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HARRINGTON:
A STORY OF TRUE LOVE.
BY THE AUTHOR OF A^WHAT CHEER," "THE GHOST: A
CHRISTMAS STQRvi" "A TALE OF LYNN," ETC.
" Herein may be seen noble chivaJtye, curtcsye, humanyte, fijendlyenei!^
bardyenesse, love, fiiendshype, towardyse, murder, hace, veitue and symtc
Doo after the gcud, and levc clie evjl, and It shall brynge you Co good ftme
and tencmme."— SiB Thomas Malohv : Fnfscc la Mane D'Anksr.
BOSTON :
THAYER & ELDRIDGE,
1860.
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CONTENTS.
[■TEK I —Tap RbIOI op TtHROB
II —The Fencinu School
ni — QlTiKTE SM) T EKOE
ly — MORIEL AND Ea L\
V —La BoSTOh ENVE
"VI— An E 50BE OF THE BeIGN OP TeKKOR,
VII -Eocs
VIH — Thb Suadou of the Huivteb
IX— SCUULAU ABU 'iuiIMER
S— COVIERSATION
XI— VUKTH AND buUTH
XII -iTAHTLINO DFTEL F>1E^TS
Xin—TuE Fairy Pkince
SIV— The Akti Slavery C nventj n
XV— %M
) Pe*.c
X\£— The (jlihf es op the Moov
XVII — NOCTCBBAL
XVni —Thb PuEiTY Pass Thinos Came To, .
XIX— TllE Re AH OP St DOHNbU
XX — ElFLANATlOh'J
XXI— The Bbeakino f the Sfeli
XXII — Intebstitial
XXm —The Bloouin i p the L lt
ZXIV —The Blowino of the Ruse
SX7 — WlTHBBLBB
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VI CONTENTS.
XXVI— A Has of Euned BLnon
XX71I — Petel trint.'!
XXVUI— The bmRATii Mlrninq
XXIX— Hell o\ Heaven Ihhsoivi
XXX —The Hevbt'i of CHEViLiEH
XiXI— WttECK AND L,U1H
XXXir —Herald SaADOWa
XXXHI —The Old ionAiAh Hock
XXXIV— Is LlEEBTV! DEFENCt
XXXV— Pallida Mors
XXXVI— Ij Tkiumfbe
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HAKRINGTON.
As hot a day as ever biased on the lowlands of Louisiana,
blazed once in raid- April on the plantation of Mr. Torwood
Lafitte, parish of Avoyelles, in the fied River region. Per-
haps it was becanse the heat was so unseasonable that it
seemed as if never, not even in midsummer, had there been so
hot a day. One might have been pardoned for imagining that
heat not of this world. Mr. 'William Tasale, overseer to
Lafitt*, was a profane man, but he miglit have been con-
sidered as only a profane poet aiming at the vivid expression
of a mystical dark truth, when, speaking of the day, he said it
was as hot as Hell.
It was the Sabbath, but an active fancy, brooding over the
general condition of man and nature on Mr. Lafitte's plan-
tation, might have thought it rather the Devil's Sabbath than
the Sabbath of the Lord. Through the vaporous atmosphere,
simmering with the heat, swarming with insect life, and reek-
ing with the dense, sickly sweetness of tropic plants and
flowers, the fierce sun poured a flood of stagnant, yellow light,
which lay in a broad and brassy glare over the low landscape.
Teiled by the cruel radiance, rose afar in the west and north
the Pine Woods of Avoyelles, and in the southern distance the
solemn masses of gloom formed by the cotton-woods, live-
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oaks and cypresses of the Great Pa«ottdrie Swamp. The eye
wandering Ijackward from the depths of the morass, saw the
smonldermg file of the atmosphere envelop the enormons
trees, draped everywhere with long streamers of black moss,
and kindle the broad palmetto bottoms, and the multi-colored
lnxnriance of tropical vegetation, which sprang into ranker life
beneath the vivid and sullen ray. The sluggMi tide of the
bayou basked with snaky gleams in the quivering lastre ; the
red mar! of the plantation where mules and negrora wore toiling
painfully under the oaths and blows of the drivers and ovei>
seer, darkly glowed in it ; the bright, rank green of the lawn
before the mansion was afiare with it ; and the mansion itself,
with its rose and jasmin vines drooping around the posts
of the veranda, looked scorched to a deejKr browa ii\ the
hot, thick, yellow, intolerable glare.
Shadows that day were the demous of the landscape.
Shadows of intense and pecnliar blackness, so compact
that they seemed to have a substantial being of their own,
lurked itt the yellow light around and beneath every object. A
dark fancy might have dreamed them a host of devils, disguised
as shadows, and mastered to prevent the escape of a soul from
Hell. Black with a strange blackness, shaped to an ugly gobUn
resemblance of the tiling they accompanied, they were scat-
tered like a host of demon sentries all over the scene, and had
watch and ward of everything. The gaunt, stilted bittern stand-
mg motionless near the water, had his black goblin duphcate
beneath him on the giistermg clay. The mud-hued, warty-hided,
abominable alligator, as be raised himself on his short legs, bad
his black, misshapen, shadow-caricatnre to lumber up with him
on the trodden mire, and it went with him as he took his lump-
ish plunge into the foul bayou. Every plant or shrub had its
Bcra^y imp of shadow sprawling beneath it, and darting and
dodging as if to catch it whenever it moved. Every tree —
cypress, live-oak, sycamore, cotton-wood, or gum, all solemnly
draped with black moss — had its scrawny phantom to toss and
flicker fantastically with the tangled motion of a hundred dart-
ing arms, if the branches or their streamers swayed in the
furnace-breath of the light wind. Every fallen trunk, or log,
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or stnmp, or standing post had its immovable, black sentinel
shape of shadow projected hcyond it, or crouching by its side.
Along the running fences on the plantation ran black, spec-
tral bars on the red marl. In the fields, among the new-
sprung com, Bown with the pain and sweat of slaves, a demon-
crop of shadow mocked with its uglj color and fantastic shape
the green beauty of the pennoned grain. The reeking mules,
panting and straining, with drooping heads, as thej dragged
the groaning ploughs throagh the soil of the cotton fields, or
pulled the clanking harrows over the furrowed rows, had their
monstrous jags of sooty shadow, hke the malformed beasta of
a devil's dream, jerking along with shapeless instroments
beside them. The black drndgea, men and women, plodding
and tottering in the sweltering heat, behind the ploughs,
beside the harrows, or dropping seed into the drills, had
hunched and ugly gobhn dwarfs of shadow, vi^Iantly dogging
their footsteps, and bobbing and dodging with their more
active movements. The bnrly overseer on horseback had his
horsed demon of lubher shadow, which aped his every gesture,
and moTcment, ambling fantastically with hhn hither and
thither among the rows, and grotesquely motioning into
squirms of phantom glee the shadows of the writhing slaves
on whom his frequent whip-lash fell. Up around the planter's
mansion, shadows as fantastical, as black and demoniacal as
these, wavered or lay in the fierce, yellow glow. And among
them all there was none uglier or more seemingly sentient than
one within the room opening on the veranda — a black,
hellion shape which floated softly as in a pool of oil, on aa
oblong square of sluggish sunshine shimmermg on the floor,^
just behind the chair of Mr, Lafitte.
Angry words had been uttered in that room withm the last
few minutes — angry at least on the part of Madame Lafitte,
who sat away from the sunlight, opposite her hasband, with a
table laid with fruit and wine between them. She was of the
euperbest type of southern beauty — and there is no beauty
more exquisite; but now her lovely olive face was dusky white
with fury and agony — its pallor heightened by contrast with
her intense bla«k hair, which she wore in heavy tresses droop-
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10 PEOLOGTJB.
ing almost to tte broad gold ornaments in her ears. Silent
at present, she sat witli her white arms tightly dasped helow
her bosom, which convulsively rose and fell beneath its muslin
folds, and with dilated nostrils, and pale lips curved with hate
and grief, kept her dark eyes, lustrous with passion, fixed on
the evil visage of her husband.
" You are well named," she broke forth again, her voice, a
rich contralto, trembhng with vehemence ; " but yon are
worse than your pirate namesake. Worse than the worst of
that Baratarian crew. Lafittel Lafitte, indeed! You are
worse than he. Worse than Murrell. Worse than anybody.
Devil that you are !"
She paused again, speechless with fury. The tornado which
many thought the brassy flare upon the landscape portended,
had its proper fiilfilhnent m the lagmg whiil of pi jjous withm
her. Mr. Lafitte sat at ease, slowly tdtmg his chair to and
fro, the jewelled fingers of his bi own left feand clasped aiouud
the stem of a ciystal goblet on the fable, bis rijjbt hand
carelessly thrust into a side pocket of his white coat, and re-
garded her with a sardonic smile on his lUrk visage while
slipping to and fro in the Ju^ish pool of !i,,ht upon the
floor, his shadow, like a black timiliir, moved with in oily
motion behind him.
" Anything more, my angel ?" he asked m a soft smooth,
courteous voic«, habitual with him; "any moie epitheti ?
Pray continue. Go on, light of my hfe, go on Indulge your
own Lafitte — -your pirate lover. He loves to hear jou '
Maddened by Ms calm mockery, she did not reply, but kept
her blazing eyes fixed upon his face. A weaker man th in
Mr. Lafltte might have shrunk from thit gize But its
burning fire was wasted on his eyta as fiarae upon asbestos
Strange eyes bad Mr. Lafitte—true tokens ot the nature
which else his other features might have betrayed leas suiely
His form was muscular and manly, and his face, though dark
and sinister, might have been justly called handsome, if only
for the richness of its brunette complexion Daik, wavy
auburn hair, which he wore long, and a thick moustache of the
same color, drooping over the mouth, conferred a ceitaan
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FBOLOGTIE.
11
lordly grace upon the countenance. The nose, not finely cnt,
was bold, aquiline, and deeply carved in the nostrils, and the
line of the jaw and chin was vigorous and masterful. In the
full visage, Huffused with the dense and sultry glow of a highly
■vascular organizaHon, tropic passions basked in strong repose.
But the motor passion of all was evident in the eyes. Lai^
eyes which at a yard's distance might have seemed grey, but
nearer were tawny and flecked with minute blood-specks.
Steadfast, watchful, glossy, unwinking eyes — without depth,
without sympathy — obdurate, rapacious and cruel — they con-
tirmed the expression of the receding brow above them,
which, broad and full, with a marked depression down its
centre, was thus divided into two lobes, and bore resemblance
to the forehead of the tiger. A physiognomist, looking at
that face, would have declared Mr. Lafitte a man organized
for ferocity as the beast he resembled is organized. A believer
. in the doctrine of tfansmlgration might have beid that the
spirit of a tiger dwelt in his frame, ajid looked out of those
tawny, blood-specked orbs.
It looked out of them now as with a feline playfulness he
spoke his smooth taunts, mea.nwhile swaying slowly to and
fro in his cbair, as though balancing for a spring.
" Go on, my beautiful one," he continued. " Favor me
with more of those choice similitudes. Choice ? And yet —
as a matter of taste, my angel, purely as a matter of taste —
that phrase — pirate, though bold and graphic, I admit,
might be artistically improved. Corsair, now. What do you
think of corsair ? Is not corsair better, more poetical, more
Byronesque ? Yes," he went on reflectively, as though the
proposed change were a matter of vital seriousness, "yes,
corsair is a finer word. Soul of my soul, let it be corsair.
Suffer Lafitte to be your Conrad ; you shall be his Zuleika.
Have I ' one virtue,' my Zuleika ? You will readily concede
me the ' thousand crimes,' I know, but have I the ' one
virtue ?' "
"Why," she wailed passionately, taking no heed of his
badinage ; " why am I treated thus 1 Why am I kept here
on this hateful plantation, in this remote parish, without life,
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12 PKOLOGUE.
without sodety, without pleasure of any kiad. Xothing but
this routine of dull farm life. Nn faces but your servajits'
and your overseer's around me. No company but these
planters, these planters' wives, these planterb' dauf^htera, these
people that ride over here sonietimes, that I fatigue myself
with visiting, that I care nothing about, anyway. Bad
enough to come here once a year for the hot months — but
three years, winter and summer, have I spent here. Three,
Lafitte. Not once have I been in Kew Orleaus for three
years. Not once near the house where seven years of mar-
riage with jou were endurable with friends, with society, with
life, with pleasures, with things I cared for, and whieh diverted
me. Cat off from thera all. You go when you please.
Weeks, months, yoa are away, and leave me here sick, mad,
frantic with ennui. Here, up the river, alone, what have I
here to enjoy V
" Here, my Josephine," he repUed, in an unruffled voice ;
" here, do you ask ? What have you here E Here you have
books, novels, without end, music in reams, yoar guitar, your
piano, this elegant simplicity, this charming country prospect,
your own sweet thoughts, the pleasures of imagination, the
pleasures of memory, the pleasm^s — yes, even the pleasures of
hope. And then, too," sinking hia voice to a softer tone,
while his smile became a shade more sardonic and his eyes
more cmel, " then, too, you have me."
"You," she raved, her pallid fece convulsed with the
refluent' fury, and her eyes flashing. " You I Yes, I have
you. Whom I hate, whom I loathe, whom I abhor 1 Yes, I
have you ; you who torture me."
"I who torture you?" interrupted Mr. Lafitte blandly,
" And yet, my angel, they say we are a model couple. They
are never tired of talkmg of my unvarying gallant courtesy to
you. You, yourself, could not name this momeot in a court of
law one word or action that would seem incompatible with the
tenderest affection for yon."
"I know it," she moaned. "Yes, that is the misery of it
I am insulted, I am profaned, I am outraged, I am tortured
till J could go mad, or kill myself; and it is all done — my
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13
God ! I know not how. Done with smoothness and calmness
and courtesy ; done with eivility ; done with sweet stabbing
words. Others could only see the sweetness ; none but I can
feel the stabs. But they kill me daily, and yon know it.
Subtle and sweet is yonr cruelty to me — crnel, cruel devil that
yoa are I Cruel to me, cruel to your slaves, cruel to every-
" Crael to my slaves, eh," said Mr. Lafitt*, tranquilly, his
voice still equable, his face still weai-ing- its sardonic smiie :
" Cruel to you and cruel to my slaves, Antony, for example."
" Yes, Antony," she replied, speaking m a calmer voice, as
of one whose sufferings, whatever they might be were remote
from her, or as nothing to her own 'Antony is one I saw
the wretch just now, as I went donn to tht calimf. There
you have him backed in this seorclun^ heat, his head blepdmg
where you and Tassle beat him with your whipstorls, and the
flies tormenting him. Is there another planter in the pan^
that wonld treat that boy so ? No w onder he ran away, like
his bijother before him. He might as weD be m H(,1I a*, on this
plantation. Thej m^ht all as well be m Hell — as they are.
Sweltering in the cotton-fieid, ou a Sunday, too, there they
are, fifty miserable wretches — ^hark, nowj Tassle is laymg it
on to some of them. That is the howl of some of the wenches.
Listen to that 1"
Softened by the distance, but heard distinctly in the sultry
stillness, came up from the cotton-fields a confusion of dismal
screeches. Madame Lafitte sullenly listened, till they wailed
away, the planter meanwhile calmly drinking his goblet of iced
claret, and then filling the glass again from a slender bottle
standing in a cooler on the table,
" These are the sounds I have to listen to, day after day,
and year after year," hoarsely murmnred Madame Lafitte, her '
bosom heaving convulsively above her clasped arms, and her
eyes burning with dark fire in the pale gloom of her face.
"Every hour in the day they come from the field. All
through the evening from the gin-house. Day and night, ^
night and day, the yelling of those unhappy creatures is dinned
into my ears. That is my music."'
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14 PEOLOOnE.
Mr. Lafitte, who had resnmed his former attitude, and waa
still tilting his ehajr, paused, witli his eyes fixed upon his wife,
and shook with long, silent, deyilish merriment, hie black
familiar wobbling meanwhile in the pool beneath him. Then,
in his softest, smoothest voice, he began to curae and swear, if
what was rather a flood of profane exclamations may be so
described. Alt names held sacred, grotesquely conjoined with
secular names and titles, and poured forth in fluent and rapid
succession, composed the outfiow of a profanity inexpressibly
awful, both from its nature and from the smooth and serene
tones ia which it found utterance. Madame Lafitte listened
to him aghast, for she had never heard this from his lips
before, and a dim, blind foreboding that it portended some
horrible change in his attitude toward her, filled her soul.
Eading it presently in another spasm of chuckling merriment,
as if what seemed a mere depraved desire for blasphemy was
eatiefied, Mr. Lafitte took up the conversation,
" It is positively delightful, Josephine," he remarked, " to
hear you lamenting the trouncing of the dear negroM, 'But,
not to dwell upon this touching outbreak of philanthropy, per-
mit me — for I feel refreshingly wicked to-day — ^permit me to
ask you, my angel, if "you know what made me marry you ?"
She looked at him for a momeut with a face of mingled
wonder, scorn and loathing.
" What made you marry me ?" she repeated, " your love, I
suppose — at least, what jou cail love."
" Indeed, no Josephine," he coolly replied. "It was not love
at all. What makes a man keep a mistress ? For that wafi
it, and nothing more."
At this atrocious declaration, Madame Lafitte, the very in-
most temple of her soul profaned and defiled, as it never had
been till then, bowed her head in an agony of shame.
" Yes, Josephine," he continued, " that was it. You were
a queen of a girl when I first saw you. Toung, innocent, gen-
tle, enchanting, the most beautiful woman then, as I think
you are now, that I ever beheld, and though your family was
poor, you were accomplished as few of your sex ever become.
I wanted you for one of my mistresses, and I got you at the
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PEOLOGUK. 15
little expense of a marriage ceremony. A strict moralist
miglit say that, at best, you were only my- -all, tiie coarse
word 1 but in this country you are called ray wife. And,
apropos, do you know what they call this anion of ours, con-
tracted on my part from such a motive ? They call it holy
matrimony."
Mr. Lafitte, with a negrine ptchiA, went off in a spaam of
devilish merriment, keepmg liis eyes fixed on the ijowed and
pallid face of the woman opposite him,
" You were in love with young Eaynal when I married
you," he continued, " and you were bullied and badgered by
your amiable family into wedlock with me. Of that, however,
I will not speak now. But suppose, Josephine, that you wish
a divorce. How are you going to get it ? On what grounds J
Now apropos of my mistresses : by the law of Louisiana, were
yon false to me, I could get a divorce from you. By the same
laws — oh, how I love them ! — you could only get that divorce
from me if I kept my mistress in your dwelling, or publicly
and openly. Suppose you emigrated to another State where
they grant divorces on the ground of the husband's infidelity.
Could you get a separation then ? No. Why not ? Because
you have no evidence, and I have taken good care that you
can have none. Ha 1 my dear, what do yon think of your
"My God, my God !" she moaned, "what have I done
that I should bo outraged thus ! How have I borne this life
—how can I bear it t I tell yon, Laiitte," she cried, raising
her voice, hoarse with anger and agony, into a h^her key,
and throwing out her arms with a furious gesture, " I tell you
that this life is Hell. I know now, what I wondered when I
was a child — where Hell is and what it looks hke. It is here
and it loofe Uke this. This is one of its chambers, and this
one of its mansions. These walls, those books, those pictures,
this furniture, that fruit, that wine, they all belong to it.
Those are its flowers clambering around the windows — this is
its light and these are its shadows— this scorching heat is the
heat of it, that sun is the sun of it, these slaves swelter in it —
I. a slave like them, am tortured m it, and you are the fiend
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iO PKOLOGtrai.
of it, hard, cruel, sensual, heartless, pitiless devil that you
, Flinging her arms together again in a convulsiTe clasp on
her bosom, her frame shuddering, her breath coming and
gomg in quick gasps through her clenched teeth, which
gleamed behind lips deadly white and tensely drawn, she
glared at him with fixed noatrils and flaming eyes, like a beau-
tiful maniac. Save that he had ceased his balancing, that his
eyes were a shade more tigerish, and that his form crouched
slightly forward in his chau-, Mr. Lafitte was as coo! and col-
lected as ever, and his face wore the same sardonic smile.
" Now Josephine," he remarked in a tone more nonchalant,
serene and soft than before, if that could be, " let me close
this delightful conversation by a few brief observations on the
value of opportunity. First, witli regai-d to the dear negroes.
I am a rich, but I have my little desire to be a very rich
planter. Therefore I lay plans for a large cotton crop, on
which, by the way, I have heavy beta pending. In order that
I may have the large crop, which means a great, deal of
money, and in order that I may win my bets, which are con-
aderable, I make the dear negroes work furiously. But in
order that they shall work with due ardor, and lest that ten-
der bond of fidelity and devotion to their master's interests
which the good divines up north expatiate so eloquently upon
— ^Jest that should not snfBcieutly inspire them, I get my ex-
cellent William Tassle to stimulate them with a plantation
whip, and I stimulate them mjeelf with another when I feel
like it, which I often do. And they labor like angels — dear
me 1 how they do spring to it, to be sore ! It is enchanting.
Indeed I get a great deal out of tliem. But in order that I
may get a great deal out of them, I must flog them up hand-
somely at their work, and punish them profusely after their
work if their work has not been what The ardent soul of
Lafitte could wish. Hence the crnelty, as you harshly call it,
my Josephine — hence the flog^ngs, the paddlings, the buck-
ing.^, hence the bowlings that annoy you, my angel, and which,
by the way, I really cannot help, since the black beasts will
make a clamor — unless, indeed, I could induce some of those
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PEOLOGtTB. IT
cursedly ingenious Yankees to iaTent me a patent anti-iiowl-
ing machine for their abominable tiiroats. PositiTelj, it is an
idea, and I must reflect upon it. Bnt see now. In doing all
this, I only avail myself of my legal opportnnities. Could I
do it if I had not my opportunities ? Alas, no. Could I do
it up North ? Alas, no. I should not have my opportuuifies.
I should have to calculate, and circumvent, and plot and
scheme till my poor brain would be fatigued, and then be
bothered and bafled with strikes for higher wages, and ten
hour systems, and God knows what else. Now here, thanks
to our good Livingstone, who was res.liy a fine jurist, I have
a code which gives me all the advantages and puts my black
laborers completely and comfortably under my thumb. They
have no opportnnities, and so they work without wages and
are well flogged into the bargain. I have my opportnnities,
wiiich I improve, and hence they work for me. Ha I it is
charming 1 They get their two plantation suits a year, their
three and a half pounds of bacon and their peck of meal
apiece a week, which is not costly, and keeps them in working
order. They are up early and down late, and so profits a«crae.
Hence the value of opportunities with regai-d to the dear
n^Toes — ^my little exactions of whom wound youi- sensibilities,
my angelic Josephine."
He paused to drink liis claret slowly and refill his glass,
keeping his eyes fixed upon his wife, who sat secretly wonder-
ing what he meant by all this devilish frankness.
" Kow," resumed the planter, " observe again the value of
opportunities in relation to yourself, ma dikre. I marry you.
Good. We live in much elegance, to your soul's delight, in
New Orleans. Good again. But one fine day I bring you
up here, and here I keep you, where you don't want to stay.
Why do yon stay, then ? Ah I the beautiful social system
gives me the opportunity to make you. Could you bring me
up here? Oh, no. Could you make me stay? Oh, no.
The beautiful social system does not give yon that opportn-
" No," she cried, " it gives me nothing."
" And why ?" he continued. " Is it because you are
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18 PEOLO&TJE.
morally, mentally, or in any way, my inferior ? Oh, no,
"Why, then ? Simply because you are a woman. You are lesa
than I by virtue of yonr eex, my angel. Ha ! it is curious.
The beautiful social system makes you something like my slave,
dear wife. I bring my negroes here, and I bring you here.
None of you want to come, but you can't help yourselves, and
so come you do. Butmyntgioes cannot bring me here. No.
Nor can you bring mc here No Do my negroes run away f
I set Dunwoodie's hounds aftei them and run them down.
Do you run away? That dejr old Mrs. Grundy sets her
honnds after you, and runs you down Ah I"
He paused to drink a little tliret keeping his eyes fixed
upon her face,
" Meanwhile," he puraued, "I keep you in perpetual tor-
ment, as you say. Try divorce. You have no cause in law,
for I take care to give yoa none. My bttle, delicate, subtle,
intangible, polite aggravations — all my skillful outrages and
profanations of yonr sonl and body, which di'ive you mad, or
kill you slowly like poison, are not recognized in law. My
courteous, maddening words and actions, which work, it is
true, the effect, and worse than the effect, of the most brutal
physical cruelty — they a.re all perfectly legal. It is doubtful
whether they could even be stated for the purposes of a
divorce suit. They are so subtle, so veiled in good nature,
courtesy, kindness, legality, that if they were stated, people
probably would laugh at yon, and think you dishonest or
deranged. At all events, though they slowly madden or mur-
der you, they constitute no breach of holy matrimony."
" They do," she cried. " I do not care what the law says;
Each matrimony &s I live in is not holy. It is "
" Ah, no, dear Josephine," he interrupted. " Decidedly
you are wrong. Go to court — swear that yon hate me, loathe
me, abhor me — swear that life is insupportable with me, and
plead for release, and the blessed old law will tell yon that
you are living, and must Kve, in holy matrimony ! Go to any
southern State — go to Soutli Carolina, and state my refined
and delicate cruelty. Why, Judge Somebody or other, in the
next State, boasts that it is the unfading honor, as he calls it.
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PEOLOauB. 19
of Sonth Carolina, that she never has granted a divorce for
anj cause whatever. Well, go North — go to Kew York, for
instance. Why, their great Panjandrum np there, the ' Tri-
bnue ' man — what's his name — Greeley — he will tell you that
you are hving, and mast hve, in holy matrimony. Bless him I"
said Mr. LaBtte, piously. " I love him. I love him well. I
hate him for his AboUtionism : I love him for his views on
holy matrimony. I hate him because he tries to weaken my
power over my slaves : I love him because he tries to
strengthen my power over you, my angel. So do the rest of
them. Go to any State you like, and they will all tell you that
yon are hving, and must live, in holy matrimony. Every one,
except that naughty, nanghty Indiana. Ah, the bad State !
The wicked, wicked State, that says a discordant marriage is
hell, and saves people from it at the expense of holy matri-
mony ! But you couldn't go there even with your complaint
of cruelty, for you haven't a single witness — not one; and if
you had, you wouldn't go there, and presently I'll tell yon
why. Meanwhile, the result is, that there's no help for you any-
where. As for alleging any little infidelities on my part, that
is clearly absurd. Thanks to our good Edward Livbgstone's
code, you can get no testimony from the yeliow girls, for
slaves are not witnesses, you know, in law; and as for getting
any legal testimony on that point, that I take care you can't
get, and your convictions are not evidence, my angel Then,
too, observe how the beautiful social system favors me. My
little gaieties are reported, for instance, in New Orleans,
Well, society does not taboo me. Mrs. Grnndy smiles blandly
npon me still. The men laugh, and say, ' Ah, Lafitte, you
gay dog 1' The women are soft as cream, and sweet as sugar.
Wiiercas you — suppose even a whisper of that sort about you
— even an idle rumor — ah, what a fine howl I You are quite
finished at once, my dear."
He shrugged his shoulders, and elevated his eyebrows with
a giimace of mock pity, keeping his carnivorous eyes still fixed
npon the raging silence of her face.
" And now," he went on, " why do I keep you here ? Why
do 1 torture yon daily ? I answer — are yon listening, my
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cherished one ?— I answer that it is my little vengeance,
Harken, Josephine. You aTid that handsome yonng JRaynal
were in love with cactL other whea I first saw you. Tou were
both poor, Rayual has got rich since, but he was then poor
as charity. I, on the contrary, was wealthy, and your family
wouldn't let you marry Eaynal, but were anxious that you
should marry me, for they wanted to make a rich match for
you. You Uked me well enough then, for you only knew the
best side of me, which the ladies say is ehanning; but you did
not loTC me. I pressed my suit, however, and your femily
worried and drove yon— poor young girl of fifteen, that you
were — ^tilj, unable — for I will be strictly fair to you, Jose-
phine—unable to resist longer, you yielded, and I got you."
"Yes, you got me with a lie," she passionately cried,
" Never would I have yielded, had you and they not hed me
into believbg Eaynal had abandoned me and engaged himself
to another."
" Oh," returned Mr. Lafitte, with a leer, " you have found
that out, have you ? No matter. I got you, and you dis-
covered your mistake in yielding as time passed on. Then,
the year before I brought you here, when you were in much
suffering — for I will be just to you, Josephine— you and
Kaynal had a little correspondence. Ha I you thought I did
not linow it 1 But I found it out. Your treacherous young
Creole wench sold me your secret, and I took copies of every
letter you wrote before I let her carry them to Rayuai. I
took copies also of his before they went to you. They are all
eloquent, and I love to read them. And they put you both
in my power, my lady 1"
He saw that the blow struck home. She sat mute and still
as marble, hat all expression had gone from her face; the fire
had faded from her eyes; her arms, still clasped on her bosom,
were relaxed; and her bosom had ceased to heave. The
planter watched her with an infernal smile on his dark
visage.
" With those letters m my possession," he continued, "yon
could not seek release even in Indiana. For writing them, you
have to be tortured most exquisitely till you die, as before you
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PEOLOGtJE. 21
wrote them, yon bad to be tortured for having loved Raynal.
And yet, Josephine, I beUeve yon and Raynal to be people of
honor, and, though you loved, to have written those letters
with innocent hearts. You were in loveless suffering, and yoa
waated the consolation a friend could give, and which Raynal
gave. See how justly I state it I I will go further — I will
admit that the letters are snch aa two friends might have
written t I tl Ihere is really nothing wrong in them.
But they 1 11 f pa..sagea which are too equivocal to be
read in ut f 1 w There innocent words are made to
seem gu Ity A 1 th se letters, without much twisting, would
convict y u f jn 1 mfldelity, my beloved Josephine."
He !o Led at b th fiendish enjoyment, but she sat etill,
and her fece did not change.
" Ah yes, ma chere !" he observed after a long pause, slowly
beginidng bis rockii^ again, and thus setting in motion the
lurliiag shadow beneath him — " you and that dear handsome
young Raynal are certainly compromised. Still there is one
consolation for you, Josephine. Really a great eonsolatisn.
Namely, that you are reputably married. You have the
honorable position of a legal wife, my dear. Is it not con-
soling ?"
He sat for a full minute sardonically smiling at her. She
did not turn away, nor did her face lose its blank immobility.
"That is your consolation, sweet wife," he continued. " It
IB the Hallo, there 1 Tassle, is that yon t Come in."
He bad the ear of a eat to have heard the steps of the over-
seer coming up the gi'assy lawn. It was a full half minute
before the heavy sluff of boots was audible to an ordinary
ear. Then came their lazy thud on the veranda, and the
overseer lounged in. A short, stocky, burly man, with heavy,
sallow, stolid features. He had a broad, straw hat set back
on his head, was dr^ised in coarse, light clothes, and was
revolving tobacco in his open mouth.
"HaT said Mr. Lafitte, "it is he. Good William Tassle.
Faithful William Tassle. Excellent William Tassle."
The overseer, with his dall eye fixed on the planter, stopped
chewing, and closing his mouth, slowly smiled.
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22 PBOLOGtTB.
" It is hot, my Taasle," blandly observed Mr. Lafitte.
" Hot as— beg pardon, martame " — said Mr, Tussle, chefk-
ing hiraself in a torrid comparison, with a rude gesture of
deference to the planter's wife, who touk no notiee of his
presence. "It singes a man's nostrils to breathe it, Mr.
Lafitte."
" Tes ?" replied the planter, as if the fact were of great
interest. " Then how it must singe that Antony's nostrils,
William. That poor Antony. We must have him up here.
I must admonish him. Fetch him along, Tassle. And Taesle "
— the overseer, who was going, paused — "just bring that iron
collar that hangs in the gin-house. You know."
II,
The overseer nodded, and chewing stolidly, lounged out into
the yard, where stood the kitchen, smoke-honse, and other
outbuildmgs, and going on through the orchard, emerged
upon a bliadliig space where a row of white-washed cabins,
with the gin-hnuiie hard by, glared in the hot %ht. A few
negro children, half naked, with a lean and sickly old hound,
were grouped in the shade of the gin-house. Near them, in
the full blaae of the sunlight, a negro man, in coarbe plantar
tion clothes of a dirty white, sat on the ground in a squatting
posture, feebly shaking his bare head, to keep off the swarm of
insects that tormented him. This was Antony. He was
bound in a peculiar manner — backed, as the plantation slang
has it. The ankles were firmly lashed together— the knees
drawn up to the chest — the wrists also firmly pinioned and
passed over the knees, and between the elbow-joInts and the
knee-pits, a short stick was inserted, thus holding movelesaly
in a bundle of agonizing cramp the limbs of the victim. This
infernal torture — ^practised by the tyrants of our marine on
their Bailors — that class whose helplessness and wrongs most
nearly resemble those of slaves — practised also on wretched
criminals by the tyrants of our jails — Antony had endured
from midnight till now, about two o'clock in the afternoon.
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PEOLOGTJE. 23
Nine years Lafitte's chattel, he liad been badly used from
time to time, and, of late, dreadfully. He hadleamed to read
and write a, little before he had come to the plantation, aad a
week before tlie present time he had picked np a scrap of
newspaper on which was a fragment of one of those declama-
tions about liberty, which southern politicians are fools enough
to be making on aU opportunities, amidst a land of slavM.
The fragment had some swagger about the northern oppress-
ion of the South, which Antony did not understand any more
than anybody else ; but it rounded np with Patrick Henry's
famous " Give me Liberty or give me Death 1" which he under-
stood very well; for from that moment Liberty or Death was a
phrase which spoke like a voice m his mind, urging him to
escape from his bondage. The next thing was to write a pass,
make a package addressed to the house of Lafitte Brothers,
New Orleans, and with this evidence of his assumed mission
endeavor to reach that city, where he meant to emi^^ie him-
self into the hold of some vessel northward bound.
Clad in an old suit of Mr. Tassle'a, which he had taken from
the gin-house, and boldly riding away the night before, on a
mare borrowed from Mr. Lafitte's stables, he had been and-
denlT met on a turn of the road — unacconntabiy met at midr
nigM— by his master and the overseer, who seized him and
found his forged credeutiaJa upon hun. At once, he had been
violently beaten over the head with their whip-stocks driven
back to the phintation, reelothed in his plantation suit, se-
curely bound, and left with horrid threats of torment on the
morrow. The mon'ow had come, and here he was iu utter
miserv, half crazy, and more than half fancymg that he was
in Hell.
Mr. William Tassle, his tobacco revolving slowly m his open
mouth, stood and stolidly surveyed him. A pitiable object,
truly ! His face was bruised and swollen, and from wounds
in his brow and cheek, made by the blows of the whip-handles,
a dull ooze of blood, thinned by his sweat, had spread its stain
over the whole countenance. Around the wounds buzzed and
clung greedy clusters of black flies, hardly driven off by the
feeble motions of bis head, and retnrnmg every instant. His
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PEOLOGTIE.
dark face, ashen grey and flaccid under the crimson stain, and
faint with suffering, wore a looli of dumb endnrance ; his eye-
lids drooped heavily over his downcast eyes ; and his breath
came in short gasps through the bloody froth that had ga-
thered on his loose mouth. His wrists were cut with the tight
cords that bound them, and his hands were discolored and
swollen, as were his ankles. Even the overseer felt a sort of
rode pity for him.
" Well, Ant'ny," said Mr. Tassle, slowly, pausing and turn-
ing his head aside to eject a vigorous squirt of tobacco juice,
which lit upon a small chip and deluged a fly thereon, throwing
the insect into quivering spasms of tortnre ; " you're m for it,
you poor, mis'ble devil. Yer master's goin' to admonish ye, so
he says. Know what that means, don't ye ? It's all up with
yea, Ant'ny."
The dnmb, bruised face, with its bloodishot eyes, feebly
turned up to his for a moment, then dronped away.
"Come, now," said Mr. Tassle, cutting the negro's honds
witi two strokes of a jack-knife, " up with ye."
Antony, suddenly released from his cramped posture, fell
over ; then made a feeble effort to crawl up on his hands and
kneea, tottered, sank down, and lay panting. Mr. Tassle
started with alacrity for the gin-house, the blaclc piccaninnies
scampering and tnmbhng over each other in their scramble to
get away, and the old honnd sneaking after them. Presently
he came back with a bucket of water and a gourd. Antony
raised himself and drank from the gourd ; then sat up, panthig,
but relieved.
" ^trip," said Mr, Tasslo.
Antony tried, and was heiped roughly by the overseer, who
then dashed the bucket of water over his naked body. It revived
him, for he presently began to wipe himself feebly with his
trowsers. In the midst of this operation, Mr. Tassle seized
him, rolled him over li-om the wet ground to a dry spot, and
began to rub his arms and knees vigorously with his horny
Jiand, chewing and expectorating rapidly as he did so. Soon
the arrested circulation began to be restored, and Antony, get-
ting his clothes on, was able to walk up and dpwn in a brisk,
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PKOLOGUE. 25
tottering walk, the calves of his legs loosely shaking, and his
legs trembling with exhaustion.
" That'll do," said Mr. Tasslc, at length ; " you'll be ready
for your aoggin' riglit soon. Here, you dam cues of a rdgg^r,
drmfc a swallow of this. That'll set you up."
Antony took the pi-offered wliisky-flask — Mr. Tassle's pocket
companion— and gulped the liquor. It went to his poor,
famislied heart like ire, and shot some vigor tiirough liis
numbed veins.
" Damned if I aint a philanthroper," growled Mr. Tassle.
" Lettiii' a hell-bent cuss of a sooty nigger drink my wliisky.
Ko matter. Have it out o'.yer hide, Ant'ny, afore snpper
time. Now pick up jt;r feet for the house. Yer master has to
settle with yer."
Antony went OQ to the house, Mr. Tassle following, and
contemplatively regarding, as he spat and chewed, the shaliing
calves of the negro's legs, which he had a chance to do, as the
old trowsers, too short in the first instance, were now split up
the backs, nearly to the knees, and feebly flapped as the slave
tottered on. Antony himself, giddy with his long exposai-e in
the sun, and with the glow of the liquor he had drank, felt hia
poor mind wander a little, and was conscious of nothing so
much as of the queer tattered shadow that bobbed around him,
and which he half fancied would trip him up if he were to try
to run away now.
An indefinite sense, which fell upon him as he entered the
house, and slowiy walked through the passage, that this
guarding shadow had fallen behind and left him, wa^snc-
ceeded by a sense as vague, that the shadow he now saw lurk-
ing in the sunlight on the floor beneath his master's chair,
was the same, and that it had gone on before when he came
into the passage, and would leap from that place and chase
him were he to flee. Dimly conscious of this fancy, he kept
his hot eyes flxed upon the shadow — conscious also of a dread-
ful sullen hatred rising m his heart, and prompting him to
spring upon his tyrant and strangle huB, though he died for it
^crward. Beyond this, he was vaguely aware that Tassle
had put somettiing that clajiked on thetable, and had gone ;
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and tlmt the madame, as he would have called her, was present^
pitting very still, and apparently indifferent to him or anything
tiiat might happen to him.
Suddenly he heard the smooth and quiet voice of his mas-
ter, seeming nearer to him than it should have seemed. .
" Well, Antony, bo it appears that I have a learned nigger
on my plantation. Cousin to the learned pig, I suppose. Did
you ever hear of the learned pig, Antony ?"
" Kever did, Marster."
" Indeed. Then you never heard what happened to him?"
" ifever did hear, Marster."
" Ah ! Indeed I Well, he ran away, and was caught, and
flogged, and bucked, to begin with. Just like you, Antony.
After which he was treated so that he wished he was dead,
Antony. Just as you are going to be, my learned nigger.
Do you understand ?"
"Yes, Marster."
In this coOoqny, Mr. Lafitte's voice was as smooth and
tranquil as though he were promising his servant pleasures
instead of pains, Antony had answered mechanically, in a
voice as quiet and subdued as his tyi'ant's, with the slightest
possible quaver in his husky tones.
" So yoa can i-ead and write, Antony," said the planter,
after a pause.
" A little bit, Marster."
" A little bit, eh ? Yes. Come, now, let's have a speci-
men. Here's the ' Picayune,' with something that suits your
case." Mr. Lafitte took the paper from the table as he spoke.
" A little bit of abolition pleasantry that your British iriends
fling at the South, and this booby editor circulates. Here,
read it out."
Antony saw his master's hand extending the paper to him,
with the thumb indicating a paragraph. Movmg nearer, he
mechanically took the paper. The print swam dizzily before
his eyes, as, with a halting voice, he slowly read aloud what
was, in tact, one of the most pungent anti-slavery sarcasms of
the day ;
" 'From tlie— London— Moroiug Advertiser. One million
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PEOLOGUE. 27
dollars — reward. Kfin away — from — the — subscriber — on the
18t.h August— a likely— Ma^'y.ir fellow (Aiituuy !iOgu,k'ii ter-
ribly over ' Magyar ' wliicii he thought must uivan iiiulntto),
named — Louis^Koshuth, He is — about — 45 — years old-^
5 feet — 6 inches — high. Dark — com-plexioii, marked — eye-
brows, aad — grey eyes.'"
" Not a bad defcription of yon, Antony," interpolated Mr.
Lafitte. " Quite kke you, in fact. Go aiiend."
Antony stammered on, losing the place, and beginning
lower down,
" ' Captains and — masters — of vessels — -are — particularly —
canti oned — against — harboring — or— eonueaiing— the said —
fugitive — on board — their ships — as the — full — penalty — of
the law — will — be — rigoi-onsly — en forced."
" You see, Antony," again interrapted the planter. " You
reckoned, I suppose, on getting off in a ship, when your nice
eehcme got jou to New Orleans. Didn't jon, nij nigger Kos-
suth ? Yon'd be advertised though, and cai^ht, jnst like him.
Go on."
■Unheeding this sally of Mr. Lafitte's cheerful fancy, Antony
went on, losing the place t^in, and getting to the bottom of
the paragraph,
" ' N.B.- — If the— fellow — cannot — be taken — alive — I
will pay — a— reward — of (Antony boggled again over the
' 250,000 ducats' named, and called it twenty-five dollars), for
his—scalp. Terms as — above. Francis — Joseph — Emperor
— of — Austria.' "
" Good," said the planter. " Your scalp, you woolly-headed
cui^e, wonldn't bring that m the market, or I'd have it off, and
your hide with it. Lay the paper down. You read atrociously."
Antony laid the paper on the table, and without lookii^ at
his master, fixed his bluiTed eyes on the floor again.
"Tou see," continued the planter, "how runaways get
served. You have been told both by Tassle and myself that
even if you got North you'd be sent back. We've got a Fugi-
tive Slave Law now for runaway niggers, and back they come.
You go to Philadelphia. That good Ingraiiam— that good
Judge Kane — that dear Judge Cadwallader — they send yon
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SJO PKOLOQUE.
back. You go to New York. Lord ! There everybody
semis joo back ! You go to Bostou. That dear Ben Hallett
grabs you. That good Sprague — that good Coi-tis — all tliese
good people, grab you, as they grabbed that nigger yims, and
back you come. Yet yon try it, you foolish Antony. Your
cursed brother got off &om-, me nine years ago, and so you
think you'll try it too. Fine fellows both of yon. He
leaves Cayenne pepper in his tracks, which plays the devil
with the hounds, and off he gets. But you've had to smart
for him. Ail you've got since has been on his account. Now
you'll get something on your owa. ni teach you to steal my
horse and make off for the river with your forged pass and
package. Do you see this ?"
Lifting his dizzy ey^ to the level of his master's baud,
Antony saw that it held a heavy iron collar with a prong, on
which he read in stamped letters, LArrrrB Bjiothehs, New
Obleans.
" My brother had a nigger that wore this collar once," said
the smooth, cruel voice, "and now you'll wear it. If you
ever get away again, which I'll take care you never will
people will know who you belong to, my fine boy. Kneel
down here."
Antoay felt the sullen hatred seethe up in his heart, and hia
brain reeled.
" I won't have that collar on mo, Marster," he huskily
muttered. " You may kUl me, Marstcr, but I won't have
that collar on me."
" YoQ won't, eh ?" returned Mr. Lafitte, tranquilly. " Oh,
well then, if you won't, you won't. By the way," he pursued,
carelessly taking the paper from the table, and fanning him-
self gently, " do you know how I knew you were going to run
away ? Ill tell you. I was standii^ near the gin-houSe last
night when you came there to steal Tassle's old clothes, and X
heard yon say to yourself—' Now for liberty or death.' Ah,
ha, Antony, you shouldn't talk aloud 1 Tassle and I saw you
go to the stable and take the mare, and then we saddled and
headed you off, my nigger. That's the way of it. Pick up
that paper."
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- Raising his eyes to bis tyrant's feet, Antony saw the folded
paper there where it had been dropped. Approaehiog, he
paiufully stooped to pick it up, when he felt himself seized,
thrown down upon his knees, and the collar, which opened in
the centre on a strong hinge, was around his neck-! He
struggled to free Mu;self, but he was held, and the collar
closed. In an mstant a key of peculiar wards mserted in one
of the cusps of this devilish necklace, shot a bolt into the
socket of the other, and Mr. Lafitte, taking out the key, and
putting it into his pocket, quietly spat in the face of the man
whose neck he had just fettered, and spurning him violently
with his foot, hurled bim backward from his knees with a
dreadful shock over on the floor.
Stunned for a moment, Antony lay motionless on his side.
He knew that his master bad risen, for as he turned his head,
he saw the hideous shadow dart suddenly from the pool, and
Tanish, as though it had entered the planter. On Ids feet
the nest instant, with a dark cloud of blood bellowing m his
brain, he saw with bloodshot eyes, Lafitte standing before
him, with a calm, infernal eiiiUe on his visage, and all the tiger
in his tawny orbs. The next second Madame Lafitte twept,
like a superb ghost, between him and his revenge.
" Stay, Josephine," yelled the planter, his voice no longer
issuing smooth and soft from the throat, but tearing up from
his Inngs in a loud, harsh snarl — " remain here. This entcr-
tamment is for you. You object to the howls of my black
curs. I bring one here— into this room— whose howls shall
split your ears."
She turned, as he spoke, on the threshold of the room, and
advandng toward him paused For one instant she stood,
imperial m iiei beauty her magnificent fonn drawn to its full
he^ht, her haughty brjw coiru'ated her eyes burnmg like
bale-ttres her ontiagtd blood floodmg her countenance with
one vivid cnmion glow The next mstant she strode forward,
and smote him a sounding bnfiec on the face. Then, without
a word and with the step of an empre'Ci she swept from the
LafittctULi d I u]le anli V Im Bi t and tottering hack,
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fell into his chair. Struck I By her ! Before lijs slave !
Glarii^ up, he met the blood-shot eyes of Antony.
" Dog 1" he yelled ; " you are there, are you ! Wash my
spittle from your face with this !"
For" a second, Antony stood holdmg his breath, with the
wine the planter had dashed into his face, dripping from him,
and steaming in his nostrils. For a second afterward, he
stood nnwincing, the fragments of the shattered goblet which
followed, stinging his flesh. The next, his whole being rose in
a wild, red burst of lightning, and the throat of Lafitte was in
his right hand, his left crushing back the hand which had
struck at him with a bowie-knife as he sprung. With his right
knee set solid on the abdomen of the planter, pmning the writh-
ing form to the chair, he saw the devihsh face beneath him
redden in, his gripe, and deepen into horrible pnrple, and
blacken into the visage of a fiend, with bloody, starting eye-
balls, and protruding tongne. Still keeping that iron clateh
of an aroused manhood on his tyrant's throat, he heard the
mad, hoarse gurgle of his agony, and felt the straggling limbs
relax and lose their vigor beneath him. And then yielding to
an unpulse of compassion his master never knew, and which
rose louder than the bellowing voices of his revenge, he
unclasped his hold, and saw the body slide flaccid and gasping
to the floor.
Away, Antony 1 The bitter term of your bondage is over,
and there is nothing now but Liberty or Death for you 1
Death ? Ay, Death in the land of Liberty for the man who
repays long years of outrage with one brave grip on the
throttle of his oppressor ! Death, when the savage planters
muster to avenge their fellow, and drag you down to you
bayou, to shriek and scorch your life away among the sappy
fagots of the slow fire ! Death like this, or else by gnawing
famine, or the beasts and reptiles of the swamp whose beckon-
ing horroi-s soon must close around you ! Liberty or Death —
and liiberty a desperate chance, a thonsand miles away.
He stood for an instant, panting', with a wild exultation
ponriag like fire through his veins. Then snatching the heavy
bowie-knife fi-om the floor, he sprang from the room, and leaped
Ho.led by Google
PROLOGUE. 81
on the veranda just as the overseer, who had come np again
from the fields, had set one foot on the steps to ascend. Flying
against him full sbock, he threw him backward clear and clean
off his feet, and saw Ms head bounce with a terrific concusaion
on the grass as he sped on over the stnnned body. He did not
pause, nor look behind, but flew with the rush of a race-horse
for the swamp. The %ht wind had risen, and the gi-ain in
the fields and the scattered trees on either side, and in the
skirting w'oods beyond, and all the lurking shadows, waved,
and tossed, and lifted under the sultry vault, as he sped his
desperate course, wliile the hot landscape rushed to meet him,
and ran whirling by, closing around and behind him, and scem-
iag to follow as he flew. Across t!ie lawn, its gr^s and wild-
fiowers sliding dizzily beneath him — up with a flying leap
across the fence, which vanished below him— and down with a
light shock on the red plantation marl which rose to meet
him, and reeled from under him as ho bounded on. Away,
with frantic speed, over rows of cotton-plants, bmiscii be-
neath his feet, and gliding from nader him — away, with a
wilder leap, as the loud shonts of the slaves in full chorus struck
his car, and he saw them all, men and women, with open
mouths and upthrown arms, stand with the mules and ploughs
in the field on one side, and vanish from his flying glimpse as he
fled by. Away, with every nerve and sinew despei-ately sti'ang
— with his pained heart knocking gainst his side — with his
held breath bm^ting from him in short gasps— with the sweat
reeking and pouring down his body, and di'opping in big drops
from his face, to be caught upon his clothes in his speed —
with the bright knife, as his last refuge, clutched in his grasp
— with the one thought of Liberty or Death burning in the
whirl of his brain. Past the plantation now, his feet thudding
heavily on a hard, black soil — on, with the swarming Imm of
innumerable insects, mormnrously swirling fay — on, with the
light and rapid current of the hot south wind cool on the pain
and fervor of his face, and swiftly purring in his eare — on, over
rushing gra^ and flowers, and stunted shmbs and butts of
trees — np again with a furious leap over a fence that sinks,
and down again with a heavy thump on ground that rises —
o.led by Google
PEOLOGUK.
on and away at headlong speed over a field of monstrons
stamps, scattering the light chips as he flies— in now with a
bound among the bright-green leaves of a thick palmetto
bottom, and on with a rush throngh the swish, swish, swish of
their loud and angry rnstle, as he crashes forward to the still
gleam of the bayou. Now his feet swash heavily on a grassy
turf that yields like sponge, and water fills his shoes at every
bound. Now the water deepens, and he sinks above his
ankles or midway to his knees, as he splashes forward vrith
headlong velocity, half-conscious and wholly careless in his
desperate exultation that black venomous water-snakes
writhe up behind him as he plunges throagh then- pools.
Now he hounds over a bank of black mire, and swei-ves in his
coarse aa something like a dirty log changes to an alligator,
and lumbers swiftly toward him with yawning jaws. And
now splashing through the green slime of the margm, he
bursts with a plunge into the glistening waters of the bayon,
and swims with vigorous sti-okes, while the gaant bittern on
the bank beyond scrambles away with squawkmg screams.
Swimming till the water shoals, he flounders on agam throngh
slhne to mire, and over another bog of pools and water-plants
and spongy sod, till gaining the outskirts of the dense forest,
and reaching a patch of damp, black earth under an enor-
mous cypre^-tree, he slackens his pace, stops suddenly, and
throwing up his arms upon the trunk, drops his head upon
them, panting and biowmg — and the first mile heat of the
dreadful race for Liberty or Death is run I
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III.
For a few mimites, exhansted with the ten-ifale speed he
had maintained, Antony leaned upon his anna with closed
eyes, his breath suffocating him, his heart painfully tbrohbing,
his limbs aching and tremblmg, and the water dripping from
his clothes and trickling away on the black soil in small
streams. The trees whispered over him as lie panted beneath
them, and their myeterions murmnrs were" the only soniids,
save his own stertorous breathings, that were heard in the
dead stillness. Hecovering his breath m a few minutes, he
lifted his head and turned around, letting his pained arms fall
heavily by his side. He was no longer oppressed with heat,
for the plunge in the bayou had cooled him ; but his whole
body ached not only with the exertions of the last few
minutes, but from the previons tortnre of the buekmg, and
already his strength, heayily taxed by his long abstineiiee
from food (for it was now more than fifteen hours smce he
had eaten), and only sustained by the intense excitement he
had uudei^one, begun to flag. His brain reeled and whirled
still, and his apprehension was confused and dull. G-radnally
he b^an to be more sensible of the sore and swollen condition
of his wrists and ankles, of the smart of the wonnds in his
forehead, and the stinging of the fragiiients of glass in his
face. There was one sore spot in his chest jnst beneath his
shonlder, which for a few moments he was at a loss to account
for, till he suddenly remembered tliat hie tyrant's foot had
etrnek him there when he had kicked hun oyer upon the floor.
At the same iustaiit he felt the chafe of the iron collar on
his neck, and raising his hand suddenly, it stmck against the
blunt point of the prong. Gnashing his teeth with r^e as
the scene in that room rase in his mind, he seized the collar
with both hands, and with a fierce imprecation, strove to rend
it asunder. Bnt the lock remained firm, and convulsed with a
bitter sense of hnmifiation, as he thought of that accursed
badge of his servitude inexoi-ably riveted to his neck, the
miserable man burst into tears.
It was bnt a brief spasm, and summoning np new coura."^
H.r-, ..Google
M PKOLOGUE.
to his failing heart as fie remembered tLat his dreadful jonmey
lay still hefore him, he ca?t Lis eyes aromid into the swamp.
Softened by the foliage of the wilderneBS of gigantic trees, and
duskily lightiflg tie long atreamei^ of melancholy mosa wiiich
greyed their greeB, the sultry smilight, slanting athwart the
enormous trunis, and tinting with sullen briUiaiiee the scarlet,
blue and yellow blossoms of parasitical plants which sprinkled
the holes and branches in thiek-millioned profusion, glistered
on the muddy shallows of the morass, whose dismal leyel,
broken here iind there by masses of shadow, and hr^e bulks
of fallen timber, stretched far away, Uke some abominable
tarn of slash and snds, into vistas of boiTid gloom. Here and
there, stranded on shoals of mire, or basking on pieces of
floodwood, alligators, great and small, smmed theii' bai-ky
hides ; while from every shallow pool, or wriggling around
drifting logs or trunks of fallen trees, the venomous moccasiu-
anakes, whose bite is certain death, lifted their black devilish
heads by scores, and made the loathsome marsh more loath-
some with their presence. Over the frightful quagmire
brooded an oppressive stillness, broken only by the mournful
and eyil whispering of the trees, or by the faint wrig^Ung
plash of the water-sei-pents. Thick, sickly odors of plants and
flowers, blent with the stench of the morass, burdened the
stagnant air, through whose languid warmth chUl breaths
crept from the dank and dense arcades of the forest. Vast,
malignant, desolate and monstrous, loomed in the eyes of the
wretched fugitive, the awful road to Liberty or Death.
His soul shrank from treading it,^ The Ire had faded from
his heart, and in that moment death by his owa hand, for he
would not be captured, seemed preferable to the terrors of the
fea Paint, weak, famished, weaiy unto agony, his whole
body oie breathing ache, his spirit all anneiTed with the sense
of his past and present misery, aud nothing but despair before
Mm, how could he hope to go on and live. Yet he could not
remain here. Soon the hounds would be on his track — they
would cross the bayou he had swam, and strike his trail. He
must plunge still further into the swamp to distance them, or
he must die here by the knife in his hand.
o.led by Google
35
He turned and looked over the bayou far up the lowland to
the plantation a mile away. Saddeuly he started, clutchbg
the knife with a firm grasp, his eyes flashing, his teeth and
nostrils set, and his manhood once again flooding hia heart
with fire. Figures near the mansion — figures on hoi-sebaek,
gnns, flashing in the sun, ia their hands — one, two, three,
four, five, six' — six mounted horsemen — and, lower down on
the lawn, what are those things running in cii-cies ? Hark !
Far off a long, hai-sh, savage, yelling bay. The hnnt is afoot,
and the hounds have stmck the trail ! Away, Antony, for
Liberty or Death I
Eyes flashing, teeth and nostrils set, every nerve and sinew
valoroBsly Strang, he turned with, a leap, and rushed straight
into the morass. Before the headlong, desperate coui-age of
his chai^, the loathsome tenants of the swamp gave way.
Plunging from the floodwood, the affrighted alligator trundled
off, and the startled moceasins slipped and writhed ft'om his
path at the noise of his commg. Hark, again ! Nearer than
before tlie booming yell of tlie hounds. Speed, Antony ! It
is the Sabbath of tie Lord our God, and we hunt you down.
What man shall there be among us that shall have one slave,
and if it fly into tlie morass on the Sabbath day, shall he not
set hounds upon it and iiunt it down ? Speed on, dark chat-
tel ! The good Chi-istians of St. Landry and Avoyelles are
spurring hard upon your trail, and in the land over which the
memory of Christ stretches like the sky, well-doing such as
theh-s is lawfial on the Sabbath as on every other day !
Splashing and swashing on over the slnshy surface of the
qnagmire, now sinking no deeper than the soles of his shoes,
now plashing up to hb shins, now to his knees, now nearly to
his thighs, now bounding upon logs and fallen trunks, or rush-
ing over masses of brushwood and briers, which switched and
stung his ankles, he could still hear, at brief intervals, the
savage yowling of the hounds. As yet there was no safetj',
for the dogs could still scent liis trail, here and there, on the
shoals of mire or elnmps of bog over which he had passed.
His hope was in reaching deeper water, or arriving at some
broad bayoa whicb would effectually impede their course.
o.led by Google
Goaded by his iramincnt peril, for be soon lieard the long
yella much nearer, and knew that the cruel brntes were
rapidly gaining on hira — he floundered frantically on, his heart
leaping in his throat at every howl, and the sweat gathering
in cold drops on his face. Soon, to his great joy, the foul
lagoons began to deepen, the wat«r reaching more uniformly
above his knees, and at length he came upon a space through
which he floundered for more than half an hour, sinking to his
thighs at every plunge, and knew by the confused and
lessenii^ clamor of the dogs, that he was leaving them. He
did not slacken bis pace, though the depth of the water made
it still more difficult to travel, till at last he entered a honid
grove of gloom, where the pyramidal clumps from which shot
up the straight, dark pillars of the cypresses, were submerged
in the inky flood, and sinking above his hipa, he was forced to
move more slowly. Fiercely plunging on through the cold
black tarn, over a soft bottom of leaves and moss, which sank
loatteomely beneath his tread, like a snbfluvial field of sponge,
he heard ^;ain the harsh yells of the dogs, and they now
seemed nearer than before. He strove, but vainly, to move
on faster, and his fancy ran riot as he thought of the bounds
slopping on through the fen, and coming into sight of him.
Already, in his delirious fancy, he heard the wild and savage
yowls of that moment, and the exulting halloos of his pnrsn-
ers. The dogs would leap into the shallow ponds — they would
Bwim faster than he could wade— be would bear their eav^e
panting close behind him— he wonld turn and feel them flop
upon huB, and their sharp teeth crush into his flesh — he would
strike them with his bowie-knife — he would see the black
water redden with their blood — they would overbear him and
drag him down with yelling, and howling, and fVantic splash-
ing and struggling, while the shoutii^ planters wonld come
riding through the swamp and seize him. Lashed into frenzy
hy tne anticipated drama, he brandished the knife, with a
hoarse cry, and staggering forward, suddenly sank to his arm-
pits. An instant of alarm, succeeded by wild joy, for the
water had deepened, and striking out, he swam. Clogged by
his heavy shoes, now filled with mud, and soaked to an added
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PROLOGUE. 37
weight with water, it was hard swimming; but his fear and
fuiy gave him superhuman enei^, awd nerved with unnatural
Tigor his weakened thews. He swam for a long time, with
Wie solemn night of the dense cypress dusking liis form and
shadowing the tarn. At length the dreadful twiiight of the
gi-ove began to lighten, and far beyond he saw the sunlight
illuminating the grey and green of the trees, and the many
colored parasites and flowers, and shining on the mud and
water of the marsh. Presently he struck bottom, and wading
again for a long distance, emei^ed at length into the sunlight,
among the shallows and mad-shoaJs, and rushed on as before, till
at last, as the sun w^s near its setting, he stood on the banlts
of an unknown riyer, which, whispering sullenly past its mav-
^n of sedge and water-flowers, moved, with an imperceptible
motion, through the solemn and horrible wilderness of forest.
He stood gazing across it with a haggard and mournful
countenance. The croak of frogs came faintly from its border,
and mingled with the distant quacking of crowds of mallard
ducks from the opposite shore, the vague hooting of owls in
the swamp beyond, and the occasional plui^ of an alligator
from the adjacent margin. Dreary and ominous soumJs, which
yet hardly disturbed the stagnant stillness around him. The
wind had lulled, and no whisper came from the bearded trees,
which stood hke boding shapes on every side. Hope was faint
in the heart of the fugitive. Relieved from the engrossment
of the immediate peril, his spirit began to come under the sole
dominion of the brooding horrors around him, and as he vainiy
pondered on the dark problem of his deliverance. Death seemed
ever gathering slowly toward hun, and IJberty leseenii^ in ever-
growing distance.
Liberty or Death. The historic phrase came to him ^ain
iike a voice that urged him forwai'd. He paused only a Uttle
longer, to tear a strip from his coarse shirt and tie the bowie-
knife at the bock of his neck to the iron collar. Then tearing
another strip, he pulled olf his heavy brogaris, shook the mnd
oat of them, and passing the strip through the eyelets, he also
secured them to the collar, one on each shoulder. So accou-
tred, he braced himself anew for effort, and taking up a slen-
o.led by Google
3° TEOLOGDE.
der sapling from tbe groimd to beat the pools between him
and tlie bayou— for he now feared tlie moccasins— ill a few-
moments he was in the water, steatliiy swimmiiig forward, with
tlie sapluig held in his teeth.
Gaining the opposite bank, he stopped on a patch of black
mire, to pat on his shoes, and then went forward, beating the
path befoi-e him. Itreadfal apprehensions of the beasts and
reptiles which inhabited the swamp, now crowded on his mind,
while to add to his distress, the sunlight in the forest spaces
was stealing rapidly upward from the fohage of the loftiest
trees. Quickening his pace, he sta^ered on through the
haunted dask of the tree-trunks, witli the hooting of the
swamp owls, the quacking of innumerable ducks, the bellowing
and plungmg of alligators, the scrcecMng and screaming of
strange, semi-tropic birds, the howling of distant beasts, and
the muititudiaous croak of frogs, sounding on eyery side
around him.
He broke into a heavy run, came at length to a thinner
part of the forest, and presently emerged upon a vast open
space of qnagmire, stretching two or three miles away, with
scattered trees standmg and leaning in all directions in its
broad expanse. Here he paused.
The sun had sunk behmd the distant forest, tinging the
misty sky far up the zenith with lowering red, and suddenly,
as by some fell enchantment, the swamp had become a suOen
sloogh of blood. Shadows of inky blackness stretched athwart
the red expanse, and the dUtorted trees that crossed and in-
tercrossed each other here and there, were giant eldritch
shapes of unimagmahle things. Lank and hairy— all askew
and bristling— clothed as with fearful rags-^with monstrous
heads ahunch in unnatural places, and shaggy jags of droop-
ing beards, and dusky arms grotesquely forked and twisted,
and huge ieugths of gaunt body that abruptly splayed and
sprawled in malformed feet— they loomed from the fen of
murky gore against the angry color of the sky, like some
black congress of ambiguous mongrel wizards whose spell was
on the scene. All aromid beneath them, protruding from the red
lagoons, hnge butts of logs, gnarled stumps, and black knees
o.led by Google
39
of cypretffl, squatted and ci-ouched like water-fiends,
the dusky air laden \ritli the damp smeU of the swamp, fright-
ful broTO hals whirled clacking to andtto in the ted hgU lite
lesser demons on the wing. From every side came hootmgs
and croakiQgs, screechings andwailings, howlmgs and bellow-
ings and snllen plunges, hke the riotous clamor of deyiis at
some tremendous incantation. A sense of supematnral horror
peiwaded aU, and weighed upon tile appalled heart of the
trembling iiigitiTe.
He hesitated a few moments whether to moss this dreary ex-
panse or strike off into the denser forest, but decided to go
forward. Whipping a pool before him wliieh did not move,
he was just setting his foot in it, when the Tenomons face of
a moccasin rose at him with a dart slapping fiash. He sprang
back simultaneously, and saw the mjnster yamsh, feehng at
tlie same time a sharp pang jnst aljoTe his ankle. He was
bitten 1 All w-as over 1 , ^ v
Stooping slowly, tvith a wild terror ekuddei-mg through his
Tdns he looked at the wounded Ihnb. But no, there was no
bite ' The snake had missed hun. In his backward leap, he
had strack his leg agamst the upturned spike of a broken
brancli which hij behind him. The revulsion in his spn-it at
this discovery was so great that he broke into a quaver of
hysterical laughter, wiiich echoed dismally thi-ough the swamp,
and woke such an answering chorus of demoniacal hooting
and screeching in the adjacent boughs, that he was affrighted,
and turning away from the open space, he was about to nidi
tato the forest on his daiJt, when he saw with a leap of hrart,
two round ghsteumg balls in the dark fohagc of a tree a few
yards before hun, and something long and dark crouching
alou. the bough. It was a panther I He wheeled at oime
with a bound, and ficd headlong into the red morass.
Eccovcring piisenlly from his shock of alarm, he trudged
aloiw through the mky water, quivering at every step lest he
shoufd feel the sting of the moceusm, or the ci-nnching gnpe
of the ahigator. It was a long journey across tne open fa
Tlie red light had faded from sky and water, and the lull
moon; which had lain like a paUid shell in the heavens wlien
H.,t.db, Google
40
he lete tie forest beLM him, hud deepened into a luitons
orbofalrei .nd glistened on the gta, water <ls 1 e eppoached
the sjhd sable „.looin of the thirk.ooded mldetnei.
An awful fan,, had hannted he, mmd dnima hn ,oar
nej mos, the j, en fen-jmel bnt ™iy awfal A g„anse
man „th a Ei„l, dog ha^l followed hm, at a couB derable
distance the whcle way A st.ange m« alent with a
Silent dos anl plodlmg jnst at that da,lanoe wilhont
oomms or aymg to come an, nearer him He knew that
this was so thongh he iM not due t, tmn hi, held to s»e if
It was so. He knew too just how the man looked— a dark
iism-e with a dark sloneled hat, and the dog, also dark bj lii,
side, just a kttle behmd him. Oh God I
The fanoj fell f,om hhn as he' came under the black trees
again Sta^ermg on tlirough thick darkness, broken only here
and there by an nncertain ghmmer or a pale ray of moon-
hglit, or the blue flicker of a dancing and nnishin, fen-light
ho fonad the water still aukl, or knee deep, and the walking
dilBcult and d.ngerom, with logs and fallen trees and stamps
and masses of buahee and briers, and with the deadly tenants
of the pools. The fen seemed aliye with the latter, and all
about hnn, and m the branches oyerhead, there were such
plmiging! and crashmgs, and sneh a clamor of flntterlngs and
hootmgs and screechmgs, that his blood ran cold He hold
ta eon™, howoTer, hopmg to come upon some dry spot iu the
great swamp where he conld stop and consider what to do to
escape from this dreadihl region. Heat he must have soon for
his bod, was gimg wa, with hunger and fatigue. He was
drenchal from head to foot, and spite of the eiertion of walk-
mg, he almered irith cold. His ritals were weak and .chins
lor want of food ; his head was light with sleeplessness • and
insane fancies ran riot in his terrorgoaded and horror-laden
mmd. One was that his legs, which felt numb and seemed
beuTier ever, time he lifted them, were slowly changin. to
iron, and that he woidd soon bo unable to raise thmn fcr their
weight, and would bo obliged to stand there in the ona^mire
Ilea m the glimmering darkness the moceosina would rise
Irom the pools and snrronnd him in a ch-cle. They would
H.,t.db, Google
PEOLOGUE. 41
gather in from all the swamp around, and pile on top of each
other, mi they made a high, high writhing wall ahont hun of
devilish serpent faces, swaying and briatling, and above them m
the branches aJl the pantliers would gather, savagely giinnmg
at him, and every one wonid have the visage of Lafitte. Then
all at once the writhing wall of snakes would sway forward, and
sWke hhu with a million fangs, and rebound and sti-ike again
with a regular and even motion, while his body would slowly
swell, and his shrieks would ring in the darkness, and the pan-
thers would look on with the face of his master, and laugh
softly with the smooth voice of his master. And the writh-
ing wall would dilate and expand till every snake was vaster
than an anaconda, and the maas together would fall away at
eveiy rebound to a horrible distance, and reach up to the sky,
and his body would swell at every miUion-fanged stroke till its
monstrous bloat filled the dark world, and his shrieks would
nse and resound through apace, and the panthers and the
tigers would dilate with the rest, and look on with enormous
faces like his master's, and their smooth laughter would grow
louder and louder into fmooth thunders of laughter, and the
bristhng and the striking and the swelling and the shriekii^
and the roaring mirth, would go on increasing forever and for-
" Lord God Almighty help me ! I'm going crazy !"
The words burst from hhn suddenly, as he felt the horrible
fancy rush upon him with dreadful reality, and almost master
him. All aghast with a new terror at the fore^ and incon-
gruous effect of his own tones in that haunted darkness, and
amidst the nnhuman voices aromid hun, he was utterly appalled
and confounded the next instant at the fr^htful clamor which
rose with a sunultaneons outburst, volleying tumidtnously
around hun on eveij eide like the multitudinous rush and
uproar of devils when the silence of the magic circle has been
broken and the enchanter is to be torn to pieces. "Whoopmg,
hooting, screaming, wailmg, yelling, whirring, flappuig, cack-
Img, howling, bellowing and roaring— all rose together in a long
coniinned and reverberating whirl and brawl, iilling the dark-
ness with a deafening din. Staggering madly forward, the
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43 PKOLOGUE.
terrified fti^tire broke into a blind and frantic rnn, feeling as
in a hon-ible dream, that the pools Iiad changed to ground which
was sloping rapidly up to strike liim in the face aad stop him;
till at liist witli a sudden lightening of the darkness, something
caught ]ii8 feet and threw him headlong, and with an awful
sense that he was seized, and witli tlie hideons tuitamar swirl-
ing downward like tlie gurgling roar of water in tke eara
of a di'owning man, he swooned away
IV..
Slowly that sluggish sea of swoon gaye up its dead, and life
revived. How long lie had lain in that blank trance, he knew
not. He felt that he was lying on bare, damp ground, and
that the moonlight was aroaud him. The din had sunk into
confiised and broken noises, sounding and echoing distantly
through the darker depths of the moonlit forest, and the air
around him was desolate and still. A. clear, cold, remote still-
ness filled his mind. Gradually a dim sense of the former ter-
ror, mixed with conseiousness of all he had s'ised t u h, and
of the place he was in, began to iuyade h s en a mcy,
and crept upon him as from afar, Shu d nng sli y with
icy thrills crawling through his toipid b oo h w y aised
himself to his knees, and looked around hmi W h ague
relief, which was almost pleasure, he saw ha h is kn eling
on dry ground— a low acclivity sloping from the morass, clothed
with giant trees, and barred with large spaces of grey moon-
light and sable shadow. Behind him was the tough cordage
of a ground-vine, in which his foot was still entangled. Disen-
gaging the lunb without rising from his knees, he continued to
gaze, gradufllly yielding to an overwhelming sense of awe, as
ho took ill. more fuliy the dark and dreadful magnificence of the
forest which loomed before him, like the intei'ior of some infer-
nal cathedi'al. Far away, through immense hregnlar visias,
diminishing in interminable perspective, the ground stretched
in vast mosaics of sable and silver, bunched and ridged with
low flowera and herbage and miming vines, all moveless and
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colorieee in the rich pallor of the moonlightj andin the solemn sha-
dow, as tboagh m'ought in stone. Upborne on the euormous clus-
tered columns of the trees, every trunk rising sheer like a massive
shaft of rougii ebony, darkly shining, and fretted and staiTed
with the gleaming leaves and flowers of parasitical vinos-
masses of gloomy frondage,' touched here and there with sullen
glory, spread aloft and interwove like the groined concave of
some tremendons gothic roof, whUe ft-om the leal-embossed and
splendor-dappled ai-ches, the long mosses drooped heavily, like
black innnmerable banners, above the giant aisles. The air was
dauk and chill, and laden with, tliick and stagnant odors from
the night-bloipving flowers. Fire-flies flitted and giimmei'ed
with crimson and emerald flames ; fen-Iighta flickered aud qni-
Tcred blnely down the ai'cades in the morass ; and all around
from the bordering quagmire, and from the ciypts and vaults
of the shadows, the demon-voices of the region, sounding from
above and below, and rapidly swelling into fall choir, chanted
in discordant choms. Listening to their subterraneaoi and
aerial stridor, which rose in wild accordance with the ghastly
pomp, the horrible and sombre grandeur of the scene, a dark
imagination might have dreamed that some hellish mass in cele-
bration of the monstrous crime against mankind which centered
in this region, was pealing through the vaulted aisles and
arches of a church whose bishop was the enemy of human
sonls. Here, to this dread cathedral, might gather in his wide
and wicked diocese — the millions callous to the woes and wrongs
of slaves — ^the myriads careless of all ills their fellows suffer,
while their own selfish strivings prosper, and wealth and sensual
comforts thrive around them. Peopling the vast and drear
noetnnial solitudes, under the moonlit arches, here they might
come, wMle the screaming, hooting, bellowing chant resounded,
aud kneel, a motley and innumerable couconrse of base
powei-s, in fell communion. Statesmen who hold the great
object of government to be the protection of property in man,
and wield the mighty engine of the state for the oppression of
the weak ; placemen who sock on ofiice, deaf and blind to the
interests of the poor ; scurvy politicians, intent on pelf and
power, who plot and scheme for tyranny, and legislate away
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the inalienable rights of men ; Jesuit jurists, mocliiiig at natu-
ral law, who decree that black men have no rights that white
men are bound to respect ; scholai-s, bastaid to the blood of
the learned and the brave, who prate with learned igaorauce
of manifest destiny and inferior races, to justify against all
human instincts the cruel practice of the oppressor; hide-bound
priests, who would turn the hunted fugitive from their doors,
or consent that their brothers should go iuto slaveiy to save
the Union ; traders and slavers, an innumerable throng, mad-
ravenmg with never-sated avarice, and fiirioas against liberty
and jiatice as lessenera of their gains ; these, and their rabble-
ment of cateh-poles, and jail-bkds, and kidnappers, and men-
huaters, and slave-law commissioners — here they might assem-
ble to pray that their conspii'acy against mankind m^lit
prosper, and love and reverence for the soul die down in dark-
ness, and man degrade into the brate and fiend. Pit place and
time, and tit surroundings for such rites as these ; titter far
than for the tremblmg murmurs of a solitary slave, kneeling
in the dreary moonlight, and poming out the forlorn agony of
his spirit in prayer to the God of the poor.
Some dim association of the aspect of the forest with the
cathedi'ala he had seen many years before when he was a slave
in N^ew Orleans ; some dim sense that he was on his knees hi
the attitude of suppUcation, had mixed with the overwhelming
consciousness of hia helplessness, his wretchedness, and his
danger, and hnpelled him to pray. Fervently, in uncouth
words and broken tones, he poured forth the momtiful and
despaking litany of a soul haunted with horror, encompassed
with perils, and yearning for deliverance. The demoniac
clamor of the forest rose loader and louder as he went on,
breaking his communion with God, till at length, appalled by
the unhallowed din, he ceased, and rising to his feet, uncom-
fortcd and teiTJfied, staggered weakly on his way.
He was very feeble now, and Ma strength was so neariy
gone that he tottered. His setting forward ^ain was a mere
mechanicid action, but it continued for some minutes before
the dnll thought came to him that his movement was useless.
In his agonizing desire for sleep, he tried to climb a tree, where,
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PEOLOGUJi. 45
lodged in a fork of the brancbes, he tbonght he would be safer
and more comfortable than on the ground ; but even with the
adTJuitage of the parasitical viae which covered its trunli, his
strength was not equal to the effort. He was in the kst stages
of exhaustion.
Sitting upon the ground, he resolved to keep awake till
morning, when there would be less darker of wild beasts, and
he m^ht dare to repose. He sat for a long time shuddering
with cold, and watuhing intently all about him, lest some
panther should spring upon him unawares. Once or twice,
with a start of terror, he caught himself nodding ; and at
length, affrighted at the possible coueeqaences of his di-opping
off mto slumber, he strove to occupy his mind by observing
mhmtely the varions details of the scene before him. He had
been busy at this for some time, when he became suddenly and
quietly perplexed with the feeling that there was something he
ought to take notice of, but was anable to remember or define
what it was. All the wliile he was vacantly gazing at the
bole of a gigantic cypress rising from a dense •;lnmp of dwarf
palmettoes, eligiitlj silvered by a faint ray of moonlight, and
from time to time he saw, without receiving any impression
therefrom, a dim vapor glide athwart the palmetto leaves.
Suddenly but qnietly it came to h'lrn that what he ought to
have noticed was a peculiar odor, and startled a httle, he
strove to shake the torpor from his mind, and think. What
could it be ? As suddenly and quietly as before it came to him,
and at the same moment his eye took in the meaning of that
cnrions mist gliding over the palmettoes. It was the smell of
smoke, and yonder was its source. ■ Thoronghly ronsed now,
and vagaely alai-med, he scrambled up on his feet, with a little
strength retmiung to his body, and gazed ui stupefaction at
the misty ringlets lazily stealing across the leaves. It certainly
was smoke ; he smelled now very distmctly the dry scent of
burning wood. Who conld have- a fire in the heart of the
swamp at this time of night? At first, superstitious fancies
rose in his mind, for the thought that any person could be here
with hun was inconceivable. But gradually recovering self-
]ioBEeseion, he resolved, for he was naturally com'ngcons, to go
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46 PKOLO&UE.
forward and solve tbe mystery ; and tailing the knife from the
back of his neck, he cautiously approached the palmettoes, his
blood thrilling, and his heart beating, aud all the forest reso-
nant around him. Peering through the leaves, he saw with
amazement a pile of smouldering embers duskily glimmering in
front of a large hole in the ti-unk. The tree was hollow. A
sort of fright fell npon Mm, and he retreated ; but recovering
instantly, he again advanced, and nerved to desperation, spoke
in a voice taint both from weakness and trepidation :
" Ho, there I Ho, you in there ! Yon there, whoever you
are 1"
There was no answer, nor movement, but at the sound of
his voice, a tremendous nproar burst forth again in tlie forest.
Desperate at this, he agaui spoke in a louder tone :
" Ho, now, you in there 1 Tou just say who you are. I'm
coming in now !"
N r, but the uproar in the branches and from the
w mp ased Uke a tempest. Strung up now to his higliest
P t h A to y clutched his inife, aud setting his teeth hai-d,
I Ion dm through the hole.
It 1 nsely dark within. The immense cypress was eom-
I I t ly 1 11 w, as he could feel, for stretching out his arms be
d nothing. Ee began to grope about, bnt stopped
1 1 ly tbmking it better to get a light. Quit« overcome
by th genesfi of bis discovery, and by the novel circum-
t f fire being found smouldering before an empty tree,
he stooped dowu through the low entrance to the bran*^, and
blowing upon one till it flamed, withdrew himself again into
the tree, and looked around. Suddenly, with a hoarse gasp
of horror, he tottered back, falling from his squatting posture
over upon the ground, and dropping the brand, which at once
went out, leaving him in utter darkness. In that instant he
had caught a glimpse, by the itfal flame, of a lank figure,
duskily clothed, lymg on its back, with a mop of thick white
hair, a leathern face hideously grinning, aud gla&sy eyes which
had met his; and lie felt like one who had entered the lair of a
liend.
So paralyzed V. as ho with afTright, that instead of sci-amLling
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PKOLOGCE. 47
out of the tree, he aat motionless, leaning back on his hands,
with hjp hlood ciirdliag, and cold tlirills ci-aivling under his
hftir. A wild fancy that lie would be instantly sprang upon
by tliie thing, held Mm still and breathle^. But all reraamed
silent and moYeless, and at last, Tentui-ing to stir, he got up
on one knee, and pressed his hands on Ms heart to stop its
mad beatmg. By degrees his courage cams back to him, or,
at least, hie dreadful fear became blended with desperation.
Then came wild wonder at the horrible strangeness of that
figure, and slowly this melted mto a sayage and frenzied curi-
osity. Seizing the smoking brand from the earth, he backed
out through the hole (for he absolutely did not dare to turn
his back to the dread tenant of the caTcm), and, once outside,
blew upon the stick till it reflamed. Waiting a moment till
the light burned strongly, he thnist it through the hole, and
holding it above his head, glared with starting eyes upon the
face of the figure.
He saw in a moment that it was nothing unearthly — only
the form of an aged woman, and of his own race. Instantly
it struck him that she was a fugitive, probably a dweller in the
swamp. Reentering the tiee, he approached and held the
blazing brand over hei countenance With a teirible seasa
tion of awe he saw that it was the countenance of the dead
She lay on a couch of the forest moss, her gamit figure
decently composed, with the hands cro'ssed, as if she had
known that she was dymg She was appaieutly very old, the
woolly hiur was white , the blick face was deeply wrmkled,
and much emaciated, the mouth was open, and hid fallen
back, showing the whit^ teeth, which were peifectly sound as
in her youth ; and the ghissy eyes weie unclosed and fixed
aslant with that look which had so temfied the fugitive He
felt no terror now, howevei, only awt , for with the discovery
of the truth, the hideousaess of the face was gone. Bending
down, he touched the cheek. It was still tepid— almost
warm ; the life had not been long extinct, a fact of which the
smonidoring bi-ands of tlie fire she had kindled was another
evidence. Poring upon the features, a (;onfased feeling
gathered in kh mind that he had seen them before, and he
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strove to re=!olve t nto certainty. Snddenly, as tbe Sickering
of the bum ^ br nil Iio iield brought out a new expression on
t! e d k ft tl ere ] lineaments, it flashed upon him that this
was oil \i. cj She had hecn a slaye on Mellott's plaatar
ton near LaCttf and had disappeared five or six years
befo e after a ter-ible whipping. They bad hunted the
B«amp for he tiout avaU, and it was supposed that slie
had t e L I e 1 Here slie had lived, however, aud here she was
now all her earthly troubles over.
Tuinmg away ftom tlie body in wild wonderment, the fugi-
tive looked aroaud him. The space witliin the tree must bavs
been at least six feet in diameter. It had been hollowed out
by time in the form of an upright cone, tbe apex of which was
at least a dozen feet above the ground. The bole had proba-
bly been eaten oat by a sort of dry rot, or perhaps by insects,
for the wooden walls were not damp, nor was tiie coiTugated
floor. The only faruiture was the couch of Spanish moss on
which the body lay, a block of wood fasliioned for a scat out
of the butt end of a log, and a long paddle, bladed at both
euds, which leaned upright a^st the wiill. Looking
around further, Antony noticed some little niches cut iu the
walls, with the handle of a hatchet sticking out of one of
them. On the blade was a parcel wrapped in cotton cloth, in
■which he found three or four corn-cob pipes, a bundle of dried
tobaeco-loaf, bunches of matches, and two or three knick-
knacks of no great ase. Evidently Nancy had made occasional
excursions from her hiding-place, for these tbmgs must all
have been borrowed from the race of the taskmasters. This
was still more evident as Antony pursued his obseiTations. In
another niche, he found at least half a peck of corn done up iu
a cloth, and in a wooden quart measure there was some more,
parched. His hunger rose so suddenly and fiereely at sight
of the food that he at once crammed a handful of the parched
com into his mouth, and with the measni-e in his hand, con-
tinued to crunch,- although liis throat was bo swollen with bis
long fast that he could scarcely swallow. Continuing his
searcii while he ate, he found in a third niche an oblong tin
pan and a gourd, but in the pan, to his astonishmout and
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PEOLOGTIE. 49
delight, there was a dead opossum and a small Mi, Tliey
were both frest— Xancy mnst baye captm'ed them that very
day. Slie had lived a woodman's life iu the heart of the
morass, setting her fishtraps on the ba,you, and catching the
smaller animals iu the forest. Foi^etting to pnrsae his search
further in the desu-e to appease his ravening hunger, Antony
only paused to lay one of the pieces of cotton cloth over the
face of the dead, and then set to worij to rake the fire into a
bed of coals, and hastily dressing the meat with his bowie-
knife, broiled it, and ate with the eager voracity of a man
haif starved.
A mad repast, not given to appetite, bat famine, and void of
all enjoyment. Kot hmiself, but his hunger as a thing apart from
himself, was fed by those gi'oes gobbets. Kneeling before the
embers, in the dasliy glimmer, he hm-ried down the half-cooked
food, lasting of smoke and cinders, as to some wild wolf that
gnawed his vitals. Tn the darkness behind hnn lay the swart
corpse, and tlie thought of it was a quiet horror in his nnnd.
Bient with that horror, and with his raging famine, was a dull,
stupefied sense of the chafe of the collar on his neck, the
swollen pains aud weakness of his limbs, the steady suck of
the sleeplessness in his jaded brain, the tepid chnging of hia
wet clothes, the filthy smeD of the muck and slime that
covered him, and ali was mixed confusedly with a dimmer
apprehension of the smoky warmth of the cavei-n, the sullen
smoulder of the embers, and the resonance of the vast drear
forest.
His meal ended, he stiE knelt in the murk contraction of all
his sensations and apprehensions, before the dull fire. The
fierce gnawing at his stomach had changed to an uneasy dis-
tention, as if something huge and bloated lay dead within him.
His horror of the corpse had grown stronger even than the
heavy wearhie?s and frowsy misery of body and spirit, and he
now begun to consider what he should do with it. It ought to
be buried, he felt, hut in iiis utter torpor of fatigue, he shrunk
from the labor of making it a grave.
Slowly his inertia yielded, and he set to work with the
hatchet, chopping out a burial-place in an oblong space near
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50 PKOLOGUE,
the tree between the palmettoes, and scooping up the soft Boil
with his hands. It was a long and painful task for his weak
and sore body ; but at length it was ended, and bringing oat
the corpse, he laid it m the cavity, heaped the earth over it,
and left it to its rest.
The forest was still resounding with the nnhnman noises
when he entered the cypress hollow agam. He heai-d them
dnlly, with torpid indifference. The tree seemed strangely
empty to him now. He sat for a moment on the block,
watching, with an utter prostration of heart, the dusky glim-
mer faintly lighting the smoky gloom. Kising presently, he
arranged the embers so that they would outlast the night to
beep away the wild beaets ; and then throwing himself upon
the heap of moss where the corpse had lain, he sank away in a
dead slumber. Soon the hooting and flapping, the screaming
and the howling sunk away also, and the vast forest lay still
and weird and desolate iu the pallor of the moon.
He woke with the feeling that he had dropped off and slept
a ininute, but at the same instant gazing with stiff and smarts
ing eyes through the brown dusk of the hollow, he was con-
fused at seeing the palmetto leaves at the entrance plainly
visible, and of a deep, cool green. He knew now that it was
broad day, and that he had slept long. Raising hunself snd-
denly, a mass of cramping stitches wrenched his frame, and
made hun gasp with pain. He remained for a minute support-
mg himself on his hanife, and then slowly and painfully arose.
Eefrcshed ia mmd by his slumber, he was even worse off in
body than when he had Iain down. His limbs were stiff, and
every joint and muscle ached. His wrists and ankles were
much swollen where the ropes of thp bucking had cut them.
He felt as if he had been switched all over with netties, from
the stings and scratches of the thorns and briers throngh which
he had travelled. His face p^ed him especially, the atoms
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PEOLOGUE. 51
of glass stiil smartiD^ in the cuts, and all its wounds and
bruises sore and baraing. Worae than all to his sense at
that moment were the weight and chafe of the accursed collar.
