Otherwise, Prudence Is A Good Lass, And Obedient, And I Have No Other

Fault To Find With Her; But I Recollect Now, When I Was A Girl, How I

Did Feel When You Came Near Me, And I Have Not Got Over All These

Feelings Yet, Nor Do I Choose That Prudence Should Have Them. So, Dear

Husband, It Were Safer For The Girl That You Should Look Oftener At

Me, And Less At Her." 

 

 

"My Good, And Faithful, And Loving Wife!" Exclaimed The Assistant,

Enclosing Her In His Arms, And Feeling Something Like Compunction At

The Moment, "You Deserve A Better Mate. But Trouble Not Thyself With

Such Misgivings. Do Not This Wrong, Sweet, To Thine Own Charms, And To

My Profession And Station, As One Of The Congregation And A

Magistrate."

  

 

"Nay," Answered The Pleased Wife, "I Distrusted Thee Not So Much As

The Presumption Of The Damsel; And If The Devil Goes About As A

Roaring Lion, Seeking Whom He May Devour, As We Know He Does, From The

Precious Book, What Place Is More Likely For Him To Be In Than These

Awful Woods, Filled With Red Heathens, Whom I Take To Be Little Better

Than His Children; And Whom Would He Sooner Devour, Than A Pretty

Maiden Like Prudence?"

  

 

"Enough Of This, Dame," Said The Assistant, With Difficulty

Suppressing A Smile At His Help-Mate's Simplicity. "Bethink Thee, That

Though Thy Loving Words Are A Feast To The Spirit, The Body Requires

More Substantial Fare?"

  

 

"True, And You Shall Have It Forthwith, Although, You Wicked Man, I

Did Sleep Hardly A Wink For Thinking Of Thee." So Saying, The Dame

Hurried Off To Hasten The Morning Meal.

 

 

The Assistant Watched The Countenances Of Eveline And Her Attendant

That Morning At Breakfast, And, In Spite Of The Efforts Of The Former

To Appear Unconstrained, And The Demureness Of The Latter, Detected,

He Thought, Sufficient To Justify His Suspicions. He Doubted Not That

The Girl Had Betrayed His Weakness To Her Young Mistress, And That All

Along He Had Been A Laughing-Stock For Both. "I Will Teach Them," He

Said To Himself, As He Reflected With Bitterness On His Failure, "How

To Offend One Who Has The Power And The Will To Crush Them. The

Banishment Of Her Minion, Who, A Love-Sick Swain, Has Followed Her

Across The Sea, Only To Be Sent Back A Disappointed Fool, Will Answer

For My Young Lady; And As For The Girl, The Slitting Of Joy's Ears And

Nose, And An Acquaintance Of Her Own Pretty Feet With The Stocks, Will

Suffice. It Shall Not Be Said That The Sword Of The Magistrate Was Put

Into My Hands In Vain." 

 

 

While The Assistant Was Busying His Brain With Machinations Like

These, The Opportune Arrival Of Another Ship From London, With Letters

To Himself, Containing Accusations Against Sir Christopher Gardiner,

Filled His Heart With Joy, And Furnished Additional Means To

Facilitate His Purpose. Without Delay, He Took Them To Winthrop, And

Demanded A Private Audience. After Reading The Letters Received By

Spikeman, The Governor Opened His Desk, And Handed To His Councillor

Others Addressed To Himself, And Which Had Arrived By The Same

Opportunity. Greedily Did The Assistant Devour Their Contents, And

Unbounded, Though Concealed, Was His Joy At Finding Them In One

Particular Of The Same Purport As His Own. His Face, However, Was Sad,

And His Voice Mournful, As, Returning The Epistles, He Said--

  

 

"A Grievous Thing Is It, That Hypocrisy, So Finished, Should Walk The

Earth. It Is A Day Of Rebuke And Of Scandal To Us, As Magistrates,

That We Should Be So Deceived."

  

 

"I Am Not Altogether Convinced," Said Winthrop, Who, Steady In His

Friendships, And Prepossessed From The Beginning In Favor Of The

Knight, Was Loth To Think Evil Of Him, "That These Charges Are True.

My Own Letters Mention Them Only As Reports--Thine Speak Of Them More

Positively. Vouch You For The Truth Of Your Correspondent?"

  

 

"There Is No Man More Truthful," Answered Spikeman, Who, Had It Been

Necessary, Would Have Been A Guaranty For Beelzebub Himself. "I Have

Known Him Long. He Has Never Deceived Me, Nor Can I Imagine Motive

Therefor Now."

  

 

"So Fair, And Yet So False!" Murmured Winthrop; "And Yet We Know That

The Evil One Appears Sometimes As An Angel Of Light. I Will Not Trust

In Human Appearance More. What Shall Be Done With Him On His Return?"

 

 

"Let Him Be Sent Out Of The Colony, And They Who Are Leagued In His

Plots With Him," Said Spikeman. "I Understand Now The Wonderful

Eagerness Of Master Arundel To Be Joined With Him In This Embassy.

Birds Of A Feather, Says The Proverb, Do Fly With Greatest Joy

Together. Out Upon This False Knight, For His Pretended Love Of

Retirement; Upon His Leman, This Lady Geraldine, Forsooth; And This

Squire Of Dames, Master Miles Arundel, Whose Counterfeited Affection

For My Ward May Be Only Another Cloak For Most Pernicious Plots."

  

 

"Thou Art Becoming Suspicious Of All The World. Master Spikeman," Said

Winthrop, Smiling.

  

 

"And Is It Not Time To Be Suspicious, When Those Who Have Been Honored

With The Confidence Of Our Government, And To Whom We Have Entrusted

An Important Matter, Are Discovered To Be No Better Than Landlaufers

And Conspirators?" 

 

 

"Dost Distrust The Good Faith Of The Knight In His Embassy?" Inquired

The Governor.

  

 

"A Bitter Fountain Cannot Send Forth Sweet Water, And Should Even The

Undertaking Of This False Knight Be Successful In Appearance, Would

Not My Suspicion