His flesh was raw with it. It hurt him so much that almost
the first thing he did was to tie one of the pieces of cotton
cloth around his neck for the edge of the iron to rest on.
Relieved somewhat by this, he began to limp to and fro, gasp-
ing and panting at every step with ptwn.
After a few minutes of this exercise, he felt a little easier,
and stopped walkii^ to examine the paddle. It convinced hiia
that Nauey must have a boat somewhere, and the pilfered arti-
cles he had found in the hollow confirmed his behef. 1o get
away from the swamp was his fixed purpose, and in that
land of streams, if he could only find Nancy's boat, he might
avoid the loathsome and dangerous journey across the mo-
Kancy'a boat, he thought, must be a periagua, and the
question was, where did she keep it. Crawling out of the tree
to commence a search for it, he saw it right at the base of the
trunk under the pahnettoes. But Nancy's periagua was a
canoe 1 A canoe of buffalo hide on a frame of slender wattles.
Had she purloined it from the Indians in the Pine Woods
of Avoyelles, and had it been a present to them from some
visiting tribe from Texas or the Indian Territoiy ? For all tlie
boals Antony had ever seen among them were periaguas. At
all events here it was, and elated with its discovery, the fiigitive
instantly brought forth the paddle, the hatchet, the bowie-
knife, the corn, the tin pan, and the matches, and placed them
in it. Going in agam to see if there was anj-tking else that
might serve him in his flight, he saw an end of dyed cotton
cloth hanging out from the couch of moss. With a pull out it
came — an old blue cotton gown. Turnmg over the moss, he
uncovered an old blue flannel shirt, an old pair of grey trow-
sers, a jean jacket torn up the ba«k, a slipper and one stock-
ing. Eejoiced that Nancy's purlommgs had furnislied him
with a change of clothes, he put the gown, shirt and trowsers
into the canoe, and lifting the latter, plunged out through the
pahnettoes into the forest.
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O-^ PKOLOGUK.
A thrill of alaim fihot fhrough liini as he ^,aw by the sun
liglit that it wa; late m tlio aftemoon. bo ai,Liistora d lial
he been in tke ejiloii.ecl habt ot jkiitati n hie to ripe at
daybreak, that oa «nkng m the hollow 1 e naturally thou^lit
he had awakened d,t the iisual morning hoiu- He shucUcied
now with the consciooRnesa that so muuh time had been bst
when the dogs, gmded by some prnfessional expeit at maa-
hunting, might be commg stiaight towird him fhit Lafitte
would, in his burmng lu^t for Teiigcance hunt the swamp tor
weeks to find hun he had no doubt and he must at once speed
He stood for a moment de) atmg which d lectim to take
when looking down he happened to see i 'ipot where tl e eirth
had been harrowed by the claws of some wdd beast and ui on
the scratches waa the distnct inipimt of a naked foit It
<:ame to him at once that this was a footmjrk ISaney had
made going up fi-om the watei, and he at once tesolved to pur-
sue a ti-ack, in a bee-line fi-om the heel of the print. Limp-
ing along painfully with the canoe on his shoulders and can-
tioudj, for by the sudden slipping and rustling in the grass
and herbage he knew that snakes were ai-ound him, suddenly
bis heart and blood jumped, and he sprang backward with a
leap that shot a Sood of wrenching pangs through his whole
frame. He had nearly stepped upon a rattlesnake which ley
in a faint glimmer of sunshine on a strip of thinly tufted earth.
The sluggish reptile quivered slightly throughout its mottled
length, and lifting its head with venom in its sparkling eyes
and devilish yawning jaws, sounded ite rattle and swiftly slid
from view. Antony fiuddered, and the old dark fancy that
he was in Hell flickered through his mind. Trembling in spite
of himself at every bnzzard that fl,ew from his path, or small
ammal that crowed it, and feelii^ that everything was watch-
ing him, and that the multitudinons chatter of the bii-ds that
filled the forest was concerning him, he went on his way.
Soon he came to the pools, and beating the moccasms from
his path, arrived at a shoal of block mire, and a narrow bayon.
A fallen tree lay with its branches dipped in the stream, half
way across ; a rotten log floated in the water ; stumps and
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snags projected here and tiiere ; waifs of moss, sliTers of
brandies, broken boughs, leaves, flowei^, and bits of forest
debris floated idly on the shinuig surface or among the
HniTiedly casting oS his foul rags, the fugitive washed him-
self with the old gown, and put on the shirt and trowsers.
Then laying the caaoe oa the water, where it lightly danced,
he cautiously got in, grasped the paddle in the middle, and
plying the blades first on one side and then on the other, shot
slowiy off with a beating heart up the dull stream.
Heading northward, the brown skiff yawed from right to
left, and darted with an uncertain forward motion, trembling
beneath him like a living thing that shared his agitation.
Black banks of mud, pierced here and there with alligator
holes, swamp grass, and pools, and luxuriant clumps and
masses of strange many-eolored flowering verdure, fallen trees
and trees leaning to their fell, and trees uptowering in leafy
pride, and the vme-enwreathed and flower-gemmed wilderness
of massive trunks uplifting their vast moss-bearded and leaf-
laden branches, spread and loomed in solemn and splendid con-
fusion on either side as the boat %htly dai'ted on its sinuous
course. Alligators swam through the bayou, or plunged from
floodwood, or raised themselves with brutal bellowings on the
margin aa it glided on. Cranes and bitterns fled away from
the banks squawking and screaming ; strange bu^ of gor-
geous plumage flew rustling through the branches ; scarlet-
gilled black buzzai-ds rose and soared with broad and steady
wing ; myriads of ducks and water-fowl of many kinds flapped
and swam away continually before it. Paddled steadily for-
ward, now on one side, now on the other, on sped the brown
canoe, while the shadows grew inkier on the sombre water,
and again under the red reflection of the sky, the dull bayou
became a stream of blood.
Awed by the solemn desolation of the scene, the gloomy
color of the water, the gathering darkness of the wooded fen,
the motions and the voices all around; troubled at the thought
of the long and perilous distance that stretched between him
and his far bourn of safety ; yet with a fearful joy and a sustain-
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54 i-EOIOGUE,
ing hope within, the fugitive oared iiis swift darting stiff at
length into tie river he had swam last tlie day before. The
red glow had died from skj and water, and the moon silvered
greyly the stream as he paddled on between the black forest
on either side. Heading his prow to the east, and plying his
paddle vigorously, he flew lightly up the stream. "Voices of
bird and heast called and answered weiivlly m the daikness of
the black shores; trees towered and leaned in ambiguous table
shapes over the dusky stream, and watched hun as he shot
swiftly by; the solemn sky spread fer above hmi hke a
doubtful thought, half-boding, yet clearing slowly mto deep-
withdrawn tranqnillity, in the inci'easing lustre of the tawiiy
moon. Overarched and palisaded by the ]ihantom sentience
of the hour, his dark skifF, gliding and dartmg with light tre
mors and waverings etill held its way like a dumb intelligence
over ihe mysterious water.
Hours went on, and save the scatteied hooting and
screeching of owls in the forest, and the occasional elacling
of some vagrant bat whirling by, the moonlit night w aa still.
Only once the fug t ve oared his ca oe a to the shore where
onalowirojectugblnffuuler agieat tree he 1 1 a small fire,
and hast ly i arcl ng son e com u tl e i an ate a h irned
meal. Then lik ng the fire he enteied the can e a^a n and
paddled on
An hour or two later he turned the Lft mto a nanow
bayou whi 1 de! on he 1 to the stream thus cl anj, g hia
course to the n rth H s olject was to j,a thp Red R ver
where he hoped to smUe^le h mself on boa i some steamboat
and getting to New Orleans, escape from the steamboat, aud
hide himself in the hold of some northern vessel. It was his
former plan, and he still clnng to it with tenaeitj', bitterly
aware of its hazards and dangers, yet unable to think of a
better. The bayou he was now m was very nan-ow, hemmed
in on either side by the forest and the fen, aad iuuch obstructed
by stamps, snags, fallen trees and lodgments of logs. To steer
his course through these in the uncertain darkness, for the
branches almost shut out the moonlight, was difficult, and
Beveral times he was obliged to clamber on the fallen timber,
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PROLOGUK,, 55
and pnll the canoe over, or shove aside tlie Luddled floodwood
to clear a passage. But his efforts bronglit him at length to
a sluggish stream, whicli he judged to be the Pacondrie — the
stream he had swam first in his escape the day before, bat at
a point seTeral miles below the Lafitte plantation. He was
now approaching dangecona ground, and his heart began to
beat faster. Turning his prow eastward again, he paddled
down the stream, looking for another debouching bayou. He
soon came upon one, into which he turned, heading north, and
throv^h whicii his paiss^e was as dark and impeded as before.
He exerted himself to the utmost, and at last, heated and
panting, he saw that he was leaTing the morass, and that the
moonlit ground, thinly scattered over with tre^, and tMckly
covered with verdurous underwood, was gradually risii^ on
either ade of him. The bayou, too, grew deeper and less
impeded, and presently he saw on his left, beyond a cluster of
hiige trees, the grain of a plantation, and further np, a man-
sion with outbuildings. Who lived there he did not know-
he only knew that he was again in the region of his enemies.
Light thrilla sliot tlirough hie heated blood, and the canoe
yawed and trembled beneath him, as if conscious of danger.
Paddling forward, he saw before him iii the clear moonhght,,
for the trees on eitlier side were thinly scattered now, a hi^
trunk fallen sheer across the stream, sloping down obliquely,
with its crown of branclies dipping in the water, and barring
half the passage. Prom the other side, crossii^ the first
trunk, a leafless tree, withered or blasted, had also fallen, and
lay, dipped in the water, half way across,' with its broken
boughs sticking upward Uke jagged spikes or horns. Steering
to the left of these, with the intention of shooting through the
space Tinder the largo trunk, he gave three or four vigorous
sti-okes of the paddle on cither side of the skiff. The canoe
darted forward, quivering with the impetus of the strokes—^
stopped suddenly with a tearing and griding shock, and
yawed around, with the water welling up swiftly through its
bottom. Antony, who was kneeling on one knee, had just
time to spring up, catch at the trunk before him, and lift hun-
self up on it. When he tnmed, the rim of the canoe wafi
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56 PEOLOGtlE.
settling in the water. It had struck one of the j^g^d spikes
just below the surface, whicli had ripped its bottom, and it
had gone down forever.
Sitting on the tree, stupefied at this unexpected accident,
Antony watched the circling ripplea on the raoonht water
where his boat had sunk, and thought with bitter regret that
he was now withont a single weapon to fight his way against
any opposing white man, or to end his own existence, should
the odds be against him. His hatchet had sunk with the
boat, and his knife also. With a fierce imprecation, he rose,
ran up the trunk, sprang ashore, and pansiug only to wrench
off a branch, and strip it of its leaves for a clnb to defend him-
self, rnshed on through the underwood.
Heading to the northeast, he gained the plantation, and
rnnning over rows of com and springing cotton-plant, pale in
the paling moon, hestmck upon a fenced road lying between
the plantation, with another road diyei^ng from it in the
coarse he was trayelling. Into the latter he tnmed, but afraid
to take the open path, he kept within the fences and hedges
skirting its side, ready if he saw anybody in the distance to
hide in the rows, or if anybody came upon him, to fight till he
waa killed.
Rushing on, haggard with apprehension and desperate reso-
lufion, with his teeth set, his lai^ nostrils dilated, and his
glaring eyes roving warily about hun, he came to a plantation
divided from the one he was on by a hedge of the osage-orange
and with a sunilar hedge skirting tho road. To break thron<>-h
this would be difficult, so he took the road and ran on, wi'th
the fresh wind of the coming morning blowmg upon him, ajid
nicreasmg his fear with the thought of the new dangers the
daybreak would brmg. It was a iai^ plantation, and it took
him some time to arrive at its terminus, at which a road
diverged from the one on which he was journeying. He
reached this road, and there, clad in shabby light clothes, and
coming down the path, not ,three yards distent from him, was a
Antony swung np his club, and stood with opened nostrils
and glaring eyes, his black face alive with fierce courage. Tho
Ho.led by Google
PIOLOGDB,
man halted mi looked at hiin with a sullen fccoU In the
bhnL. I ause dl lift; leemeii to have died ft m tl e ir and the
moon lay fade 1 in a vac mt ky ^h-ist anl grey i the pale
1 ght of the mornmif Tht, man was a iar^e •> i mt felbw,
with a haish and sallow tacitarn taee but to tfit, dark, half
demented fancy of the fugitive he dunly teemed i devil, and
the place was still vagaciy Hell
bee here nogacr he saiJ in a ste n etndejit voice, "yer
a runaw ay There a th u- name as owns yei on yer LoUar, and
I knowLahtte Brothers, ]\ew Orleans, waat jer. I'm goin'
down in the fli'st boat, and yer comia' With me, right away,
and no fnss. What yo' say, nigger ?"
He drew a revolver from his breast, and held it idly, watch-
ing the fugitive with a scowl. S.ense flickered through the
mind of Antony. Here was a charpe to get safely down the
river— beyond, a chance to give his captor the slip when he
reached the city. He flung his club away.
"I'L go with ye, Marster," he said, aallenly.
The man put up his pistol.
" What's yer name, boy ?" he asked.
" Bill, Marster."
" Bill, eh ? You're the Fugitive Slave Bill, I suppose," said
the man, w'th a dill grin
" Tea, Marster
"Well, Bill I collect bilhf r i hvm -ml 1 ler 1 on ' ve
collected y u Bill Hojie III collect somefhma tn yer, too
Come along
Antony followed him Not a word further was sai 1 on
either side Meanwhile around them the pillor of the sky
hghtened into 'daybreak horns bounded over the plantations
the black gai^ were coming foith mt) the field on every
side; the birds darted and sang, the fragrant wind blcwfreshly
from the east, and the life of day b^an anew.
Weary, and sore, and aching, with insane fancies flitting
through the horrible lethargy which was creeping on his mind,
Antony followed his taciturn captor, and jnst as the rising
8Dn shot a low, broad splendor over the landscape they caaie
3*
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58 FKOLOGUE,
to a solitary landing-place, with a ehaiity and a wood-pile, on
the border of the wide, gleaming riyei.
It was aU a dim, dread dream. In it came a liuge monster,
puffing, and snorting, and clanking, Tomiting clouds of black
smoke, and lifting and washing ba«k the drifting trees and
logs and refuse on the shining surge. I'hen a dream of hnrry
and tumult, a great heaving masg, a swarm of people, an air
blind with light and heavy with smoke, a roar of voices laugh-
ing, and talking, and hallooii^, the clanging of a bell, piles of
cotton and goods of all sorts, the clank of engines, the wal-
lowing of water, ponderons snorting, and heaTing, and surg-
ing, all mixed together in inextricable confusion, and he
who dreamed it vagnely knew that he _was sitting, like one
drugged, on a heaving deck, with, heaps of merehandise around
him. Gradnally he sank away into a still heavier lethargy, in
which everything became even more dim and distant, and
from thence he shd into a blank and stnpid sleep.
Once again the dream seemed to swim heavily into that
death-like slumber — a v^ue, spectral dream, in which some
one gave him a linnch of com bread, which he ate slowly in a
glimmering ligiit, remotely conscious of a dark figure standing
near, of distant voices, a far-off snorting and clanking, a shud-
dering motion beneath him, and formless balks aromid him.
Presently it drowsily dissolved into darkness and silence.
Like one who dreams of awaking, he awoke again, and
stupidly strove to remember where he was and what had be-
fallen him. In the dull gleam of a hanging lantern, he saw
masses of bales and boxes, casks and furniture, and miscel-
laneous merchandise, lying in murky gloom. A few dark,
uncouth forms of sleeping men, heavily breathing, were strowo
about in various grotesque attitudes on the piles of cotton.
In the stillness, he heard the regular snort and clank of the
engine, the,mshing of the water, and felt with a dull giddi-
ness the fioor rockii^ and swaying in long, regular undula-
Somehow, a minute afterward, he found himself out on the
edge of the deck, sick and dizzy, steadying himself against a
heap of bales, and lookii^ out on a broad, di"' river, rolling
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PROLOOUE. 59
in migntj, Jangnid suites under a large, low, yellow moon.
Logs and trees and masses of cliaff and refuse lifted blackly in
the tawny light on the long swells. All around t!ie water
fled by, cburaed into a mili-race of seething froth and foam.
Beyond waa a hage steamboat ; black smoke trailing from its
.double funnels ; fire flaring from them aad from its escape-
pipes ; bails of light gleaming from hanging lanterns here aud
there ; light streammg out from the rows of oblong windows,
and from every hole and cranny ; the strong current beaten up
into a flood of foara beneath its wheel ; and the darks and
lights of an inverted phantom steamboat hnng below it in the
water. .Par away were low, black shores, with here and there
a gannt spectral tree, and dull lights glimmering. He was on
the mighty tide of a river which ran through Hell.
Sick and dizzy, and with a horror on Ms mind, he staggered
back with tlio heavy drowse on all his faculties, through the
tortuous lane of cotton-bales, and sinking down on one of
them,' fell into his former lethargy.
He did not sleep through the night, bat lay ia utter torpor,
thinking of nothing, fearmg and hoping notliing, only vaguely
conscious of where he was, and of tlie forms around huu.
Overstrung for many years with the unnatural toils of a slave,
and still more tensely overstrung with the terrible labors of his
journey through the morass— overstrung both in body and
spuit, as few but slaves ever are— he had sunk back, now that
a season of reliLsation bad come, into lassitude as excessive as
were the fat^es and agitations of which it waa the reaction.
Safe for the present, with no immediate stimulna to urge him
into activity, he lay, body and spirit, as in the sentient sleep
of the tomb.
Toward morning he sank away again into a heavy, dream-
less slumber. Once during the day he dreamed that he was
aroused by some one whom he did not recognize, and bidden
to come along and get something to eat. In bis dream he
tried to shake the stupor from his bleared eyes, which even the
dna light among tlie bales pained, and to obey. But the
drowse was heavy upon him, and he could only mumble out
that he didn't want to eat, and the dream instantly dissolved
o.led by Google
in oblivion. He was left uudiKtarbed, for hi^ ajt r ww
not without pity for him, and saw that he was terr 1 ly
But late that n^ht, when midnight was two ho ra gone
and the moon was watering palely from the sky tl e tr mp
of Liberty or Death apunded agam in the ear of the fu^ t ve
and -his spirit arose from its tomb. A hand sho k hsm a
voice shouted in his ear that they were near the c ty and
instantly springing to his feet, with fresh blood lea] ng through
his veins, with new pulses throbbiag in his heart anl all h s
faculties awake and alive, and armed with their utmo'it cun
nin^, their fullest courage, and their most desperate resolut on
he followed his captor out on deck. The boat was with n a
mile of the. city, which lay beyond a forest of mi ts and
hulls, and scattered lights hung iu the riggiug, or gl mme g
oa the levee, dark and silent, with its roofe and sp res massed
agaiust the purple sky, and glittering in the moon ihe n ght
was hot and still, aad a heavy languor . huEg over the great
breadth of regular rolling swells. Ships lay at anchor ill
about the stream, liftmg with the lifting of the surge and
here and there a flaf^boat with lights on board and the men
plying their long sweeps, lazily steered its way o tl e dr ft
between the hulls. Antony watched the scene, with his heart
fiercely beating at the thought of the coming trial.
Meanwhile the boat, with her bell ringing. Was slowly clank-
ing and snorting on through the foaming and brattling flood
around her bowe and wheels, and the passengers were pouring
forth, men, women and children, on her decks. The fugitive
stood silently by his captor, on the lower forward deck, amidst
the tumult and crowding of the risen multitude, biding his
time. The moment the boat touched the levee he was deter-
mined to quietly slip aside fl-om his companion and lose hun-
eelf in the crowd. To this end he stood a little to one side of
him, watching his every movement.
Suddenly the clatter of conversation and the trampling of
feet were stricken still by a wild yell, above which was heard
the slow, impassive snort and clank of the engine, and the
brattling wash of the water. Then burst forth a shrill clamor
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PEOLOGUE. gX
of cries and screams from the after deck, followed by a tramp-
ling rush which threw ai! forward, as by agalvanic shock, hito
mad confusion ; then behind tlie pouring crowd, suddenly light-
ened a red flare, followed by a tremendous volamo of black smoke
and at once, amidst terrific disorder, uprose a dreadful storm of
yells and screams from the hon-or-stricken multitude. Tlie next
instant the uproar of voices was stifted in a multitudinoiis
chokiug and ga^uig, as the thick, poisonous smoke swept over
the decks, and presently up shot a sheeting burst of clear
flame, with shriyelling ringlets of black vapor writlii[]g and
vanishing away m it, lighting the ghastly pallor of the him-
dreds of ternfied faces, all turned one way, aud throwiu" its
lurid gJai-e on the churning froth and the hfting awefls, and on
the myriad masts and spars and rigging of the surrounding
vessels, which started out eaddenly in lines and bai-s of tawny
splendor against a baekgromid of gloom.
Even in that awful moment Antony did not lose sight of
liis captor. With his whole soul fiercely bent on getting away
from him, he saw him start back and shoat with ten-or. With
his eye fixed upoa him, he heai-d the rapid jabber of a terrified
man behind him shrieking oat that a lantern had fallen and bro-
ken, settmg fire to a pool of turpentine which had leaked from a
barrel on the after deck, and the fire spreading at once to the bar-
rel, it had burst aud flooded the boat with flame. Still watching
him, ha heard the screamed order to reveree the engines, and
amidst howls and cries of anguish and despau-, and cursing
and praying, and the heavy thump of men and women fallii^
in swoon upon the deck, or trampling and fighting over each
other in tlieir ft-anfic desperation, while the advancing flame
leaped and withed, crackling and bristling and roaring fiiri-
ously on— amidst all the horror and Bedlam confusion of that
minute— for it was but one— standing still, with his eye
riveted on his captor, he heard thepond erous clank, the lono-
ivash and wallow, and felt the boat di-ift backward to gai^
the middle of the stream. That instant he sprang backward
and rushing through the crowd, kicked off his shoes and
leaped into the river.
He emerged presently from his plnnge, amidst a shower of
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fiery cinders, with the lifting surges all aglare around him, and
struck boldly forward for tbe levee, seeing at a glance the burn-
ing mass drift behind him, and aU the Illuminated ships at the
piers and in the stream suddenly alive with shonting figm-ee.
Turning for an instant, and treading water, he saw the boat
clanking backward, with her black funnels rising from a leap-
ing and coiling mountain of smoke and flame, her passengers
all huddM forward iu a dense, shrieking mass, biaek against
the fiery glow, and figures jumping into the water — ^which was
already dotted with dark, swimming forms, and looked like a
turbulent sea of flame ignited from the spectre of a burning
boat below its surface. Among the swimming figures there
was, perhaps, not one but was his enemy — not one who would
not hale him back to the bondage from which he was strug-
gling away. Turning again, he swam on, beading against the
ponderous current which would bear him down past the city
and out to sea. Boats were putting out in all directions from
ships in the stream, and from the shore, to pick up the swun-
mers, many of whom were swimming in Iront of him, or cling-
ing to pieces of drift-wood or furniture. To avoid being
picked up by any of the boats was a necessary part of his
task, for they, too, were manned by his enemies. Beaching a
large brig anchored in the stream, with a few sailors standing
on the bulwarks and in the rigging, watching the burning ves-
sel, he resolved to cling to its rudder a few moments to recover
breath, and as he approached it, looking up through the
shadow, made luminous by the wan light of the moon, and the
reflected glare of the water, he read on the stern, in white let-
ters, the words, " Soliman, Boston." His heart throbbed
wildly, and clinging to the rudder under an overhanging boat,
ho listened to the talking oa the deck above him, and presently
heard a voice say :
" Devilish lucky we weren't set afire, Jones, and we just
ready to sail."
Just ready to sail I He heard those worda with his brain
aflame. His chance had come. Settmg his knees to the
slippery rudder, he began to climb. It was hard work, for
tbe hehn was coated with sea-slime, but at length he got his
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PBOLOGUE. 03
toes upon the slight pojection of one of the iron chimja that
bound the wood together, and scrambhng upward kid hold
of the boat swinging astem, and softly c!ainbeiinj,iii rerained
fitill, and listeued. He had not been discovtred Ihe talkmg
above him was still going on, and presently he he-wd the
tramp of the two men as they moved away forwaid Raisin;^
himself in the boat, he cautiously peered m at the cilDm wm
dow. A Ewmging lamp was burning withm and all was
quiet. He put in his head, looked aronnd hun foi a moment,
and then stealthily got in. Going to the (abm dooi he
peered out on the deck. Everybody was at the bon a standmi,
on the bulwarks and in the rigging in the wild glaie watrh
■ ing the steamboat, which was now one mass of luiping flame
half a mile away up the river. Cries and sereims and
shouts were resonndin^ from the viifer m all daections
Looking at the rteck, he saw that the hatch n^est him v^ti
open, and nerved to desperation, and aimjst chokmg with
excitement, he went lightly forward, his bare feet miking no
sound, and, unseen by any one, so intent was the geneial gaze
on the conflagration, stooped and dropped into the hold.
He fell on a cotton-bale, three or four feet from the top,
and lay in the thick darkness, reeking with sweat, and listen-
ii^, with a wild jumping in his throat, for any sound that
might tell him his entrance had been observed. He heai-d
none. The talking went on above him, and it was all about
the burning steamboat. He knew that he must not remain
where he was, for there he could be seen, and in a moment he
began to grope for a hiding-place. He was in a sort of
square well, formed by the cotton-bales around him. Above
them was a horizontal space under the deck, and clambering
out of the well, he wormed himself into this, a few feet for-
ward, and lay, panting and fatigued, hot, wet, hungry and
thirsty, half stifled by the foul and musty air of the hold,
and by the smell of the bilge, but safe for the present.
He lay in a sort of stupor, and gradually heai'd all sounds
die away. For a little while his mind was filled with strange
recollections of the passions and events of the last hour; theii
lying prone in the foul and musty darkness, he lapsed into a
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6i PEOLOGUE,
I with dreams, in which he was again ruahiiig
through the swamp, which somehow changed into rolling
water gn which a steamhoat was humiug, and he was holding
up Madame La^tte, who snddenlj turned ajid bit him ok the
band. Starting up in the thick dailcneaa, he struck bis head
against the deck, and then remenibering where he was, lay
still. The hatch had been closed. In the darkness he heard
light scampering aad squealing, and felt the ship Bhodderiug
beneath him.
He forgot his dream in the wild whir! of emotion with
which he became aware that the vessel was on her way. Pre-
sently he felt a sort of pricking in his hand, and touching the
spot, found that it was wet, and, as lie again heard the scamper-
ing and squealing, he knew that a rat had bitten him.
Startled a little at the new danger of being set upon by theso
Tei-min, and tuspicious of poison, he sucked the wound, resolv-
ing to keep awake now as long as he could. He did not
know how long be had slept, but he could heai' the incessant
snort, snort, snort, of a steamboat, with the long nubroken
wash of the vessel, and knew that the brig was in the tow of a
ateam-tug, and so not yet out of the river.
At leiigtb there was a change in the noises. Orders were
shouted above, heavy feet were rushing about, there was a
bustle of pulling and hauling, griding and flapping, thudding
of ropes on deck, chanting of sailors, amidst the recedii^ snort
of the steam-tug, and in, the darkness, Antony felt the vessel
lean and roll and stagger with a sound of swiftly rushing
water, and knew that she was standing out to sea.
Wholl send me back after all I've gone through ? Who'll
be mean enough to do it ? That was his constant thought
now, and it cama in those words to his mind. He knew the
penalties imposed on any captain who took away a fugitive in
his vessel. He had thought of them before, but dimly; now
they came to him vividly, and he trembled. He was re-
solved to remain in the hold as long as he could, but he knew
the time would come when be must leave his hiding-place, and
faee the captaiu. His plan was to tell him all he had suffered,
to show him his wounds and scars, to beg him on his knees not
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PEOLOGUE. 65
to send him back to the Hell he had escapeii from. Who
would do it? Who'll send me back after all I've gone
through ? Who'll be mean enough to do it ?
Soon the motion of the vessel threw him, already sickened
by the horrible smells and closeness of the hold, into ago-
nies of seasickness, and he lay on the bales vomiting vio-
lently, and feeluig as if his soul were rending hi'f aching body
asunder. By and by, he crawled down into the well-like
cavity under the hatch, where there wsis a little more room t-o
breathe in, and there he lay without food, without drink,
almost without air, for three days.
Days of sickness too loathsome to be dehcribed, too dread-
ful for permitted language to convey. Days of utter prostra-
tion, of griping pain, of wrenching convulsions, of horror inde-
scribable, of tortured death-in-life. Days when the ropy and
putrid air was sucked into the feeble Innga as if it were some
stranghng substance ; when the oppressed heart beat slowly
with dull knocks as though it woaldlburst the bosom, and the
bosom labored as though it were loaded down with tons of
iron. Days when sleep came down like a weight of lead upon
the brain, and struggled with infernal dreams, and was broken
to %ht off an ever-returning swarm of rats — invisible vermin
that swarmed over his invisible body when it lay still, and
were heard squeaking and pattering off in the sightless dark-
ness when he feebly flung'about his Hmbs to beat them away.
Days whose mad, disgustful horror was desperately borne for
the hope of liberty, for the hatred of slavery — borne till he
conid bear it no longer, and he resolved to beat upon the
hatch and cry aloud to iet those above hhn know what a hell
of agony raged beneath their feet.
How loi^ he had been immured he did not know, Connt
time by anguish, and it might have been centuries. Fearful of
discovering himself till he was too far from the land from
which he had Bed to be retnraed, he had resolved to endure
till endurance became impossible. For this he had clung to
life, for this he had silently borne the horrors of his tomb, for
this he had striven a hundred tunes against the desire to end
his imprisonment by shouting aloud to those above him.
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Not when heavy torpor and gradnal giddiness wcro atealmg
upon him, and the instinct of his soul told hiia dof.tb waa
drawing near, he roused himself for tlie loug d^fsiTcd
effort.
The ship was sta^ermg heavily, iind he heard the tramp-
ling of feet on the deck, as, with dizziiy reeling brain, l^e
feebly and slowly crawled np oa his handa and kiiets. His
strength was almost gone. An infant newly horn conld have
bepn hardly more helpless than he fonnd himself. He slowly
lifted one hand to lay it on the bales beside him- — lifted it a
few inches like something over which he had no command —
and it fell heavily, and losing his balance he tumbled down on
his aide. An awM feeling stole across his mind that he had
delayed too long — that hia resolution had outlived his physi-
cal powers. Tarniiig over on hia back, feebly panting, slowly
suffocating, he drew ia his breath for a wild cry for help. It
rushed from hira in a hoarse whistliog whisper His voice had
left him 1 ^
Helay&tiU now pwnfully bieathmg but iif-igned to dit
Quietly — qmetJy- — ths, tears and deiiiea of tht pn cat the
hopes of the tutnre withdiew and the vision of allhibpxst
floated softly thiough his tranqnd bram It faded aad he
lay ruahu^ on i f^t-ni'ihmg tide and ddated with a wonlur
ful and mjbtic chin^e Power and beauty and joy ineiFablo
b^an to glow and spread divinely thiough hia being with the
vagne beauteous glimmer of a tmnsceadant lite af^r All
fierce and dark and sorrowful piSaioiK and emotioua gone — ill
sense of pdin and honor and disgust fled for-vei — lumselt
happier greater nobler than he had ever dreamed— he hy
swiftly dnftmg to the laat lepose
What sound Tt IS it that jarred so dnllv on his fiilmg ear ?
What sudden hght was it that fell upon mm < Whit lacen
were those that looted on him so etran^e'y from above aat'
vanished with cues that brought down diil uess ind s Icnee on
0 blue sky of the nineteenth ceatoiy, what is thib ? 0
pale, fresh light streaming into the noisome hold, what ia this ?
O wonder-stricken, silent faces, gazing aghast upon that swart
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PEOLOGHE. 67
and loathsome figuf hm^ u the si lb i IM itJi n o„
collar oil its neck what re s tl la mc iq '
Tiie men stood hta mg ut the motionleiS body on the hals
below them, aad then lost mat snce of woadti staled at
each other. Then i iH amanucnt ^t tie sight when met
their eyes when thay had unbittened the h^tch Ldd bu st
forth in one cry and then left them still and dumb Pre
sently there was a sound of heavy hurrymg feet aad the cap
tain, a short, powerfully bnilt man came flymg ovei Ue dcci
with strong excitement working m his sun burnt f.ice reac ed
the hold, looked in turned Imd with rage slapped his (.tiaw
hat down on his htid with both hands and rushed awav cni-s
mg and raving like a malman. It was hi^^hly natniil A
commercial Christiin of the raneteenth ctutuiy biced t! «
captain had been educated to think of uothm^ but hi? sh p
and trade, and his special refleetK n was of the ] ei Iti tlut
would ensue if it became known that he hid can d av iy a,
slave from New 0 leans
RecoTering from then- amazement the sailo a n th m oath
and proifene eja«uhitions of hoiror and p tv lif cd the u pi i
mate body of Antony disgating evei to tl eii lu^e senses
and touching eveu to their rude scushlitics oit of the hold
They had hardly la d it on deck wl en t le capt 1 1 cimi. lu. i
iug back again, shouting with oatlis an ordci for a look 3nt
lip aloft, with the hope of mc-etmg horac vevel I ouud lor th
city he had left that would take the sl^ve bid Then (,i> n„
the prostrate body a tunous k ck 1 o ru. ^ed i ^ j> a am
storming and stamp ug and sweaimg
At the direction of the mate the <iadors took ho f untlj
broathmg body of Antony forwaid to the Rilicy who e tie
blaek cook busied himsolf m revi/ni„ the fugitive Half i
dozen tunes a day the captain came to the spot wlieiv tLe fuebiO
man reclined, and glared at Mm without saying a word. Oa
the third day, Antony being thea weak but able to stand and
tiilk, the captain demanded him to give an acconnt o'i hinisolf.
Feebly standing before iiim, with all the vigor gone from
his emaciated form, and with ijie deep marks of awful sufiei--
iag graven ou his wasted Imeameats, Antony told his story.
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As ho finished, imploring the captain in earnest and broken tones
not to send him back, the mate, who stood bj, turned away with
his mouth twitching, saying it was a damned shame. The cap-
tain burst into a fit of pa^ion, and stamped on the deck, ges-
ticulating with clenched hands.
" A damned shame, is it, Mr. Jones ?" he roared, perfectly
livid with rage. "I should think it was 1 Kather 1 A
blasted nigger to smuggle his ugly carcass aboard my br^
— what d'ye think they'll say about it at Orleans, and what'il
they do about it, Mr. Jones, and what'll Atkins say when he
hears of it, Mr. Jones, and a load of cotton aboard from the
very house whose junior partaer owns this dingy curse, Mr.
Jones 1 Look at the name of the house on his neck, man.
Blast ye," he howled, tnrning upon Antony, and shaking both
fists at him, "I'd send ye baek, you beggar, if they were to
fry ye in your own black blood when they got ye I Send ye
back 1 If I don't, may I be eternally "
He finished the sentence by a gasp, and dashed both
. clenched fista into the haggard and imploring face of the fugi-
tive, who fell to the deck, covered with blood. Shoatiug and
cursing, the infuriated captain leaped on him, and aeifjng him
by the hair, beat his head against the planks ; then jumped
to his feet, capering Uke a madman, and brandishing his
clenched fists. The mate stood looking away to the horizon,
with a mute, flushed face, and two or three of the sailors
standing not far distant, dumb witnesses of this brutal scene,
glanced at each other with mutinous brows. Striding off a
dozen paces, the captain turned again, bringing down his
clenched fist with a slap into the palm of his hand, and stamp-
ing with his right foot on the deck as he shouted :
" Keep a sharp look-out, Mr. Jones 1 The first vessel that
heaves in sight for N^ew Orleans shall take him if it costs me a
hundi-ed doUars. And if he gets to Boston, I'll tie him hand
and foot, and send him or fetch him back the firat chance, or
my name's not Bangham !"
He foamed off into the cabin. Who'll send me back after
aU I've gone through ? Who'll be mean enough to do it ?
Antony had received his answer
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CHAFTER I.
ISB BEIGN OP TBEHOB,
If, on or about the twenty fifth of May 1852 a fngitive
from Southern tyianny were to aniie in Bistcn hewonld
probably very so n dif over two thingt, — firt.t that ho must
seek i-efuge with the people of hia ow n color in the quarter
vulgarly known as N^ger HiU , secondly that though they
had once lived there in safety neither he not they could hve
there in safety any moie
There were, at that penod about three thou'saiid colored
people, a large proportion of them fugitives resiilmg m Bos
ton, and the greater part of them hvcd m the (juaiter iLove
mentioned. It was on the slope of Beaton Hill— one of the
three hiUs wMch gave t) the town its old name of Trimount
On the crown of the hill towered the domed State House ,
behind and around it rose, street on street descending, the
dwellings of the aristocracy ; and behind them, a deep fringe
of humble poverty, rose, street on street, the dingy dwellings
of the fugitives. There was a maxim of statesmanship then
current : " Take care of the rich, and the rich wiU take care
of the poor." It had been acted upon. The rich had been
taken care of, and they had taken such care of these poor,
that at that period there was no safety for them, as for two
years previous there had been no safety for them in the city
of Boston. Sidney's Latin blazed in gold on the walls of that
State House : Snse peiU pladdam mb lihertaU qmelem — The .
State seeks by the sword the calm repose of liberty. But the
holy legend was dim, and not with the sword of Sidney, nor
with the sword of the Spirit, sought Boston the calm repose
of liberty for the poor fugitives who had fled from the
and the vUest tyranny that ever blackened the world.
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^'^ nAaEiifOT'.'S.
Yet it was tlie city of fagitiTcs, and fii^Itires had kid itg
old fouudatioiis tlo-Hii iu pain and p±'ayu-. ^niithrup tind
Dudley, Belliiigliam, Lererett, Cudilington, tlie stai'-Fwoot
Lndy Araliella, witli their compeers, meu and nonwn of tme
and gentle blood, and fugitives all, had reaved it from tho
wilderness, fugitives wlio lauglit 1l tji-ant that he had a
joint in his neck, had fled thither when the reborn tji-anny
^n ai-ose in thehr own land. Fngitiven dwelling there who
remembered iu their own enfiei-iilga tlio sufferings of others,
had helped frame tlie noble statute of 1641, welcoming to
State and city any strangei-s who might fly thitlier from tho
tyranny or oppression of their persecutore. Fugitive hands —
the hands of the Hugaenot Fanenil-— had dowered it with the
cradhng Hall of Libarty navaed with his name. Over it all, and
through it all, and tincturing its history in the Tcry grain,
was the tradition of the fugitive. Slill, in modem days, fugi-
tives fled thither from the bi-oken hopes, the 1 laffled efforts, tho
lost battles of continental freedom. Gci-mGn fugitives, Italten
fugitives, French fugitives, Irish fugitives, flying from then-
persecutors, arriyed there and ntstlcd under tlie hrond wing
of the old statute. At that period, too, the gi-eat Hungarian
■ fugitive, Eoesnth, had come, with a host of other Hungarian
fiigitives at his back, and the town, like the land, had roared
and blazed in welcome. All these fngitives, of whatever
nation, were safe in Boston. No tyrant could molest them.
But the fugitives from the South— the bkck Americans, men
and women, who had fled thither for pj-otection from a
tyranny in no wise different from any other, save in its sordid
Tileness and abommabie escess of cruelty and outrage— there
was no safety for them.
They were, for the most part, humble people— their sonls
crushed and bruised, as Plato says, with seiTila employments.
Their lives had been obstructed by slavery j slavery had nur-
tured m them some vices, had dwarfed and ciipplcd in them
many vtotues. They were, m the mass, uncouth, grotesijne.
ungainly, repulsive to the eye ; they were degraded, im)irut,-d,
low, ignorant, weak ami poor ; and, therefore, the heart of
every gentleman should have leaped, like Burke's sword from
o.led by Google
t sc W d t 1 i b t d them with
I 1 h I tl y nongthem
t m 1 d ( ( 1 I i t of cheyar
h. rs flm^ i i i m have been
iJTtbiig I tL fl los Laml',
j-Tlliemt I? ttf y-I '"1'^^
f It J arniugs ftel twd m f!.,Ee ftices, or
ath m k th t L look d !a idiy i e in casual
nnte m th st t d li ghw y 1 1 wiiat Fuller
b tif lly call — th m g G i t m ebony.' "
T tl L d nld h d t 11 1 more, of the
L "T fade mtinBt dh g h added a far
p ul w df th 1 t tl t m 1 J th fees. J'or
Utht mnlt mbiaJ tliat la w laanheet in
mhod h dthre thtp nergy, nn-
ni bed bybldfptl ydp t iai wrong,
am g I pl P ? 1^^ d '''p' '^^T be, yet
f rr t d n.ij,h y la^( d w th t e Savior's
f^t tlu htmtytfint t ]tu of prayer
bef th th f T li h 1 m loyal aad
t f tl f th th m th th h d t! e wife, the
bild th h m tl try mp pi k nd sti'oag
f tl flishbddh-i Ity rtesy born
t f -t bat t p tl h rf 1
I li lust y amb t t se d to
f tt g lisal Ul dthiktwnltl ,h ie braveiy
and endurance, such as blanch the cheeks and shake the hearte
of those who read or hear the pains and perils negroes have
dared for their own freedom, aad nobler still, the fi-eedora of
their fellows — these, and many other virtues, boui^eoned and
blossomed ia the hearts and lives of the black fng^tives. For
these people, whatever pro-slavery snobs and sciolists might
say of them, or however they might prate of their inferiority,
were, ncvertheleas, of worthy blood. Take as one sui'e proof
of the negro's native elegance and gentility of sonl, his lova
and talent for mnsic. The old genins of Africa which taught
the Up3 of Memnon those weii-d auroral tones which enchanted
the valley of the Kile, still haunts the broken souls of the race
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n
HAr.EiA-(;To;
on this coEtinent. America has no distinctive music but her
negro melodies. Listening to those merry rigadoon tunes,
wonderful for tLeir jovial sweetness and facile celerity of move-
ment, or to those melancholy or mournful chants, ineffable in
pathos, which thrill the spirit with their wild, myaterious
cadences, he would have little wit who could deny the spiritual
worth of the race whose fugitives at that period found no safety
in Boston,
No safety, None at al!. Yet Boston had it to remember
that one of the first five* martyrs of her freedom and of the
freedom of America, was a negro — Crispus Attueke. But
Boston's remembrance of that fact seemed at that time to be
almost confined to a certain literary slop-pail who periodically
emptied himself upon the fame of the hero whom John Han-
cock and Samuel Adams had thought worthy of funeral honors,
Boston had, for mauy years, paid her debt of gratitude to
Attucks by treating the men and women of hia raee something
after the fashion that Jews were treated in the Middle Ages.
They had their Ghetto at the west end of the town ; there
they lived by sufferance, despised, rejected, borne down by a
social scorn which, to the noblest of them, was daily heait-
break, and which the lowliest of them could not bear without
pain. They had a narrow rauge of humble employments and
avocations, such as window-cleaning, white-waahhig, boot-black
ing, cab-driving, porterage, domestic service, and the like ; keep-
ing a barber's shop or an old clothes shop, was perhaps the highest
occupation open to them ; and these they pursued faithfully and
induetrioosly. They were shut out of the meehauic occupations ;
shut out of commerce ; shut out of the professions. They
were excluded from the omnibuses ; excludetj from the first-
class cars ; excluded from the theatres unless the manager
could make a place for them where seeing or hearing was next
to impossible ; excluded from some of the churches by express
provision, and from most, if not all, of the others, by tacit
understanding ; excluded from the common schools, and allotted
caste-Bchoois where to learn anything was against nature ■
excluded from the colleges ; excluded from the decent dwell-
ings ; excluded from the decent graveyards ; excluded from
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UAKEISGIXJN". 1^
almost ererything. Tliey were, however, freely admitted to
the gallows and the jail. But these, somehow or other, saw
less of them thaa of the race that despised them,
For all the years anterior to the period nnder notice, thcfe
people had been, speaking in a general way, safe iu Boston.
There had, to be sure, been occasional histances of private kid-
napping, little known ; and there had been an abortive attempt
to legally clutch into slavery one negro, Latimer. Still, Bos-
ton cherished, sentimentally, at least, free principles, and the
Hevf England traditions and laws, alL favoring liberty, had
been strong enough in her borders to protect the fugitives.
Moreover, the caste prejudices ^^nst them had for twenty
years or so preceding been slowly breaking down. During
that time, thanks to one heroic saint, Emerson — thnnks to one
saintly hero, Gan-ison — the dawn of a new ei-a was broadening
up the northern sky, and all things had began to come nnder
the S0Tere%nty of reason, Emerson had shed the new and free
S %^t of a poet's soul aud a scholar's mind on the
t problems of spiritual and secular life : straightway the
primal soul Md session ; the old decisions were unsettled ;
everything was to be reexamined ; thought awoke ; the breeze
streamed ; the sun shone ; the Dutch canal fled into a rashing
river ; all that was generous, all that was thoughtful, all that
was intrepid in New England uprose from lethargy ; and
\^hile he —
" with low tonea that decide,
And doubt and reverend use defied —
With a look that aolTed the sphere,
And Btirred the devila everywhere —
Gave his sentiment divine,"
the contest of reason against authority and precedent began,
and amidst much theological mud-flinging and unable-editor
Jeering, continaod from year to year, awakening the distinctive
intellectual life of America. On the other hand, Garris<Ki
had impeached Slavery before the nation, as the giant foe of
civil and poMticai liberty, democracy, soeietj, humanity, in a
word, civilization ; aad amidst a roai-ing stonn of rancor, and
the howls of slavers and traders, that tremeudoua trial aJao
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74
began, and continued from year to yesw. At the outset, Bos-
toa merchants, convQised with sordid fear lest their sonthern
trade should suffer by this arraignment of t&e oligarchy, ga-
thered hi a mob to liang the gaUant citizen— Lad, in fact, the
rope already arouad his neck, when the Mayor put hun iti jail,
as a dastardly way of saving him. At the onteet, too, the
gentle Go-rernor of Geoigia issued' an official proclsmatioa
offering five thousand dollars reward for his assassination.-
Happy; free America ! But Garrison had in his heart all that
made patriots and Pnritans, and amidst a tempest of persecu-
tion mieqnaOed auce the Dark Ages, danntless with pen and
voice, he held his coarse against Slavery like the thunder
storm against the wind. To his aid gathered a little gronp of
gHitlcmen and gentlewomen, writers ana oratora of marked
power. Abby Eelley, fair and eloquent for liberty as ever
the Greek HypaIJa for science : Lydia Maria Child, whose
generous and exquisite literal^ genins all know : Mrs. Chap-
man, her thought shining in a terse, crystalline diction, like
gold in a mountain strealm' : Angelina and Sarah Grimke,
Carolinians, who knew what Siavery was, and knew how to
flash the heart's %ht upon it : Bcriah Green, a master of the
old ignited logic ; Theodore Weld, a resplendent and indomi-
table torrent of brave speech : Edmund Quincy, wit, hmnoi^
ist, satuist, gentleman, with the best spirit of the days of
Qneen Anne in his thought and style : Wendell Phillips, ^^th
a fiery glory of classic oratory, strange, bat for him, to the
air of America : Burleigh, Francis Jackson, in later years
Theodore Parker, these, and a score of others gathered aromid
Garrison, sacrificing name and fame, genius, scholarship, wealfli,
everythmg they had to sacrifice, to the heroic task of redeem^
ing their eonntry from its shame and wo. Outside of this
organization was Chanuing, with words lite momiog : John
Quincy Adams, too, durmg those years, fought the battle of
free speech in the halls of Congress : Webster, also, poured
the hghtning and thunder of his nuud against the extension
of slavery, though never, save in the abstract, against slavery it-
self ; the Whig party backed hun ; the men of the Liberty
party, and iu later years the Free Soil party, came to the ade
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HAEKINGl'ON. 75
issues of the war. Bat these were not the AbolitioiiiBts pro-
per ; the AboUtionists were those who stood with Ganison,
and theh' work was with Slavery itself. Against it they
reared Alps tf testimcmy and argument ; they exposed it
utterly ; they fcent every energy to the task of rousing the
nation to its annihilation. Part of their task was the eleva-
tion of the fugitives in Boston, and it was owing to their
efforts that the csste prejudices were breaking down. The
comparative triumph of the present time, whose signal is that
the black child sits on eqna! terms in the Boston schools with
the white, was not then achieved, but still, at the period under
notice, much had been done. The cars were open to the ne-
gro, the omnibuses, the decent dwellings, some mechanic
occupations, some of the churches ; and one or two colored
lawyera had been admitted to the Bt^ton Bar. The theatres
still held out ; the " respectable " churches, of course — spite
of the black bishops of the days of Paul and'Angnslin? ;
commerce, also ; the schools and colleges, likewise ; but the
AboUtionists were battering on the wall, and it was breaking,
breaJiing, breaking slowly down.
Suddenly over these stn^ghng tides of light and darkness
swept the black refineht su^e of barbarism. In the year
185{1, Ooi^ess passed the Fugitive Slave Law. The great
Hnmboldt justly called it " the Webster law " — for with Web-
ster gainst it, it either could not have passed, or having
pa^ed, it never could hare been execated. Webster hostile
to it, and the North would have risen around him as one man.
Bnt the time had come for the Presidential candidates to
make their game, and on the seventh of March, 1850, Web-
ster made his game. The draft of a speech for freedom lying
in his desk, he stood np in the Senate, spoke a speech for
slavery, which was at war with every other speech of his pre-
vious'life, and his game was made. He made it, played it,
losif it, died, and lies cm-sed with for^veness, and buried in
A cold, hard Soathem tyrant, Mason of, Virginia, created
the black statute; a sleek, pleasant Northern traitor, Fillmore
of New York, then sitting in the Presidential chair, unleashed
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76
it, and it burst forth ia mischief and rnin, upon the homes of
the poor. Such ^ law I The fugitive to be haled before a
CommiBsiotter- no Judge, no Jury; hia former slavery sworn to
by any nnknown claimant, he was to be sent into bondage ;
five dollars to the Commissioner if ' he set him free, ten dollars
if he made him a slave. Sis mouths imprisonment, and fifteen
hundred dollars ine to any person who gave a fugitive food to
eat, water to drink, a room to rest in. Happy, free Araerieal
At first Boston was horrified at the law, and aghast at the
course of Webster. But the first shock over, Boston became
filled with patriotic ardor, and the black statute not only rose
in fevor, bnt slavery itself became the theme of eulogy. It
was about that period that an eminent Philadelphia sm^on
rushed one morning, with a glowing face, before the college-
class, and holding np a horrid mass before their astonished
eyes, screamed, ia a voice trembling with passionate enthusi-
asm : " Oh, gentlemenl gentlemen, what a &e-cn*tiful cancerl"
With an enthusiasm not less rapturous than his, the Whig
and Democratic politicians of that period expatiated upon the
charms of the obscene and filthy oligarchic wen which hang
from the neck of the South, and the black, accuiBed conglo-
merated pustule of a Fugitive Slave Law, which moculated from
it, now deformed the whole face of the North. Slavery was a
perfectly paradisaical and divine institution; agitation against
it must cease : the Fugitive Slave Law was instmct with the
purest and noblest patriotism ~ the fugitive men, women
and children must be hunted down by it with alacrity, or the
South wonld dissolve the Union. To this effect the beanfiful
emascnlate eloquence of Everett moved forth in balanced
cadence ; to this effect raved rancorous in Bedlam beauty, the
interyolved, mextricable, splendor-spotted snarl and coil of
Choate's bewildering orations ; to this effect, al! up and down
the land, for two years, rolled Webster's dark and orotund
mahgnaut thunder. Everywhere in their train a host -of
blatherers and roarera sponted and bawled—stop agita-
tion—execute the Slave Law-^ave the Union I It waa
a period of absolute insanity. The Union was not in the
slightest danger— proof of that, the stocks never fell.
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HAJtKIHGTON. W
The South would no more liave dared to dissolve the tTnion
than a man would daie to swim in the Maelstrom. But the
Southern insanity of tyranny demanded the North for its man-
hnnting" ground ; the northern insanity of avarice yielded the
demand to get southern trade ; between the slayer and tradier,
the politicians' insanity of power made its game ; and the pre-
text for all was the salvation of the Union. Millions of the
people cried, " Save the Union 1 A thin ind piessei
reechoed the cry. An immense majoiity of the ckisy echoed
it again from their pnlpits. Ihe thmgs mmistera said in de-
fence of slavery and its black statute were only less mu edible
thaa the maimer in which they were received For inotance
the Eev. Dr. Dewey, an eminent divine was. reported to hive
declared in a public lecture thit he would send hih ow n mother
into slavery to save the Union , a storm of rebuke at once
burst upon him from the anti-slavery people and this senti
ment was not considered satrnfattorr even by (itizcns of the
highest reepectabihty: whereupon Dr Dewey espluned that
he had not stud he would send his own mother into slavery to
save the Union, but that he had said he would consent that
his own brother or his own son should go into slavery to save
the Union— and the citizens of the highest respectability eon-
ader^d this sentiment as Iiighly satisfactory 1 So amidst such
talk and such applause as this, the pro-slavery furore pothered
on, and the North was incessantly ui^ed to enforce the black
statute as the price of safety to the nation, and incessantly re=
minded of the priceloss privileges the Union aeeured to us.
Perhaps it did— but not least prominent among them was the
pricele^ privilege of paying the debts of South Carolina, ami
the other priceless privilege of hunting men and women on the
soil of the old patriots and Puritans.
.Meanwhile the Eeign of Terror had begun, and the hell-
hound of a law was ravening on its victuna. It raged chiefly
in the great cities, and from these the fugitives, their years of
safety over, were flying by thousands to the wild Canadian
snows. But the Abolitionists were upon the law. Upon it
Theodore Parker dashed the bolted thunder of his speech.
Upon it burst the inextinguishable Greek fire of eloquence
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78
BAKEINOTQl}-,
from the fortreased soul of Wendell Phillips. Upon it, in a
woui, all the men and women, the Britomaals and Taiicreds
Of tke glorious minority, hartled like a storm of swords The
Free Soilere, too, were up, and did gallant service. Giddings
Seward, Wilson, Burlinganie, Mann, Sewall, Chase, Sumner,
aU the gentlemen and chevaliers of that league, were in the
tield. Charles Sumner shQok Faneuil Hall with words that
beat with the blood of all the ages. In New York, Beecher
burst upon the monster with tempests of generous flame, and
the Hebraic speech of Cheever fought with the prowess of
the Maccabees. All over the North, in country towns and in
some city pulpits, there were valiant clergymen, whose souls
went forth in arms. T^e Free Soil presses everywhere, became
catapults and mangonels, showering a hail of uivecfive and
at^nment upon the law. But the monster, panoplied in legal
foi-ms, and girt with a myriad of defenders, was hard to km
Beaten from some places, crippled sorely, it stUl lives, aod evea
at this hour, in New York, ia Philadelphia, and in other cities,
drags down and devours its victims. At the period nnder no-
tice. Its power was strong in Boston. Boston, in the brand-
ing phrase of Theodore Parker, had gone for kidnapping.
Her Webster, her city officers, her aristocracy, her courts her
prominent newspapers, her traders and her rabble were all
hostile to the imhappy fugitives. That law, however, was
doipg the most powerful anti-slavery serTice ever done in
America. But its results— for it broke up the Whig party
sowed death in the bones of the Democratic party, sent Charies
Sumner to Congrefs, made the Republicans a power in the
land, ami taught the people a detestation of slavery which
they had never known before— its results were not then fully
deposited, or at least cleariy seen ; they were stiD opei-ant to
their end ; and all noble hearts were bowed in sickening sor-
row, for it seemed as if liberty, humanity, civilization, all, were
going down forever.
It was,, then, this hell-dog of a law tiat had made it no
longer safe for the fugitives in Boston. And who is he who
shall nndertake to paint the agony of those men and women ?
He must dip his pencil in the hu<..s of earthquake aiid ech-pco
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HAKKISaTOU. 79
who Mins to do it. Their years of security were over. TliS
first news of the passage of the law drove scores of them -■&>
Canada, and day by day they were flying. Numbers of their ,
people had already been takea from othet cities into slavery,
when the first slave case, that of Shadrach, occurred in Bos-
ton. Ten or twelve gallant black men bnret into the court-
room, and took Shaiirach from Jiia foes. Boston howled.
Soon another fugitive, Suns, was dragged before the Com-
missioner. No rescue for him; the coort-honse was ringed
with chains, imder which the Chief Justice of Massachusetts,
and other Judges, crawled to theii' seats; the cutlasses and
bludgeons of the Government begirt the captive, and fifteen
hundred Boston gentlemen offered to put muskets to their
shoulders, if desired, to insure his being taken into bondage.
" The Fifteen Hundred Scoundrels," Wendell Phillips christened
this brigade of wretches, praymg that bankruptcy might sit
on the ledger of every one of ttem. Nine days the Abolition-
ists and Free-Soilera fought the case, impeded the Jedburgh
justice^the bitter mockery of that infamotis trial; then gims
was enviroaed with cutlasses and pistols, marched, at early
dawn, to the vessel fe Boston merchant volunteered for his
rendition; and sent into slavery. The only rtews of him after
that, was that he had been scourged to death at Savannah.
His capture and murder completed the ghastly alarm of the
Boston fi^fives. From that hour they lived in an atmos-
phere of unimaginable fear and gloom. Freqnent reports
that kidnappers were in town, harried many of them off to
join the thirty thousand fugitives who had fled from the ten-
der mercies of America to seek refuge in the bleak wilds or
towns of Canada. Churches were suspended; business
arrested; famili^ were broken up; wives and huabahds sepa-.
rated; fathers had to leave their sons; sons their fathers;
parents their children ; for the peril was often immediate,
and there was no time for delay. At every fresh rumor
that kidnappera were in town, the colored people would
huiTyup from their occupations to their homes — some to fly,
aided by their richer brethren, or by the compassion of the
anij-slavery people— others to gather in the streets in excited
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discnssion — and others,- witli that desperate and splendid
courage which is one of the distmctive virtues of the negro, to
fortify their dwelhngs, and prepare for a death-grapple with
their hunters. Thick-crowding cares and fears, distress, alarm,
foreboding, agony, few friends, a thousand foes, this was their
bitter porlion.
Such, briefly and faintly sketched, was the state of affairs
among these poor people in the City of the Fugitive at that
period. What wonder men of heart despoaded ? It was not
a despised Abolitionist, but an Abolitionist whom none des-
pise— the Lord of Civilization standuig calm above the ages,
he whose spirit slowly wins the world from wrong ; it was
Francis Bacon of "Vernlam who said that when Commerce
dominates in the State, the State is in its decline. Comrnerce
dominated then. Science, arts, law's, religion, morahty,
humanity, justice, Uberty, the rights, the hearts of mankind —
ah must give way to it. Rapacious and insolent, it ruled and
flourislied over all.
Tet there were rays of hope and auguries of better days in
Boston even then, and the now was stirrup in the old. Emer-
son was saturating the intellectual life of the city, and through
it the mind of America, with the nobleness of his thought.
Theodore Parker, g^ntesque in learning, courage, devotion
to mankind, less a man than a Commonwealth of noble powers,
was in his pulpit, with a strong and growing hold on the minds
and hearts of the people. The Abolitionists were toiling terri-
bly with all their splendid might of conscience, their genius
and theh' eloquence, to rouse the North to a settlement with
the Slave OUgarehy. TbeFree-Soilers were indefatigably labor-
ing to prevent the base and biTital Democrats from crowding
out free American labor from the Territories and incoming
States with the labor of Congo and Ashantee ; and laboring
also to get the Government out of the control of the Slave
Power. In a word, Liberty was fighting her battle with
Trade, and even the defeats of Liberty are victories.
Add to all that a fair ray of hope and promise still lin-
gered at that period in the ah* of Boston, cast from a little
society of Socialists, under the leadership of William Henry
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nAEKIHGTON, 81
^janniiig, which had been dissolved aboat two years hefoi-e.
Tliey had lit their torch from the old faith that Human Life
has its Science, discovering which we rear earth's Golden Age.
It was the oM idea of Pkto, Aristotle, Pythagoras ; it was
the dream of Campanella and More ; it was the divine and
deathless puipose of Bacon, and the holy labor of Fourier.
The godaUsts in Boston had made a limited but profonnd
impression with it, which had outlasted their dissolution. The
light of the torch still lived when the torch itself was extin-
goished ; and amidst the sordor and selfishness and cruelty of
tlie period, it showed that the tradition and the promise of the
Good Time Coming were immortsd.
: FENciKo SCHOOL.
Akono other things m Boston at that period there was a feno-
ing school and pistol gallery, kept by an old soldier of the First
Empu^, Monsieur Hypolite Bagasse. The way to it was up a
long, narrow boarded alley which led out of Washington street,
ran straight for abont twenty steps, and then with the natural
disposition of every street, avenue, alley, lane or court ia Boston,
made an effort to achieve the line of beauty and of grace by slant
ing off to the left, in which bent it was followed by the blind,
brick walls, covered in one spot with a patch of theatre
posters on the left hand side of it, and by a large dingy old
brick building, pretematurally Iidl of windows, on the r^ht
hand side of it. In this building was the fencing school.
A large, long, dim, unftaished interior, lighted on one side
only by a row of windows looking on the alley, clap-boarded
all around on the other sides, and with rafters overhead. Cool
and dry, with a feint acrid smell of powder-smoke pervadin"-
its musty atmosphere. One section of the oblong space, to
the left of tlie door, anwindowed, and lyiug in complete
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83 HiEEINGICN.
shadow. Three or four square wooden posts, down the long
centre, supporting the raftered ceUing. On the left hand,
under the windows, the pistol gallery — a feaced lane, with a
tai^et at one end, and a bench, with arms and ammunition on
4t, at the other. Near this a wooden settee with a tin can of
cheap claret wine upon it. Opposite, hanging on the boarded
wall in the rear of the pistol bench, and in the range of two or
three of the windows, rows of foils and yellow buckskin fenc-
ing-gloves, black wire masks for the face, leathern plastrons
for the breast, and a few single-sticks and blunt broadswords.
No other furniture, save three or fonr old chairs, scattered
here and there about the room.
It was about half-past seven o'clock in the morning of the
twenty-fifth of May, and Monsienr Bagasse was waiting for
pupils to arrive. John Todd, a young fellow about fifteen or
sixteen years of age, was at the bench, absorbed in cleaning
pistols. Moodeur Bagasse himself, slowly shufBing up and
down in front of the fencing implements, with a halt in his
step, occasioned by one leg being shorter than the other, was
absently smoking a short pipe, which he held to Us mouth by
the base of the bowl. He was a figure fit for the pencil of
Callot or Gavarni Sixty years old, but not looking more than
a weather-beaten forty ; of middhng stature, brawny, round-
shonldered, slightly bow-legged, with large splay feet, cased in
shambling shoes, with an old cap on the baek of his head, and
his coarse, black hair, daslied with grey, showing under the
crescent^ahaped visor above his low, broad, corrugated fore-
head ; with a dilapidated, old-fashioned stock around his neck,
a slate-colored worsted jacket buttoned with horn buttons up
to his throat, the sleeves of a red flannel shirt showing at his
wrists, and coarse, dark, baggy trowsers on his lower limbs.
His visage swarthy, ferraginons, picturesquely ugly, but
suave and kindly, with a constant expression of curious inter-
rogation upon it — an expression to which the ever upturned
jaw contributed — to which the mouth, shaded by a msty
blade moustache, and always inquiringly open, contributed—
to which the eyes, one bleared and the other bi%ht as a
darkly-glowing coal, and both surmounted by shaggy eye-
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HAEKIHGTON.
brows, contributed— and which had its contribation from the
horn-rimmed goggles worn half way down on the bold aqui-
line nose, above which the eyes looked from the upturned fa^
aa though they were sighting at a marit along a cannon.
Wrinkles, of conrse— TVTinkles, and seams and crowsfeet in
profusion ; two noticeable fissures sloping deeply down the
cheeks from the big nostrils ; and on the right cheek a dim
red scar— the record of a Frenchman's last eervice to his Em-
peror at Waterloo. Add to ail a general association of
tobacco, snuff, and garlic, and you have the idea of Monsieur
Bagasse.
A step on the stairs announcing the approach of a visitor
Monsieur Bagasse halted, took his pipe ft-om his mouth, and
stood m a habitual attitude, his arms hung stiffly, his palms
turned ontward, his big feet also turned outward and visible
from heel to toe, and his face sighting with curious inquiry at
the door. The doov opening presently, in came a young man
of seven or eight and twenty, rather boyish-looki'ng for his
years, modishly, though tastefully, atlared, whose name was
Fernando Witherlee.
" Good morning, Monsieur Bagasse. How de do," he said
touchmg his moleskin hat with a kid-gloved finger, as, smiling
constramedly, and cringing into a soper^Icgant bow, he came
lorward. " Whew I how yon smell of powder in here."
"Ah ! good mouning, good moaning, Miss'r Witterlee,"
rejomed tlie old Frenchman, politely, with a quick salute of the
hand.
Privately, Monsieur Bagasse had a supreme contempt for
his visitor. Nobody could have guessed it, however, who saw
the bland suavity on his grotesque visage, as he curiously
scanned the face before him. A plump, smooth, coloriess,
bilious face, handsome in its general eflect, subtle, morbid
fastidious, supercilious, reticent; but with alJ its traits
masked m a cool assumption of impassibility. With thick
brown hair graeefully arranged; handsome, expressive brown
eyebrows; brown eyes, with a restless glitter on them when
they were in motion, and a perfect opaqueness in them wlien
they were still ; lips which were rigid in thek contour,
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84 HAEKIHG'TON.
usnally s!igh% parted, and which moved but little in their
epeech. Primarily, tlie face of an epicurean and a dilet-
tante ; a face, too, that bespoke cjnidsm, conceit, arrogance,
and indescribable capacity of aggravation and insult. Such
was the face which Monsieur Bagasse smilii^iy and suavely
" Where are onr friends this fine morning t" Witherlee aeked,
carelessly, with an affected elegance of utterance, which was a
cross between mincing and drawling. " Kot anived yet ? The
lazy fellows I Perfect sloths, both of them."
" Laaee ? Oh no I It is vair early yet," returned Monsieur
Bagasse. "Miss'r Harrin'ton an' Miss'r Wentwort' ai-e not
lazee yet, Miss'r Wittei'ly."
" Oh, they're up early enough, I know," replied the other,
" for I met them an hour ago, idling along Temple street with
some ladies."
" Maybe zose iadee was zere sweetheart. Ah, Miss'r Wit^
terly, pardon rae, it is not lazee for ze young men to promenade
wis zere sweetheart — sacre bleu, no 1"
Witherlee langhed — a chnckUng laugh, as though his throat
was fnll of turtle.
"I was struck with the contrast," he remarked. "Wenfc-
worth was dressed in his dandy artist rig — sprnce as Bean
Brnmmel, and Harrington wore those snperannnated old clothes,
looking for all the world as if he had just been let ont of the
watchhouse. Splendid girls they were with too. Wentworth
beside one of them was like a bizarre creature, of some sort or
other, walking with a princess, and Harrington like a strapping
young rag-picker along side of a queen."
" Ah, zey is vair fine young zhentilmen," tranquilly replied
Monsieur Bf^asse. " Yair fine."
Witherlee made no reply, but slightly elevated his handsome
eyebrows in expressive disparagement
" You know zoae Iadee, Mjse'r Witterly ?" inquired the old
Frenchman.
" Oh yes, very well. I walked along with tbem this morn-
ing. One is a Miss Eastman — she Uves in Temple street with
her mother. Quite rich. The other is a Mis,s Ames, who is
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HAEBIMGTON-. 85
visiting the Eastmans. Her family are all rii:l}. They live at
Cambridge."
" Vair fine ladee ? Wis bcautee — wis dollair, eh V
"Oh yeSj indeed. Very much songht after too, both of
them. With crowds of admirers, I assure you."
" Ah, Miss'r Witteriy, I am so glad for zat. It please me
vair mnsh that Miss'r Harrin'ton and Miss'r Wentwort' saE
marry zose vair fine iadee."
" Hoity, toity, my dear Monsieur Bagasse, what itt the
world are you thinking of f Tour pupils are not so lucky as
that yet. Wentworth might have a chance, for his father's
rich, aud in good standing, though I judge from the way things
go on lately that Miss Ames cares precious Uttle for him. But
HarriDgton — why he's as poor as a church mouse, and doesn't
move ia good society at all. How Miss Eastman tolerates his
visits, / can't imagine. I suppose it's her kindness though.
Seems to me Harrington most have a great deal of assurance
to visit her at all. As for marrying her, why it's perfectly
absurd 1 She'd as soon marry a man out of the poor-house.
Good gracious ! look at the old coat the fellow wears 1 Why
the lady belongs to our first society — a su-pairb person — per-
fectly dis-t-a-ngnay."
Monsieur Bagasse grinned broadly, possibly with rage, pis-
sibly at the affected drawl with which Witherleo had pro-
nounced the French word didingiiS, and then growing gro-
tesquely serious, burst forth in orotund, hoarse, fluent tones,
very politely, but with great earnestness.
" Pardon me, Miss'r Witteriy," he said, " but why is zat so
odd zat ze vair fine distimguS ladee sail iof Miss'r Harrinton ?
Ah, Miss'r Witteriy, you make one vair big mistake. Yon
zink ze pretty girl all so fond of ze dollau- — ze rank — ze grand ,
posetion, eh ^ Bah — no 1 I tell you, no. Ze duch-ess— ze
countress — ze great vair fine ladee — zey Iof so offen ze wit, ze
brave heart, ze gallantree, ze goodness wis ze old coat over
him. Oaf! Look now. Attend Was I great vair fine
ladee, what sail I do wis myself ? I teil you. I see MLis'r
Harrington !of me. I make vair sure. Zen I say — Iiere, you
brave, good man, so kind, so handsome, so gallant, so Uke aa
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°" HAEiiraOTON,
superb chevalier of as old time— look— I lof you ! I lof you
wis you old coat ! I lof you old coat, too, for it covair you
BO long. Come— I mairy yoa— you take my fine Louse— my
doUaii^-you take me— all, for evair and evair. Sacrebleu,
Miss'r "Wittedy, zat ia what I say to Miss'r Harriu'ton was I
vair fine ladee,"
To this outburst, which was deliyered with great vivacity
and many shrugs, grimaces, and odd gesticulations, Witherlee
listened with opaque eyes and parted lips, and an expression
of perfect immobility on his coloriess, plump, morbid counte-
nance. At the end, he lifted his expressive eyebi-ows,
slightly curled a eontumehons nose, and curved a supercilious
lip, with an insolence at once so delicate and so intense, that
Monsieur Bagasse, with the most suave smile again on his
uncouth visage, felt a strong desire to deal him a thumpmg
French kick under the chm.
" I have no doubt, my dear Monsieur Bagasse," was the
rejomder after a pause, " that you would do as yon say if
you were the lady in qnestion. But you're not, you know
which makes the difference. However, I won't discuss the
pomt with you. Harrington is not quite so great a fool, I
hope, as to expect any such good fortune. As for "Wentworth,
if you could have seen his face this morning when Emily—that
IS Miss Ames— gave Harrington a bunch of violets yoa
wonld have thought that hU hopes, Uke his prospects, were
rather down."
" Eh, what was zat ?" inquired the old Frenchman, curiously.
" Why you see," replied Witherlee, with a spirtmg chuckle
at the remembrance, " after the walk we were m the parlor,
and iTiss Ames went into the conservatory and came back
with a little bunch of violets. She was at a table in the
further end of the room, dividing the violets into two nosegays,
and, just for a joke, 1 went over to her and whispered that
Wentworth would be delighted to receive a true-love posy
from her. I don't know what made her color, but she did, and
instantly tied up all the flowers in one nosegay, with a piqued
air, and went over to the two fellows. Ton should have seen
Wentworth's mortified air when she sailed past him, and gave
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87
them to HarriDgton. He walked aerosa the room, trying to
look iadiffereut, but it was no go. Miss Eastman went out
and came back with another bunch of violets which she gave
him with her most gradous manner, but I guess she couldn't
console him for that rebuff. He made tis adieux to Miss
Ames stiffly enough, thongh he was extra cordial to Miss
Eastman, at which Miss Ames looked colder than ever. Alto-
gether, for a little matter, it played the deuce with Wentworth
everyway."
" Pardon me, MissV Witterly — ex-cnse me, su", please,"
interposed Monsieur Bagasse, with immense civihty of manner,
and deprecating grimaces : " Zat was not well — sacrthUn, no.
You make zat mL'^cheef — ex-cuse me — jou vex zat ladee and
you wonnd Mies'r Wentwort' wis you littei gay talk. Ah,
yoa was not right — no indeed. Ton make maybe littei naff
wis zoseyonng peoples — it grow, grow, grow evair so big ma^fe,
and zey nevair, nevair, come back togezzcr. You dntj sail
be to make ze amende honorable — ex-plain — yea indeed,
Miss'r Witterly. Tou tellJiiss'r Wentwort' what you say —
zen he know, zen it is again right."
" Not at all," replied the misehief-maker. " I don't think
so. I only made a playful remark. If Miss Ames chose to
act as she did, that is oot my affair. I said all I could to
console WentwoiiJi. I told him I was truly sorry that Miss
Ames had treated him so rndely — very sorry mdeed,"
" MSk (oimerre .*" exclaimed the Frenchman, grinning and
grimacing desperately: " you say zat to Miss'r Wentwort' 1"
"Of conrse I said it," coolly replied Witheriee. "What
less conld I say 1 It didn't console him much, though. He
tried to look indifferent, thanked me coolly enoi^h, and re-
marked that it was of no consequence "
Monsieur Bagasse gave a sort of snort st I! grmning and
grimacing. The whole proceedmg was qnite m Fernando
Witherlee's style. A piece of boyish malice, perpetiated with
miHcMevously subtle talent — with an expressiveness of maimer
which had injected the words and action with a wicked meaning
not purely their own; afterwards foolishly tattled of, and
defended ivith pig-headed perversity.
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HaEEINGTON.
_ I am very sorry the thing happeDe^," resumed Witherlee,
in a cool, sympathizing, soliloqaiziug tone, Jookiug, meanwhile,
at the wall with his opaquest gaze. " And I'm still more
sorry to notice that Wentworth and Miss Ames are not so
intimate as they were a short time ago. It really seems as if
they were becoming estrangei It's odd to see how attentive
Wentworth is lately to Miss Eastman, though I'm sure he
only cares for her as a friend. Then Miss Ames, on the other
hand, is very agreeable to Harrii^ton, which galls Wentworth
I know. 'Pon my word, I beUeve he is getting jeaJons of'
Harrmgton, and I shonldn't wonder if those two fellows bad a
falling out presently. It's dreadiiilly absurd of "Wentworth,
for I'm snre that if Harrington cares for either of them it's
Mi^ Eastman," '
The case was pretty mnch as Withei-Iee had stated it but
the explanation was, that he had been lifting his eyebrows
acd modalating his tones and dropping his intangible innnendoea
to Miss Ames with regard to Wentworth, and the result was
that she had become filled with indetGrminate snspicion and
distrust of her lover, and had almost aUenated him from her
by her mariner toward him.
" Miss'r Witteriy, yon are ze friend of zose young men "
placidly observed Mousienr Bagasse. " See, now, suppose yon
teU Mm'r Wentwort' zat he sail not be jalons of Miss'r Har-
rin'ton— zat Miss'r Harrin'ton haf not lof Mees Ame nevau-.
Zen you make zem fine young zhentilmen still good friend of
ze ozzer. Yoa say zat now to Miss'r Wentwort'."
^^ "Dear me, co; that wouldn't do at aD," was the reply.
"It's not my business, you know, and I might only make
tronble. Better let them alone. It'll all come right, I guess.
Wentworth'a in no danger from our negro-worshipping friend,
and I gueffl the best policy in this case, like the national policy
m regard to Kossntb, will be non-intervention."
" >■ eegei'-worship friend ? Who is zat you mean ?" inquired
Monsieur B^iisse, with gi-otesqne perplesity.
Witherlee laughed his turtle-husky chuckle.
" I was only joking," he returned; " I meant Harrington.
Ton know he's a fnrious Abolitionist."
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HARRINGTON. 89
" Ah, Miss'r Witteriy," said the old Freiiclimfl.n, with a
deprecAtiDg shrng and grimace, " zat is not g-ood fon. Miss'r
Harrin'ton is vair fine joaug zhentitman. If he worsheep ze
neeger, pardieu, Hypolite Bagasse worsheep ze neeger wia
hun. Zatisonly what yoa call ze attachment zoo libertee. Ah,
Miss'r Witterly, zat Miss'r Hanin'ton, so kind, eo strong, so
good, he is friend of ze neeger, of ze Iris'maa, of ze French-
man, of ze poor fellow, of ze littel cliild, of ze small fly on ze
window, of ze vair old devail himself, of eTairj*ody. See,
now. Attend. I was seek — vair seek wis fever in ze win-
ter. Nobody come to me— of my pupeel not one. Zat
Miss'r Harrin'ton lie come. He find John Todd, and inqnire
where I live, and he come. He breeng ze doctor — he breeng
Miss'r Wentwort', he breeng ze littel jellee, ze grape, all zem
littel ting zat he say ze vair fine ladee give him for ze poor old
vair seek Bagasse. Sacrehlm, he nurse me ; he sit up wis me
in M night when my wife tire herself out wis me, and go sleep •
he get me well, and zen he go zoo ze pupeel and make ze sub-
scripsheon for zere old fencing-mastair. Feefty dollair — dam I
it is sab-lune ! Ze wolf he cut off from ze door of Bagasse so
queek as his dam leg will trot I Zen Miss'r Harrin'ton ie ad-
vise Madame Bagasse zoo keep ze boarding-house. Ah 1 it is
gi'and. She accept— ze boardalr come— ze French, ze Italian,
ze G-erman man zey board wis me. Hah 1 zat Miss'i Harnn'-
ton he set me up on my leg, wis my heait b^ wis giatitnde
Yoa make mock of zat old coat, Miss'r Witterly Bah 1 Ho
ivear zat old coat zat so many poor deyail sail wear any coat
at aU. Sacreblew ! was I ze great Nap-oleon I sail put ze
graiid cross of ze Legion— ze Legion d'Honneur— on zo bieast
of zat old coat for evair."
There was such emotion in the deep, hoarse rolling tones —
sach a dark glow on the grotesque, hioivn, wrinklnd vihjge —
such fire in the one eye under its shaggy eyebrow — -iuch mai
tjal energy in the uncouth, shabby iignie, that Witheilee felt
the danger of parsuiiig any farther his detiaction of Harrmg-
ton. At the same time, he felt an envious itching to continue
it. To hear anybody or anything praised, and not be ronsed
to oppositiveness, was not in the organization of Fernando
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y'-' IIARRLNGTON.
Witherlee. A peculiarly aggravating rejoinder was in liis
mind, and the temptation to utter it was prodigions. " While
he hesitated between the temptation and the imminent pros-
pect of having a quarrel oq his hands with Monsieur Bagasse,
steps and loud talldng on the staii-s, announcing tlie approach
of pupils, at once decided and relieved bun, and he sauntered
away to a chair, sinking into which and tilting it back; against
the wall, he proceeded to select, light and smoke a cigar.
CHAPTER III.
MoNaiETO Bagasse, meanwhilt, resuming hi^ equahimity,
stood sighting beyond the muzzle of an mvisihle cannon, as if
the door was the mark, looking very mm h like some slovenly,
awkward old artilleryman, of an ujconth pattern, and not at
all like a fencing-master. Tlie door flew open presently with a
bang, letting in two smart young men not yet out of then-
teens, who swaggered forward with a very ratish, gasconading
ah-. Milk street clerks — Fiak and Palmer by name — snobbish
in dress and rude in manners,
" Eon swor, Monsoor," said Palmer, loud and patronizmg.
This address, coached m a pnrely domestic French, was
intended both as an elegant recognition of the nationality of
Monsieur Bagasse, and as a way of bidding hun good morn-
ing. The old man, who with ready politeness had silently
saluted the new comers upon their entrance, surveyed the
speaker over the rims of his round goggles, with open mouth,
and an odd smile on his upturned visage.
" Ha, Miss'r Pammer," he said with vivacity, " you zmk ze
day is gone, eh V
Palmer, who was takiag off his coat, stopped and stared.
" I don't underatand you, Monsoor," he rejoined ; " I'm
going to take my lesson."
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HARKINGTOH. 91
" Hah ! Zat is well," said the old man. " But you say,
bon soir, Miss'r Pammer. Zat is, good nigtt. Tou intend
bonjoy.r; zat is, good day."
Palmer, seeing the grotesque, good-natuved face of the
fencing-master smiling at him, and beginning to comprehend
what his domestic French had meant, grinned rather foolishly,
and tamed off. His companion, who stood in his shirt-
sleeves with a wire-mask already on his face, bnrst into a rude
guffaw at the blunder, and slapped him on the back with a
fencing-glove. It may be mentioned here that these young
cubs, in process of getting their taste for the wolf's milk of
trade, had come upon the heady wine of Dumas' "Three
Guardsmen" — which admirable romance had so intoxicated
their ardent fancy with excited day-dreams of D'Artagnan
and Porthos, that, filled with the spirit of the sword, they
had resolved to take fencing-lessons of Monsieur Bagasse.
This practical recognition of the literary genius of the great ,
French mulatto, was one incident in their joint career.
Another, not so creditable, was their participation in a mob
of clerks and salesmen, who not long before had brawled down
an orator of Dumas' own color — Frederick Douglass — at the
Thompson meeting in Fanenil Hall. It is to be feared that
the gallant Alexandre hmiself would have fared no better at
then- hands, or their employers' either, had he ever been fool
enough to leave the democratic streets of Paris, for the color-
phobic pavements of Boston.
Monsieur Bagasse put away his pipe and spectacles, shuffled
across the room to shut the door wliich the cubs had left open,
and returning took down a foil and glove to give the lesson.
Fiak was buckling on Palmer's plastron, as the leathern breast>
plate is called, an operation rathe* hindered by his sense of the
supercilious smile with which Witherlee regarded his efforts
from his chau- against the wall, as well as by the circumstance
of his having his face incased in the wire mask, and his arras
hampered by the heavy leather gloves which he was holding
with his elbows against his sides. "While Monsieur Bagasse
waited, standing in an awkward drooping posture, with the foil in
his gloved hand, a firm step was heard bounding up the stairs,
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"■^ HAERINGTOK.
the door flew open, and, with a Ught, springing tread, a young
man, flushed and gmiling, and so handsome that any one would
have turned to look at him, darted in, bringing with him a
warm gnst of fragrance into the chill musty paUor of the room.
An odd, fond smile shot at once to the Tisage of the fencing-
master.
" Ha, good monning, good monning, Missr Wentwort'," ho
chirruped, returning with a military salute the quick gesture of
gay cordiality the young man made on entering. " How you
feel to4ay ?" '
" Capital 1 most potent, grave and reverend seignior I My
very noble aud approved good fencing-master, how aie you ?
Hallo, Fernando," hia eje catching sight of the equably-smok-
ing "yPitherlee : " here you are again, old feUow ?"
" Just so, HeliogabaluB," coolly drawled the bilious-cynical
youth from his chair. " Say, Heliogabalus— do you know how
to get that smell out of your clothes ? Bury 'em I"
There was a decided flavor of verjuice in the manner of
Witherlee, as he let fly this borrowed jest at the perfumed
raiment of the other. Weatworth, though he took it as a
jeet, could not help wincing a little at it, and was made even
more uncomfortable at the application to him of the name of
one of the most bestial of the Roman Emperors.
"Well, Fernando," he returned with a smile, "if ever there
was a prickly cactus, yon're one. You're a perfect Diogenes.
Get a tub, Fernando, do."
" Quart* and tierce, Heliogabalus," responded the cool Fer-
nando, with his turtle-husky chuckle,
Wentworth turned away, and met the smOiiig look of ad-
miration and fondness on the npturned visage of the old man-
at-ai-ms. A handsome yoofig fellow, in the very flower of
yonth and May, elegantly dressed— who could look at him
without admiration and fondness ? An artist—one conld
have told that at the first glance. Long anbum locks curled
in a thick duster under his dark Rubens hat, and around his
florid cheeks. He had a gay, electric, passionate face ; bright
bine eyes ; a fair complexion ; red lips, shaded by a light
brown moustache coqnettishly curled np at the ends, and quick
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ILAREtNGTON. 93
to cBiTB into a proud, brilliant smile. His fignre was com-
pact, well-kciit, shapely, of middle-height, aad seeming taller
than it was bj foi-ce of its gallaat carriage. The qaality of
his face was in his voice — so qoick, lively, clear and ringing.
" Ah, Missr Wentwort'," said the old man, in hoarse tones,
which were yet soft and facile, "you bring me back ever so
far — you look so gay ! Yon look as I sail feel wis my young
blood tirty, tirty-five years ago. We marsh zen wis ze great
Nap-olcon dis mont', all so proud, so gallant, for zat dam
Waterloo. Hah 1 I feel zen jus' like you. So young— so
gay [ Wis my littel flower like zat at my bouton — ze flower
zat ze pretty girl haf give me. Jus" so."
He touched a nosegay of violets in the young man's button-
Lole with the hilt of the foil as he spoke. Wentworth laughed
lightly, taking out the nosegay.
" Jupiter 1 Bagasse," he cried, " you shall have the flowers
for the Bake of the memory. What are you grinning at, Fer-
nando !" This to Witherlee, whose cynical grin changed into
a cool lift of the eyebrows. " Now, Bagasse," resiuned Went^
wortii, " I'll give them to you since they remind yoa of old
times. Here, let me fix them in your jacket. There now —
guard them well against every foil. Violets, yon know. Mon-
sieur Bagasse I Worn in remembrance of Corporal Violet —
the great little corporal !"
The old man bowed low, with the violets on his breast.
With the rush of thrilling souvenirs which the pet name of the
beloved Emperor revived, a dark glow came to his rugged
vis^e, and the one bright eye grew suddenly dim, leavmg the
face blind. Weutworth saw that he was touched, and with a
quick regi'et that he had broi^ht a tear to the old heart,
turned away, humming an air.
" But Where's Hai-ringtoii, I wonder V he burst out, whirl-
ing around f^ain. " He said he'd be here before me."
"He will come jretty soon, I zink, Missr Wentwort',"
replied Monsieur Bagasse. "You haf seen him dis morn-
" Oh, yes. I found bim, as usual, peeing away at the
books, and wc walked out together. Afterward we went
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94
IIAEEINGTON,
with him, Witherlee and I, to his room, and then started out
again to come here. He left us on the way, saymg he'd bo
here before us, and I left Witlieriee on the way, saying I'd
be hei-e before him. Two promises of pie-crust, thOTe. I'll
bet a denier, Fernando, that dog lias something to do with
his absence," and the yonug artist laughed.
'• No doubt," retnraed Witherlee, smoking, with a sarcastic
smile. " Perhaps he's commencing hia education— developmg
on Eant's principle, aD the perfectioa of which the domnsll
nature is capable."
" Dog ?" inquired Monsieur Bagasse, curiously.
" Oh, It's a dog we passed this morning," eaplained "Went
worth; "a miserable old vagabond white cur, with just about
life enough in him to crawl. Some Irish and negro boys were
lugging the poor oM devU along by the ears and tall, and
whacking hjm with sticks, as we came along, and Harrington,
of coui'se, stopped to order them off."
" Br^ht in Harrington," put in Witherlee, with a sneer ;
" as if they wouldn't be at him again before we'd gone twenty
yards !"
" Yes, by Jupiter, but before we had gone twenty yards,
Fernando, yon and I went into the shop, yon know, where
you bought the cigars, and it waa there that Harrington said
he had to go back to the hoase for something, and made off
with himself It never occurred to me till now— but I'U bet
a franc he went back to those boys !"
He burst into a peal of laughter at the idea.
" I'd give .'something to know what HaiTlugton did with
the old cnr," he said in a moment.
" Took him off to the butcher's perhaps, and sold him for
Bausages," snggeeted Witherlee.
'_' Ah, Mi^ Wentwort'," said the old man, grotesquely
serious, "you friend, Misar Harrin'ton, is vair fine, vair mush
humane, van- iine zheatilraan. I feel van- mush warm to
him."
" Rathei' too much of the Don Quixote order, though "
drawled Witherlee, affectedly, giving the SjMinish pronunciation
to the 'Don Quixote' and calUng it Don Kehoty.
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HAREINGTON. 95
" 0 yoTi be Ifanged, Fernando," burst in ■Wentvvoi-tVi.
" He's no more liie Don Kehoty, as you call it, than you're
like Sancho Panza. He's the grandest fellow that ever liviid,
and makes me ashamed of myself every day of my life. Hallo,
I guess he's coming."
Witherlee, biliously pale with spite at the double in-
jury of his pronQQciation of "Don Quixote" having been
mimicked, and Harrington having been so warmly praised,
busied himself with adjusting the loosened skin of his cigar,
while Monsienr Bagasse and Wentworth torced to the door,
whtcti voices and trampling feet were nearing. Presently
the door opened and a group of seven or eight poured
in with a confusion of salutations. Four or five of them were
young mercantiloes, and instantly swarmeil around Fisk and
Palmer, who were still fussing over the plastron. One was a
heavy, taciturn man — a Pennsylvania Dutchman— with blue,
fishy e^ CB, a sodden face and & yellow beard. His name was
Whilt, and he kept a wine-cellar, and boarded with Monsieur
Bagasse. With him was another of the fencing-master's board-
ers— a tall, slender, handsome, swagg'ering young man, half-
soldier, half-coxcomb in his bearing, with bright dark eyes, bril-
liant color, long black hair, well oiled and curled, and a long,
slim, black moustache, shaved into two sections, and clinging
to his upper lip, and curving around his moist, scariet mouth,
like two flaccid leeches. He was fencifully clad in bright blue]
tight-fitting trowsers, a short, rakish coat, gay vest and necker-
chief, wore his falling collar open at the throat, and had a Kos-
suth hat, with a black plnme, set smartly on his head. This
was Captain Vnkovich, a young Hungaiian officer, who had
come over in the train of Kossuth. Though it was only eight
o'clock, he and Whilt had a strong smell of Rhine wine about
them, which they difl'iised through the room upon entering.
" How are you, Whilt," said Wentworth, carelessly nodding.
" Captain, how are you? I thought you had gone on to New
York with Kossuth."
Wentworth had the Kossuth fiiror, prevalent about that
time, and saluted Vnkovich with a touch of enthusiasm.
" No," responded the Hungaiian, in a soft voice, conceitedly
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„ , moustache, and swaying on liis shapely legs as he
spoke. " So, I stays. Se Goforuor go on, au' I stays back.
I sink to keep eigar shop in Bosson pretty soon. So I stays.
Goot tay, Mossien Bagasse. How you feel ?'
He begun to talk in French to the fencing-master, and
Weatworth, foil of fiery sentiment for liberty and Hungary,
moved away to the foOs, humming the Marseillaise. Presently
Palmer and Pisk were ready, aud Monsieur Bagasse, after
much preliminary effort to get Palmer into strict position,
begau to give him his lesson.
Both Witherlee aad Weatworth were very sensitive to all
forms of artistic beauty, and they now saw, with strange
pleasure, as they had often seen before, the wonderful trans-
formation of the feQcmg-maater's awkward, sloren figure. Look-
ing at him m his oi-dinary aspect, nobody would ever have
imagined that he was cut oat for a pillar of the school of arms,
Bat now, as he throw himself into the noble attitBde of the
exercise, every deformity seemed suddenly to have dropped
from his face and figure, and vanished. The head erect aud
proud— the Ut face tamed square in rugged, graud repose, with
the visor of the old cap looking now like the raised visor of a
hehjiet — the one eye firm and jewel-bright, fixed on his ad-
versary's—the left arm thrown up and out behind in easy
balance — the body set in perfect poise on logs as strong as
u-on, as flexible as steel— and the Uthe foil gently playing fi-om
the extended ease of his i%ht arm over the stiff guard of his
antagonist, like a Ihie of living light^-so, with every trait aad
outline of his figure blended into an mdeseribable ensemble, he
stood, an im^e of martial grace, superb and invincible. For
one mstant, the two yoUng men drank in with eager eyes the
beauty of that mihtary statue— the next, Pahner's blade lunged
in swift and stiff— was parried wide aside with a light, almost
imperceptible, deft motion, and a flashmg clash— and the figure
of Bagasse had changed into another statue of martial gran-
deur, the left anu down aslope with the left leg, the body
heaved forward on the bent riglit knee, the right arm up and
out in strong extension, and the foil, a gleaming curve of steel
with its buttoned point on the breast of the adversary.
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HAKEnJGTON. 97
Only a second, and whUe marranrs of applanse ran round,
the first position was resumed,
" You see now, Miss'r Pammer," politely said the fencing-
master, farealdng the speli, " I hit you zen, be-cause you longe
off yon gnard, Now see^I show you how,"
He dropped his point, and explaiued to Palmer where he
had done wrong, showing him with his own foil the way the
pass should ha¥e been made. Palmer promised to remember,
and the lesson went on.
Presently, while they were on guard. Palmer was wrong
again — this time in liis position. Bagasse, smiling politely,
lowered his point ; whereat. Palmer, with immense haste,
lunged in, and triumphantly bent his foil on the breast of the
, fencing-master, who, of course, made no effort to ward. The
youi^ mercantQoes, delighted with this eridence of their friend's
proficiency, set up a cry of brayo. Witherlee sneered to
himself, and Wentworth laughed and exchanged glances with
the surprised Hungarian, and the hnperturhable Whilt. As
for Monsieur Bagasse, he stood, with upturned visage, smiling
with grotesque placidity, then made a grimaee, and limping
off to the claret-can, gulped a mouthful, and came hnnjing
back. Palmer mstantly threw himself on guard, thrilhng with
vanity, and confident that he was getting ahead of his fencing-
master.
" See, now, Missr Pammer," said the old man, with great
vivacity, smiUng good-naturedly as he spoke; "you parry,
now — it is simple quarte and tierce — vair, vair easy. Hey,
now I Hey, now ! Hey, now ! Hey, now ! Four."
Qmetly, at every exclamation, Monsieur Bagasse, without
effort, bent his foil ahnost double on the breast of his antago-
nist. Palmer could no more parry the deft lunges than he
could fly. Bagasse stood grinning good-naturedly at him, and
lowered his point. Palmer instantly made a desperate lunge
at the unguarded breast, and the same uistant found that
his foil had flown out of his hand, and that the blade of
Bagasse was resting in a firm curve on his bosom.
All present, Palmer included, burst into a roar of laughter.
All but the master, who stood silent, with his curious, good-
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natnrccl smile on his nptnrned vL'i^. It was quite plain to
the pupil now, tlint he could not touch Monsieur Bagaswon or
off guard, nnless the latter chose to let him.
Suddenly, like a light magnetio shock, ii silence fell npoa the
uproarious mirth, as with a snrpiised and startled feeling, all
present recognized a new figure, serene in ypnthfu! majesty,
standing quietly at a little distance near them, in tiie fnll light
of the windows. It was Harrington. They all knew him, but
somehow the unexpectedness of his appearance gave him the
momentary eft'eet of a stranger. He wasa young man of about
twenty-five, tall and stalwart, and of regnant and martial bear-
ing. His face, looking out from under a black slouched felt hat,
was loi^ and bearded, singularly open and noble in its charac-
ter, firm, calm-eyed, straight-featured, broad-nostrilled, and mas-
culine, but very pale. The beard was %ht-brown, and the hair,
chestnut in color, and darker than the beard, ciffled closely, and
was worn somewhat long. A locse, dark sack, with large
sleeves, buttoned with a single button at the throat, showed the
spread of his chest, and added to the commanding grace of his
figure. This was the coat which ha4 been so opprobrlously
celebrated by the esthetic Witherlee. It was an old coat cer-
tainly, but it was not the less a well-chosen and graceful gar-
ment, and it is questionable whether if it had hung in tatters, it
would have diminished the effect of a presence in contrast with
which the others seemed common-pls^ie and inferior, Wither-
lee himself, set in comparison with Harrington, looked unmanly
and contemptibly genteel. Whilt was nobody, Vukovich a sim-
pering fop, the mercantiloes simple snobs. Even the handsome
and gallant Wentworth seemed of a lower order beside him,
and Bagasse, in his uncouth and shabby grotesqneness, though
not degraded by the contrast, was so removed by his essential
unlikeness, as to be out of comparison altogether.
Wentworth was the first to recover from the momentary
ghostly trance into which they had aJI dropped on discovering
Harrington in the room.
" Jupiter Tonans !" he exclaimed : " How— when — where —
in what manner did you arrive, Harrington I"
" WeiJ," retained Harrington in a sweet and cordial bari-
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EAKKINGTON. 99
tone voice, affably saluting the company, " I didn't exactly
Bt«p out from behind the air, though you all look as if you
thought so. I came in just now prosaically at the door — not
stsaltliily either, for John Todd, there, both heard and saw me.
But yon were aU in snch a tempest of merriment that no one
bat Johnny Hoticed me. Come — go on with the fun. Tell
me what it's all about, that I may laugh too."
" 0, I just disarmed Monsoor — that's all," said Palmer.
This quip, though slight, was sufficient to set the group off
^ain in a confusion of jests and laughter, in the midst of
which Harrington wandered over to the pistol bench, and
began to chat with the young fellow while the bout between
Monsieur Bagasse and his pupil wont on. In a few minutes
Monsieur Bagasse came over to the ciaret<;an in that region,
drank, and took the opportunity to shake hands with Har-
rington, and ask for his health.
" O by the way, Mr. Bflgasse," said Harrington, after due
replication to the old Frenchman's polite inqnuies, taking from
bis breast pocket as he spoke, a bunch of violets inclosed in a
fuiiDel of stiff whitfi paper, " here's a May gift for yon. I
thought of you and yoar Corporal Violet so instantly when
I got this bouquet, that I resolved to present it to you.
Hallo, though I you've got one already."
'He had just caught sight of the nosegay in the old slate-
colored jacket. Like his own, it was tied with a pink string.
A. comiciil look of surprise came with a slight flush to hia
frank, pale face, and his eye glanced quickly at th« yonng
artist who, he saw, was eagerly watching him from the other
side of the room. At the same instant he saw Witherlee
looking with opaque eyes over in his direction, very intent
upon the iron vice oa the bench near by, ami with a face
entirely discharged of esprfflsion. Harrington's uitelligenco
was almost clairvoyant, and he felt that Witherlee was watch-
ing him and not the vice — felt also that Wentwortfi's gaze
meant something connected with his present action. With the
feeling, which was as instantaneous as his glance had been, lie
caught sight of the eye of the old Frenchman, rc^ishly twink-
ling at liim. Harrington was puzzled.
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100 HAEKINGTOH.
" Ah, ha, Missr Harrin'ton," said Monaeur Bagasse in a
bantering whisper, " zere are two ladee zat gif ze vilet, an'
two zbentilmen zat gif ze vilet too ! Eh, now, zem zhentil-
men sail not be bo vair mash fond of zem Jadee zat zey gif
away zere littel bouquet t Ha ?"
"Two ladies 1" exclaimed -Harrington. " How do you know
there are two ? I didn't say so,"
Monsieur Bagasse was canght, and shrugged his humpy
shoulders with an odd grimace. A feeling of honpr withheld
him from saying how he came by his information, since that
would involve the exposure of the biabbing Witherlee.
Witherlee, meanwhile, fully conscions of the ridiculous impro-
priety he had been guilty of, in tattling about his friends'
affairs to any pei-son, much less the old fencing-master, and
momently expecting to be subjected to the rage of Wentworth,
and the rebuke of Harrington, stood nervously dreading the
reply of Bagasse, and looking pale ia spite of himseif. Went-
worth, for his part, takii^ a trne-lover's stand-point, was con-
siderably amazed to see Harrington, whom he thought the
secret lover of Miss Ames, ao coolly bestowing her nosegay on
the old Frenchman. As for HaiTington, he was divided
between wonder at Wentworth, for having not only given to
the old Frenchman the flowers he had received from Miss
Eastman — whom he in turn thought Wentworth secretly
loved — hut having also, as he naturally supposed, made the
old Frenchman his confidant, at least to the extent of telling
him of. the two ladies and of thoff gifts, Fisk and Palmer
were at it, quarte and tierce, with the foils. Meanwhile, there
was a game of quarte and tierce of another sort begun between
four, all against each other, and Monsieur B^asse had just
been buttoned.
Harrington smiled good-naturedly, and silently gave the
violets to the fencing-master, who took them and bowed with-
out a word. Just then Wentworth approached with a com-
posed an-, which was so evidently assumed that Harrington
began to laugh. Wentworth's florid color had paled a little,
but he answered Harrington's laugh with a constrained smile,
looking meanwhile in his face.
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HAKULJiOlON. 101
" Well, Harrington," he said, with an unsnccessfol attempt
at carelessness, " what the deuce is tliere in my giving
Bagasse the violets, to make you show your majiillary maselea
and the teeth under yonr beai-d so deUghtedly ? Hanged if I
see anything to laugh at."
Tlie maxillary muscles, which were unusually developed iu
Harrington's cheeks, and always wrinkled them when he
laughed, relaxed at this, but Lis white, regular teeth still
showed in a curious, half-sad, half-absent smile, aa he fixed his
clear, broad gaze wistfully on the fa«e of his friend. Went-
wortb, nettled at the mystery of a look he could not
fathom, became peevish, and began to twirl his moustache,
half smiling, half uritated.
" Don't be vexed, Wentworth," said Harrington, throwing
his long arm affectionately around the lattcr's shoulder, and
moving away up the room with him, while Bagasse shuffled
off to his pupils. " I laughed thoughtlessly — but, frankly, I
was somewhat surprised to see that yon had given away the
violets. That was all."
" Ail I" exclaimed Wentworth. " And why shouldn't I
give them away? They were mine, weren't they? Why,
yon gave yours away too, didn't youf"
"To be sure," replied Harrington, with a bothered air,
adding tranquilly, " Emily gave them to me, and I gave them
to Bagasse."
"Well," retorted Wentworth, "Muriel gave them to me
and I gave them to Bagaese also. What of it t"
Harrington, who could not see into this matter at all, was
silent, and stroked his beard with his hand, a habit of Ms when
he was very much puzzled.
" No matter — it's a trifle," he said lightly, after a pause,
" Only, Eichard, to be very plam with you — I hope yon'U not
think me intrusive — well, I thought it was—odd — that yoa
should have given away the flowers Muriel gave you."
He spoke these words with marked, but delicate significance
— stammering and hesitating a little in his speech, which was
nnasnal with him. It was the first allusion ho had ever made
to Wentworth's supposed lore for Miss Eastman. Loving
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102 nAREIXGTON.
lier bimself, it was not made withont a pang. If Wcntwortli
had been cool, he could not but have understood it. As it
was, it only pat him m a rage.
" Well, if I ever heard the like of this I" he sputtered.
" To be very plain with me — what in thunder — ^Wast it all,
Harrington, what are you driving at ? Why, I was Btrucli ail
of a heap at the oddity of yoar giving away Emily's nosegay,
and here you turn upon me and tell me it's odd — yes, odd, that
I shonld give away Muriel's ! What's the difference, I'd like
to know 1 Now, just tell me I"
Hanington was silent, and again stroked his beard, wonder-
ing wliat sort of cross-purposes they were playing at. Went-
worth stood for a moment with flushed face and passionate
eyes, angry with Harrington for the first time in his life, and
then walked away in great esasperation.
Perplexed and amazed at this state of affairs, and grieved
to tliink he had, however unwittingly, angered his friend,
Harrington stood looking after him, irresolut* whether to
follow and attempt an explanation now, or wait till his
fume was over. Preeently, he resolved to wait, aiid saiily
musing, began to pace to and fro at the upper end of the long
room.
On his way down to the fencing-ground, Wentworth was
met by Witherlee, who had been watching the conference, and
though he could not catch a word, knew well enough by Went-
worth's excited tones then, and by his flushed cheeks and
sparkling eyes now, that there had been some difference be-
tween the two.
" What's the matter, Richard ?" he asked, kindly.
" O nothing, nothing !" fretfully repUed the vexed Went^
worth, taking off his Bubaia hat, dashing back the thick cnrls
from his handsome, sloping forehead with a hasty hand, and
passionately slapping on the hat again.
" I am very son-y, very. Harrington is really very a^ra-
Tating sometimes," ventured the kind Fernando.
At any other time Wentworth would have resented this in-
sidious speech, as a slander upon the gentle Harrington. But
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HARKINGTOX. 103
" He's the most aggravating icllow I ever Isiiow in my life,"
was liis liot answer.
" Well, I wonldu't go so far aa that," retiu'ueil Fernando,
with mild moderation, " By no means. Harrington has fine
qnalities, you know. You should remember that the beat of
us are apt to be a little forgetful when our own personal inter-
ests, or wishes, or affections are inrolved,"
Blandly and kindly said, with jnst a shade of hesitating
emphasis on " personal " and " affections " — just a shade.
" What do jou mean by that, Fernando ?" asked Went-
wortli, almost choking, and catching at the insidious hint,
which the good Fernando had made almost impalpable by
throwing it out with the easy manner of one uttering a mere
generality.
" Mean 7" he asked, with a delicat« shade of bewilderment,
" why uothmg particular, that I know of."
But he smiled slightly and lifted his handsome eyebrows
very slightly, and then lapsed into an expression of soft com-
" Tes, I understand," said Wentworth, walking away in
passionate misery.
What particular meaning the good Fernando'a vague words
and mysterious looks expressed, nobody could have told. It
was their especial beauty, perhaps, that they really expressed
nothing definite at all, and were merely raadom spurs to. the
imagination of the listener, goading him on the path he hap-
pened to be pursuing. Wentworth's path at that moment was
the vague suspicion that Harrmgton was selfishly snpplantmg
him in bis relation to Emily. It was a path oat of which he
had tnrned several times, urged by Ms stroi^ sense of HaiTing-
ton's pei-fect nobiUty, bat he was now m it again, and with
the talented Femando's last bunch of thorns msidiously tied to
his galloping fancy, and stinging it on, he was going at a head-
long pace for mad jealousy and outright hostility, and would
soon be there.
Witherlee, meanwhile, highly gratified at the success of his
insinuations with Wentworth, was enjoying the young artist's
distress when he caught sight of Hairington standing at the
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lOi
HAiSKIN(JTON.
upper end of the room, and looking at him. It was embarrass-
iiig', and he was about to avert his ejes, but at that instant
Harrington beckoned to Mm. He hesitated, and then with
considerable trepidation, for he did not know what was coming,
he walked up the room.
Harrington's face was introverted and sad, and his eyes were
fixed on vacancy. Witheriee felt glad that the broad gaze did
not rest on his face, for he feared its inquest.
"Fernando," said Harrington, calmly and kindly, though
with evident embaiTassment, " I want to speak with you on a
very delicate subject. Tou have known Miss Eastman and
Miss Ames a long time — much longer than I have. You "
Harrington paused for a moment, Witherlee'a heart beat
an alarmed tattoo, thongh his colorless face was perfectly
impassible.
" Richard is in a strange state lately," resumed Harrington,
smiling vaguely. "You must have noticed it, Fernando.
Just now, he spoke to me in a manner which I do not under-
stand. Something frets him. Have you any idea what it is ?"
"Not the least, though I've noticed it," returned the imper-
turbable Fernando.
" Well, I haven't either," said Harrington. " But see here.
Yon remember what you said to me at my room about a week
ago. Previous to that conversation, it was my own fancy that
Richard was very much attached to Miss Ames. You sur-
prised me very much when yon told me you thoi^ht his feeluig
was for— for Muriel. I never should iiave guessed it. You
astonished me still more by what you told me after that. But
something Richard said just now made me fancy that you may
have been mistaken, and I want to ask you if you are perfectly
sure of what yon saw "
Harrmgton paused agnm, nervously twitching his beard
with his large shapely hand Before Witherlco could reply,
he went on agxin
"Let me rtcill that onversation," he said, "You sat in
my arm eham smokmg, and you were praising Muriel, which
was pleasant for me to heai Presently, you remarked, ' she'll
make Weutworth a supeib wife,' and then you quoted from
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HAKKINGTON. 105
Tennyson's ' Isabel '—' the qneen of marriag^e, a most perfect
wife.' I was, I own, amazed. ' Why, Wentworth T I aakt^d.
Yon looked anrprised, and said, ' "Why not Wentworth V Then
you added — ' When people love, don't thoy many ?' ' C:;r-
tainly,' I returned, 'bnt yon are mistaken, I think.' 'I think
not,' you replied, with a manner so cool and positive, that I
was, to be frank with yon, a little annoyed. 1 was about to drop
the subject there, for it seemed to me hardly fmr to canyass
such a matter, when yoa remarked, ' la fact, I /enow I'm not,'
I replied, 'It is qaite unpossible that yoa should fownw it,
Fernando, though you may have what seem to yon strong
reasons for beUeviug it.' You answered, rather unkindly it
appeared to me — ' Do yon doubt my word ?' ' Not at all,' I
said. ' How caa you tiink so — ^it's not a question of veratity
at aJl, but of judgment ? ' Well,' said you, ' I hare proof-
ocular proof — I wouldn't say it if you didn't put me to it.'
And then you told me that yon vidted the house the previous
afternoon, and as jou were entering the parlor, jou saw
KJehard and Muriel standing together at the other end of the
room, with their arms around each other, and saw them kiss
each other. Yon drew back instantly, you said, witliout hav-
ing been perceived by them, and made, a clatter in the liall
before you entered agam. I could hardly forgive you at the
tune for having told me what yon saw, or myself for having
hstened to yon, for it was not a thing to be either told of or
hstened to. But I grant it happened naturally enoi^h in the
heat of the moment, and after aU, I am glad to have known
of an occuiTence, the knowledge of which ma^ prevent misun-
derstanding and trouble ."
HaiTiagton paused oaee more, with vague emotion strug-
gling in his features and his eyes fixed sadly on vacancy. The
trutli of the matter was this : Witherlee had seen on the oc-
casion referred to, two persons in the attitude described, one
of whom was Wentworth, and the other a yonng lady who,
at the first glance, he thought was Muriel, inasmuch as she
wore a lilac dress such as Muriel wore at times. He had, as
he had said, retreated instautly— quite astounded too, for he
had made up his mind that Emily was Wentworth's sweet-
5*
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106 HAKKtKGTON.
heart. Bat on entering again, lie saw tliat he Ijad been mis-
talten, and tliat the lady with Weutworth waa not Muriel, but
Emily. The illusion, however, made a Stuoug impres^on on
his fanf!y, and his mhid teeraed with tempting ima^ninga
of Wentworth and Muriel in the Romeo and Juliet tableau.
It was an easy step in his controvei-sy with Hanington, begun
shnplj for aggravation and continued with an obstiuate desu-e
to establish what he had bo impudently assumed, to present
his fancy as a fact, and insist npon it. This was a fair speci-
men of one of the good Fernando's lies, which were rarely
sheer iaventions, bat generally had a basis of truth in them.
" Now, Fernando," resumed Harrington, " I want to ask
yon whether it is possible that yoa could have been mistaken ?
Are you absolutely sure that it was Muriel you saw with
Wentworth, and not Miss Ames ?"
Feruando's drowsy conscience awoke jast enough to give
him a lethargic pinch, and dozed off again.
" 1 do not see, Harrington," he replied with an injured an-,
" how I could be mistaten. There was nobody else in the
room but Wentworth and Muriel when I first looked m.
Emily was coming in throngh the conservatory door at the
end of the parlor as I entered, but she was not there before."
This was an mgenious transposition of the fact. It was
Muriel who came in at the conservatory door, and not Emily.
But Fernando had covered his position famously. In the
event of the truth coming out, he could swear that in the
confusion of the moment he had mistaken one lady for the
other, apologize profiisely, and make the explanation seem
plausible.
" It was certainly Muriel," he resumed. ." Still the affair
may be susceptible of a different interpretation. You must con-
cede at least that Muriel and Wentworth like each other very
much, and they might kiss each other and still be only
friends."
" No," said Harrington, firmly — " that is not possible.
That is not like Muriel. 1 know her too well to suppose that
for a moment. If she kissed Wentworth, she loves him, I
do not doubt you, Fernando. Their present close inUmacy
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HAlOlia'GTOJJ. lOT
with each other confirms your story, I own. But something
Richard said just uow shook my belief — made me thiut, in
IJict, that you were in error, and I wanted to be doubly sure
that you were not. Let me only say that I have a better
motive for this inquiry than curiosity — and now Jet all this be
foi^otten. Sever mention it again, I beg of you, to any
person. I;et it aJJ pass forever."
Witherlee's conscience smot^ him tenibly, and he felt mad-
dened at his meanness, as Harrington strode away. But he
wag fully committed to his eonrae, and to own his fault was
impossible with him.
Wentworth, meanwhile, was standing apart with a gloomy
face, listlessly watching the fencing. His fancy was still gal-
loping fmiously with him to the goal of the jealous lover, bat
it began to swerve from the track in spite of him, as ho saw
Harrington coming down the room. Harrington's mere pre-
sence was a constant demand on every pcrsoa for the beet that
was in them ; and before the conquering sweetness of his smile,
Wentworth's jealous doubts and suspicions at once scattered
and fled, and his nobler feelii^ rcshed forward. The tears
filled his bright eyes ^ Harrington came straight np to
him and caught his hand. He tried to speak, but his lips fal-
tered.
"Erichard, I ask your pardon," said Harrington. "I am
sorry to have annoyed yon ; but it was entu-ely umntentionai.
I want to have a talk with you, that we may understand each
other better. Not now — another time. In the meantime, let
ns be fiiends."
Wentworth wrung his hand, wholly vanquished, and unable
to say a woi-d.
" Gome," said Harrington, gaily, with the muscles in his
cheeks wrinkling £^in, and his teeth gleaming in iiis beaM,
with a rich smile — " come, that was only a zephyr. Let's go
fence."
No more was said, and they went over to the fencing^-ound,
where Fisk was being punched and poked and iuteijected at
and admonished by Monsieur Bagasse, to his utter bewilder-
ment. In a few minutes, the master got throi^h with him,
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108 HAKEINGTON.
and set him and Palmer to practise against each otlicr He
then turned to Wentworth, who had taken ofif hat and coat,
and was chattering like a mercnria! magpie, with his handsome
face enveloped in a mask.
"Come, now, Misar Wentwort'," said Bagasse. "You
pink zat ozzer vilet if yon can. En garde."
Wentworth lauglied, and, crossing blades, they fell to. The
yonng artist fenced briskly andVell, though somewhat rashly.
Once he contrived to touch the fencing-master on the arm, for
which lucky stroke he got paid with half a dozen in succession
on his breast,
" Thunder I" he exclaimed as he got the last, " what's the
nse of fencing with you. Bagasse f Nobody can touch you,
and you're as light on your puis as thoi^h you were twenty."
The old man chuckled grimly, relapsing into hia clumsiest
and most ungainly attitude.
" Light !" put in Witheriee. " I gnees he is. Hia legs are
made of caout-chouc, I should thmk, judging by the way he
can kick."
" Oh, yes, I can keet," returned Bagasse. " I faaf my leg
pretty sn-ple."
He turned toward the post against which Witheriee was
leaning, and laid his grimy finger on a notch a httle above his
own head. "Witheriee stood aside, and every eye followed the
fencing-master. Suddenly, rising on one foot, he dealt the
notch a furious kick, amidst cries of "good" and "bravo."
Sure enough, the leg had flown up to the mark, like a leg of
india-rubber.
" Ha I" he exclaimed, complacently, " you do zat, you young
men. Try now — evairy one."
Wentworth tried first, kicked high, but did not come within
a foot of the mark. Whilt came next, stolid and taciturn,
kicted, and tumbled over, amidst general laughter, Tokovich
lifted his shapely leg, kicked within half a foot, and split his
blue trowsers, at which he looked grieved, and swore softly in
Hungarian, while the rest laughed at him. Then came Fisk
and Palmer a.nd the others, with poor success, and amidst
much u
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UAEEINGTON. 109
In the qaiet that followed, "Whilt, who had been us dumb
as a skull, suddenly began to lilialce and wLinuj bo with guttu-
ral mii-th, that everybody looked at him with surprise. It
came out, after some inquiry, that he was laughing at Vuko-
vich for having torn his trowsera, an incident which had just
touched his sense of the ludicrous when everybody else had
almost forgotten it. Of course there was another obstreperous
roar of meniment, and "Witheriee told Whilt he laughed too
soon — he oQght to have waited till next week — with other
sarcasms of the same nature, which the slow Dutchman took
into sober consideration.
" Come, Harrington," said Wentworth, " you try."
Harrington had stood apart, smiling amusedly through all
this clatter.
"Ah, Missr Harrin'ton, he can keek wis me cxchimed
Bagasse. " He keek sublime."
Harrington laughed, and advancing, took up a bit )f thalk
from the iloor, and marked a line on the post, as much above
his own head as the notch had been above the fenung master's
Then poisiog a second, he threw up his leg, and brought
away chalk on his boot. There was a general burst of accla-
mation.
" Ah, ha 1 it is grand — it is superb !" cried Monsieur
' Missr Harrin'ton, he can keek wis me, he can
fence wis me, he can shoot wis mo, he can engage wis me in
ze broadsword — ze single-steek, he can do everysing so I can.
It is his talent, Sacreblea ! He is for-r-mi-dabble,"
Harrington laughed, with an expression and gesture of
deprecation.
" How many men could you fight together, Monsoor ?"
asked Palmer.
" Me ? I fight yon all. Evairy one, Togezzer," replied
the Frenchman.
" Mawdoo 1" ejaculated Palmer. " Isn't he a trump !"
" Come, Bagasse, that will do for the marines," said Went-
worth. " You can't do it."
" Ah," replied the fcncing-mast«r, " you zink not ? Bah !
Come, I show you."
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110
HAEEINGTON.
In a minute he had seven or eight of them, Wentworth,
Takovich, Palmer and Pisk included, masked and foiled.
Then pntting his back to the wall, he directed them to set
npoQ him. It was agreed that if he wag touched the eontest
waa to end there. On the other hand, every combatant
touelied was to withdraw.
" Pardoo I It is splendid 1" exclaimed Palmer.
" Mawdoo 1 It is fine I" returned Fisk,
The domestically-pronounced French oaths which prefised
these asseyerations, were, of course, borrowed bj Messrs. Fisk
and Palmer from the " Three Gnardamen," and figured exten-
sively OD all possible occasions in their general conversation.
" Come, Harrington, you too," cried Wentworth,
"No, no — ex-cuse me — ^pardon," inten-opted Monsieur
Bagasse, smiling, grimacmg and bowing all at once ; " not
Miesr Harriu'ton. Zat will be too mush — vair many too
mosh."
Harrington colored slightly, auiJ laughed. Monsieur
Bagasse put on a mask, threw himself on guard, and stood
girt with antagonists, with his foil playing like a pale gleam,
menacing them all. Suddenly it darted— there was a brisk
clatter of pai-ries—and Vukovich was touched. It was a com-
pliment to the skill of the gallant captain that Bagasse had
got rid of him thus early in the game, and he came off simper-
ing, and stroking his moustache complacently.
" He keel me fery queek, Meeser Haynton," he observed
to the young man, who stood attentively watchmg the contest.
" Ah, Captain," returned Harrington gaily, addressing him
in French, " but yoar ghost can fence better than moat of ns
still."
The captain's vanity was evidently flattered by the com-
pliment, for he swelled a little with an, air of increased com-
placency, though he made no reply. Witherlee, who was
standing behind him, a silent observer of the sport, glanced at
hun with a biUons aneer. Meanwhile, amidst shouts and
laughter, and noisy appels and glizades, the young men were
assailing Bagasse, trying all sorts of feints and tricks to pene-
trate his guard. Harrington watched him admiringly— so
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IIAREINCTON. Ill
Ktatnc-still in tbe tnmnltuous press, his awkwardness and sliab-
biness gone, tbe wire globe of the mask giving a weird iook to
hifi head, his bent arm holding his assailants at bay, and tlio
pale gleam of the foil glaaicing nimbly all about the arc of the
ring. Presently the guarding foil whisked and rattled with a
confusion of brilliant coruscations, playhig like elfin lightning
all around the semi-eu-ele — ^tho bent arm of the invincible fig-
ure at which all were lunging, straightened and darted thrice,
rapid as a flash — and amidst mock groans and cries and
laughter, Wentworth, Pisk, and Palmer withdrew. They
came away Toeiferously mirthfiil, and before they had well got
the mnsks off their flushed faces, the others were all touched
and followed them, leaving Monsieur Bagasse standing alone,
erect and martial, his one eye glowing like a coal in the prond
grotesque smile of his swarthy visage, his left arm akimbo,
holding the mask on his hip, and the vietorions foil held alofi
in his right hand, and quivering above Lis head like a rod of
wizard lustre.
There were loud bravos and clapping of hands. ITie next
iiistant,the statue of military triiunph dropped into the eiomsy,
sloven figni'e of Bs^asse, and hobbled off to the clai-et-can.
He came hurrying back presently with the foil and mask in
one hand, and stood, the centre of a great smell of garlic,
grinning curiously at Fisk and Palmer, who, in an ecstasy of
excitement from their recent engagement, were playing they
were D'Artagnan and Porthos, and poking furiously at each
other with all the "Guardsmen" oaths and cpigi'ams in full
ventilation.
" Well, Missr Wentwort', what 'yon zink now V he asked,
triumphantly.
" What do I think ? I think you could have let Harring-
ton come on too, and then have beaten us all," was the gay
reply.
"Ah, no," returned Monsieur Bagasse, "not wis Missr
Harrin'tOE."
" Come, Meeaer Ilaynton," said Vukoviuh ; " you an'
Moesieu Bagasse. Obiise me and dese scntilmcn."
At once there was a clamor of beeeeching-s, to which the
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112
parties addressed presently yielded. 'Witherlee, who hated to
see Harrington fence, because he feaced so well, quietly
slipped away from the room. Fisk and Palmer stopped, and
gathered with the others around the fencing-place. Mean-
while, Monsieur B^asse took the violets from his jacket and
laid them away ; then put on a plastron — an honor he had
not paid to any otker of kis pupils that day, and resumed his
maiik. Harrington took off hie coat and vest, and arrayed
himself also in mask and plastron.
They took their places, and after performing the beautiful
elaborate salute of the exercise, fell upon guard. Every eye
was riveted on the stalwart grace of Harrington as he crossed
blades with his antagonist. As for the French gladiator,
excited by the coming contest with one wko could call into
play all his powers, his attitude was superb, and his trans-
formation more complete than before.
The contest was begun by a feint, quick and light, on the
part of the fencing-master, and in a second it was pass and
parry with a rapturous flash and clash of steel. Presently the
right foot of Bagasse beat the floor with the loud rafc-t»t of the
appel, and foot and arm and body sprang forward with a ter-
rific lunge. HaiTington, immovable as a pillar, met it with a
swift twirl of the wrist, and the nest second both combatants
were stiU, with their foils locked in a complete spiral from
hilt to point.
Disengaging presently, the combatants saluted amidst sup-
pressed murmurs of applause, crossed blades once more, and
stood with each point seeking an opening. In a moment or
two. Bagasse feinted again, and lunged in tierce. Harrington
parried in seconde, letting his point fly up and his arm extend
in the parry, and pushing home, his foil became a curve with
the button resting on the bosom of the fencing-master.
It was the first hit, and everybody hurrahed. Presently
the hurrah burst forth ^ain for Bagasse, who had hit Har-
rington. In less than five minutes the combat grew almost as
exciting as a duel with swords. To follow the dazzlmg rapid-
ity of the lunges and pan-ics became impossible. The gaaera
could only see a nimble play of rattling light between the two
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UAlIEISG'rON. 113
■ -the lines of tlie foils lost In curves and gleams of brilliaDce
— and the gloyed sword-arms of the antagonists flying like
twirling and darting shuttles above the clashing comsca^
tiong. The interest now centred in the aspect and expression
of the combatants. Bagasse, throwing his whole fiery nature
into the soul-entrancing action of the duel, was in an ecstasy
of martial joy, and lunged and parried with exulting shouts
and cries — a darting, swaying figure, terribly alert aud alive,
with the spring and strength of a fury. Harrington, on the
contrary, was silent as death, impassible, elastic, swift— a
regnant form of muscular grace poised in superb aplomb, that
fell to half its height in tJie long lunges, and rose magnificent
in the qnick recoils. An atmosphere of fiery ether seemed to
envelop the combatants, spreading its glorious delirium through
the veins of the gazers, and kindling the delight of battle in
their eyes. But as the combat continued, the wild passion of
the action became so intense and real that the heroic glaw
began to pale and mmgle with a cold afiright, and Wentworth,
beginning to fee! his agitation master him, was on the point
of shontitig to Harrington to stop, when there was a sharp
snap, followed by sudden silence, and the combat was over.
Bagasse stood panting through his mask with a broken foil in
his hand, Han-ington breathing audibly in long, I'egulai'
breaths through his, remained in attitude with his point low-
ered, like one awakened from a dveam. The next instant.
Bagasse broke the silence with a wild shout, and throwing
away mask and foil, flung his arms around Earrii^on in a
joyful embrace, and bursting away, vented the remnant of his
joy by dealing the high notch on the post a kick that might
have brought the roof down.
There was a rmging hurrah, followed by a burst of hearty
laughter, congratulations, and shaking of hands all round.
■ " But, by Jupiter," cried Wentworth, " I'm gM its over,
for, upon my word, I began to get ftightened. Blessed ii' I
ever saw you two have such a bout before I Bagasse, you old
reprobate, I believe you were in earnest."
He turned with a peal of laughter upon the old man, who
stood exhaling garhc, and wiping his hot face with a snuffy
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114
HAEKINGTOH.
old red pocket haudkercliEef Ba^sse griEned good-naturedly,
gave hie old moustadie a dab with the liandkcrcHef, and
thrusting out the lattei with a ] lyful ge tnre, rephed :
"I was teepsy, Missr Wentwort'-^iaid-drnnk wis ze joay
of ze beautifool eu-countair. Hah ! by dam I zat make me
feel yonng."
" I should think so, yon blood-thirsty old rapier !" bawled
Wentworth, " And yon," he continued, turning upon Har-
rington, " you were in earnest, too, I verily believe, and bent
upon taking jour fencing-master's life. A nice pair, both of
jou, for a peaceable yonng man like me to meet in a dark
alley going home late."
Harrington, who was leaning against the wall, getting his
wind, as the saying goes, laughed without replying. His
usual pallor had given place to a famt pink, and his broad
winged nostrils were lifting with his deep breaths under hia
lighted eyes and white forehead, on which the brown locks lay
damp. Wentworth thought he had never seen hun look more
princely.
"But no," "Wentworth rattled on, "I don't believe it of
yon, Harrington. For you're what Kmgslej calls a muscular
Christian. As for Bagasse, he's a muscular pagan, who lives
on raw meat, gunpowder and brandy, and there's nothing too
bad for me to believe of him. Is there, B^aase V
He patted the old man on the shonlder as he said it, look-
ing smilingly in his face. Bagasse gazed with grotesque
fondness at the handsome and gallant countenance, as on that
of a privileged pet, and continued to mop his glowing visage.
" What's the time, Kichard ?" asked Harrington, beginning
to dress himself
" Quarter of ten by all that's good !" exclaimed the other,
looking at his watch. " Time for me to be at the studio, and
you at the books. But I won't say that, for upon my word,
Harrington, you study too hard. I'he Pierian spring will be
the death of you, young man."
" 0, no," replied Harrington, laughing gaily. '' I'm in
good health. The daily bout with the foils or broadswords
balances the hours at the books."
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HAEKINOTON. II5
" ISTevertheless you look rather Hamletish in jour pallor,"
retamed Wentworth. " Thon^h to be sure the pale prince
was a special good hand at the rapier, in which, as in other
respects, jou resemble him. 'The scholar, soldier, courtier's
eye, tongue, sword— the expectancy and rose of the fair State '
of Massachusetts — that's you, Harrington."
" Seems to me, Richard, the quotation bung and the head
of the soft«oap barrel are both out together this mominff"
bantered Harrington.
" ' I paint you in character,' " returned the mercurial "Went
worth, with another Shaksperean reminiscence. "Being a
member of the Boston Mutual Admiration Society, and this
beii^ Anniversary week, softsoap is perfectly in order. There-
fore, I affirm that you are of the Hamlet order plus Crichton
plus Raleigh, Sidney, Hatton, Blount, Southampton"
"Shakspeare and Veralam," jeered Harrington,
" Together with Shakspeare and Veruiam. And now that
I have made a dean breast of it, and as you are dressed sup-
pose we depart. Young Mephistopheles, «;ifljWitherIee,has
gone already, I notice. Our mercantile friends are off, too
and a proper rowing they'll get for bemg late at the store this
morning. Oh, Bagasse, Bagasse ! you've much to answer
for— corruptmg the mercantile youth of this realm by traitor-
ously erecting a fencing^chool ! Apropos of fencing, it's more
ttian a week since we've had a bout with our dear fairy prince.
By Jupiter ! what a pleasure it is to see Muriel at the foils I
I'm so glad you persuaded her to learn "
" Oh, you're wrong there," interrupted Harrington. " It
was she persnaded rao to teach her. Muriel has a pasSon for
liberal culture, and fencing is part of her programme."
" Isn't she glorious I" cried Wentworth with enthusiasm
" A woman f— a young goddess rather I By Jove 1 the best
swimmer of all the girls last summer at Gloucester, The best
skater last winter on Jamaica pond. Climbed the mountams
m October with-the best of us. Runs like Atalanta. Dances
like Terpsichore. Sings like a seraph. Talks in a voice like
Israfel's. Studies almost as hard as yon do, Harrington
And now she fences like an angel. I declaro kIjc's a perfect
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116 !IARl!INGTON.
young Crichtona. And yet how womanly withal 1 Kot a
tonch of the masculine about her. Gay, free, stroug, sweet —
oh, fairy prince, there's none lite you, none."
Harrington listened to this ardent celebration of the charms
of her "Weatworth called the fin? pnnce m peritxjt silence
and iiith tt secret a tomshment m his ] ale controlled counte-
nance. He belie ed Went vorth loved Mniiel but for the life
of him he could not leconcile this lavish panegync with that
belief. For love ib reticent and we ]«t e\pres^ve silence
muse the sweetheart i praise How then could Wentworth
thus blazon his beloved ' Hanmgton was puzzle 1
"Tbere'sacuri us element at Bui];rL em Muriel too,"resumed
Wejitworth, with a mtiwug air fehe is so geuti , so repose-
ful and gi-aceful, that when she flashes out in these courage-
ous physical accomplishments I always feel a httle astonistn^
Don't yon, Harrington ?"
" Oh, no," retnmed Harrington. "She has a, rich, vorha-
tile, inclusive nature. You know that this union of feminine
gentleness and manly spirit is not so nncommon. There was
tiie Countess Emily Plater, fur example, the heroine of
the Polish Ii«volution ; yet with all her bravery, she was
peculiarly tender and gentle. There, again, was the Maid of
Saragossa, who fought for her country over the body of her
lover ; but Byron, who saw her often at Madrid, says she waa
remarkable for her soft, feminine beauty. Muriel is a woman
of the same style, I suppose. Come, Richard, let's go."
They saluted tlie old Frenchman, who stood with the Hunga-
rian at the pistol bench, and left the room.
CHAPTER IV.
Temple street slopes steeply down Beacon Hill, an aristocratic
Street of the aristocratic quarter.
In Temple street lived Muriel witli her mother, -Mrs. East^
Ho.led by Google
HAKRINGTON. 117
man was a widow. Her husband, a yonng scholar, primarily
a lawyer, had died three years after their marriage, when Mn-
riel was but two years old. The effect of his death on his
wife was peculiar. Fitly named Serena, so gentle and lovely
was her nature, his death had not made her unhappy, bnt it
had breathed a deeper quiet, into her gentleness, and her life
had been, Binee then, as calm as evening. She had been a
poet — some of those esqui^te little anonymous lyrics, of which
America produces so many, and which float about tlirongb the
press, scattering delight bnt winning no fame, were hers. But
his death had stilled her muse forever. It seemed to have
cloistered her spirit from the world. Never very fond of com-
pany, his decease had made her in love with solitude, and she
spent mnch of her time in her own chamber, alone.
She was wealthy, having inherited from her husband a con-
siderable property. Muriel, too, was rich in her own 'right ;
Mr. Eastman's brother, who had a great affection for her, hav-
ing died a bachelor four or five years before, and left her a
handsome fortune.
It was a lai^e, sumptuously fnpished house they lived in.
Into its library, the fresh spring light, which lay so palely in
the long, masty, powder-scented fenemg-school, streamed that
morning through crystal and purple panes, and filled the per-
ftiraed ah with a gold and violet glory. The library was rich
and dark in color, with walnut bookcases, deep-toned walls,
and violet-velvet ftimiture. Its prevailing sombrous hue seemed
to confine and intensify the cheerful radiance which filled it,
like some ethereal Instrous liquid in a cup of ebony, touching
the dim gilding of the pictnre-frames, the delicate ornaments
here and there, and resting on a distinctive feature of the
apartment, a large parlor organ, of dark oak and gold.
But the library's chief ornament that morning was Muriel
—as lovely a blonde as ever grew to the gathered grace and
vigor of twenty summers, and with that pervading glimmer
of natural elegance and fine courtly breeding in her loveliness,
which wo express in the word debonair. She was standing
very still, rapt in deep musing, with an open volume of Dante
held in her left palm, and her white, nervous right hand rest-
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HAERIHGTON.
mg on the page. A lilac dress of aorae soft tissue, stirred only
aboie tie light pulsations of her bosom, Jo»ed in gtaeefol
folds, as she stood with one arched foot advanced iind portly
rable at its margin, and reiealed the enchanting harmony of
her taOl and stately %ure. The dress came quite up to tlie
neck dowering oyer there in a charming rnffle of lace, aboye
which bloomed her ezqnisite countenance, virginal and gracious
as the morning, as dewj<weet, as Itch, aa spiritually pure The
complesion, fatr and clear as a pond-lily, wa. radiant with pct^
feet health. Color, faint a. the dawn, tinted the oral chocks
and the sweet, curved mouth wore the hue of the wild-brier
roas. The large grey eyes were softened with a golden sheen
Ainber h.h-, with a tint of gold in it, parted over tlie serene
and open brow, and rising from the head, as we see it in tlie
Greek statues, rippled down in wavy tresses around the delicate
era to gather behind in soft, thick loops of antiqne beauty.
Moble and debonair ft-om head to foot, and .11 ImpiradiBod in
Charm, so on that morning stood Muriel.
Who would have dreamed that the reyetio in which she
wa, absorbed was too solemn to have grown upon her spirit
Irom the mighty Tuscan page before her f Who could have
imagmed, g.iing upon her calm ioyehness, that a great and
•wM, though sibut, struggle had shaken her heart ' Tet it
was so. The event which can most convulse a woman's life
had come to her. She loved Harrington, and it had dawned
upon her that he ioyed her friend Emily.
She had met it bravely. With that revelation her heart
had risen to the level of heroic stcry, and In the spiritud strife
which mates Iffe tremble to its centre, she was the rietor
She knew that the world ky lonely and disenchanted before
her, but she w«, calm. She knew that life's fairest hope w«i
onaeoomphshed, life's loveliest dream dissolved, but she was
strong. She saw afar the dark battalia of the coming years
of sadness, and her heart rose to meet them with the pdses of
Marathon. It was love's crowning hour with her--thc hour
of acnfiee, rennuciation, the high soul's rapture of martyrdom
—the hour of bravery and sad, generous joy.
But now the hnmedlate strife iu her ^irit was oyer, and in
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119
the deeps of lier reverie, she saw, strangely distinct as in a
di-eam, tlie phautom face of Harrington smiling palely upon
her from an lllimitiible distance. It had never before hcen so
vivid in her vision, nor had it ever come to her with such a
sense of being mystically far-removed. As she di'eamed upon
it, its visionary remoteness seemed less a symbol of the dis-
tance of unaosweria^ love tliaii of love immortal withdrawn
by deatli to smile upon her from the depths of Eternity. But
it was Love, not Death, that had divided them ; he had re-
ceded from her to love her friend. She was resigned that it
should be so— happy still, though lonelier, that it was so.
Hera was the true love which gives and needs, but asks not ;
and aspirmg only to the happiness and good of the beloved
one, willingly, for that, resigns aJl that makes life most pre-
cious and finds a sad joy in the sacrifice. It was her loss, but
another's gain. There was joy still in the belief that he was
happy in his love for her fdend — in the faith that she was
worthy of that love — m the trust that the lofty purposes for
which spirits work on eaith in wedded hves would be achieved
by them.
Calm, tender, solemn and regal flowed her reverie, haunted
ever by the phantom face that was never to be near her again
— never to smile henceforth in her dreams save at tliis vision-
ary distance, which seemed to her prescient spirit ever less and
less the distance of imanswered love, ever more and more the
distance of love responding from the serene depths of Eternity.
" Muriel 1"
A hushed, wondering voice spoke her name. A figure stood
before her at a little distance. Voice and figure were alike
remote and dim to her tranced mind.
" Mnrie! I Good heavens I Muriel !"
It was Emily. She saw her standing before her, astgjiished
— slie herself ti'anqail, clearly cognizant, and utterly nn.?ur-
prised. A superb bi-nnette, attired in rich brown siik, with a
brilliant scarlet scarf on her shoulders, admirably contrasted
with her dark hair, and the snnny gold and rose of her com-
plexion.
" Why, Mui'icl, you frightened me ! I spoke, and yet you
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HAKKINGTON.
did not hear. What a strange, Btill shine there is in yonr
eyes I One woald think yon were a. eomQambuIiat."
The happyandnobie face smiled at her as she spoke and
two bright tears flowed upon it. A moment, and the book
tell to the floor, and embracing Emily, she kissed her mmson
month, and fondly gaaed into her eonntenance. At the pres-
sure of the soft bosom agamst her own, at the tonch of the
Jragraat and dewy hps, Emily's spirit rose in fervent affec-
tion, and m that moment her heart clasped Murie] like her
^er, and not a somnambnlist, dear Emily "
said Muriel. " 1 was lost in a reverie, deeper than I have
ever known, and it gave me the peace of a holy thonght."
"^ What was the thought, dear Mariel f" asked En ly
" One that yon can appreciate, dear lover was the tender
and gay reply. '■ The thonght that life is trahest life in the
greatness and sweetness of love."
A refluent jealoasy vamly strove at that mcment t enter
the heart of Emily. The charm of her friend <, "rations coun
tenance, and of her mellow sflver voice, was strong upon her.
But the rich color came to her golden face and over her broad'
low brow to the roots of her hair, and her lustrous brown
eyes wandered mto vacancy.
" Yes, Muriel," she answered, after a moment's hesitation
" I agree with you. Life is tmhest hfe in loving and bemff
loved." ^
" Ko, that is not agreeing with me," said Muriel, with a
frank smile. "Life is snfSciently hfe in loving. To love is
enough.— But come, dear Emily, your chocolate voice sliaU
not be used in discussion, but m confession. We must talk
this mornmg, for I fancy yon have some httle grudge against
me, and it is tune for us to nnderstand each other, like good
friends.
Emily colored again, and the tears were very near her eyes.
She loved Muriel, yet could not help being jealous of her,'
belieTmg, as she did, that she was her rival for the love of
Wentworth. But she laughed lightly, dissemhliiig her emo-
tion, and asked ;
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121
" Why is my voice a chocolate voice, Muriel ? That is an
odd epithet."
" A very good one, dear," replied Muriel, laughing, and
picking np the Dante from the floor. " Your Toice is a con-
tralto. Sounds, you know, have their analogical colors, as
Madame de Stagl knew when she said the sound of the
trumpet was crimson. Now tlie auslogue of contralto is
brown. Chocolate, too, is brown. Hence your voice is
" Well done, Muriel t Come, now, that is really inge-
Mnriel laughed her clear and mellow silver laugh, and
looked playfully at Emily.
" Thank you for the compliment, mignorme. I shall make it
over to the gentleman from whom I stole the idea."
" Stole ? It's not yours, then ?"
" O yes 1 It's mine, because I stole it."
"And who from ? Harrington E"
" Guess again, dear I But n'impwie — no matter, Come
and sit here with me."
Muriel moved smilingly away to a conch of violet-velvet,
and sinking, upon the cushioned seat, waved her hand to her
friend. Emily stood unheeding, in an attitude of sumptuous
repose, with her rounded arms folded, a faint smile on her
face, and her lustroos and lambent eyes half-veiled by their
long lashes. The damask color was bright on her cheeks and
on her parted lips, and with every slow breath, her bosom
slowly lifted and fell, stirring the rich and heavy attai^of-rose
odor which brooded slamberonsly about her form.
"Thon gorgeous queen-rose of Ispahan, why dreamest
thou f" said Muriel's voice of silver mockery. "Didst thou
not hear me call ? Come, I say 1"
The beautiful brunette did not obey, but raised her proud
patrician head from its drooping curve, and vaguely sighed,
Muriel rose, lightly glided over to her, clasped her waist with
both arms, and standing a little on one side and bending foo
ward — a fi'esh and full-^own lily — a fair, gay woman, with
the grace and glimmer of a bewitching child in her woman-
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HARRINGTON.
hood—looked with a naive and radiaat, half-mocking, half-
serious smUe, into the face of her she had called the gorgeoua
qaeen-rose of Ispahan. Presently she began to lead her to
the c'oQch. Emily held back, but Muriel's clasp tightened, and
yielding to the iirm, fairy strength with which, though strong,
she was unable to cope, Emily suffered herself to be conducted
to the seat.
"Ah, stayaway," blithely said Muriel, sitting beside her,
and playfully shaking a linger at her in sportive reproach,
" who is the stronger now ? You are faffly captured, and I
bold yon my prisoner until peace is concluded."
Emily, amused by this pleasantry, showed the pearls of her
red mouth in a brUliant laugh over her indolently folded
" And if you could only fence," continued Muriel, in the
same tone as before, " I would conquer a peace at the point
of my rapier. Can't I persuade you to leajn, for that especial
purpose ?"
• " Indeed you can't," said Emily. " It's not in the line of
my accomplishments, though you have included it in yours.
Bless me ! Muriel, what will you be learnmg next ? Dancing
on the tight-rope, I suppose, or standing on ona toe on the
back of a galloping horse, like a circus girl."
" That would be fine, dear, wouldn't it !" returned MurieJ.
"Decidedly, I never thought of the tightrrope or the circus
horse before. It is really an idea 1 But let us cry truce to
this nonsense, for indeed I have something to say to you."
Moving a little nearer to Emily as she spoke, her frolic
manner vanished, and her face grew sweetly serious.
" When yon found me so entranced this morning," she said,
after a long pause, " I was thinking of you, dear Emily — in
part of yoTi. Yon know how much I love yon. We grew up
together from girlhood, and among all your friends there is
none whose happiness is more closely entwined in yours than
Emily's heart beat fast, and the moisture gathered in her
down-dropped eyes. She did not look up, but she felt that the
clear eyes of Muriel were fixed on her faic.
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HAEEmOTOX. 123
"We have had many happy hours tc^ther, Emily," mur-
mured the low, sweet voice ; " and when you came here two
weeks ago, on this visit, it seemed thai the happiest hours of
all, both for you and me, were beginning. Happiest for me
becanse I thought that what makes life sweetest to ua all had
come to yoQ — here — in this house,"
There was another pause, in which Emily bowed her head,
with an inexpressihle sense of passionate sorrow.
" And it has come to you, Eaiily," continued Muriel. " You
did not t*D me — you kept your heart's secret closely — ^but I
Baw it — I felt it — though I so strangely mistook its object. I
did not think my intuition could so mislead me, but it did.
For I thought your feeling was for Richard and his for yon."
Emily smiled serenely, but under the serene smile her wild
grief raged.
" How could you think so, Mnriel V she lightly asked.
" I juiced so from his manuer toward you, and yours toward
him," replied iturie!.
Emily laughed gaily.
" I cannot imagine," she answered, " how you could tliink
his atteatlons meant anything more than the ordiuary reckless
gallaatries it is his nature to lavish on young women. And as
for myself, I should indeed be weak to love snch a nerson
as he." '■
She said it with the most hland and tranquil indifference of
voice and manner— grief and seorn and the wild resentment of
slighted love all hidden and raging in her heart.
" Emily !" The silver voice was raised in mild reproach,
aud she felt the uerirous hands suddenly clasp her aim. " How
can yon speak so of Richard 1 Indeed, you do him great
injustice. I know him better than to think that of him,
Emily, you amaze me I Why, how can yon imagine him such
a person !"
Emily smiled blandly. She may well defend him, was her
thought, for she loves him. Calmly liftmg her lustrous eyes,
she saw Muriel's wondering face all suffused with generous
color. Yes, she thought, it is her love for him.
" Why Muriel," she remarked quietly, " everybody knows
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HAEEIHGTOlf.
he is a handsome yoimg flirt. It is !iia general repntation.
His words, his loolcs, his manner toward women are proof
enough of it, I'm sure. Nobody thinks more highly of him
than Fernando, bnt even Fernando, spite of his friendship,
says it is the great fault of his character."
Muriel laughed suddenly, then looked very grave.
"I'm afraid, Emily," she said qnickly, "that it is Fer-
nando who has put this strange and ridiculous idea into your
head."
" Not at all," quietly responded Emily. " Fernando only
coiToborates my own judgment. Bnt if you cannot trust the
opinion of a man's intimate friends and associates, what can
you tmst ?"
" I would not trust Feniando'a opinion of anybody," said
Muriel.
" Why ?" asked Emily, coolly.
" Why, dear ? Because oar good Fernando is nothing if
not critical," piquautly answered Muriel.
" Do yon think him false ?" said Emily.
" Hum I" Wuriel looked doubtful — then langhed. " To
tell the truth, mgnmiie, I think he is, on a small scale, the
lago of private life."
" Yon are witty, Muriel, but yon are not just," was Emily's
cold reply.
Mnriel'was silent for a moment.
" Never mind," she resumed. " We will not discuss Fer-
nando. Yon will yet think better of Eichard, I am confi-
dent, but as you are not in love with him, it's no matter."
As I am not in love with him! thought Emily. She could
hardly keep ft'om shuddering with the flood of conflicting pas-
sion that shot through her. The wild impulse to tell Muriel
that she had cast her life upon him, burst into her mind.
What? Tell her that she loved him, and that he had slighted
her love ; that he had won her heart from her ; that once, in
one electric moment, his arms had enfolded her, his lips had
pressed hers, and then, hia whim gratified, he had left un-
spoken tlie words her soul panted to hear, and coldly alienated
himself from her! Tell aU this to her, whom he was now woo-
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125
iag, and who loved him I Passionate pride arose, and held the
impulse down.
" Yes, I owa that I was mistaken," pursued Muriel,
" straugeiy mistaken, in dreaming that you and Richard were
lovers. Still, there was love. It is mj joy to think that you
love another dear friend of mine, and that he loves you. And
my joy is all the greater to feel that yon are above our sodaJ
prejudices — that yoa are great enough .to love one whose
wcdth is in his manhood. You aiid Harrmgton "
Emily turned quickly, her face calm, but all aglow with
rich scarlet, and lighted with an indefinable smile. Muriel,
pale with love and sacrifice, her clear voice trembling, and her
ejes humid, stopped as she met that singular look, and changed
" Forgive me, dear Emily," she said quickly. " I would not
speak of it — I would not touch a subject cloiatei-ed even from
lue — but for one reason, which I will tell yoa pi-esent!y. But
first let me say that I wae again surprised when I read in your
mutual attentions for the last few days — yours and Harring-
ton's— the tokens of youi' love. For I had thought Hairing-
ton's heart was not free — that he loved another. Now let
"Who?" interrupted Emily. "Who did you thmk he
loved ? Tell me. I am curious to know."
" Nay, dear," replied Muriel. " It would be unnecessary
to toll that. Since I was wrong, is it not better to let it go
immentioned ? Surely it is."
Perhaps Emily might have gnessed who it was, had
she looked then at Mui'iel's faoe. But her eyes were down-
cast, and she was v^nly striving to imagine who Muriel
could mean. Then the remembrance of how constant and
reckleea had been her recent attentions to Harrington,
and, though paid only to abate Wentworth's supposed
triumph by convincing him that she cared nothing for him,
how good a ground they afforded to Muriel for her present
belief, carae into her mind, and she almost groaned. But what
would have been her grief had she dreamed of the efi'ects of
her conduct on Muriel 7
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" Now, dear Emily » resnmed Murie], " let me come at once
to the OBly sad thing in all this— in a word, to the reason
which compels me to speak thns Iranklj to yon for the sake of
our friendship, which I cannot bear to see distnihed wen for
an hour. You know I have known John for a long time, and
that he IS my best, mj most cherished friend I cannot tell
yon how mnch he has been and is to me— with ho» many
noble hours he is associated. Since I have thought yon loved
him, I have been conscious— painfully ccusciou^thut vour
manner has not been what it once was to mc— that ,ou have
felt our communion— his and mine— as something th.t inter-
fered with your relation to him."
Muriel paused, earnestly gazing in the face of her friend to
be certain that she was not ofendmg her. The hot color
sulused Emily's face, but she was calm and even smiled Yes
I am jealous of her, was her thought, but it is because she
loves Wentworth and he her. And she thinks I love Har-
nugton 1 Then came the impulse to undeceive Muriel in this
regard. Pride arose on one side, taunting her to confea* that
she lad paid court to n man she did not love. Shame acme
on the other side, urging her to conceal the thongWess folly
of having Intcd that man to love her. Both together held
the Impulse down.
"Dear Emily," puisued Muriel, in tender and pleaduig
tones, " do not let this he so. Do not think of me as yoiJ
rival because I am your lover's friend. There cannot be in
our relation— his and miniv-auything to weaken his faith to
yon. Oh, believe that, and let there be no dimord between
you and me 1 There, I have said all I might have waited
till he or yon told mo that you were lovers. But I could not
beat to see you tortured with the feeling that there w-s
nvaty between us, or to see our friendship in an, way hnuaired
iorgive me for my haste— for my brusque plaiu-sucakiuB ■
and love me truly as I love you."
Leaning over to her, as she ended, Mm-lel, the bright tears
welling from her eyes, embraced her tenderly. Emil, smiing
wanly, her bram whlrhng with afeotion, with selfjcorn and
passionate despair, clasped the lovmg form to her breast, and
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HAEEfflaTOM.
heba it there. In a few moments Muriel disengaged lierselt;
her happy and noble face radiant, but wet with tears, smaed
at Emily, and smiling, rose and glided from the room.
CHAPTER V.
Emily covered her face with her hands, and for more than
fifteen minntes sat in sileut stupor where Muriel had left her.
At length she sprang up, throwing her clenched hands from
her in agony, and walked the library. Her eyes were hotly
lustrous, her damask cheeks vivid with heightened color, her
parted lips wore an unnatural bloom, and the flush of fever
deepened the «nnny gold of her complexion. Slowly, with
measured steps, to and fro, up and down, she paced the room,
with rustling robes, like a doomed Sultana.
" Great Heaven I" she murmured, stopping suddenly in the
centre of the floor, and clasping her hands ; " to know that
it has come to this ! She thinks I love Harrington. How
shall I undeceive her ! How shall I undeceive him I How
extricate myself from this maze I O, for a friend, a counsel-
lor 1 Eichard, Richard, how can you treat me so basely !
To tnm from me— and in my very sight to turn from me to
her ! O, that I could die, that I could die I"
Wrmging her clasped hands, a wild heart-break in her face,
she heard a light step in the passage. The door opened, and
Muriel reappeared, gay and elegant as usual, and bending into
a graceful courtesy, half playful, half unconscious, as she came
forward. As for Emily, no one could have discovered a trace
of emotipn in her. At the sound of Muriel's footsteps, she
had dissolved into a sumptuous beauty, with a rich, indolent
smile on her brilliauf-coiored face, her bare, rounded arras
folded on her bosom, and her figure in nonchalant and queenly
repose.
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128 HAEEINGTOK.
" Ab, neglectful one," said Muriel, shaking a, finger at her,
"to let your monlding drop to pieces for lack of a little
water I I told yon yesterday that you ought to wet the clay.
Just now I looked into the studio, and saw the poor Muriel
ahnost crumbling. Thou naughty girl I"
"I declare I forgot it," replied Emily. "I meant to water
the bust yesterday, and it slipped my mind. I will see to it
presently."
" If yott don't, I'll never give you another sitting," returned
Muriel. " So take notice."
All sorts of stndies and arts were pursued at the house in
Temple street. Muriel, amidst her botany, drawuig, moulding,
music, Latin, French, German, ItaUan, miscellaneous reading,
and her vigorous cahatheiiics, had for a year past interpolated
the art of fencing, which Hamngton had taught her, and
which was at present her. grand passion. Emily, whti had
been absent at Chicago for the last ten mouths, had previously
learned from Wcntworth and Muriel how to monld in clay,
and upon her return, urged on chiefly by him, had resumed
this crowning accomplishment of hers, and began to develop
in it unusual talent. . The bust referred to was one of Muriel,
which she had been working on. Lately, the check she had
received in her love for Wentworth, had sadly damped the
ardor of her passion for sculpture, and the bust had been
neglected.
" Don't let your belief in Wentworth's flirtations interfere
with your pursuit of the fine arts, mgnowie," continued Muriel,
gaily.
^ " Dear me, no 1" languidly returned Emily. " His flfftar
tjons are nothing to me."
" Certainly not," said Muriel, sportively patting her on the
shoulder. " And as you owe the bad boy a debt of gratitude
for showing you how to mould, be civil to him, I pray."
" Civil ? And am 1 not civil to him ?" returned Emily,
smiling with lazy serenity.
" Ah, wicked one, no," said Muriel, silverly mni-muring the
words into Emily's ear, as she stood behind her with her arms
around her waist, and her face looking jestmgly over her
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HABHINGTOH. 129
iioulfe ^ t bC 1 D Intl e til tfe k (>f tiie
T ul f tl s mo n I know tiiat hint i ha d feel n s
^ot beciUM; you d d not g ve tl m to hue 1 t un ac oimt of
your manne wh ch was mdescr bablj di&da ntul I venly
bel eve Feman lo ha 1 somethmg to do w th tl at t nn&act on
Whit was t he said to you at the talle ten I aw jo
color
Oh nothing repl ed Emily I Iq h ng It a o ne
thm„ he meant for a joke though I thought t the in pu
lent To tell tl e truth Mur el I d 1 ateu 1 to sha e the
Tiolets Iwt een HaTngton andWent o tl whe Feruanlo
ob erved to me that Went wo th would \e del g! ted to
leceive a true-Ioye posy from me, or somethmg of that sort.
Now that provoked me, and I knew Wentworth had put him
up to say it, for I saw them whispering and laughing together
just before, and I "
" My dear Emily," said Muriel, in a beseeching tone, com-
ing around in front of the speaker, "how can you be so un-
reasonable as to jump to such a conclusion ?"
" Oh I I know he had something to do with it," returned
Emily, obstinately ; " so I just punished him by giving all the
flowers to Harrington. I kuow it piqued him, and I'm glad
of it."
Muriel s^hed, and then laughed, feeling painfully the little-
ness of this conduct, yet excusing Emily out of her sense of
the provocation of Witherlee.
" IfimporU, Emily deal-," she said hghtly, after a pause.
"It matters not. Bat I blame Fernando for it all. lam
not unjust to him, for I appreciate his power and taients, and
very often find him agreeable enough But I do not like his
carping and cavilUng and the envnua spirit of hnn and I can-
not help thmking that he is untiuthfnl and given to mischief-
making. What ho said to you was really mipudent — and, by
the way, it was quite matched by the unpudence of his joining
as this morning, iminvited and so cooJly wtlking into the
house wilii us unasked If I had not been amui=ed at it, I
should have been indignant It was a ccol proLeedra^-, faith,
— ^positively arctic"
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-low HAEEINGTON.
Muriel paused to laugh delightedly at the drollery of the
recollection.
" Howeyer, let it all go," she eoEtmued. " Only, Emily,
beware of being influenced by Fernando. That's good coun-
sel. For my part, if I catch him at any of hia tricks, we shall
quarrel outright. I helicve I uerer qnarrelled with anybody
in my hfe, and perhaps the experience may be refreshing.
But come — busmess before pleasure. What are you going to
do to-day? I mast go on a tour — will yon come with
me?"
" Where are you going ?" asked Emily,
" First and foremost, I am on a Pardigglc excursion among
two or three families of my parish," replied Muriel.
Dickens' " Bleak House," was coming out m serials at that
period, and Muriel, with the rest of the town, was full of it,
and was particularly delighted with Mrs. PardiggJe, to whom
she jestingly likened herself when she made viaits of charity.
" The Pardiggle path will first lead me to poor Mrs. Roux,"
continued Muriel. " Mrs. Roux, in 8outba<i street, the wife of
the colored man who was here the other day to white-wash
the studio. She bad another child born a couple of months
ago — did I tell yon f— and we must take care of the black
babies as well as the white ones, you know, and the black
mothers, too, as well as the white mothers, mobt gorgeous
honey-darling."
Emily smiled at the pet name Muriel bestowed upon her,
admiringly gaaing meanwhile at the fair face, half arch, half
serious, which looked at her over the lace ruffle.
"Poor Eoux was very sick m March," continued Muriel,
" and has only got to work again recently— so as tunes are
hard with them, mother and I have taken them imder our
" How did you find them out, Muriel V asked Emily.
^ " Oh, through Harrington;" answered her friend. "Har-
rington is the general repository of the grievances and troubles
of everybody he falls in with, and when he can't help, he tells
us, and we help. We are a Pardiggle society. Ho is the
President, and mother and I are the Board of Directors."
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HAEEINQTON. 131
" I have a mind to become a member," said Emily, smiliDgly
" Bnt where nest F"
" Next," answered Muriel, " I am going to make a call on
the Tenehans. That's an Irish family in North Enssell street.
Then there is Judith, the sempstress, for whom I have some
sewii^f. Let's see— that's all to-day, I believe. Then I'm
going to see Captain Greatheart."
" Who's that ?" interrupted Emily.
" Mr. Parker, of course."
" Mr. Pajker ? Pray what entitles a lawyer to Oiat Bunyan-
esque "
"A lawyer I Bless me, Emily, where are your fiye wits I
It IS the Mr. Parker I mean— Theodore Parker. And is he
not a model Captain Greatheart? The nineteenth century
ApoUyon has reason to kuow him in that cbaraeter, at aU
eyenfe. So too have the poor Chi-istiana and Christianas, for
wJiom he is guardJQg shield and smiting sword."
Emily bowed her head m assenting abstra<;tion.
" I'm going to see if he has in liis library a book I want "
continued Muriel. " Then, perhaps, I'll go to the Athensum,
and refresh my art-sense— no I won't either, for I remember
Ternando said he would be there, and I can't enjoy pictures
with his eyerlastii^ caTilling in my eai-s."
" Fernando has exquisite tastes," said Emily, musingly.
"Fernando has exquisite lijstastes," returned Muriel, pi-
quantly. "Which I shall not enjoy this morning. So instead
of the Athenffium, I'll go to the AniJ-Slayeiy Convention at
the MelodeoiL Uncle Lemuel was here last evening, you
know, talking up Uniou-saving and the Fugitive Slave Law,
and Mr. Webster, and aU that sort of thing, and I shan't feel
right agam tUl I bear the voices of the Good Old Cause from
the platform of the Garrisoniams."
" Weil, Muriel, you are the most astonishing Bostonienne I
know," said Emily, laughing. " I should just like to analyze
your melange. Let's see now. In the first place, you defy
fashion, and insist on wearing dresses that show your shape,
when all the rest of us are swaddled in haJf a dozen starched
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133 HAKKIM(JTO;«.
petticoats, and ave pining in secret for the hoops of onr graud-
mothere to come into vogue again. You "
" How many have you on, honey-birtl ? Corao, ' 'fess,' as
Topsy says," demanded Muriel, miscliievously.
" 1 ? Oh, I'm moderate," retnrned Emily. " I only wear
six."
Muriel pnt up her bauds, orbed her mouth, and opened her
large eyes in mock hoiTor.
" Goodness me !" said Emily, laughing and smoothii^ her
bounteous skirts, " Six is nothing. Why everybody wears
seven. Eight and nine are not uncommon. And there's
Bertha Appleby weal's twelve."
Muriel burst into low, silver lai^hter, in which she was
joined by her friend.
" To resume," continued Emily when the mirth had sub-
sided, " you won't wear low-necked dresses at parties. You
don't waltz. Yon don't fiivt. Yon don't care to be admired.
You don't run after the lions. You pay court to all the
taboo people, visit those who are voted out of good society,
ask them to vidt you "
" And cry ' k bas la Madame Grundy,' " put iu Muriel, with
a free and frolic toss of her arm.
" Yes, and cry, ' down with Mrs. Grundy,' " continued
Emiiy. " Then yon cultivate the most miscellaneous and out-
landish set of characters — authors and actors, and actresses,
and reformers, and clergymen, and musicians and comeout«rs
and people respectable aud disrespectable all meet here, liig-
gledy-pi^ledy, in the most heterogeneous mistm'e — the most
chaotic "
" 0 no, Emily dpar, not chaotic," interposed Muriel, " not
chaotic but cosmic I accept them all as Nature accepts them
all Down with the walls! That's my principle. Ifo castes
— no faLtitious distinctions. Let fine people of all sorts come
together and learn to know each other. Democracy for-
" Ye^, indeed — bat doeiin't good society get horrified at your
doings 1" hughingly exclaimed Emily "Doesn't the whole
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HAHEINGTON. 133
neighborhood hold up its hands at you ? Why, your aristo-
cratic acquaintance look at you with perfect horror."
"Well," rejoined Muriel, with nonchalant gaiety, "you
know what Mercntio says : ' Their eyes were made to see and
let them look.' "
" And then your studies," ran on Emily. " Perfectly om-
nivorous. French, German, Italian, Latin, music, drawing,
painting, moulding, science, poetry, history, oratory, philoso-
phy, Shakspeare, Bacon, Dante, Plato, Goethe, Swedenboi^."
" And Fourier," interpolated Muriel. " I've added him to
my list, you know, and Uncle Lemuel says I ought to blush to
own that I read him. The poor man thinks Fourier had hoofs
and horns and a harpoon tail."
" Yes, I know," rejoined Emily with a laugh. " He says
such works loosen the foundations of society and are fatal to
the interests of morality," she added, mimicking Uncle Lemuel's
stock phrases, which he used iu common with a great many
people of the highest respectability. " But to resume, Muriel;
there are your muscularities. You skate, you swim, you
climb mountains, you ride horseback, you walk ten mOes on a
stretch, you saddle or harness your horse like a stableman, you
catch np your horse's feet, and look at the shoes like a black-
smith, you dauce, you row, you lift weights, you swing by your
hands, you walk on the parallel poles "
" And fence," suggested the amused listener. "Don't for-
get the fencing !"
" Yes, and fence with Wentworth and Harrington, besides
turning the studio up-stairs into a gymnasium, 'i'iieu yon go
on these tours, as you call them. You have a regular
parish of negroes and Irish people, and all sorts of foriorn
characters, on whom you shower food, and clothes, and
books, and goodness knows what else. And you go to
theatres, circuses, operas, lectures, picture-galleries, woman's
rights conventions, aboUtion meetings, political gatherings of
all sorts at Faneuil Hall, with the most delectable impar-
tiality. Then you used to attend church at William Henry
Channing's, which our best society thought horrid."
" Aud now Theodore Parker's"
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nAEHINGTON'.
" Yes, and now Theodore Parker's, which they think worse
still. And jon have harbored fugitive Elaves in jour house,
and helped them off to Canada. And you swallow Garrison
and Parker Pillsbury "
" And adore Wendell Phillips."
" Yes, and adore Wendell Phillips. And subscribe for the
' Commonwealth ' newspaper, which your uncle saya ought to
be put down"
" And the ' Liberator,' "
"Yes, and subscribe for Garrison's 'Liberator/ which is
your uncle's lele noire: In short, Muriel, I wonder how you
keep your popularity. Pm sure I coulda't do all that yon do,
and have these cozy old citizens, these formal and fashion-
able mammas, these mutton-chop whiskered, English-mannered
gentlemen, and Beacon street belladonnas, so fond of me as
they are of jou. But then, I suppose they don't know the
extent of your heresies."
" My dear Emily," returned Muriel, " please to remember
that you're from the rural districts. You live at Cambridge
half the year, and youVe beea off there in Chie^o for the
last ten months, so you don't know how many Boston ladies
do all, or nearly all, that I do. I'm not half such an or^al as ,
you hnagine. But see here, bkd of Paradise, tune passes.
Are you going with me, or not? I'll go anywhere, or do any-
thing yon like, after the Pardiggle excursion is over. That
must be attended to, anyway."
Before Emily could reply, the door opened, and Mrs. Bast-
man came in. A beautiful, fair-complexioned, gentle lady, of
middle age, with silver-grey hair falUng in gracefal tr^ea
beside her face. As beautiful in her waning day as Muriel in
her matin prime.
" Not gone yet, dear," sho said, with a bright smile.
" Just gomg, mother."
" Well the carriage is below, and here is little Charles come
to say that Mrs. Rous ia rather poorly. And he says, dear,
which I hope is not true, that some of those dreadful men are
in town."
Mariel's face grew grave, and sho flew to the door.
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HAKKINGTOIf. 135
" Charles!" she called. " Come up-stairs, Charles?'
"Tes, Miss Bas'man. Comia' right up, Miss Eas'man,"
thirruped a shrill, smart voice, from below, followed by the
Bofteaed bonnce of feet on the carpeted flight, coming up two
stairs at a time.
" What is it ?" asked the wondering Emily.
"The kidnappers," returned Muriel. " Come in, Charles."
A most astonisMng fat negro boy entered, cap in hand,
dacking and bowing, with a scrape of his foot, and showing a
saucy row of splendid white teeth in the droll grin which
expanded his big mouth and nostrils ; his great eyes mean-
wMe revolvii^ rapidly around the library, and momently
Tanishing in their whites with a facility curious to behold.
His face, surmounted by a mass of asheu-colored wool, parted
on one side into two great shocks, was exactly the shape of a
huge d'Angouieme pear, the great blobber cheeks making the
forehead, which was respectably large, seem email. His com-
plexion was a clean, warm, dark grey. He was not tall for his
age, which was about ten years, but he was broad. Breadth
was the characteristic of his figure. His short arms were
broad; his short legs were broad; his hody was broad; and he
;broadened his face at present with a grin. He had big feet,
clad m battered old shoes; and big hands, which just now
played with his cap. He wore a grey jacket thrown back
from his fat chest, which was covered with a blue and white
small-striped shirt; and his legs were incased in grey troweers.
Grey, iu fact, was the prevailing color of him all over. The
face was intelligent, and full of precocity, assurance, and
supreme self-importance, with what people call a little-old-
man-look pervading It all, though this was only seen when he
was in his grave moods, and now was not visible.
" What is it, Charles ?" anxiously asked Muriel.
" Please, Miss Eas'man," he began, suddenly stoppir^ hia
grin, and looking preternaturaily demure, with a portentous
roll of his saucer eyes, " please. Miss Eas'man, I jus' run up
here like a bob-tad nag for to say — to wit, that Bi-iidder
Baby is fus' rate; so is Josey; so is Tom; so is I; so is father;
and mar isn't not nearly so well, an' she feels right bad
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HAEBINGTOff.
lest father should be took off, an' them kidnappers is in town,
an' we'll all be took off, jns' so sure's my name's Tugmutton,
Miss Eas'maa— yes, Miss Eas'man, tliere aint no sort of a
chance for ns anyway, jus' so sure as yon're bom."
Having delivered himself in shrill, fluent tones, to this effect
the young imp grumed cheerfully, and stood rapidly twirling
his cap on his hand Jike a pm-wheel, and rolling his eyes at
the three ladies. Muriel looked at him with a still face hut
Mrs. Eastman smiled, and Emily, who had seen him once be-
fore, laughed amusedly.
" What an odd creatnre he is," said the latter. " To think
of Ma preferrmg to be called by that droll name ? Don't yon
hke to be caUcd Charles ?" she asked, addressing the boy
"Like it estromerly. Miss Ames— uever git done likin'
that name noways, Miss Ames," he asseverated, with great
earnestness. " But you see. Miss Ames, 'taint so familiar like
as Tngmutton. Father calls me Tugmutton, an' mar an'
Josey, an' Tom, an' everbody, since I was knee-high to a
toad. Miss Ames. Tngmutton 's my Christian name Miss
Ames, and Charles 's my given name as Miss Eas'man give
me. Miss Ames." °
" Look here, Charles," said Muriel, i
tue kidnappers are in towu ?"
" Dead sure, Miss Eas'man—jus' as sure as can be."
" How do you know ? "Who told yon ?"
"Lawsl Miss Eaj^'manl Why it's in the newspaper 1"
blurted out the imp, rollmg up the whites of his eyes at her
with a look of amazed reproach.
" 0, no, Charles ! It's not in the newspaper, for I've read
the papers this morning," said Mnriel, smihng, and shaking her
nnger at him. .
_ Tngmutton looked demure for a second, then smiled sheep-
ishly, fiu^ively roiled his eyes one side at the wall, and fidgeted
on his feet, and with his cap and jacket.
"Laws, Miss Eas'man I it's goin' to be in the paper. Paper
'D be chock fnll of it to-morrow."
" 0, I guess it's not true," saJd Muriel, slowly with a rc-
heved smile. " It must be a false alarm, Charles."
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HARTSINGTON. 137
" My gosh, Miss Eas'man, I don't believe there's one word
of troth iu it," said Tngmutton, puckering ont liis great lips
with an air of precocious contempt, aad wliirling liis cap on his
hand. " Never covid make me believe one word of that story.
It's jus' nothin' but a weak invention of the enemy,"
The phrase, which Tngmntton had picked up from somebody,
was so odd in his childish mouth, and so oddly expressed, that
Emily burst into a fit of laughter, and threw herself into a
chair, while hoth Mrs. Eastman and Muriel smiled. Ti^mufp
ton grinned delightedly at the effectof his speech, and then
looked awMly demure and dignified.
" Anyhow," he continued, " aU them foolish colored folks
are believin' that story. Them folks has jus' got no gumption,
anyway. Talkin' about that story in the street, now — mil-
lions of them."
" Are the colored people out in the street, Charles ?" asked
Mrs. Eastman.
"In the street? Laws, Missus Eas'man, Southac street's
full of 'em," returned Tugmutton.
" There may be something in it, after all, mother," said
Muriel. "I'll go."
" Bless me, Muriel, are you not afraid f" exclaimed Emily.
" Afraid I Not at all. What possible danger is there ?
Besides, I want to see what's going on. Come, let's go."
Emily rose and followed Muriel, who left the room for her
bonnet.
" Come, Charles," said Mrs. Eastman, moving to the door ;
" eome down-stairs, and I'll give you something to eat. Little
men like you are always ready for pie,"
Tugmutton, with the prospect of pie in his delighted vision,
flashed into a huge grin, which displayed all his ivories, and
lit his blobber-grey fa«e ; and checking the impulse which
prompted him to execute a shuffling breakdown on the spot, he
dodged out at the door after Jlrs. Eastman.
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HAREtNG'TON,
CHAPTER YI.
ff THE BEIGK 01' 1
In a few miaatea the two yonng ladies, cloaked and
bonneted, came out into the snnlit street, where stood the car-
riage, which Pati-iek, the inside man, had brought np from
Niles's Btabloa. Emily, characteristically indifferent to the
driver, swept in and took her seat. Muriel, on the coutrary,
who was on friendly terms with CTerybody, coarteonsly bent
her head to him as she passed. The driver took off his hat
to her, and stood waiting for orders.
" Wait a minute, please," said Muriel.
Presently, Patrick, a grej-haired, decorous old Irishman,
came out with a basket, covered with a white cloth, which he
deposited on the seat of the carri^e.
" Bless me, what's that 1" exclaimed Emily, laughing.
"Pardiggle tracts for the poor," said Muriel, jestu^ly.
"Patrick, tell Charles to hurry."
Patrick went in and soon returned with Tngmutton, who
jumped down the steps, and scrambled into the carriage.
Tngmutton's fat face was all agrin and shinmg like satin-wood.
The happy yoath had devoured a whole pie, and was in a state
of supreme exhilaratJon. His repletion, however, did not pre-
vent him from ogling the basket by his side, and he would
have liked nothing better than to make his dessert on its con-
tents.
Muriel gave the driver his directions, and the vehicle started
off down Temple and into Cambridge street to the comer of
Garden. They were turning up Garden street, when Tugmat-
ton opened his great eyes, and said.
" Well now, I declare 1 If there ain't Mr. Harrington 1"
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Muriel leaned forward, and caught sight of the noble
soldier-figure of Harrington striding np the street before
" Hullo ! Mr. Harrington 1 I say !" screeched Tugmutton,
Harrington turned, with the sun on the martial lines of
his face and beard. He cai^ht sight of the inmates of the
carriage instantly, and signaling to the driver to stop, he came
down the street, to the aide of the carri^e.
" What is it, John ?" asked Muriel.
" Nothing," he replied, smiling, and bending his head to
Emily. "It's a false alarm, I fl.nd. But these poor people
are very much excited, and 1 was going np to qniet them."
" Come in. We're going to Roux's," said Muriel.
Harrington entered, sat in Tngmutton's place, taking him
on his knee, and the carriage went on till it reached the corner
of Sonthac street, where it stopped.
" There's considerable of a crowd here," cried the driver.
They all looked out at the carriage window upon the squalid
neighborhood. Only a Dickens or a Victor Hugo could fitly
describe the strange and picturesque scene which met their
eyes. Huddled together in excited groups, or moving hither
and thither in straggling masses, hundreds of colored men and
women, clad in every variety of costume, and lawless and unhn-
man in aspect, swarmed over the street with a load, dense martic-
nlate confasioD of voices the bright sunlight brin^'ng out their
motley forais and bronze faces in grotesque and vivid sahence.
So uncouth and various were the costumes — coats and hats of
extinct styles and patterns, frowsy and shabby raiment of every
feshion within the last half century, intermingling with the
many-colored gowns and head-dresses of the girls and women
— that hnt for the heavy-lipped, sombre feces, with their flash-
ing teeth and wild-rolling eyes, and the menacing gestures and
threatening hum of the multitude, it might have seemed some
masquerading mob, arrayed in the garments of the old clothes
shops. Protmdii^ from every window m the dingy and dilapi-
dated houses on either side of the street, big clusters of heads,
mostly those of women and children, some with gi'eat shocks
of wool, some bulletshaped and closely shorn, some wearing
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140
HAKEINGTOK.
white mob caps and red and yellow bandanna kercliiers, were
bobbing restlessly over the escited muUitude below. "Up and
down cellar-ways, and in and out of numerons alleys and
yawning doors, uneasy shoals were constantly pouring, pass-
ing from or mingling with the mongrel and luntastic concourse
in the street, which continually moved in the sunlight with a
hoarse, turbulent, swarming undertone, like the far-off roar of
insorrection.
A deep flush came to the broad-nostrilled face of HaiTina>
ton as he gazed.
" What a sight for Boston in the nineteenth century !" he
exclaimed. " Vaunting her ciyflization while terror invades
the refuge of her poorl"
Emily, deathly pale, leaned back in the cania^-e and
shuddered.
At that moment, a portion of the crowd, seeing the car-
mge, set np a clamor of cries, and surged down toward it.
Two or three stones were thrown, which rattled on the pave-
ment around the vehicle, and the horses began to plunge and
rear. Instantly Muriel flang open the carriage-door, and
^nngmg into the street, calm and fearless, held up her hand
Harrington quickly leaped out after her,
" Halloa, there I" he shouted, with a commanding voice
which, lite Mm'iel's gesture, fell like magic npon the thought!
less assailants. He was well known in the qnarter, and the
negroes recognizing a friend, set up a cheer of welcome. Tog-
mutton meanwhile had pounced from the carriage upon the
boys that threw the stones, and assaulted them with a showei
of cuffs and kicks. He came back, presently, full of vic-
tory, his blobber cheeks puffed out with rage and self-import-
" Tliem miser'ble young niggers haven't got no more gump-
tion than just nothin' at ail," he spluttered. " Guess they'll
mind now, though. Oosh [ I lit on 'em like a duck on a June
bug. When I fall afoul of 'era guess they think it's General
Washington and the spirit of seventy-sis. Miser'ble young
bloats I" -^ ^
Harrington could not help smiling as he looked down oa
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141
the fat imp, who was dehvering himself in these figurative
"terms, with an indescribable swell and swagger. The horses
were still pawing and trembling, and Muriel went to their
heads, and stood with one gloved hand grasping the reins, and
the other patting and stroking the cheeks and noses of the
alarmed animals. The driver, who sat on his box, white as
a sheet, firmly holding the reins, looked down admiringly on
the fearless and graceful sunlit figure, and the negroes stand-
ing around, stared with delighted awe.
Harrington, meanwhile, was at the carriage door, assuring
Emily, who protested that she was not afraid, as indeed she
was not, for she was naturally courageous. Presently ^Muriel
came aronnd to the carriage door, her face bright and
" Now," she said, " I will go on to Eous's. The carriage
had better stand here. Emily, will you come with us ?"
"But you're not going through that crowd, Mviriel !" ex-
claimed Emily.
" Why certainly," replied Moriel, laughing. " I wouldn't
miss the chance for the world. Going through that crowd
is part of my culture. Besides, dear, the crowd won't eat
"I think I will stay here," returned Emily. "I am not
afraid, bnt this scene is terribly painful to me, and I could
hardly bear to go among the poor people. Do yon tbuik this
will drive some of them off to Canada, Muriel ?"
"I fear so," rephed Muriel, with a wiatfui glance at t!ie
concourse.
Emily colored, and her eyes filled with tears. '
" Let me give something for them, Muriel," she faltered,
taking out her porte-monnaie. " Ton may know some of them
who want means, and if you do, give them this."
She held oat a little roll of bills— fifty dollars. It was
money she had mtended for shopping, and it was all she had
with her.
" But, dear Emily," said Muriel, looking at her with humid
eyes, " I do not kuow that I shall meet with any one who
wOl need it."
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142 HAEEIHOTON.
" No matter," replied Emily; " take it with you in case you
shjuld I nish I could help them all."
Muiiel took the bills with a tender smile, and Harrington
caupht the profuse hand, and lookeil fervently ia the face of
the g y r At that look Emily cowered, for she thought it
the look of love she had wickei31y evoked, and her soul quaUed
m gtief and shame. Muriel, too, misread the look, and her
spu*it rose in generous feeling at the token of a lover's happi-
ness in his beloved one.
" Ah, thou noble one !" she said, with playful sweetness.
" Thou rose of the rose-garden I Well, it shall be as you say.
Come, Charles ; you can carry the basket. John, you will
stay here to keep Emily company."
Before Emily could reply, Muriel moved away, followed by
the triumphant Tugmuttoa with the basket on his arm. Pre-
sently she was passing through the parting concourse, bending
her head iu acknowledgment of the bows, and curtseys, and
doffing of hata which saluted her. The negro in his lowest
estate is a gentleman in his courtesy, superior in this to
many a white of high and low degree. The weight of social
wrong had crashed oat or bruised down many an excellence i»
these humble people, but politeness was one which society
could not destroy in them. As Muriel went on through the
swarming hum, the clatter of voices would cease, the men and
women would step aside from the path, the hats would be
taken from the heads with a courteous recogniUon of her pre-
sence, which a snob might not have the wits to honor but
which Philip Sidney's pulse would surely have quickened to
behold. Low Irish, m their place, would hare stood stolidly and
gaml. Low English would have shambled aside with clownish
loutishness. Low Americans would have stared and leei-ed,
and perhaps spat toba«50-juice on her skirts as she passed them.
The low negroes were civil as Frenchmen.
In the heart of the groteaque and motley thiong Muriel
came upon a black man whim <ihe knew— an erect and stal-
wart figure, straight as in Indian with a hue masculme 1 re,
atid the full swart negrme feature-^ He was standmg m a
doorway iu his shirtsleeves Instantly bowing low and taking
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HAKRIMGTON. 143
off his felt hat when he saw her, he came forward in courteous
posture as she stopped. Muriel smiled graciously, and gave
hun her hand as freely and firmly as she would have given it
to .her most aristocratic friend. He took it revureiitially,
yet without hashfulness, while all the black people around
stared.
" Have you heard the news, Mr. Brown ?" she asked.
"Yes, madam," returned the negro, bowing low. "It's
sad news, too, madam. As yet we don't know which of us
they're after, but I was jnst going down town to see the Vigi-
lance Committee, and find ont about it."
" I^m happy to tell yoti that it's a false alarm," replied
Muriel, smiling. " Mr. Harrington says so, so jou can bo at
ease. Won't you please to spread the nows among yonr
people here, so that tliey may be relieved."
The news was spread already, for she had bo sooner said it,
than it was taken up and passed from lip to lip with joyful
confusion. Presently it reached the depths of the crowd, and
instantly there was a straggling shout, followed by a surge of
the whole concourse toward the direction from whence the
information had proceeded.
" Stand back," roai-ed the negro in a tremendous voice.
" There's a lady here. Don't crowd the lady."
Instantly the cry, " don't crowd the lady," was taken up,
and the dense masses surged back, every mau taming upon his
neighbor, and shouldei-ing him away m officious zeal, till there
was a great bare space left around Muriel and her companion,
with a circular crowd around its border, and further behind in
the throng, negroes jumping up and down, to catch a sight of
" the lady."
Muriel laughed, and at once the negroes in fr nt lau h 1
and the laugh spread till it became a universal, jo i ff «
while some of the lighter spirits threw themselv nt g
tesque contortions, and capered and stamped up a d d wn n
extravagant glee. Presently a conviction came t th wd
that they were at an unnecessary distance, and at th
was a forward movement of tie whole mass to w thin y 1
of Muriel, every one neiwously ready to turu ag u up u his
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144
UiKKINOl-ON.
neighbor, and crowd him off, at the slightest hint that they
were too near, and some of them loolfiug anxiously at Tugmut-
ton, who, taliing upon himself yery important airs by vii-tae of
his attendmiee upon Miss Eastman, stood holding the basket,
with his blobbei- cheeks and big hpa puiFed oat in ludicrous
dignity, as wondering at then- impudence.
"I trust, Mr. Brown," coutiuued Muriel, "that none of
the poor people will be frightened by tliis, into going to
Canada."
The negro looked sombrely into vacancy for a moment
before answering. He was one of the influential men of the
quarter, and knew pretty much all that went ou Where.
Brave, iaithftil, generous himself, he added to his good
qualities that of keen sympathy for Ilia people.
" I'm afeared, madam," he said, "tliat tiiis affair will scare
off some of them. 1 advise evei'y one to stay that can, and
fight it out. I don't go myself, and I wonldu't give two cents
for the chance of taking me, so long as I have this."
He opened his waisteoat as lie spoie, showing a huge
sheathed bowie-knife in a side-pocket of tlie gamont.
" I cajiy this, madam, night and day," he continued.
" Whenever they want me, they'll find me ready. But there's
a lot of folks here that ain't up to my way^ and the poor
cre'turs go. Tliere's two boardin' with" me now that have
about made up' their minds to git away ri<:;lit off, and as
they're bent on it, I shall have to help them all I can, though
cash is rather low with me just now. Then I've beeu t«ld
that old Pete Washington is goin', too, with his folks.
Pete's proper scared, and thinks he's sent for eveiy time he
hears kidnappers are in town. I haven't heerd tell of no
more."
He said it with a kind of mechanical sadness, fumbling
slowly as he spoke with the handle of the knife under his
waistcoat, his eyes roving absently, meanwhile, over the gaping
faces of the motley crowd.
" Mr. Brown," said Muriel, " here are fifty dollars, which I
want you to divide at your discretion among those that need
means to get away. It is from a lady who i^ sitting down
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HAEEIN&TON. 145
there in my carriage. She wanted it given for this pnrpose.
If yon need any more, come to my house at any time. And
if I can do anything, please to let me Itnow, for I want to
help if I can,"
He took the money quietly, put his lai^ blaclc hand over
hia mouth, and bowed low. Then tlnxiwing back his head and
shonldera, and extending hia brawny arm with the bills m the
hand, he suddenly fronted the crowd.
" Ladies and gentlemen," he said, with a grandiose manner,
pouring his tremendous bass into the concourse, " a lady in the
carriage gives fifty dollais to help the brethren that are leav
ing us for tinad-t The lady heie has often hel; ed n and
will help af,aiu In my humble opmion they re bcth of em
God's ladies and
The great von,e bnke Muncl astom hed by thia uiex
pected outbnrst was yet o overcome bs the electuc pit, ion
of the negro's speech and manner, that slie lost her eelf-possea-
sion, and knew not bow to interpose.
"Three cheers," screeched Tugmutton, at this janctni'e,
thinkii^ that some cheering would be highly appropriate.
Three E They cheered till they reeled 1 Roar on roar
went up m solid volume, till the sky seemed to swoou above
them. Muriel, disconcerted for once in her hfe, turned to
Brown, who stood grimly smiling, and begged him to quiet
them and get them to disperse. He put out his hand, and at
once the tumult immediately around them dropped, though
broken shouting still went on in the rear. Turning to the-
fat squab who had given the word for this ovation, and
played fugleman with cap and voice to it all, Muriel silently
beckoned him to follow, and hurriedly bowing and smiling
to the calm negro, went on.
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CHAPTRR VII.
She had not gone half a dozen paces, before some one came
striding to her side. It was Harrington, and slie instaatly
put her arm in his, with a gesture so sudden and joyons, that
the young man thrilled.
" I am BO glad you have come," she said.
Emily had insisted on his leavrng her, and attending upon
Moriel, Harringtoii remarked.
"Bat you are pale," he pursued, looking into her face,
which colored and smiled ander his kind g,nd searching eyes.
" And now you are not pale," he added, laughingly.
Muriel laughed silverly, and told the reason of her momen-
tary agitation, which amnsed Harrington vastly.
Presently they reached the dmgy alley in which Roax lived.
It was a comer house, mhabited by several families. A
flight of wooden steps led np to the second story, in which
Rons had two rooms.
Roux was a white-washer, wiiidow-eleaaer, boot^black and
what not by occupation. He had come up from his little shop
m Water street, down in the heart of the city, at the rumor
which Tugmntton had brought him, that kidnappers were in
town ; for he was a fugitive, and since the passage of the
Pugitive Slave Law he had never felt safe in Boston, where
he had prerionsly passed nearly nine secure years.
He was sittmg on aa old chair, ju an attitude of deep dejec-
tion, crooning to his babe, which he held in his arms, with his
other two children, a boy and girl, sitting on either knee.
The baby was a pretty little boy, with negrme features, clear
saffron skin, and glittering dark eyes. Josey, who sat on his
right knee, was a slender, bright-eyed, brown-skinned little girl.
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HAEEINGTOIT. Ii7
six years old. Tom, sitting on tlie other knee, was like his
sister, and four years of age. Thej were both pretty children,
neatly dressed in clothes which Muriel and her mother had
pTOvided for them. Ronx himself was a good-looking negro,
athletic in build, dark-complexioned, with short, woolly hair,
and heavy eyebrows. He was attired in an old sack coat and
blue OTeralls, specked with white-wash, for he had come np to
the house in his working clothes. The room in which he sat
had received a touch of his art, as the yellow-washed walls and
white-washed ceiling testified. It was a poor, low-browed
apartment, but neat and clean, though pervaded by that
frowsy odor which one often scents in the dwellmgs of the
poor. The floor was bare. Three or fonr cheap colored prints
hung in veneered frames on the walls. There was a trnndle
bed in one comer for the children; a small cooking-^tove near
the fireboard, with an immense deal of gawky fannel zigzag-
ging np to a hole in the wall near the ceiling; a small clock
ticking faintly on the mantelpiece, with some gaudy ornaments
near it; a table, and half a dozen old-fasliioncd, second-hand
chairs. Behind the family gronp was an opea door, giving a
view of another room, with a rag-carpet on tlie floor, a bni-enu,
and a bed, on which lay, in her clothes, a mulatto woman,
Roox's wife.
Konx ceased his croonmg as the broad-limbed, blobboi'-
checked squab of a Tngmutton threw open the door, grinning
from ear to ear, and lumbered in with the basket, which ho
deposited in the middle of the floor.
" Yoa ain't goin' to be took back, father, this time," bawiod
the cheerful youth. "It's a false alarm. Gosli! I knew it
wasn't nothm' but a false alann. Tliere ain't no kidnappers in
Boston, an' never will be neither."
" Tngmutton, what's that ?" demanded Roax, eyeing the
basket.
The imp drew up his chunky figure with severe dignity, and
rolled his saucer eyes and jerked his thumb over his shoulder.
At the same moment Muriel's courtly face and figure api>eared
at the door, with Harrington's countenance smiling over her
shoulder. The poor room was suddenly adorned by these fair,
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148 HAEEtKGTON.
strong presences, and its frowsy air was sweetened and softened
with delicate fragrance. Eoux'a children scrambled down at
once to ran over to their smiling angel, who entered with afiar
ble and cordial grace, and stooped to fondle and kiss the little
ones, wliile Eonx himself rose, with the baby on his left arm,
bowing confusedly, and smiling with considerable pompoasness
of manner, as of one who thought himself highly honored.
" How are you to-day, Mr. Rous," said Harrington, com-
ing over to the delighted negro, and shaking hands with bim,
"And how is your wife? And this little one," he added,
putting his lai^ hand on the head of the staring baby.
"All right, Mr. Harrington," retnmed Eons. "Though
the madam's not as well as she might be, sir," he continued, in
a gi'andiloquent tone. " She got a sort of a shock, Mr. Har-
rington, when this news come, and went right off into spasms.
Clarindy's awful scared iest some of these here days old master
should send for me, and Vm right skittish myself, sir, in view
of that catastrophe."
Another person might have smiled at Eonx's half-anxions,
half-pompous tone, but Harrington looked at him with a kind
and concerned face, knowing how much real apprehension and
distress his words covered.
"I am extremely sori7 that your wife shonld have been
alarmed," said the yonng man. "But it's true, as Chariea
said, that this is a false report."
" Yes, Mr. Eoux," added Muriel, coming forward from the
children, and giving him her hand, "it's nothing but an idle
rumor, so keep a good heart."
"Thank ye, Mks Bas'man, and I am extrornerly rejoiced at
the reception of this uniooked for intelligence," returned Eonx
bowing reverentially, while his manner grew more pompous,
and his lai^age more grandiloquent. " And the madam," he
continued, " will hear the glad tichngs with great joy, likewise
Miss Eas'man. I heerd the shontin' and hoorawin' in the
street, though I wasn't able to spekilate with any certainty as
to its cause, an' with the chil'ren here, an' Clarindy a-ljiu' on
the bed, feeJin' ruther weak, I found it on the whole, inexpe-
dient to go out and see what was a goin' on."
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HAERINGTOH. 149
He addressed the last sentence of tliis speecli to Harrington,
Muriel had gone into the other room, and was leaning ovei-
Mrs. KoQs, speaking in a low, soothing voice, with her hands
on the sick -womaa's head. The children were prattling with
each other, and Tugmutton was standing apart, with his short
arms akimbo, the hands spread on his hips, and an expression
of ineffable scorn on his fat, grey face, which was turned toward
Roux.
"Now, father," said the squab, takmg advantage of the
pause, « ain't you ashamed f My gosh 1 I'm goin' to blush
at je, father."
" What's the matter, Tugmutton," asked Roux, with comical
deprecation.
" What's the matter ? That's a pretty question I" was the
reproachful reply. "Tliere you stand, and never ask Mr.
Harrington to take a chair. That's the matter. Do you call
Uat doin' the honors of the establishment f"
Eonx looked abashed, while Tugmutton, with his face
puffed out, and his eye sternly fixed upon the offending party,
brought forward a chair, dumped it down under Harrington's
coat-tails, and retreating a couple of paces, pnt Ms arms
akimbo again, still sternly regarding Roux.
The whole proceeding was so ineffably droll, that narring-
ton, sinking into the chair, with a hand on each knee, laughed
heartUy, tliough quietly, with his eyes fixed on the fat pigmy.
Roux, who was very fond of Tugmutton, and submitted
meekly to all his odd humors, regardmg him, indeed, with an
absurd mixture of puzzled curiosity and reverential awe, such
as the good-natured Welsh giant might have bestowed upon
Jack the Giant-killer, stood now, with the baby on his arm, un-
easily eyeing his chunky mentor, and smiling confusedly. No-
thing could be more amusing than the relation Tugmutton oc-
cupied toward him, and the rest of the family. They were all
under the domination of this small, fat chunk. Tugmutton's
graud assumption of importance, and his authoritative airs, con-
joined with his genuine affection for them all, which took the
form of perpetual wardenship, had prevaOed over the age and
experience of both Roux and his wife. He was so old-fashioned.
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150 HAEBIHGTON.
SO queer, so mysterioas and inconceivable a creature to ttem,
tliat tlicj looked upon him almost as a superior being, and
petted and liuraored him in all possible ways.
" Just look at you, now," continued the irate fat boy. " Do
you call that tlie way to hold a baby ? With liia head hangiii'
down, and every drop of blood in his body runnia' into it !
My gosh ! that ehild'U never have one speck of hair, father,
an' water on the brain, beside."
Without feeling any apprehension of the capillary and hy-
drocephalons catastrophe thns ominously predicted as the inevi-
table consequence of his way of holding the baby, Roux
glanced at the little one, whose head was drooping back over
his arm, and whose fat, yellow fists were contentedly inserted
in its mouth, and then gently shifted the position of the child,
so as to rest its head on his shoulder.
" Just yod ^ve me that baby, father," blurted out the fet
boy, starting forward, and receiving in his short arms the in-
fant which Eoax readily abandoned to his. charge, " There's
nobody knows how to take care of this poor child but me,"
he indigoantly continued, bearing off his bnrden, and sitting
down with it in a short chair near the wall. "Lord a mercy !
If it wasn't for me, I don't inow what'd become of this family I
Chick-ardee^ee— chick-ardee-dee — h oney— honey— pretty Brud-
der Baby," he chirruped, showing all his ivories in a jovial grin
to the infant, and dancing it up and down in his short arms.
" Tugmntton's gi-eat ou takin' care of the chil'ren," remarked
Eonx to the smiling Harrington. " There aint no better boy
than Tug nowhere, Mr. Harrington, He helps Clarindy a
mighty deal, an' he's a reel comfort, I tell you."
" Why, yes, Mr. Roux, so I see," smihngly returned the
young man. " And he iearus the lessons I give Mm, veiy
well. I shouldn't wonder if Charles came to be a, great man
one of these days. He says he's gomg to be a lawyer like
Robert Morris."
Robert Morris was a colored man, who had fought his way
up against the prejudice of the many, and witii the aid of a
few, to an honorable position, which ho then held, at the Bos-
ton Bar,
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HAEGINGTON. 151
" Tell you what, Mr. Harrington," said the proud Tag-
mutton, " Danel Webster won't be nowhere when I come on
the scene of action. I'll make hun stand round. Fugitive
Slave Law's bound to go then, an' all the kidnappers '11 be
hung right up."
At that moment steps were heard, and Emiij appeared at
the door, colorii^ with the novelty of her situation, and fol-
lowed by a short, thick-set man, in a straw hat, with his head
bent fiideways.
"Why, Emilyl" exclaimed Harringtou, starting up. "And
with the Captain ! Miss Ames, Mr. Ronx. Captain Fisher
you know."
The superb beauty curtseyed low, with a sweeping rustle of
silks, and Eoux, fluttering at heart in the presence of the aris-
tocratic lady, bent himself as if he had a hinge in his back.
H-arrington handed Emily a chair, into which she sank, smiling
and nodding to the eachanted Tugmuttou, and Muriel came
floating out from the inner room with her natural urbane
curtsey.
" Why, Emily !" she exclaimed, shatting the door behind
her. " You too. Good mornii^. Captain Fisher.
"It's my doin's. Miss Eastman," said the Captain, in a
cheery voice, looking at Muriel with his head on one side, and
his hat on, as he shook bands with her. " Comiu' along, I
see Miss Ames iu the hack, and she s^d you was here ; so
I said, why not go too, and she took my eztinded ai-m, and
up we come together."
He held Muriel's hand as he made this explanation, and
dropping it when he had concluded, stood looking intently
at her, as though some reply was expected. He was a
short man, with a round face, yellow and rosy, hke a winter
pippin ; round, dark eyes, which never winked ; a short nose,
shaped like a beak ; and he had a way of bending his head
sideways, and looking at yon like some odd bird. There was
a general aspect of the sea-faring man about him, and he had
been for many years the skipper of coasting vessels, in which
occupation he had amassed some property. He now lived in
the same house with Harringtou, for whom he had a. great
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152 HAKKINGTON.
affection, and did a little basiness in collecting rents for a
number of house-owners.
"I just came up to let the folks here know," he continneii,
" that there's no sneakin' soul-drivei-s come to Boston this time!
I was told there was some of a crowd here, hut they're all
scattered now, and I met Brown, who said he'd been informed
'twas a false alarm. No danger, I hope. The VigUance Com-
mittee keep a sharp look-out ahead, and we're pretty soi-e to
know what's goin' on."
In those dark days, when Boston had g'one for kidnapping,
there was an organization, composed of the leading Abolition-
ists, with a few anti-slavery people, young and oM, who made
it their business to keep a watch for Southern man-hunters, to
warn fugitives of thek danger, to assist them in their flight
with money and arms, and in every practicable way to baffle
the kidnappers. This was known as the Vigilance Committee,
and its existence and efforts were among the few bright rays
which lit the dark insanity of Boston at that period. Captain
Pisher was a member of it, as was Harrington.
" I got here before you, Eldad," said Harrington, smiling.
" Charles came to the house with the rumor, and I ran down
town at once, and found there was no truth in it."
" Trnst you for bem' on hand, John," returned the Captain.
"You're spry as a topman. When Gabriel toots that horn of
his, you'll be the first one up out o' your grave."
The Captain wandered over to Eoux, and laying his hands
on the negro's shoulders looked at him steadily with his head
curved ddeways, then shook him gently to and fro, then got
round to one side of him and took another look, and then
punched him with his forefinger in the ribs.
" Eoux, how are you ?" he chirruped in conclusion, as tho
negro squirmed away from the fore-linger, good-naturedly
smiling.
"Firs'-rate, Captain," answered Eoux. "Got scared
though at that story."
The Captain stood oblivious of his answer, looking at Tug-
mutton who, swollen with pride, was exhibiting the baby to
EmUy. Roux became absorbed in admiring awe at Tugmut
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HAEEINGTON. 153
ton's coraplaeeDt famUiarity with Miss Ames. Tiigmntton was
in one of his lordliest moocls, prond of his exclusive iiristocratic
a«qiiaiDtaiice, and conscious that Roux and the two children,
who stood tmiidJy at a distance, were followmg him wltli reve-
rent eyes.
" It's a very pretty baby," said Emily graciously, turning to
Eonx, who hastened to smile and bow. " But, Mr. Eoux,
these three children do not resemble Charles at all."
" Different style of beauty," remarked Tugmutton, with pre-
ternatural gravity, rolling his great eyes up at Emily.
Emily Jaughed aloud at this oracular suggestion, and Har-
rington and Muriel looked at each other and smiled, while
the Captain fixedly surreyed the squab with mute admi-
ration.
" Ton know, dear," said Muriel to Emily, " or rather yoa
do not know, that Charles is only an adopted child of Mr. and
Mrs. Ronx."
"Oh!" returned Emily, suddenly enl^htened, "that ac-
counts for the different style of beauty."
" Yes, madam," said Kons elaborately bowing, " that
accounts for it."
Emily smiled at the simplicity of the reply,
" And how did it happen that he got the name of Tugmut-
ton, Mr. Roox ?" she inquired.
" Well, Madam," replied Eoux, quite seriously, " it was a
sort of accidental. When I firs' got to Boston, Tug's father
and mother treated me right handsome. I was ruther bad
off, an' they took me in till I got somethin' to do. They was
very fat folks, botli of 'em, an' Tug was an uncommon fat
baby. Somehow his father and mother never could fix on a
name for him, so he growe^ along without none, Bimeby
wlien he was three year oM, his father died, and bimeby when
he was five, his mother died likewise. I was married to Cla-
i-indy when that catastrophe happened, so feelin' right grateful
to Ezek'el and Sally Pitts— that waa Tug's father and mother's
name, madam — I took Tug in. That day we had a chunk of
baked mutton, wich you couldn't bite, madam, it was so tough,
an' after dinner we missed Tug all on a sudden. We got
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154
mther skeered at not fiiidin' him, en' weot lookiii' ronud the
streets, but coaWn't git no news of him. Long towai-d even-
in' we heei-d a stir under the bed, au' lookm' under, there he
was tag^n' awaj at that chunk of mutton, and there he'd Md
himself all the afternoon. I'm a miser'ble orphan, saja he,
the minute we sot eyes on him, aever leavin' off tug^n' at the
meat. You're a yonng Tugmutton, an' that's what you are,
says Clarindy. Then we larfed, and so after that we got to
callin' him Tugmutton, an' he took to that name astoniKhin'
That's the way of it, madam."
Muriel and Hairington, who had heard this story before,
listened to it now smOing, while Emily and the Captain, vastly
amused during its repetition, laughed heartily as Roux ended.
Tugmutton, meanwiiile, sitting iu the low chaii- with the baby,
grinned sheepishly at the revival of this reuuniseence of hia
" Are you — that is, did you — escape from the South,
Mr. Eoux ?" inqmred Emily, hesitatiuglv aftei a paasc
" Yes, madam, I did," replied Rous with anothti elaboiate
bow. "It wouldn't be well, madim, to h-'ie it menfioaed
roundabout, lest"— —
"0 never fear, Mr. Rous," she rejoined hunietUy 'I
wouldn't speak of it for the world "
"In fact, madam, I believe I never trld any one about it,"
continued Roux, falteringly, " with the especial except o i of
Mr. Harrington and Miss Eaatm<in But I did git away
from the southern country, way down m Louzeaaa, nine jears
ago. And I've got a brother stiU there, madam leastways if
he's alive, wich is not certain, seem' that he was with an
uncommon bad master, madam — m tact, one of the woubt soit
of masters, madam."
"Why didn't he ran away with you, Mi Eoux ^' luquiud
Emily.
" He was rather scared at the resks, madam," replied Roax
" Says I, Ant'ny — his name was Ant'nv, madam — Ant'nv,
says 1, Master Lafitte— Lafitte was old Master's name,
madam — Master Lafltte'O i>e the death of as, Ant'ny. We'd
better try to git away to that Boston we've Leerd tell of.
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HAEEINGTON. 155
Ant'ny, says I, I've got thi'te pounds of kiaii, Aiit'Dj,
says I "
" Of what V asked Emily.
" Of kian, madam — kiau pepper, you know."
" O, yes. Cayenne pepper."
" Yes, madam. Wick we can leave on tie tra^k, Aut'ny,
Bays I, and that'll throw off the hounds, I'm a thinkin'."
"The hounds !" ejaculated Emily, knitting her brow with
horror, and lookmg at the still fiice of Muriel and then at
Harrington.
" Certainly," said the latter, tranqnilly, " la this fivje aod
happy country, they hunt men and women with hounds.
When hounds fail, they try Fngitive Slave Law Commis-
isioners."
" And were you hunt«d, Mr. Eoux ?" asked Emily, shud-
dering.
" Yes, madam," replied the negro, naively. " Ant'ny was
afeared to try it, and then I thought I wouldn't nuther, for
he was my brother, and we'd been brought up together on old
Madam Ronz's estate iu JS^ew OrleaDa, aad I was very fond
of Ant'ny, madam. But next day, you see, madam, I was
feelin' ruther sick, and fell short in the pickin' — eotton-piekui',
you know. So when night come. Master Lafitte he flowed
me awful, aud then hung me up in the gin-house — hung me up
by the wrists, an' left me to hang overnight."
Roux, hearing Captain Fisher muttering, paused. The
Captain, with his head very much on' one side, was swearing
awfully in a low undertone at slavery and slaveholders in
general. He usually contented himself with such mild oaths
as " by the great horn spoon " — as people who leave off chew-
ing tobacco Bupply its place with spruce gnm. But os the
spruce-gnm chewers sometimes backslide into tobacco again, so
the Captain, when he got excited, which was seldom, would
backslide from his mild profanity into such swearing as
sailors, who swear with genius, know how to express the pas-
sion of their souls withal.
" Bimeby, madam," resumed Roux, still addressing Emily,
who sat looking at him with a flush of fiery indignation on her
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156
beantifnl countenance, " I sloshed abont, an' the rope broke
an' let me down. I jus' got out of that gin-house mighty
qmck, I tell you. Then I went down a piece to the hollow
stump, where I'd hid the kian au' a caiTin' kuife, which I'd
took one day from the kitchen. I got the kian an' the knife,
an' put off hot foot for the north. Jus' about sunrise, I heerd
Dan Belcher's hounds a-eomin' after me— two of 'em, yellin'
awful. I was proper sheered, madam, but I jos' made a hole
m the paper of kian, an' run on, holdin' the paper low down
on the trail, so's to let the kian drop out along, jou know.
Then when the kian was aJl goue, I got skeered, an' I run en a
piece, an' shinned np a live-oak 'way into the thick of the
leaves, an' lay still. 'Fore long, I see the hounds comin', an'
rian Belcher an' old Toler an' Master Lafltte ridin' after 'em.
I got so sheered I like to dropped, bnt I lay hush, an' right
soon I saw the dogS ran up, an' poke their noses into the
kian. Ki-yi-yah," cachinnated Eous, overcome with the remi-
niscence, " you ought to have seen them dogs, madam. They
jus- acted as if they'd got religion I They flopped down an'
rolled over, yelUn' like mad, an' mbbin' their noses iDto the
kian, an' rolha' agin, an' hollerin'— hi I Never saw noihia'
out of camp-meetin' act like them cre'turs. 'Pore bug up
come old Master an' Dan Belcher an' Toler, aa' looked at
them dogs. I couldn't hear a word they was sayin', but I
spekiiated they was wonderin' what had got into them dogs.
Then Dan Belcher, he got down, an' dragged off the hounds,
an' poked his nose into the kian. Ili ! I reckon he got a
smell, for he jumped up rubbm' his nose, an' stampin' round
Tngmntton, vrith the baby in his arms, burst into a screech
of eldritch langhter, kicking up his feet from the low chair in
which he sat, in phrenetic glee. AU the others were silent,
with faces intent on Rous.
" Bhneby," resumed the negro, " Dan Bebher he laid a hold
of the dogs, an' dragged them on a piece to find the trail with
no kian on it. Twasn't no use, for the dogs didn't do nothin'
but snuff an' yell an' roll over. So'n about a half an hour,
I reckon, they all went back, an' I lay hush in the tree all
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HAKBINGTON. 157
day. Along towards evenin' I got down, an' run on agin.
Bimeby I come plump on a man. ' Where's jour pass ?' Bays
he. ' Here it is/ says I, giyin' bim a di^ with tiie caryin'-
knife. ' Ugh,' says he "
' Everybody burst into a peal of laughter at the nonchalant,
matter-of-fact simphcity with which Rous said this. Roux
himself was rather amazed at the interrnption, and stood,
faintly smiling, with his whitewash-stained dai'k hand fumbling
over his mouth, and his eyes uneasily roying over the laaghiug
company.
" Well done, Roux," said Harrington, jumping up, and
slapping the negro on the shoulder. " ' Ense petit placidam
sub lihertate quietem,' " he continned, quoting the legend of
the Massachusetts State-arms. " And you sought the tran-
quil rest of freedom with a carving-knife."
" Yes, quiet«ra was the word, and you did qniet him,"
chuckled the Captain, punning npon the Latin. " Sic semper
tyrannis, is another bit of that hngo, an' I guess old tyrannis
was rather sick when he got a touch of Roux's carving-knife.
By the great horn-spoon, that's the richest thing I've heard
lately !"
" But what did the man do then, Mr. Ron.t ?" asked
Bmiiy.
,"TIgh, says he, madam, and then he doubled himself up,
an' I mn on," replied Roux, simply, " Bimeby I come to tlie
Red River, and I swum over. Then I mn on agin, till I come
to the Missisaip, an' hid in a wood-pile. Long toward
momin' a flat boat came up the river, and hitched. Then I
heerd the Captin say, says he, argufying with another man,
and gittin' mad with him, I'm Ohio, says he, and my men
are Ohio, an' we don't care a damn for slavery, says he.
Tother man went off, an' I ran out, an' says, Captin, says I,
I've ran for my freedom, an' won't you take me with you, I
says. Step right aboard, says he, an' I'm damned if I don't
wish I'd a load more like you, says he."
" Bravo," cried Muriel, clapping her hands. " Good for
Ohio I"
" Hooraw for Ohio !" piped Tugmutton, bonncing np, and
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lob HAEEIKOTON.
flonrishmg the baby. " Chick-iwieeHiee, Bmdder Baby, pretty
little hirdj," he added, with a sudden change of key, wagging
his bushy head and grinning blobber cheeks oyer the compla^
cent infant. " Send him i-ight down to Ohio, Kidnapper
come to fetch Brudder Baby, won't have no more chance than-
a bob-tail horse m fly-time when he gits to Ohio."
Alas 1 poor Tugmutton ! — the dark days could come even
to Ohio 1 Broad and strong and generous the hearts of Ohio,
mighty in noble impulse, mighty in love and bravery, mighty
in truth to liberty and tenderness to man. Bat the rampart
of Ohio hearts prevailed not in the black hour when Margaret
Garner, with the heU-dog statute and the hunters upon her,
sublimely slew her children to save from slavery the sonls Ohio
could not save.
" And so yon escaped, Mr. Roux," said Emily.
" Yes, madam," returned Konx, " the captain took me all the
way up to Cincinnati. Where are ye goin' now, William, says
he. Boston, says I. Men, says he, let's give him an Ohio
lift, Wich meant takin' up a collection, madam," explained
Eoux, bowing. " An' the collection was fifteen dollars and
thui^y-three cents, madam, together with a suit of the cap-
tain's clothes, an' some vittlee in a paper bag. Captain, says
I, my gratefulness will never faU. William, says he, just hold'
on to that carving-knife, an' don't let yourself be taken.
Captain, says I, if I ever git to heaven, I'll make the Lord
acquainted with all you've done for me. Wilham, says he,
don't you never acquamt anybody but the Lord with it, or
I'm a gone coon. An' now make tracks, says he. So I made
tracks, an' come on safe to Boston."
"Well, I declare !" exclaimed Emily, drawing a long
breath, and looking around her. " It makes my blood boil to
think that men are treated so in this country. And you never
heard from your brother, Mr. E«nx ?"
" Never, madam. But I don't think he's aUve, I'm afeared
that Master Lafltte would kill hun to be revenged on me, and
that makes me feel, sometimes, _ as if I'd murdered my own
brother."
He said this in low, ghostly tones, with a sudden agony and
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HAEEIHGTON, 159
horror conralsmg his dark face. It is impossible to describe
the shock of nwful emotion which his words gave to Emily.
There was a moment of solemn silence, in which Ron* stood
faintly gasping, with his swart visage ashen and distorted with
overmastering anguish, and she, gazing on him with, a blanched
countenance, feU as if her very soul would die with pitj.
" Couldn't he be bought ?" she timidly stammered, at length,
haJf feeling that she was proposing an absurdity. " That is —
I mean if he is — if he has not — died."
Kous despairingly shook his head.
" If I had the money, madam," he hoarsely faltered, " I'd
try to buy him. But that'll never be — never."
" I'll engage to furnish the money," said Emily, vehemently,
the generous color flooding her face like fire. "I will," she
added, stamping her foot as she sat. " If it costs me two
thonsand dollars, or twice two thousand, it shall be done."
A dead silence ensued, in whicli she gazect at their mute
feces. It was the brave New England scholar who did sweet
service to liberty when the guns of tyranny stormed on Eome
— ^It was Margaret Fnller who ouce gave away all her little
property, five hundred dollars, to a poor exile, a stranger to
her, whose distresses had touched her heart. Born of such an
Impulse, and kindred to that splendid generosity, was this act
of Emily's. ■• '■
" Why do you all look so ?" she continued. " I mean what
I say."
Harrington and Muriel, to whom she lifted her flashed face,
were standing near each other, Muriel's face still, solemn, and
turned toward the window, Harrington's noble countenance
rigid, and bent upon the floor. The Captain stood looking at
Emily with bis head bent on one side, and his features all
atwist. As for Roux, his black visage was wildly Ughted with
hope, joy, awe, and sta,rtled amazement, whUe Tuginutton sat
in the low chair, with the baby in his ai-ms, his mouth open,
his huge eyes staring, and the big shocks of wool on his head
seeming bigger than ever in his astonishment.
" It shall be done, I say," declared Emily. " HaiTiugtoii, I
depend on you to show me the way."
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ioO HAEEIHGTON.
Harrington looked blank — like one who did not know how
to answer her ; then furtively glanced at Roux, and then at
the floor.
"You are the soul of generosity, Miss Ames," he said, after
a pause, smihng consti'ainedly. " I should be happy to help
yon. "We wiU see what can be done."
Rons clasped his hands and bowed his head. In that instant,
Harrington flashed a lightning glance at Emily, so stern, so
menacing, so ^onized in its look of warning and entreaty, that
Emily was confonnded. The next second, Roux'a face was
raised, and Harrington's wore an expression of such bland indif-
ference, that Emily conid hardly belicfe she had seen the other.
" We will speak of this another time," said Harrington.
" At present, I think I must go. Shalt I see you to the car-
ri^e, ladies, or do you remain longer ?"
Ronx threw himself on his knees, and bending, grovelled at
Emily's feet. Then raising his black fa«e, convulsed, and
streaming with tears, he faltered out the broken words of his
gratitude.
"I'll pray for ye, forever and ever, Miss Ames," he said.
" I'll pray to the Lord for ye. Miss Ames. And the blessing
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, be on
ye, Miss Ames. I've had a good deal of kindness, but there*fe
never been no kmdness like yours, Miss Ames, an' 1 don't want
ye to give away ail that money, madam, for it's a mighty deal
of money, though it's for my brother. Miss Ames, and I'd ciean
give my life to see my poor brother, madam. And oh, if
Master Lafitt* wfll only sell him, if he's aUve, madam, I'll
pray for him too, and for everybody, forever and ever, amen,
an' for you more espeoial than anybody, for there never was
snch kindness as yoni-s to a poor, miser'ble, forsaken black man
—no, never, never."
Uncouth words ponrsd forth rapidly in a weak, broken
voice, with sobs and tears ; but words that blanched the gold
and roses of the fiice that bent with swimming eyes over the
bowed and weeping figure on the floor. In the cold, succeed-
ing sUence, there was no sound but the dim sobs of Roax.
The Captain stood with his features screwed into a hard rigor,
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HAKltlNGTON. 161
gazing at tlie abject foi-m beneath him. Harrington's face was
wan and rigid, and fixed on YacMcy. The two Kttle ones,
friglitened and almost crying, cZnng around the stupefied aud
stanng Tagmntton, wlio sat liolding the baby, with the big
wlutes of his eyes glai-ing at Ronx from the aehy pallor of his
fat visage.
" Mr. Ex)ux."
At the gentle, siirer tones of Mnriel, at the firm touch of
her hand on his shoulder, the negi-o hfted up his bovi^ed head
from his breast, aiid gazed witli a haggard, beseeching face,
all wet with tears, at the benignant countenance that bent
above him. Eor an instant only, and then rising to his feet,
ashamed of his emotion, yet unable to repress it wholly, the
poor fellow stood awkwardly wiping away his tears with his
rough sleeve, with his breast heaving, and the stertorous sobs
still breaking from him.
"It will all be well," said Muriel, gently. " Do not grieve
Mr. EoQs."
" Yes, Miss Eas'man, I wont ; indeed I wont grieve. But
sometimes I git desperate. Miss Bas'mau," he faltered. " 'Pears
sometimes as if everybody was against ns colored folks, Miss
Eas'man."
" Cheer up, Rous, we are all yoiu- friends here."
It was the strong, sweet baritone of Harrington that
sounded now. E,oux looked up, smiling mournlully, into the
masculine, calm features, which strangely comforted him.
" Yes, EoQS, clieor- up's the word. Tau't always goin' to
he slavery aud slaveholders m this free and happy country,
mind that, my man."
Thus the Captain, shaking a fore^finger at the negro, and
then cheerfully punching him in the ribs with it.
"An' if 1 catch any kidnappers ronnd this establishment,
Til heave a brick at him," screeched Tugmutton, m a rage,
glaring with rolliug eyes at everybody over the baby.
EmUy, who had risen, and stood wiping her eyes with a
cambric handkerchief, burst into laughter, in which Muriel
and Harrington joined. Tugmutton looked awfuUy ii'ate for
an instant, and then grinned sheepishly.
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Iba HAEEINQTON.
" Come, come," said Muriel, " we must be going,
the basket ? Oh, there it is on the floor. Mr. Rous," she
coatinued, stooping down to it, and unpacking, " I won't go in
again to your wife— by the way, I hope onr talk has not dis-
turbed her — but here arc some baby-clothes which I wore
myself when I was a baby— old thiugs which I found yester-
day, but they'll do for the little boy. And here's some nice
beef and a pie, which my mother had cooked expressly for
yonr dinner to-day. And here's mj copj of 'TJncle Tom's
Cabin,' which you told me you hadn't read. When you and
your wife are done with it, Tugmutton, as you call him, can
bring it up to the house, with the plates and napkins,"
The famous Uucle Tom had recently issued from the Boston
press, and begun its Ulustrious journey through Christendom,
Muriel handed the two yolumea to Roux, who took them
timidly, with a low bow, immensely gratified. The napklned
ineat and pie, she had already laid on the table, with the
package of baby-clothes.
"And that's all," said Muriel, arranging the remainii^
contents of the basket under the fond eyes of Haxiington.
" The other things are for our Irish cousins in North Russell
Street. Toa, John, shall carry tlie basket oat to the carriage.
Now let's go."
" Miss Eas'man," sdd Roux, " I'm so much obliged "
" Never mind, Mr. Roux," interrupted Muriel, smihng gaily,
" I see all that. Good bye."
She stooped to kiss the children, then with a curtsey,
gUded from the room. Roux, timidly nibbing his hands one
within another, bowed after her, almost serrlle in his reverence.
Tugmutton, severely dignified, and swelling Uke the frog that
tried to be an os, ivith the proud consciousness that some-
thing great had been done, and that it was all due to him,
stood in the centre of the floor, with the baby clasped against
his shoulder, and serenely waved his b^ paw in token of his
distinguished consideration. Emily smiled at him, and bow-
ing to Roux, swept with a rich rustle of silk after Muriel,
followed by Harrington with the basket. The Captain lin-
gered to bounce up Tom and Josey once apiece to the ceiling.
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and to poke Roux in the ribs witb an aEti^Iavery forefinger
and then, shading l,is trt at the grinning Tagmntton, departed
CHAPTER VIII.
THE SHADOW OF THE HUNTER.
_ MuBiEL iind Emily were sitting on the back seat of the car-
nage as the Captain came down Boux's steps, nodding as he
passed, and went down the street alone.
"Driver, North Russell street, and walk the horsee" said
Hamngtoii, leaping in on the front seat, beside Hie basket
The carnage immediateZy set off as dh-ected, and Han-ing-
ton, leaning forward, took Emily's gloved hands in his and
looked fervently into her beaatifal face. Emily did not turn
away this time, bat forgetting that she thoaght hira her lover
in her perception of an expression which recalled the look he
had flashed at her in the room a few moments before gazed
anxiously with a vague tremor into his countenance, in which
the winged nostiils were lifting.
" What is it, Harrington ?" she faltered; " I'm afraid I have
done something wrong, thoi^h "
" No, dear Emily," interrupted Harrington ; " nothing wrong
Only anfortunate. Ton spoke from impulse; but it would
have been better not to have said what you did before
Roux."
" I understand," she replied, hurriedly. " I have raised hopes
which may never be gratified. Heaven forgive me ! 0 how
thoughtless it was !"
Muriel put one arm around her, and looked into her face
with tender sympathy, '
"You will think me ostentatious," faltered Emily tears
wetting her long lashes; "but, Harrington, it is not m. The
poor man's distress touched me so keenly, that I could not
forbear saying what I did."
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164 irARKINGTON.
" No, Emii)'," warmly returned Harrington, " you mistake.
I do not think your offer was made in osteDta,tion. Don't
think me insensible to the splendid generosity that would ^tb
so large a sum to bring joy to the home of a poor, despised
negro, and he a stranger to you. It is not a common heart
that could enter into the depths of his sorrow, and so promptly
seek to relieve it. But, listen, Emily. Muriel and I have a
secret to tell you."
He released her hands to take a wallet from his breast-
pocket, from which he drew a letter.
" God knows," he resumed sadly, " it is at best a noble folly
to give away wealth, as you would do, to ransom one man
from that dismal pit of slavery when nearly four millions with
as strong a claim on our hearts must be left behind. And yet
these individual cases come to us so like special claims, that we
cannot deny them. See now— in this noble follj tiiere was
another heart before you. Tes, Emily, Muriel, too, was
touched to the ransom of Roux's brother."
" Muriel 1" exclaimed Emily.
"We said nothing to Roux," eontinned Harrington, "for
the result was doubtful. And we had to proceed with caution
lest this Lafitte should seek to capture hun. I wrote a letter,
which I had mailed from Philadelphia. Here is the fJend's
answer, received two months ago. Don't read it unless you
have strong nerves."
Emily eagerly snatched the letter from Harrington, and
looked at the envelope. It was postmarked from Mai'ksville,
Louidana, and directed to John Harrington, Esquire, care of
Joseph House, Esquire, Philadelpliia, Pennsylvania.
" Jo House is a young literary friend of mine — an editor,"
obaci-vcd Harrington. " I explained the matter to him, telling
the reason for secrecy, and got him to mail tiie letter for me,
and transmit the answer. And by the way," he continued,
" to give you an idea of the risk of dealing with such a man a^
Lafitte, let me tell you that since this letter was received,
Lafitte has been up to Philadelphia, and called on Jo for my
address, desu-ing, he said, to enter into negotiation witl^me
for the sale of Antony."
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HARRINGTON. 165
" Good Heavens I" exclaimed Emily, with sudden alarm, "I
hope your friend did not tell Lim where jou were."
Harrington laughed.
" Kot a bit of it," he replied. " What do you think Jo
told him ? He told him with the utmost gravity that I re-
sided in London. And when Lafitte looked mcredulous, the
jolly young Bohemian produced a London Directory he'hap-
pened to have, and showed bim my name among the Harring-
tons, offering to copy the addre^ for hun."
Emily lai^hed delightedly.
" That was a brilliaut fib, I declare," said she. " What
did Lafitte say ?"
" Jo wrote me that he looked as blank as a board, declined
the offer, and went away. I can imagine that Jo's perfect
soberness— for he's au awfully solemn-looking fellow— together
with the cu^mmstance of the London Dhectory being in his
pOBsession, convinced Lafitte of the truth of the statement,
and ril be bound he thinks Roux is on the other side of the
Atlantic with my namesake."
Harrbgton laughed, but Ma lau^h ended in a deep and
weary eigh. Emily took the letter from the envelope, opened
it, and began to read, while Muriel looked with sad tranquil-
lity out at the carriage windows. The letter, read slowly in
the swaying carriage, ran thus :
Faris/i, of Aveyellea, ZiMisiiraa.
John Hakhingtou, Esquire :
Ms- DEiH Sir : Your letter (appropriately dated the Ith of
March— a souvenir of i3eB.r Mr. Webster— bless him ! I caa't think of
that great speech without emotion— it waa so noble) came to hand. In
reply I beg to say that the dear Antony is alive and well, reiJ, rieari-
ously, a«nds hU love and this httle bunch of his woo! to his beiored
brother, whom you do not mention, but who Is undoubtedly under
Tour wing. So penetrated was the dear boy with a refluent sense of
hia brother's beaslly ingratitude in leaving me, lila affeotionate master,
tliat be was really unwilling to part with the wool, which I finally tore
with loving violcuce from ilia black pate, and send in his behalf to youc
charge for the wicked William. As for Antony, the dear boy loves mo
so much that no money oould persuade him to leave me, and for mv
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IDO HAERWGTON.
part, I am so fond of liim, that millions would not iiiciuce me to part
with him, Thua, my dear sir, you will perceive that Autony is not for
sale at any price.
I may add that dear Antony is a devout believer in the doctrine of
Ticarioua atoneraenc, and waa so overcome with a new ooDviction of
his lirotber'a wickedness in leaving me, that he insisted on being trussed
lip and receiving fifty lashes, which I administered with my own hand,
<)1' course with (ears in my eyes. I am sure that if the depraved Wil-
liam could have heard dear Antony's bowls, he would have been
Biricken to the heart with a sense of his own miworthiness, and of the
grandeur of this aioning love. To be frank with you, I am concerned
lest Antony should carry his vicarious notions to the eitent of demand-
ing to be crucified lor William's sins. In which case, I should feel
compelled to oblige him. It would be difficult to carry out this sublime
design; but, at a pinch, I could send anay my overseer, and ride with
Antony into the sivamp, where we could readily extemporize a Calvary.
Give my love to Mr. Joseph House, la/io does your Philadelphia mail-
iiiff, and believe me, dear si
Ali/li, IS
lately yours,
TORWOCD LiFlTTS.
Emily turned white as marble over this insolent and horri-
ble epistle, and, with her lips colorless, looked at Harrington,
who took the letter from her hand.
"Charles Sumner has been in the Senate for six months,
silent," remarked Harrington. " I have a mind to send him
this letter."
" Now, John," said Mnriel, smiling, " I won't tolerate any
reflections on my neighbor. ETcry time I pass his house in
Temple street, I think that he has not gone to Washington for
nothing. Wait a little, and jou shall hear the leap of the
live thunder. In the meantime, as the linight Durmdarte said
to the weeping queen Belerraa, 'patience, and shuffle the
cards.' "
" You are right, Muriel," returned Harrington, with a faiut
smile, " we talk of his silence now, but we shall yet talk of his
speech. Yes, the heart lives that shook Faneuil Hall for
liberty, and we must not be impatient. But sometimes I des-
pond, for it seems the destiny of our best men to lose power
and purpose when they get into Congress."
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KAEEISGTON. 167
"No matter," replied Mariel. " As King Pelliaore said to
Merlin, ' God may foredoo well destiny.' "
Harringtou bent Ms head abstractedly.
" But to return," said he. "You observe, Emily, that the
only result of my letter was to bring torture upon poor An-
tony. In the letter was a hunch of the poor fellow's hair,
which this moral idiot tore from his head. Yon see, too, he
flogged him in mere wantonness of cruelty. From all Roux
tells me of the character of this man, I fear that he will end
by killing Antony; and it is not too much to suppose, that
with the opportunities the slave system gives him, he may
even do it in the manner he suggests. Murders as dreadful
take pla«e on those obscure plantations, as escaped slaves tell
us. Just see the infernal nature of a system which gives
a fiend like this alMolute, irresponsible control over his
fellow creatures! Here is this pirate, with a pirate's name
and a pirate's disposition ; and the law of Louisiana, as of
every Southern State in the Union, entrusts to his care as
many men and women as he may choose to buy ; and while it
sauctions, by express statute, various degrees of cruelty toward
them, makes it impossible to hold him to account for the most
merciless torture and mnrder, by excluding the testimony of
slaves."
Emily listened, with a countenance deathly pale.
" I declare, Harrington," she said, "when 1 read that letter
I felt as if the earth had cracked and shown me a glimpse of
helL Is It possible that there can be each men as this ? Are
there many of them at the South V
Harrington did not reply for a moment, and sat sadly look-
ing into vacancy.
" It is not Southern nature," he said, at lei^th, " it is human
nature. It is human nature depraved hy a tymnny, and
licensed, practically licensed, even in its wildest excesses, by a
tyrant code. Read Shakspeare ; there you have in represen-
tative figures, the scientific account of man. Here is Shak-
speare's Chiron, Demetrins, lago, Cloten^a moral monster
with statutory power to hold slaves, and treat them at his
pleasure. But the blame is less with him than with the polity
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168
from wLich be sprang — which organizeil him and retred him
Bating fur then Iif&-IoDn educatioa m despotism S utlicrn men
are no worse thin Noi-thein men Put the code of Louionna
OTer Massacliuvetts, and you shall haye the selfsame lesQlts
Look it our Northnin manue — that blot on our democracy,
how does the despoti'im of it wmk on our captains even with
some soit of a le^al check npou them? Read the ciimmal
reports, or talk ■«ith seamen, and learn how Niithern cap-
tauis can maltreat the men nndei then fommmd I^^o—
human nature is no more muapable of degeneracy m Missa
chusetts than in Louisiana If [eople aie I ettei heie it la
because conditions are bpttei "
"Such men ai thiv Lafitte are more tj b pitied than
blamed," said Munel, gently. " I wish we wtie ^reat enough
to feei so."
There was a moment's silence, in which nathmgwis heard
but the slow rattle of the carriage-wheels over the pavmg-
stones.
" You see, Emily," said Harrington, sadly, breaking the
pause, " that your promise to Eonx cannot be fulfilled. It ia
now our painful problem how to destroy his new hope, without
givii^ him the anguish of an explanation. We are m a ¥ery
difficult position."
"Oh, if I had only known of this!" cried Emily, in bitter
distress. " As long as Roux expected nothing, he had only
his ordinary pain. But I hare lifted the poor man to this
height only to dash him into a pit of despair."
"Hush, dear Emily," said Muriel, tenderly. "Do not
reproach yourself. You could not have im^med that an
efibrt had been made to buy Roux's brother. So don't feel
badly about it. We will devise some means of escape out of
this dilemma. What I am most afraid of is, that Lafitte
may, after all, find out Harrington, and get on the track Of
" In which case," said Harrington, tranquilly, " it would be
a good idea to take him to Southac street and show him
Roux's house."
" Harrington I" exclaimed Emily, ijlmost shrilly.
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"Yes indeed it would," said Harrington, quietly. "But be-
fore I showed him the house, I would say two words to
Blkanah Erowu. I'll engage that he would hurry back to the
pirate civilization that spawned him, resolved never to set
foot in Boston again. The negroes here would sound a roar
in his ears that he would remember to his dying day."
"Good Heavens, Harrington," cried Emily, " they would
kill him !"
Han-ington's face was calm, bat his blue eyes gleamed, and
his broad nostrils lifted with passionate emotion.
" And if I were an American patriot, pure and simple," he
replied, " I would answer that it would be no matter if they
did, and that Banker Hill is near enough to keep tyrannicide
in countenance. You remember what one of our leading
Whiga said in coavention many years ago — in the time, when
to be a Whig was not to be a Webster Whig, with a fine
speech for kidnapping. ' Why, sir,' foamed a slaveholder, 'if
your doctrines obtain, our slaves would cut our throats for us.'
' And in God's name,' said our Whig friend, tossing the
words over his shoulder— 'in God's name, why shouldn't
they I"
"Oh, Harrington, Harrington," said Emily, shaking her
head, "is this you? 1 did not tJiink John Harrington had
the heart to hate any man— not even Lafitte— much less kill
hun, or see him killed."
" Nor has he," said Muriel, quickly.
" You are right," said Harrington, cabnly ; " at least so far
as the hating goes. It may be a defect in my organiBation,
but I have never known what it is to hate anybody. I
hope I never may. As for killing men, or seeing them
killed, that is another matter. I believe that I eonld do both
the one and the other without a pang. This Lafltte — a man
in whom there is not one trait worthy to be called human— I
could kill him or see bun killed without the least regret. It
is not his death bat his life that should be regretted."
"But, Hamngton," said Emily, "this is impossible. How
could you beat a man, much less kill him, without hatin"
him ?" °
8
Ho.led by Google
XiV HAEEINGTON.
'* Christ beat the money changers ia the temple : Was that
hate ?' answered HarringtoQ.
Emily smiled vaguely.
"Well," she continued, "that is ingenious — but not eoncln-
sive. Besides, to beat men is not to kill them. You could
hardly kill a man without hating him."
" Xenophon eaje Socrates shore down a soldier in the bat-
tle, and blessed him as he died : Was that hate ?" answered
Harrington.
Emily colored slightly, and looked up smiling into the
cahn countenance of the speaker.
" Death is not the worst fat« that may befall a man," con-
tinued Harrington. " If to kill a man were to end his life,
wc might well hold our hands. But the soul survives the
biow that slays the body."
" And to kill a man is only to shell him, Emily," said Muriel
with a, smile.
" Mercy !" exclauned Emily, laughing, " what a couple of
Eobespierres !"
"Seriously, now," said Harrington, "I think Muriel is
right. A killed man is a shelled man, and not a dead ma,n.
' Where shall we bury yon ?' asked the friends around the
dying Socrates. And the escapmg soul rephed, ' Wherever
yoQ please, if you can catch me.' But with regard to this
matter. K I believed in free will and moral responsibility, and
all the doctrines professedly accepted by the mass of my fel-
low-citizens, I should hold that, on the principle of justice,
we had a right to terminate the life of a man who was
wiUfnlly using it to the injury of his fellow-creatures. For
I agree with Lord Bacon that men without goodness of
nature are but a nobler kind of vermin. But, as I happen to
think that such men ai-e the necessary product of an unscien-
tific order of society, and that soLcty is rtf.pon-ible for them
and their misdeeds, I could onlv till them at the cry of a ter-
rible expediency, not to puiish them bnt sunply to arrest
their mischief. At the same time I g) with Shakespeare,
rather to ' prevent the flcnl than to kill the fiend I would
not kill a rattlesnake lyinj, harmltssJy in the sun simply
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HAEEINGTON. ITl
because he is a rattlesnake, and may bite tomorrow. But if he
coils to strike, I slay him, purely as a measure of safety, not in
hate, not forgetting that forces exteraal to him organized hiiu
for malice and venom. So, too, with the nohler vermin— the
human reptiles. I do not hate them ; I pity them. I do not
forget that tliey are a consequence, and not self-caused. Bnt
I cannot let them flesh their fangs in the innocent, when the
saving mercy of a death-blow can reeooe their blameless vic-
tuns to lives of human use and accomplishment. When sach
men as Lafitte come here to hunt the poor, I baffle and drive
them away if I can, and, as a last resort, I kill them. That
is not hate— it is love. It is stern love, but it is love. Wo to
the civilization that makes it necessary! Wo to the state that
suffers an injury to be done to the humblest man or woman, or
leaves his or her protection to the chance chaiitj of the private
citizen ! And treble wo to the government that gives despotic
power to rufBans, and arms and guards them in their crune
against mankind with the prestige and forms of civil law !"
Harrington ceased, and they all sat in silence with broodmg
faces.
" Well, I trust that this wretch may never trouble Boston,"
said Emily, at length, with a sigh.
" I trust not," replied Harrington. " He is shrewd and sub-
tle though, and I have, I own, an anxious foreboding that he
will come this way. I am sorry I wrote that letter. Ton
observed the underlined sentence in his reply, didn't you ? It
is curious that he should have so readily conjectured that the
letter was sent to Jo House to mail."
" Very curious," responded Emily,
" Here's North Russell street," said Harrington. " 111
leave you, and rush home, for I have my article to finish."
"Hai-rington — whisper," said Muriel, bending her face
toward him with a channing smile.
Harrington, who was jnst putting out his hand to unfasten
Die carriage door, leaned forward, while Emily turned away,
'I'he yoang man felt, with a delicious thrill, the balmy breath
of Muriel on his cheek, and her soft lips touch his ear, and the
hot blood flew to his face before she had spoken a word.
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-I'-s HASEINGTON.
"John," she whispered, "you write your article to mako
some money. Hush, now ! Let it go, and let me supply you
— jnst for once now, pray do. Dou't be proud and foolish,
but let me malce you a present, for I have plenty, and come'
with us and have a day of recreation, for you are pale with
work and study— now, John."
^ " Now, John," was said aloud with arch reproach, for Har-
rington had drawn back, flushed and laughing, with a gesture
of negation.
" Not a bit of it," he answered, gaily. " Did I ever ?"
" No, yon uever did, bad young man that you are," returned
Muriel, aloud, with a face of playful reproach. " But see
here, John "—she beut forward again to whisper, her face so
sweetly pleading that it was hard to resist giymg the besought
" I won't— that's fiat," said Harrington, laughing and
blushing, and pntOng out his baud to the hasp, for he felt that
Muriel's entreaty was getting dangerous.
" Very well," she said. " That's settled. But come up to
tea this evening— come up early, if you can, and we'll have a
fenciog lesson, and then, after tea, we'll go to the Convention,
trusting onr luck to hear Wendell Phillips. How will that do V'
" Capital," replied Harrington. " I'll come."
" And bring Wentworth with yon."
"Yes. Goodbye. Good bye, Emily."
EmUy turned and nodded, with her face scarlet at the men-
tion of Wentworth's name. She had been living iu broader
life for the last hour, and now her heart was painfully sinking
back to its private love and sorrow.
Without stopping the carriage, Harrington opened the door,
sprang ont, and walked for a moment between the wheels to
refis the hasp, then stepped back, touched his hat, and was
gone.
Muriel turned and watched from the oval window in the
back of the carriage his martial figure as it strode up the
street.
" There goes a chevalier," she said, gaily, as she turned
away.
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UAEEINGTON. 173
" Yes," replied Emily. ' ' First in war, first in peace "
" And first in the hearts of his countrywomen," concluded
Muriel.
They laughed menily, and the carriage went on.
CHAPTER IX.
Harhikgton liyed in Chambers street, not far from where
he had left thu carriage, and strode on over the pavement of
Cambridge street to his house, drawing in deep breaths of the
delicioas, cool, spring air, and thinking with a rapt heart of
Muriel.
It was a perfect day. The long thoroughfare sloping gently,
and narrowing away into distance, with its descending row of
irregulai', motley buildings of briek and wood, and its lines of
passengers, was fresh and salient in the morning sunlight.
Blown from the country, wafts of woodland odors, baJmy as
the breath of Muriel, floated softly to his sense. Flowing oat
of the west, the morning wmd, light 4s the lips of Muriel,
touched his cheeks, and the young man's heart and blood were
full of love and spring.
0, blessed magic of one little moment, which hal itpairtd
what hours and days undid ! Her breath had breathed upon
his sense, her lips had met his cheek, and therefore all thought
that she loved another, all evidence that hei aoal wa'i not
in secret, fii'm alliance with his own, had vanished m the flash
of rapture which filled his bemg. And more — the phintoms
which surrounded hun had vanished too. Born servant and
soldier of mankind, he was often made to feel how poweries.^
he was in the great social war of the many against the one ;
and at such times, to his spirit, as to that of many a lover of
men, came gloomy spectres from the world of complicated wo
aud wrong. From the grim-grotesque, sad, tui'bulent scene
of the morning street; from the low room of the fugitive's
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^'* BAKEINOTON.
hnmbleness and angaish, and ths fatile generosity of the patri-
cian girl; from the cloud on tlie horizon of his soul, where
giimmc-red the image of the comiug hunter; from the whole
dark consciousness of a social order leagued ogainst the poor
and weak, the mvading phatitoms had ponred like midnight
ghosts around him. But they were all gone, and agam there
was strength and morning in his soul. The spring day waa
sweet and beautiful ; perfume and victory coursed throngh his
veins ; the nohle face of his beloved bloomed in his heart ; her
wild-rose mouth had touched him like the envoy of a costly
kiss ; her fragrant breath had shot hia blood with ecstasy ;
and past and future melted into the rich passion of the present
hour, which had renewed his manhood and left him with the
pulse and thews of a Crusader.
Flushed and throbbing with the bliss of his thought of Mu-
riel, he reached his dwelling. It was an old, three-storied,
quaintly-faehioned brick house, with green blinds, windows and
window-panes smaller than those of modern date, and in the
centre, up three stone steps, a door with a brass knocker, and
a brass plate below it, on which was engraved the name E.
Z. Fisher. The house breathed in an air fragrant with likes,
whose clamped green and purple bloomed pleasantly over the
top of a close board fence, with a gate in it, which extended
from the left hand side of the tenement to the blind side-wall
of the adjoinmg dwelling, and inclosed a yard within which
abutted from the main building a wmg of two stories. In this
wing dwelt Harrington ; the rest of the house was occupied
by the Captain and his family.
He opened the gate and entered the yard, which was in fact
a small garden. A planked footway led from the gate to the
two wooden steps of the door in the wing, and a similar foot-
way crossed this, and crooked around the side of the abutment.
LUac bushes were planted against the fence and the blind
wall of the dwelling on the left, and there were shrubs and
flowers on either side of the door, and around the wall of the
wing. It was a pleasant spot, full of fragrance and retiracy.
^ Without pausmg, Harrington unlocked his door and entered
his study. It was a square room, cool and quiet, lit by two
o.led by Google
173
green-curtained front wiadows which looked on the garden,
and containing several hundred volumes on shelves, row above
row, on three sides of the apartment, lu the centre was a
table loaded with books and papers, and an arm-chair. Four
or five choice engravings hung in spaces between the book-
shelves, and on one side, on a pedestal, was a noble bnst of
Lord Bacon. A set of foils and masks hung across the man-
tel, and a huge pair of dumb-bells lay on the floor in a comer.
A carpet of green baize, an old sofa between the windows,
and a few chaii-s, completed the furniture of the room, whose
only other noticeable featnre was a slanting step-ladder oii
one side, leading np by a trap in the ceiling into Harrington's
bed-chamber. ,
Throwing himself into his arm-chau-, the young scholar took
from a drawer, and pressed to his lips, a little bnucii of with-
ered herbs, which Muriel had held in iier hand one evening
two or three weeks before, and given him at parting. Their
dry balsamic odor stole softly to his bram, freighted with the
thought of the white hand that gave them, and dosing liis
eyes, he abandoned himself to ecstatic dreams.
In a few minutes, a barrel-organ began to play outside his
gate. It was a peculiarly sweet instrnment — some people iu
the re^on of Beacon Hill may remember it as the one they
nsed to follow from street to street on balmy snmmer evenings
BO loth were they to part with its melody. Harrington was
fond of all barrel-organs that were at all melodious— the poor
man's opera, he used to call them, associating them with the
delight they gave to little children and the dwellers iu poor
houses, and always pleased to have them bring Italy into the
street, a^ some one has felicitously phrased it. The organist,
sure of his reward whenever his patron was at home, came often
to the house. On this occasion, Harrington hiui no sooner
beard the first notes, than he twisted up some change in paper,
and opening the door, tossed it over the gate. The instrument
stopped in the midst of the tune, and whUe the man was picking
up the largesse, Harrmgton opened his wiadows, and resumed
his chau- to enjoy the music.
A rich light gush of lilac fragrance which seemed to blend
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J- 10 HAKKINGTON.
With the brilliant melody of tte pola«ea the organ played,
poured in at the open windows, and melted into his mood.
He sat softly beating with his hand the dance of the tune,
with the debonair unage of Muriel floating in melody throu'^h
his faucy. She came again, expressed in a tenderer mood, as
the music chained to a strain of yearning and dreamfal sweet
ness, hke a poem of deep love. Then followed one of the
negro melodies of the day, a simple aud mournful air, with
notes of anguish, and still she was present in his mmd linked
with a shadowy remembrance of the wrongs and sorrows of
the race to whose low estate her heart stooped so often to
help and console. Soul in soul, he moved with her through the
rich aud melancholy maze of the suceeeditig music — a sombre
and sumptnons Italian romanaa, ci'owded with slow passion
and tumult, with notes that swelled and poured athwart the
central theme, like some dim innumerable host of love aud sor-
row gathering and forming, and dividing again in baffled and
harmonious disorder. Air upon air came after, and sinking
away, the listener lost for awhile their melody and meaning,
and only knew that they were sweet and sad ; tiii rising from
reverie be heard the last of a solemn aud tender strain like
some delicious psalm of death and life immortal.
It ceased ; there was a pause, and the world's hopes and
struggles surged in upon his kindled epkit, as the ofgan rolled
forth in golden sweetness the martial and mournful andante of
the Marsellaise. The French hymn of liberty, whose sombre
aud fiery tonal morning burst once on the bffth-throes of
Democracy, like the light of God upon the chaos of the globe !
He never heard it without emotion, and now it rushed into bis
soul, dilating and expanding into vast oi-chestral harmonies.
His eye gleamed and bright color lit his face as he listened to
the triumphal terror and glory of the thrilling strain. On and
on it swept in cadences of tears and fire ; down and down it
darkened in weird and burning melody, fraught with the pas-
sion of all human wrongs ; and rising into the pealing cry of
the battle-summons, and flowing into the proud, heroic tones
of mournful rapture which seem to exult for the dead who die
for man, it melted away.
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HAEEIHGTON. 177
Harrington sat, flushed and throbbing, in the fragrant
Rilence of the room. The organ had ceased and gone, aiid he
■was alotiu. Graduallj the tumult of hia spirit sank into golden
calm, and with the chaim of the music still lingering in hia
mind, he put the faded herbs into the drawer, and prepared to
begin Lis tasks.
His unlinlslied article was the first thing to be attended to,
and he got it out and set to work upon it. The articie, as
Muriel kad said, he was writmg for money, for Harrington's
means sometimes rau low. His mother dying six years before,
wheu he was nineteen, had left him her little property, includ-
ing this house. The house he rented to Captain Fisher, and
this rent, added to the interest of the money hia mother had
left him, gave him a yearly income of about sis hundred dollars.
An economical and selfish man might have got on well enough
on these receipts ; but Harrington, though eeonoaiical enough,
was anything but seiflsh, and between hia own expenses and
his pecttuiary ontlay for others, he sometimes found himself in
want of money. On these occasions he was wont to interrupt
his Studies to write for certain periodicals till he wrote himself
into funda again. What he wrote sold well, and his pen was
in demand ; but philosophy, Hegel said, has nothing to do
with dollars, and Harrington evidently thought scholarship
had not either, for when he had once filled the gap in his
finances, back he went to his studies, and the magazine editor
did not live who could tempt him from them into another
contribution.
For he was a scholar bom, and m this room he kept alive
the traditions which have made the name of Harrmgton dear
to scholarship and man. It is a shining name in literature
and history, and bears the recorded honors due to names linked
with the memory of human pleasure or the cause of hnman
service. There was one Harrington m the days of the Eighth
Henry — a polished poet, who surpassed the verse of his time.
There was another, his child, the darling of Queen Elizabeth,
a sprightly wit and poet, who sunned his muse m the bright-
ness of the *ight Britannic days, wroi^ht well for belle-lettres
and history, and gave bis country her first English version of
8*
o.led by Google
178 HAREINOTON.
the fim and fire of Ariosto. There was still another, the
Oxford scholar of a later age, of whom the chronicle records
that he was a prodigy in the common law, a persoa of excellent
parts, honest in deahng, aud of good and generous nature.
There was one more, loftier fer than these, whose mighty-
pulses beat for liberty and justice, the brave Utopian of Sid-
ney's time, who auned to hiy the deep foundations of the peirfect
and immortal state — James Harrington, the author of Oceana.
And among the rest, skilled or famed in law and science and
poetry, there was yet another, James Han'ington's trae
brother by a closer tie than that of blood-— the stout jurist
of Vermont, who spoke the decision of her Supreme Court
on the demand of a slave claimant, decreeing that his title
to a man was not good till he could show a bill of sale
from the Almighty God. That was Judge HaiTin_gton, and
by that decree he earned his right to a statue from mankind.
Whatever was best and gi-eatest in the works and days of
the ancestral Harringtons, seemed likely to be renewed and
excelled by the young scholar who bore their name. Prima-
rily, he was a Baconjst. There stood the bust of Bacon on
the pedestal in his library, and to him it was the treasure of
treasures. Wentworth used to say jestingly, that Harrington
was a heathen and worshipped an idol. For the idol, however,
Wentworth himself, with Muriel, was responsible. Harring-
ton had been sadly disappointed in not being able to find any
bust of Verulam at the statuary's ; so Wentworth and Muriel
had collected the various portraits of the great Chancellor,
moulded from them a bust in clay, somewhat larger than life,
cast it in plaster, and one day Harrington, enterii^ his study,
was astonished and enraptured at finding the bust there on its
pedestal. It was a magnificent success, and well embodied
the noble sagacity, the tender and gentle sweetness, the regal
compassion and calm, massive intellectuality, wliich appear in
Bacon's enormous brow and face of princely majesty, as the
painters of his tune have pictured him.
Harrington now loved Bacon with tenfold ardor, and Har-
rington's love for Bacon was something wondemd. It was
absolutely a personal attachment, and there was no surer
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HAEEDIGTOir. 179
way to ron e h m th'.n to i eal 1 j a n ]j i^ rclam
He put 1 m il T 11 auth i ne He poke ot liiai as
the flower of tl e baman nee He re enU i an nil "tat on
on his fame scoute i at the n ode u a i era on apou h n of
Lord Caniihell Ma aulay a d otlers, a. 1 iselKS anl nfam
ous slanders an I altered Pope epigrammatu, line, which he
thonght the seed-cone of the whole modern libel, to read " the
wisest, brightest, mllest of mankind." With a standing
promise to iiis friends to put the evidence together some day
in demonstrable form, having already, he said, begun to make
Botoe to tliat end, he meanwbUe rested in the broad assertion
thatBafion's downfall was the work of the conservatism of
hia time— that the conservators of social abases had smelt out
his concealed democracy and socialism, trumped up the chai^
of malfeasance in oflce against him, ruined and defamed him
in^his life and flnng the mire of a tradidouary calamny on his
tomb. It was another of Harrington's heresies that Bacon
m the seventeenth century aimed to do for the world what Fou-
rier aimed to do in the nineteenth. This, he insisted, was the
key to his works and life— this the torch by which they were to
be read and interpreted. It was evident that Harrh^on had
a very pretty affair on his Lands, Bhoold he ever venture to
pnbHsh an idea so heretical. The sin of connecting the worJd-
honored Verulam with the man whom modern society has en-
dowed, 03 Muriel said, with hoofs and horns and a harpoon
tail, and of asserting that either or both had m:,ant to bring
the kingdom of God upon the earth, would be only less than
the effort of both or either to so interfere with our highly re-
spectable institutions.
However this may be, Harrington's heart was anchored on
the idea, and with this faith m him, he studied his Bacon, to-
gether with Montaigne and Shakspeare, who, he thought, or
seemed to think— for on this point he was mysteriously non-
committal-were in the interest of the Baconian design. Pos-
sibly, he migJit yet come to different conclusions, for he was
young; and, like Sterne's Pilgrim, had just begun his journey,
and had mncli to learn.
Meanwhile he pursued his studies, though with the fnll con-
Ho.led by Google
180 HiERINGTOH.
ciousnese that there was no accredited career open to him. To
a man who held unpopular convictions as he did; no more a
Christian of the modern sort than Ciirist was; no more a pa-
triot of the modern sort than Sidney was* lio more a believer
in the modern order of society than Bacon and Fourier were ;
despising the GoTemment as an engine of force and fraud;
refosing assent to the Constitution, and allegiance to the Union,
because in his view they legalized and fortified the crime and
ruin of Slavery — to such a man the ehnrch, the bar, the bench,the
senate, the official stationof any kind were all closed. Bat Har-
rington had a solemn instinct at his heart, that the time was com-
ing when his country would rise against slavery and social wrong
ajid call upon her outlawed sons for their best service.
Against that day he prepared himself to do his part, what-
ever it might prove to be. In his conception of it, the utter
annihilation of slavery was first in the programme. This in-
volved the possibility of civil war. It might come between
the dark mUlions of the South and the Government. It
might come between the Government's pro-slavery liegemen
and the freemen of the Worth. In either case, Harrington
was pledged t« serve liberty, and that his service might be effi-
cient, he had begun the study of military science, and had the best
text books, such as those of Mahan, Kinsley, Thiroux and
Knowlton, together with the chief standard works relatmg to
warfare, from the Commentaries of Ccesar to the volumes of
Dnrat^Lasalle To this end also went his vai'ied practice with
Bagasse in the school of aims, with riBe practice elsewhere.
Hoping, too, that the period of social reconstruction would come
in his own time or follow hard open it, he was preparing to add
his thought to bring it on, or shape his thought to guide it
when it should come, and to this end wei* his scholas-
tic labors. His shelves might have hinted as much. There
were the works of the masters of law and government, and
of those who have studied and schemed for society, Plato,
Aristotle, Pythagoras, Cicero, Justinian, Grotius, Burla-
maqui, Vattel, Puffendorff, Heneicias, Milton, Sidney, Har-
rington, Pothier, Montaigne, Machiaveili, Bacon, Montesquieu,
^entham, Burke, St. Simon, Fouiier, Compte — legists, jurists.
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HARRINGTON. 181
fa, worts of practice and theory, statements of cod es,
and books that are the seed of codes. With them works of ex-
act science in all its branches, and works of history, biography,
poetry, traTel and fiction, classic and modern — for it was Har-
rii^on's design to grasp the thought and life of all the ages.
So toiled he. No dilettante litterateur ; no stndent forget-
ful of hfe time and kind, or gaining lore to fortify or gild
oppression ; — but kinsman to the golden blood of the gallant
scholars to whose graves the heart brings its laurels and
its tears. No scholar, either of the modern sort, which
stores the brain and saps the arm — but of the large Eliza^
bethan type, training his body in every manly exercise,
training his mind in equal skill and power. Such was the
budding promise of Harrington.
CIIAPTEK X.
CONVERSATION.
I(f the young man's kindled mood, composition was easy,
and by two o'clock his article was done.
He was leaning back in his chair, enjoying the consciousness
of eighty dollars earned, when the door opened, and in came
the Captain, with his head very much on one side, and an
ominous gravity on his quaint features. He did not remove
his straw-hat, but stood surveying Harrington with a critical
eye, like a marine raven. A slow smile twinkled around the
yonng man's bearded mouth, for he instantly divined what the
Captain had come for.
" Well, Eldad," he said, " it's the rent, I know. I see rent
written in every lineament of yonr ingenuous countenance.
Come, sit down."
The Captain slowly lifted his clenched flst and shook it at
Harrington, then lounged about, seated himself on the sofa
under the windows, and cocked up his eye at the trap in the
ceiling.
o.led by Google
loa HAEEINGTON,
" Could I smote, John ?" he asket!, suddenly dropping Lis
glance at tlie young man.
" Certainly. Light up, and smoke away,"
Keeping his head on one side, and hjp round, bright eyes
intent on the smiling Harrington, the Captain produced a short
pipe and a match from the hollow of his left hand, and patting
the pipe in one corner of his month, lit the match on hia
sleeve, and igniting the tobacco, began to blow a cloud.
" And why didn't you come to dinner ?" he blandly de-
manded, opening the war.
" Dinner ! I declare I never thought of it till this
minute," exclaimed Harrington, coloring a little.
" It was a brile ^o-day, John," pursued tlie Captain, contem-
platively, smoking. " Briied steak, potatoes, spinach, with a
top off of bread puddin' and coffee," he continued, pensively
enumerating the components of the meal. " Together with
bread and butter, and apple-sarce. Joel James eat till he
thought his jacket was buttoned. Hannah says, ' I wonder
where John is V Sophrony answers, ' he's in his room, for I
see him go in at eleven o'clock.' ' Better call him,' says John
H, ' Better not,' says I, ' or you'll scatter some of his ideea.'
So we didn't,"
Harrington listened attentively to this accoont of the family
colloquy on his absence from the dinner-table. Joel James
was the Captain's son, a sturdy schoolboy of ten, Sophronia
was his daughter, a girl of fifteen. John H. was the
youngest son, named after Harrington. Hannah was the
Captain's wife.
"John," said the Captain, changing the subject, "two
hundred and fifty's not enough. I'm gom' to raise it to three
hundred."
"Good!" exclaimed Harrington, with a jovial air. "I
knew it was the rent 1 Eldad, this rent is om- standing
grievance. Well, I'm going to lower it to two hundred."
" In which event, I'm going to move, bag and baggage,"
retorted the Captain.
Harrington laughed aloud, and sat smiling at the Captain,
whose quaint features were screwed into a grin, and momently
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1! AIIKINGTUS. 133
lit ia little flashes of reil from the bowl of tlie pipe near his
cheek,
" Eldad," replied Harrington, " if I had my way, you
should have the house rent free."
" Which I wuut," said the Captjiiu,
" Of coui-se you won't," contiaued Ilanington ; " but,
Eldad, you were laotlier'e mainstay, and have been like a
father to me since she died, aud it gi'ates on my feelings to
have you paying me money. Well, no matter. Let it go.
But I'll be even with you one of these days."
"Well," returned the Gaptam, "it's settled then ?"
" Tes, I suppose so."
" Three hundred, yoa say,"
" 0 no, Eldad. Two fifty.
" Three hundred."
" Two fifty."
" Three hundred dollars."
" Two hundred and fifty dollars, Eldad. t^^ot another
stiver. I'm resolved now."
The Captain sighed, and smoked pensively.
" I lost a enstomer to-day, John," he remai-ked, after a long
pause.
" Indeed 1 Which induced you to increase your expenses,
by raising the rent," bantered Harrington.
" Collected for him these six years back," continued the
Captain, pensively, " Lem Atkins, you know."
" Lemuel Atkins !" exclaimed Harrington, leanii^ forward.
" Why that's Mrs. Eastman's brother."
" Certain, Cotton merchant on Long Wharf, and a bla«k
sheep he is too. Webster Whig — pro-slavery up to the hub —
reg'lar aristoei'at every way. He was one of the Fifteen
Hundred Scoundrels, as Phillips called 'em. Euther guess all
the bad that ever was in his sister and niece was drawn off
before they were born, and bottled up in him."
" And how came you to lose him ?" mterrogated Han-iag-
ton,
" Well, I'll tell you," rephed the Captain. " You see, I've
collected the rents of eight of his houses for six years back —
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18i
EAKBINGTOH.
some of 'ffln went rather aginst my grain, too. Poor honses,
scacelj fit for htmiau bein's to live in, two or three of 'em, ajid
aecli as no decent man would own or let out to anybody.
Howiver. He gare me the memorandums of three more about
a week ago. Mighty big renta Atkins gits for these dwellin's,
thiaka I to myself, as I entered them on my book. Spoon o'
horn ! I niyer guessed it till I went down there yesterday, an'
found out what sort of houses them are for which Atkins gits
bis big rents."
"That's fine in Atkins," remarked Harrington. "Always
talking about the duty of citizens to obey the laws, right or
wrong, and here he vioJates the statute i^ainst letting houses
for such purposes. But perhaps he didu't know who his tenants
were,"
" He know ? Ijord ! he knew fast enongh," replied the
Captain, " Laws ? All the laws he obeys are the laws that
go for his money. There's lots Uke him. They go for every
money law, from the Fugitive Slave Law upward, for I ruther
gness there ain't no downward fi-om the Fugitive Slave Law.
Why, there's a Massachusetts law aginst over usury. "Who
don't keep it? Who lets out money for ten per cent.,
twenty per cent., any per cent, they can git ? Them very sort
o' men that's always blatherin' about obedience to the laws,
right or wrong. Ony when a man's fibaty's consarned, and
the law goes for takin' it away from hmi, tLen they're awfully
law-abidin' citizens. By the great honi spoon ! I'd just like to
have the stringin' np of them law-abiders with a copy of the
Revised Statutes round their necks !"
Harrii^ton leaned back in his chair, with his bauds clasped,
and his brow knitted.
, " Well, as I was sayin'," resumed the Captain, " I went into
one of them houses. ' Young women,' says I, leavin', ' you'd
better repent, for the kingdom of heaven's at hand.' I tell you
I was mad when I found a similar state o' things in the tother
two, and I just bounced out, and went right down to Lem
Atkins. 'Mr. Atkins,' says I, 'yon'd better employ your
former agent for them houses.' ' What's the matter, Fisher,'
says he. ' Matter is,' says I, ' that I gaess you don't know
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HAEEIKGTOH. 185
what sort o' callra"s followed in them tenementa.' ' It's not
my business, Mr. Pislier,' says he, ' to busy, myself with the
■ occupation of my tenants. How dare yoa speai to mc in that
manner.' I looked hun right in the eye. He swelled up like
a tni'key-cock, but he didn't look at me a second. 'Mr.
Atkins,' says I, ' no offince, bat as I've got sons and a daughter,
the occupation of your tenants is a consam o' mine, and yon
mnst get another man to collect them rents, for I wunt do it,
an' I pity the man that wiU.' He turned off to his desk.
' Mr. Fisher,' says he, ' yon wunt do any more coUoctin' for me,
BO jast send np your acconnts, and we'll be quits.' ' Very well,'
says I, and I left with bis eollectin' off my hands for good."
" Bravo, Eldad I That was done like a man !" cried Har-
rington.
" If it wasn't for bringiu' disgrace on his sister and that
splendid daughter of hers," said the Captain, rising, with his
pipe in his eienclied liand, " I'd just let the thing be known
around town, I would. Say, John, she's a beauty, though,
ain't she ? John, she's the ony lady I know that's good enough
for you."
Harrington colored deeply, in spite of himself.
"Well, the other one's splendid, too," said the Oaptam, as if
in answer to a private thought of the young' man, scrutinizmg
his countenance meaawhile, with his own head aU awry.
" Tes, she's a regular clipper, I never was so took aback by
any human action as by that offer to buy Ruus's brother.
That was ginerosity such as we read of — ony it's a pity she
didn't know the harm she was doin', Tes, she's a glory, and
that's a fact. Still, I wish it was tother one."
" Why, Eidad," said Harrington, laughing and fiery red,
" you're all at sea. Surely you don't think I'm in lore with
Miss Ames ?"
The Captain looked hard at him,
" Well, so I've ben told, John," he replied.
Harrington puckered up his mouth in wonder,
"Bless me, how people will talk !" he exclaimed, " Why
there's not a word of truth in it. Of cout'se I like Emily very
much "
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^°'> HABKIKGTOS.
" And she yon," interposed the Captabi.
" And she m^ f I declare! I shall hear next that she is in
love with me, I enpyose !" exclaimed Harrington.
"Well, so IVe ben told," coolly responded the Captain ;
" dead in love with you."
Harrmgton stared at him, but the color ebbed away from
his conntenanee, and a flood of dreadful confirmations over-
swept him. Her recent sudden preference for his society, her
lavish attentions to him, the fervent and sumptuous fondness
of her manner, rushed in new light npon his consciousness.
Purblind fool that I am, he thought ; I mistook it all for
friendship, and it meant love ! For a moment, poor Harring-
ton felt as goilty ag though he had known and enconraged
Emily's passion for lum. But no, he thought, this is all a mis-
take ; it cannot be.
"Eldad,"8aJd he, "this is rather a serious matter; more
serious than you may imagine. Come, now, be frank with me.
You say you've been told Miss Ames is in love with me. Kow
who told you 1"
The Captain, with his head all atwist, scanned him curiously,
slowly rubbing his chin, meanwhile, with the palm of his brown
hand.
" Well, John," he answered, slowly, " I was asked not to
mention it, Howiver, I guess I will. That young Witherlee
told me."
" Oh 1" said Harrington.
" Yis, John," continued the Captiun. " I come in here one
day about a week ^o, I guess, an' found him sittin' in your
chair, smokin' his cigar. He said he was waitin' for you, an'
we had a chat. In the course of the conversation, he let that
out. I ruther thought he was tryin' to pump somethin' out of
me on that subject, but I didn't know nothiu', an' if I did, he
wouldn't have been the wiser, I guess."
" What did he say ?" asked Harrington.
" Well, not ovennueh," replied the Captain. " Seemed to
know all about it, howiver. Talked as if he was in your con-
fidence. Asked when you were goin' to be married. Well,
now, he didn't exactly say it, yon know, but he somehow gave
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HAKKINGTON. 187
rae to undei-stand that yoa were in love with Miss Ames, an'
shelitemw with yon; an' thonght her family wouldn't make
, no ohjections That was aboat all."
Hamngton, with a look of pain, reddened while the Captain
was speakmg, and his nostrils quivered.
" I iXQ shocked and grieved that Witherlee should talk in
this way," he baid, sadly. " I shall certainly call him to ac-
count for this."
"John, you mnsn't mention it," said the Captain, anxiously.
" He said he thought I knew all about it, or he wouldn't have
alluded to it, and he made me promise not to speak of it. It
won't do, John. Fact is, I oughtn't to have said a word."
Harrington leaned his elbows on the table, and for a moment
buried his face in his hands. He had a clear glimpse into the
method of the good Peruando.
" Very well, Eldad," he said, calmly, leaning hatk in his
chair. " Let it go, I won't speak of it. But I assure you
there's not a word of trath in this statement, so far as
I'm concerned, and I hope there is not in regai-d to Miss
Ames 1"
The Captain did not answer, but lounged away, and during
the long silence that followed, walked up and down with a
ruminating air. At length he stopped and fronted the young
man, who was absorbed in musing,
"John," said he, "to-day's the day, you know."
Harrii^ton, knowing what he meant, bent his head, looking
with half-absent sadness into vacancy.
"Twelve years ago to-day, John, the good ship Conto-
cook went down," continued the Captain, in a hushed voice,
with a half-soliloquizing air. " All the women an' children
saved. That was a comfort, John."
Harrington again bowed his head silently. Every year, on
the twenty-flfth of May, he was accustomed to hear the Cap-
tain speak of this.
"And all the men saved, John," continued the Captain.
" That was another comfoi-t. All but one, John."
The Captain paused, solemnly, and took off his hat,
" As good a seaman as ever trod the deck," he resumed.
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188
"As fine a man as ever breathed the breath of life. Captain
John Harrii^ton, aged fortj-two. Blessed are thu dead who
die in the Lord I"
There was a long silence.
"And he died in the Lord, John, continued the Captain."
I don't know as he ever got rehgion. Bat he died m the
Lord."
'llie Captain pansed once more, muttering the last words
below his breath.
" Yes, John," he continued, " that's the way Le died. I've
been thinkin' of it all day. It's been comiu' to me how that
rollin' iceberg tnmbled through the thick fog, in the dead of
night, and struck the ship, and stove in her bows. ' Back
from the boats,' he shouts, catchin' np tlie hand-spike. 'The
first man that touches a boat I'll brain. "Womea and children
first, men.'- ' That's the talk,' smgB out some of the sailors,
an' them that was goin' to take the boats fell away. ' Mow,
then, the women and children,' says he. Over the side they
went, one by one ; he standia' by with the handspike. ' Now
the other passen^rs,' says he. Over they went too. ' Now,
men,' he says, ' there's room in that boat for some of ye, and
the rest of ns '11 go into the other. Over they went, likewise,
till only he and the black cook was left. ' ITie boat's full
captain,' says John Timbs, the. first mate, 'but I guess
she'll hold another.' 'Jump in doctor,' says Captain Har-
rii^ton to the darkej. 'No,' they hollered, 'white men
before niggera, captain, and we'll have you.' TU stay,
captain,' blubbers cook, ' So you won't,' saya he. ' Men,'
he says, 'it's a favor I ask. Don't deny me, or yon'li never
know pea«e. In with you, doctor,' an' he slung the cook over
the side. 'Try now, captain,' says they, all beseechin'
tf^ether. An' he let hunself down by the rope till he stood
in the boat, an' the sea begun to come over the gunnels. He
was up into the ship again in a minute. ' It's no nse, men,'
says he, ' push off. Timbs,' says he, ' give my love to my wife
and boy, if I never see 'em again. God blesa jt, men.' And
then tiie sliip lurched for'ard, an' they pushed off, crym' like
babes. Last thing they saw through the fog was the captain
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HAHRINOTON. 189
flitigia' a Jiatcli overboard, and jumpin' after it. But that sea
was too cold for a man to be in long. Then when they lost
sight of him, they heard the wallow, an' saw the lazy swells
lift up round the boat, an' knew tliat the ship had gone
The Captain paused, wiping away with liis sleeve the ealt
tears which the simple epic of a brave man's death brought to
his eyes.
" That was the story, and them was the kst worda Timhs
brought home to your mother, John," he continued. " An'
that's the way he died. Women and children saved. That's
a comfort. ' An' all the, men saved, includin' the poor old
moke of a doctor. That's another comfort. But he died.
An', somehow, I kinder feel that's a comfort too, John. For
he died in the Lord."
The light lay softly on the pale and kindled features of
Harrington, and the ffagrance of the garden floated through
his brain Hke incense.
" It was a manly way to leave the world," he said. " Life
is sweet to me with the memory of such a father."
"You think of him often, John," murmured the Captain,
"Often, Eldad, often. Never as one dead. Always as one
alive and well."
The Captain moved his head up and down, two or three
times, in token of assent, aud moved away to the door,
" Well, good bye, John," he said, suddenly.
" Good bye, Eldad," returned the young man, rising and
following him to the door.
The Captain departed, and Harrington, closing the door
after him, folded his arms, and began to pace to and fto in
deep musing. The sweet and solemn feeling which the anni-
versary of his father's death brought him, gradually melted
away in feelings of sadness and pain, as the tortm'ing thought
came into his mind, that in his free and frank friendship for
Emily he miglit have woe her to love him. The more he
reflected upon it, the more terrible grew the confirmations.
His conviction of a fortnight before, that she and Wentworth
were lovers — how could lie have been so deceived 1
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190
The spell of the magie moment that had filled his soul
with morning, was disenchanted now, and darkness gathered
npon him. Darkness that was not without light, for lie again
believed that Wentworth and Muriel loved each other, and he
felt a sorrowful and generous gladness in their happiness. His
heart yearned to Wentworth — ^yearned to make him rejoice
with the assurance that he was not his rival — yearned to them
both in love and blessing.
He paused in his walk, as through his joy for them strnck
the sharp pain of the consciousness that the costly treasure of
her love was not for him.
" Heart of my heait, soul of my soul," he murmured fer-
vently, "I love you, though I lose you. All that is divine
and hnmaii is dearer and lovelier to me because I love yon,
though yon are lost to me. Lost, lost to me forever."
His head sunk upon his breast, and his eyes closed. The
lilac fragrance floated in and reeled in a warm gust upon his
throbbing brain. Some sileiit spirit seemed near him in the
sunlit room, and strange comfort stole upon him like the bliss
of a dream.
" Farewell, Muriel," he murmured, his blue eyes unclosing,
dimmed with a mist of tears, " farewell, farewell. It is one
hope the less, and life caHs me still."
He sunk into hia chair, and striving to banish her image
from his mind, began to think how he should deal with Emily.
In a little while he resolved that, however difficult and delicate
to do, he must frankly tell her of what he had heard, and let
her know his true relation to her.
His conciusion made, he still sat musing, his spirit clouded
with sadness and ansiety. Suddenly he heard the gate fly
open and slam to, and a firm tread rush over the planked
walk, then the door opening, in darted Wentworth, flushed,
electric, panting, furious with rage.
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HARRINGTON.
CIIArTER XI.
The family of the Mr. Lemuel Atkias, of whom the Captein
had spoken, belonged to what is called Good Society ; but let
no one suppose that they conatitnted a spccunen of the Boston
aristocracy, with if^ men, too often, indeed, cold and careless
ill the interests of mankind, yet always polished gentlemen in
instinct and education, and with its women, cultured and
noble, patrician from brow to foot, and many, very many of
them, angels of compassion and succor to the weak and poor.
The Atkinses were only of a large and dominant moneyed class,
vulgar mnshrooms — no, toadstools — who spring up thickly
in the aristocratic quarter and call themsely^ Good Society.
These fine people were expecting a gnest to dinner that after-
noon, who would have been a skeleton at any possible banqnet
of Harrington's, could he have known that such a guest was
in town. Mr. Atkins's usual dinner hour was two o'clock,
but on this occasion it had been postponed to fonr, while the
merchant was showing the guest a few of the lions.
It was within an hour of the dinner-time, and the servants
in the kitchen were sweltering over the preparation of the
meal in the hottest possible hurry, and the greatest possible
trepidation, lest anything should be overdone or underdone, or in
any way done wrong. For they had been duly impressed
with the magnitude of the occasion, and they were trembling
lest the magnitude of tie occasion should be disgraced by
their humble efforts.
Meanwhile Good Society was filled with soft tremors in
the drawing-room above. He had not come yet, but he was
coming. Anxious eyes glanced occasionally out at the front
windows on Mount Vernon street, to see if he was approach-
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3itS^ HARRINGTON.
in^. Eager ears liste\ied momentJy for tie slightest intimation
of a pull at tlie bel'.-wire. Palpitating hearts leaped at every
footfall ia the highly respecta,ble street, and Good Society was
in a steady flutter of delieions expectation.
Good Society, then and there represented by Mrs. Atkins,
Miss Atkins, Miss Julia Atkins, Mr. Thomas Atkins, and
Mr. Horatio Atkins ; and elsewhere represented by the highly
respectable father of this highly respectable family, Mr. Lcmnel
Atkins, was not so honored every da^ in the week — by no
means. Distinguished gentlemen had come there to dine with
us ; Count Blomanosoff, when he was in Boston, had come
there to dine with us ; Lord Hawbury and Lord Charles
Chawles, when they were in Boston, had come there to dine
with us ; and eminent clergymen, and able lawyers, and dis-
tinguished senators, and even a Massachusetts GoTemor, had
come there to dine with m. But a rich Southern gentle-
man— oh I A child of the sunny South — ah ! A gallant and
chivalrons son of Louisiana, who owns an immense plantation,
and nobody knows how many of his fellow creatures — de-
cidedly, it is the next thing to having Mr. Webster to dine
with us.
The drawmg-room in which the so highly honored family
were assembled in eager expectation, was a large oblong
square, papered with purple and gold-spotted paper, and full of
gaudy furniture. There were two chandeliers hanging from
the eeOing, all gilt and glitter ; gilt sconces, with cut glass
globes, on the walla ; a profusion of gold-framed pictures and
engravings ; lai^e mirrors over the mantels and between the
windows ; red velvet, and blue velvet, and green velvet arm-
chairs and sofas, all around ; a huge piano ; vases ; ormolu
tables ; tables of sienna marble ; statuettes on brackets ; a
bnat of Mr. Webster on a pedestal; divers ornaments in
all directions ; a vivid, hnge-figm-ed Brussels carpet on the
floor ; and yellow and purple curtams to the windows. Taste,
not in its dying agonies but murdered outright and honibly
stone dead, was the prevaihng sentunent of the entire apart-
Judged by a ngorous aitistic eye, the same estheticide was
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HiRBINGTON. IQ'S
i~,a]^able upon the drawing-room's upant Tl y w all
excessively u-lormode in their geueral ipeai u and d ntly
of the highest respectability. Mrs. Atki tl m th — h
sat laDgaidly leaning in the corner of a ! t f a w th 1
cheek resting on her fiagers— -was a f h ucd via f d
lady of middle age, with pallid-bine ey a nb nos a abl t
mouth half open, and a receding ch n. Sh was -pe ly
arrayed in full dress of changeable IL with ma y fl n
wore a lace cap, and had a general of w k d uat
and dawdling insipidity, enervating to b h 1 1 M A k n.
the eldest daughter, who occupied th th nd f t f
was a yellow-haired, waxen-faced yon 1 Ij f at i t t ty
five ; the living euggeetiou of what h mtl hdb nath
age ; with a ciim even more receding n .^ a s nl j a
pallidly bine, the same drooping rail t m nth d th am
wr of mild vapidity and hopeless en at n Sli also
expensively attired, in deep bine satit nt 1 w t neck a d
fitting closely to her fiiU and shapely 1 m Jnlia th
yonngei- daughter, was an nltra fash 1 1 n. f t
teen ; with a bold, saaey face, smootl dkbaiahrib d
nose, hard, blackeyes, aprade'smouth a da at 1 n th nd
breadth of flat circular jaw. The ti youLg m n wh w e
standing like highly respectable cary t 1 at j i t com rs
of the mantel, were snobs of the pu t wat b th m d >*
and manner. They were got up in th En h 1 tyl f
like some of the iiighly respectable B t ns th y h h d
a noble passion for that sort of Angl n cj tu d by M
Punch, Then-black trowsers wereol th t ht t I g tl
slhnmest ; their bkck dress coats weie close m the body,la!t,i,
in the sleeves, and small in the tail ; then- vesta were very short,
then- collars high and stiff, and each wore the Joinviile neck-tie, a
horizontal bar of silk reachmg from ear to ear, to the success-
ful adjustment of which, as Punch observed about that tune, a
man had to give his whole mind. Whatever mmd the two
young Atkinses possessed, had evidently been wholly given, for
the neck-ties were alarmingly perfect, and constituted, in fact,
an incontestable triumpli of mind over matter. In the solitude
of their aspiring souls, the yonng men worshipped the memory
o.led by Google
194 HAEKIHQTON.
of Lord Hawbury and Lord Charles Chawles, and moulded
their whiskers after the style of whiskerage patroaized by those
emineBt nohles. It mattered not that the Tulgar rumor had
crossed the Atlantic that Lord Hawbury, immediately on his
retarn to his ancestral a«res, had been dapped into limbo by a
low British tradesman, on account of certain pounds, shillings
and pence owed by him the said Hawbary to him the said low
tradesman. It mattered not that the still Tulgarer rnmor had
crossed the Atlantic that Lord Charles Chawles, that bright,
consummate fiowcr of the British aristocracy, who had deigned
to honor our humble homes with his august presence, had got
iuto a row in a theatre just after his return to London— had,
in the coarse language of the London newspapers, which love
to hawk at merit, got drunk; cruelly insulted a poor ballet-
dancer behind the scenes; cruelly beat and trod upon the
manner, who had ventured a remonstrance; had thei'eupon
been borne away, roaring and fighting, to the nearest Station-
house, from whence he had emerged in the morning, to incur
the reprimand of a magistrate, and pay a brawler's fine.
What mattered such reports as these ? mere evidence of the
rush and outbreak of a fiery mind of general assault, as
Horatio felicitously said, quoting from Hamlet, when the
rumor reached him. Whiskers were whiskers still, and so
Horatio trimmed the sandy crop which was his own, after the
Hawbury model. The result was a scraggy mutton-chop,
depending big end down, ia tawny, straggling moss of hair
from Horatio's cheeks, and between these manly hirsute ornar
ments loomed a bald, flat, tallowy, superficial face, with an air
of sullen emptiness upon it ; with short brown hair, parted
behind, and on the side, and brushed forward around it ; with
a low, broad forehead ; dull, boiled blue eyes ; a strong, short
nose ; a thin, lineless, resolute mouth ; and a great expanse
of chin and jaw, bolder than, but Uke, his younger sister's.
Mighty in whiskerage and hair, and on the Lord Charles
Ciiawles model, was Horatio's brother Thomas. Hair, tawny-
brown in color, parted on the left, sloping np and off crescendo
to fall in a mass on the right side, and bunching off in a round,
full tuft of lesser quantity on the other side. This, as the lob^
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EAEEING'TON. 195
Kided orom of a p„ir, &„, wltli the younger sister's oMii md
jaw. Ejes, dose tojetker, harf, black and insolonl ; short
nose, a compromise between snub and straight, with a lift in
the nostrils, as if it snufTed offence ; month, a short, stern
small horaeshoe curve, cusps down ; and under this on the
broad and long flat chin, a tawnj short imperial and over
this, cumng down from the centre of the nose and rounding
up th. cheeks, in a militarj pothook, the gallant whiskerage
of Lord Charles Chawles. Over the whole face an oipression
i5f sternly supercilious insolence, inspiring to behold. A fine
young man— two fine young men indeed ; models of their
kind ; full of the pride of caste and all its callousness Des-
tined to be citizens of the highest i-espectability, when llieh-
wild oats—and they were wild— were sown and come to tho
hard and seUsh harrest. Already they had begun, and began
well. Furnished with their father's money, they had their
club, their boon^^ouipanions, their mistresses, their fast horses
and drank and drove and gamed and revelled in a manner
hardly outdone by Lord Hawbnty and Lord Charles CLawIes
themselves. They were, moreover, stanch youag Whigs—
Umon men. Constitution men, Law aad Order men, Furitive
Slave Law men, sound on the goose to every conceivable pal'
ticular. Proof of their devotion to their country, they had
only the Saturday before, foregone their customary drive on
ttie Cambridge road, foregone their sapper and wine at
Porter's, and stayed m town to hear Mr. Webster at Faneuil
Hall, and even now, Thomas, the younger and more ardent
spint, was a httle hoarse from cheering on that memorable
occasion. Proof again of their devotion to their country
which always meant in one form or another the Sontliera-
Slavery part of their country, here they were, nobly sacrificing
their customary drive, to master with the rest of the family and
greet the anient son of the sunny South, the gallant and
chivalrous Southern gentleman then expected, and not yet come.
He was coming, though, for while this interesting group
properly stilted for the occasion, were waiting and chatting a
•trcnnous pull at the bell-wit^i was heard, with the answering
jingle of the hall bell.
H.,t.db, Google
196 Ha.KiiINGl"ON.
" That's him, be Jove I" exclaimed Thomas, straighteoiDg
up on his eiim legs, and adjusting the bows of his neclc-tie,
wliOe he looked with military sternness at the drawing-room
door,
Horatio, who, with the laudable desire to add brilliancy, as
was his wont on company days, to the dinner-table conversa-
tion, had becE diligently storing bis memory with the quaint
sajii^ of Charles Lamb — for Charles Lamb is quite the ton
with the young Boston aristocracy, as Alexander Fope is with
the old — laid the booli, which he had brought down to study
till the last minute, on the mantel behind a lai^e vase, and
with a glance into the mirror beliind him to see that his neck-
tie was all right, assumed a dignified and graceful attitude,
with his left thumb inserted in his vest pocket, and lila head
turned solemnly toward tlie door. Mrs. Atkins, without mov-
ing, cast a glance along her flounces, and made sure in her
mind that she was seated so as to be able to rise gracefully
when the guest appeared. Her eldest daughter, with a little
soft palpitation at heart, for the guest might be a bachelor or
a widower, and she was ready to fail in love with, any child of
the sunny Sonth, or son of the icy North, who had money and
social position, also cast an eye at her ample skirts, and a
mind's eye at her capabilities for rismg. The other daughter,
Julia, started bolt upright in her chair, and with her hard,
■ black eyes fixed on the door as though she would look through
the panels, listened intently.
Presently they heard Michael shuffling along through the
hall, and then the hall door opening.
" Is Mr. Atkins in ?" demanded a resouant, loud voice,
which was heard in the drawing-room.
A moment's silence, and Michael's reply inaudible.
"Will he be in soon?"
Another silence, and Michael's reply again inaudible.
" Well, I'll wait for him."
Michael was heard this time, explaining in a thin key that
Mr. Atkins had company, and wouldn't wish to see him.
" Can't help that," was the bluff answer, followed by heavy
feet stamping into the hall, and the dump of a heavy body
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HAKEUJ-GTON, 197
flinging itself on one of the Lall chuirs. "It's a matter of
business, and he won't thank yoo if I don't see him. Mind
that, my man."
" Humbug I" blnrted out Horatio, taking up his book again.
" It's not him."
" 0 fiddlesticlt 1" was the elegant exclamation of Julia, in a
pet, " he's not coming at all."
" Hush, my child," said her mamma in a soft, drawling
Toice, " don't be impatient. Show yonr breeding, my child,
show yonr breeding."
" Well, be Jove, I'd Uke to know who that is !" exclaimed
Thomas, with some vehemence ; " coming into the house like
the sheriff, be Jove."
Michael meanwhile, having probably stood still for a min-
ute, was now heard shutting the hall door, and presently came
into the drawing-room, and clodng the door behind him, gave
an accomit of the dialogue. t
" Who is the man, Mike ?" demanded Thomas in the impera-
tive mood. " What does he look like ?"
Michael replied that he looked Hkc a sailor, though he was
not dressed in sailor's clothes,
" 0 it's some of father's people from the wJiarf," said Hora-
tio. '-' Better show hira up into the library, and not have him
Bitting there like a scare-crow."
"Yes, Michael, show him up into the library," said Mrs.
Atkins, " and tell him Mr, Atkins will be in soon. If it's
business, your father will want to see him, for he always sees
people that come on business," she added, in a lower tone, as
Michael slid out of the room.
They were quiet again for a minute, while the heavy boots
of the visitor were heard thumping up over the carpeted stairs
into distance.
" Be Jove I" said Thomas, with a fierce air, " that chap goes
up like one of Dan Rice's elephants, be Jove ! Now then,
Where's our Southern friend 1 That's the nest question."
"Mamma," said Miss Atkins, in a soft, debilitated voice,
with a slight hsp, " do yon know if he's married ?"
"No, Carohne, I don't know," replied Mrs. Atkins, lan-
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HAEEINGTON.
gnidly. " But I think he's not, or he would have brought hia
wife with him. These Southern gentiemen are so gallant, jou
. know, and they always bring then- wives with them."
" Ecod, Carry," blurted Thomas, while Caroline was taking
tlie flattering unction of her mother's astonishing answer to hw
soul— "if he's got a wife already, it's all up with your chance,
rae gu-I. Our Southern friends are the deuce and all among
the women, but Louisiana ain't Turkey, jon know,"
' ' Now, Tom, I should be ashamed, " esclairaed Julia, bridling.
" One would think you were never brought iip in good society,
and I should be ashamed, I should."
"Oh, you cork up, Jule," was the fine youth's exquisite
reply. "You giris allow youi-selves too much tongue, be
Jove ["
" Hush, Julia," interposed Mrs. Atkins, with soft authority,
stopping the young Jady's angry retort. " Silence, this-instant.
Ton musn't speat to yonr brother that way. It's low, my
child — very low, andyon must show your breeding."
Jtilia was silent, but glared spitefully at Thomas. It is
noticeable that Mrs. Atkins never reproved her boys. Her
girls she kept a check-rein upon constantly.
" Mamma," continued Carolme, perfectly unmoved by her
brother's late remarks, " does he own a very lai^e plantation,
and how many negroes has he, mamma ?"
" Indeed, I can't tell you, Carolme," repUed Mrs. Atkms,
blandly. "I think he must have a great many of the horrid
creatures, for those Southern gentlemen all have a great many,
and numbers of the ungrateful tbings run away, wliich was the
reason why the Fugitive Slave Bill was passed, you know."
"Tes, and I wish the South would just march up back here
on Jligger Hill, and li^ off the whole pack of them, men,
women, and children, for they're a disgrace to the neighbor^
hood, and it's a burning shame to have them staying away from
their masters," growled Horatio, looking up from the gentle
and human pages of Charles Lamb.
" All I know about him," resumed Mrs. Atkins, continuing
ber notice of the expected guest, "is what your father said m
the note he sent up to the house. Namely, that he belongs to
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HABKINGTON. 199
a g at cotton-house in New Oileans, with which your father
d 1 1 ely, and thit lie own', a plantation, and ttiat he is a
j] nld fellow, and a real &uutht;in gentleman, and one of the
h 1 } and all th<vt and that we must have an excellent
d and treat Jiim with true Noithern hospitality, and so
f th AU which you siw m the note, and really I don't know-
any mo e about him. Bat of course he is a perfect gentleman,
for all the Southern gentlemen are perfect gentlemen, and they
are as gallant and chivalrous as gentlemen can be, and as dis-
tingitS as — as Count Blomanosoff, and I'm sure nothing could
be more distmgii^ than Count Blomanosoff, you know."
To compare anybody to the horrent-whiskered Ruas who
had dined with the Atkinses on his way to WashiugtoD, was
the highest compliment Mrs. Atkins could pay. Count Blo-
manosoff was the god of her idolatry.
_ " Dear me, I wish he would come I" exclaimed Julia, fidget-
ing in her chair.
As if in response to her wish, and before her mother could
again entreat her to show her breeding, the door-bell rang.
" Here he is, be Jotc !" cried Thomas, amidst a general flut^
ter and movement.
Anxious silence succeeded, while Michael was shuffling to
the door. Presently, the noise of entei'ing feet, a fnll, decisive
Toice saying something, and a soft, smooth, courteous voice
answering ; then, after a moment's pause, the drawing-room
door swung open, and behind the sturdy form of Mr. Lemuel
Atkins, the enraptured ladies saw the rich brunette complex-
ion, the long waven hair and thick moustache, and the lordly
figure of their Southern guest.
At the first glance they were enchanted. So handsome, so
gallant, so chivalrous 1 Mrs. Atkins rose with a sweeping rus-
tle of flounces, and stepped forward ; and there was a general
mstle of rising and moving as the two entered.
" Here we are," cried Mr. Atliins, in his rotund, enei^tic
voice, striding in as he spoke, with a smile on hie hard visage,
and stepping aside to pause and turn with an extended hand
toward his guest. " Mr. Lafitte, I have the honor to present
you to my wife. My love, Mr. Lafitte, of Louisiana."
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200
HARRINGTON.
Mrs. Atkins cnrteeyed low aa she slid forward with out-
stretched hand, her waxen face slightly colored, and wreathed
with smiles.
" I am most happy to see you. Mi-. Lafitte," she softly mur-
mnred, "and I am delighted to welcome yoi^to Boston."
" Madam, I am ehai-med with the honor yon do me," cour-
teously returned the Sonthemer, bowing low with her hand in
hia, and serenely smiling.
" And this is my eldest daughter, su-," continued the mer-
chant. " Caroline, Mr. Lafitte."
Carolme looked very pretty, as with a fluttering heart, and
a faint aea-shell pint on her cheeks and lips, she wafted herself
forward, and dawdled down into a low curtsey, with a languisK-
iag glance at the rich brunette vis^e of the Southerner. Mr.
Lafitte glided up to her, bowing, pressed her hand in his, and
cast into her eyes a momentary ardent look, which threw CarO^
line into feeble ecstasy.
"I am enchanted to meet yon. Miss Atkins," said Mr. La-
fitte, in a low, smooth voice, sweeter than music to her ear.
Carolme was so overcome with rapture, that she could only
color, curtsey, east another languishing glance at her adorer,
and withdraw a pace or two, whOe her father introduced Julia.'
Then came Horatio's tarn, and then Thomas's. Horatio did
it in the aristocratic Hawbury style— a solemn face, a stiff
bend of the back, the thumb of the left hand in his vest
pocket, and his right hand clasping Mr. LaStte's fingei-s.
Thomas came the Lord Charles Chawlea— head up, shoulders
back, coat-tail jutting out in the bow, legs wide, hand slowly
wagging Mr. Lafitte's, horse^oe mouth agrin, and voice re-
markmg, "Mr. Lafitte, yours— glad to meet yon, sir; he Jove
I am !" To which Mr. Lafltte replied, that he was always
proud to make a gentleman's acquamtanee, espeeiaily yours,
Mr. Atkins, on this happy occasion.
The introductions successfuUj over, Mr. Lafitte was invited
to take a seat near the hostess, and the rest of the company
settled into their respective chairs, Mr. Atkins snrvejing thera
all with an air of proud and smiling gratification. Ho^was a
strong, Btardily-built man, of good presence, dtiissetl in black,
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HAEETN&TON. 201
with a purple velvet vest, crossed by a short and tLick gold
chain. On his little finger he wore a henvy gold seal-ring, with
a red stone. His face was more like Horatio's and Julia'a^
than any of the others, bat mnch liner and stronger than
cither's, for Mr. Atkins's boyhood was cast in the robust life
of a conntry town, and he had fought his way np to wealth
and social position in Boston, battling with the forces of trade,
and hewiDg out for himself the character of a self-made man.
The black, hai-d eyes of his younger danghter, and the short,
bold nose and large round jaw of her and the sons, were strong-
lier seen in bun than in them. He was smooth-shaven, wore
his hah: short, and had the blanched, resolute color of a man
whose days had been strenuously devoted to money-making.
■Usually his feee was decisive and stem, though now it wag
relaxed into a proud and gi-atified smile, as he surveyed his
guest and family circle.
" Charming weather you're having in Boston, madam,"
remarked Mr, Lafitte, addressing his hostess. " Cooler though
than when I left Louisiana three weeks ago. We had some
of the hottest days there in April that I ever knew. It waa
positively like midsummer."
" Ah, Mr. Lafltte," sighed Mrs. Atkins, " oar climate must
seem cold to you, who have come so lately from the sunny
South. Is this your fii-st visit to Boston ?"
" Yes, madam, it is the firet time I ever had the pleasure
of visitmg your beautiful city," courteously replied the Soath-
emer. " I was soriy not to be able to get here in time to
hear Mr. Webster, who spoke, they tell me, m your raneuil
Hall, hist Sattu-day. Dear Webster ! I positively Jove him
as if he were my brother. He is doii^ such a good work for
our common country."
" Oh, isn't he splendid I" lisped Miss Atkms, with a lan-
guishing air. "So statesmanlike! We were all there to
hear him, Mr. Lafitte. Oh, it was beautiful 1"
" I can well imagine that. Miss Atkins," replied Mr. Lafitte,
smilmg blandly at her ; " and it was really patriotic in you to
lend the grace and beauty of your presence, ladies, to orna-
ment SQch .an occasion. Dear Webster is giving abolition
9*
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■^•J^ FAEEINGTON.
fanatteigm its death-blow. By the way, speaking of fanaticism,
Mr, Atkins poiuted out two of your notorieties to me m the
.Street to-day — GarrisoE and "Wendell Phillips,"
" Horrid wretelies I" murmured Mrs. Atkins, In a die-away
" Be Jove 1" blurted Thomas, " I'd just like to put an
ounce of lead into them two. I would, be Jove 1"
Very patuotic " said Mr Lafitte with a coni-teous incli-
nation of his head t waid the speaker " and spoken in the
Uue Southern ipirit
Those two men ou£,ht to be hung," said Horatio,
solemnly emulous of Southern approbation. "They make
me tbmk of that anecdote of Chailes Lamb, Mr. Lafitte.
YoQ remember, su-, a stranger called on Lamb at the West
Indy House. ' Are you Mr. Lamb V said he. ' Well,' said
Chai-les, feeling the grey whisker on his cheek, ' I think I'm
old enough to be a sheep,' Wow, Garrison and Wendell
Phillips," continued Horatio, making the exquisitely fehcitous
application, " they're old enough to he sheep, and I go for
making them dead mutton."
" Ha, ha, capital !" exclaimed Mr. Atkins, with a mild
bellow, looking around on the company, with a smiling, open
mouth of sati^action in his son's wit.
" Very good, be Jove !" said Thomas, with a grin.
Mrs. Atkms feebly clapped her hands, and said, " good,
good," and Caroline giggled, and softly murmured, " Ob,
Horatio, you're so funny 1"
What a set of damned boobies 1 thought Mr. Lafitte ;
then aloud : " Yes, that's a capital story, and your applica-
tion of it, Mr. Horatio, is one of the best things I've heard.
But I was surprised to see that Garrison is quite a mild, bene-
voleiiMooking man. We think of him down South, you know
as a red-feced brawler, and I was struck with the contrast
between the original and the fancy portrait. Philhpa, too,
surprised me still more, for he has the air of a high-bred gen-
tleman. I'll tell you who he renunded me of. Ton are
aware, ladies, that the Mobilians ai'e famous for their polished
grace and high breeding. Kow, the fiower of them all is
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HAEKINGTON.
Tom Lafourcade. In feet his elegance and dignity of manner
and bearing are town-talk down there. Well, if you'll believe
me, Phillips, though he has a graver and less pronounced air,
actually reminded me of Tom Lafourcade."
" Dear me I how surprising," softly exclaimed Mrs. Atkins.
" "Why, yes, madam, very," retarued Mr. Laitte. " It was
really odd to come Korth and have the arch abolition fanatic
remind one of princely Tom Lafourcade, of Mobile."
" Oh, he's very handsome," lisped Caroline, pensively. " But
so fanatical."
" I tell you, Mr. Lafitte, it's an awful pity about Phillips,"
broke in Mr. Atkins. "He's very much of a gentleman a
splendid orator, fall of ability every way, and belongs to one
of OUT most respectable famihes. Why, I heard Choate say
once that if he'd stuck to the bar, he'd have been the first
lawyer in America. Yes, sir. And there's no doubt that if
be was in our party he'd be second to no man in the eountiy,
unless it was Webster. But he's throwm himself away— posi-
tively sacrificed all his influence and wasted his talents by
joining that abolition crew."
" In short, Nicodemueed himself into nothing, as Charles
Lamb says," observed Horatio.
" Nicodemased ?" interrogated Mr. Lafitte. " Mi^ht I ask
the meaning of that phi-ase, sir ? I am so dull, and 1 confess
my unaequaintance with Lamb."
It is not Charles Lamb, but another humorist, who, allud-
ing to the obstructive influence of an ngly name upon its
owner's career, and giving parents a qaaint hint for the chris-
tening, remarks, "don't Mcodemus a boy into nothing."
Horatio, who only remembered the phrase for its oddity, and
as usual with his quotations, lugged it into his remarks, with-
out much thought of its relevancy, utteriy forgetting the con-
text and the meaning, was considerably disconcerted by Mr.
Lafltte's question, and reddened slightly.
" Nicodemused, Mr. Lafitte ?" he stammered. " Why, you
know, sir," he continued, as a happy means of extrication from
]ii.s difBculty, suggested itself— "you know that the IJible says
iMcodemus went to Christ."
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sot
HAERIKGTON,
"Oh, yes, I see. And lost liia inflneiice by so doing,"
blandly answered Mr. Lafitte, with a fnrtive smile which no-
body noticed. " Yes, yes. That's very clear. Yery LappHy
said, sir, and I'm much obliged to you for enlightening my
stupidity. So Philhps has Sicodemused himself into nothing ?"
"Indeed he has, sir," replied Mr. Atkins. "Just thrown
away his talents, and misused his eloquence m denouncing the
Compromise Measures, and Mr. Webster, and Slavery, and all
the best interests of his country."
" Be Jove, he's a fool, that's what he is," remarked Thomas,
caressing his military whiskerage.
" He's worse, Tom," replied his father ; " he's a traitor, and
ought to be indicted for treason."
" Does he move in good society here, Mr. Atkins ?'• blandly
asked Mr. Lafitte.
" He ! Why, sir, he's a rank Disunionist I" exclaimed the
merchant, "A Disunionist received into good society ! My
dear sir, what are you thinking of I"
"Pardon me," politely returned the Southerner, with a
courteous inclination of his liead, and cherishing in secret, a
mahcious desire to corner his host, though he must tell a lie' to
do it^— " pardon me, I did not know. Yon are aware that I
am a Disunionist myself The difference I apprehend to be
this : Phillips is for a Dissolution of the Union for the sake
of liberty ; I am for a dissolution of the Union for the sake of
slavery. I state it frankly, for I wish to plainly present the
fact that we aie both Disunionists, though for different reasons.
Now am I to infer that the feet of my Disunion sentiments
would exclude me liom good society here ? For I have letters
to some of yom leadrag citizens, and it would indeed be awk-
ward were I to present them where I should not be welcome,"
IS o \ir no mdped, sir," replied the merchant with sono-
rous emphiiai^, That is a different case altogether, sir.
Entu^ly diffeient We honor the spirit of Southern gentle-
men m defence of their property, sir, and our first society is
always open to them, Mr. Lafitte,"
" You Southern gentleman are so chivalrous I" said Mrs,
Atkins, with langnid playfulness.
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HAKKINGTON. 205
" So ardent I" iiaped Carolim;, with a lauguii^limg gJaiico at
the Southerner.
" Indeed, ladies, you oyerwheim me," returned Mr. Lafitte,
gallantly; " and I am glad to perceive the true state of the
case, Mr. Atkias. It is cnrious, however, if we look at it
from one point of view, that Mr. Phillips, who, as jou say, is
very much of a gentleman, one of your most talented men,
and belonging to one of your most respectable families — it is
carious that be should be sent to Coventry by your first society
for his Disunion, and we received so handsomely for ours. But
then, he is for liberty, and we are for siaverj-, which, as you
happily observed, makes an important difference. Yes, I see
the distinction, and it is both broad and just. An admirable
distinction, indeed, and one that does your society great
credit."
Mr. Laiitte said all this so courteously — with such flattering
and aSaliie sincerity of voice and manner — that hL^ listeners
had not the slightest apprehension of the terrific sarcasm
which lurked in his words. They took it all as an elaborate
compliment, and sat smiling and simpering at him, each after
his or her respective fashion. The damned, mean, contempti-
ble, servile ctirs — tabooing their own Disunionists, and ducking
and smiling to ours ! — was Mr. Lafltte's irreverent mental
reflection, as, softly fingering his nioustache, with the most
affable of smiles lighting his rich brunette complexion, he
etpably surveyed them— floods of contemptuous disg'ust mean-
while raging dehghtedly in his lordly bosom,
" Ob, Mr. Atkins," said the lady of the house, " I almost
forgot to teO you that a — a person called to see you, and is
up-stairs in the Hbrary."
" A person. Who is he ? I can't see persons now. Send
up word that I'm engaged," returned the merchant, somewhat
brusquely.
" Michael thought, he was a sailor," drawled Mrs. Atkins,
in her fal-lal voice ; " and he said he'd come on business of im-
portance, and that you'd want to see him."
" Oh, business. That's another affair," returned her'hnsband,
riaug and lookmg at his watch. " Business before pleasure
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206
HARRINGTON.
always. You'll excuse me a fcw moments, Mr, Ldfitte. I'U
be right down."
"Certainly, sir, certainly," said the Soutliemer, '
Mr. Atkins at once left the drawing-room and went up-stnirs
mto the library. The visitor, a short, strongly-baUt man, with
a suabumt face, who was slowly walking up and down, with
his hands in his pockets, came toward hun as he entered.
"Why, Captain Bangham! Yon? How are youf" ex-
claimed the merchajit, smiling, and shaking hands with him
" All right, Mr. Atkins. How are yon, sir f"
" Capital. And so the Soliman's in."
" Tes, sir. Came up this morning. I'ye been waiting at
the office pretty much all day "
"Indeed. I'm sorry, captain. But, for a wonder, Lafitte
came to town, and I've been showing him round."
Captam Eacgliani started, and slapped his hips with his
hands.
" Lafitte m town I" he burst out. " Which one of 'cm ?"
" Lafitte the yoanger. Torwood, you know," returned the
merchant, taking an easy chair.
"The hell he is 1" ejaculated the profane captain, reddenmg
and thrusting both hands into his pocket. " Yon don't mean
to say he's down-stahs now 1"
"Why Bangham, what in the world's the matter with you,
man ?" said the surprised merchant, staring at hun " Down
stairs? Of course he's downstahs. Come to dme with
ns."
" Well, I'm damned I" vociferated the excited captain.
" If this ain't horrid."
He stamped off, with his hands m his packet while Mr
Atkms stared at hun, as if he thought tl e man had gone
mad. *
" Captain Bangham, ' said the merchant slowly will you
be so good as to teU me what ytn mean 1 y this extraoidinary
sbalUtioii, What's the matter ? Isn't the Soliman all right ?
Has the cargo "
"The matter's just this, Mr. Atkins," broke in the saflor,
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HAEEINGTON. 207
coming toward him, and flinging himself into a chair. " Soli-
mau, cargo, and all is right. There's nothing the matter with
"Tben what is the matter?" demanded tlie merehant,
angrily.
" The matter's this, Mr. AtkiDS," roared Bamgham, pound-
ing his knees with his clenehed hands. "Wiien we were
three days out we found a blasted nigger, half smothered
in the hold. And that nigger belongs to Torwood Lafltte,
and you've got him down-stairs to dine with yon. Yes, sir,
IVe got the n^ger tied up aboard the brig this minute,
and you've got his master."
Mr. Atkins tm-ned white, and sat looking at the sailor with
rigid lips.
"Yes, sir. That's the matter," continued Banghim
" And matter enough, too, Mr, Atkins, Just thmk of what
Lafitte '11 say if he hears that his ni^er got off on your biig
Just think of the row there'll be in Orleans if it get*, out
They'll seize me for it, if the brig ever 'touches the levee agwi
Mr. Atkins,"
" She'll touch the levee again with that scoundrel on I oaid
of her," shouted the merchant, with an oath, thrn'itmj, his
thumbs into the arm-holes of his vest, and awellmg proadiy
" Tliey shall know in New Orleans that we're law abiding citi
zcns, Bangham. Back he shall go, and it will reilound to the
credit of the house when it's known that we sent him bi,ck
promptly. I'm glad you came to tell me this, Ban^-ham Ju t
keep it quiet. He shall go back just as soon as the Sohman
can get ready for the return voyage,"
" All right, sir," replied the sailor, " But, Mr. Atkins,
we've got hun here now in Boston Bay, and how are we going
to take him back without going to iaw about it F Hadn't
Lafitte better bring him before a Commi e and ha e a
certificate made out "
" No," ittterrapted the merchant, with t nnous emi ba^
" I'll have it said in New Orleans that a B ton m 1 nt
can show his devotion to the interests of the o th thout
any ridiculous formalities. It'll strike th m 11 Bau ham
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^W HAKEINGTON.
and raise our credit there. Besides, if we go before the Com-
missioner, those infernal Abolitionists will have another long
lass about it, as thej had about Sims, and who knows bat that
they'll rescue him as they did Shadrach. No, I'll make snre
■work of it. If the black villain were to escape, the effect on
my trade would be as bad in New Orleans as if I hadn't done
my best to return him, and I won't have my trade injured.
Business before everything. I'm not going to have the delay
of the law, nor the risks either, in this matter. So just hold
on to the black reprobate, Bangham, till we can retnm
" It's rather risky, Mr. Atkins," demurred the sailor. " You
know it's illegal, sir, to take off the mam without due process
of law, and if the Grand Jury gets hold of it, they'll be apt to
indict you for kidnapping."
"Indict MM?" returned the merchant. "Ho, ho, Bang-
ham," he laughed, " you're verdant, my man, Tliere's not a
Grand Jury would ever find a bOl against me for that. Bang-
ham. Why, bless your sonl, Bangham, the Grand Jury's
made up of our most respectable citizens — property holders
every man of them— Fugitive' Slave Law men to the backbone
— and do yon think they'd indict me for an act in the very
spirit of the Compromise Measures, and for the best interests
of our Southern commerce ? Oh, no, Bangham 1 There's not
one of them that wouldn't wink at it — not one. No fear about
the Grand Jury, captain, not the least in the world. But yon
haven't told me how this black wretch got aboard."
" And m be hanged if I know, Mr. Atkius," replied the
sailor, with another thump on his knees. " All I know is,
that when we were three days ont we unbattened one of the
hatches to get an axe that Imd been left in there accidentally,
and there was the black beast, ahnost dead. Lord, how he
smelt 1 It waf horrid And he looked like the very devil
him If Had an n oila n his neck, with the name of
Lafltt Bth nalntH escaped from the Red
Hiv 1 d n w I w th th kes and alligators, got
down th m h w anl laJ a horrid time all round.
Didn t mtknw Lhew uldn't tell, how he got
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HAREIKGTON. 209
aboard the brig. Fact is, the black pig's not more than half-
witted now, with all he's gone through."
" Badly treated ?" inquired Mr. Atkina, placidly.
" Oh, yes, treated bad enough," carelessly replied the sailor.
" Lafltte's a h^h-hinder with his niggers, I reckon. This
chap's all covered with scare and marks, and aeeordin' to liis
story, and that's trae enough, I don't doubt, there's not a
worse treated nigger in the whole South than he was. Ho
wouldn't have ran off, I guess, if he hadn't been desperate with
bad usage. I expect Lafitte '11 be the death of him when he
gets him again."
" That's his lookout," said the merchant, calmly. " If La-
fitte chooses to maltreat his own property, there's no one the
loser by it bnt himself."
At this moment Michael appeared at the library door with
the announcement that dinner was served. The merchant
rose, and Bai^ham took his straw hat from the table and rose
" I'll see you to-morrow, captain," said Mr. Atkins, " In
the meantime, keep that fellow in limbo, and we'll arrange for
his return."
"All right, Mr. Atkins," jeturned the sailor, lounging out
of the room, with a reUeved mind.
Mr. Atkins followed him down-stairs to the hall-door, and
then tamed into the drawing-room, with a smiling connfe-
nance.
" Now, Mr. Lafitte," said this manly, humane, high-souled,
law-abiding, patriotic American Christian and flower of mer-
cantile morality, addressing the gallant and chivalrous son of
the snnny Sonth, " now, if you please, we will go oat to din-
ner."
" Shall I have the honor ?" said Mr. Lafitte, rising and
offering his arm, with a bow, to the hostess.
She took the offered arm, and they swept out together, the
brave and the feir. Bouquet de Caroline streamed in their
wake, as Miss Atkins, leamng on the arm of her highly respect-
able papa, wafted on after them. Milleflenrs and pomatum
lent their sweetness to the desert air of the drawing-room, as
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310
HAERTNGTON.
the gallant Homtio escorted out the lovely JuUa. Following
np the rear, in martial state, and redolent of musk and mai--
rowfat, came haughty Thomas, caressing the whiskerage of
Lord Charles Chawles, and BEiffiug the rich odor of the din-
ner from afar.
Meanwhile, low Antony, brother of Bonx, bought chattel of
Lafitte, foodless, filthy, helpless, friendless, despised and ac-
cnrsed, lay bomid in the dark and noisome hold of a Boston
vessel— a negro with no rights that a white muji is iiound to
respect— with no rights that a Boston merchant Blight j.ot,
and would not, take away, all for the good of party and of
trade— a good which, as e?eny thoughtful patriotaiid Christ-
ian will allow, k the chief good of existence.
CHAPTER XII.
STABTIJNG BEVELOPMENTS.
Harringtos lifted his calm eyebrows with some wonder at
the furious entrance of his friend, and sat regarding him with
a firm mouth aad steadfast eyes. Wentworth, out of breath
with the speed of his coarse, and the tumult of his emotions,
had flung his hat across the room, and himself upon the sofa'
and sat panting, with his handsome face flushed, and his bright
aabum curls damp with perspu'ation.
" Well, Richard, what's the matter 1" said Harrington,
cahnly. " Has the sky fallen ?"
" Harrington, see here," panted Wentworth, " Johnny's
jnst been up to the studio."
" Johnny ? Who's Johnny ?" interrupted Harrington.
" Oh, pshaw 1 Bagasse's boy, yon know. John Todd,"
famed Wentworth, stopping to wipe his brow with a white
handkerchief.
" Well, Is that any reason for your running yourself into
9. pleurisy ?" bantered Harrington,
" By George 1" exclaimed the young artist, " it's a reason for
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HAEBINOTON. 211
my nmning Fernando Witherlee into something else, and that's
a broken neck, I'm thinking. Cursed rascal 1 "
^ " What's Witherlee been up to now ?" inquired Harrington,
with sudden interest.
" Impudence," replied Wentworth. " Impudence unparal-
leled. Listen, HaiTUigton. John Todd says Witherlee came
into the fencing-school this morning, and had the atrocious
impudence — the abominable — ^the infernal"
Wentworth stopped, ga:sping with rsge.
" 0 Muse of adjectives, descend !" jocosely cried Hari-ington,
lifting hia hand in mock-heroic invocation, with his checks
wrinkled in a rich smile.
Wentworth, thas prayed for, began to laugh, even in the
midst of his fury.
"Well, Harrington," said he, "I know it's foolish to get
excited about it, but upon my word, Witherlee behaves scan-
dalously. Do you know that he has been telling Bagasse a
long rigmarole about Mnriel and Emily, and you and me.
Bagasse 1 Uow jnst think of it 1 Think of iiis talkuig of two
ladies iibe those, and in such a connection, and to Bagasse !
Yes, of all persons in the world, to Bagasse I"
Harrington's color changed and his face puckered with
amazement, while he nervously grasped tlie arms of his chair.
" Is Witherlee possessed I" he ejaculated. " Why, I never
heard of such conduct. So boyish, .so foolish, such an' outrage
agamst the fitness of things "
"And so infamously impudent," put in Wentworth. " It's
the impudence that strikes me."
"Certainly. It's impudent, too, and I don't wonder you
were moved," murmured Hamngton, slowly, with an absorbed
" Moved !" snapped Wentworth. " By Jupiter, I am moved
to give hhn a sound horse-whipping, and he'll get it, or my name's
not what it is. Why, look at it, Harrington. In the first
place, Emily's a particular friend of his. Now, wouldn't you
think that the commonest respect for her would have i)re-
vented him from bandying her name about in conversation with
anybody, much less old Baga&se ?"
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212
nAEEINGTOK.
" Enreka 1 I have it," exclaimed Harrington, bursting from
his abstraction. " Tliat accounts for Bagasse's remark abont
the two ladies that gave tlie violets."
"What do yoa mean?" inquired Wentworth.
Harrington recounted wliat the fencing-master had said that
morning.
" You see, EJchard," he added, "that set me wondering;
for how did Bagasse Itnow that ladies had given ns the violets ?
How did he know but that I had gathered them from my own
yard ? Then, when I saw your nosegay in his button-hole, I
thought you must have told him, and I was astonished to
thint that you should choose the old veteran for a confi-
dant."
" By Jupiter, Harrii^on, you didu't think I would do such
a thing," exclaimed Wentworth, reproachfully.
" My dear Wentworth, it was absurd in mc, and I beg your
pardon," returned Harrington. " Certainly, it was not like
you ; but then, somebody must have told him, and how could
I imagine it was Witherlee ?"
Wentworth sat silent, thinking with mounting rage of
Witherlee's remarks to the fencing-master. If he had been
eool and thoughtful, he might have at least suspected, from the
sample he had of the good Pemando's nature that he was at
the bottom of Emdj b alienation from hnnstlf But Went
worth's vivid temi er onlj thiew glfams and flasLts on things,
and what he saw, he aw m sali,,nt points without ohserving
their connections and lektions
"By George, 111 break his ueck I he foamed stamping his
foot on the floor.
"Now, Richard, keep cool," said Harrington. "You can
depend that Fernando has been making mischief all round, and
let us just track it out. In the first place, let's hear Johnny's
report of what he said."
" Lord ! I can't tell you ! it's gone from me," fumed Went-
worth, running his hands through his curls, as if in search of
it. " Let's see. In the first place, he had some snob cri-
ticisms on your coat ; which, he thinks, is not genteel enough
to entitle you to Muriel's friendship."
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HAKKING'TON. 213
" Oh, indeed," said Harrington, witli grand good-nature,
" Well, that's a trifle, anyway."
" He said," continued Wentworth, " that yon looked like a
beggarman, who had beec in the watch-house aj] night."
" Complimentary," jeered Harrington.
" Wondered how you had the assurance to visit Miss East-
man at all, when your social position was so much beneath
hers," pursued Wentworth ; "and thought it was very kind
in her to permit you."
Harrington burst into a peal of hearty laughter.
" Positively," he SMd, " this is comic. The only tra^e thing
about it is, that all this time, Fernando has been pretending
that he was the best of friends to me."
" I tell you, Harrington," replied Wentworth, " that fel-
low's a perfect snake m the grass. The next thmg was to
pitch into my personal appeai-ance."
" Tours !" exclaimed Harrington, laughingly. "Why, Kich-
ard, you're the piuk of fashion. You're D'Orsay and Raphael
Sanzio, in one."
Wentworth smiled faintly ; too angry at Witherlee to be
much amused.
" Nevertheless," he continued, "Witherlee poked his gibes
at me, too — something abont the Anti-Slavery Bazaar. Do
they sell clothes there ?"
" Not exactly," replied Harrington, laughing.
" Then, I'm hanged if I know what he meant by that," said
Wentworth.
" Well, probably he said you looked bizarre ; and Johnny,
not knowing the word, mistook it for its fellow in sound," re-
marked Harrington.
" That's it I'll bet," burst out Wentworth, reddening.
" Bizarre 1 The cursed snob ! He wants me to cut my
hair off, I suppose, and wear a stove-pipe hat instead of
my Rubens. I'll see him hanged fii-at."
" Weil, go on Richard," said Harrington. " All this is un-
important."
" Then," continued the young artist, fidgeting in his seat
like a man who had to deal with an awkward subject, and
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214
HAEEINtJTON.
looking very fixedly at the opposite wall, with his fa^e redder
than before, " then he proceeded to give Bagasse a sketch of us
two with CnpitrB arrows stack in our bleeding hearts— a re-
gniai- Sahit Valentme picture. O bother, I won't report the
atnlF 1 It makes me crawl."
" Ob, go on, Richard, go on," urged Harrington.
"No, I won't. Let it go. Come, Harrington, let's drop
It. Upon my word, I cau't repeat it, and I won't," said
Wentworth.
Harrington saw that it was no use to urge him, and was
silent: The fact was, Wentworth did not like to have Har-
nnglon think of him as the loYcr of Emily, and Withorlee's
portraitm'e of him as snch was too faithful tor exhibition So
man hkes to confess that he has been jilted by a woman as
Wentworth thongl.t he had been by Emily, and to say that
he had been reputed her loTor by Witlerlee was cortamly an
approximation at least to such a confession.
" Very well," remarked Harrington after a pause. " if yon
don't care to talk abont it, let it go. Sow, Kichard, I want
you to leaTO this mattor to me. There's more in it, I'm con-
ymcod, than appears, and if yon make a quarrel with Fer-
nando we shall never know the whole of it. Just keep cool
say nothing to him of what you hara heard, and let me track
the fox through all his doublings. WUl you promise ?"
Wentworth hesitated, but bis own suspicions were roused
and he felt the good sense of Harrington's proposal
" I agree, Harrington," he said at length. " Tee, I promise,
and ru keep dark."
" Good," replied Harrington: " I declare, Kichard, I can't
help feehng, in view of the serious grandeur of Kfe, that all
this IS pitifnlly petty. These pigmy broils and imbroghos
seem all the more trivial in contrast with such scenes and pas-
sions as I have been m ti>day. I wish we could liyc only m
the larger life, unvexed by this buzz and fribble."
"What has happened to-day, Harrington?" asked Wen1>
worth.
Harrington told him briefly of tho scene in l^onth.c street
omittmg to mention what passed m Hoax's house, lest it
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HAKKISGTON. SI 5
ehonld lead to questions verging upon the accrct which Emily
now shaved with Muriel, himself and Captain Eisher.
" I wish I could feel interested as you do in these political
affairs," said Wentworth, lightly, when Harrington had con-
eluded. " Somehow, I can't though. Of course, I'm for
liberty in my own quiet way, and I pity the poor darkeys and
all that, but then it doesn't come home to me at all. I'm an
artist in the grain, I suppose, and art-life and matters connected
with it, leave me no interest for other ma.ttera."
"Ah, Richard," replied Hwrington, "yon must ontUve
these notions. Art cannot thrive sequestered from life. It
may live ia the cell, but it will narrow and spire, and it can
only branch and broaden into Shakspeare^an greatness when
planted among the ways and walks of men. Wo man can be
a great painter, sculptor, composer, poet, whose heart is not
deeply and warmly engaged in the life of his own time. It is
the lack of interest and participation in human affairs which
makes our modem artists mere imitators and coiorjsts, and
so much of modern art weak and pallid — a mere watery re-
flection of old models and forms of beauty."
"Come, now, that's heresy?" said Wentworth, laughing.
" Talk of poets — look at Shaispeare. What interest did he
take in human affaire ? He kept the Globe Theatre, studied
his part by day, played it at night, and wrote his dramas be-
tween whiles. Tliat's the way his years were occnpied. What
participation had he in Elizabethan politics ? What in the
life of his own time ? Why, Uhici says, in substance, that
Shakspeare didn't care enough abont the politics of his age to
have his mind even colored by them. The critics agree that a
never breathed.
perfect despiser of
thont patriotism and
philanthropy." Your Vernlam there, now," pursued Wentr
more thorough aristocrat or conservati
Jupiter 1 according to the critics, he was
a people, and a man utterly wi
worth, looking at the statue, " was patriot and philanthrope.
He toiled for his country and wrought for 'the relief of the
human estate,' as he phrases it. But the most powerful miero-
scoi>e couldn't detect anything of that sort in William."
Harrington laughed amusedly.
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216
HAEKINGTON,
" Now, look hero, Richard," he replied. " In the first place,
I flatly deuy that there is contempt for any sort of people,
common or uncommon, in the Shakspearean pages. But let that
pass, for what I am goii^ to say will cover it fully. I wsmt
to call your attention to the distinctive peculiarity— the unique-
ness— of the Shakspearean creations. In the Shakspearean
mind you have an unexampled union of the subtlest observation
and the profoundest reason. This author obsei-ved far more
closely than even Thackeray, and philosophized far more
greatly than even Plato. But this is not all. He constructed
a series of works which show the principles of human action as
they lie in the nature of man, and all the complex operation
of the human passions. And more, he created a nmnber of
figares, which are not characters, hut types. That is the
grand distbctive Shakspearean pecuUarity. Nobody has done
that but he. The Don Quixote of Cervantes is a great figure,
but it is not Shakspearean. The Greek Prometheus, the
German Mephistopheles are immense allegorical creations, but
they are uot Shaispearean. He aloue has made figures
which are types— representative men and women standing for
classes. In a word, he alone has given ns in a series of models
or hn^es, the Science of Human Nature. This it is that
makes him solitary, as the power with which it is done makes
him supreme, in literature."
" I understand," said Wentworth, " and I agree ; but I
don't see what you're drivmg at, mine ancient "
" Wait a minute, and yon shall see," returned Harrington,
" Bacon wanted this very thing done Nothmg that you can
do for the elevation of the world, he says snbbtantially, is of
any valne, unless this is done. The radical delect in all
science is, he says, that it has not been done, and he rates
Aristotle sharply for not doing it He wants a work which
will give us the Science of Man, as he i=!, m oider that we may
make him what he ought to be — a work, he sayi, which is to
contain the descriptions of the several characters and tempers
of men's natures and dispositions to the end that the precepts
concerning the culture and cure of the miud may be concluded
upon — a work which is also to contam examples m moral and
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HAERINGTOH. 317
CiTJ] life. This is what Ba«on wanted done, and tlie anthoi' of
tUe Shakspeare Di-ama did it. Bacon's requirement ia fuifiilcd
exactly in the Shakspeare Drama. Even our critics have got
hold of the idea that the Science of Human ?i ature which Ba-
con wanted is in the Shakspeare Drama, and the purpose which
Bacon intended sudi a work to accomplish, is iil daily pro-
cess of aocomplisliment through the agency of tliose plays.
And what is more. Bacon wanted that work to be in the
form of poetry — the Georgics of tlie Mind, he calls it, with
a reminiscence of Virgil. The potts, he says elsewhere,
are the best doctors of this knowledge ; and again, for the
expression of such a pnrpose, reason is not so perspicnoua,
nor examples so apt, as the dramatic or poetic presentation.
Very good. Bacon wanted it in poetry, and in poetry you
have it."
Wentworth looked at Harrington steadily, witli so euiioas
an amaaement on his comitenance, that HaJrington smiled.
" Wow, Richard, observe," he pursued. " The Shakspeare
Drama contains the Science of Man. A Science of Man can-
not be formed accidentally, or by the mere spontaneity of
genius; it involves design. The author of the Shakspeare
Drama knew, therefore, what he was about; and the fact that
his fignres have the peculiarity of being types, sufficiently
proves it. Ifow, science is preparatory to art, and a Science
of Man is a preparation for an Art of Human Life. This
makes of your ' aristocrat ' and ' conservative ' Shaitspeare a
Socialist of tlie most daring order — the largest innovator the
world has ever known."
"By Jupiter!" exclaimed Wentworth, "it's precious odd
that nobody has noticed al! tliis before."
" So it is, Richard," retnraed Harrington, smiling good-
naturedly at hun. " About as odd as that TJh-ici should have
said that Shakspeare took no heed of the politics of his lime,
when Lear, Coriolanns, and Julius Ceesar are occupied, nnder
the dramatic cover, and in the very fa«e of the military despot
ism of the age, with the broadest sort of political dbcussion.
About as odd as that you sliould think Shakspeare had no
patriotism, when the historical dramas so overflow with pas-
10
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218
UAKRINGTON.
sionate love for England that London theatres, at this day,
i-ise and roar to it when Pheljis or Macready giTea it voice
from the stage."
" Well," said Wentworth, reddening and langhing, " I
spoke too fast, no doubt. Besides, thei-e't, Brutns — a splendid
type of .the pure country-] over. But the philanthropy —
Where's that ?"
" So the matt who drew up the Science of Human JTatnre,
subtle, vast, exact, complete, the inevitable prelimmary to the
relief of the human estate that Bacon schemed for, had no
philanthropy," bantered Harrington,
"That's yon esactlyl" barst out Wentworth, coloring again,
and laughing. "Thmider, Harrington 1 that's the way you
hook in a fellow. Of coarse, smce I've accepted your first
proposition, the rest follows. Well, at all events, yon may
show philanthropy as the genius of the plan, but I'm hanged
if you can name a character that has it in the plays."
" Can't I, then ?" retorted Harrington, good-humoredly.
"What do you think of Lear ? Whose heart folds in poor
Tom, the social outcast from the lowest sinks of the Elizar
bethan wretchedness ? Who hurls forth that terrible mvoea-
tion for the ' superfluous and Insfrdieted man that slaves
Heaven's ordinance— that will not see because he does not
feel V Who prays for the ' poor naked wretches that bide
the peltings of the pitiless storm,' and dwells so eloquently on
'their houseless heads and unfed sides, their looped and win-
dowed r^gednesH.' Who is it, the imperaonation of cold and
callous conservatism, that is made, as Burke says, to ' attend
to the neglected and remember the forgotten,' and cornea
face to face with houseless poverty and want to exclaun,
' Oh, I have ta'en too little caa-e of this ?' Who demands that
the rich and fortunate shall expose themselves to ' feel what
wretches feel,' in order that their supei'fluities may be shared
with them, and justice be more the law of social life ? And if
this is not philanthropy, what is it ?"
"Say no more, Hamngton, I cave," replied Wentworth
"It is true," pursuud Harrington, "that the Shakspeai'e
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UA 1111 iNG TON. a 19
Drama has no figure of a pluknthropist like Howard, no more
than it has of a religious saint like Xayier or Monica. But
I do not think that such portraitures would consist with the
author's design, which, hoiyever vast, is stiJl special, having for
its end the enlture and cure of the human mind, and, aa 1 have
said, the reconstruction of society. Ah, but the true philan-
thropist, the true saiat of that Drama is its author 1 No need
to add such a flgui-e to his pages when he liimself stands there
added to them by our thought, an image of the noblest love
that ever strove and suffered for mankind."
They both sat in silence for a few moments, lost in musing.
"It is strange," said Wentworth, at leogth. "All we
know about Shaispeare persoually, is iu conflict with what you
have said — though I admit that his works sustain your view.
He seems to have lived a very common-place and vulgar sort
of a life. Certainly, his biography does not show that he had
large sympathies and designs for man, and it is iadisputable
that he did not participate in the loftier life of his age."
" I look at it in this way," replied HaiTington. " Set aside
the evidence we might collect from his writings, and consider
only what must nievitablj have followed fiom the natuie of
hiB mtellPct The complex cithohaty — ^the massive bieadth —
m a word the mnvei't.alitv of his mmd mevittbly mvolves a
eonespondmg vastuess of niteiest and piiticipation m the
public affairt, of his time an 1 all the varieties of its thought
aul hfe Isolation fiom public life may colxi t and be per-
Ifftly compatible with mttasitv of genius — with amveisalilj,
1 ver Moieover to be woildly wist as the plays ?how theu
uthoi to have been a man must follow the mla Bit on msists
upon as indispensable — namely, to ally contemplation with
action. Deny such a man experience, and you cannot get from
him the lessons of esperience, as you get them from this author.
Isolate such a man from affairs, and his genius spreads aloft
into the vast air of the abstract, and jou never get ui liis
writings the voices of the street, the camp, the court, the cabi-
net— in a word, the voices of concrete practical life, as you do
in the Shakspeare Drama. Take for example, the man nearest
Shakspeare, the many-sided Goethe : the corollary to his many-
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HAKEIMGTON,
13 is the fact that he was a man of the world, a Bcieutia-
ciau, courtier, atatesman. So witi the author of the Drama.
He must have been immersed in public life. He must Lave
held ofQce. He must have administered the affairs of State.
It was the iaeyitable result of his genius, and it was the condi-
tion on which the manifestations of that genius depended.
Denied pnblic life, aud either his development would have been
arrested, or he would have become a vast dreamer or abstrac-
tionist."
" Upon ray word, Harrington," said Wentworth, " that's
an astonishing thing for yon to say 1" .
" It's the truth, nevertheless," replied Harrington, smiling.
" But the facta of Shakspeare's life are against you," re-
joined "Wentworth.
" Well, you must reconcOe them as you caii," said Harring-
ton. "MeanwhOe, there is the indestructible truth. All
history, all facts, all reason testify to it. It is so."
" But look here, Harrington," said the amazed Wentworth.
" On the one hand, you infer that a man of Shakspcare's
genius must have been a statesman. On the other hand, is
the plain fact that Shakspeare was nothing of the sort. Kow,
therefore, we must at once conclude that your inference is
wrong."
"yot necessarily," replied Harrington.
" Not necessarily ?" "Wentworth laughed, and fixed his
eyes with a puzzled look upon the floor. " "Well, I don't see
how you can escape from so obvious a conclusion. Now, let
me state It again. In the first place, who wrote the plays'?"
Receiving no answer, "Wentworth looked up, and saw
Harrington gating with rapt afiection on the noble bast of
Temlam. For a moment the young artist held his breath in
ntter stupefaction ; then a deep flush burned upon his face,
and he laughed immoderately. HaiTington colored, but took
his friend's merriment, as he took everything, good-naturedly,
and sat smiling at him,
" Bravo 1" cried Wentworth, at length. "Another sacri-
fice to the idol ! Now, Harrington, I cant swaUow the idea,
that the idol wrote Shakspcare's plays, but, for goodness' sake
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do publish it I It will mate such a jolly row. By Jupiter !
what fun it will he to see all the sttadj old ink-pots fizzing
into Titrio! bottles, and foaming over on to your idea 1 Do
publish it."
" One of these days, Richard," said Harrington, gently,
" But I don't think Terulam alone wrote the plays. He had
help from others — and some of them came from a lower order
of mind than his. But in all the great plays his intellect and
design are visible. However, let it pass, and in the meantime,
say nothing about it to any one, for till it can come with solid
proof, it will meet with no favor from the Jedburgh justice of
a world that hangs your thought first, and tries it afterward.
But for your own sake, I wish you could beUeve that this
great poet could not have been the poet he was, if he had not
been concerned in everything that concerns mankind. Espe-
daJly must he have cherished the idea of political liberty, for
without that, poet or artist can be but little."
" Upon my word, Harrington," said Wentworth, " I
ehouldn't be much astonished if you wire to assert that the
author of Shakspeare's plays, as you call him, would be, if
he was alive, a Garrisonian Abolitionist."
" Well," replied Harrington, laughing in his beard, " you
know Montaigne says a man's books are his children, and I'm
snre this author's children don't vote with the Webster Whigs
or go union-saving or kidnapping with either Whigs or Demo-
crats. And as for Shakspeare being a Garrisonian, it's quite
clear to my perverted sense, that the man who makes liis
patriot, Bratus, cry aloud, as the first demand of political
justice, ' Liberty, Freedom, and Enfranchisement,' would not,
at any rate, if he were with us, be found in Mr. Ben Hallett'a
party."
Wentworth, touched at the idea of Shakspeare and Ben
Hallett being by any chance thrown together, laughed immo-
derately, while Harrington, highly amused at his mirth, sat
and smiled at liim.
" Harrington," said Wentworth, recovering from his merri-
ment, " you almost tempt me to extend my studio among
the sons of men."
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HABBINGTON,
" That's where the ^eat artists extended theirs," replied
Harrington. " Raphael, Giotto, Cellini, Angelo, all those
snperb artists, were politicians, conntry-lovers, friends and com-
rades of their kind. Their human sympathies gaye their genina
its palse of life. You jonng artists ought to blash when you
think of Micha«] Angeio."
" "Well, Michael was a tmnip," returned Wentworth, gaily.
" A trump V repeated Harrington. " I wish he was a
trump that could sound some of you fellows into life. Yes,
there was a man behind the artist in Michael, and hie works
are cryptic with his humanity. By the way, Richard, how
comes on the ' Death of Attacks V "
The "Death of Attucke" was a p'.cture which Wentworth,
instigated by Harrington, had began to paint m illustration of
the pictnresque scene on that wild March night of the early
Revolntion, when a black man fiang hhnseff on the bayonete
for a country which enslaves his race, and has scribes to defile
his memory.
"Well," replied Wentworth, with a look of momentary
sadness, " I haven't painted much lately— so the pictm^ stands.
0 me," he sighed, " I see intellectually the truth of all you
say about the relation of liberty to art, but somehow I don't
get kindled."
" Look here, Richard," said Harrington, " you oun-ht to
hear Wendell Phillips."
" So I ought," answered Wentworth, " and I mean to some-
time."
" You must," replied Harrington. ^ " He will show you the
ideal beantj of anti-slavery. Many *a young man has found
his eloquence the golden door to a life for liberty. Now Muriel
has planned to go to the Convention to-night, and yon are to
go with us, and I hope yon will hear him.
" Who are going ?" asked Wentworth.
" We four," rephed Harrii^ton.
"You three," responded Wentworth ; " I won't go."
"Oh, hut you must," replied Harrington. " I promised to
bnng you there to tea, and my word is at stake,"
Wentworth was sileut, and sat with his ejea fixed on- the
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223
floor, and liis face reluctant and uneasy. Harrington watched
bim, and felt that there was some reuKon connected with either
Muriel or Emily for his desire to avoid g'oing to Temple street
that evening. Sacldonly the story Witherlee had told him
about Wentworth and Muriel flashed into his memory, and
with it came the sharp suspicion that "Witherlee had lied.
Could it be, after all, that Wentworth and Emily were lovers ?
Harrington's heart trembled, and he determined to question
Wentworth on the spot.
" Richard," said he, " why ai'e you averse to going up to
Temple street this evening ? Is it on account of anything in
this talk of Femando's which John Todd told you ?"
" Oh, no," replied Wentworth, coloring. " I don't care —
I'U go since you desire it."
" Richard," said Harrington, after an awkward pause, " par-
don my rudeness, bnt*I want to ask you a frank question, and
I liave » reason for asking it. Are yon in — well, have you, aa
Witherlee said, one of Cupid's arrows in your bleeding heart ?"
Harrington tossed out the question gaily, but with a flushed
face, and his heart beating. As for Wentworth he was scarlet
to the roots of his hair, and with his eyes fixed on the floor,
toyed with his moustache in great confusion.
" Oh, that wasn't Witherlee's phrase," he stammered eva-
sively. " That was my way of reporting what he said."
" Well," retarned Harrington, " but is it true or not ?"
Wentworth was dlent for a moment.
" Suppose it Is true. What then f" was his answer.
" It is troe, then V faltered Harrington.
Wentworth was still for a moment, then nodded afiirmar
tively.
" Good 1" exclaimed Harrington. ',' Richard, I give you joy.
But now tell me — pardon my inqnisitiveness — tell me which is
the one ?"
Wentworth felt himself in a comer, and with his face hot as
fire, and his heart throbbing furiously, cast desperately about
for some evasive answer.
" Is it Emily ?" said Harrington ha.stily, in a vokc which he
could not keep from trembling.
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23i HAEKTNOTON.
Wentworth instaDtly took the tone as evidence of Harriog-
ton's love for Miss Ames, and with a bitter feeling filling his
heart as the sense of the ifljury she had done him, swept over
him, he became self-possessed and cold.
" Emily !" he repeated, affecting surprise and looking at
Harrington's flushed face with desperate placidity, while a
faint smile curved his proud lip. " Indeed, Harringtouj none
of Emily's lovers have a rival in me."
The answer was at onee a tamit and an evasion, but to Hap-
riington it seemed decisive, and spoken ia plain good-faith. It
fell upon him like a death-blow, but his heart, mailed in m^-
nanimity, rose from under it, and he forced himself to smile,
leat Wentworth should be pained by perceiving that it gave
him pain. As yet, Wentworth had not the least idea that his
friend loved Muriel. And, as yet, he did not perceive that he
had Just given Harrington to understand that he himself was
her lover.
So, thought Harrington, Witherlee told the truth after all,
and I was not mistaken.
" Eiehard," he cried, springing from his seat, and crossing
over to Wentworth, who instantly rose, startled by his sudden
movement, aa well as by the strange emotion which stm^led
with a smile in his lit face. " Richard, I give yon joy. I do
with all my heart and soul. Yon should have told me before,
that I might sooner have been happy in your happiness. Bat
I am glad to know it now — from your own lips, for I knew it,
or all but knew it, before. My love and blessing on you both
forever !"
All this poured forth impetuously, his hands grasping Wont-
worth's, his features convulsed and smiling, his kind eyes shin-
ing through tears. An awful feeling swept down, like an
avalanche, on Wentworth. Petrified with the suddenness of
the revelation, he not only saw that he had inadvertently con-
fessed himself Muriel's lover, bat he saw that Harrington loved
her ! He strove to speak, but his lips refused their ofBce, and
no form of words came to his whirling mind. Harrington saw
his pallor and agitation, andmistaking them for the signs of a
young lover's emotion at being thus brusquely congratulated,
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HABEINGTON, 225
Winng hia hands once more, and tnrned away. Wontworth
too much overwhelmed to even think, sank down upon liisseat
and leaning his arm on the back of the sofa, covered his hot
eyes with hia hand.
At that moment a low, piteous whiae was heard in the yard.
HarrmgtOB started and colored and went oat instantly.
"Wentwoi-th, meanwliile, hearing the noise, and aware of his
friend's exit, took no heed of either, but sat trying to compose
his mind to think of the new complication in which he found
himself.
Presently the deep sense of Harrington's splendid magnani-
mity in so joyfully giving up the woman he loved, rose upon
him in contrast with his own passionate envy and jealousy
when he thought hhn the lover of Emily, and mth the tears
springing to his eyes, he felt as if he were the meanest man
that ever bi-cathed. To go and fling hia arms aronnd Har-
rington, ask his foi^venesB, and explain the whole matter,
was his first impulse. Then came the consideration that in
doing this, he must own that he loved Emily, for had ha not
said that he was in love with one ? and he must own that she
had played the coquette with him, and left him with a wounded
heart. He could not do it. Pride forbade it.* But what
should he do ? He couM not leave Harrington in error, and
such an error ! Yet how explam tliat loving one of the two,
he did not love Muriel, nor yet Emily. Altogether, Wentr
worth WEB in a dilemma !
Vainly revolving the matter for a few moments, he finally
came to the desperate resolution so say nothing at present,
but wait until he could be alone, and then think what eom-se
he conld pm-sae to extricate himself from this embroilment.
The clear remembrance came to Lis mind how sedulously
Emily had been wooing Harrii^on of late. Acqnitting him
now of all knowledge or blame in this respect, his censure ga-
thered into a fiercer focus on her. It was plain that, haying
played the heartless coqnette with hmi, she was tiding the
same game on his friend. A regnlar Lady Olai-a Yere de
Yere, he thought, remembering the haughty beanty dowered
with manly scorn in Teimysou's poem. Fiery rage at Emily
10*
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226 HAEKIHQTON.
contended in his sonl with fiery love for her. Gnashing his
teeth with fury, scorning himself that he conid love her
and she so false and base, scorning himself that he could hate
her when he so loved her, he walked up and down the room
for a minute or two ; then euddealj, .with a violent effort,
grew cool, and picking up his hat from the floor, went out
into the yard.
He did not see Harrington at first, but steppmg around the
corner of the house, he caught sight of liim, and all liis pas-
aonate ablation faded away in surprise as he became aware
of hie friend's occupation. Harrington was stooping down in
an angle of the garden near a large square box set on end,
rubbing away with a gloved hand at the back of an old, weak,
white dog, the same Wentworth had seen tormented in the
street that morning. Actually, thought Wentworth, he went
back to take that forsaken brute home with him J
" What in thunder are you doing, Harrmgtou V he ex-
clwmed, approachmg the scene of his friend's operations.
Harrington started, and turned his glowing face with a half
ashamed smile upon Wentworth, then continued to rub the
dog's back.
" I couldn't leave the poor oldtfellow in such a plight, Rich-
ard," he remarked, in an apologetic tone, " so, you see, I took
" Why, he's got the mange," said Wentworth, eying the
animal with a face of mingled disgust and cariosity,
" That's not his fault," returned Harrington, coolly, dipping
his gloved hand into a box of what appeared to be powder^
sulphnr, sprinkling a handftil on the dog's back, and rubbing
it in.
The dog, meanwhile, lying on the ground, was devouring
with feeble content a plateful of broken vit-tnals which the
young man had procni-ed from the house. He was a mi'-era-
ble, weak, red-eyed, flaccid-jawed, dirty-wliite old mastiff, and,
as the young artist had observed, he had the mange. Ah
ugly, forlorn-looking and worthless a cur in his life as that dead
dog which, the old Moliammedan apologue says, the Jewish
mob derided in the streets of Jerusalem, when a tall, strai^r
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nAEEracTON. 227
of grave and sweet aspect drew near, and paused to cast a
look of compassion on the object of their derision, " Isit not
a miracle of ugliness I" jeered the crowd, " But see," said the
stranger, " pearls are not equal to the whiteness of his teeth 1"
And then, says the Mphammedan story, the people knew that
the stranger was the great prophet Jesus, for none but he
would look upon a dead dog with the beauty^eeing eye of love,
" Poor old fellow," soliloquized Harrington, " I quite forgot
I had him, till he whined for his dinner."
I' How confoundedly dirty he is," observed Wentworth.
"Dirty? Oh, no— that's his color," said Harrington,
naively. " He's not dirty now, for I washed him."
"The deuce yon did' I" replied Wentworth, laughing,
"Upon my woi-d, Harrington, you're a regnlai Brahmin.
Though it's mighty good in you to take so much trouble for a
brnte like that. Faith, I'd have left him to his fate."
" Oh, well," replied Harriugton, tranquilly, scanning the
dog's back, to see if any diseased spot had escaped him, "the
poor old thing has something to do in this world, or he
wouldn't have been sent, and he has a right here, seeing that
he does no harm. There, I guess that'll do, and he'U be
comfortable till I get back."
He took off his glove, patted the old dog on the head and
spoke to hun. The annual, who had flmshed his dmner
feebly wa^ed his tail, and licked the kmd hand, then looked
up with bleared red eyes into the face of hie protector, still
waggmg his tail.
"Good," said Harrington; "see how giateful he is!
Come, Wentworth, it's time for us to go," he contnraed
rising to his ieet. " It's after four o'clock, and I promised to
be there early."
Stooping again, he Ufted the dog into the packmg-ca=!P on
some old rags of carpeting, put a pan of natei neai him laid
the tin box of sulphur and the glove on top, and turned away
to the house.
"What agood fellow Harrington is," muttered Wentworth,
foUowing him. " To think of his rescuing that old brnte from
the boys, and taking as much care of him as if he was Scott's
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Maida 1 I wonder that I, who admire suet things so much,
never think of doing sneh things."
He got iuto the room just as Harrington was disappear-
ing up tlie flight of steps into the room above, whither he
went to wash his hands and brush h^ clothes. In a few
minutes he descended again, closed the windows, put on his
slouched hat, and they set off together arm in arm.
CH Al'TEll XIII.
They arrived in a few minutes at the house iu Temple
street, and were let in by Patrick. "VVentworth had been
complaioing that something was hurting his foot, and sat down
iu the hall to take off bis boot and see what was the matter,
while Hurrington weat np-stairs into the library.
The jewel of the rich room was Muriel, and Mui'iel lay on a
Telvet couch, asleep. The young man noiselessly approached
her, and stood tenderly watching her beauty in its repose.
She lay in a glimmer of light from the western window, and
the faint radiance lit her dreamful face, whose beauty was like
a hymn of immortal joy. The draped arms lay restfuUy along
her form, with the white hands iightly clasped together, and
the expression of the figm-e was repose. Gazing at her with
heavenly sadness, the lover saw her countenance gleam with
an evanescent smile, and the- lips mnrmured a word. It was
"Richard." A quick pang shot to his heart, and at the same
instant Muriel started and awoke.
" John 1" she exclaimed, coloring and smiling as she sprai^
up from her light sleep and gave him her hands, " you here 1
When did you come ?"
"Jnst come," he replied, holding her hands, and smiling
into her face. "Why, Muriel, yuu looked like the Sleeping
Beanty of the fairy tale."
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HAESraCfTON. 229
" Oh, John ! And yon like the fairy prince tliat woko the
Sleeping Beauty up I" retui'ned Miiriel, gaily.
" Tliat's a compliment, I snppose," said Harrii^oii.
"Compliment for compliment," said she.
" Oh, hut mine was the tnitk," lie replied.
"And so was mine," she answered. " So it's arranged that
I am the Sleeping Beauty awakened, and you the fairy prince
that aw-akened me, and now I shall have to follow yon through
ail the world, as she did him in Tennyson's poem."
Harrington's color rose, and he dropped her hands. Muriel
blushed too, for she felt that what she had said in thoughtless
play had carried some deeper sense to him than she had in-
tended.
"Pardon me, John," she mm-mured, "I did not mean to
offend you."
" Yon offend me !" exclaimed Harrington, in astonishment.
" Ton, Muriel ! Indeed, no."
" Then why did yon color ?" she asked archly, reassured
" I ? Oil — no matter. I was thinking of something,"
" Of what ? Come now. Be frank, John. I desire— I
command "
Han-ington looked confused for a moment. An impulse
came to him.
" It is yon who must tell me, Muriel," he said in a low
voice.
" I ? What shall I tell you, John. I will tell you any-
thing you ask."
"Tell me then of the fairy prince who awakened yon in-
deed, and whom yon are to follow through all the world.
Tell me of him, tliafc I may congratulate yon and him to-
gether."
Muriel gazed at him in wonder. If he had not spoken
with snch sweet seriousness, she would have thought hewaa
jesting.
" You said yon would tell me anything I asked," said Har-
rington, gi-avely. " Tell me this, then."
" I will, John," she replied slowly. " I will tell you of him
— when I find hhn. Not till then."
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She tamed away, nmsing. It was Harrington's turn now
to look at her with wonder. What did she mean ? He had
never seen any tokens of daplicity in her, but what was
this?
Juat'then in came Wcntworth, smiling. Harrington saw
her face %ht as she went toward him, and wondered if she
had understood what he had said to her. That's it, he
thoi^ht ; ehe coald not have understood me,
"Ha, Muriel. Good afternoon," bnr-st out Wentworth in
his airy way. " Excuse me for not coming up at once, bat I
was ransacking my boot. And see what I found. A dam-
soa stone. Take it, Harriugton, and be happy,"
" Come, no nonsense, Richard," said Muriel " Let's go up
to the studio, and fence."
Wentworth darted at her, and she nimbly dodged him,
flashed out of the room and flew np-stairs, laughing, followed
by the young artist on the run. She vaniehed into the studio
before he could come up with her, and Wentworth turned to
wait for his friend, who was leisurely ascending the stairs.
" Lightfoot cannot ontrnu Atalanta," said Harrington.
"Exactly so," returned Wentworth.
They went up and into the studio, as it was called, together.
It was a large, square, snnlit room, the floor covered with a
thick, hard carpet, and it had two windows looking to the
west, with boxes on the sills, filled with heliotrope and
mignionette, which filled the air with their rich and delicate
fragrance. Muriel's table, with a small easel, cases of water-
colors, and hristol-board, drawing paper, tinted sketches, and
other artistic paraphernalia, stood near one of the windows.
Not far from the other was a moulding stand, on which stood
Emily's bust of her friend, with a box of clay on the floor near
it. The walls were a warm grey, and ornamented with three
or four of Jullien'a crayons, some plaster medallions and ba&-
relieis, and a set of hanging^helves filled with books. Parallel-
bare on one side of the room, a pair of large dumb-bells on the
floor, several iron weights, with rings for lifting them, near by,
it of gilded foils and masks on the wall, gave the studio
^ of the air of a gymnasium. A small piano, with
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HAEEINGTON.
books of music upon it, a low sofa, and a few yilaia arm-chairs,
completed the faraitnre of tlie apartment.
Tlie joung men had sat talking a few miautes, waiting
for Mmiet, when Mrs. Eastman and Emily came in, and they
rose again to ra^ke their salutations. Emily was in her most
sumptuous mood, and smiled serenely as she entered and cui-tr
seyed down into a chair. Mrs. Eastman gave her hand to the
young men, whom slie loved as much as if they were her own
sons, and standing near Harrington, with her arm in his, affec-
tionately asked for his health.
" You are looking pale, John," she said, with motherly solici-
tude. " Too much study I'm afraid."
" Not at ail, mother," said Hamngton, gaily — he always
called Mrs. Eastman " mother." " Celestial pale, the student's
proper hue, you know ; and spite of my paleness, I'm strong
and well."
" Nevei-tbeiess, I wish you had some of Ricbai'd's rosea,"
she said playfully.
" My roses, indeed !" rattled Wentworth, " Why, Mrs,
Eastman, I'm so much in love with Harrington's intellectual
pallor that I'm thinking of trying some of Jules Hauei's Uly-
white cosmetic to get my feee of the same tint. For what is
— hurrah t Here comes the fairy prince !" he cried, breakmg
off, as the door of a chamber adjoming the studio opened, and
a beautiful and brOliant figure came forward into the room.
It was Muriel, transformed by the vivid and gorgeous dress
of a fairy prince — such a dress as the artists of ftdry books
give to Percinet or Valentine ; and in it she was courtly and
noble as Shakspeare's Rosalind, when Rosalind wore "man's
apparel" in the gay greenwood of Ai-den. A year before
when she had resolved to take fencing lessons of Harrington,
she had devised this dress, and with a woman's natural dispo-
sition to ornamentation, and with her own special wish to
throw festal grace and the hues of romance even on her hours
of exercise, she had lirought to the fashioning of her attire ail
the richness of her lavish fancy. To wear auytiiiug that was
ugly even at her gymnastics, or to make her exercise a sober
business and not a poetic pleasui-e, was quite impossible for
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232
nAKEINGTON.
Munel. She mort clothe her miismkiilies with l»«nty •>
Haimodius wretthcd his swotd with mjrtle. So she gilded
her foils and maslo, and fashioned her garb it faii-ymmifi-
eence The to, was a cjioar of mid crimson sill,, looriy
belted .t the waist, and adorned with broidered arabesques of
goM. The bodice, cut loose to the torn, with large sleovra
milled with kce at the wrists, had a frilled raffle of lace emerg-
ing ftom the bosom, and rising in a sort of fraise aronnd the
necl, m ei<,niaite keeping with the teJned beai.ty of the conn-
tenance which bloomed .bore it. A little crimson cap, with a
thick, Bwading, white plnme, rested lightly on the head, and
the glonons amber hair was annngcd to lie on the back of the
neck like the locks of a page. The skirt of the dress, abo of crim-
son sflk, broidered with golden arabesques, and deeply bordered
with heaTT, gold fringe, fell in graceful folds, ending jrot aboye
the knee, and while slk hose, with crimson satin slippers com-
pleted the poetic and splendid costume. Never had Muriel
appeared more fascmating than m this attire, which showed
the toll perfection of a form, straight, supple, tall and strong
whose eyerj ronnded outline was elegance, and whose free
strength was harmonized in grace and beauty.
" By Jupiter !" cried Wentworth, " I never see Muriel in
that costume, without thinking that the long skirta are a tre-
mendous shame. There's a figure for you I"
" Yes, but please remember," said Emily, "tliat there are
some of us women who are not endowed with such line fonna
as Muriel."
" Oh, I'm pretty well," said Muriel, with a hght laugh
But ifs mainly dne to my life-long muscular eiercise,
Emily." '
"Indeed, Muriel," rephed Emily, "nature must have con-
tribnted largely in the first instance, to a form Hke yonts "
"Thanks for complhn.nts," said Muriel gaily, dofilng her
plumed cap and bowing.
" You're indined to underrate muscular exercise Emily"
said Harrington, laughing.
■; Well, perhaps so, John," she replied, with a slow smile.
And yet,' he pursued, " I'm not mn, that to undio women
H.,t.db, Google
ITATfEINOTON.
a race of gymnasts, wouldn't be one of the Piirept ways of se-
curing their social enfmncliisement."
"Why, John," returned Emily, kngliing, "do you want to
maAe ns athletic enough to got our rights by the strong hand ?»
■■ Oh, no," he rejoined, amusedly. " But men conld not help
n , ^ „ „^^„ were on a grander scale, and jus-
tice might be bom of that respect. And, to make women aU
they latently are, gymnastics are a very important instrument
I am iQclmed to think physical traiumg the foundation of all
noble culture. You get from it health, strength beauty of
form, grace of carriage, desterity of movement and action, a
yei7 potent safeguard against all diseases, mental vigor,'cheer-
fulness, coursige, self-reliance, a spMt that nonrishes and pro-
inotes self-respect, independence, generosity, moral purity
heroic desires, large sympathies ; in fact, all the virtues, f
do not say that gymnastics bestow the great intellectualitiea
and moralities ; bnt they enconrt^, develop, and sustain
them. Yon know what Dr. Johnson said—' a sick person is
a sconndi-el;' and I thick a pretty large sermon might be
preached from that test, In these days, At all evente, I am
qnite sure that you will see grander and more womanly- women
and an increase of social happiness, when a vigorous muscular
training is made part of women's culture."
" Bravo I" cried Muriel. " I feel inspired. The foils Ilar-
rmgton— the foils 1"
Harrington— who had been admirii^ while he spoke, the
free, beautiful figure-started and went to the wall to take the
weapons down.
"Pnst, some exercise to get the muscles m order" said
Muriel.
She threw down her cap, and bounding forward, with the
hght strong spring of a bayadere, to the paraUel bars, put her
hands on the poles, and leaped up between them. Then, with
a succession of springs, she traversed the whole len<rth le'apmg
along the bars on her binds ; then, back again to the centre
where she swung to ajid fro for an instant ; and, as she roso
agam, vaulted over and alighted in the middle of the room
tossmg the air into perfume, '
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•^"i* nAKEIN&TON.
"Bravo I" cried "WeHtwortb. "That's religion, as Emer-
" Emerson!" chided Mrs. Eastman, amnsedly. "Emerson
never said any such thii^?."
" More shame for him," retorted Wentworth, gaiiy. " Kings-
ley says so, at any rate."
" Kingsley!" she replied, in the same amused, chiding tone.
"Yes, ma min," asserted Wentworth. "That's what
Kingsley calls musciUar Christianity, and I'm going in for some
of it."
He bounded forward to the bars jnst as Muriel was running
up to them again. She stopped and stood a little one side,
watching him as he swung and leaped forwai-d.
" You don't do it half as well as Muue! said Mrs. East-
man, very truly.
" Tafee care now, Richard, thit dan,eions " cried Muriel
in a. warning Toiee, as Wentworth waa swm^iiig preparatory
to vaulting over.
Wentworth laughed recklessly and flnng himself over the
bars. Muriel's warning was not witlioat leaiion, for as he
came over, his foot struck the pole and v. ith a fry from Emily
which proved her interest in him he pitched head downward.
Muriel sprang on the instant, caught him with all her strength,
and set bun on his feet. Wentworth reddened, and looked
dazed.
" Careless boy," she chided, playfully giving him a light cuff
on the ear, " you came nigh breaking your neck,"
"That he did," exclaimed Hariington; and "indeed he did,"
exclaimed the others in chorus.
"Saved by a fairy prince," cried Wentworth in a mock-
tragic tone. "By Jupiter, Muriel, but you're as strong as
yon're quick. I wonder how many yoang ladies there are in
the world that could catch a fellow when he's tumbling over
neck and heels to destruction. Well, I guess I won't try that
again. Thank yon, dear foiry prince."
He pat her hand gallantly to his lips as he said the last
words.
" I declare," cried Emily, laughing, " what would society say
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HAEEDJO-TOH. ^^5
if it could behold tliese operations ! I can't help thinkinn; liow
onr minister at Cambridge, and all my Episcopal friends would
stare at yon, Mnriel."
"Yea, flower of the world," replied Muriel, " we should be
awfully scandalized, no doabt. But there's vu-tue in our
g^nes, nDTortheless, for health is there, and health is a virtue
that beckons the others on. The fencing, however, is the per-
iectioii of. exei'cise."
" Why is that so ■superior ?" asked Emily,
" Because it develops bodily strength and activity more
harmoniously than any other," rephed Muriel. " So Roland
says."
" Roland ?" inquired Emily.
" Yes. Eoland is the author of the best modern work on
fencing," answered Muriel. " Stay, I'll read you what he says."
She went to the book-shelves, and returned witli the volume
— nioland's " Theory and Practice of Fencing."
" Here it is," she observed, finding the page. " Listen ;
' Perhaps there is no exercise whatever more calculated for
these purposes (developing and cultivating bodily strength and
activity) than fencing. Riding, walking, sparring, wrestling,
running, and pitching the bar are all of them certainly highly
beneficial, but beyond all question there is no single exercise
which combines so many advantages as fencing. By it the
muscles of every part of the body are brought into play; it
expands the chest aud occasions an equal distribution of the
blood and other circnlating fluids throi^h the whole system.
More than one case has fallen nnder the anther's own observaf
tion, in which affections of the longs, and a tendency to con-
sumption have been entirely removed by occasional practice
with the foil; and he can state, upon the highest medical
authority, that since the institution of the School of Arms at
Geneva, scrofula, which was long lamentably prevalent there,
had been gradually disappearing.' "
Just then a tap was hoard at tbe door. Mnriel dropped the
book, and made one nimble spring through the entrance iutc
her chamber, while Harrington went to the door. It was
Patricli come to say that Mr, Witherlee was down-staira.
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«"" HAKEIN&TON.
" Tell him we're enga^d, Patrick, and ask him to excuse
vs," rang the silrer voice of Muriel tiiroagh the half open en-
trance of lier room.
Patrick departed, and as the door closed, Muriel emerged,
lawghmg, from her hiding-place.
"That was a stroke of policy," she said, "If Femanilo
were to see me in this costume, it would be town talk to-mor-
row, and in the papers the day after. Fcmando's mind is a
perfect colander— all that gets into it mnaont of it."
She was more than ever Kke a fa.iry prince the nest instant
as she stood with the light bright foO in her gloved hand, and
her face covered by the gilt mask, over which waved a thick
crimson plume. Hamngton, similarly aiTajed, save for the
plnme, with tlie golden wires envisoring his features, advanced
toward her.
" You have not forgotten your plastron, have you ?" he
said.
" No : it's under the dress," she repHed.
Firm and true as he, she struck guard, and the foils crossed
with a clash.
" By Geoi^e I this is delicious," exclaimed Wcntworth in
perfect rapture. '
And so it was, for Mnriel was like some nnimi^ined fairy
chevaher as she stood in the beautiful attitude of the exercise,
the rich cnmson lights of her dress glowing, and ite golden or-
naments tremulously flashing in the sun-ray, and the sumptuous
radiance resting on the proud and elegant flowing curves of
her figure. Lithe, superb and strong, an image of health and
grace, a form of lyric beauty, she might have stood in her
armed posture for the spirit of the foil.
Emily had crossed over to the piano, and sitting behind it
with her eyes fixed upon the combatants, began to play a low
drumming strain of Bacchic fury in the pause preluding the
game. Fierce, monotonous and dreamful, a congeries of
bass tones swarming grumly from the keys, with low minor
notes faintly <;hiqang at intervals between, it suddenly rang up
pierced with one sharp tingling treble, hke a cry, as with a
loud clash of the foils, the agile and vivid figure of Muriel
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UAERINGTON. 237
darted forward in a superb Innge. Harrington nttered a low
ejaculation, for the thnist had nearly reached him, and he had
parried in the compa^ of a ring. Muriel stood ou guard again,
her gold and crimson tremulously glowing atid flaslihig in the
enn, and her bright plume dancing, while the dark and furious
mnsic, swarming and drnnimmg loudly from the bass keys,
sunk away into the low, monotonous and dreamful straiu, with
the chirping notes still fluttering and sonndidg in. It did not
rise again, but ran sombrely swarming on, as Harrington
reached in Ms long arm in a quick and qniet luage, which was
deftly parried with only a faint clink of the foils, and then,
with another splendid flasfi of glitter and color, Muriel sprang,
lunging nimbly home, and clash on clash, with a rapturous
clamor of steel, came pass and parry on either side, while the
hurrying music rose and rang in whirling riot, like a wOd, tumnl-
tnouB race of Mienads, with hea^y bara of thnnderous sound
etrikiug through tlie loud, triumphaut swarming farj of the
melody. Clash and flash, amidst the strumming whirl
and anvil blows of the melodious choral, flew the bright fofls,
and stamp and tramp, adTancing and retreating, sinking and
rising, low to the lunge, and high to the parry, swayed and
darted the lords of the fairy duel — Muriel's crimson feather
tossing and dancing in time to the gathering and racing of the
music, hke a delirious sprite of combat.
Suddenly— snap — jingle — the contest ceased, and the music
flittered off into a light and brilliant strain, like the tinkling
laughter of elves. Harrington stood with a daaed air, looking
at the fragment of the foil he held, the rest of which lay on
the floor. Muriel broke into a meriy peal of laughter, in
which Wentworth and her mother joined, while Emily, still
playing, smiled indolently over the piano,
" Plague 1" exclaimed Harrington. " That's the second
foil I've seen broken to-day. They make these things misera-
bly bad."
" It's the last pajr we have, so that ends our fun for this
day," cried Muriel, taking the gilt mask from her bright,
flushed face. "Serves me right for not always having half a
dozen sets on hand, a thing I'll do in fature."
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" By Jupiter 1" exclaimed "Wentworth, while Muriel crossed
to hang up licr mask and foil, " that was tall fencing, while it
lasted, anyhow. I'm son-y the foil's broken, Muriel, for I
wanted to fence with the fairy priuce myself"
" You ought to learn, Emily," said Mrs. Eastman. " Then
you and Richard could match John and Muriel."
Emily stopped playing, and glanced at Weutworth with a
s%ht corl of her lip, which did not escape the young artist.
" Indeed, Mrs. Eastman," she said, " it's not in my line, and
I should make a poor tigure at it, I know."
" But it's as beautiful as dancing," said Mrs. Eastman.
"And a great deal more womanly than waltzing," put in
Wentworth, interrupting, to have his fling at Emily, who was
very fond of the waltz.
Emily reddened, and fixed her lustrous eyes on Wentworth,
hurt and angered by his remark.
" Come, come," interposed Muriel, gaily, " I won't hare
Emily badgered into doing anything it is not her genius to do.
Feucing is not in her line, as she says; but music, dear Emily,"
she added, patting her arms around her friend, " music is in
your line, and charmingly you played for ns. Your improvisar
tion mspired our battle, and I should fence twice as well if I
always had you to play for me."
" Faith, Emily, there's something in that, I beheve," re-
marked Harrington. " But you fence wonderfully, Muriel, for
one who has had only a year's practice."
" Are you sure you don't spare her, Harrington ?" said
Emily, slily.
" Spare her ? Indeed I don't. I'd scorn to do such a
thing P answered Harrington, with animation.
" That's right, John," said Muriel in a tone of gay grati-
tude ; " it's always a shame for a woman to be treated lite a
weak sister, and there's a sabtle assumption of our inferiority
in the consideration we women get from men in this polite age,
which does not please me at all. No effeminate culture for
me I What I know or do, I will know or do thoroughly and
■yyorousjy, or not at all."
" Bmvo, Muriel I" said Mrs. Eastman, rising, " so your
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HAREINGTON, 239
father would say, if he were with us. There's no reason, he
used to observe, why girls shouldn't be as vigorously trained us
boys, and even supposing woman's sphere to be purely and
simply that of a wife and mother, said he, she ought, on the
most ultra conservative principles, to have every power
and faculty fully developed that she may fitly educate her
children."
" Good I Woman's rights doctrine, that," said Wentworth,
playfully. " Mnriel, do you vote ?" he added, with a quizzical
" Tes," answered Muriel, so naively, tliat Wentworth was
taken aback. " Do you want to know Jiow f Every election
day, Patrick comes to ask me how he shall vote, and I tell him,
and he votes. That is my ballot, for my judgment casts it.
But what do you think of the good sense of a community that
allowing me capable of iastructiog a man how to vote, will not
allow that I am capable of voting myself? "What do you
thiok of the good sense of a eountiy that denies to a cultured-
woman a right which it accords to the uncultured man who
opens her street door ?"
"Well," returned Wentworth, laughing, "we are not all
Bach fools, Mnriel, as to thiuk the am-angement you criticise
right and proper."
" Come, children," said Mrs. Eastman, after a pause, " since
the play is over, let na adjourn to the library."
!A.nd she departed, followed by the otiiei's. Harrington,
seeing Muriel linger, half-absently, paused near her. Becoming
aware that he was looking at her, she looked up from her
musing, with a quiet smile.
"Well, fairy prince," he said, lightly.
" Ah," she replied, witli pensive playfulness, " you recognize
the fairy prince in me, then, do you ? And that is the fau-y
prince 1 am to follow through all the world."
She had approached him as she spoke, and while he looked
at her with an inquiring face, seeking to fathom the riddle of
her speech, she passed close by him, with a light waft of deli-
cate perfume, and vanished into her chamber.
He stood for a moment, lost in a sense of some unravelled
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HAEKINGTCN.
mystery lurking in her words aud manner, and then s
tnmed and went dowa-stairs.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE ANTI-SLAVERY
Transformed ^ain in lace and lilac from a fairy prinee to
a fairy priacess, Muriel joined ber friends in the library.
Music and blithe talk filled up the hours till teartime, and after
tea they prepared to go to the Convention. Mrs. Eastman
had declined accompanying thera, and they set out t<^ther
through the moonlit dusk, Harrington escorting Emily, aud
Wentworth Muriel.
" Why, how cold it has groH-n !" exclaimed Emily, surprised
at the strange chiilaess of the air, as she and Harrington walked
up the shadowy street.
" Yes, indeed," replied Harrington, " and the wind has
changed to the north, I verily believe. After this warm,
deUeious day, too ! But no New Englandei- has a right to be
surprised at the freaks of the climate."
Eng^d in conversation, they did not notice, aa Wentworth
aud Mui'iel behind them did, when they were passing under
the walled plateau, on wliich loomed in the dun moonlight the
domed bulk of the State House, two young men who went by
considerably intoxicated. The young men were Horatio and
Thomas Atkins, who had been drinking juleps in honor of
Southern institutions with Mr. Lafitte at the Tremont House,
whither they had escorted him after dinner. Thomas had
taken so many juleps that his hat was acock, his whiskerage
fiercer than ever, and his gait a swaggermg stagger, while
Horatio was in that state of solemn and stubborn tipsiness in
which a man is upon Lis honor to walk straight. Muriel
sighed as she passed them, and all the way across tlie broad
Common, its trees aiid sward dimly %hted by tlie moon, and
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241
cliill in the fresher breath of tlie keen breeze, wliile she coa-
versed with Wentworth, her thonghts rested with vague unea-
siness on her uncle and his graoeless sons. It was altogether
the most unpleasant topic that ever entered her mind, and it
was especially so on account of her mother. Mrs. EaBtman
felt her brother's general course, particularly his political
course, to be a family disgrace. All the old I^ew England
traditions, laws, and habitudes had been at least passively for
liberty up to the insane yeaS- of 1860 ; and to have her kins-
man one of the new brawlers for slavery and kidnapping was
a sore reflection for the gentle lady. She had never reco-
vered from the wound he had given her spirit, byenroUmg
himself as one of the Fifteen Hmidred Sconndrels. And on this
point, at least, Muriel felt as strongly as she did, particularly
since the report had arrived that Sims had been scourged to
death at Savannah.
The noise of life thickened around the party as they passed
down Winter street into Washington street, the main avenue
of Boston. The street was processional, grotesque, and gay
under the moon. Vehicles of all sorts dashed and rattled
over the pavement, and passengers were bustling and swarm-
ing along the ui-egulur vista of lighted shop windows, under
the dark, motley buildings covered with their multitude of
golden-letteved signs.
Passing up the crowded thoroughfare, they arrived presently
at the Melodeon, where the Anti-Slaveiy Convention was
holding its evening session. It was a hall rented most fre-
quently for concerts and exhibitions of one sort or another,
but memorable in history as the church of Theodore Parker.
There, on every Sabbath, he shook the hearts of thousands
with the sacred and hei-oic eloquence of those sermons which
have passed to shine in pulpit Utei-atnre with the strong splen-
dors of Taylor and Latimer, and a nobleness and courage all
their own.
The hall was fidl as the party entered, and some one was
speaking from the platform. They paused, looking over the
dense concourse for seats, and seeing none, were about to try
their chance in the gallery above, when a party of five left
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i™^ HAEKraOTOS.
theirs in the centre of the hall, and going down the aisle at
once, they took the vacant places. Harrington had passed in
first, and kanijig over to Muriel, said in a whisper :
" Did you see your ancle as we came in ?"
"Yes," she replied. " Who was that with Mm, that looked
at you so strangely ?"
Harrington tm-ned his head and gazed up to the back of
the hall, where Mr. Atldna was sitting, scornfully listening to
the speaker. By his side he saw a^dark, handsome face, with
a moustache, and the face was intently watching him. With
a yagne thrill he turned i^in to Muriel.
" I don't know him," he whispered,
" It is strange," she whispered in reply. " I saw by Mr.
Atkins's manner that he was telling that person who we were,
. and I know by the slight start the stranger gave, and the look
he cast at you, that my uncle bad mentioned yonr name, and
that the stranger had some interest in you."
Nothing more was said, but Harrington felt disturbed even
to apprehension, though he could not have told why. In a
minute or two, looking around again, he saw tlie stranger still
watching him, and saw his eye wajider away with a siiiister
smile. Taming his face resolntely to the platform, Harmigton,
with another mysterious tremor, tried to recollect if he had
ever seen that face before, and unable to recall it, he dismissed
it from his thoughts with a strong effort of will, and set him-
self to listen to the speaker.
Just then, the speAei ended and sat down, amidst a rush-
ing rnstle of the andience and some slight applause. There
was a miunte'e mteimisMon duiing wliich Harrington's eye
swept over the multitude seated m rows aronnd him, and fill-
ing the galleij, which extended in a horse-shoe curve aronnd
the walls of the oblon? hill Both sexes were about equally
represented m the concourse which was dotted here and tJiere
with the dark face f negroes The platform was occupied
by a number of the anti-slavery leaders, men and women. The
chairman, who was leamng from his seat in hasty conferenc«
with two or three persons, was the gallant Francis Jackson, a
wealthy citizen, who, when the " gentlemen " of Boston had
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HAEKIUG'rOS. 243
broken up an anti-slaYery meeting of women, fifteen years be-
fore, opened his house to the outcasts, at the imminent peril
of laaving it razed by the mob. But he was resolved to defend
free speech, and in this cause, said he, " let my walls fall if
they must : they will appear of little value after theii- owner
shall have been whipped into silence." Such waa the Koman
deed, the Roman word, of Francis Jackson. Near him aat
Garnson, The light of the chandelier shone full on the bald
head and high-featured, danntlesa face of the grand Puritan—
a face in which blended the austere gentleness of Brewster
with the stern integrity and solemn enthusiasm of Vane. Not
far distant was the antique and noble countenance of Bnrlefn-h
with Its long beard and lengths of ringlets giying it the cha-
racter of some of the heads mediteval painters have imagined
for Jesus. An orator he, whose massive' and definite logic ran
burning with Miltonian sweep, and could burst, when he so
chose, in an iron hail of Miltonian iaTective. By hia side,
Harrington saw the domed brow and Socratic features of the
mighty Theodore, with the lips curiing in some rich stroke of
whispered wit, which brought a momentary smile to the face
of Burleigli. Behind them was the rnj^d and salient visa^
of Parker Pillsbnry, a man whose speech rode like the Pounder
of Bivar, and smote with a flail. Before Harrington's eye had
wandered from him, the chairman rose, announcing a name
which was lost in the sudden pour of applause that swept up
from the front, and spread from rank to rank with lood cheers,
and then at once the whole concourse burst into a surging and
tomng uproar of acclamation, as a beautiful patrician figure,
di'essed in bla«k, came forward on the lighted platform.
It was "Wendell PhUlips— the flower of the anti-slavery
chivalry. Memory recalls the words in which Robertna
Monachus describes the leader of the twelfth century Crusa-
ders, Godfrey of Bouillon : " He was beautiful in counte-
nance," says the chronicler, " tall in stature, ^eeable in his dis-
course, admirable in his morals, and at the same time so n^ntle,
that he seemed better fltted for the monk than the knight ';
but wlien his enemies appeared before him, and the combat
approached, his soul became filled with mighty daring ; like a
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244 HAKEINGTON.
lion, he feared not for bis person — and what shield, what
buckler, could resist the fall of his sword V So might one
describe the gi-eat Abolitionist. But a poetic heart would
take from that rich old world Past a more lustrous figure thau
CTeu Godfrey to stand as bis representative. In England they
call Lord Derby the Rupert of debate ; and far more aptly
might Wendell Phillips be termed the Tancred of liberty. In
his personal appearance, as in the attitude of his life, the na-
ture of his thought, and tiie style of his rhetoric, there was
that which recalled the imag^ of the loveliest of the antique
chevaliers. As he stood on that brilliant platform, while the
enthusiastic applause swelled and tossed in a tempest of sound
and stir — one foot advanced, his hands lightly clasped behind
him, his head cnryed a little to one side, the light brmging
out in definite relief a face and form in strange contrast with
every other around him, and whose statuesqae repose seemed
heightened liy tlie fumultuons commotion of the audience — he
impressed tie eK hte a piece of exquisite sculptm-e when seen
among tl e al n shaj es of men. A tall-browed, oval head of
severe and ngular gra e j long, clearK^ut, Roman features ; a
keen anl [» etrant eye around the firm mouth a glimmer of
feminine sweetness the face harmonized with an expression of
golden n ba ty , -i d n the whole aspect the pohshed ease of
the gentleman blended with the lofty bearing of the Paladin.
And a Paladin he was — a star of oratoric toui-nament, proved
so by many a hard-fought aigument in the chivalrous fields of
liberty, where his eloquence, that fiery sword ivrought of Jus-
tice and Beauty, as his friend Parker has called it, flashed and
rang on the armor of the vile, and brought new courage to
the war. None listened to the bright apd terrible music of
his speech unmoved ; no bitterest conservative could bear it
without owning Its magic. Eabbed of his just due of fame
by the unpopularity of the cause he championed, even his foes
could whisper that he was the greatest orator in America
even the scholars of the Boston " Courier", the representative
profllavery organ in that latitude, and the deadly enemy of the
Abolitionists, could call him, with strange warmth, the Cicero
of antinslavery.
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HAEBINGTON. 245
The applause sunk down, and an expectant, breathless hush
succeeded. Slowly his lips curved apart, and the clear, per-
Buasive silver of his Toice flowed into words. It was a simple
and ordinary sentence, and yet what a fascination it had ! It
was not a sentence — it was something bright that flew into
the souls of his audience ; and as it flew, the magnetic glance
of his eye seemed to follow it, and every one was captive. His
address was at once exposition and criticism. The condition
of the nation, the aggressiom of the slave oligarchy, the recent
plnnder of Mexico for the extension of slavery, the servility
of the pulpit, the pro-slavery scheming of Northern merchants
and manufacturers — these were his themes, and how he treated
them 1 He was not in his loftiest lyric mood that night, and
his speech only rose now and then from its tone of exquisite
impressive colloquy into the long, imperial sweep of the ora-
tion ; but still, as Thomas Davis said of Curran, his' words
went forth in robes of light with swords. Shapes of severest
crystal grace that moved to Dorian music, an armed battalia,
a br%ht procession, the splendid phrases trooped, with strength
to strike and skill to guard for liberty and justice. What
language — so finely chosen, so apt, terse, limpid, electrical 1
What logic — proof-mail of gold and steel around.his thought,
or a smiting weapon of celestial temper 1 Now came some
metaphor so analogically related to the theme that it flashed
on the mind like a subtle argument. Ai^ now a sentence
shining upon the imagination with the beauty of an antique
frieze. Here was an exjwession that memory would wear hke
a gem-cameo forever. And here some jewel of classic story
re-cut more purely, or some historic picture that glowed sharp,
definite, in lines and hues of life, upon the eye of the mmd.
Ifow it was the scimitar-glance of wit shearing the floatmg
film of some intangible popular delusion, or he. Now some
homely illustration bon-owed from the street, the shop, the
farm, yet suddenly interpenetrated with as strange a poetic
grace as though it had drojDped from the lips of Tully two
thousand years ago. Or here s^ain invective, rising above
some gloomy wrong, and smiting bright, like the diamond
sword of Dante's blact-stoled angel. Rhetoric, yet not the
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246 HABKINGTON.
artificial, decorative rhetoric of the schools, but an organic
growth of the mai!, Art, but art that seemed like nature, for
it was the art that nature makes. One felt, and truly felt, in
lietenii^ to the ovator, that this waa his natural normal speech.
It was beautiful, it was ornate, it was artistic, but it waa of
the heart, it was of the life ; and everywhere it was the stem,
the solemn voice of conscience, of honor, of virtue — everywhere
it was terrible and sacred with radiant pity for the poor and
weak, flaming scorn for the traitor and the oppressor, burning
love for liberty and justice. But who is he that shall so much
as hint desciiption of the classic grace, the delicate fiery power
of the speeches of Wendell Phillips to the men of Bostou ? The
golden bees tliat clustered M the lips of baby Plato, must
swarm again from old Hymettus to the cradle of the child un-
born who shall esF^y to tell the magic of that eloquence. Say
that itt an age and land of muck-rakes it was the speech of a
gentleman — say that in its tones were heard the aucestraJ
voices from the blocks and battle-fields of liberty — say that it
touched with heavenly ardor and lifted to nobler life all uncor-
rupted hearts, and was light to the blind, and conscience to
the base, and to the caitiff whatever he could know of shame ;
so leave it to worthier and more abundant praise, and to the
future.
The applause which had burst forth again and ag'ain during
the speech, now swelled into a tempest of acclamation as the
orator withdrew. Muriel still kept her lit face fixed on the
platform, and Emily, kindled into ardent color, leaned back
with a sigh, Wentworth, meanwhile, flushed with delight,
was splitting his gloves to ribbons with vehement applause,
when looking around, his eye fell upon Harrington, and stop-
ping in the midst of his furore, he stared at bim, amazed.
Harrington's strong faSe was white, his brow knitted, and his
nostrils tensely drawn.
" What's the matter, John ?" cried Wentworth, alarmed,
and raising his voice to be heard amidst the cheering.
Muriel and Emily both looked at him suddenly, and the
young maa recovering, smiled like one sick at heart, and rose.
They thought him ill, and unheeding the announcement of the
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247
next speaker, they left their eeate and weat from tlie hail, Ma-
riel and Harriogtoa noticing, as tbey passed up the aisle, that
the seats occupied by Mr. Atkins and the strainer were
vacant.
In the vestibule, Harriogton paused with Emily on his arm,
" Muriel," he said, " I want to speak with yon a moment."
She left Wentwortb instantly, and came to kirn, with a face
of inquiry,
" Muriel," he said, in a low, clear voice, taking her hands
in his, and looking into her eyes, " I feel a dreadfnl foreboding.
It struck apon me just now who that man is we saw with
your uncle,"
" Who is it ?" she said, quickly,
"Lafitte ! I know it is he, I feel it in my sonl," he re-
plied.
For a moment she looked at Mm vacantly, with parted lips
and dilated eyes,
" Hurry," she ci'icd, breaking from him ; " haiTy home.
Come, Wentworth. ■ Oh, it's nothing," she said, with a vanisli-
ing smde, as she canght the astonished eyes of the young artist.
" Ask me no questions, Richard. You shall know hereafter."
And putting her arm in liis, they went off rapidly together,
followed by Harrington and Emily.
On the way, Harrington told Emily of his conjectnre, and
they excitedly discussed the matter till they arrived with the
other two at the door of the honse.
" Now, Emily and Ilichard," said Muriel, " you go in, John
and I are going to walk further. And, Emily," she whis-
pered, "tell mother I shall bimg home five people to stop all
night. Remember. Come, John;" and taking his arm, they
went up Temple street together.
"Well, by Japiter!" exclaimed the mystified Wentwortb,
"this is decidedly odd I What does it mean, Emily?"
"I cannot tell you," replied Emily, coldly. "Will you
please ring ?"
Wentworth, bitterly recalled to her attitude toward him by
this frigid reticence, rang the bell, and the door opening
presently, they went in.
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^45 HAEEiNGTON,
In the meanUme, Munel and Harriagton went up the street
together, he yagaely thriUing with the electric energy of her
manBer. She was silent for a few moments.
" John," she said, suddenly, " I respect an intuition like this
of yonrs, and I tlnnk yon are right. Eonx is in danger. Now
this man only arrived to-day."
" How do you know, Muriel," he mterrupted.
" Thus," she replied. " On the way home from Mr. Parker's,
Emily and I overtook little Julia Atkins, and she said that a
gentleman from New OrleaQS had come to town, to-day, and
was to dme with them. I did not ask her anything on the
subject, for the conceit of the child's manner was not agreeable,
and I changed the subject. Bat that was the gentlemaa from
New Orleans, I am confident. No doubt, "Uncle Lemuel and
he thought it would be amusii^ to visit an Anti-Slavery Con-
vention."
"Yes, and the uest thing a waiTant will be out for Rons,
and we shall have another fugitive slave-case in Boston," said
Harrington, " But I shall stop that by taking Eons home to
my house, and Bitting with him with loaded pistols till the hunt
is abandoned."
"Bravo, John," cried Muriel. "But that will never do.
Mr. Atkins told that man your name, I know, and you are
likely to have an early visit from him. It will not do to have
Eoux at your house. Rous must be hid whei'e they will never
think of searching for him."
" True," he replied. " But, by the way, Muriel, where are
we going uow ?"
" Have you just thought to ask ?" she answered, gaily.
" Oh, John ! But we are going to bring five people home to
my house."
" Muriel 1" He started as he spoke. The tears sprung to
his eyes, as lookmg into her noble face, he met its proud and
"We are going to Southac street, you know," she said,
"and we shall bring home Rous and his wife, Charles, and the
two children. That's five. The baby we don't count," she
playfully added.
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HAEEINGTON. 349
Harrington was speechless with emotion.
"In Temple street they will be safe for the pr&seut," she
eontinned. "Then we can decide on the next step. I tliluk
Boux must remove to Worcester, for whatever tliej may do in
Boston, I believe they will never take a fugitive from Worces-
ter. There's good blood yet in the heart of the Commonivfalth,
the heart of which, moreover, is the heart of Wentworth Hig-
ginson."
WeDtworth Higginson was, at that period, the gallant
miniater of the Free Church at Worcester, a man with the
Bevolutionary soul of fire,, and the incarnate nncleus of that
glorious pablic spirit which is still prompt to defend a man
against the kidnappers in the heart of the old Oommoii wealth.
"Meanwhile," pui'saed Muriel, "I'll take cai'e of poor
Eonx."
"Oil, Muriel I" said Harrington, fervently, "there is no
liobleaess, no teaderness, like yours."
In the wan moonlight he saw her color onder his impassioned
gaze. She did not reply for a moment, but turning her fa^e
away, she Said her Land upon life arm, and its almost imper-
ceptible tremor sent a mystical, sweet agitation throngh his
"It is nothing but a duty," she replied, presently, . in a
gentle voice. " A clear and simple duty. Life opens plainiier
to me every day, and I see that I have wealth and eti'cngth
and yottth, that I may saccor and protect the poor 1"
Ko more was said, but tranced in thooghts and feelings too
sacred and deep for words, they moved in silence throngh the
dim and solitary streets, vaguely lit by the wan lustre of the
moon. There were lights in the houses as they passed, for it
was not yet ten o'clock, but save a few boys, white and negro,
fentastically playing in some of the streets, and half-dispirited
in their nocturnal games by the strange bleakness of the air,
they hardly met a person.
Lights glimmered dimly in the windows of Southac street,
but Roux's windows were in darkness. Some negro boys,
atting on the wooden steps of his abode, made way for them,
and ascending they entered the open outer door, and tapped
U*
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^»U HAEEISGTON.
at the panels of his room, Xo answer. They tapped louder.
No answer still. Harrington, oddlj remembering tiie strenuons
snoring of Tugmntton oa the nights ui March when Houx
was sick, and he had watched with him, put his ear to the
door aad listened for those tokens of tlie fat boy's slumbers.
But no sound reached him.
" Pray Heaven nothiug has happened," said Muriel. " Let
us try tlie other door."
Harrington turned to the opposite side of the passage, and
knocked loudly. There was an instant stir within, and pre-
sently the door opened, and a stuange httJe wizened colored
man, not more than four feet h^h, with a pah- of tiu-rimmed
spectacles on his shrunken nose, and a long coat reaching
nearly to his heels, appeared, wit"h a copy of the " Common-
wealth" newspaper in his left hand, and in the other a tallow
caudle stuck In a bottle which he held above his head. Har-
rington had seen him before, though he had forgotten Ma
name.
" Good eyenmg, sir. Can you tell me where Jlr. Roux is
this evening V asked Harriagton.
The little man stood still for a moment, gazing past them at
nothing, and looking like some fantastic little corpse, set bolt
upright.
" Good evening, Mr. Harrington. Good evening, Mrs. Har-
rington," he said, at length, in a voice Uke the squeak of a
mouse. Then he paused. Muriel smiled faintly at the oddity
of being called Mi-s. Harrington, and though the wizened
creature was not looking at her, he seemed to see the smite
for he smiled also in a slow, fantastic, frozen way.
"WmuDi Roux's been took off," he at length sqneaked in
a deliberate tone.
Harrington and Muriel started violently, and Jioldmg each
other, looked at the speaker.
" Took off I" gasped Harrington. " What do you mean ?"
The httle man made another long pause, then squeaked like
an incantation, " Oplielee 1"
A large fat mulatto woman with a red kerchief tied round
her head, came from within, rubbing her eyes. Ophelia had
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HAEEnraTON. 251
evidently been asleep, bnt slie nodded her head, bright and
wide awake, when she saw the visitors. *
" What has become of Roux ?" said Harrington, looking at
her witli his pale, startled face,
" Oh, thej's all heen took off to Cambridge," she replied
qnickly, towering iu good-natured bulk above her elvish hus-
band, why stood like one magnetized. " Clarindy Eoux's mar-
ried sister lives thar, Mr. Hai^'nton, an' her old man come in
with his wagon and took 'm aU out thar this afternoon. They's
to be fetched bock to-morrow at dinner-time, so Tug says."
" Thank yon," said Harrington. " Good evening ;" and
" good evening," said Mmiel ; both too mnch agitated with
the sudden rehef that sivept over them, to say another word.
" Laws bless you ; good evening," said Ophelia ; and
" good evening, Mr. Han-ington — good evening, Mrs. Harring-
ton," squeaked the strange little ci-eatare, stiii standing in the
same attitude, as Muriel and Harrington departed.
" Well," said Muriel, with a deep-drawn breath, and then a
laugh, as they gained the street ; " that was as good a fright
as I ever got iu my life."
" A fright, indeed," he returned. " I felt as if I should
They walked on in silence for a few moments.
"What a singular little kobold that is," ^e said, as they
went into the street.
" Very," replied Harrington. " He's a tailor, and a great
Free-Soiler, as you may imagine by the newspaper he had,
Now, Muriel, it seems the Rouxs are fortunately away for the
night. So they're safe for the present."
" Yes," she returned, gaily ; " and my word is forfeit, for
where are my five captives ! N'importe. I'll have them to-
morrow."
"To-morrow, at noon, we'll come here together," said Har-
rington.
" Agreed," she rephed. " Punctually, at one o'clock, we'll
be here ; and, hke two fairy princes, caiTy off the Ogre's
victim,"
They fell from this into a strain of talk, half-gay, half-serious ;
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252 HAEKIHGTON.
and, satisfied that affairs were iu a good state at present, re-
tQrned rapidly to the house.
CHAPTER XV.
AsTEE the incidents of the evemng, it was not a Uttle discom-
posing to behold, as they did, upon entering the parlor, Mrs.
Atkms, Miss Atkins and Julia, together with Fernando With-
erlee. The Atkins family had been there for a couple of hours,
making a famUy caU. Muriel was a favorite with them, as
with everybody, and they saluted her affectionately ; she re-
sponding with her usual affability. Harrmgtou,' too, was po-
litely favored ; though Mrs Atkuis (who had been a poor
country gh-1 once) and Ler daughters, also, had their misgiv-
ings as to his being of suftcient lespectabihty to deserve the
civilities due only to Good Horiety But, despite this conside-
ration, no woman could resist the sweet manhood of young
Harrington ; and so he received from these ladies as much
politeness as though he moved, with mutton-chop whiskers and
modish clothes, In fashionable drcles — which was unfair.
While Muriel was privately esplainmg matters to her mother,
Harrington joined in the conversation, in which all parties
pated, save Wentworth, who was unusually quiet, and sat a
little apart, with a cold and reserved air, the result of his feel-
ings for Emily. The conversation, which had been on topics
more or less commonplace, and had hovered frequently about,
and several times fairly settled on, the charms' and graces of
Mr. Lafitte, dipped again to that enrapturing theme, by the
will of Mi-a. Atkins. Miss Atkins, by the way, though still a
devotee of the chivaJrons son of the sunny South, had suffered
some slight abatement of her raptnre ; having learned, by
chance, that Mr. Lafltte was aJready married.
" Oh, Mr. Harrington," continued Mrs. Atkms, after much
enlogium of the Soathcrn gentleman who had done as the honor
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HAKEINGTOH. 253
of dining with us to-day, " if yon coald only meet Mr. Lafitte,
you would Lave such different ideas of the Southern gentlemen."
" Indeed, madam," replied Harrington, courteonaly , " I
should be Borry to have my ideas of Southern gentlemen changed,
for I credit them with many fine and high qualities. Don't
thinlf that I im^ne Northerners and Southerners in the ab-
solute colors of good and evil — black and white ; alt the white
on our side, and aU the black on theirs."
" Oh, no, of course not," responded Mrs. Atkins in her faJ-lai
manner ; " but I thought you were so antl^lavery, Mr, Har-
rington."
" I certainly am anti-slavery, madam," good-naturedly said
Harrington, " and if I were living in Hancock's time, I should
be on the same principles anti-Geoi^e the Third. But I hope
I should not any the less pay due regard to the Tory gentle-
men of that era. As far as their Toryism went, I should of
course be their foe, and in like manner I am hostile to the
gentlemen of this day who are tyrants."
"But, Mr. Harrington," said Julia, pertly, "you don't like
Mr. Webster, and I know you don't, do you 7 Now do tell
me, Mr. Harrington, why you don't like Mr. Webster,
Witherlee smiled furtively at Miss Juha's immature gabble,
and lifted his eyebrows in a faint sneer.
" Because, Miss Julia," replied Harrington simply, with a
gentle impressivene.ss of voice and manner which brought a
new sensation to the poor chOd's mind, and made her color,
"because Mr. Webster helped to pass a law which has made a
great many poor people very unhappy. You yourself wouldn't
like a man who made innocent people suffer, would you ?"
" Oh, no, of course not," stammered Jnlia, while Witherlee
smiled maliciously, enjoying her confusion.
" Dear me ! but they're only negroes, Mr, Harrir^ton,"
feebly remarked Mrs. Atkins, in a deprecating tone.
"But, Mrs. Atkins, negroes have foehngs," said Emily.
" Oh, well, dear," responded Mrs, Atkins, " hut their feelii^
are not the same as ours, you know. That is, they haven't
fine feeUnga."
" Tou remember the case that was lately reported in the
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3oi
HAEEISfGTON.
DCTTspapers. Mrs. Atkins," said Harrington, " The rumor
came that tlie kidnappers were in town with a warrant for a
colored man, and his wife fell down dead with alarm when she
heard it. I think jou must allow that poor woman had feel-
ings, and it is hard to deny that Mr. Webster was responsible
for her murder. I saw those poor colored people in Southae
street to-day, in wild distress and alarm at the report that a
slave-hnnter was m town, and no one who sees such things,
and realises them, can like Mr Webster."
" 0 Mr. Hainngton, indeed I can't agree with you," re-
turned Mrs. Atkins with feeble excitement. " Tiiese thii^
are unpleasant, I admit, but Mr. Webster is a great states-
man, yon know— oh, theie never was sneh a statesman as Mr.
Webster I He's perfectlj splendid, and I'm sure if he was to
have all the negroes m the country killed — the horrid crear
tures ! — I'm suio I would like him just aa much as eyer.
Indeed I would, and so would Mr. Atkins. O if you'd only
heard Mr. Webster at Fanend Hall last Saturday, I know
you'd have been com erted He didn't say a word about polities,
and he was so majestic, and ao venerable and so — so pleasant
— oh, it was beautiful I"
And Mrs. Atkuia fanned herself in a feeble fluster of admi-
ration for Mr. Webster, whose speech, by the way, had been
very decrepit, i-amhling, and dull, with only a tonch here and
there of the true Websterian massive power and energy.
" Well, Mrs. Atkins," said Witherlee in his cool, polite, pro-
voking way, "for my part, I don't miderstand how you can
admire Mr. Webster's private hfe, I'm sure."
This change in the venue, as the lawyers say, and this im-
pudent assumption that Mrs. Atkins had been admiring Mr.
Webster's private life, were both highly characteristic of the
good Fernando. His remark was not prompted by even the
pale esthetic anti-slavery, which he sometimes indulged in, bnt
by the simple desh-e to say something which he knew would
aggravate the lady. And Mrs. Atkins was aggravated, for
she colored and fanned herself nervously.
"I don't know what yoa refer to, Mr. Witherlee," she
remarked, pettishly.
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255
"Why, you know what Mr. Webater'a habits are, Mra,
Atkins," said Fernando, lifting tiia ejebrowa with au siir of
painfdl regret, in wliich there was also a bilious sneer. " Yon
are aware of his exeessiTe fondness for old Otard. And then
his relations to women "
"I don't care," interrupted Mrs. Atkins, bridling with
faint esoitecient. " I don't care at all, and I think that God
gave Mr. Webster some faoita to remind us that he is
morta]."
This was smart for Mrs. Atkins, and Witherlee, somewhat
nonplased, turned pale with spite, and lifted his eyebrows,
and shrngged his shoulders with a manner that was equivalent
to saying — Oh, if you talk in that waj, Mrs. Atkins, there's no
nse in wasting words upon yon. His manner would have
been ineffably raaddenmg to most men, bnt women are less
easUy transported beyond control, and Mrs, Atkins, conscious
that she had the advantage of Mr. Witherlee in her reply,
fanned hei'self equably and took no Eotice of his insulting
gesture.
" For my part," said Harrington, gravely offended by
Witherlee's remarks, " I deprecate any reflections upon Mr.
Webster's private life. It seems to me that our concern is
with his public acta, and not with his personal habits."
"Oh, you're a gentleman, Mr. Harrington," said Mrs. Atkins,
in a tone that implied that Mr, Witherlee was not.
Witherlee looked at Mrs. Atkins with parted lips, and still,
opaque eyes, white with spleen, but perfectly cool.
" Now, feilow-citizens, what's the row '!" blithely said
Muriel, approaching the circle with her mother.
" Oh, cousin Muriel 1" exclaimed Julia, " how can yon talk
in that way. It's so low I"
" So it is, dear," archly replied Muriel, " shockingly low,
and you must be warned by my example."
Julia looked a little foolish, and smiled.
" We were discussing, Mr. Webster," said Fernando, tvan-
" Oh, Mr. Webster," said Muriel ; " I used to admire him
very much when I was a girl."
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256 HABEINGTON,
" It's a pity jou don't now, Muriel," said Mi-s, AtVins, "for
he deserves to be admired, I'm sure."
" Yes, aunt, but I neyer recovered from a shock he gave
me in my ' sallet days, wheu I was gi-een in judgment/ " replied
Muriel.
" A shock ? Dear me ! I can't imagine Mr. Webster
shocking anybody," drawled Caroline, with weak smprise.
" JSeTertheless," said Muriel, " Mr. Webster shocked me,
like a torpedo flah, and I'll tell you how. Tliere was a grand
party, at which he was present. Mother and I were there,
and I, who was a girl of fourteen, had no eyes for anybody
but Mr. "Webster. My great desire was to hear him say
somethmg, for I thought anything lie said would bo remark-
able, and worth putting in an album, so I folZowed him where-
ever he went through the crowded drawmg-rooms, with my
ears wide open, eagerly listening for the golden sentence. Bat
Mr. Webster waa in a very silent humor, and wandered about
without speaking to anybody. By and by he went n]>stair8
to the supper room, and I followed him, m reverent admira-
tion and expectancy. He approached the supper-table, bowed
solemnly to some ladies near by, took a fork, and began to
eat from a dish of pickled oysters. After he had eaten three
or four, he paused, with an oyster on his fork, turned his great
head slowly and majestioally to the ladies, and opened his
lips. The golden sentence was coming, and I listened breath-
lessly. Now what do yon think he said V
" Well, what ?" inquired Harrington, after a hushed pause.
" Said he, in his deep, gmm, orotund, bass voice, like the
low roiling of distant summer thunder, 'What nice little
oysters these are !' "
Every one burst into hearty laughter, as Muriel mimicked
the tones of the Websterian eja^nlation,
" That was my reward for so long waiting " she continued,
when the laughter had subsided That wu-, my golden
sentence which of course never went ftom the tablets of
memoiy ta the album It was ^n ramensL sho \ to know
t]in.t great ^tatej,ieri siid such thir s as common people
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HAEKIKGTOH. 267
" And you heard nothing else ?" said "Wentworth, Tastly
amnsed at the anecdote.
" Not another word. He deToiired the oyster, and wan-
dered down-stairs ag'ain, leaving with me the ponderous sprat
which the flavor of the mollusc had conjured from the ocean
depths of his mighty mind."
They began to laugh again, when a ring at the door-bell
was heard,
" That's papa !" cried JnJia.
Papa it was — come for his family. He cano a presently
robust and decisive, purseprond, as n a! lud sm 1 g made
his salutations with a certain rude c urtesj and took a
chair.
" Well, young Udies," he burst out presently u n nt
to hear Phillips harangue this evening
"Yes, uncle," returned Muriel, sport vely we hil you to
keep us in countenance you know."
" Indeed! Well, I'm sorry if my exa jle meted you
Lafitte, our Southern visitor, thought t U le an usmg to
hear some of the fanatical blather, ai 1 so 1 1 ok him aloi g
and, just by chance, he got a dose of Ph 11 1 s
" I hope the dose did him good, Lemuel and you also "
said Mrs. Eastman, with some spirit.
" Oh, I don't deny Phillips's power Serena repl ed the
merchant, carelessly. "It's silvery fine a d f he were n
the Whig party, he'd be a man of mark It a ] y, as I
always say, to see such wonderful ability wasted."
" How did Mr. Lafitte enjoy it, sir ?" asked Emily,
blandly.
" Oh, he — well, I was rather amused at the way he took it,"
responded Mr. Atkins, laughing. " It quite upset him, and in
his hot. Southern way, he said Phillips ought to be shot. In
fact, I thought Lafitte was rather thin-skinned about it,
though, to be sure, Philhps's words are enough to try a saint.
Anyhow, Lafitte felt 'em rankle."
" He must certainly, to have bad so murderous a spirit
aroused in him," remarked Mrs, Eastman.
"Murderous? Upon my word, Serena," replied the mer-
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HAEIilNGTON.
chant, bluffly, " I think his spirit was not miworthy of a man
of h^h tone, and I shouldn't blame him at all if he had pis-
tolled jour orator on the spot."
" Like the assassin who blud^oned Otis in Revolutionary
times," remarked Witherlee, blandly aggravating.
" Oh, you jonng men are aJl tainted with fanaticism." re-
tnraed Mr. Atkins, reddening. " When you're older you'll
know better. I'm always sorry to see young men of talent,
like Mr. Harnngton here, misled by PhiUips's eloquent
abstractions. But live and learn, live and learn." -
" I hope, Mr. Atkins, r shall not liye to learn distrost in
the statesmanship that reprobates slavery," said Harrington
nrbanely, '
" Statesmanship 1" eontemptnously exclaimed the merchant.
" Do you call such iacendiaiy measnres as Phillips and Parker
advise, statesmanship ? Sedition and treason I I declare, Mr.
Harrington— and I say this coolly, in sober eamest-^tliat
if any one were to shoot down Phillips and Parker in the
Street, and I were summoned as a Grand Juror to pass upon
the act, I would refuse to indict him on the ground that it
was justifiable homicide. Yes, sir, justifiable homicide. I
have said it a hundred times, and I uow say it again. What
do you think of that, Mr. Harrington ?"
Han'ington met the insulting exuIUtion of tlic merchant's
gaze, with a look quiet and firm.
" Since yon ask me what I think of it, Mr. Atkins," he re-
1, tranquilly, "you must permit me to say that I think it
^ " And so do I," said Mrs. Eastman, crimson with indigna-
tion. " And you ought to blush, Lemuel, to say that you
would ^ve legality to a ferocious murder."
" Ought I ?" replied the merchant, coolly, " Well, I don't,
Serena. In each a case, killing's no murder. Murder, in-
deed t Ha 1 men like those to dare to wage war on the insti-
tutions of their country !"
"What institutions do they wage war upon, Mr. Atkins ?"
asked Wentworth, civilly.
" Well, sir, slavery for one," excitedly returned the mer-
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iiAKsiNGTorr. 259
chant. " An institution expressly sanctioned by tlie Consti-
tution, and on the protection of which the safety of this Union
depends, Mr, Wentworth. An institntion, sir, which no
statesman would thinli of assaOing for a moment. Where can
you point to one statesman, worthy of the name, from ■Wel>
ster back to Burke, or as far back as you like to go, that has
ever assailed a great politico-economical institution like slavery?
You're a scholar, I'm told, Mr. Harrington ; now just answer
me that question."
" Mr, Atkins, I am surprised beyond measure that yoa
should ask me such a qnestion," calmly replied Harrington.
" The real difficulty would be to name any statesman of the first
emmence that has over defended slavery. You mention Burke
and Webster. Why, sir, the whole record of Mr. Webster's life
up to 1850, is against slavery. It is only eight years ago since
he stood up in Faneuil Hall, and said — I quote his very words,
for I have been lately reagling them — ' What,' B^d he, ' when
all the civihzed world is opposed to slavery ; when morahty de-
nounces it ; when Christianity denounces it ; when everythhig
respected, everything good, bears one united witness against it, is
it for America^- America, the land of Washington, the model
republic of the world — is it for America to come to its assist-
ance, and to insist that the maintenance of slavery is necessary
to the support of her institutions !' Those are Daniel Webster's
very words, sir, and yet yon ask when he ever assailed slavery I"
" Good 1 good !" cried Mrs. Eastman, amidst a general
mnrmnr of satisfaction from all but the Atkinses. Mr. Atkins
sat dumb, wincing under the crushing blow of the quotation.
Tlieir new-born zeal for slavery and kidnapping gave the Bos-
ton merchants of that period terribly short memories.
" Faneuil Hall, crowded with Whig merchants, answered
those words with six-and-twenty cheers. Have you forgotten
them, Mr. Atkins f said Harrington. " Now the cheers
ai'e all for slavery. Now, in defiance of your own statesman's
declaration, you assert slavery to be necessary to the mainte-
nance of yonr Union. And now, because Phillips and Parker
wage war upon slavery, as Webster did then, you would jus-
tify their murder."
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MO HAERINGTOM.
Still dumb, with his strong lip nervously twitchiag, the mer-
chant sat, whelmed iu utter confusion.
" You mentioned Burke, Mr. Atkins," continued Harrington,
" and since you have mentioned him, let me ask if you have fonv
gotten his speech to the electors of Bristol ? Listen to the
words of the greatest statesman since Bacon — for they, too, are
fresh in my memory. ' I have ao idea,' said Edmiiad Barke — ' I
have no idea of a liberty unconnected with honesty and justice.
Nor do I believe that any good constitutions of government or
of freedoni can find it necessary for their security to doom any
part of the people to a permanent slavery. Such a constitu-
tion of freedom, if such can be, is in effect no more than another
name for the tyrauny of the strongest faction.' Those are the
words of Burke, sir. If yon doubt, Mrs. Eastman will get the
volume from the library, and you shall read them for yourself."
"No consequence, Mr. Harrington, no consequence," returned
the merehant, abruptly rising. "We will not discuss the matter
further, sir. Come, Mrs. Atkins, it is time for us to go home."
" 0 dear me," drawled Mrs. Atkins, leaving her seat,
" you gentlemen are so fond of these homd politics. Come,
children, come."
They ail rose, with a flutter and rustle of movement.
Presently, while the Atkins ladies, cloaked and bonneted,
were moving toward the door, Harrington approached Mr.
Atkma, who had gone into the entry for his hat and returned,
and now stood, cold, harsh and moody, apai-t from the rest
of the company,
" I trust, Mr. Atkins," said the young man, with grave
courtesy, " that you are not offended by my plain speaking on
these matters, or at least that you will not understand me to
intend any disrespect to yon personally."
The merchaut glared at him with a sullen and insolent smile.
" Mr. Harrington," he hissed hoarsely, bending his face close
to the young man's, " such sentiments as yours find favor with
my sist«r and niece. It is politic in you to adopt them, and
so cuiTy favor with the one that you may mend your poverty
by a rich man-iage with t!ie other."
And with these brutal words, the merchant threw back his
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HAEEraOTON. 261
head, glaring at tlic young man with opeu moath, and a fright-
ful smile on his blanched visage, which was at that moment
the visage of a demon. Harrington met that glare with a look
of sucli majestic severity, such a stem glory of anger lighting
his cahn eyes and brow, that the mercbant's face fell, and he
elunk a pace away. The company had left the parlor, and
were talking m the hall, as Mr. Atkins had made his reply,
but Mrs. Eastman, who was standing nearest the pailor door,
had heard it aU, and before Harrington could make any
rejoinder, if any he intended, she came quickly in, shntting
tbe door behind her, her silver tresses trembling and her bcaa-
tiful face flushed with haughty and mdignant emotion.
" Permit me to tell you, Lemuel Atkins," said she, confront-
ing her brother, and speaking in a proud and steady voice,
" that the sentiments which you have not the wit to controvert,
nor the manhood to entertain, were held by Mr, Harriuf'ton
before we had the honor of his friendship, and let me further
say to you that while the choice of my daughter's heart, be he
rich or poor, shall be my choice also, I should esteem it the
best hour of my life which gave me assurance that she would
wed a man worthier of her tlian any man I know, and dear to
me as my own son 1 Take that home with yon, sir, and do
us the honor to believe that in this house we value gentlemen
for what they are, and not for what they own."
He shrank from the serene and haughty magnetism of her
manner, and cowering under her rebuke, slunk away to the
door without a word, and went into the hall. Harrington
stood like one thunder-struck, the slow thrill her words gave
him running through his veins, while she swept across the
room to close the door the merchant had left ajar, and tnmii^
again, came quickly toward him, her beautiful face pale and
wet with calmly-flowing tears.
" Tell me, John," siie said, seizing his hands, and speaking
in low, rapid tones, tremulous with emotion — " this pitiful
insult moved me to anger, and in my anger I have spoken the
true thought of my heart — teU me that so dear a hope is not
so vam. Oh, confide in me as in your own mother, for no
mother could love yoa more tenderly than I do."
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262 HABKlNG'rON.
Ifl the epiritna! passion of the moment, all cold prudence,
all reticence, melted, and fell away. He clasped her in his
arms, and with sweet and sorrowful emotion, kissed her fair
brow and silyer hair.
" I love her, mj mother," he murmured, sadly smiling — " I
love her, but the love I once thought mine, is not for me."
" You love her — yon love Muriel, and she does not love
yon I I do not beheve it — I cannot. John, at my age
women are not easily deceived — they do not mistake the
tokens of love. Take care that you are sure of what you
say"
" I am snre, mother, I am sure," he interrupted, in a low
voice. " Her accepted lover told me of bis happiness to-day.
Do not ask me his name. They themselves will tell yon.
Hash I"
The hall-door was heard closing, and the voices talking
gaily in the hall. She looked at bun wonderinglj for an in-
Etaot, then quickly pressed her lips to his drooping forehead,
and glided from his arms to the back-door of the parlor,
out of which she passed up to her chamber, as the others
came in.
Withcrlee had departed as the escort of Miss Julia, his
natural impudence perfectly ignoring the rebuff he had re-
ceived from her mother.
" Where's Mrs. Eastman ?" said Umily.
" She went out as you came in," replied Harrington.
"John," said Muriel, coming up to him, and playfully shak-
ing her finger. " You quite discomfited poor 'Uncle Lemuel,
and he went off as cross as a bear."
" "What a memory Harrington has I" laughed Wentworth,
" To think that he gave bun Burke and Webster plump !
That was a dottble-barrelled shot, by Jupiter 1"
" Oh, it was capital," chimed in Emily.
" Faith," said Harrington, " it was simply lucky. I hap-
pened to have been reading the speeches lately, and so had
the passages by heart. But I wonder at Mr. Atkins making
sneh an absurd assertion."
" Oh, he remembers nothing previous to 1850," said Mnriel.
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HAEEINGl'OH. 263
" These people are perfectly wild with their Webster and
Fi^itive Sla™ Law mania, and they repeat certain phrases
until their org^aus of intelhgence are ossihed, as Goethe says.
Come, Emily, let na have some music."
"Tes, do, Emily," said Weutworth, half absently, and
forgetting for a momeat, as was frequent with him, the state
of affairs between him and BTiss Ames.
Emily looked at him with cool serenity, as if she thonght
his request impertinent. Wentworth, recalled to himself, was
maddened by the look and al! it brought him, and turning to
conceal his anger, wandered away to the piano, humming an
" Come, Emily, we must go home, for it's getting late," siud
Harrington ; " so sing us that sweet song of Korner'e — the
' Good Night ' song — to sooth na to dreams."
Emily smiled with superb languor, and half-reluctant, for
she was not in a songful mood, swept over to the piano, look-
ing steadily as she advauced at Wentworth, who was lean-
ing carelessly against the instrament, and regarding her with
stem eyes.
" I believe," said ahe, listlessly, as she sunk upon the music-
(tool, and with a partmg glance of cold hauteur dropped her
syes fi-om the steady gaze of Wentworth, " I believe that the
piano is out of tune,"
" Do you know why. Miss Ames ?" asked Wentworth sud-
denly, in a voice at once so quiet and so marked that both
Muriel and Harrington looked at him.
" Because," he said with bitter and terrible significance, a
scowl darkening his features — "because it has been played
upon I"
Muriel and Harrington started with a low esclamation, and
glanced first at Wentworth, and then at Emily, with mute
amazpment. A smile arose on "Wentworth's face, and mingled
with his scowl, as he slowly walked away, Emily rose from
her seat, and gazed after him, ha- form dilated to its fiill
height, her bosom hcavmg, and her face and neck suffused
with an mdignant scarlet glow. Turning, Wentworth looked
haughtily at her for a moment, and then, utterly tecldess, with.
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■^b* HAEEINGTOS.
heart and brain on fire, laughed a, bitter and scornful langh,
and moved toward the parlor door. Emily's lip quivered, her
color faded to pallor, and bursting into a passionate flood of
tears, she covered her face with her hands, and swept by the
other door froro the room.
Muriel and Harrington Lad stood transfixed with astonieh-
ment up to this moment, but as they saw both Emily and
Wentworth leave the parlor, they recovered with a start,
"Stay, "Wentworth," cried Harrmgton, rushing to the door,
and " Emily, Emily," cried Muriel, flying after her friend.
But Harrington reached the hall, just as the front door
slammed at the heels of Wentworth, and tearing it open, he he-
held him running up the street like a madman, while Mnriel,
bounding up-staira after Emily, saw her vanish into her cham-
ber, and heard the lock of her door click behind her.
Both returned to the parlor at the same moment, and ad-
vancing toward each other, pale, agitated, and almost petri-
fied with wonder at the hghtning-liiie suddenness and inexpli-
cable character of this incident, gazed into each other's faces.
The aifair was like a flash on a dark landscape, giving a vague
glunpse of some mysterious form there, and vanishing before
its nature was revealed.
" Good Heavens, John ! what does this mean ?" exclaimed
Muriel, breaking the lonely stillness of the lighted parlor.
" I do not know," he murmured, vacantly gazing at her.
" Is Eichard mad ?"
She put her hands to her bosom to repress its throbbings,
and sank into a large chair near her. Both were silent for
some nuuntes, each trying to think, with a whirling brain,
what this could possibly mean.
" What a singular day this has been 1" murmured Harring-
ton at length, as behind this last incident the tableau of its
many-passioued hours rose in his mind.
" Singular, indeed 1" replied Muriel, in a low voice, " and
how singularly and sadly it ends 1"
" Not so," he replied with sweet gravity. " Let it end !a
our good night, which is always happy with affection and
peace. We will dismiss this scene, Mnriel. To-morrow we
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HARRINGTON. 265
can think more clearly, and we will know its rSeaning. Munn-
while, good night."
She rose from her seat, and they came toward each other
with outstretched bands. It was strange, but for the fii-st
time in all their long acquaintance, their hands passed each
other, his arms encircled her, and hers rested on his, with her
Lands upon liis shoulders, A trance seemed to glide upon
them. ITie lighted room was very still ; the sad wind sighed
in the hush around the dwelling ; and gazing into each other's
faces, with a ragne thrill remotely stirring in the peace of
their spuits, they stood motionless, as in a dream.
Thus for a little while, which seemed long, lasted their com-
mnnion. Eaithly cares and hopes foi^otten earthly strifes
removed and dim, and the sorrow of their hopeleis Jove so
chastened and sanctified m the nobleness of mutual sacrifice
that it knew no touch of pain
A long, mysteriona sigh of the night-wind bieatbed around
the dwelling, and stole into the peace of their minds Har
rington smiled, and his heart rose in benediction as he hilenlly
laid his hands upon the fur and sacred heid ol hia beloved
"The night deepenb on, Muriel, and we must pait" he
gently murmured.
" Yes, we must part," she answered, in a low tone, " and our
parting to-night seems like a type of the greater parting."
" To me the same," he murmured, in a rapt voice. " Never
before has it seemed so like parting forever, I might feel thus
when passmg through the dusks of death, with the dream of
all earth's sweet and vanished hours fading in visions of the
There was a long pause, in which the cadence of his words
seemed to Imger like the ghost of music on the air.
"But we shall meet there," she said. "We who have
passed so many holy and poetic hours here — we shall meet
there. The eaiihlj 'good-night' is but the prelude to 'good-
morning,' So shall the last farewell of earth prelude the hear
venly greetii^."
" Yes, we shall meet there," he murmured, " Have we not
met there already — ^friends, true and loving, dwellers in Hear-
12
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^"<* HAEEINOTON.
yen's happy sitor 1 Who shall gainsay the alchemist who
wrote that ' Heaven hath in it this scene of earth.' The true
life is there, and our existence here is but a fleeting hoar of
absence from oar heavenly home. Yes, we shall meet there,
reclothed with the divine memory, and keeping the memory of
all we wrought and were on earth, that earth might fulflll the
large purposes of God— meet there, old friends, true and lov-
ing, changed, and yet the same,"
Again there was a pause of trancing silence, filled with the
floating ghost of visionary music, keeping the sweet tradition
of his woi-ds, and telling to the soul what music telle. Again
around the lonely dwellmg swelled the wind's mysterious eolian
sigh, rismg in iuarticulate wild prophecies, and wailing som-
brely ^way.
" Good night, good night," he softly mnrmured, with a
movement of departure.
" Good eight," she answered, in a low and fei'vent voice,
" friend, true and loving, good night."
A sense of heavenly tenderuesa rose trembling in their
souls, and with meeting lips they were clasped in each othei-'s
arms. Oh, solemn ecstasy of prayer and peace 1 Oh, mystic
passion of a veiled true love !
Was it a dream ? She was alone. Standmg in the soli-
tary room, her brow bent upon her hand, the dun sweetness
of the vision in her mind, she floated away in vague, delicious
reverie. Soft hght fled pulsing through her spirit ; a sacred
and passionless perfume floated m her brain ; a celestial ten-
derness tranced her soul. He loved another ; his love for her
■was the love of friend for friend— no more ; but she was hap-
pier, hoher, nobler to have inspired such love, and stronger
than ever to resign him now, and to live her life alone. So
thinking, like one lost in a blissful dream, she glided away to
her pillow.
Was it a dream f How strangely sweet and vague I He
was wandering noiselessly down the shadowy street in the wan
moonlight, with the cold air blowing on his cheek, as void of
coldness as though he had been a phantom, and not a man.
When had he left her— how ? but his thoughts recalled only
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267
the peaceful passion of that moment, and between the lighted
room and the moonlit street, there was a blank chasm
Dear moment, never to come ^ain, dear m^e flower that
bloomed in the sad garden of his love, never to be renewed,
yet sweetening life and life's submissive sacrifice forever.
Dear friend, true friend and sweet, whose clasp, whose sacred
kiss — the first, the last — gave tokens of no earthly love, but
rich memorials and previsions of the love that makes the hills
of heaven more fair ! So ran the voiceless music of his
thought, while memory kept the phantom form of the
beloved one in visioned light and odor. To-morrow he wonld
meet her, and the day after, and on for many a day thron^h
months and years to come, but never again on the height of
the idea! and intimate eommunion^^here tlieir spirits had met
and said farewell. Years hence, and she a happy wife and
mother, how softly this hour would glide from the innermost
hoUest cloister of memory, and lend a more pensive and tender
grace to her beauty, and shed a finer and more ethereal essence
on her happiness I Consecrating her forever, its consecration
wonld rest on his own life, pledging hun more firmly to lofty
and generous effort, and sanctifying all low toils and stru^les
as with the presence of an angel.
Softly, and withont noise, he entered his dark and silent
house, A moment, and he had lit his shaded lamp, and con-
scious of the sleepless v^ in his mind, he opened the volume
which held for him the rich lore of Verulam, his unfailing
pleasnre, and the comfort of his saddest hours, and sat down to
read the night away. Within aO was stilL Without, the
wind swept drearily through the wan and shadowy street around
the silent dwelUng, the lilac odors had died, and the pale moon-
light shone with the bine glimmer of swords.
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HAKEmGTON.
CHAPTER XVI.
THE GLIMPSES OP THE MO
The gibbou3 moon hung midway down the zenith oyer the
vast and sleeping cltj, a lob of spectral liglit in the cold bine
heavens, over a fantastic brood of dreams. Daniel Webster'a
liegemen and victims slept, and Blacit Dan hhnself, liegeman
and Tlctim to a darker pop-er than ho, slept also ; but the
Uegemen and victims of Dan Cnpld had a more nnceitain
chance of slumber, and fonr among them at least had wakeful
eyes that night as the moon was gomg down.
As the moon was going down, its pale gleam fell npon the
palhd fece and disordered form of Wentworth. He had risen
from his bod, and was sittmg, half dressed, at Ms open chamber
wmdow, m an upper story of his father's house on Tremont
street, and brooding moumfuUj on the misshapen planet which
hang hke a huge, bulging drop of watery lustre above the roofs
beyond the Common trees. His bed, all torsed and tmnbled
ghmmered m white confusion behind hhn, and faint rays of
moonlight touched the Unes of the gilt frames upon the walls
the books upon their shelves, the ghostly bnsts and statuette^
around the chamber, and the dark, goblin shapes of the du-
arranged furniture. Within the chamber aU was dusk disorder
and » dusk disorder was within the clouded mmd and achinji
heart of its tenant.
Passion bad spent its fury ; the frenzy and the fever of his
heart were allayed ; and something like the wan tranouillity
of the mgbt had succeeded. It was all over ; the play was
played ; she had lured him on to love her ; .she had trampled
on i,s lov. i he had repaid her with one bitter burst of scorn ■
he had stnick her heartless pride with insult Into tears : it was
done ; he would never see her more.
H.,t.db, Google
HAKEINGTON. 269
It was done, but was it well doat' ? The calm, rebuking
image of Harrington rose in his mind. Him, too, she was
deceivii^, or seeking to deceive — but he— would he have
answered her so ? Oh, idiot that I ain, he thought ; he would
have shamed her even in her triumph bj hie silence. Ma com-
passion, his for^veness, and, made her feel how poor a. thing
she was ; while I have shown her that mj wound burns and
rankles that she may exult over it, and given her the advantage
by an insult which will only bring her sympathy and me
shame !
Convulsed for a moment by the turbulent rush of fury that
whffled tlirough him, he suddenly controlled himself with a
strong effort, and leaning his burning head upon his hands,
thought on. How would her wiies prosper on HaiTiugton ?
Ha I it was joy to tlihik that she would be baffled there I- She
does not know that lie loves Muriel ; she will not know it ; she
will spin her seductive web ; she will try every charm, and fail,
and fail — and know not why she fails ! For he loves Muriel —
yes, he loves Muriel. But that thought brought another
to the mind of Wcntworth. In vivid contrast with his own
mean and little jealousy of his friend when he thouglit him his
rival for the love of Emily, came Harrington's selfless generosity
to him whom he thought his rival for the love of Muriel.
This, too, had led Harrington to attach huiiself in all their
walks and meetmgs- to Emily — he had stood aside, he had
waived his claim to the contest for Muriel's love, he had left
the field clear and. open, with every advantange to him.
Brought to the full consciousness of this lofty magnanimity,
alive now to his own selgsh selfness, hot tears, wnmg from him
in the agony of his self-abasement, welled from hia eyes. But
this could be atoned for. To-movrow, yes, to-morrow, he
would see Harrington — he would tell liim all — he would con-
fess his fault, and ask for pardon. This wrong could be undone
— so easily ; a little sacrifice of pride — that was all ; but
Emily — her wrong to him could never he undone — never, oh,
never I A ruined heart, a ruined life, love scorned, self-respect
crushed ; oh, Emily, Emily, his wild thought wailed, loved,
idolized, adored still, despite your cruel bafleness, your heartless
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270 HAEEINGTOK.
wrong, yoar life-long injury to me, how can I forget yon, how
can I foi^ve yon, how eon I blot oat yonr image from mj
life, how be again as in the days of yonth and lore and hope
now gone forever and forever !
Weak, shaken, convulsed with passionate despair, he bowed
his head upon his nerveless arms, jveeping bitterly in silence, &b
the moon was going down.
As the moon was going down, its pale light shone into the
haunted shadow of a chamber, aud on the lovely pallid face
and sumptuous form of Emily, dimly projected in the per-
fumed dusk against the velvet of a cushioned chair, in which
she lay reclining like a young empress doomed to die upon the
morrow mom. Her eyes were closed ; her head rested back
almost in profile upon the velvet; and the pale and sculptural
features, relieved by the unbound blackness of her hair, were
like a dream of death. Tlie white night-robe had fallen away,
and clearly ontliued against the glorious length of ebon tresses
which sloped in thick profusion down behind her, bloomed the
polished ivory of one peerless shoulder, melting within the
crumpled tissue of the loose sleeve which covered her drooping
arm. Still, but for the slow heaving of her bosom, she lay in
pallid loveliness — a maiden queen of passional love, love-lorn,
discrowned, abandoned and brought low.
She had been warned of this — too iate, too late for her own
peace — and the warning had come true. . How delicately, how
gently, yet bow clearly, had Witherlee warned her to beware
of Wentworth's insidious honey tongue. Kind friend, wise
friend, whom they think treacherous and subtle, you were loyal
and true to me. But your warning came too late, for I had
already given my heart, my life, my peace to him. Had you
bnt spoken earlier, had you but warned me in time — -but now,
too late, too late, cast off, betrayed, undone I a handsome
gallant's sport, his theme for mockery and insult — come Death,
best other friend, best friend of all to me, best friend and only
friend to mel take me from life to God, for ail that made ex-
istence sweet L8 ended I
So ran the silent passion of her thought, with silent-flowing
tears. The solemn night was still around her vigil, and the
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HAEEIKQTON. 271
hash of the chamber was like the hush of the tomb. They
sleep, she thought, tiiey sleep in peace, while I watch here
nncomforted. She sleeps, my noble-hearted Mm-iel — she who,
misled by my proud, spleenful folly, thinks I have given my
heart to Harrington. And he! oh, how can he foi^ve me
when I tell him — ^bnt be will — that noble nature cannot scorn
ine; he will understand and pity and pardon. Let me only
tell him frankly— let me atone for all my wrong by humbling
myself before him; let me crave hia compassion and forgive-
ness, and so be fitter to go from earth to my Savior's rest.
To-morrow I will depart from hence, and before I go I will
see Harrington and Muriel, and make my peace with them,
I who was jealous of her, even her, my sweet, deep-hearted
Muriel ; I will own it, I will ask her foi^iveness. Punished,
justly punished, for my wrong to them both, let me be forgiven
by tliem, and then let me go away to die.
So ran the deep contrition of her thonght,. witii mournful-
running teai-s. Sorrowfully weeping, she turned her beantiful
and haggard face to the table near hec, and took from thence
a single faded rose. It had been large and fresh in full-blown
crimson beauty, when he had given it t* her, a little week ago.
Pledge of a love then in its seeming hour of radiant victory,
it was the withered token of a love all dead and disenchanted
now. Weeping, she pressed it to her hps ; she kissed it with
gentle and passionate kisses. The sweet, dry odor of the soft
petals stole to ber brain with the mournful memory of Ihe
vanished and dehcioua h ur when tl e ro<ie bloomed ftesh m
the lover's givmg hand and his tender an 1 o-alhnt fjce m as
the rose of all the woild to her Bear rose she murmured
memorial of ho are when hfe nas ecstisy an! heiven itfeclf
seemed cold and far — yju are all thit 11 left me now I I will
keep yon, I will love yon, while hfe lasts, and when I die,
they shall put you in my bosom, under the shroud, and lay us
together m the grave. Gift of him I loved — of him I love
forever — oh, Richard, Richard, yon have wronged me, but I
do not scom yon — you have killed me, but I do not hate yon;
I love you now ; I love you, I forgive you, I hless you — with
my last breath I shall forgive, and love and bless you !
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2*2 ilAEBINGTON",
Mnnnuring the words, in an ecstasy of passionate fervor,
her voice trembling, and the tears streaming from her eyes,
she pressed the flower with both hands to her lips, and swoon-
ing slowlj back npon the cushions, she lay motionless, a shape
of glorious pallid beauty, sculptured npou the odorous dusk,
as the moon was going down.
As the moon was going down, its pale ray streaming aslant
the drooping misty veils that fell m parted festoons from a
golden ring above the pure and cloud-like couch of Muriel,
threw a tender glory on her Madonna face, sweet in its wavon
fall of shadowy tresses. She rested, half-recliued upon her side
against the broad bank of her pillows, in the soft suffusion of
gloomy bloom which msphered her couch from the darkness of
the chamber. Her beautiful white arras flowing from an open
Bleeve, which left them bare nearly to the shouldei-s, lay along
her form npon the silvery grey of the coverlet, and her eyes shone
like dim, rich gems. Aioue and sleepless, in the still seclusion of
her chamber, the phantoms of her many-peopl«d hfe thronged
her spirit, and the drama of the day lived anew. Ail the per-
sons she had known from her childhood upward— faces, too,
that she had seen and foi^otten— came floating m a strai^
aur of dreams upon her vagne and pensive musing. All that
had passed since morning— the places where she had been, the
people she had met, their shapes, their colors, their maimers
and gestures ; what had been said, what had been done— came
in spectral retrospection, singularly minute and circumstantial ;
and now and then, some face, some ghmpse of a passing form,
some room or fragment of sunlit street, half suiprised her by
softly appearing to the inner visnal sense, with the jut and hues
and vivid reality of actual life. Amidst the profuse and teem-
ing phantasmagoria of her thought, came often the strong face
of her uncle— with the surly scowl she had last seen upon it,
melting mto an ominous smile she had never seen, which
strangely altered it to the smister face of the negro-holder.
And with this — sometimes preceding it, sometimes following
it, and mysteriously connected with it, ahnost as fantasficaily
as in a dream— came the agonized and imploring dark face of
Boux, which somehow seemed changed, and not his so en-
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ILiliKINGTON. ST3
tirely, but that it suggested a likeness to some other face
which she could not recall. Pollowina
ae — recQiTuig t^in
and again, a hundred times, and linked with the inesplleable in-
cident of the evening— came Wentworth, pale, and bitterly
laughing, pas^ng, with Lalf-tnraed, scornful head, throagh one
door ; and Emily, melting from haughty scai-let into pallor and
tears, and sweeping away, with her face bowed in her hands,
through the other. Because it has been played upon — be-
(tanse it has been played upon. The words came with every
retafu of these two flgurea— came wearily and strangely ;
darkly significant, yet wholly meaningless, and leaving her ia
quiet wonder as to what lurked beneath them. In all this
■ spectral picturing, the form of Harrington was absent ; and,
though several times, conscious of the vinid life of-her mind that
night, she strove to bring him before her, she could not succeed.
But agam and again the thought of his love for Emily and
of hers for him, caine to her, never impressing her so singalarly
as now. The sti-ange reticence of his demeanor to Emily,
courteous, frank, kind and loving^ it ia ti'ue, but yet so unlike
the abandonment she might have looked for in a lover ; the
carious attentions of Emily to him, her lustrous looks into his
face, her fond, close leaning on his arm, her form bending so
near him, her restless desire to isolate herself with him even
when she and Wentworth were present, her low tones and
whisperii^s, and smiles, tokens of love, and yet somehow
vaguely unloverlike ; all earae to her vividly, and like an
ordinary page in a book which yet contained a lurking riddle
that distracted the mind from the ostensible readmg. Then
their strange reserve. Emily had never intimated aught of
her love to her, save in the conversation which she herself had
instituted to charm down her lover-like jealousy, and the
admission then was rather tacit than dh'ect. And Harrington,
too — he had never breathed a word, or given the rcmot^t
hint of his love to her — not even to her, his adored and trusted
friend. Why tliia secrecy ? What imaginable reason had
they for this close conspiracy of reserve ? She could not gness.
She could not even invent a plausible ^supposition to account
for it. In the candid and vivid temper of her mind that night,
12*
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274 HAEEIKGTOH.
she felt that the mystery of their relation aod conduct would
be fathomed by her, could she but keep it before her thoughts;
but in vain, for as she held it, it would drop away, and be lost
in the phantasmagoric population which crowded and faded
upon her, and then appear again, and agam be lost ; and so
crowding and fading, and coming £^in, in quiet and spectral
complication, with a vagne sense of mystery, and monition
and shadowy warning, all mingling indefinitely together, and
leaving no result in her mind, her phantom host of useless
reminiscenec poured ceaselessly aronnd her, as the raoon was
going down.
As the moon was going down its sad, ray, filtering between
a tunnelled lane of roots and walls across the garden gate of
Harrington, touched his drooping forehead, as he sat near his
open window, breathing the refreshuig coolness of the night
an-. His night-lamp left the lower piwt of the room in dusky
shadow, but threw a steady radiance on the opec volume
from which he had risen when he could no longer abstract his
mind to the rich pages. He was thinking of his own future
how he should arrange his life for the human service. The
dream of love was dissolved; henceforth it could never agitate
his heart; now he was wholly and only mankind's. She had
receded from him into the farthest distauce of memory. He
thought of her aa of one whom he had known and loved
many, many years ago. Now she was gone, and he was alone,
and for him there was only the clouded present and the
unknown future,
Kising from his seat, he paced the room. A strange and
Bolemn heaviness weighed upon him, and he yearned for the
morrow. With the sense of the night, the deep hush of the
air, the shadowy qniet of the room, the brooding sentience of
the ghostly, hour, was mingled a vague, dark, unimaginable
portent which hung iike lead upon his soul. Pausing in his
silent walk, he leaned his head upon his hand, alone in the vast,
haunted solitude of his being, and longing to be at rest. Mns^
ing on and on, a fleeting gleam of peace, like a ray shining
through clouds over a wast* of midnight desokUon, stole upon
bis hour of lonely weakness, as across his mind floated the
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HAKEING'TON, 275'
image of Muriel sleeping — her lily face composed to rest in ita
nimbus of bi%ht hair, and sweet with happy dreams. So had
he seen her in her light slumber that day. It carae into his
mind as he mused — how she had leaped Dp from her graceful
test, with what ethereal summer hghtniug of a smile on her
awakened face, witii what dehcious laughter and what gay
replies. Her words — ' yon are the fairy prmce that awakened
me, and now I am to follow yon through all the world.'
He looked up with a throbbing brtun. The dream of love
was dissolved ; henceforth it could never agitate hia heart :
now he was wholly and only mankind's— Oh, mockery of
mockeries I
In the dead stillness there was the sense of mighty pnlses
madly beating, and the air was flame. All his being rose like
the torrent surge and thunder of a heaven-drown mg sea, and
for one fierce instant the world of life quivered through and
through with agony. He gazed before him with tense aud
burning eyes. A faint radiance cast from the liinnel of hia
lamp, lit the kingly-fronted statne of Verulara on ita pedestal.
The light lay lucid on the vast and sovereign brow, melting
into fainter light below, and the face was as the face of a god
rapt m the white peace of Eteraity. It grew upon the con-
vulsing storm of his passion with a diffusive calm. Slowly, aa
he brooded upon the august countenance, tranquil in massive
majesty, its sweet serenity, ita passionless and regal peace sank
upon him : a sad and gentle inflowing tide of feeling lifted him
above liis agitations, till at length, with clasped hands and
bowed head, and all the tempest of his spirit dying down in
streaming tears, he rose into communion with the man whose
life on earth began new ages.
1^0 words breathed from his hps,no thouglits came to his
mind, but m the ideal presence of the soul he loved, raptures
of solemn comfort arose within him, and he became composed.
A load seemed to lift from his spirit, and turning away, re-
lieved and exalted, he sank into his former seat, and sat in
tranquil musing as the moon was going down.
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HAElilNGTOH.
CHAPTER XVII.
NOCTUB.VAL.
Gradually a desire to be out in the spiritual solitade of tlie
night came upon him. He rose from his seat, closed the win-
dow, took his hat fi'om the wall, and setting the nightriamp in
the open chimney, turned it down to a faint glimmer, and left
the room, locking the door behind him,
A feeble growl reminded him of the dog, and he delayed a
moment to go to the kennel of the animal. The creature
knew him, and lazily yawning as he approached, pawed feebly
in its neat iu the packing case, and wagged its tall. Patting
it on the head, and murmuring a kind word or two, he turned
from it, and abstractedly wandered out at the gate, and away
from the house, with his head bent upon his bi'east, and his
anus behind him.
It was the dead of night, and the shadowy streets, wanly
lighted by the setting moon, were intensely still. The air was
bleak and cold, but the wind, wMcli had beeu stimng before
midnight, had gone down. On that memorable night, as he
afterward remembered, he was in such a condition of mental
abstraction, that he took no note of the course his steps pur^
sued, nor did he once lift hia head to look around him. The
strangeness of the moon as he crossed the streets where it waa
Tisible, would have roused him to obseiTation, had he chanced
to look at it. But he did not, and meeting no person, not even
a watchman, and unmindful of the route he took, he wandered
mechanically on.
What thoughts engaged him, if any, he never could recall.
It seemed to liim, however, that bis mind must have been in
blank vacancy, uncrossed by any shadow of mentality. Tet
he was remotely sensible of the echoes of his footfalls in the
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HAKEUNGTON. 277
solitary streets and of Lis passage under the overshadowing
bulks of the dark houses. Remotely sensible, too, that there
was moonlight, that the air was ghast and cold, and that he
was loitering on, alone, with his head sunk upon his breast,
arid his hands clasped behind him.
He knew, too, when he had reached Washington street,
though he did not look up, bat he felt, as it were, the charac-
ter of the street, and was dimly aware of the great mnititude
of signs that coTered the buildings. He was conscious of
wandering up the deserted thoroughfare for some distance,
then of returning, still in the same absent mood, of crossing
several moonlit spaces formed by the intersecting streets, of
passing the grey, towering spire of the Old South Charch,
and of tnming up School street. In all this route, he did not
meet a single person, or once arouse even for a moment ii-om
his intense abstraction.
Bttt as he turned up School street on the left hand side, the
solemn and funereal ciajig iVom the Old Sonth steeple startled
hun from his lethargy, striking with gloomy clangor tho honr
of two. He stopped, listening to the sombre and heavy
blare of the gi'eat bell as it tolled the hour, and then died
away m ghostly and aerial reverberations. Hearkening till
the last faint dinning of the swarming tones seemed to fail
into soundless' vibratory waves, he waited till these too failed,
and the awful silence of the night ^;a!n descended brooding
on the air. Two. The hoiir when spirits, as some wild seer
avers, have power to enter irom without, and walk the
earth till dawn. Looking up, as the fancy crossed his mind,
ho saw the street, a lonely vista darkling in blue and melan-
choly gloom, so strangely litt«n, so unearthly in its whole
appearance, that a sudden and silent diffusion of awe spread
softly through his being, and held him stUl,
Had he been brought there blindfolded, and the bandage re-
moved, he would scarcely have known where he was, so
changed was the street from its familiar aspect. The gibbons
moon, a In^e, misshapen mass of watery light hanging low in
the dead, dark blue, poured a flood of wau, metalUc brilliance
down one side of the vista, bringing out its architectaral fea-
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378 HAERINGTON.
tnres in Tivid lustre and ebon Slackness, while the strnctarea
on the side on which he stood, loomed dark and sharp in deep
■shadow. So lone, so ghast, so supematurally still, so changed
in the weird and frigid glitter, so desolate and splendid in the
mekncholj light, the haggard dai'kness, the mournful and
marble silence, that the gazer might have dreamed he stood in
the demon-city of the Hebrew story, where foot of man hath
seldom trod, and the evil n^ht broods eternal,
Ti-aneed with wondering ^we, he moved ^slowly up the pave-
ment, gazing upon the solemn palaces of ebony and silver, with
his imagination darkly stirred. Beyond him lay a garden
space, breaking the line of the vista, with two chestnuttreea
in front on the pavement, whose thick cones of fohage seemed
sculptured in metal, and were dimly silvered by the moon.
Further on rose the square belfry and high-windowed wall of
the Stone Chapel, with its flank gleaming, and its panes glit-
tering in the wan lustre. As his glance rested on this, he saw
a gaunt and spectral figore emerge from a shadowed angle, and
move slowly, with a strange, uncertain motion, aloi^ the base
of the chapel wall, with the unearthly light upon its shapeless
outlines, and its long, black shadow distinct npon the gleaming
pavement. Kow creeping on, now halting and appearing to
waver, strange in movement, strange and alien in form,it in- .
tensified the ghastly and desolate solitude with its presence,
and seemed like some lone vagrant fiend slinking abroad from
his lair, in the pallor of the waning moon.
"Vaguely attracted by the strangeness of its shape and move-
ments, which had something unusual abont them he could not
define, Harrington kept his eyes fixed npon it, as he moved on.
The figure halted and wavered in its shambling walk aa he
drew nigh, and finally stood still, looking toward him. A se-
cret tremor stirred his blood, for the nearer he approached the
figure, the more inexplicable was the gauntness and shapeless-
ness of its ontlines. He was still some twenty or thirty yards
distant from it, and without well knovring why he did so, for
he had no intention of accosting it, he slowly crossed the
street, and walked as slowly forward. As he drew nearer, a
Tagae disgust mingled with the faint tremor of his veins, for a
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279
horrible and poisonous smell, which grew stroi^r as he ap-
proached, burdened the cold air. What dreadful outcast 13
this ? be thought. Suddenly he stood still, aghast, petrified,
filled with an icy affright mixed with unutterable loathing, and
his eyes riveted to the awfnl shape before him. He was within
a couple of yards of it, and as it stood tremblii^ hi the weird
briUiauee of the mooa, it seemed some terrific scare-orow risen
from Hell.
It was the figure of a man, but save for the wild, dark face
that glared at hhn, the loi^, gaunt hands, like claws, that
hung by its side, the thin legs half bare, and gaunt, splay bare
feet on which it stood tremblii^, it seemed liker some Dion-
strous rag. A loathsome and abominable stench exhaled from
it. Its clothes were a dark shirt and trowsers, which hung in
ja^ed tatt«rs on its wasted skeleton frame. Wouad round
and round its neck m a thick sug, which gave it that appear^
aoee of shapeleaaness he had first noticed, was what seemed an
old blanket. Above this glared a face of hvid swarth, Ut by
the gloomy moon, the cheek bones protniding, the cheeks hor-
ribly euuken, the mouth fallen away from the white teeth, the
eyes hollow and storing, the whole face that of some appalhng
mummy, burst ft-om the leathern sleep of its Egyptian tomb,
and endowed with horrid life to make night hideous.
The blood of Harrington seemed turned to ice aa he ga^red,
aud his hair rose.
" In the name of God," he gasped, " what manner of man
are you ?"
The figure did not answer, but stared at him and trembled.
Harrh^ton's heart was stout, and conquering at onee his
affright and the sickening disgust which the stench gave him,
he made one stride nearer to the figure.
"Who are you? Where did you come iirom?" he de-
manded.
The figure made no answer, but still stared rigidly at him,
and trembled.
Harrington closely scanned the ghastly and hideous face,
but could not determine anything concerning it. In the wan
light of the moon, its horrible emaciation aud livid duskmess
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IIAHKINGTON.
of line, together with the terrific expression the fallen month
and exposed teeth gave it, made it seem like the f^c;e of a
ghoul.
" Where do you live ? Have you no home ?" asked nar-
ringtou, shuddering.
"No, Marster."
If a corpse could speak, its voice might he the weak and
hoUow quaver ia which the outcast made this answer. An
awful feeling rose in the heart of Hai'rington, for he knew by
■ the accent of the ghastly stranger that he wa3 a negro, ajid
the title he had bestowed upon hhn iudicated that he wae a
runaway slave.
" Whore do you come from ? Where have you been ?" he
asked quickly.
The outcast trembled violently throughout his lank frame
and his jaws chattered. '
" Oh, Marster, doa't ask me," he answered in Ms weak
hollow voice. " I've been in hell, Marsfer, and I've got
away. I've been in hell, Marster, sure. Don't send me
ba«k, now don't. Have a Kttle mercy, Marster, and let me
go."
So awfnl were the words in that lone hour; so awfal the hol-
low and sepulchral voice that uttered them; so awful the mo-
tion of the face which writhed iu speaiiug, aa though in some
rendmg agony; so awful and so dreadful the black skeleton
gamitnesa, the monstrous ra^eduess, the Druidic filth of the
trembhng figure, with its swathed neck showing like some
enormous circle of wen, and the poisonous stench sickening the
whole night with its exhalations, that Harrington instinctively
recoiled. Up from the lowest abysses of social wi-etchedness they
B«^rmed into his miud;-the degraded of eveiy iow condition
and degree— the neglected, the forgotten, the foriorn, the scum
™d dregs and ordure of mankmd-the thieves, the beggars
the tatterdemalion sots and pr^titutes and stabbera-the
bloated, brutal, maUormed nightmare monsters of a Humanity
transfomed to shapes more fearful than the foulest beasts ■_
up from the dark and fetid dens of the filthiest ijuarter of the
city— up from the smks and stews of the Black Sea^-a wild
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and grislj company — tliey swarmed upon him. la all their
misery, no misery like this^n all tteir number, no shape to
pair with this. Below tiie lowest abyss of their wretchedness,
yawned a lower, new-come from which, in the haggard pallor of
the moon, stood a figure from whose ghastly and abominable
Pariah shape the foulest and the vilest of them ail would have
shrnnk away. Below the lowest hell wherein, in sunless crime
and vice, their rained natures were immei^ed lay as m the
Inferno of Dante, a hell still lower — the hell decreed by ava
rice for imioceut men, aew-rfeen from which ail loithlj foul
all awful with long suffering, stood the dark fugitive afraid to
tell his name, afraid to say from whence he had come atiaid
to stand in the presence of his fellow, as though he weie some
fr^htfnl felon dreading the vengeaace of minkind !
Gasping and shuddering through all his frame Hanington
gazed at him.
" O my country I" he murmured, " that such a thing as thia
should be 1 That such a wrong as this should be wrought by
yoa I"
The fugitive seemed to hear some frs^meut of his words, for
he spoke instantly.
" Marster," he said, " you'll be a friend to me, won't yon 7
I've gone through a goQd deal to git away, Marster. I have,
indeed, and I've got so fur now, you won't send me back. Oh,
Marster, don't send me back 1"
He tried to kneel to him on the pavement. The tears
sprang to Harrington's eyes, and conquering his disgust, he
strode forward, caught the foul form, and raised it to its
feet. The fugitive shrank a little at his touch, and stood
trembling.
" You poor fellow," sorrowfully said Harrington, " don't be
airaid of me. I won't barm yon. No, I won't send you back.
And if you'll trust in me, you shall be safe and no one shall
lay a hand upon you. But it's not safe for you to be out here
in the street. Come with me, and I'll give you a place to
sleep, and food to eat, and take care of you.* »
The fugitive hesitated a moment, still trembling,
" Marster, I'll trust in you," he said at length. " I'll trust
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■^^■* HAEKINGTON.
in you, Marster, and I'll go along with you, if you won't send
me ha«k."
" I promise you, before God, that you sliall be safe with
loe," said Harrington, solemnly. " Come."
^ He grasped, as he spoke, the thin arm of the trembling liigi-
tive, and so assisticg him, they moved slowly away together in
sUeuce, across Tremont street, and up the slope of Beacon
street, with the light of the smking moon in their faces. The
fugitive was very weak, and tottered as he walked, despite the
support the arm of his protector gave him. An overmastering
pity, mixed with sombre sadness, filled the heart of Harrington
as he felt the tottering motion, and heard the faint, stertorous
panting of the miserable creature beside him. TJie slow pace
at which they moved, combined with the nauseating odor of
the rags which covered the fugitive, was an added trial to him,
but he saw there was no help for it, and was patient.
Somewhat apprehensive about meeting a watchman, and not
liking to be interrogated with a companion whom it was pru-
dence to hide as mach as possible, Harrington took the least
public route he could under the circnmBtances. As they
turned into Somerset street, the fiigitive faltered, stopped, and
began to cough. A terrible cough, weak, hoarse, incessant,
which shook his whole frame. It ended at last, and with a
faint groan of exhaustion, he sat down on a doorstep, panting,
and breathing hard.
Shaken with pity, and doubly anxious lest the noise should
attract some wandering night-policeman, Harrington stood
over him, impatient to resume the journey.
" Do you feel better now ?" he said, gently. " We must
get on as fast as we can,"
" Oh, Marster," gasped the fugitive, slowly and painfully
rising. " I feel as if I couldn't go no farther. I'm so powerful
weak, Marster."
He tottered as he spoke ; and HaiTington, thinking he was
gsing to fall, hastily, and somewhat awkwardly, threw up his
arms to eatchihim, and sti-uck his hand against something hard.
Confused and startled, he withdrew his hand to rah it, wonder-
ing what could have hurt it. He thought it had coma in con-
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tact with the sug around the fugitive's neck ; but, as that was
clearly only a wrappage of cloth, and as the fngitive'B head
was bent at the time, he fancied lie might have struck his hand
against the man's teeth."
"Did I hurt you?" he asked, hastily. "Did I hit your
teeth ?"
"Ho, Marstcr," replied the fugitive, fumbling with the folds
around his throat.
" Why do jou wear that blanket so 1" asked Harrington.
" Felt cold, Marater."
He said no more, but stood feebly handlLag the wrappage,
and trembling. Hamngton thought it strange that he should
thus guard his throat, when his body was so bare, yet admitted
to himself that perhaps the cloth could not have been better
disposed for comfort, and thinking no more of it, he again
gi-asped the fugitive's arm, and drew him on. They moved
as slowly as before over the dark slope of Somerset street,
under the shadow of the dwelUngs. Presently, the fugitive
stopped again, and begau to cough. This time Harrington
formed a desperate resolution.
What was it ? There are people who think they love man-
kind. But among the natui'al barriers that divide ns from our
fellows, there is none more impassable than a loathly nnclean-
liness. How many of the lovers of men could so have con-
quered nature as to clasp that leprous form iu their arms ?
How many could have borne the test of their love which such
an act would impose ? For this was the test that proved the
m^hty heart of Harrington, and this was his resolution.
" Listen to me, friend," he said, when the cough had sub-
sided, " It will never do for us to get on as slowly as this, for
we have some distance to go. Now you keep still, for I'm
going to carry you."
He quickly took off his coat and vest as he spoke — for he
did not wish to spoil them by contact with the filthy body of
the fugitive — rolled them up in a close bundle, which he secured
with his neckerchief ; then without permitting himself to
feel the strong repugnance which the foulness of the poor
creature's apparel inspired, he flung his strong anna around
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284
HAEEINGTON.
him, and lifting hira across hia breast, with his head above hia
shoulder, deaf to his feeble remonstrance, sot off at a rapid
stride. The remonstrance ceased presently, and Harrington
hardly feeling the weight of his burden, strode at a masterly
pace oTsr the dark slope of Somerset street, turned into AUston,
from thence into Deme, crossed Hancock to Myrtle, wheeled
into Belknap, kept the grand stride down the hiU to Cam-
bridge street, crossed into Chambers, and set his load down at
the garden gate,
A little heated by his exertion, he opened the gate with one
hand, rubbing his shoulder with the other, and with a nod of
his head invited the fugitive to enter, wondering meanwhile
what It was about the man's neck that had pressed so hard
against his shoulder all the way. Something as hard as iron
and several times he had even felt a point, like a mufHed spike'
press upon his flesh, through the folds of his blanket. There
was something mysterious nnder those folds, he thought aa
he unlocked his door, and he was curions to know what it
could be.
Congratulatmg himself that he had been so lucky as not to
meet a single person during his nocturnal march, he held the
door open till the fugitive had entered, and then closing and
locking it, he took the glimmering lamp from the chimney, set
It on the table, and turned up the flame. The fogitive stood,
shaking on his gaunt legs, with his eyes wildly revolving npon
the rows of books all around him, and ever returning to rest for
a moment on the bast of Lord Bacon on its pedestal. Poor Tom
in Lear— that wDd figure plucked up from the low gulfs of
the Elizabethan wretchedness, and set in Shakspearean hght
forever— was tame compared to the lank and ghastly figure of
the lorn wanderer from slavery. Less unearthly in the hght
which fell upon his visage from the funnel of the lamp, than m
the wehii rays of the moon, he was not less hideously pitiable.
His fa^, which was naturally quite dark, was terribly emaciated,'
with the skoll almost visible through its wasted features, or, at
least, suggested by the prominence of the teeth and forehead
the projection of the cheek-bones, the hollow pits of the cheeks,'
and the cavemousnesB of the eyes, which were ridged witli
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lieayy eje-brows. Harrington took in his aspect with one
firm glance, and mindful of his weakness, brought liim a chair,
and made him sit down ; tben opened the windows, to let tlie
fresh au" reheve the smell of his rags in the close room.
Going up his ladder the next minute, he Ht a lamp aboYC,
and turned on the water into his bath-tub. He came down
presently, bare to the waist, the light gleaming on his muscu-
lar arms and massive chest, and stood fi-ontiug the fugitive
with his watch in liis hand, his head bent towai'd him on the
kinglj and beantifnl slope of his white shoulders,
" Kow, friend," said he, with naive gravity, " you must be
washed. In five minutes the bath-tub will be full, so take off
those things, and I'll give yon some other clothes."
" Yes, Marster, I'm in need of beiu' washed. I ain't fit to
be io this nice house," quavered the fugitive abjectly, rising
feebly as he spoke.
Harrington, withont replying, watched him curiously as he
fumbled at the blanket on his neck, and saw that he was loth
to remove it.
" 0 Marster, Marster," he groaned, " I'm afeard to let you
see it. But, Mareter, you'll be friendly to me, and you won't
send me back, Marster ?"
" Come, come, poor fellow, yon know you're safe with me,"
siiid Harrington, kindly, all alive meanwhile with curiosity.
" Come, off with it." ■
Tlie negro still fumbling at the blanket, withont undoing it,
and sighing piteously, HaiTington iaid his watch on the table,
and stepping forward, unwDund the wrappage from his neck,
fold after fold, pulled it ^S, and disclosed an iron collar with
a prong, and the letters distinct upon it — LiFiriE Brothees,
Kew Obleans.
He did not start, nor staler back, but stood, like a statue
struck by thunder, glaring at the collar with parted lips and
starting eyes, a pallor like death upon his conntenance, and a
strong shudder quivering through his bare chest and arms,
while the negro cowered witli a liideous-piteou.s imploiing
face, his form ci'oucliing, and his hands clasped before him.
Ill the dead silence, nothing waa heard but the loud muuiag
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^Ob HAKKIHGTON.
of the water in the room overhead, and the faint gasping
breath of the fugitive.
" God Almighty 1" shouted Harrington, " what is this ?"
The fugitive did not answer, but stood faintly gasping. The
next instant Hanington started, with a strong muscnlar con-
vulsion of his frame, and strode a pace forward.
"Whoput that collar on yonr neck 1" he demanded with
awful anger.
" Marster Lafitte put it on, Marster."
" Master Lafltte ? which one ? That says Lafltte Brothers,"
cried Harrington, pointing with outstretched ai-m and finger
straight at tlie name.
" Maj'ster Torwood Lafitte put it on, Marster," quavered
the fugitive, affrighted at Harrington's manner.
^ Han-ingtou's outstretched arm sank slowly, and dropped by
his side. A deep and burning flush mounted to his face, and
clenching his hands, he thundered a tremendous oath. Such an
oath as Washmgton swore when Lee chafed him in his legions.
Such an oath as had never before passed the calm hps of Har-
rington, but it burst from Ms heart's core.
He stood in silence for a moment, the flush dying from his
face, and his anger settling down from that explosion into
" Who are you ? what's your name ?" he demanded.
" Antony, Marster."
Harrington was past surprise, but his brain whirled, and
blankneas gathered upon it. For a minute, he stood vacantly
staring at the fugitive. Then, recovering from his stupefec-
tion, he sighed vaguely, and wiped away the perspiration from
his fece with the palm of his hand. Glancing presently at his
watch, he saw that the five minutes had not expired, and going
to a drawer, he produced a bunch of keys,
" We'll hare that collar ofi"," said he, approaching the fugi-
tive. *
Key after key was tried, but none fitted. Throwing down
the bunch, Harriugton looked at the watch, and went up-stairs
to stop the water. He came back presently, took the shade
from tlic lamp, and holding the Ught to the collar, inspected
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HAKKIN&TON. 287
its make carefuUy, He saw that it opened on a hii^ behind,
and was secured by a lock before. Putting the lamp on the
table, he reflected for a moment.
" Lie down on the floor," he said, presently.
Tlie fngitive obeyed, with as much alaCTity as his feeblenusg
pei-mitted. He already had tlie most entire and perfect coiifl-
denee in his protector
Bendmg over him, Hainngton turned him on his side Then
taking up the poLei, he ]n<!erted it between the neck of the
tugitive and the under side of the collar, and pnttinn his foot
on this toi a purchase, thus holding the uiilar fiimly to the
floor, he seized the upper side neai the lock with both hands.
" Now he still," he Mid. " I don't know n hether I'm strong
enough to ! redk the 1 k I ut 1 y a k nd Lc shouted I U
try 1'
Slowly the n scles in Han n),ton=! i n strati tened his
beut leg erew fl m as ron the arms became t to atift wh te
corded iars the muscles ii hia back and shouldei tensely
trembled the bloul mou tel to h s fa e a d body anl in the
midst of the slow, tremeudous strain, there was a faint clicking
gride, a sudden snap, a screaking wrench, and one haJf the col-
lar rose on its rnsty hinge in his hands. The deed was done !
Harrington stood up, and stepped back, exercising his arms,
while the bought thi-ali of Lafitte scrambled erect, ghastlily
grinning, and stood surveying the aeenrsed necklace, whicli lay
open as his neck had abandoned it, with the bent poker lyiun-
on its inner snrface.
" To-morrow," said Hamngton, quietly, " yon are to tell me
all about this. Now undress yourself."
" Yes, Marster," and the fugitive, with a sort of ghastly
jojfnlness, hastily divested himself of his fou] r^, which Har-
rington at once threw into the yard.
An awful sight was that black skeleton of a body. As it
lankly straddled across the room, and up the ladder, foUowing
Harrington, Holbein might have taken it as Death come for
the Scholar — a, grimmer and grislier %ni'e than any in the
Dauce Macaber. Pew men would have borne to abide even
for a moment in tlie same room with it. The very dog in the
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^''° HAEKINGXON.
yard, himself the Pai-iai of brutes, would hare baycfl at it and
shrunk into his kenucl.
Our free and happy country had been at work upon that
form. M^orth and South had wrought together to bring it to
perfection. The old scars which covered it, the liorny wheals
of many a scourging, the thick ring of callosed flesh left by the
iron collar around its neck — these were the special tool-marks
of the South. The recent cuts and braises, the swollen contu-
sions left by fist and boot upon it, the raw, blue sores, the
general offence and stench it Uad eoiitracted in the noisome pit
of a vessel's noisome hold — these showed the tooling of the
North. That ghastly gaantuess, that lank emaciation, that
livid swarth, those signs and tokens of ferocious abuse, of cold
and hunger and sickness and privation — oar free and happy
country had done it all I
Sei-vant and soldier of mankind, thy menial task of love ia
set, thy work is here I Purge the pollution from this wasted
body, and with tliy own hand, tender and skillful as a woman's
bind up these wounds, anoint and dress these sores ! For hun,
the lowest and the loathliest of thy brethren, are these mean
toils — the meanest man can do for man. Thy free and happy
country would say thou doest ill ; and "ill" the snickermg
whinny and brute scoff from the jaws of ber slavers and trad-
ers ; and "ill" her hell-dog statute dragging thee to the jail
and fine for helping the lorn wanderer. Thou call'st the spirit
of the ages by another name than ours — thon call'st it
Verulam, we call it Christ. Oh, man beloved of Christ and
Vemlam, thou doest well !
An honr passed on and the solemn task was done. His
matted ban- cut off, his body clean, his wounds dressed, the
fugitive, clad in a shirt and drawers of Harrington's, a world
too large for his wasted frame, was placed by the young
scholar m his bed, and sitting there was fed with biscuit, and
wine and water— -the only food and drink accessible then. The
repast ended, Harrington washed himself, pnt on clean clothes,
arranged the room, and then turned to go down. The fugitive
lay weakly sobbing.
" Good night, Antony,";, said Harrington, gi-avuly, standing
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nAEEINGTON. 2Sy
vrith the lamp in bis hand, its light shining on his beautiful
and beaded eounteiianee.
Suddenly, before he could be stopped, the fugitire
scrambled from the bed, and fiinging himself at Harrington's
feet, embraced them with his thin wi-ists and huge hands, and
laid his head upon them. ,
"The Lord Jesas bless you, Marster," he sobbed in a
broken and sepalcliral voice, " Oh, Marster, the Lord Jesus
bless you, for there's not no such Marster as yon, Marst«r,
nowhere — Oh Marster "
Harrijigton stopped hun by suddenly starting away to lay
down the lamp, and returning, lifted him to his feet and got
him into bed again.
" I know all you feel, Antony," he said, pulling the clothes
over him ; " but you musn'fc talk to-night, poor fellow. Now
go to sleep, and have a long rest, and to-morrow or the next
day, we'll talk. Good night."
" Good night, Marster," sobbed the submissive negro.
Harrington took from a nail on the wall, an old camlet
cloak which had been his father's, and seizing the lamp, went
down.
The first thing was to take the collai- from the floor, and
put it in a drawer ; then untying his bimdled coat and vest,
he shook them ont, and hung them up ; then opening the door
and windows, for the taint of the foul rags was still in the
room, he went into the yard, and stood breathing the cool,
pure air, and gazing, with a sense of boding at his heart,
upon the thick hordes of stars. The night seemed all wild
and atiye. Something sinister and evil pervaded the atmos-
phere, and the dark blue spread like an astrologic scroll
bright with burning cyphers and diagrams of doom.
Ketm-ning to the house with a mind ill at ease, he closed the
door and shutters, leaving the windows open. Then takmg a
revolver fi-om its case in a drawer, he drew the charges, and
reloaded the weapon. It was altogether unlikely that the hunters
wonid come to his dweUing; still there was nothing like being
ready ; and Harrington with his Baconian faith that men with-
out natural good were bnt a nobler sort of vermin, was qaitc
13
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aw HARRINGTON.
resolved both to " prevent the fiend and to kill vermin," as the
Shakspearean phrase has it, if they crept near the hiding-place
of the fngitive.
His pistol loaded, ho laid it on the table, and sat a few-
minutes thinking of the strangeness of his night's adventure.
How awfal and marvellous it ail was I The brother of Ronx,
whom he had tried to ransom, in his keeping — Roux himself
jn danger — Lafltte in the city, and master of the secret of his
locality! The air seemed thick with peril.
Rising presently, he put the lamp in the fire-place, and
turned it low; then taking the cushion of his chair for a pil-
low, he wrapped himself in the camlet cloak, and lay down
on the sofa. A few momenta' dazed reflection on the events
of the niglit, and fatigued by liis labors, he dropped away
into drearaless slumber.
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE PRBTTT PASS THINGS CAME TO.
Aa an iceberg sinks dissol-red mto the waters of the
Southern ocean, so sank the cold, blue night into the golden
crystal of a warm, delicious day. Again beneath the hiving
roofe of the great city, awoke the complei, many actioned,
myriad-thoughted swarm of life, and agtin throngh the grotes-
que and picturesque crooked streets pijured the motley vaiie-
.ties of civic existence, with the mnnieipil clash and rattle, the
Bcnrry of driving feet, the blab of many voices, the incefsant
buzzing roar. The traders went to their trade; the merchants
to their stores and wharves ; the mefhanic! to their labor ;
the little ones to their schools ; the women to their household
tasks ; the lawyers to their courts , the clei^ij to theu con-
ventions ; the anti-slavery people to their debate , the dark
children of the race of Attacks to then hnmble toiK and the
phantoms of the Reign of Terror with them
In the fencing-school. Monsieur Baga'.se fenced with hi^
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HAEKINGTOH. 291
pnpils, pansing with eurions eyes, and chin levelled at the
door whenever a new footstep was heard upon the staira, and
wotidermg why Wentworth and HsiiTmgton, who had seldom
failed before, did not arrive. Captain Vukovich, too, with
thoughts intent on the cigar-shop he was going to open, and
bent on consulting the young men with regard to the best
atuation, and perhaps ioToking a little material aid, waited
for them, meditatively stroking his thin moustache, and wander-
ing up and down the fencingHSchooi. But they both waited iu
vain, for the young men did not appear, ^
Harrington meanwhile, up after four honrs' sleep, was
closeted with Captain Fisher, telling him hk night's adventure,
the astounded Captain swearing tobacco at every pause in the
narrative, with his head all askew, like a marine raven who
had been taught nothing but imprecations on slavery and
slaveholders.
Wentworth, exhausted by his night of suffering, had gone
down to his studio, and lay there asleep on a sofa, pale and
haggard, in the dim-pietnred, shadowy room. Among the paint-
ings and sketches around the chamber, wm one canvas with its
face turned to the wall. It was the unfinished portrait of
Emily. On the easel, illnmined by the pale slantbg light from
the angle unshaded window, was the canvas which held,
sketched in in dead colors, the Death of Attacks. Vaguely
through its confused gloom, loomed one dark iigure with arm
uplifted in menace and defiance.
Emily had appeared at the breakfast-table, calm and pale,
with dark circles around the dimmed lustre of her eyes. To Mrs,
Eastman's anxious inquiries, she had simply pleaded indisposi-
tion, and after the meal, at which Muriel alone, paler than
usual, was chatty and gay, she had retired to her room to col-
lect her thoughts for the coming hoar of confession and de-
Muriel, sinking from her assumed gaiety into sobriety, went
to mai-ket near by in Mount Yernon street, returned in a few
minutes, and, sitting alone in the hbrary, resolutely shut out
all thought for the present regardii^ the mysterious complica-
tion of affairs, and resumed the studies she had begun before
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HAKKENGION.
;, bent on pursuing tliem tili Harrington carae to go
with her to Southac street.
In the mean time things had come to a pretty pass in the
private counting-room of Mr. Atkins's office on Long
Wharf.
" Yes, SU-, things have come to a pretty pass when such an
infernal rascal undertakes to let a bla«k beggar loose from
aboard my brig," foamed Captain Bangham, red with passion,
and'poTmding the desk with his fist.
The merchant sat in an arm-chair near the desk, looking at
the captain, with iron-clenched jaws, his eyes sparkhi^ with
ri^e in his set blanched face.
" If I ever heard of such a thing in all my life, Bangham !"
he exclaimed, slapping both arms of his chau- with his palms,
and glaring all around the little mahogany-furnished office.
" But where were jon when this was done ?"
" I, sir ? Asleep in the cabin, Mr. Atkins. Never knew a
thing about it, sir, till this morning. Just for special safety I
didn't have the brig hauled up to the dock yesterday, but let
her lay in the stream. 'Jones, says I, have yon seen the nig-
ger this mormng ?' ' No I haven't, says he, cool as you please.
' I guess I'll take a look at him,' says I, and so I took a bis-
cuit and a can of water, and toted down to the hole where I
had the nasty devil tied up, and begod, he was gone I I
tumbled up on deck: ' Jones,' I shouted, ' where's the nig^r V
' I don't know where he is now,' says he, lazy as a ship'hi the
doldrums. ' All I know is,' says he, ' that I rowed him ashore
about midnight, and told him to put for it.' By" gasped
Captam Bangham, with a frightful oath, " I was so mad that
I couldn't say a word. I jnst ran into the cabin, and when I
came out, Jones wasn't to be seen. —Hallo, there he is now !"
cried the captain, starting to his feet and pointing out of the
window to a tall figure lounging along the wharf, and looking
at the shipping.
The merchant jumped from his chair, threw up the window,
and shouted, " Here, you, Jones I Come in here."
The figure looked up nonchalantly, and lounged across the
street toward the office.
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HAKEIHGTON, 293
*' He's coming," said the morciiant, purple ivith pxi-itement,
and eiukiDg back into liia ciiair.
They waited in silence, and presently the tall figure of the
mate was seen in the outer office, through the glass door,
banging toward them. He opened the door in a minute, and
came m carelessly, chewing slowly, and nodding once to Mr.
Atkins. A tali man, dressed sailor-fashion, in a Hue shirt and
pea-jacket, with a sti-aw hat set negligently on his head, and a
grave, inscrutable, snnbnrat face, with straight manly features
and dull blue eyes,
"Mr. Jones," said the merchant, his fa^e a deeper purple,
but his voice constrained to the calm of settled rage, " this is
a fine Uberty you liave taken, I want to know wliat yon
mean by it ?"
" "What do you refer to, Mr. Atkins ?" returned the mate,
stolidly.
" What do I refer to, sir? yon know what 1 refer to. I
refer to your takmg that man from my brig," roared the mei^
chant.
"Mr. Atkins," replied the mate, phlegmatieally, "Bang-
ham, there, was going to take that poor devil back to Orleans,
Tou don't mean to tell me that you meant he should do it ?"
" Yes, sir, I did mean he should do it," the merchant voci-
ferated.
" Then yon're a damned scoundrel," said the mate, with the
ntmost composure.
Captain Bangham gave a long whistle, and sat mute with
stupefaction. Mr. Atkins tamed perfectly livid, and stared at
the mate with his mouth pursed into an oval hole, perfectly
aghast at this insolence, and ahnost wondering whether he had
heard aright.
" Tou infernal rascal," he howled, springing to his feet the
next instant, purple with rage, " do you dare to apply such an
epithet to me ? Yom— to me ?"
" To you ?" thundered the seaman, in a voice that made Mr.
Atkins drop into his chair as if he was shot. "To you f And
who are you ? Tou damned lubberly, purse-proud aristocrat,
do yon want me to take yon by the heels and throw you out of
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294
HAERINGTOS.
that window ? Call me that uame again, and 111 do it as
soonasPdeat. Iom, indeed ? You're the Loi-d High Brown,
aint you? You're the Lord Knows Who, you blasted old
money-grubber, aint yon ! You, indeed 1"
In all hia life, Mr. Atkins had never been so spoken to. He
eat in a sort of horror, gazmg with open month and glassy
eyes at the sturdy face of the seaman, on which a brown flnsh
had burned out, and the firm, lit eyes of which held him
spell-bound. Bangham, too — horror-stricken, wonder-stricken,
thnnder-«tricken— sat staring at Jones for a minute, then burst
into a short, rattling laugh, and jumping to his feet, cried, " Oh,
he's mad, he's mad, he's mad, he's got a calenture, he's got a
calenture, he's mad as a March hare," capering and hopping
and prancuig, meanwhile, in his narrow confine, as if he would
jump out of his skin.
" You, too, Bangham," said the mate, making a step
toward him, with a menacing gesture, at which the captain
stopped capering, and shrank, while Mr. Atkins slightly
started in his chair, " you just clap a stopper on that ugly mug
of yours, and stop your monkey capers, or yoa'Il have me afonl
of you. I haven't forgot your didoes with the men aboai-d the
Soliman, Just you say another word now, and I'll put in a
complaint that'll lay you by the heels in the State Prison,
where you ought to have been long ago, you ugly pirate,
you I"
The captain evidently winced under this threat, which
Mr. Jones delivered with onainous gravity, slowly shaking,
meanwhile, his clenched fiat at him.
" And now look here, you bi-ace of bloody buccaneers," con-
tinued the irreverent seaman, " short words are best words
with such as yon. I untied that poor old moke of a n^ger
last night, and rowed him ashore. What are ye going to do
about it f"
Evidently a question hard to answer. Merchant and cap-
tain, stupefied and staring, gave him no reply.
" Hark you, now, Atkins," he went on. " We found that
man half dead in the hold when we were three days oat — a
sight to make one's flesh crawl. The bloody old phate he'd
Ho.led by Google
295
nm away from, had put a spiked collar on his neck, just as if
he was a brute, with no Boul to be saved. Fm an old eear
dog — I am ; and I've seen men ill treated in ray time, but I'm
damned if I ever seen a man ill-treated like that God-forsaken
nigger. He'd run awaj, and no blame to him for running
away. He'd been livin' in swamps with snakes and alligators,
and if he hadn't no right to hia freedom, he'd earned one fifty
times over, and it's my opinion that a man who goes throngh
what he did has more right to his freedom than two be^ars
like yon, who never done the first thing to deserve it. Mmd
that now, both of ye 1"
The mate paused a moment, hitching up his trowsers, and
rolhng his tobacco from one side of his twitching month to the
other, and then, with his face flushed, and his blue eye gieam-
ii^ savagely, went on.
"What's the first thing that brute there did to him?
Kicked him, and he lyin' half dead. Then in a day or two,
when the poor devil got his tongue, he told liow he'd got
away, and the sort of pirate he'd got away from. God !
when we all a'most blubbered like babes, what did that curse
there do 7 Knocked the man down, and beat his head oa the
deck, tUl we felt like mutiny and murder, every man of us 1
And tiken when we'd got the poor devil below, sorter com-
fortable, down comes Bangham, and hauls him off to stick him
into a nasty hole under hatches, and there he kep' him the
whole passage, half-starved, among the rats and cockroaches.
Scarce a day of his life aboard, that he didn't go down and
kick and maul him. He couldn't keep his hands oif him — no,
he couldn't. When I took the man ashore in the dead o'
night, he was nothin' but a bundle o' bones and nasty rags,
and he made me so sick, I couldn't touch him. That's the
state he was in. Now, then, look here."
The mate paused again for a moment, turning hia quid, with
his face working, and laying the fingers of his right hand in
the palm of hia left, began again in a voice gruff and grum.
" That infernal buccaneer, Bangham," he said, " was bent
on takin' the poor devil back to Orleans, after aO he'd gone
through to get away. Well, he's a brute, aad we don't ex-
o.led by Google
^oO HAEUINGTON,
peefc nothin' of brutes like him. But yon're a Boston mer-
chant, Atkins, and cailin' yooraelf a Christian man, you put in
your oar in this dirty basiuess, and was gom' to help Bang-
ham. ^ Yon thought I was goin' to stand by and see you do
it. Xo I" he thundered, with a tremendous slap of his right
hand on the palm of his left, which made both the merchant
and the captam st^rt, " no 1 I wasn't goin' to stand by and
see yon do it ! Pm an old sea-dog and my heart is tough and
hard, bnt I'm damned if it's hard enough to stsnd by when
such a sin as that's afoot, and never lend a hand to stop it. I
took that man ont of your chitehes, you brace of pirates,
and I set him adrift 1 You think I'm afraid to own it ? No,
I'm not, begod I I did it. Ephraim Jones is my name, and I
come from Barnstable, There's where I come tiora I'm a
Yankee sailor, and, so help me God, I could npver see the
banting of my country fiyiog at the truck again if I iet you
two bloody Algerine tbievee cany off that man to his murder
That's all I've got to say. Take the law of me now, if you
lite. I won't skulk. You'll find me when yon look toi me
And if James Flatfoot don't have his harpoon into both of
yon one of these days, then there's no God thit's all !"
Turning on his heel with this valediction, which ctrwgned
the merchant and the captain's futm« beyond the gravi to the
Devil, who, under the name of James Fhtkot, o<-cupies a
promment place in marine theology, Mr Jones carele&sly
lonnged ont of the private room, leavmg the gliss door open,
and with a nonclmkut glance at the three or tonr staitlfd
clerks and book-keepers who sat and stood at their desks
wondering what had been going on within, for they had only
caught confused scraps of the stoi-my coiloqny he went down
stairs, with a load off his mind which had bei.u gathering
there during the whole voyage of the Solhnan.
For a moment after his departure, Mr. Atkins sat mute and
Still, feeling hke one in a horrid dream. Roused presently by
a deep-drawn breath from Captain Bangham, he wheeled his
chair around to the desk, and taking ont hia white handker-
chief, wiped away the cold sweat which had started out on his
face a" ^ " '
o.led by Google
HABBINGTON. 297
" What are wc going to do now, Mr. Atkias ?" said the
captain.
" 1 don't know, Bangham," replied tlie nicrehant in a Toice
like the faiQt voice of a sick mam. "I should like to have
that scoundrel arrested. Such insolence I never heard in all my
life. My God I what are we coming to in this coaiiti'y when
n low fellow like that can presnme to talk so to a man of my
He mnrmured these words feebly, and again wiping his face,
sat with his eyes glassy and his jaw working.
" Mr. Atkins," said Bangham, after a pause, " tJiis black
curse has got off, but he must be somewhere in the city. If I
should happen to meet him about town anywhere "
" Just seize him," cried the merchant, with a start. " Lay
hands upon him at once, aud carry him aboard the vessel.
Yon can say, if anybody interferes, that he is a thief, and that
you're taking him to the police-office."
" ril do it," exclaimed the captain, with an oath, " 111
hang around Nigger Hill, where he's likely to be, and if I
meet him, off he'll go, It'll be horrid if we don't iind him,
and they should happen to hear of it down in Orleans."
" Indeed it will, Bangham," replied the merchant. " Though,
of course, we could explain it satisfactorily. Still, there's the
trouble of the explanation, and it would be far better if we
could retorn the rascal. That would settle the whole thing at
" By the way, have you told Lafltte anything abont this V
inquired the captain, anxiously.
" God bless me, no !" replied Mr. Atkms, hurriedly,
" Lafitte musn't know anything about this. We must keep
it from him."
" What is it you must keep from mo, my dear friends ?" said
a smooth, courteous voice.
They both started, and turned around. There stood Mr,
Lafitte, smiling a bland sardonic smile. So still — so cool — so
unmffled. It almost seemed as if he had outgrown npon them
from the air. But he had come sottly through the outer
13*
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■^i'O naEEINOTON.
office, aod <itood ju^t within the glass d'>or, wliidi Jonts had
left open
"Better nut keep aiiTthmg trom me, raj dear friends,"
blandly continned tlie bouthemer smiiing stilly dowu upon
their blank and gliast faces ' Bei ause I am the rery devil
for finding out things thit are kept from me Besides, frank-
ness IS % viitup — a positive vutue,"
He closed the glass door behiud him, and entering, took a
chair, and removed his Panama hat, smiling stilly aJ! the
■while, with his tawny, blood-specked, glossy eyes slowly and
almost imperceptibly roTiog from one to the other.
" Lafitte," gasped the merchant, feeling as if he was about
to faint, " don't blame me. I meant it for the beat."
" Blame you, my friend 1" retarued the Sonthemer,
smoothly, with an air of tender reproach which was atrocious ;
"blame you 1 Could I be so cruel ? Ah, no I Baugham, my
love, how are you ? It is long smce I have seen you. The last
time r saw you, my Bangham, was at the St. Charles Hotel—
and oh, my friend, how dnmk yoo were ! Bat you are not
drank to-day, dear captain. Ah, no ! To-day we can appeal
from Philip Bangham drunk to Philip Bangham sober. Let
US then appeal to you to tell us what is the mystery."
The captain reddened under this address, and lookmg
exceedtugly nonplused, fic^eted with his necktie as if it
choked him.
" Lafitte, don't joke," said Mr. Atkins, nervously, " Don't,
I beg of you, 1 feel iO already, and you disturb me. Listen.'
Hero is the trouble. One of your slaves was found in Bang-
ham'a vessel when he was three days out, and came ou here to
Boston. We kept him bound m the hold, intending to have
hhn sent back to you, and last night the mfernal scoundrel of
a mate let him go, and we've lost him."
"And you were going to keep this from me, wore you?"
said Mr. Lafitte, blandly, all the tiger seeming to condense in-
to his glossy, tawny orbs, while his smile remained serene and
stiU. "Really, my dear Atkins, you were not frank."
"Oh, my Gud \" exclaimed the merchant, "don't talk so I
What was the 'use of disturbmg you ? We were gomg to
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HAHKnSGTON. 299
institute a search for tte negro, and have him returned to yon
afl quiciily and quietly as possible."
" Good friend 1 good Atkins 1" said the Southerner, with
gentle approval, " So considerate of you. I really hope jou
may find the runaway, for if you shouldn't, and it gets noised
on the Levee, your house will suffer. Of course, I wouldn't
mention it myself hut these things always get out. The sail-
ors y u kn wl \ y ndsc eet those sailors — ah, very, veryl"
D pend n my d ng rything I can, Lafitte," hurriedly
reph 1 th m 1 nt n -tain whether the Southerner's
wo ds h Id a m ni, " We will ransack the city.
Supp se y g t a w t nt for him— how will that do ?"
N an w d M L fitte, blandly. " I should prefer
not. Since you lost him, you ought in justice to find him.
If yon don't succeed, we may try the pohee. Bat, apropos,
you do not tell me the boy's name."
" He called himself Antony," replied Bai^ham.
They almost shuddered to see the silent change that came
to the rich brunette visage of the Soutiierner. His complex-
ion became puqile aud iivid in spots, his nostrils dilated, his
eyes were steady orbs of cinel gloss, with the Hood-specks
distinct upon their tawn. Slowly swaying in his chau- for a
moment, he stopped in this movemeat, and spoke.
"It is Antony, is it?" he said, in a low, smooth voice.
" Gentlemen, I urge you to find that slave of mine. He is a
wretch whom I wish to see once more. When you told mo
yon had a boy of mine, I thought it must be one of my
brother's, who ran away the week before I left. I did not
imagine it was Antony, for I thouglit he was done for in the
swamp."
" Where, Mr. Lafitte ?" asked the merchant.
" In the swamp," repeated Lafitte. " That scoundrel, Mr.
Atkins, flew upon me, and left me for dead on the floor of my
house. Then he ran for the swamp, half-killing my overseer
on the way. We roused the neighbors and hnnted for him
three days and part of a fourth, and at last fiading his clothes
near a bayou, we concluded he was food for alligators.
Though why we should find hia clothes, and not him, wag a
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HAEEmOTOH.
Y to me. And so he got to Boston, after aO. Now
wtere do you expect to find him, gentlemen ?"
" Well, Mr. Lafitte, I dou't exactly know," returned the
merchant, dubiously; "but Bangham here will look round
Nigger HJll, a quarter where the colored people herd together.
The best way would be to get out a search warrant, and put
the matter iu the hands of the city marshal."
" Listen to me, Atkins," said the Southerner. " I've got
a clue. Several months ago I received a letter offering to
purchase this fellow. Now, eight or nine years ago hia
brother William ran away from me, and it was clear to me,
when I received this letter, that whoever sent it knew where
William was, and was probably put up to it by him."
" Well, who did send it ?" demanded Mr. Atkins.
" That letter," pursued Lafitte, " was postmarked from
Philadelphia, and the answer was to be sent to a Mr. Joseph
House, who, it seems, was to act as agent ia the matter. I
called on House, and was told by him that the person who
wrote the letter lived In London. In fact, he showed me the
person's name and address in a London Directory, and he waa
so serious about it, that I swear I was thrown off the track.
But I had my misgivings afterward, and the more I thought
of it the stronger they grew. Mr. Atkins, that letter was
signed John Ilarrington."
"John Harrington I" exclaimed the merchant, starting and
scowling, " You don't mean to say "
" Mr. Atkins," interrupted Lafitte, " when you told me that
fellow's name who came into the Abolition meetmg last night
with yonr lovely niece, it flashed upon me at once that he was
the man that wrote the letter."
" Upon my word," said the merchant, " this is odd. But
this Harrington's poor as poverty. How should he be buy-
ing your negro ?"
Mr. Lafitte shrugged his shoulders.
" Who knows ?" he returned. " Perhaps the dear William
has earned the cash, and wants to treat himself to a bit of
black brother in his old age. Perhaps," ho added, with a sly,
sardonic smile, " youi lovely niece wants to do a httle philan-
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301
thropy for him. She'a rich, you told me. Tonr Boston
ladies are so foud of the philanthropy business, you know.
And Han'ington's sweet upon her, isn't he ? Who knows
bat that lie has put her up to it. He looks just like one of
those nohle fools we read of. jS'ow, what ivill you wager he
doesn't know this dear William, and hasn't been touched by
the sorrows of that black angel ? Atkins, keep your eye on
Harrington, to find William, and finding WOliam, pei'hapa
you'll find Antony."
"Upon my word, Lafitte, you're the very devil," ciied the
merchant, with a harsh laugh, looking at the visagb of the
Southerner, which was lit with an infernal smile.
" That's your due," said the latter, " Just follow it, and
you'll find I'm rigkt."
" But how am I to follow it ?" returned the merchant.
" There's any quantity of black Williams ia Boston, probably,
and who knows what name your man goes by now 1"
" Egad," replied Mr. Lafitte, his face darkening, " I didn't
think of that."
" Had your man William any other name ?" asked the
merchant.
"Name?" scoffl'ed the Southerner. "The black cattle change
their names with their masters. This fellow would he called
by mine, if he was called anything but William. I bought him
and Lis brother with a lot of others off the estate of old Madame
Boux."
"Eflux? Hold onl" exclaimed Atkins. "Eoux? By
George, that's the name of the colored man Serena — that's my
dster — recommended to us, and we got hirn to do some white-
waah^g and window-cleanmg this spring !"
" Your sister ?" interrogated Lafitte.
" Yes, my sister, Mrs. Eastman. ' She's the mother of the
young lady you saw last night."
Mi: Lafitte leaned back in hia chair, and shook with long,
silent merriment, outward token of the raging floods of deyjl-
ish joy which swelled within him.
"There you have it, dear Atkins," he chuckled, at length,
" There you have it. Follow up Boux, my boy, follow up.
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HAEHINGTOK.
Roux. Set Bangham to look after the dear William. My
own Bangham. "Whom I love," and Mr. Lafitte ogM the
captaia in a manner which would have been pnrely ridiculous
if it had not heen superlatively infernal.
Bangham reddentMi, and looked foolish and uncomfortable
under these affectionate regards.
" I gaess I'll go oat and see to the cargo," he said, risir^.
" The stevedores are unlading, yon know, Mr. Atkins,"
" That's right, Bangham," returned the merchant. " Come
back soon, and we'll make arrangements for this other mat-
ter."
" Aii revoir, Bangham. God Hess yon," cried the South-
erner, after the departing raptain. " And now, Atkins," he
eontmued, drawing up his chair, "let's have a talk about
bosiuees, and get that off our minds, before we follow up that
dear William and that dear Antony."
CHAPTER XIX.
: OP ST. Domsao.
Captain Banghast, with a mortal aver.sion to LaStte, hovered
about the outside of the glass door, and left the offire several
times, before the talk on business was conclu<led. In those
beatific days Cotton was King, and His Majesty's concerns
required a great deal of mercantile, as weU as political, atten-
It was about eleven o'clock when, the talk on business con-
cluded, Mr Lafitte strolled up State street, with the intention
of droppmg la at Parker's to lunch. If anything had been
needed to complete hia elation, the warm and beautiful blue
day which shone upon the crowded city, would have done it.
Like Sii Rilph the Rover, in Southey's poem, his heart was
joyful to excess , and equally true was it that like that Rover,
this Rovei''s mirth was wickedness. He felt, as he himself
would have expressed it, refreshingly wicked.
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HIAEEINGTOIT.
303
Lunch over, and a diink taken, Mr. Lafitte thought it would
be pleasant diversion to visit that Nigger Hill he had heard so
much about, and see how the colored brethren were lodged-
Enchanted with the idea, he engaged a carriage, and hghting a
cigar, got in, and told the dviver where to carry him.
The carriage set off, and Mr. Lafitte, lolUng back on the
cushions, smoked placidly, and indolently gazed out of the
wmdow at the passei^rs. Presently, mstead of passengers to
gaze at, there were the elegant aristocratic dwellings in the
streets on Beacon Hill, and soon after there were the 4ingy
houses of the negro quarter.
His cigar smoked out, Mr. Lafitte enjoyed whatever there
was to enjoy in the prospect the carriage window afforded. It
was pretty near dinner-time in that region, and most of the
people were indoors, A few colored men and women stood at
some of the thresholds or looked out at the windows, and
colored nrchins were playing in the streets. The carriage driv-
ing slowly, Belknap street, Soath Russell street, Butolph street,
Garden street. Centre street. May street. Grove street, and all
the streets of the quarter, passed in succeasive review nnder
the interested and inspecting eyes of the gallant Sontheraer.
In Grove street, a fancy came upon him to walk a few
8t«ps and note the effect from the pavement. Stopping the
carriage, he got out, and bidding the driver wait there for hhu,
he walked on, and turned the comer into Southac street.
"Walking slowly, and contemplatively twirlii^ his moustache,
while he softly hummed an air, he gazed with a roving eye at
the squahd and sunlit houses of mingled brick and wood
which stood in the vertical light on either side of the street.
There were few people about, fewer even than he had seen in
the streets he had passed through, and beginning to find it a
bore, he was turning to go back to the carriage, when his eye
chanced to rest on the closed window of a house obliquely op-
posite to him, and stopping in the midst of his humming, his
hand fell from his moustache, and he stood stiii.
There, behind the closed window of the second story, ab-
sently gazing out straight before him, stood William E^ux I
Mr. Lafitte knew him at the first glance, and an mfernal joy
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oU4 HAKSITfGTON.
bathed iiLS heait Afrail the next instant that he wonid he
seen, ie drew bark into a nauow illey Eeai bj still gazing up
at the window Bat he had no reason for a^piehension for
the negro was apparently lo;,t in reverie and btood with his
hands ju Lis potket lookmg straight bi,f jre hiia
The entire abstiaction of Ronxa manner sngftested to
Mr. Lafitte that thpie nas no other jerson up there in the
room and a deiuoniie idea leaped at onue into the brain
of the slaveholder and took possession of him Here was the
carriage withm hfty pacea just ronnd the corner. What was
to prevent him from quietly walking up into that room, taking
Rons by the arm, and quickJy marching him off to it f It
flashed into his mind just how Roux would behave. The sub-
missive, docile negro, so different from that sullen, iery An-
tony, overcome with fright he would never think of struggling,
and with the old servile habit of instant obedience falling again
upon liim, cowed by the st«m mandate, jmralyzed by the
strong grasp, thunder-stricken by the unexpected appearance
of his old master, he would just march along without a word.
Qoickly lie would walk him, cram him into the carriage, pull
down the curtains, and drive away like fury. Ha 1 the mo-
ment when he should have him safe, rushed upon his brain like
fire. One bold stroke — now for it !
Emerging from the alley, he quickly crossed the street, and
mounted the wooden steps which he saw led np to Ronx's
room. The door was ajar, and pausing for one moment to
listen, with torrents of hellish exultation pouring through his
being, he recognized by the silence that Roux was alone.
Softly pushing open the door, which floated inward without a
sound, he saw his victim standing with his back to him at the
window, and crossing the floor on noiseless tiptoe, he ts^pped
him on the shoulder.
Roux turned with a start, and with his black face flaring into
ashen fright, he would have fallen to the floor, but Lafitte
canght him by the throat with both hands, and upheld him.
" Wot one word, you dog !" he hissed, glaring into his bulg-
ing eye-s. " I have you 1 Stand I"
He released his throat, and Roux stood with a terrific look
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HAKEINGTON. 305
of agODy on his visage, which seemed at once to have grown
thin and grey.
" Oh, Master Lafltte 1" he gasped in a hoiTified whisper, his
whole frame shaking as if he had the palsy.
" Silence, car I" hissed the slaveholder, grasping his arm like
a vice. " Como with me I Not a word — not a sign — or I'll
dash yonr brains out."
Roux, though not a strong Bature, was no coward, and
under ordinary circumstances, he would have fought to the
death for his liberty. But this horrible phantom that had risen
npon him 1 It was not a man— it was Pate— it was the
anaconda, and he crushed in the vast and muscular gripe of
its folds' 1 The deadeiung ether of utter horror fell upon him,
and passive as one falling from a precipice, with the iron cluteh
of his master on his arm he moved with him to the door.
At the first step, there was a bounce in the entry, and Tog-
mntton appeared on the threshold. In lees than a second, the
blobber-cheeked guffaw-giin of glee fell from the fat face of the
broad-limbed Puck into a shock-haired white-eyed stare of
goblin terror, and with a shrill yell he vanished. His chatter-
ing screech ontside was heard by Lafitte just as he got within
a yard of the door with his victim, and at the same instant,
there was a bound, anfl Harrington bursting into the room
like a thunderbolt, dashed the slaveholder with a crash against
the wall.
Roux tottered back and feii prone in a dead swoon. Pale
as marble, dilated, regnant, terrible, eyes and nostrils open,
Hai-rington stood over his prostrate body, his front turned in
war upon his foe, while Muriel, brave and radiant, sprang like
flame into the room by his side.
" Spawn of hell 1" howled the Southerner, " you die 1"
With the hoarse snarl of a tiger, ho. came i-ushing at Har-
rington, bowie-knife in hand. Muriel would have leaped be-
tween her lover and the weapon, but Harrington held her bact
with his left arm, and stood fronting his enemy with terrible and
dauntless eyes, which stopped the infuriated wretch in mid-
course like a rampart of swords. Lafltte was brave as a brute
is bravo, but the Bengal tiger will not spring against a man
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when his godhood is in hia eyes, and nrresti'd by tho regal
prowess of that bright and fearless gaze, the livid fiend stood
all acroaeh, the knife gleaming in his hand, his wild-beast
orbs drained of their bloody fire, and his breath bi-eaking in
gasping snarls on the silenee. The next instant ho slunk back
shivering, and stood with the knife in his nerveless grasp, con-
qnered!
Harrington dropped hia arm, which had lain like a bar across
the bosom of Muriel, and advanced npon the cowering wretch
before him.
" Listen I" said he, in a voice like bronze, deep, solemn and
awful, " Listen to those murmnrs in the street I Hark I"
In the dead hush, there waa a noise like a coming sea,
pierced with shrill sounds like the distant screams of the curlew.
" Man I" thundered Hari-ington, " you came here to rob
yonr fellow of all God gave him I Ton dared to risk your life
among these plundered and trampled poor — despoiled and
ontraged daily by yon and sneh as you I Are yon ready to die ?"
Silent, amidst the ominous gathering murmurs and inarticu-
late shrill sounds, the slaveholder stood, with his hvid, ghastly,
sweat-bedabbled face turned toward Hanington's. Snddenly
the surging ocean swelled and tossed iu wild coaftision,and sinking
into a pouring rush of running feet, rose again in a savage and
appalling roar.
" Hark to the coming of your doom 1" cried Harrington,
his voice pealing up amidst the din, and his arms uplifted like
a prophet of ruin. " Hark to the hoarse blood-roar I Hark
to the roar of St. Domingo I They come, the people you
have trodden upon, they come to tear you limb from Imib I In
five minutes yonr head will roll in that street— your body be
trampled into bloody mire I"
" My God I" shrieked the trembUng wretch, " am I to die
here hke a rat 1 Let me go — let me fight my way through
the hounds I"
Brandishing the knife, he rushed with forlorn bravery for tho
" Back !" thraidered Harrington. " That way leads to cer-
tain death I"
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SOT
He sprang upon him as he spoke, wrested the Itnife from his
hand, and hurling- it acrosa the room, flung, him back to tho
waE. The wretched man covered his face with his hands 1
" They come 1 they are here I" cried Earrin^on.
He sprang Uy the open door, and stood on the threshold
while amidst a tnmbling sea of shouts and yells, came a tmnnl-
tuons rush of feet on the wooden staira.
Save me, save me," wailed, the miserable creature, mshinff
forward, and flin^ng himself on his knees with clasped hands
at the feet of Muriel.
" Up, up," she cried, "quick, quick, and stay here."
She dragged him up on his feet as she spoke, and 'hurrying
him into the inner room, closed the door upon him, and flew
with the courage of an angel to the side of Harrington, just
as the dense and raving mob of negroes pooi-ed headlong into
the passage-way.
He stood on the threshold, resolute and tranquil, knowing
well that his own life was in imminent dan^r at that moment
a« well as the slaveholder's. Muriel stood by him, as calm and
brave in that ten-ible crisis as he. Arrested in their fury by
these strong, still presences, the sullen-browed and heavy-lipped
grotesque throng hnng lowering and swaying for the rash of
the nest instant. In then- front. stood the tall and mnsculao-
form of Elkanah Brown, with his knife in his hand.
" Mr. Brown," said Harrington, with magnetic dignity
come here."
The stalwart negro stepped forward, with a face of fearful
fierceness, amidst a deep hush in front, whUc shouts and mur-
murs still rose behind.
" Mr. Brown," said Harrington, in the same tone, " I want
to speak with yott a moment in tliis room, and I want yon to
ask our friends to remain where they are till yon come out to
_ The negro hesitated for a moment, fiercely glaring at Har-
nngton. Then, his glance falling on the sweet and solemn face
of Muriel, grew gentler ; and slowly turning, with a limber- .
hipped, mEoncmnt movement, he waved his hand to his fellows
■' Just wait here till I come out," he said with a commaud-
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808 HAEKINGION.
ing air ; then tnrDiiig agajn, he entered the room, amidst a
wild swarming of -Toices, and Harrington, dosing the door,
bolted it and faced him.
" Is William Iloux dead ?" asked Brown, glancmg gloomily
at the prostrate body.
" No, he ia unliarmed — he has only fainted," said Harrington.
"Where's that soul-diiTing hound of a kidnapper ?" roared
the negro, gnashing his teeth, afiA rolling his fierce and torrid
eyes around the room. " The boy said he was in here. Where've
you hid him ? Let me at him, till I cut his heart out I"
" Listen to me, Brown," said Harrington, in a solemn and
majestic voice, fronting the roased passion of the negro with
his soul divinely splendid in his eyes. " You are a brave man
and the son of the brave. Tour father fought in the black
corps with Jackson, at New Orleans. Face to face with
the foe, in honorable war. Ton yourself, walked from slavery
in Louisiana to freedom in Massachusetts, knife in hand, through
a land of enemies. Ton slew the hounds that followed you.
Ton struck dead the armed hunters that opposed you. Man
to man, in honorable war, with the odds i^ainst you, yon
proved youraelf a brave man. Is it for you to stain the bravery
of your manhood now, with the blood of a murder ?"
Half-snbdued by the electric majesty of Harrington's bear-
ing, for the speech had poured from hrni as by inspiration,
and he stood masterful and dauntless, the centre of magnetic
forces such as darted from Kienzi to quell the tempest fury
of old Rome ; gratified, too, by the just tribute to his prowess
which the young man had paid him, and with his nobler nature
dimly rising through the black and bloody fieethe of vengeanc*,
the negro remained for a moment in silence, with an irresolute
and startled b\t, while the shouts and murmurs swelled and
tossed Uke a rising sea of sound around the dwelling.
" Murder, Mr. Harrington ?" he faltered.
" Yes, murder," replied Harrington. " This base wretch
lies here, helpless and at your mercy. To kill him, and you a
thousand to one, is murder. You who never slew a man save
in fair fight, will you slaughter him and the helpless in your
hands ? Thhik 1 When this hour of passion is over, will yon
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HAEBINGTON. 309
feel proud that this miserable wretch was birtcliered by joq in
his Lelple^ness ? Think I"
The negro litood glaring at HarriDgtou witli parted lips,
and sombre and ton-id ejea.
" He took the risk himself 1" he answered sullenly, with
monnting rage. " The soul-driving hound dared to come here
where we live, and ti? to dr^ off one of ua. What right has
he to mercy f Look at that man there, scared into a dead
faint I He did it "
" He did worse !" cried Harrington, with stern enei^ : " he
enslaved a hundred of your people ! He heaped on them
every wrong and outi-ag-e worse than death. They were in bis
power, and be never spared them. Now the power is yomrs.
How will you use it ? As basely as he did ? Will you
degrade yourself by following his example 1 Will you lower
yourself to the level of a brute that has not manhood enough
for mercy T'
The negro stood touched, bnt irresolute. Harrington saw
that the crisis bad come, and that a feather either way would
turn the scale. A. desperate inspiration came to bin), and
with a bound be tore open the door of the inner room, and
drag^d Lafitte front to front with the negro.
" Look at him !" he cried, " Helpless, miserable, merciless
wretch, I east him on your mercy I Show him what it is to be
a man. Teach him the lesson that he never learned — how
the brave can spare ; and let him crawl home with the shame
npon him that he owes his life to the compassion of the people
be would destroy I"
The words swept from Harringtoa's lips like a storm. An
awful moment of silence succeeded, distnrbed only by the roar-
ing clamor of voices that surged around the dwelling. In that
moment, the slaveholder, believing that his hour had come,
stood crouching and ahunch, stupefied with terror, his hands
clasped, his dead eyes staring on the visage of the negro, his
hair bedrencbed and limp around his livid, sweat-bedabbled face,
bis dark moustache hanging dank above his fallen jaw, his
breath commg and going in short, thick gasps, and his whole
tiame shaken like an aspen. Muriel, calm, but still and pallid
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310 HARRINGTON.
as a statue, stood gaaiDg on him with a white sparkle in her
ashen eyes. The negro, dilated to his full heiglit, like a, maa
in the presence of a wild beast, glai'ed upon him for an instiint
with a look of frightfnl ferocity, and then his expression
changing to contemptuous pity, he burst into a short, scornful
guffaw.
" You damned soul-driving tyrant," he bellowed at him, " I
could split your heart with thia knife if you wasn't too mis'ably
mean for me to look at."
And with this address, and another short, scornful guffaw,
he turaed away, snorting with contempt, and sheathed hia
bowie-knife under his waistcoat.
Muriel started from her stillness, and with something of her
usual fi-ank and cordial air, advanced and held out her hand
to him. The negro, suddenly disturbed, as though just con-
scious of her presence, took the' offered hand, half ashamedly,
and bowed low.
" Excuse my language. Miss Eastman," he said, " but I
kind o' forgot you were in here. Now, Mr, Harrington," he
said, hurriedly tuniing from her with a look of trouble, " I
don't know how we'll get this curse out of here. I'm afeard
the folks '11 fly at him when they see him. The women folks
'11 be the worst to manage. Hold on there I" he shouted
going to the door, which was straining with the outside pre^
sure, and resounding with kicks and blows, " I'll be out in a
minute. The women folks, you see," he resumed, "theyTl
have red pepper to throw, just ae like as not. It'll be skit-
tish business, I tell you."
Harrington lifted Eoux, who was recovering from his
swoon, from the floor, carried him into the other room, laid
him on the bed, and returned.
" Listen, Brown," he said, quickly. " It's a hard matter,
but you must use all your influence to keep the people stUl.
Unless you can persuade them to dispei-se, there's only one
thing to be done. Ton and I must take him between us,
and go through the crowd."
Lafitte seemed to catch what was going on, and abjectly
slinking near Harrington, gasped out that he had a carriage
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HAEEINCTON. 311
■Wftitinj^ for him round thp cumer if tliey could ohIy get him
to that. Harriugton iiL.tant!j Lcmmumcatel t\m mf ima
tion to Brown.
" Mr, Brown," said Munel suppose yon let m twenty or
thirty of the men outside for a body guard Then w e can
talie him ia the centre How will that do '
" That's a good idea," replied Brown. " Mr. Hamngton,
come and help me to stand the rush."
He moved to the door accompanied by Harrington.
" Hallo, there I" roared Brown, " Staad back. I'm going
to open the door."
There was a sudden retrograde rush, with a swarming
clamor of voices, and sliding back the bolt, Brown flung the
door open, and with Harrington by his side, sprang upon the
threshold.
" Bade, now !" he shouted. " See here, I want some of
you in here. Come in aa I call you. The rest wait."
With his eye roving over the crowd, he called about thirty
names in saccession, the men passing in between him and
Harrington, as they were snmmoned. Toward the end of the
roll-call, Tagmatton appeared, and darted into the room
between the legs of Harrington, who tried to stop him.
" Now, then, gentlemen," said Brown, in his grandiose way,
addiessiug the gaping crowd of negroes and mulattoes outside,
"you wait there, and we'll be out soon."
With that, be and Harrington withdrew, bolting the door
again. The first thing Harrington saw, was the infuriated
Tugmntton lightly prancing around the wincing and crouching
slaveholder, and punching and butting h\n\ without mercy, and
in perfect silence. Nothing could have more completely indi-
cated Lafitte's utter prostration of spirit than his submission
to the pummelling he was receiving. Muriel was in the inner
room, bending over Ronx, and the body of negroes, all giin-
ning, were the only witnesses, besides Harrington and Brown,
of this extraordinary transaction.
" Hallo there, Charies !" cried Harrington, " stop that !"
Tugmutton, who had just lifted his short, kuarly leg for a kick,
which would have been like the kick of a Shetland pony, let
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312
HAKKINGTON.
hia foot fall, and stood, his broad limba all dispread, and his
blobber-checks puffed oat with rage under his shocks of wool.
Harrington's eye was od him, or he would have given the
enemy of his race a parting thump of one sort or another ;
but as it was, he slunk off m the suika to the adjoining
" See here, gentlemen," said Brown, addressing the motley
gronp of negroes, who now stood fierce and open-mouthed,
rolling their eyes upon the slaveholder, " I've got somethmg
to Bay to you. There's a lady here, and what you've got to
do is to behave like gentlemen."
There was instantly great confusion of elaborate dacking
and bowmg to the kdy, Muriel having come from the inner
room as Brown spoke. She acknowledged their grotesque
and extravagant politeness by smiling and curtseying, which
set them all going again with the added grace of ranch good-
natured grmning, and some sprnce strntting on the part of the
younger men, especially the mnlattoes. One could not help
noticmg, as part of the general effect, the contrast between
this facile affability and anxious desire to please, and the
tmcouth and outlandish figures of these courtiers, every one
of whom had sometliing singular and nondescript about his
apparel or bearing.
" Now gentlemen," pursued Brown, after an embarrassed
pause, in which he kept moving his hand over his mouth as
one in doubt what to say next, " the reason I've asked you in
here is becanse I've most especial confidence in you. Fact is
B;entlemen, we shall all get into trouble and have the pohce
down on us, unless we get that man there off safe. That's got
to be done, gentlemen, and you've got to do it 'What you've
got to do, gentlemen, is to form in a hollow sqn ire and put
him in the middle of you, and walk hun off handsome to a
carriage round the corner."
They all stood starmg open-mouthed with eyes revolvmg
wildly at the speaker. Lafitte, coming to his sensei agajn,
lyaa m an agony of apprehension, while both Muriel ami Har-
■ington stood with throbbing hearts.
"Deacon MaKey,"said Brown with some pomposity of
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HAEKINSTON. 313
manner, " wliat's j-our opinion aa to whether this thing caa be
done 1"
Deacon Massey, an elderly colored man of pragmatical as-
pect, with two bunches of white wool protruding from under an
old cap which he wore oa the baok of his head, and with a
general flavor of antiquity in his shabby garments, uistantlj
assumed an air of the profoundei>t deUberation.
"It my 'pinion. Brother Brown," he said, with a very
important au-, after a long pause, " that this thing can be done
if these yer brethren '11 put their trust in the Lord and sticlc
together."
There was an instant bnrst of declarations from the entire
group that they would trust the Lord and stick together, and
do the thing in first rate style.
" All right, gentlemen," said Brown. " Now form."
Amidst much bustle, Harrington directing, and Brown
hustling them into place, a hollow square was formed in the
centre of the room.
" I will take Mr. Lafitte by one arm," said Muriel, " and.
yon Mr. Brown, will taka tte other. Mr. narrington will
foUow behind."
Harrington looked grave. "You run great danger,
Muriel ?" he murmured. " I think you'd better stay here."
_ " No," whispered Muriel, " with a woman on hia arm, his
risk will be lessened. We must omit nothing that will protect
hun. Don't fear for me. I'm not afraid."
" Miss Eastman," said Brown, approaching with a bow
"you're the bravest lady I've ever seen by long odds. You
can't be beat. Miss Eastman."
" Thank you, Mr. Brown," she said with a cnrtsey, almost
gay, " Kow, su-," she added gravely, turning to the shudder-
ing Lafitte, " collect yourself, keep your head down, and don't
look around you."
She picked his hat up from the floor, and put it on him.
He tried to bow with something of his usual courtesy, but was
too much (^itated to do so. Taking him irmly by the left
arm, she led Mm into the centre of the square, which closed
14
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314 HAEKIKGTON.
around ttem with loeliod arms. Tlie awful moment was ap-
proaching.
" Now, gentlemen," eaiil Brown, firmly, " mind you stick
together, Dou't march till I giye the word."
He weiit to the door and unbolting it, threw it open.
" Gentlemen," he roared, in a tremendons voice, " this affair
is settled. We're going to escort this man away from the
ne^hborhood. Fall back, all of you, aud clear the way."
He adranced upon them with waving arms.
There was an instant's hesitation, and then, with a sudden
movement, they receded tumuituonsly, and poured down the
wooden steps amidst a chorus of shouts and cries, which was
taken up below, and swelled into a ponderous uproar.
Returning hastily to the room. Brown entered the hollow
sqnare, and grasped Lafitte by the right arm. Harrington
followed him and took his place behind, and the square closed.
" Forward, march !"
As the words bnrst from the month of the negro, they
marched from the room, only breaking their order to get
through the doorways. The moment they appeared on the
steps, the whole wild, tossing, sunlit multitude sent up an ap-
palling and tremendous howling roar. Lafitte almost fainted,
but encouraged by Muriel, he rallied, and keeping his head
on his breast, without looking at the crowd, he was got down
the steps, and the nest instant the little phalanx, joining to-
gether with locked arms, plunged into the living sea, which
closed around them amidst an awful diu.
They turned up the sidewalk, stepping quickly, with the
mob parting before them, and following on theii- left flank and
behind thefn, and the tossing and roaring multitude in the
middle of the street crowding them hard, and at times driving
them to the wall of houses on their left. Amidst the uproari-
ous clamor, Brown's voice pealed incessantly, calling on those
before him to clear the way, and to those on his left to stand
back. As Muriel had foreseen, her presence was an invalaable
aid, for at the sight of the beautiful, calm lady, the foremost
of the flanking multitude would crowd back upon those behind
them, and driven foi-ward again, would agam crowd and stn^-
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HAEEINGTON. 315
gle backward. Sooa, too, the imitatire facnlty had its way,
and the phalanx deepened by the accession of other negroes who
locked arms with it, till it filled the sidewalk to the kerb-stone,
■which in tnrn opposed a slight barrier to the dense press of the
multitude. But the passage through the stifling crush was
still ai-duous, and the heat and foul odors made it more so.
Awful, too, were the howls and cries and imprecations which
greeted every glimpse of the Southerner. At that moment,
Lafitte would have willingly given everything he was worth iu
the world to be out of the danger which menaced hhn.
The height of the ordeal was when they reached Grove
street, where they had to cross to the carriage, with the mul-
titude on each side of them. It was but a short distance, but
the phalanx, struggling and swaying m the dense and roaring
press, had to literally tear its way through. There was already
hustling and pushing, with angry words flying, and Harring-
ton saw that presently it would come to blows, when all wonid
be lost. Bending forward, he shouted iu Brown's ear to take
the lead and endeavor to clear the way. The negro instantly
di'opped Lafltte's arm, which Harrington seized, and gaioing
the van of tlie phalaux, he burst upon the crowd with all the
strength of his body and the thunder of his voice. They
surged back for an instant, leaving a clear space in front.
" Quick step I forward I" pealed the trumpet tones of Har-
rington.
The phalanx made a desperate rush, Brown flying in the van,
and in an instant the carriage waa gained. Quick as thought
Lafitte was forced into it, and Harrington and Muriel sprang
in beside him. The crowd poured around with a clamor of
shouts and cries, and while the horses, with the frightened
driver at their heads, reared and plunged, the carriage itself,
seized by the crowd, began to sway as if it would be ovei^
thrown. Lafitte fainted dead away,
" Quick 1" vociferated Brown to the driver. "Mount the
box, and drive like mad !"
The driver scrambled to his seat, and lashed the hordes,
while the negro sprang inside. Away they rattled at & fuqous
pace, with the howling multitude sui^g along on either aide
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316
HAKEINGTON,
and behind them. Muriel and Harrington, flushed and bathed
with persphation, sat, with disordered dresses, holding up the
inanimate form of the slaveholder, while Brown, in a reek of
Bweat, busied himself with beating off the hands that clutched
momently at the carriage door. Along Grove street into
May, and from thence up West Centre into Myrtle, the fright-
ened horses tore like a whh-lwind ; hut before they reached
Myrtle, the clamor was receding, and the crowd had thinned
and fallen behind, nnable to keep up with them, but still fol-
lowing in the distance.
" We're safe I" cried Harrington, joyfully.
" Taith, yes," returned Muriel, gaily, her golden eyes glow-
ing in the faint pink flush of her facu, " but it was warm work
while it lasted."
CHAPTER XX.
EXPL4NATI0KS.
Foe a few moments they all were silent.
" Mr. Brown," said Muriel, breaking the pause, " we owe
you the most cordial thanks. You have saved this man's
life."
" I'm afeard. Miss Eastman, that his life's not wortb sav-
ing," retnrned the negro, in an exhausted voice, wiping away,
with his shirt-sleeve, as he spoke, the streaming moisture
which shone on his swart visage. " He's in a fit, aint he, Mr.
Harrington?" he added, glancing at the slaveholder, ' who
sat, flaccid and inanimate, between the young man and
Mnriel.
"No, he has only fainted," replied Harrington. "We
must revive him."
He removed the Southerner's hat, took off his neckcloth
and opened his shirt, to give him air, while Muriel busied her'
self with fanning huu, using his hat for that purpose. She
had dropped her fan and parasol on the steps at the time
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SIT
wben Tugumttoa had screamed to them what was going on in
K«ux's room.
" I should just hke to know the rights of this matter, Mr.
HaiTington," said Brown, " for I've got no clur understandin'
of it, any way. The fast thing I knew, I heerd a hollerin' in the
Street, and I caught a sight of that boy of Rous's tearin' like
mad from house to house, bawlla' somethin' or other, and the
folks comin' out and runnin' in all sorts of ways, shoutin', till the
street filled with 'em. I stood a minute, and then I run down
to Tug. ' Hullo, you young devil,' says I, ' what's to pay.'
' There's a kidnapper luggiu' off father,' he bawls, and off he
goes like a shot, hollerin' that into the houses, and dodgin'
about like a Ingy rubber ball. I sung out, ' come on, men,'
and I put for Roux's, knife in hand, liukedy spht. That's all
I know."
"Well, I hardly know more myself," replied Harrington.
" Misa Eastman and I were going up to see Eoux. Wo met
the boy, who ran up the steps before us, and as we were
ascending, he came flying biwk screaming that there was a
kidnapper in there canying off his father, and yanisiied past
us. I didn't know what to make of it, but I rushed up and in,
and sure enough there was this person, whom I had seen last
n^ht at the Convention, grasping Roux's arm, and leading him
to the door. I flew at him, and dashed him to the wall.
Then came the noise in the street, and the people poured into
the house."
" Who is this man anyway ?" said the negro.
" He is named Lafitte, and he was formerly Roux's master,"
replied Harrington.
The negro threw ba«k his head, and laughed, showing his
splendid teeth and pink gums.
" Well, if this don't beat all !" he exelmroed. " You don't
mean to tell me that he thought he could carry off Rouz alone
right out of the midst of us ? Why, the man's crazy I"
" Well, it looks insane enough," said Harrington, " and what
put such a foolhardy idea into his head, I can't imagine. And
yet. Brown, reckless and crazy as this attempt seems, do yon
know that I think it would have been successful ? Yoa should
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318
HAKEIHGTON.
W seen Ronj. The m« m perfecllj helpta witli fright.
He looked ftscmatod, like , blrf In' tie j.m of » ,„ke I
venlj believe that he would have walked without the slkhtest
pemtauce to the carpiage, and have been taken back mto
Slavery without out evet knowlns what had become of liun »
I .wear," cried Brown, « I didn't think Bffl Eoni wa, such
a coward."
„ """"f ' ''"'' "■'■''' '"' "■" "'-"ei Hamngton.
Jnst think of th, awful and unexpected slock it must have
been to suddenly Ind this man in the room witl him I"
Lahtte, at this moment showed signs of retnmng conscious
ness, and the conversation censed The caiiia.(c havniir
arnvcd at Mount Yemen street was now goinj at a mote
moderate pace, the crowd h™ng m the vanon, turns it lind
made, lost the tract of it If it had been going on a stiai -lit
toad, those negroes would have followed it till they dropped
Shuddering, as he returned to hfe the ghastly Southerner
so unlike the smihng and sard inie gi ntleman ot an hour hefme'
looked around Wm, and his glanee fajimg upon Biuin ha
cowered.
" Ton are in safety, sir " said Muriel gentiv
He smiled, or tried to smile, sieUiIj, and his hps moved in
the endeavor to speak, but no sound came from them
" Whore shall we take jou, Mr. Laitte P said Harrington
after a pause.
After two or three ineffectual efforts, Lafitte contrived to
whisper that he was stopping at the Tremont House Har-
rmgton gave the order to tie driver, and in a few minutes
they arrived at the hotel . By that tune Lafitte had recovered
and Hamngton assisted him to button up his shirt and vest
resume his neckcloth, and get himself into somelhlng like decent
trim.
Leaning on Harrington's arm, he got from the carriage and
stood, weak and ghastly, on the sidewalk. The dnrried driver
pointing to his horses, which stood reeking, and covered with
froth and pasty foam, remarked that "if them ammals ahi't
blown, It's nobody's fault— that's all." Mr. Lafitto gave him a
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HAEEDJGTON. 319
handful of gold and eilyer, and appeased, he retired with
profuse thanlts.
" And now, look here," said Brown, fronting the slare-
hoider, " I don't want to say uotbin' ugly to a man iu your
state, bat I'll give you my advice. You've had a taste of
Southac street to-day, and if yon ain't dead, it's just because
this gentleman begged your life of me. You jast leave this
city now as quick as convenient, for if any of our folks fall
afoul of you, you'll get knifed as sure as you're born. That's
my advice to you. Just you follow it, and bear in mind that
you can't carry on here aa you do way down in Loazeana."
" That la good advice, Mr. Lafltte," said Harrmgton, " and
Mr. Brown here means well by you in giving it. After what
has passed, you must not remain in Boston."
Harrington spoke with ommous eaxnestness, and Mr. Lafltte
was evidently impressed by him. He stood, looking weak and
sick, while these remarks were made to him, with his eyes cast
" I'll go," he faltered, " I certainly will, I am indebted to
you, Mr. Harrington, for your protection — much indebted, sir.
And to this lady also."
" You are far more indebted to Mr. Brown," said Muriel.
* " Without his friendly aid, we could have done nothing for you."
Mr, Lafitte was silent. Even in his humiliation, his rank
and msolent Southern arrogance would not suffer him to make
any acknowledgments to a negro, though it was a negro who
had preserved him.
"Mr. Harrington," he said after a pause, "I drew my knife
on you to-day, and you made a generous return for the injury
I tried to do you. Indeed, sir, I am aware that you saved my
life."
Harrington's blue eyes flashed fire, and his nostrils lifted.'
" Listen to me, sir," he said, with stem solemnity. " The
life you hve is not human. Nothing is human that forgets tha
kindness man owes to man. To-day I have helped to save
you, for I do not hate yon, and I wish you no harm ; but un-
derstand that a life hke yours has small claims on my heart, and
I call it love and mercy to kill you when you attack the weak
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o^U HAERmOTOH.
and poor. Go now from this city, and neTer come liere again
to lay yoTir hand on one man in it. I do not seek yonr life ;
I would guard it if I coaM ; but while I am tender of yoa
personally I hid you remember that the issues between tyrants
df m th b di6ues fhf and death. Oaeelhavo
8. d y —tw I w 11 t t in peace— hat come here
^ t rr d 1 1 w 11 slay yon with my own
h d f 1 J tl Et 1 Gr d while I live, shall you
n any m k Bost a, 1 mitm g und for men !"
L htt w th h h tly Ti s b ved, shook like a Jeaf
whd H t IV tl wh t f and flaming eyes, and
with t n d t m t y t uttered an admonition
wh: h t th digmty f th ^ t issue between Liberty
and Slavery.
" I regret to say this to yon in your present condition,"
said the young man, after a pause, "but it is necessary that
you should hear it, and understand it well. Now I will help
you in."
Leaving Muriel on the sidewalk for a minute, he gravely
aesisted Lafltte up the steps of the hotel, aud left him.
" Now, dear fellow-soldier," he said, returning, " we must
go baek and carry off Roux."
" Decidedly, yes," replied Muriel, taking his arm, "for when
the wolf gets well, he may have a hankering for the lamb.
Come with us, Mr. Brown."
They took another carriage which was standing there, and
drove back to Southac street.
It may be said here, that Harrington had left Antony,
Bonndly sleeping, in the care of Captain Pisher, who sat with
the door bolted, and the pistol by him, keeping watch and
ward, while the young man fulfilled his appointment with
Muriel. Arriving an hour earlier than that assigned, Har-
ington had astonished her and Iier mother with the wild tale
^ hia nocturnal adventure. That the brother of Roux should
have arrived in Boston at this juncture, and that the young
man, of all persons on earth, should have come upon him,
were coincidences almost too marvellous for conception, and
the two ladies dwelt upon them with speechless wonder.
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HABEING'TON. 321
Not te mmellom to H.tringlon and Mopiel, w.s fleir
foitun.te .rrlyaJ at Roux', house In the critical moment of hi,
dreadful peril Three minutes later, and the negro would hare
been a lost man.
Keaohing Southac street agam, they found Eonx »eak and
haggard with the terrible shock he had received. He was
Bitting m » Chan- neat the stoye as thej entered. Tugmntton
was frying potatoes In a spider, accompanjmg his operations
With sage rehcctions on the recent incident, mingled with
loftj reproofs to Eonx for not haimg "squashed m,» as h(<
phrased it, the head of the skveholder, together with pompon,
comments on his own promptness and cx>nra«e in having first
roused the neighborhood, and then assaulted the kidnapper
On this Isat feat, the fat squab dwelt prondlj, as the crow' '
the whole transaction, and Eonx meeklj listening with great
admiration, looked upon Tugmntton as more than ever a
superior being.
Tugmntton, a little apprehensive lest Harrmgton should
not take the same view of the crowning feat, fried the
potatoes m discreet silence, while lie and Muriel questioned
Eonx. It appeared that Koui's wife and the chadi-en had
been inviwd to remain a week in Cambridge, at the house of
the brother-m-law, who was a well-toHlo colored man. Eons
himself havmg come into town, with Tngmutt»n, to attend to
his busmess. It was at once decided that Eonx should take
up his abode for the present at Temple street, and that Hai-
mglon should write to Ms familj, s(»tmg where he was, and
the reason for this step. Tugmntton, who was to keep his
father company, was to he dispatched with the letter
This settled, the fire was slaked, and locking the door be-
hmd them, they all descended to the carriage. Tugmntton,
havmg objected to so speedy a departure, on the ground that
the fried potatoes would be sacrificed, which he regarded as a
serious breach of the domestic economy of the establishment,
had been prevailed upon to compromise the matter by bestow-
ing those edibles, together with the remnant of the meat and
whatever bread Ihei-e was in the house, on big Opheha and
her elvish husband in the room opposite. "You know,
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332 HARRINGTON.
Charles," Muriel had gaily observed to him, " that these are
the days of the Compromise Measures, and you must be in
fashion." Touched by this appeal to his statesmanship, the
fat Puck had made the donation with the air of one giving
away a million of money, and the donation having been gra-
cionslj received, he had, by way of prudence, loftily added a
bouncing fib, to the effect that he and Roux were going out
to stay some time at his uncle's eonntry-seat in Cambridge.
Two or three policemen had arrived in Southac street, just
' after the exit of the Southerner. They had prudently ab-
stained from interfering with the excited crowd ; but tlie crowd
had dispersed, and few of their nranher remained in the street
as the carriage came for Roux and drove away again.
Arrived at' Temple street, Roux was installed in an upper
chamber ; books and pictures were left him to while away his
days of imprisonment, and Harrington and Muriel withdrew to
the library, to consult with Mrs. Eastman as to what was to
be done with Antony.
It was finaUy decided that the news of his brother's arrival
should be broken to Roux the next morning, and then, that
Antony, too, should be conveyed to the house and shut up with
Ronx. It was also resolved that ail of them should take up
their future abiding place in Worcester, as soon as it should be
judged safe to remove them ; for, with such a man as Lafitte
alive, they could no more go at lai^ in safety in Boston, at
that period, than Italian patriots could in Naples, among the
sbirri of Bomba.
The council over, Mrs. Eastman retired to send np some
dinner to Roux, and Harrington, meanwhile, dashed off the
letter for Tugmutton to carry to Cambridge.
" G-ood I" said Muriel, reading what he had written. Har-
rington rose.
" I must leave you," said he, taking up his hat.
" Oh, but stay and dine with ws," she pleaded,
" Indeed, I can't," he replied. " I must go and relieve the
Captain, who is watching over Antony, and wondering what
has become of me."
" True," she answered. " And I must go make my toilette,
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HAREINGTON. 833
for I am in a state. But, John, when shaJl I see you again ?
You know we have this matter of Emily aad Wentworth to
look into."
" I declare I forgot it. This busincBs quite drove it from
my mind," exclauned Harrington, quicltiy. " What have yoa
heard ?"
" Not a word," alie answered. " Emily appeared at break-
fast with the story of a sleepless night in her poor lack-lustre
eyes. I said nothing, for I had no chance, and since then she
has kept, herself locked up in her chamber. There is some-
thing passing strange in this. Have you seen Wentworth ?"
" Mo, Muriel. It is the first day I have not seen him for I
know not how long. I should have gone in search of him to
get at the bottom of this matter, but for my strange adveit-
tare last night. And Emily— I declare I must see Emily, for
I have something to say to her,"
" About this, John ?"
"No." Harrington colored. "About something else."
Muriel smiled faintly, tliinkmg this the desire of a lover's
heart.
" Well, John," she said, " let mg tell her you are here."
Harrington hesitated, thinking' whether he ought to keep
the Captain on daty longer. On the other hand, he felt the
need of an immediate understanding with Emily. With this
mingled a sense of how painful and embarrassmg an interview
it would he. Would this time be well chosen for it, when
Emily was already m sorrow ? No. He concluded that he
must wait.
Muriel, while he deliberated, had moved slowly to the door,
awaiting his decision, and seeing that he seemed miable to
make up his mind, resolved to decide for him.
" I'll call her," she said, vanishing from the room, just as
Harrington had made his conclusioii,
Harrington sprang forward to stop her, stumbled over a
stool, and nearly fell, and when he reached the entry Muriel
wasjK^ to be seen.
" Good I" he muttered, with some chagrin. "It seems the
Fates have decided that the explanation is to ensue now."
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Oii* HAEEIKGTON,
He threw down his hat and tned to think what he should
Bay As I ual in such cases, hf cculd thinl of nothing
A piettvph^ht Im m tf hte anjlndj he muttered,
glancmg at his dus,t-covered gaimciito and constions thit n.
bath wonld improve him
feaddenlj bng before he had e^tpectfd hei the dooi oiwned,
and Emdy pale as marble with hei eves ai oileu with weep-
ing came into the hbraiy with a movement so unhLe in its
rapidity her uBnal 'iumptuoui and slow statcliness that Har-
rmgton was tartled She came trai^ht up to liim with out-
stietched hands her lips paited the tears flowing fiom her
eyes and so agonized and desperate a loot on her fdce that
it shocted him
John she ga&ped seizing his handb LOnvul ively hear
me ! Muriel told me jon wanted to see me 1 ut it i I that
want to see j )u — to talk with you— to ask jour ompajjsioE
and forgiveness.
" Emily I — what ! — forgiveness ! — my forgivenesg 1"
She broke in upon bis stammered words, wildly, almost
fiercely.
" Hush ? do not speak I Let me speak," she cried. " Let
me atone for my baseness to you by my self-degradation — my
confession — my repentance " —
" Emily — Emily — silence !" cried Harrington, shocked be-
yond expression 1 " I cannot hear you speak of yourself so.
Baseness ? In yon ? Kever ! All the world would not
make me believe it — you yom-self"
" John I hear me I hear me 1" she wailed, her fa«e agonized,
and the wild tears sti-eaming — " hear me, I implore yon ! I
have deceived yon. I have beguiled you. I have misled you
— I have made you think I love you "
" No, Emily, yon have not. You have won my affection,
but it is the affection of a brother who will be a brother to you
forever. You have made me think you love me, but with the
love of a friend and sister. Ko more."
She dropped his hands, and receding a pace,. looked «t. him
with a hushed face, on which the tears lay wet, but ceased to
flow. The solemn and fond avowal sank like dew on thi
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HAliKlNG-rON. 325
burniDg pasaion of her brain. Poi> a full mimitc slie looked
at him.
" Harrington I" she said slowly, in a deep still voice from which
the tremor had gone. " Is it possible I Can this be so 1
Mj whole attitude to you— my coni-t to you— my words, my
looks, my actious— all that misled others— that made them timk
I loved you — that deceived them utterly,"
" They never deceived me, Emily. 1 looked upon them
only as the tokens of your friemlship, of your sisterly regard.
No more."
She gazed at him ia wondering awe. Suddenly a wUd light
broke upon her face, and she clasped her hands.
'* Oh, man without vanity I" she jiassionately cried, "sim-
ple, honorable heart— nature unspotted by the world, and
knowing nothing base— how am I worthy to live in your
presence 1 The arts that would have flattered the self-love
of the moths tliat flutter romid me, were powerless on yon,
and untempteii, undated, um,nspecting, you took my treacherou^
homage a« only the token of the love of a 'sister aud a
friend I"
The words trembled away in a rajiture of fervor. Ceasing,
her head sank upon her bosom, and her face was wet with a
solemn rain of tears. Moved beyond speech, and sadly un-
derstanding all, Harrington stood with his flushed face mute, a
Bweet thrill molting through his frame, and his eyes were dim.
" It is over," she sorrowfully faltered. " The worst is over.
There is more to be said— much more, but I cannot say it
now. Not now— not now."
She stood in deep dejection, her head bowed, her hands
clasped and drooping, and her eyeUds almost closed.
" I am very humble," she slowly murmured, ia a voice like
the dropping of tears. " I stand in the Valley of Humiliation,
and the "Valley of the Shadow, lies before me. Alone, I enter
it — forsaken — alon e . "
He heard the words, mournful as the somid of a funeral beii,
and he strove to speak, but could not shape his Lps to
language that did not seem to profane the sanctity of her
sorrow. Silently he held out hia arms to her.
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" 0 my brother I" She glided near, and laid lier licad upon
his breast, and her Toice was weak and low. " Let me rest
here a little. Do not speak to me. laniTeiyweary. Let me
rest here a little while — let me dream of my childhood — of
the old sweet days that are gone — a httle whUe before I go."
He had put his arms'silently and tenderly around her, and
she leaned upon his breast with closed ejes, pale and etill.
Bo sound broke the hush. A sad peace filled the air, and the
slow minutes ebbed away.
" Where ara I ?" she raised her head slightly, then let it
sink ^ain upon his bosom, " I am here — still here. I was
glidmg away — away. It was vei7 comforting and sweet. I
am better now, I think I most have slept a little. I feel so
refreshed and light. Thank yon, my brother, for this rest and
strength, Now I must go. Kiss me, Harrington."
She turned her pale mouth np to his as she whispered the
words. Vaguely snrprised at the strangeness of her request,
and deeply tonched by its dreamful and childlike innocence, he
bent Ms head and kissed her. Her lips were not fevered, but
cool and dewy, like the lips of a child. Wondering at this,
he was about to unclasp his anns to release her, when her
eyes closed and her head sank again upon his breast. Hold-
ing her so, with his gaae turned far away to the blue sky be-
yond the windows of the room, he heard her breathe gently,
and looking at her face, he saw that a hght dew had started
out npon it, and that she was asleep. He knew at once that
this strai^e sleep was magnetic, and that its blessed rain of
healing would fall deep and long on the arid trouble of her brain.
Gratefnl that so sweet an influence had been shed upon her
throngh him, he held her for a few moments, and then gently
lifting her in his anns, he laid her on a conch. The sumptuous
pride and passion of her womanhood seemed to have fallen
from her, and pale, with her long dark eyelash sleeping on
her cheek, she lay in thrilling and exquisite marble beauty,
glmnbering with the restful innocence of childhood.
He was about to ring and ask for Mrs. Eastman; then re-
flecting that she might be in the parlor, he chose rather to go
down to her on his way out from the house, but stepping on
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HAiiEI^JGTON. 337
liptoe to the door for this purpose, he saw Muriel clad in a
white wrapper, just ascending to her chamber, and beckoned
to her. She came instantly, all lily-fair from ber bath, with
her bright hair rippling back from a face serious with inquiry,
and gazed with some astonishment on the reposing form of
Emily. Briefly explaining to her ia a wliisper the nature of
the sleep in which Emily lay, and advising that she should be
covered, and left there to slumber undisturbed, Harringtou
softly quitted the room, promising to return as soon as he
could, and tell Muriel more.
"But John," muimured Muriel, in the coiTJdor, "do give
me a little information about this before you go. Ton say
she fell asleep leaning on your breast, and that nature was
overcome with suffering. What was her trouble '! Surely
what Wentworth said to her could not have affected Ler so
terribly."
" Muriel," said Harrington, gently, after a pause, " this is
a secret, bat it is one, I think, you ought to know. Briefly,
then — Emily imagined that she had won my heart from me,
and was stricken with generous grief to think that she had no
love but a sister's to giye me in retarn. It was easy to rectify
her painM error, and I have done so."
Muriel stood gazing at him, as if she had turned to
etone.
" Good-bye," said Harrington, after an awkward pause.
She slowly bent her head in reply, and stood motionless,
with her lips parted in wonder, as he went down-stairs and
out at the front door.
" Yes," he murmured, as he strode off down the street,
" and she loves Wentworth. Tliat is her heartbreak— that is
why she paid her desperate and reckless court to me. Oh,
Muriel, I would not have you know it for the world I"
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HAEEDJGTOM.
CHAPTER XXI.
THE BHEAKIiSG OF THE SPEll,
Reoalled to herself by the shutting of the street door,
Muriel started from her trance, and fiew upstairs into her
chamber. Falling on her knees by her bedside, she covered
her eyes with her hands, and buried her face in the coTcrlet,
floods of dazzling light pouring npon her brain.
"I see it all I" she cried, sprii^ng to her feet, and throw-
ipg up her hands, her face radiant, and a smile breaking upon
it like March splendors from the wild clouds; "I see it all
now ! Wentworth and she are loyers. Oh, let me not die
with joy !"
Her laminoBS face nptnraed, her arms npthrown, she flew
across the room, stopped suddenly, and covering her eyes with
her hands, stood still, light, perfume, and victory rushing npon
her soni and mantling through her veins.
" Yes, I see it a!! I" she cried, flinging her bands from her
eyes, and clasping them before her, ■' they love— they love.
It is a lover's quarrel. To rea Wentworth, she paid court to
Harrington. It was on Eichard's account that she was jea-
lous of me. And that is why Richard was so devoted to me
—yes, to vex her. And I who patronized him, that she and
Harrington might be together— ah, that made Harrington
think I loved Richard. I see it— I see it 1 That is' what he
meant when he asked me to tell him who my fairy prince was I
Oh, noble heart, you hid yonr pain— you sacrificed your love
—you tried to be happy in the happiness you dreamed for
me I And I, who made you suffer— I, who could be so
misled, as to think, even for an instant, that you loved another
—Oh, bUnd, blind I"
Her eyes swam, and her beantiful head diooimg like a
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flower she stood mot o less her fallen hands clasped before
her th ntm? th iking tl Dking of t all Sw ttlv as n the
fairy tale at tl e toaeh of the p nee a and tl e in{,led fl
nniavellel and all the colu s lay assorted o n h u
the wh le t ngle of m sapi ehens on and Uusion u oand a I
feil into orderly an 1 ca d 1 f m
' Ah R chard y u wani] 1 he j^aly s lloq zel half to
herself and half alo d you si all make a ne Is for th s !
Bnt jou to nnst h ve suffered 'Sow wlot nuld have
made them quarrel 1 Let's consider, Wliat have I ever seen
Richard do to Eaiily ? Nothing bnt look cold, and gkra, and
piqued. All that was clearly in response to her manner.
Then that ngly speech he made— but that was the finale.
Stand aside, Richard, my friend. Now, Eraiiy, What have
I seea Emily do to Richard ? Let me see. "Why nothing
either for a commencement of the trouble. My observations
began in the middle of it all Stay — there was that littie
afto of the violets for a sample. But that was in the middle,
too. And that was dnc to onr sweet fiiend Fernando, Oho I"
she cried, opening her eyes with a comical air, " I have an
idea I Wait, wait, now, my little idea, till I put a piu m you 1
Let's see. With one subtle speech, one artful tone, one deli-
cate lift of those expressive eyebrows, one curious non-
significant, nll-s^ificant, anything-signifieant look, this clever
Witherlee contrives to put it into my shnple Emily's head to
shght and wonnd her lover. That was a deUcions proceedmg,
and I saw it in all its indescribable beauty. That was a
sample of Fernando's method. That was one of his fine
touches. Still that is but one. But suppose he has been
playing this sort of game with Emily from the first ? So
gently, so delicately, so skillfully poisoning her mind against
Wentworth. Her intimate friend— so close with her, so con-
fidential:— ah, ha ! my daughter of Eve, has the ser]>ent beea
at your ear, too ! Oh, my poor Eveling, has he been putting
you up to this mischief ? Good ! I'll engage that we shall
find Witherlee at the bottom of the whole imbroglio when all
is known."
And Mnriel, ineffably delighted nt her own sagadty, her
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HAKErNGTON.
nimble mind Laving glaaoed from point to point to this eon
elusion, tlirew back her charming head, and gave way to a
rivulet of low, delicious Jaughter.
" Shame on me to laugh about it," she re'inmed, looking
very grave. " It has cost too much suffering to laugh aljout.
And ypt," she ran od, rippling again into golden laughter, " I
can't help it. I'm so happy 1 And it is such a pleasure to
have found the track of the fox that stole the grapes 1 Well,
Fernando ! you're a nice young man 1 And oh, Cupid,
Cnpid, you weren't painted with the bandaged eyes for nothing,
you rogue 1 But, bless me, here am I chattering to myself,
and Emily to be covered, dinner nearly ready, and I not
dressed."
She broke off to hasten to a bureau, from a lower drawer
of which she took a grey silk coverlet to lay over Emily, and
went swiftly from the room.
Emily was sleepiog deeply, with a faint color in her pallid
and lovely face. Bending over her, Muriel covered her with
the quilt, aud kissing her forehead softly as a spirit, darkened
the room, ajid left her. Then going down to her mother, and
warning her not to disturb the sleeper, she hurried up to her
chamber, and finished dressing herself just as Bridget, a comely
little Irish giri who waited at table when they dined alone,
came up to summon her to dinner.
Charmingly attired in a robe of black silk, with an open
corsage of snowy lace, and lookinn- more radiantly ftir than
ever, Muriel came down t d nn and during the al nte
tained her mother with a um tant ai m t of h n
adventure. The story, t urs m d a nsat n a. th
popular phrase goes ; I t a fa a Mu 1 as n d
Mrs. Eastman listened witl ut hudd 1 d g SI I ad
such perfect confidence i h daught r* I htj t tak a t
herself, and such a conviction that everything she did befitted
her— for, like Shakspeare's Cleopatra, Muriel shed the artistic
grace of her nature on all her actions, and compelled them to
become her ornaments — that she heard the part she had played
in the wild scene not only without discomposure, but with con-
BJderable pride and admiration, thinking at the same time how
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T. 331
proud Mr. Eastman would haTe been of the way bis child had
borne herself. As he would, for his wishes for Muriel were
well expressed in the noble lines of Ben Jouson, of which he
wfts very fond :
"I meant the daj-star aliould not brighter ride,
Nor shed lite influence from his iuceot seat :
Imeaiitshe should be courteonf, Ikdie, sweet,
Fcee from that solemn TJce of greatness, pride I
I meaat each softest virtue there aliould meet,
Yit in thSiC softer bosom to abide :
Oniy a learned and a mai^T soul
I purposed her, that should with even powers
The rock, the spindle, and the shears control
Of Destiuj ; and spin lier own free hours.
A piquant incident occurred while th y j 1 1 I t i
sert. The chief result, perhaps, of Mun 1 n t to
lend an added blazon, in Mrs. Eastman nimd t th ha a
ter of Harrington ; and, by the way, h t II fi n ly 1 ! \
— his declaration to the contrary not th ta dmg — th t !i
danghter loved him.
"I often think," she observed, du g th n -sat n
"how superior Johu is to all other in I k Th th
day I met hun in the street, and my fii t p f
his superiority m contrast to those arou I Lim
" Yes, that strike one certainly," r t "d M 1 tl a
nonchalant air,
" Ah, there is none hke him, none I 1 "\I E tm
" I wish I had the rewarding of him."
Muriel laughed.
" Vui^ue is its own reward you kn w m m 1 ad
playfully. " But what other reward w 1 1 1 g h !
" You I" quickly said Mrs, Eastman, smiling and colormg.
Muriel looked at her with a twinkling mouth and a demure
" You do not mean to say, mamma," she replied, " that you
would choose Harrington from the crowd of my adorers for my
husband."
"Indeed," said Mrs. Eaatmao, with some warmth, "if I
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^•J-a HAEEIHGTON.
had the choosmg, Harrington should be your husband fe>mor-
Muriel now looked at her with an indescribable air of
bewitching gaiety.
" To-morrow, mamma ? So soon T" she said, jestingly.
Mrs, Eastman looked confused, like one who has been
betrayed into saying a foolish thing, and blushing deeply, began
to laugh.
" Well," she repUed, with an air of raiUery, " the day after
to-morrow,"
" The day after to-morron*" repeated Muriel, her counte-
nance beaming with gracious fun. '■ Well, my dear mamma,
I will reflect upon it, and if I decide to oblige yon by
marrying Harrington the day after t<^morrow, I will let you
know."
Mi-s. Eastman laughed at this pleasantry, and thinking Mu-
riel wa« evading the subject, said no more, but rose from the
dinner-table with her. Their relation as mother and daughter
also involved, as is not always the case, the relation of courte-
ous friendship, and this was the nearest approach Mrs. East-
man had ever made to penetrate withm the reil of any reser-
vation of Mariel's,
Immediately after dinner, Muriel wrote a note to Went-
worth, biddmg him come to the house instantly. This she
dispatched by Patrick, bidding him find the young artist if
possible, and give it into his own hand ; and Patrick, wlio
would have gone through fire and -flood for his young mistress
promised to find Wentworth if he was to be found, and started
off on his errand.
It was about four o'clock when Wentworth arrived. He
was shown up into the studio, where Muriel was waiting for
him. Pale and wan, and grave even to coldness, he was the
handsome and gallant Wentworth still ; a man to be loved at
first sight by women and by men, even now, when a storm had
blown upon his May.
He bowed coldly and constrainedly to Muriel as he entered,
though he was struck by her exceeding beauty as she glided
forward with her natural affiible smUe and curtsey to greet
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lum. But Wentworth was sick of al! the world at that mo-
ment, and affeetii^ not to see MurielS outsti etched hind, he
looked aside and reached her a chaii
" What is it you wished to see me for, Muriel f" he said,
half coldly, half carelessly, drawing up another chair for himself.
" Kiehard ?" Her voice carried a soft rebuke, though it
was gentle and low, " Not glad to see me, your friend, your
Eister, Richard."
He kept hia gaze fixed npou the floor, but his lip quivered,
and the faded colors of the carpet suddenly swam. The next
instant he felt her arms around him, and blind with teai-a, he
let his forehead sink upou her shoulder.
" Foi^ive me, Muriel," he faltered, in a moment, lifting his
face to hers, and wanly smiling through his tears. " Indeed
I love you, but my heart is half broken, and I am weary of
the world."
" Ah, Richard," she said, with tender gaiety, " there is a
fau7 prince here who mends broken hearts, and makes the
world-weary glad again."
Her arms fell from him, and as they fell, he caught her
hand and pressed it to his lips.
" Yonr magic is strong, dear fairy prince," he said, with
sad playfulness, " but there are spells no magic can unbiiid.
Come — let ns apeak of other things."
" Good 1" sdd Muriel, sinking into the chair, while Wcnt^
worth also seated himself — " and sinee we must speak of other
thii^, let us speak of Witherlee."
Wentworth reddened iustantly,
" And ho is a thing 1" was his scornful answer. " I abhor
him."
" Abhor the good Fei'nando I" she exclauned, with a jesting
face. " Why Eichard, I am astonished at you ! Abhor so
talented a young gentleman !"
" Talented 1" scoffed Wentworth. " Wiiat has he a talent
for?"
" A talent for poisoning, dear skeptic," she replied, lightly.
" A splendid talent for poisoniug. No poisoner of the Middle
Ages was ever more skillful."
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HAitBlNGTON.
Wontworth looked confused.
" Poisoning ? What do you mean ?" he miirmured.
" Oaly those old poisoners wrought on life," slie pursued,
"while he, yon know, works on character, minds, hearts.
They could add a deadly periiime to a harmless rose. He,
now, can do the same with an innocent bunch of violets."
Wentworth looked at her sOently, with a strange feeling
rising within him,
" Confess, Richard," she went on, " that you scented some-
thing deadly io your love after he had dropped a word over
those violets 1"
— J--," te replied, slowly, "he Saiu b
which prevented Emily from giving me the violets."
" And that wounded yon sorely," she remarked.
_" I confess it did," he answered. " It was a very trifling
thing, to be sure, but afc that time it meant a great deal, and
to be frank with you, Muriel, I waa hurt. No matter," he
added, " there were other things for which he was not responsi-
ble, which hurt me far more. I cannot now he hurt again."
"But consider," said Muriel, qnietly. "If that mornmg
Emily had given jou tlie flowers, the gift would have gone far
to reconcile you to her. "Would it not ?"
" It would," cried Wentworth, vehemently. " One little act
of kindness from her to me at that time, would have made me
forget all her former slights, and try to win her to me again
But, Muriel, why dweU on tliis ? It was her mtention to triHe
with me from the first. Come, I must not talk of her. Let it
all go. It amounts to nothing."
" It amounts to just this," she replied, coolly. " That Mr.
Witherlee was interested in your affairs to the extent of making
fresh dissension between you and Emily, and that he widened
a breach abeady made. Now do you imagine his interest
extended no iiirther than that moment ? But, Richard, tell
me frankly, how did your difference with Emily arise 1"
" Muriel," he replied solemnly, " as Heaven is my witness I
do not know. I never did anything to cause it. 1 hft her
here one afternoon, and I was happy, for though I thought she
loved me before, I was never sure of it till then, when we met in
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HAEEIHGTON. ^''■^5
the first embrace, the first kiss, and the last, she ever gave me.
Withcrlce appeared at the parlor door, and retreated again for
8 mmnte or so. Then you came into the parlor from the con-
servatory, and he entered at the same moment. You will
recollect that afternoon — ^you brought in a bunch of flowers,
and as he came in yon held out the bouquet to him, which ho
took from your hand. I>o you remember ?"
Muriel nodded.
" Well," continued Wentworth, " I felt a little abashed at
le's entrance, for I thought he had seen us, and in fact,
i so awkward for me, that I took my leave in a few
" And that evening — I remember it well " — ^interrupted
Muriel, "he and Emily talked together in a comer the whole
time, while mother and I were busy with a roomful of guests."
" Did they 1" said Wentworth, coldly, seeing nothing in the
circumstance worthy of notiee. " Well, Muriel," he cootiuned,
after a moment's consideration, " I called the next morning to
see Emily, happy as I could be, and full of love for her, and
she met me with snch ehilluig hauteur that I was frozen. It
was like an ice-hath. I felt piqued and hurt, and though I
thought it only a passing freak, I could not help being cool to
her. Indeed, her manner prevented anything but coolness. I
thought, however, it would pass over. But the next day it
was the same, and the next and the next, I am proud, Muriel,
and I was innocent of any fault. Could I do less, and keep
my self-respect, than remain cool to a lady who was treating
me so ? Meanwhile, I saw her attentions to Harrington, and
I made up my mind that she had trifled with me for her amuse-
ment. So it went on, till last n^ht when she heaped con-
tumely on me, and I repaid her with the speech you heard.
There. I did not mean to speak of this, but you have led me
on. Now I am quite with her."
There was a moment's silence, and then Wentworth
resumed :
" In all this, Muriel, I did, as far as she was concerned, only
one wrong thing. When I saw her wooing Harrington, to
Bhow her that I could bear her injnry, and to spoil her
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S3fl
HAEKINGTON,
tnuinph, I was very attentive to you. I knew you would not
nustake my assiduities for love, and I kuew it would pique her
I ask your paidon. It was wrong. I did another and a
greater wrong to Harrington, and I have sought liim In yain
tcHiay, to beg his foi^iveness. I thought he loved Emily and
I was meanly euvious and jealous of him— I was cold' aiid
reserved to him— I treated iiini with hauteur, which I saw
he could not understand, and "
_" How did Harrington act to you when you treated him
With hauteur f" interrupted Muriel, quickly.
" Like the man he is \" replied Weutworth, with impetuous
fervor. " Like the nature too noble for this world I Great,
grand heart, he shamed me even in my veiy treason to bin!
vnth his unaltered kindness. He came to me frankly, nnre-
pelied by my attitude to him, he came with a look, a word a
generous hand, and he conqnered me. My envy and my
jealonsy arose again, and were wasted on him. 1 could not
alienate him from me. He overlooked— he forgave all. Let
me only see him again, let me ask his compassion and his par-
don, and then let me go away, and hide my shame in Italy,
for I am not worthy to live on the same soil with him— I am
not worthy to be hia friend."
Two bright tears flowed calmly down the face of Muriel,
and her smile was sweet and proud for her lover.
" Ah, Richard," she said, gently, " had you treated Emily's
hauteur as Harrington treated yours, you, too, might have
conquered her. It was not true love to answer her slights
with coldness and silence."
" Perhaps, so, Mariel," he answered with averted eyes, feel-
ing her rebuke. " Perhaps I might. Butao. It was not her
nature. She meant to play upon me. IS'o matter. Let it
pass. And as for Witheriee, I hate him. Chiefly because I
believe his insidious words set me against Harrington."
" Ah," said Muriel, coolly, almost carelessly, "he set you
against Harrington, did he ?"
" He did," replied Wentworth.
" And yet you loved Harrington," she contmued, " you loved
him truly. But Witheriee could set you against him."
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HAKKINGTON. 337
" He could," faltered Wentworth. " I own it to my siiame,
but he could."
"And now, EieLard," she said, gravely, "answer me this.
Would Emily be more to lilame for having been set i^ainst
you by Witherlee, than you were to blame for having been
set against Han-ington by him ?"
Wentworth looked at her, and colored.
" No," he faltered. " I could not blame her if her feeling
against me arose from anything said by Witherlee. But what
r^ht have I to suppose that he has said anything against
mef"
" Richard Wentworth," she cried, starting from her chair,
and her face lit, and her voice rang clear and free, " never
dare to condemn Emily till yon know that this is not so.
Never condemn any person on any evidence till yon have given
that person a hearing. Here is a man who goes about, drop-
ping the hint, the iimuendo, the shrug, the bnm, the ha, the
meaumg look, for aught I know the downright wicked lie, all
the poisons used by calumny, and while you know him to be
on terms of intimacy with Emily, you venture to suppose that
he is guiltlesH of having poisoned lier mind against you. Per-
mit me to say that you venture to suppose too much. I wonid
not condemn even him unheard, but what we know, though it
is not enough for proof, is quite enougb to create a presump-
tion. Ton have found him fomenting strife between you and
Harrington; you know him to have widened the breach be-
tween yon and Emily. These things show him no friend of
yours. And between the evening of your happy parting with
Emily and the morning of coldness and alienation, he spent
several hours conversing with ber. Ominous link, Richard I
Find out what it means. Do not assume that she meant to
trifle with you. I know better, I know Emily Ames better
than you do, and I know that a woman more honorable and
loyal in her love never breathed. Go, Richard Wentworth I
imitate the magnanimity of Harrington and never let me have
it to say that the manliness of your friend was more than that
you siiowed to the woman that you love I'
Wentworth rose from his chair, his color flashing and fail-
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ing, an awful sense of the justice of Mnriel's speech mingling
with an awful suspicion of Witherlce, and his lore for Emily
rushing like a torrent on his heart.
" Muriel," he faltered, " you arc right. I have heen rash.
What shall I do ? Oh, if after all I have wxongea Emily— if
she loves me "
"Richard," said Mnriel, solemnly, " I know she loves yon.
I have been bUnd till to-day, bnt now I see. No sleep came
to your poor Emily's eyes last night, and all day she has heeu
in agony. A httle while ago, Harrington was here, and he
has soothed her to rest. She lies now asleep in the library.
Come with me, and I will leave yoa to sit by her. Her wak-
ening eyes mnst rest fii-st on you, and you must make your
peace with her. But yoa mnst not awaken her. PromiBe me
yon will sit patiently by her till she wakes— promise I"
"Wentworth pressed Muriel's hand to his lips, and lifting his
blanched face, streaming with tears, to hers, faltered —
" I promise."
" Oh, my brother," she fondly said, affectionately encu^!Iing
his shoulder with her arm, " all will be well with you now.
Said I not that the fau-y prince dwelt here ? Behold, he gives
yon back to life and love ! Come."
Smiling with her happy and noble smile into hie face, she
led him forth with her arm in his and downstairs to the
library door.
"Remember your promise," she whispered. " Now go in."
He entered softiy, softly closed the door behind him, and
stood in the dim room with a beating heart. For a moment,
he only saw the books in their cases, the sumptuous furnitnre,
the glimmer of the frames upon the walls, the rich, dark color
of the room. Stealing to the window, he parted the curtains
to let in a little light, and turning, in the faint ray he saw on
the low conch, the pale face of his beloved, with the long dark
ejelasii sleeping on her cheek, and her black hair fallen in a
thick, soft tress along the exquisite and melancholy beauty of
her conntenatice. Stili, peaceful, void of scorn or pride, lovely
and monrnful in her marble reiwse ! The teara streamed from
his eyes, and gliding near her he knelt by her side, forgetting.
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forgiringall, and resolved, thongh she woke upon him in anger,
with hate, with contempt, to answer her only with blessings'
and love her till his pulses were etill forever. '
The hours passed by. The room grew dark, and going to
the window, he put aside the curtains, and let m the
twiUght. That twUight was yet early, for the sun had but
jost set, and the grey light again lit the sleeping face of
Emiiy. As he watched it, he saw the color rise to it—
the sunny gold and rose, the bright carnation of the
curved hps, behind which glimmered the dim pearls. With
his heart wildly throbbing, he kept his eyes fixed upon her
countenance. Presently, a faint smile stole upon it, and
she murmured softly— "he gave me that rose." A thrill
sui^d through him. He remembered the rose he had given
her m the snorise of their love, and knew that sJie was dream-
hig of ifcand of lum. Gazing npon her face, he heard her faint
K^lar breathing pause in a long resphation like a sigh- her
form moved slightly under the silken coverlet, and tossing out
her beautiful bare arms, they fell along her form, and she lay
Still. The next moment, her large and lustrous eyes unclosed
slowly, and met his. She did not start, but the eyes gradoaliy
brightened, and the color rose upon her face and hps in rich
suffusion. He did not move— he did not speak— he knelt
beside her, gazing into her face, with his heart throbbing, and
a stOl flush in his brain.
" It is a dream," she murmured. " A dream of my love."
He did not speak, but his arms softly stole around her, and
hers enfolded him at first so lightly that he scarcely felt them.
Lightly and softly at first, till suddenly with a double cry they
were clasped together, and the disenchanted Fairyland of love
burst and streamed in music and light and odor around them.
"Uichard I Is it you?"
Holding him from her, with all her strength, her face impas-
fiioned, her eyes like stars, she gazed upon him, with her fervent
cry still ringing in the twilight air.
" It is I. Forgive me, Emily. I love you."
She impetuously drew Mm to her, and locked in each other's
arms, they were still,
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HAKKINGTON,
The fairy prince had triumphed, aod WitLerlee's worli was
quite undone I
CHAPTER XXII.
iNTERSTirrAL.
That evenn^, visitor after visitor called, and the par-
lor was full of talk and music and laughtei'. Amidst her com-
pany, Muriel felt a lonely longing for tlie face of Harrington.
He sometimes dropped in late, for a little while, and this evea-
iog, as ten o'clock approached and the guests began to depart,
she half-hoped he would come. But he did not, and tked with
her last night's vigil, as with the fatigues of the day, ^he went
to rest as soon as the last visitor had said good night.
The next day came bright and beautiful, and Harrington
not appearing as he eommoQly did, Muriel went out to take
her early morning walk alone. Wliile she was out, he arrived
and at oace went up to tlie chamber where Roux was con-
fined.
It was not more than six o'clock, but Eoux was up and
dressed. He sat in a chair, and Tugmatton, squatted on a
stool by his side, was reading aloud to him from TJncle Tom's
Cabin. Tugmntton's reading was a treat to hear. It was,
when the text was at all serious, what is called at the theatres,
spoating, and spouting of tie most gi'itndiloquent order, at
that. Accompanied, also, by much and varied action of hia
big paw, and interspersed not only with explanations and com-
ments of his own, but whenever he came to anything that pai^
ticularly pleased him, with ehuraps and guffaws of goblin
lai^hter, and bobbings and waggings of his big head and
blobber cheeks over the page, the effect was, to say the least
of it, peculiar. On the present occasion, the fat Puck hap-
pened to have arrived at a chapter highly congenial to his
special views on the Slavery Qnestion— to wit : that wherein
George Harris and his fellow runaways fight the hunters of
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34^
men ; and Eoux was at some tronble to detach the sense of
the narrative from the luxurious overgrowth of dissertation,
interpolation, exclamation, eachianatioa, and general oatward
Jimbs and flonrishes wherewith Tugmutton was embellishing
it. Having got to the poiat where Phineas topples the slave-
hanter down the rocks, the del^hted squab leaned back and
gave vent to an nproarious guffaw, and in the midst of this,
while Rous, with a faint and carious smile on his simple, dark
face, was listening, Harrington's knock was heard at the
entrance.
Tugmutton instantly grew sober, and sat staring with his
great white eyes at the door, aa Roux crossed to open it.
" Grood morning, Mr. Eoux," said Harrmgton, entering, and
shaking hands with him. " How are you ?"
" Firs'rate, thank ye, Mr. Han-iiigton," replied the smiling
Eons, bowing himiblj, and shutting the door ^ain.
The intnitjre Tugmutton, instantly gathering from Harring-
ton's slightly distraught air, that something was the matter,
remained perfectly motiouless, squatting on his low stool with
the book in his hands, and staring open-mouthed at him, with
a look of preternatural curiosity on his fat face.
" Sit down, Eoux," sdd Harrington, dropping into a chair
without noticing the boy, and gating absently around the
Eoux resumed his chair, and with his hand fumbling over
his mouth as was usual with him, rolled his eyes timidly about
the room.
" Eoux, I've got news to tell you," faltered Harrington,
smiling. " Good news. What would be the best news you
could hear ?"
Roux smiled faintly, and still fumbling around his mouth with
his hand, while his eyes continued to wander, he appeared to
hesitate.
" Well, Mr. Harrington," he said, after a pause, " I ruthec
feel oncertain as to what to say. It wonld be the most
uncommonest best news, if I heerd that my brother Ant'ny
was to git away. But I'm afeard that's not likely, Mr.
Harrington."
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342
IrAEEINGTON.
Eoux'a eyes kept wandering, and Harrii^n looking hard
at the opposite wall, smiled furtively. The nest instant botli
he and Roux we^e startled hy a sadden screech of eldritch
mirth, and by the apparition of Togmutton pitching forwai-d
on his hands, and slapping oyer in a somerset as quick as light,
coming up clean on his feet with a sober-starmg face, and a
low-'Hool" They both stared at him, Harrington with a
stir in hia blood, for he had uot seen the sqnab, and he was
completely startled by hia appearance in this astonishing
gymnastic.
" Hil" esdaimed Tugmutton, standing leg^ dispread, jnst as
he had landed from his flip-flap, and pointing at Harrington
with hia thnmh, while a jovial grin slowly spread over his fat
Tisage. " Hi ! That nigger has avroven I My gosh I Mr.
Harrington, I smell a rat as if I was nothin' but nose !
Hooraw I Three cheers 1 Likewise a horse laif I O sing
joa niggers, sing 1" and chanting this line in a shrill voice,
Tugmutton stopped to fly into a furions double-shuffle and
breaitdown, with Ms shock head bobbing like mad.
Hallo, yon. Tug, now," quavered Eoux, looking frightened.
" Just you ricollect where you are now. Tag, in this nice
liouse. What's the matter with yon, and what you goin' off
in that way for now ? I don't see what joa mean by sech
actions, noways."
Tugmutton stopped m his dance at the sound of Roux's
voice, and with his short arras akimbo on his ribs, and Ms
short, broad legs dispread, glared np at him with a look of
Bupreme indignation,
"My gosh, father!" he exclaimed, "if you aint stnpid nowl
Why juB' you look at them liniments of Mr. Harrington I"
and he pointed with his thumb at Harrington's fa<!e,°which
was wrinkled into an amused smile. "Now, what's there
father.
.s print V
Tngmntton ended with a snort, and ineffably disgusted at
Ro^'s nnintelligence, damped down on his stool, and looted
man with
iieerfully,
ted by Google
at Harrington. Roux meanwhile gazed at the young man with
a timid and imploring expresaioa
" Charles is light, Mr. Roux," said Harrington, cheerfully,
HAKRJNGTON. ^^3
wMe Tngranttoa relapsed into a jovial grin of satisfaction,
showing all liis ivories, and wagging his bushy head delightedly.
" But now, Mr. Roux," continaed Harrington, " I want jon
to keep cool. The good news is that jour brother is free.
Doa't let it overcome yon. Be cool."
" I will, Mr. HaiTington," stammered Roux, terribly agi-
tated, " I will be cool. I won't let it ovei'come me."
" That's right — don't," rephed Harrington, with an affecta-
tion of phlegm. " By the way, how is your wife ? How does
she bear the letter I sent her ?"
" Oh, she's pretty well, Mr. Harrington, and she says she
thinks HI be safe here," said Roux, trembling all over.
Harrington led him on to talk of other subjects, diverting
his mind as mnch as possible from the matter in hand, and in
a few minutes got him tranquil again.
"Now, Mr. Roux," he said, "Antony is free as I told yon,
and I want you to prepare yourself to see him soon."
" Tes, Mr. Harrington, I will," said Konx with a wondering
face. " Did Miss Ames buy hun, Mr. Harrington ?'
" Oh BO," retarned Haimgton, " how could she when it
was only a day or two since she knew of him ? Antony ran
away. I have him at my house."
Rous sprang to his feet, wi d with joy,.
" Let me go to see him, Mr. Harrington," he ciied.
" No," said Harvmgton, rising and gently pressing Ronx
into his chair again. " Tou are not safe ont of this room. I
will bring him here to stay with jon. Keep cool, Ronx, and
be patient. Tou mnat expect to see Antony very thin, for ho
has been ack. But he will soon recover. Now I roust go,
and to-night when it is dark, I will bring him here. Good
bye. Keep up a good heart. He will soon be with yon,"
" Oh, I knew it fi-om the very fust,'! complacently remarked
Tngmutton, taking his leg on his knee, and lolling back a little
with the most indifferent air in the world, " I ain't astonished.
My gosh ! no, yon can't astonish me. I'm above it,"
" That's because yon have a great mii!d, Charies," said Har-
rington, jestingly. " Now jnst use your tiilciitJ! in cheering up
your father — that's a good boy."
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844 HAKEINOTON,
" ni do it, Mr. Harrington," replied the chee f I yoa h
Jumping up to let Harrington out, witli liis [ ea t 1 ^
glBefoily. "I'll elieer him up so that nob-Kly 1! v know
him again. Good bye, Mr. Han-ington. Call ig a
Nodding pleasantly, Harrington departed whle Tu n tton
waved Ms big paw with a lofty air, like a king di'mi s ng his
prime-minister after a cabinet council, and clo «1 the door
after him.
In the passage below, Harrington met M s Ea tn nl
mentioned that he intended to bring Antony tl e that even ng
after dark,
" Of course," he added, " there is no dang of the e ti ts
mentioning that there are colored men in the hou e It yould
not do to have it gossiped about."
"Ho, indeed," returned Mrs, Eastman, ml g They
have all, except little Bridget, been witi ns for ye a d are
hke part of the family. Not the least dang r of them Ton
know, John, we have had fugitixes here sev al tmi a lefore
" Yes, I know that," he replied, laughing
After a minute's farther conTersation, he departed, and went
home to breakfast, without having asked for Emilj, or seen
Muriel. To tell the truth, a feeling of trepidation — a sense of
some gathering mystery which made his heai't tremble — had
grown upon HaiTington since he had left Emily the day before,
and he shrank in spirit from meeting her or Mni-iel. He felt
darkly that soroethicg of import, closely alTecting him, remained
undisclosed in the mutual relations of himself and his friends.
The words of Wentworth — " because it has been played upon "
— rang in his memory like a bell. Undoubtedly, Harrington
would have unriddled the mystery almost as quickly as Muriel
had done, but the blunderlDg avowal of Wentworth that he
was Muriel's betrothed, stood in the way of his s^ht, and
bafQed him.
Restless ; ill at ease ; unwilling to think upon the subject,
which yet persisted in invading bis mind ; and in that state of
nervons incertitude, in which mysterious agitations and sudden
tingling of the blood incessantly visit the frame, it was a posi-
tive rehef to Harrington to get away from himself, among the
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HAKKINGTOrr. 315
cheerful, familiar faces around tlie Captain's table. The family
were assembled in the dining-room, whicb opened off the kitchen.
A pleasant, old-fashioned room, looking on the street, and fur-
nished with plain, old-fashioned, homelj furniture. Cnrtains
of white dimity to the windows ; a semi-circular stand, holding
rows of flower-pots, at one of them, from which the smell of
geraninms and roses was shed throughout the apartment ; the
floor covered with a woven rag-earpet of soberly gay colors ; a
bureau, spread with white linen at one side, with the minior
ture model of a ship full-rigged, upon it ; straight-backed ma-
hogany chairs, with horsehair seats ; two rocking chairs, with
white tidies on their backs ; a looking-glass between the win.
dows, and on the opposite wall, on either side of the nia.itel,
two portraits, fearfully bad, of the Captain and his wife. The
Captain, howevei', regarded these works of art with complacent
satisfaction, and held them as chief among his household trea-
sures. The wandering country artist who had executed them,
had represented the Captain as a dark-eyed, rosy-cheeked, star-
ing, marine Adonis, preternaturallj blooming in complexion,
attired in an indigo bine coat with brass buttons, a buff waist-
coat, and a frilled shirt-front, and grasping a spy-glass in one
hand and a quadrant in the other. To match this artistic
triumph, Mrs. Fisher appeared with sky-blue eyes, lily-white
complexion, pink cheeks and Ups, an aaure dress with a huge
broach, and a gold cham and penfil-case, on which the artist
had spent his finest genius and his brightest chrome. To trace
a resemblance between the portrait, and the kind, quiet, paie-
eyed, colorless little woman in a gauze cap, who sat at the
head of the breakfasHable, would have been more difficult than
to estabhsh a similar likeness between the other portrait and
the Captain. But the Captain was happy in the belief that the
portraits were gems of truth and art, and as he himself was
accustomed to observe on vaiious occasions, patting it as a
profoundly philosophical conclusion, " What's the odds, so aa
you're happy 1"
A chorus of greetmgs wekomeil Harrington, as ho came in
and took his seat at the bieakfast table.
15*
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346 HARKINOTON.
" We began to think yon warn't comin', John," remarked
Mrs. Fisher, pouring out his coffee.
" I hunied home as quick as I could, Hannah," replied tho
young man. " Well, Sopliy, yon look as bright as gold this
morning. The jeweUera would put you in a box of pink
cotton,"
Sophronia, a plump and pretty little miss, with blue eyes, a
charming little snub nose, and a dimple in her chin, smiled
coquettishly at this compliment, and glanced at the smiling
face of the speaker,
" Myl" she exclaimed, sancily, "how smart you are, John !
I wish I could say snch pretty things to you."
" Well, try," jested Harrington. " Compliment me on this
beard which you admire so much,"
" Beard indeed !" said Sophy, tossing he.r head, with a
playful pout of her ripe cherry lips, " I dou't admire it at al).
The girls ought to set their faces against it."
" Maybe they do, Sophy," returned Harrington, with sly
Bignifieanee.
Sophy was canght, and tossed her head, coloring and smil-
ing, while the Captain, with his mouth full of bread and butter,
burst into a roar of laughter, in which Mrs, Fisher, John H,,
and Joel James joined, the latter beating the table with the
haft of his knife.
"That's all very well for you to say," said Sophy, with
another flmg of her head, and pout of her lip.
" And that's all very well for the girls to do," bantered
Harrington, whereat the merriment burst forth again,
" Gracious 1 There's no use in me talkmg. You're as
amart as a steel trap, John," she answered,
Joel James, a bluff and buriy rosy-cheeked boy, with his
father's features and his mother's blue eyes, interrupted this
play of repartee, to say, with his mouth full of breakfast, that
his kite wouldn't fly nohow.
" She pitches about like as if she was crazy, John," he
gmmbJed, munching between. the wordM.
"That's because she hasn't bob enough. We'll fix that "
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HAElilNGTON. 347
returned Harrington as much interested in the boy's grierance
as if it was an ifFin f State
" And I can t make mj j eg-top spin, John," compIaiDed
John H., looking dolefully at Harrington with his soft black
eyes and chubliy countenance
" Can't ? Well after 1 reakfast I'll show jon how," said
Harrington, good natuie llj ' The kite shall fly and the top
shall spin, as sure as the world goes round. By the way,
Eldad, how's oui fnen 1 out yonder f I haven't seen him
this morning,"
The Captain glanced out at the open window looking into
the yard, before replying,
"He's up, eating his breakfast," he answered. "I've
locked yonr door, and the garden gate too, and here's t!ie
keys," he added, pointing to them by the side of his plate.
" Poor forsaken critter I" murmured Hannah compassion-
ately. " It just made my heart ache to see him when I went
up there yesterday. He looked so awful lean and sick."
" He looks a.great deal better this mornin'," remarked the
CaptaJH, The sleep's done him a heap of good. It's aston-
ishin' bow moch those colored folks can bear. Ton wunt
know that chap in about a week, he'll have fatted up so.
I've dressed him ont, John, in some of my old clothes, and
made him look quite decent,"
" That's right, Eldad," said Harrington. " I'll make it up
to you."
I'he Captain laid down his knife, and with his head all
askew, looked at Harrington.
" You'll make it up to me, John ?" he remarked, blandly,
with a great disposition to swear. " By the spoon of horn,
I'd like to catch you at it ! The best suit of clothes I've got
in the house wouldn't be too good for a man that's gone
through what he lias — leastways, if they was fit for him, which
they ain't ; and I'm not goin' to be paid for my Christian
duty, young man."
" I ask your pardon, Eldad," returned Harrington. " I
spoke hastily, and didn't mean to hurt yonr feelings."
" Of course you didn't," grumbled the Captain, mollified.
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3*o HAEEINGTON.
" It's only jnst your plagny openhandedness tliat want Jet
nobody go to expense but vourself."
" By the way, Eldad," hurriedly replied the yoang man,
steering off the convereation from tlie approaching commen-
dations, " I'm goiug to talce him o£f to-night. He'll be safer
there."
"All right. So he will," rejoined the Captain, curtly.
" That is, if he's safe anywhere m Massachusetts now. It's
ebb-tide with us this year with a vengeance. If the people
haven't had enough of conservative legislation to sicken 'em
this term of the General Conrt, they never will haye. The
doin's of the Legislature have been shameful. Half a dozen
righteous measures that passed the Senate, those black sheep
in the House have defeated.
" Tes," returned Harrington. " The Personal Liberty Bill
is lost — the bill to protect the property of married women is
lost, too — the bill "
"Anyhow, we've got the Maine Law," interrupted the
Captain, triumphantly.
" And that's tyranny, pure and simple," said Harrington.
"Sorry to differ, Eldad. I respect the temperance people,
and I would go for a law that would shut np every dram-shop
in Massachusetts ; bnt this Mame Law is a downright violar
tiott of the doctrines of civil liberty, and I can't sacrifice
liberty to temperance or anything else,"
Whereupon there was discussion, in which the Captain got
the worst of it ; and rising, at last, with his head all awry,
and his features atwist, took his pipe from the mantel-piece,
preparatory to a smoke in the yard. Harrington rose also.
" Why, John," said Mre. Fisher, " you've made no break-
fast at all."
" Oh yes, Hannah," he returned, cheerily. " Plenty.
Now, Joel and John, the kite and the top."
The boys scrambled off to fetch the playthings, white Har-
rington went to his own apartments. The kite and the top
put in order, Captain Fisher yolnnteered to mount guard over
Antony if Harrington wanted to go oat; and availing himself
of this offer, the young man posted off to the fencmg-school,
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ItARRINGTON, S49
and after an hour's yigorona exercise, returned. Wentworth
had called in hia absence, and had left word that he was going
out of town for the day, but wanted to see Harrington for
something special to-morrow. Disturbed at this message — he
knew not why — and feeling his strange trepidation stronger
than ever, Harrington, who, like Goethe, always sought reUef
from cares and troubles in uitense apphcation to his books,
immured himself for a long day's study, dreading to see
Wentworth, dreading to see Emily, dreading, above aU, to
see Muriel, and j-ct he knew not why.
CHAPTER XXIII.
Mbbisl, in tlie meantime, had returned from her walk, and
had a tender and happy hour with Emily. Emi]y was glori-
ous that morning in her beauty, for the Valley of IlumiUation
had burst and flamed into roses of life and love, and the Val-
ley of the Shadow lay far withdrawn in radiance upon the
verge of Ufe. There were soft showers still in the summer of
her sky, but those were tears of contrite gratitude to Muriel.
There were mellow thunders rolling in the summer of her sky,
but those were words of rich anger and scorn for Witherlee.
Muriel had guessed aright. The good Fernando had poisoned
Emily's mind against Wentworth, and the deed was done on
the eyening he had spent with her after her parting witU her
lover. It would not have appeared at all snrprising to a
Court of Love that EmUy, in blaming Wentworth for his
supposed desertion of her, never imputed that desertion to her
treatment of him. Quite overlooking her own conduct, she
had taken his as proof of Witherlee's assertions regarding
him. But now the films had dropped from her eyes, and in
her talk with Wentworth the night before, which had lasted
late and long, she had awakened to the perception of the game
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Sdo
HAERINSTOEr.
that had been played upon her by the good Fernando. How
she raved at him 1 But Munel laughed her angers down as
they rose, till what might ha^e been sheeting bursts were only
momentary jets of flame. For Muriel was optimist and
socialist, and, referring the faults of people to mal-organizar
tion, mi&*ducation, and the play of advei-se influences upon
them, her golden charity spread even over Withcrlee.
Breakfast came, and after breakfast Wentworth. Another
tender and happy hour between tlie three, in which Went-
worth made some revelations, poured ont his soul in affection
and gratitude to his dear fairy prince, as he called her, and
lightened his scorn npon the good Fernando. Tlien Muriel
having, in turn, toned down hie meteor wrath, he and Emily
set off together to Cambridge to announce their engagement
to her parents, who were friends of bis family, and very fond
of him. They were to return the following day, and Emily
was to continue her stay with Muriel.
A little while .after they left, Mrs. Eastman went out to
spend that day and night at a relative's in Milton, a few miles
from Boston, and Muriel was left alone.
No work that day for Muriel; no study, no visiting, no
occupation of any kind. She summoned Patrick, and bade
him deny her to every one that called, and then shnt herself
np in the library to pass the day alone.
And alj the long bright day— the sweet and beautiful deep-
breathing sacred day— while the soft and opnlent effulgence
of the sun flooded the chamber with a mist of violet and gold,
she lay at rest, or glided to and fro, lovely as some incarnate
angel from a. more ethereal star than ours, and with a mystic
change npon her loveliness. For the summer of her life bad
come to her, and all its virginal and dewy lilies were in bloom.
Summer languors filled her; Eden tremors melted through
her; and floating in light and perfume through the tender-
litten land of reverie and dreams, she heard the hnpassioned
melodies of Paradise. A more bewildering grace had fallen
around her form, and every negligent and flowing cui-ve,
veiled m the soft and snowy drapery of the robe she wore^
seemed rounded to a contour more nobly and magically fair.
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HAEKINOTON. 351
Faint with excess of happiness, dreaming upon the sweet and
secret purpose of her heart, and musing in a dim ohlivion of
tenderness on all that had been, and was, and was to*be,
wliile ever on and on the lilies of her love grew glowing into
magic roses of red hymeneal joy — so passed the cloistered day,
and evening fell.
She rose fi'om the couch on which she had sat, half reclin-
ing. The sunset light lay within the library, and rested on
the luxuriant symmetry of her figure, as she stood with her
hands crossed upon her bosom and her exalted face upturned.
" Tou were right, my Emily," she fervently murmured,
" life is indeed life in the greatness awd sweetness of love, but
life is truliest life in loving and being beloved. And yet had I
asked love, could I have felt this stainless flame of joy !
Sweet, sweet when the two souls give the mutual undemand-
ing love— sweet, sweet as the sweetness of Paradise I Oh, I
am happy, happy !"
She clasped her hands in a calm transport of joy, and with
her head bowed upon her bosom, like a flower drooping with
its wealth of bloom, she remained still and silent for a little
while.
" Ah, loTers who sadtleu without love, I think of you," she
said again, lifting a gay and radiant face, and speakiug with
tender playfulness. "For yon, poor lovers, you who bear
love's cross, and may not wear love's crown — for you I pray !
Oh, doleful company, would that I could make you happy,
too 1"
Laughing a little to herself, she let her clasped hands fall,
and with a slow, harmonious movement, glided, musing, from
She went up-stairs to the studio, and sitting by her desk,
wrote these lines to Harrington.
"Flos
equitu
ml
-flower
of
cheval
eniiig.
AniR
tlei
■ of the
gie
ilest in.
a vefmilion ec
lict.
Hear,
ind
Obeyl
" Good !" said she, laughing softly, as she folded the note.
" A piebald epistle truly. But, like Mercutio's wound, it is
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369
HAEEIHGTON.
enough. And now for some dinner, for no beantifulest poet,
as Carljle says, Irat must dine, and lovers are subject to the
saitfS condition. Indeed, I think love gives one m appetite
for I am quite famished." '
Gaily talking to herself in this way, she went down-stairs,
dispatched Patrick with the note, and sat down to her soli-
tary dinner, which she had ordered to be served at this hour.
It was well that she had written to Harrington, for the
yonng scholar, his mysterious trepidation increasing as the
honr drew near when he was to convey Antony to Temple
street, had decided, when the note reached him, to send Cap-
tain Fisher with the fugitive instead. Of coarse he revoked
his decision, when he read the missive, and quaking at heart,
and wondering what the " matter of the greatest importance "'
conld be, he set out abont half-pant eight o'clock, with
Antony.
He had previously told the poor man that lie know his
brother, and was going to take him to him that evening, and
Antony was lost between utter astonishment and delighted
expectation. To his simple mind, this strong, beautiful,
friendly, masterful Harrington, who lived in a house full of
books, who treated him as he had never dreamed even of
being treated by a white man, and who completed his wonder^
ful benefactions by takmg him to see his brother, was Uttle
less than a god. Regarding him with actually servUe reve-
rence, Antony thought he knew everytbmg and coald do any-
thing, and that he was the greatest man in the world.
Arrived at the house, they were let in by Patrick, who,
though he had been forewarned of the arrival of another co-
lored man that evenmg, looked a little frightened as he caught
a gUmpse under the halMight of the black cheek-bones and
ghastly, hollow eyes of the fugitive. Nothing more could be
seen of his face, for Harrington had taken the precaution to
muffle It almost to the eyes, and the black felt hat which the
%itive wore, he had bade him keep on till he saw his brother.
Assisting his charge, who was etill weak, up into the library,
Harrington left him sitting there in the dark room, lighted
only by the moon, and went up-stairs to announce his arrival
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HAEEIHGTON. 353
to Roux. Returning in a few minutes, he conducted the
trembliog fugitive up to the door of the room where Koux
was. which was ajar, and bidding him push it open, and enter,
he retreated.
On the stairs he heard, with a thrill, the rush, the cry, of
that meeting, foOowed by the shrill langhter and hilarious
breakdown of Tugmntton. He did not pause, but ran hghtly
down into the hbrary, and flinging himself into a comer of a
cushioned couch, he covered his burning eyes with his hand,
and sat stili, his heart swelling with compassionat* emotion!
Harrington had none of those imperfect sympathies of which
Charles Lamb speaks with such gentle humor ; and the meet-
ing, after so many years of separation, of those two poor
black, uncomely brothers of a despised race, touched his
heart as much as if they had been the most beautiful and ele-
gant people in the world.
Recovering in a few moments, he looked up, and the former
feeling of mingled anxiety and trepidation flowed baek upon
his heart. Patrick had said Miss Enstiuan wished him ushered
into the library, but had he not mistaken his instructions ?—
for the library was unlighted. Still there was %ht enough
for conversation, for the curtains were withdrawn, and the pale
moonUght streamed into |jhe apartment. He watched it for a
few minutes wanly glimmering on the glass eases, filled with
books, which lined the chamber; on the dun busts of bronze
which stood above them; the pictures on the walls; the sta-
tuettes of metal and marble on brackets and pedestals; the vari-
ous ornaments here and there; the dark shapes of the rich
furniture, all softly salient m the dim light and vague shadows
of the perfumed air. Gradually his mind lost its uiterest in
the phantasmal efi'ects before him, and feehng weary and sad
at heart, he leaned his elbow on the arm of the couch, and
covering his closed eyes with his hand, sat without moving for
& long time.
How still the room was ! Dropping his hand from his eyes,
as a ghostly sense of il^ intense stillness crossed his mind, he
saw, with a sudden thrill of surprise, the figure of Muriel in
the moonlight before him. She stood serene and motionless.
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354 HAKKINGTON.
with a certain grave maJDSty of mien wbich awed him — ^her
beautiful bare arras lightly laid one upon another, and her
white robe falling softly around tlie perfect outlines of her tall
and stately form. The moonlight rested on the shadowy am-
ber of her hair, and on her face, grave and sweet, from which
her dimly shining eyes looked calmly upon him. A little sur-
prised at the suddenness of her appearance, as by her mystic
beauty he sat for a moment gaauig at her.
" Do not rise," she said, quietly, as he made a movement to
leave his seat, " Remain where you are. I have sent for yon
this evening, John, to converse with you on a matter of
moment to both of us."
Her voice had never seemed so serenely sweet as now. It
thrilled him like the low tones of some exquisite musical instru-
ment. But wondering what she could mean, and filled with
strange wonder at her manner, he sat breathlessly gaai^
at her.
" What is it, Muriel V he said at length, in a hushed
voice,
" It is this, John," she replied, still remaining motionless,
" You have not seen Wentworth smce I saw you last '{"
" I have not, Muriel."
" Xor Emily ?"
"No."
" I thought not," she said, after a pause, " John, I talked
with Wentworth this morning, and he told me of a conversa-
tion that passed recently between Mr, Witherlee and your
master-at-arms — Monsieur Bagasse. Wentworth, for certain
reasons which he will explain to you to-morrow, told yon only
a portion of that conversation as it was reported to him
There is a part which I want to tell you now
HaiTington, who thoaght when she ment one 1 that 'ihe had
spoken with Wentworth, that she was al ut to tell hm the
meaning of the sti'ange speech the yo ng artkt had flung at
JEmily, looked at her, utterly pusaled to know what i ossible
importance could attach to the conversat o 1 et^ cen B ^^ e
and Witherlee.
" The part I want to tell you r 1 tc; to u T 1 h
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HAREINflTOU.
contiuwed. " Mr. Witherke had led the fencing-master to
suppose that you ioved a lady wliom, he described aa wealthy,
of high social position, and mach personal beauty."
"Oh, jes," inteiTopted Harrington, qnietly. "I heard
that Witherlee has represented me as Emily's lover."
" No," said MnrieJ, serenely, " it was not Emily he men-
tioned. It was another lady."
Harrington's heart leaped convulsively, and, even in the
shadow where he sat, Muriel saw the color rush to his fa«e.
" Monsieur Bagasse," she continned, " expressed his satis-
faction that yon were to marry so fine a lady, whereat Wither-
lee told him he was mwtaken, that the lady would aa soon
man-y a man out of the poorhonse, and that it waa very odd
that he should think a lady who belonged, as he said to our
first society, would wed a man who weai-s buch a plain' coat as
you do,"
Harrington, astonished beyond measure, sat in silence, won-
dering what object Muriel could have in telling him this, 'all his
being, meanwhile, one bnrniiig flush of grief and pain.
" To which," pm-sued Muriel, " Mo!:sieur Bagasse replied in
his French paiois to this eflect : ' \\n\j is it odd that a rich
and beaulifnl lady should love Mr. Harrington. Is it odd
because he wears an old coat ? Ah, Mr. Witherlee, there are
duchesses that love the old coat because it covers the nobihty
of heart they also love 1 Listen,' said Monsieur Bagasse, 'to
■what I would do if I were a beautiful, rich lady, and knew 'that
Mr. Harrington loved me. I would say— you good, gallant
noble man, so like the knightly gentlemen of the heroic time, I
know that you love mo, and I love you for all you are. I loVe
you with yonr old coat— I love your old coat because it has
covered yon. Take me to your heart— take me to your life-
share my home, my K'ealth- 1 am yours forever 1 That,' said
Monsieur Bagasse, John, ' that is what I would say to Mr.
Harrington if I were a beautiful, rich lady, and knew that he
loved me.' "
Hffl' voice, in saying all this, was so even, so low and clear
and sweet, so calm and unimpassioned, and she stood so motion-
less in her mystic beanty, with her arms serenely laid upon each
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856 HAEEINGTON.
other, that Harrington, sadly listeniag, and gazing at her
seraphic face aud gem-like eyes, as she bloomed before him ia
the tender moonlight, had no sense of the climax to which hep
soqI was rushing, uo hint of the meaning which her recital
concealed. But suddenly a thrill stirred his pulses, for she
stepped a pace forward, and her arms fell.
" Hear me, my Paladin," she said, and her voice rose into
fuller melody, and a proud and glorious smile kindled her fear
tures — " your Frenchman's speech was the voice of a manty
heart, aud the lady of whom Witherlee spoke, responds to its
every word. Knowing that you love her, and hoping she is
worthy of a love like yours, she has said — you, in whose frame
heat the pulses of gentlemen and chevaliers — ^you, in whose
soul the spirit of the antique chivalry Iivi» anew — take me, for
I love you, and I have loved you long. Take me to your
heart — take me to your life — for I am yours forever 1"
He sprai^ to his feet, and stood ia the moonlight, dilated,
bis eyes respleudeut, and his features still and pallid as the fea-
tures of the dead. Her arms were stretched towai'd him, and
with all bis being yearning to her, he could scarcely restrain
the impulse that bade him whirl every consideration to the
winds, aud clasp her to his heart Bat no : there was some
mystery here to be made plain ; he must be sure that some
sudden passion had not made her forgetful of her plighted faith
to another j he must not wrong his friend. The thought quelled
the tumult of his spu'it, and held his struggling heart as a giant
holds a giant.
" Oh, I read you well," she exclaimed, her arms sinkmg
slowly, while she still looked at him with her proud and glorious
smile. " My soul is elau-voyajit to-night, and I read you well.
■ Love is strong, but it is chained by honor. Ton think me the
betrothed of "Wentworth. Ah, uo I Emily is the betrothed
of Wentworth, and when he told you otherwise, it was his hasty
blunder — no more. John !" she faltered, and her voice grew
sweet and low — " you asked me once to tell you of the fairy
prince I was to follow through all the world, aud I told yoii I
would tell you of him wlieii I found him. I have found him —
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HAEEINOTON. 357
The word rang from her lips in a feryent and adoring cvy,
and ehe was in his arms. One wild, delirious instant, and then
the tumult of his joy mounted to his brain and spread into tlie
stainess of a blissful dream 0 SDlemn e«staE.y of prayer and
peace ! 0 mj tic p^isitn of true love uuveiled I The moon-
light rested on the noble beauty of theii forms with the dark
and rich phantasma] rjom aiound tl m Th y w t t —
they knew not where they weie Ta d m th t ]i f
the n%ht, they stood silent motionl filled w th th al
%ht, as if a rosy stai had bnrst with t!i 1 j. fill d w th
an all-pervading holy tenderness E d d w tl t
delusion — the re t]eo8ne=!. and pain th h p 1 s. y th
generous giief the altemate hope and doubt and fleeting joy,
the Bad renunciation the selfless and subm fcsive sacrifice, were
ended ; they had pai*ed away like clouds and the sweet
heavens of love remained
Slowly her he id drocped back and clmgmg to him yet,
Ijfr noble face tranquil and wet with tears gazi. 1 f ;)Ed!y into
his.
" Beloved Mm el he sa d and his deep vu t,e was tremn-
lous and low I c^me here sal ai d daili ehI you have filled
me with hght anl hfe and joy What jm I that I should
invoke a love lite yjuis — what am I that it shiuld descend
to me so rich in blea ing '
" Not so not so she fervently rephed It la I that am
bold, for 1 1 ave chosen you for my belove 1 from all living men
I know. But 1 love yon Oh should I not love yon — for yoa
made hfe sweet to me you taught me to make hfe noble 1 Dear
friend so long — my husband now — still help me to make life
noble, for I could not love you so much if I did not love the
world you live for more. Come ; we have much to talk of.
Sit here by me."
She sank upon the couch near by, and he took a seat by her
side. Silent a little while before their talk began, they sat
folded in each other's arms, the hour of wonder sinking slowly
like a subsiding sea, and the moonlight resting peacefully upon
them.
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HAKKINOTON.
CHAPTER XXIT.
THE BLOWmo OF THE BOSI
Dat, ethereal and splendid, burst up the wide horizon like
a hymn, and filled the sacred moioing with light and love and
joy. A morning ruled by i celestial sun— a m Drniog bine and
golden, andthrobbingwithiiamoitahty. To bieathe was happi-
ness. To drink the cool aSdal wine of the clear, aweet atmosphere,
was in itself rapture. In all the lustrous azni-e there was no cloud,
and the heavenly day seemed set apart and consecrate to love.
Its glorious ray streamed through the crystal and purple
panes of the rich library, and filled the perfumed air with float-
ing lights of violet and gold. The chamber, decked and ft^
grant with a profusion of delicate and dewy blush roses, and
swimming in the sumptuous. colored radiance, had bloomed into
a hymeneal bower. But more than all its adornments, was
the youthful beauty of Emily and Wentworth. They sat by
each other, her hand clasped in his, talking in gay, fond voices,
and the sun never shone on lovers more joyous and handsome
than they. His face, lit by the blue, sparkling eyes and the
proud, brilliant smile, with the thick cluster of anbnrn locks
carelessly curling on the passionate sloping brow and aronnd
the florid cheeks, was turned to hers ; while she, magnificent
in her Spanish beauty, her damask cheeks glowing through
the clear gold of her complexion, and heightened by the dark-
ness of her hair, gazed at him with lustrous eyes, the pearls of
her curved carnation mouth half shown in her slow and indo-
lent ambrosial smile. So eat they in the gold and violet glory
of the room — a sight to make an anchorite forswear his wcods,
and pray the saints to send him yonth and love,
A bounding step was heard upon the stairs, and Emily
turned, while Wentworth looked toward the door. It opened
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UAIUtlNQTOIf.
359
presently, and the martial figure of Harrington appeared.
The color flashed upoa the face of the saperb brunette, and
springing to her feet, she ran to him. Then, with her arms
ai'onnd him, she turned to Wentworth with a flushed and
langbing face, and
"Ave yon jealous, EJchard, are you jealous?" she cried,
with riant gaiety.
"Jealous? Jupiter PluTins 1" shouted Wentworth, bouud-
ii^ to his feet, and rushing over to Harrington.
Clasping him with an embrace of steel, Harrington bent his
head, and kissed hun on each cheek, then pnshed him from him,
with his hands upon his shoulders.
" That is the kiss of France," he gaily cried. " That is the
kiss of the Paris that I love. And here," he added, grasping
Wenfcworth's hand, "here is the hand of the Old England and
the Hew — the hand of love and faith and the oaken heart.
Yonra, Kichai-d, cow and always."
Wrin^g the generous hand, his face convulsed, and his
Up quivering, Wentworth gazed at his friend with huinid eyes.
A moment, and two biight tears colled down his cheeks, and
his head fell.
" Ah, John," he faltered, " I do not deserve the hand, nor
the heart that gives it. I treated you babelj, and jou"
" Hush, Riehai-d ! Not a word of that I know it all,"
said Harrington, putting hia right arm aiound Wentworth,
and drawing him to hia breast. " You, too, Emily," and his
left arm encircled her.
There was a moment of silence, deep and sweet as prayer
Standing so, with his beautiful and regal bearded faie bent
down to them, he gazed upon their featuieb, solemn m that
moment with the fervor of their love fot him,
" Dear Emily — dear Richard," he said, m his strong melo-
dious voice, "we will not cloud the joy of thissaered day with
any word of what has passed forever. Let us not look upon
it with one r^ret. Let us think of it rather with gratitude
and blessing ; for it baa bound us together closer than we were
before. See, I had but two friends ; and cow, I, who have
no brother or aistei' of my owe, have found a. sister and a bro-
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HAEKIHGTON'.
ther in jou. ITiat is worth tlie mutual pain— that repays it
aJl. BelioM, a new heaven and a new earth have come to us,
and the fomer things are passed away."
His voice ceased, and the silence came like a benediction.
In a moment, his anna fell, and he turned from them. There
was a pause, in which Wentworth and Emily wandered to the
wiudowg, wiping their eyes.
"Ah, me," presently sighed Wentworth, breaking into his
volatile laugh, " as I always say, 1 feel as if I'd got religion.
In fact, I've got religion several times the last few days."
" So have I," cried Emily, dropping her handkerchief from
her eyes, and laughing merrily. "Jolml" she exclaimed,
tomiag quickly, and sweeping, with a rustle of silks, toward
Harrington—" now, EicLard, don't be jealona !" she archly
said in passing — "John, you restored me to life. I was
dying with my long vigU of suffei-ing when you held me in
your arms. You lolled me to that sweet sleep, and when I
awoke it was to happiness. Yon gave me back my life, and
Mnriel gave me back my love. How can I ever thank and
lore jon enough for all you did for me ? How can I ever
repay you 'I But I owe you one thmg— the kiss yon gave
me. Oh, I was like an unloved, weary child, dying for affec-
tion that hour when I asked you to kiss me. See— I owe you
that kiss, and I give it to you."
"Wentworth, touched by the simple and tender fervor of her
voice, and by the child-like affection of her action, turned
away, filled with emotion.
" Good, now I" he exclaimed, in a moment, wheeling around,
SEd playfully assuming an mjured air. " Just keep that up
all day, will you I Continue ! I'm placid. I can stand any
amount of laceration. Don't stop for me. I'll bear it."
They ianghed gaiiy, and came toward him, arm in arm.
"Well, you're a handsome couple anyway," pursued the
mercurial Wentworth, surveying them with aa air of bland
admiration— genuine admiration, too, mixed with his affecta-
tion of it. " As for Emily, she's just what Muriel calls her—
the gorgeous queen-^rose of Ispahan. But you, Hari-ington
— what have you been doing to yourself? I never saw you
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HAKRINGTOJT. 361
look SO finely in my life. Walter Raleigh— the beautiful and
tull Sir Walter— must have looked lite you, thoiig'li I don't
believe he looked so well."
Emily, leaning on Harrington's arm, looked up into his
face, and saw that what Weatworth said was true. A change
had fallen upon the masculine bearded countenance— a fine
raptnre Jit its regular features— a faint color lessened its pal-
lor, and the pure blue eyes swam in brilliance.
" Indeed, Richard, you are right," said Emily. " He looks
as beautiful as the sun-god."
"Exactly. 'Hyperion's curls, the front of Jove him-
self "
" Oil, come now," interrupted Harrington, blushing. " la
this a meeting of the Mutual Admiration Society ? Yon pair
of gross flatterers I Praising my peraonal pulchritude to my
face in this way 1 Bat do I look well ? No wonder. Last
night I slept the sleep of the blessed, and to-day I am happy.
You know why. Ah 1 and you haven't given mo joy yet 1
Yes, and I, too, haven't ^ven you joy."
" We know why ? Given you joy ? Why, what do you
mean, John ?" cried Emily.
" Hasn't Mariel told you ?" said Harrington.
"S"o," cried Emily, breathlessly; but Wentworth saw what
was coming, and a slow flash crept over his illumined face.
" Muriel and I plighted troth last night," said Harrington,
simply.
Weutworth flew across the room with a shout, and with
the utmost deliberation began to dance. Emily dropped Har-
riugton's arm, stood for a moment pale, with iier hands to her
bosom, glowed into bright color again, and burst into tears.
^ " Oh, John I" she cried, springing back a pace, and seizing
his hands, with a smile flashing splendid through the glittering
rain on her impassioned face. " Oh, I am so happy ! Joy,
joy to you 1 I never dreamed of it— never I Joy, ioy[
joy I"
She wrung his hands in an ecstasy of delight, while Went-
worth, breaking from his dance, came flying across the room,
and over a chair that stood in his way, and clutching away
16
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"b-s IIARETSGTON.
the right hand from Emily, shook it aa if he meant to shake
it off, his face flushed and his lip qniveTing>, and his congratu-
lations breaking from his lips like wildfire.
" Everlasting cornucopias of happiness poured out upon
you both for countless quadrillions of never-dying eternities 1"
he hallooed. " By the Capitohan Jove, John, but I'm too
glad to say ar sjlkble. Don't ask me to give you joy, for
there's not enough words 'm the beggarly English langoage for
me to do. it with 1 Oh, thunder ! if this is not the tip-top
crown and summit of it ail, then I'm a. Dntchman !"
He burst away, pantuig, and hnriing himself at full length
npon a coueh, burst into a ringing peal of jubilant langhter.
" Oh, Lord I I shall diel" he gasped, ceasing, and fanning
hunseif with his hand. " HaUelujah I Hallelujah I"
Harrington, faint with mirth, sat down, and Emily, also
laughing furiously, scurried over to Wentworth, and shook
him till he laughed again, and shook him till, aching with
laughter, he implored her to stop.
" Well, Emily," exclaimed Harrington, as she relinquished
her hold of her lover, " I declare I never eaw you romp before,
and I did not think yon could."
" 'Poa my word, she's as bad as Muriel," cried Wentworth,
with a comical look of mock anxiety. " I'm afraid her aristo-
cratic morals a e j, tt n^ c -mpte 1 by th c mj ny he keeps
in this house."
" Well, John sa d Em ly i httle flusi ed anl ] int n^ w th
her exertions, and lau^h a, n short fit is sle si ok I
beheve yon are r gl t E mj ng s if not new to me very
unusual. But to day I am so happy I hardly know
what I am do ng Thib ^iad news takes me t f myself
completely. Oh I am so rejoi ed ! A i to flunk that
Muriel never tol 1 me ! Cunn nj, fox ! B t 111 I e eve i
with her for it, I see now why she has decked the room with
sacb a wiiderness of roses. She is going to make it a fete
day in honor of her engagement."
"Why, yes," said Hanington, starting up. "I didn't
notice all these exquisite flowers before, but I suppose that is
the reason why she has filled the library with them."
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RARBIHGTON. 363
" Ton suppose," said Emily. " Why, don't you know V
"I^ot I," replied Hamngtoii, kughing. " Muriol asked
me to come and spend the day with her, aud only said she was
going to give me an agreeable snrprise. She wouldn't tell me
what the agreeable surprise was, but I suppose this is it.
How exquisite and sweet they are," he murmured, bending
over ashallow vase of Parian, filled with the roses, and inhaling
their delicate fragrance.
" When are you to be married, John ?" asked Emily.
" I declare I don't know," said he naively. " I nerer
thought of asking Muriel."
" Never thought — well, that's a good one I" exclaimed
Wentworth. " Why, almost the first thing I asked Emiiy
after our betrothal was "
" Now, Richard," cried Emily, scampering up to him with
a langh, and sealing his mouth with hei- hand.
Wentworth struggled to get free, and succeeding in a
minute, seized her hands, and held them, she, in turn, endea-
vormg to get them upon his mouth agaih.
" Hear me, for I will speak 1" he declaimed, with serio-
comic dignity, "The fii-st thing I asked Emily, John, was —
when are we to be married ?"
" And what did she say ?" inquired Harrington, amusedly.
" She said October, John," replied Emily, laughing. " He
shan't tell yon. I'll tell you myself. Yes, John, we are to
be married in October. See my beti-othal rii^. Is it not
beautiful ?"
He took the fair hand in his, and looked at the exquisite
opal, whose soft, clouded flames of iridescent color shone on
her finger.
" Beaatifnl," he assented, pressing the hand to his lips. " I
pray for your life-loi^ happiness, dear Braily, Tours and
Richard's. And may I be present at your wedding ?"
"Indeed you mast," she answered. "It would be but half
a wedding if you were not there."
" My sentimente," cried Wentworth. " Withont you, John,
onr wedding would be a fiasco. But it is to be a grand affair.
In open church, crowds of guests, Emily in foil bridal array,
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HAKEINGTON.
with a small arraj' of bridesmaids, and I in gorgeons toggery,
with, rt retinue of grooms which will astonish your Spartan
simplicity. Oh, I tell yon, wo shall blow out m splendid
Itymeneal flower, amidst overpowering magnificence 1"
" Hear the abaiird fellow !" exclaimed Emily, smiling at
Hanington, who stood listening half-amnsedly, half-pensivdy,
as the gay Richard ran on. "Only listen to him. But it is
true, John— we are to have-a splendid weddmg."
_ " I am gkd to liear it," he replied. " Yoa are both splen-
did, and it is natural and proper for you to put forth splendid
rays oa such an occasion."
V ^Nevertheless, 111 bet you won't find Harrington and
Muriel flashing out like as, Emily," cried Wentworth, showing
his fine teeth in a brUliant laugh. " I wouldn't be afraid to
wager that yonll see that young man married in his ordmary
clothes, withont a rag of a white kid gloTe, or an ornament of
any kind whatever, or weddmg cake, or cards, or guesta, or
anything."
" Why, Richard, I' don't know," said Harrington, smiling
good-naturedly. " If Muriel were to wieh the usual parade I
would agi-ee of course. But you are righl^my choice would
be as httle esternal show as possible. Some simple rites
would be more gi-atefui to me than any pomp or display
Marriage to me is so private and spiritual a sacrament that it
seems a sort of profanation to make it public— or surround it
with factitious embellishments. These flowers for example
this sweet, rich room, Muriel lovely, and clothed as befits her
loveliness, I in this plain coat, not very new, but well-fitting
and graceful, Mrs. Eastman and you two loving friends here
— what more could I desire to decorate my wedding ? And
lusa than this- yes, nothing of this— Muriel and I alone in
some quiet room, or under the blue sky, or the forest trees,
pledging ourselves to each other m spirit and in truth— this
of itself would be enough, and would make the most unperial
bridals seem gaudy and theatrical."
" Then yon object to our fine fashionable wedding John "
said Emily, playfully. '
" Oh no— not object," returned Harrington, coloring, with
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HAKKINGTOM, 365
an embaiTasaed air. *' HaTC I said too muoh ? Have I cast
my personal reflectious ? I hope not, for I did not mean to.
I only meant to say that the ideal uobfenesa and beauty of
marriage are not very well expressed by the usaal modish and
artificial ceremonials and decorations. The thing itself is ho)y
and poetic. Let the rites and adornments be holy and poetic
too. That is aiL"
Emily turned away, mnsing, and Wentworth twirled his
gay moQstache with an abstracted air.
" But Where's Muriel, I wonder ?" stud Harrington, after a
pause.
" Here she is — no, it's our dear mamma," exclaimed Went-
worth.
" Yonr mamma it is, children," said Mrs. Eastman, coming
into the room, silver-gay, with her bonnet on. " I have just
returned from Milton, and heard your voices, or rather John's
voice, as I came up-stairs. But, bless me, where did all these
fltiwers come from ? Wliy, the library is turned into fairy-
land !"
" Ah, mamma," said Emily, " we are all in fairy-land to-day,
and the fau-y-prince has done it, with the help of thia fairy
chevalier," and she bent her head toward Harrington.
" Why, what has happened to you, cliildren ?" asked Mrs.
Eastman, laughing softly, as she removed her bonnet.
" Now, mamma," said Wentworth, fronting her with Emily
on his arm, " I'm going to surprise you. Prepare to be sur-
prised."
" Well, I'm ready," said Mrs. Eastman, gaily.
" Emily and I are to be married in October," said Went-
worth, suddenly.
" My dear children, I am more glad to hear this than I can
say," fondly replied Mrs. Eastman, kissing both of them.
" But, children, you don't smprise me at all," she added, with
smiling equabiUty. "I saw that you were lovers some time
since, and was expecting this."
Mrs. Eastman m^Iit have also said that she saw they had
quarrelled, and knew what was the matter with Emily during
her night and day of sorrow, but she was discreet and did not.
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i>00 HARKINGTOJf.
" There I" exclaimed Wentworth, with a grimace, " there's
my surprise now ? Mamma, you're a witch, and there's no
keeping anything from yon I"
"Stop, Richard 1" cried Emily. "Let John try his hiind
at a Burprise."
Mrs. Eastman was well named Serena, she was so sweetly
calm, but the color rose to her face, and she trembled, ae Har-
rington came toward her with outstretched arms.
" Mother," he fervently said, holding her in his embrace,
" yon have your wish. I was mistaken. Last aight, Muriel
Her eyes filled, and without a word she flew li'om his arms
and out of the room. Harrington covered his humid eyes
with his hand, and stood still. Wentworth and Emily moved
silently away, with hushed faces.
It was but a moment, and she came back with a swift, free
step, her calm face lighted between its silver tresses, the tears
npoa her cheeks, and put her arms around him,
" Hush !" she whispered. " Do not speak to me. Lot me
dream of this. I am too happy."
His arms had enfolded her, and with his eyes closed, and his
lips piessed to her beautiftd silver hair, while her face lay upon
his bosom, they stood still,
" Tes," she murmured, after a long pause, looking up with
a stjil and radiant face into his noble countenance, " yes, I
have my wish, and I am happy."
She placed her arm in his, and moved with hmi across the
library.
"Well, mamma," said Emily, with her ambrosial smile,
" We did surprise yon, after aJ[."
" Yes and no, dear Emily," replied Mrs, Eastman, fondly
looking at Harrington, " Tes and no. It was the evening
star of my Ufe ; a cloud obscured it, but I still had faith that
my evening star was there,"
There was a pause, filled by the pensive memoiy of her
voice. Suddenly Wentworth and Emily uttered a low exclamar
tion, and Mrs. Eastman and Hanington turned, started, and
stood still. It was Muriel, but Muriel transfigured in
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HAEEINGTON. 367
uty. A robe of rich, ethereal viyid crimson,
at once soft and glowing, like the color of the rose, cut low,
auij encircling tlie fihonldera by only a narrow gathered band,
spread loosely around her bosom, and descemJing in many light
folds, expressed her perfect form, and heightened the dazzling
fairness of her complexion. Color feint as the hues of the
blnsh roses whose ecstatic odors filled the room, bloomed on
her cheeks and lips ; her amber hair, encircled by a slender
fillet of myrtle, bright green, small leaved, and terminating on
either aide with a rose, drooped low in rippling tresses around
her radiant and hymn-like face ; and her mouth roay-pale
against its milk-white teeth, was parted in an enchanting
smile. Gliding forward, with her noble harmony of move-
ment, the floating gold and yiolet glory that filled the chamber
resting on her beauteous face and figure, and her sumptuous
drapery falling around her faultless Imibs, she seemed some
wondrous vision of incarnate joy. So sacred, so transcendent
was her bewildering loveliness, that they gazed upon her with
strange awe, as in the presence of her in her uumortality.
Harrington looked at her, rapt, and passion-pale ; then
with a thrill of melting tenderness, as if his soul was dissolv-
ing in his frame, he closed his giddy eyes and bowed his head
upon his clasped hands.
" Harrington, my beloved I"
He started at the deep eolian mu^ic of her -joice, and hold-
ing her in tfia arms, gazed with an impassioned face mto her
clear lambent eyes.
" Ah, Mnriel, Muriel 1" he fervently mmmuied, " I tremble
lest you malce life too sweet for me Oh, dear friends," he
cried, "you can bear to see the dance, for you hear the music !
Look at her ; is she not beautiful ?"
A low murmur of admiration ran from lip to lip, and Emily,
breaking from her trance, embraced Muriel and kissed her fei^
ventlj. Then her mother, with tender and pathetic words of
endeai-ment, folded her to her heart..
■' Oh, ray daughter," she said, gently and mournfully, " what
would I give if your father could see you now I He who hung
over yonr cradle so often in your infancy, and called you so
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^00 HABEtRGTON.
fondly his gloriouB littJe child, what would I give if he could
Bee you now in your glorious womanhood 1"
" Dear mother, he seea me," answered Muriel, her face Kt
with a celestial smile, and her clear eyes upturned. "In this
the beat and brightest hour of iny life, he sees me I lie is
alive and well, and he sees me 1"
In tlie solemn pause whicli followed, while they stood with
dim eyes and heads bowed, it seemed as if some silent spirit
stood among them in the rich glory of the room.
The thrUiing feeling slowly died away like failing music, and
timidly looking up, Wentworth saw the eyes of Muriel sink
from theu- celestial height and rest kindly and lovingly on him.
" Come to me, Richard," she said. " You alone have not
spoken to me — ygu alone have not expressed your joy."
" Muriel," he answered, moving near her, with a timid and
tardy step, " if so bad a boy as I am "
" Bad f oh, no I Ton are not a bad boy," she said with
tender playfulness, caressing him as she spoke. " Tou are my
own dear brother Richard, gallant, and fond, and true. Conld
I love you if you were not ? Could I kiss yon thus, and thus,
ajid thus, with magic kisses three V she said, kissing Mm each
tune as she said the word, and smiling at him with bewitching
gaiety. " Ah ! I am very happy this morning ! Tliat is the
reason you all admire me so. See : my joy has burst into its
fullest flower, and this is its color and its symbol."
Smihng upon them, she laid her hand on her goi^oua
crimson robe.
" I see," said Emily, " Madame de Stagl said the color of
the trumpef-aound was crimson, and the sound of the golden
trumpet is the sound of joy. Oh, Muriel, I never saw you
dressed so admirably. Yon are splendid as the sun I"
" Yes, and mark you now," said Wentworth, gaily, " there
fe another symbol here. This is the color of the dress of the
fairy prince. Ah, it is the same dress, too, if you only knew
it. The fairy prince wove a spell of weird, gave one touch of
the magic wand, and !o 1 the crimson cymar changed into a
crimson robe, and the fairy prince stands before you transformed
into a ir'- — — ' '"
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H4KKINGTOM. 369
" Bravo, Eiehard I" said Hamiigtou, " tliat is ingenious,
" And then," coutinued Weutwortli, " the gold embroidery
on the cjmar melted into gold Instre, and passed into Muriel's
eyes. See how golden her eyes are this morning. Their clear
grey looks through a transparent sheen of gold."
" They are golden with love, then," said Muriel, langhingly,
"for the cymar is up-stairs, with'all its emteoideiy intact. It
is Harrington who is the fairy prince, and I am the Sleeping
Beauty whom he waked from her sleep of twenty years, and
now I am to follow him through all the world. But come,
John, I promised you an agreeable surprise this morning, jou
" Well, and have yon not given it to me ?" said Harring-
ton, smiling at her. " This beautiful room, all bedecked with
roses, and then yourself in your miraculous beauty — why, I am
in receipt of two agreeable surprises I"
" Ah, John," she replied, with enchanting gaiety, " but I
have a thu-d more wonderftd than those."
" What is it V asfce'd Harrington, amusedly.
" I'll tell you," she answered. " Friends, attention I My
dear mother, do you remember the little conversation we had
at dinner the day before yesterday ?"
" Perfectly," replied Mrs, Eaetman, coloring slightly, and
looking at her charming daughter with some wonder.
" Well, my dear mother," returned Muriel, with bewitching
playfulness, "I reflected seriously all day yesterday on what
you said, and I decided to oblige you. John, come here to
me."
Harrington, curious to know what was meant by this pre-
face, approached, and stood before her with a sweetly smilmg
countenance. Slowly her beautiftil white arms stole around
him, clasped him lightly, and drew him to her. It seemed m
that moment as if, m the noble features upturned to his, all
the versatile expressions of which they were capable darted
magically together in a bewildering and harmonious play, lite
the soft floating and intermingling of evanescent, tender rain-
bow hues on a clear and delicate air. Bat slowly through
16*
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tlieii' iivdeci^vt- i'lidumtiiit'Tit Ijrolcc ;i ihiMiiiig Niiiilc, u fairy
tremur lifted her liue nosti'il, ilie aoloi' lilooiiitid Ueeplier on
her cheeks and lips, and. her eyes glowed.
"John !" said she, in a clear, melodious Tuiee, " this is our
marriage morn."
A splendid scarlet flamed on the face of Harrington, and
with a start he clasped her to his breast, gazing into her face
with eyes like wondering stars. Mrs. Eastman, ineffably asto-
nished, bnt more ineffably amused, that Muriel had taken her
at her word, sank into a chair, with her conntenance flashed,
and burst into low laughter ; while Emily, with the rich color
suffusing her features and her eyes and mouth orbed in won-
der, pressed her folded hands to her bosom ; and Wentworth
stared vacantly, with his face as red as fire,
" This the morning of oar man-i^e I" exclaimed Harring-
ton. " This I"
" This it is, John," she replied, gaily, " and this is my third
agreeable surprise. How do you like it ?"
Harrington, with a sudden motion, bent his head and
kissed her,
" Muriel, Muriel I" he iaughingly cried, " you are indeed a
fairy princess ! You touch the moment, and it hursts into the
unexpected miracle-flower of joy."
" Now by all the gods at once !" exclaimed the volatile
Wentworth, and bomiding up with three distinct pigeon-wings
into the air, he came down again erect and gallant, and burst
into a peal of mellow laughter.
" "Well I declare 1" ejaculated Emiiy. " Of all the splendid
freaks I ever heard of, this is the most splendid. To be
married this morning ! But who's to marry you ? where's the
minister f "
" Oh, he's commg," retm-ued Muriel, smiling. " I wrote a
note to Mr. Parker this morning, and he is to be here at
ten."
" Good !" exclaimed Harrington. " If I am to have any
' ' t- to marry me, let it he Mr. Parker. It will be an
added consecration."
" I knew you would think so," replied Muriel.
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iiAi^iMi-iu.v. ;iT.L
"To Ijo sure," lie auswereJ. "lie wwild cgh.skler juu a,
heathen, lootiug at me theologically, bat that's no matter."
Murio! looked at his smiling countenance, and shook her
finger at hi in,
" Oil, jou Venilamian heretic !" she exclaimed, gaily.
" Well, Muriel," laughed Emily, " I'm sure you're yery
obliging to have even Mr. Parkei'. With your invincible
hostility to Madame la Grnndy, it is positively a remarkable
"Ah, dear Emily," replied Muriel, smiling tenderly, "can
the words of a clergyman make more holy the union of lovers,
who love in spirit and in truth 1 Were Mr. Parker not in the
world, and were we in Pennsylvania to-day, and uot in Mas-
sachusetts, I would rather choose to stand up with John before
our friends, avowing onr love in the sweet and beautiful old
simple QnaJter fashion, and sparing every other rite beside.
To have the spiritual marri^e publicly recognized would be
enough. But then," she added, with gentle gaiety, " on this
point, Mrs. Grondy has the Uw on her side, so I curtsey and
submit, hoping to atone for the submission by a long series of
■ flagrant rebellions, against which there is no statute ! For
while it is both proper and necessary, as things stand, that
Mi's. Grundy should be obeyed, it is also proper and necessary
as things stand, that the dear old woman should be defied.
So there's a paradox for yoti 1"
"Bravo I" cried Wentworth. " Centripetality and centri-
fugaUty for ever 1"
" Exactly so," replied Muriel, with a froUc curtsey. " Now,
mother, there jou sit without saying a word, and you haven't
told me yet whether you are going to lend the hght of your
countenance to my estraordinaiy proceedings."
" Of course I am, dear," cried Mrs. Eastman, starting up to
kiss her bewitching daughter, while they all rippled off into
lively talk and the hilarity of the immortals.
" Come," said Muriel in a few moments, "let us have music
till Mr. Parker comes. Glnck and Mendelssohn and the divine
Mozart and Beethoven, shJll speak for ns to-day. Color and
fragrance, and dancing, and siience can express deep joy, but
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373
UAKKINGTOH.
music expresses it as notliing else can, and to-day Is the flower
of my existence."
She moTed as she spoke to the organ, and the gorgeous
tones of golden bronze roUed forth in sunset clouds of heavenly
harmony, with her seraph voice singmg sweet among tliem.
Pass, hour of noble raptures, houi- of the spirit, hour of celes-
tial love and hope and Joy, pass, fitting prelude for his coming
— tlie valiaiit soul and t-eoder, now blest among the blessed,
whose disenehanf«d dust lies in the holy soil of Florence, and
lends one hallowed memory more to the land of Dante's
grave f
It was like a sacred dream in which he came — the mighty,
the well-beloved, the lion-hearted Theodore ; he of the domed
brow, the Socratie features, resolute and tender, and stem at
times with the long battle he waged for Christian liberty ; he
of the beautiful and dove-like eyes whose clear sweetness the
roaring hatred of his foes could never stain or change. It was
iSfe a sacred dream in which they heard the noble kmguf^
of his charge inspiriDg them to lives of holiest and highest
Loraanhood, and then while the dream deepened into an inteiv
val of unutterable calm, and a stiller glory seemed to swim, a
more celestial fragrance seemed to flow, upon the quiet of the
room, the pledges of the nuptials were spoken, and his voice
arose in tender and fervent supplication to the Heavenly
father of the world — Father and Mother, too — Father of
Love and Freedom and all that makes the world more fair —
Lover of lovers, and Lover of the world He made — that the
eternal spring-time of His Pi'esence might rest upon their
wedded lives, greenness and strength and beauty to them for-
evermore.
It was still a sacred dream, when he had gone. But the
very air seemed to tremble with an ecstasy of painful Iiappi-
ness, and Mm'iel, pale with a joy which was insupjior table,
because voiceless, glided to the organ.
Softly again upon the glory of the air, drifted the molten
bronze of the rich music and her cImt soprano, sweet and low,
arose and blended with the heavenly anthem. Sweet and low
as the mother's cradle hymn, and tender as the remembered.
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HAKKIHGTON. 373
soi^ of chOdhood, it floated on above tlie mellow murmur of
thii instrumental flow; and rising like a thrilling gush of per-
fume into more celestial melody, it rose again in rapturous
ascension, mtermingled with the surging aad dilatmg, swell of
the orgaD-toues, and rang in pealing hallelujahs, draining the
soul of every earthly thought and feeling, and lifting it pale
and throbbing on the bumiDg wings of seraphs into the light
and odor of the Life Divine. Then sinking slowly, voice and
music failed apon the palpitating air, failed from the spirits
throbbing with the blended sweetness, and the room was stilL
She rose from the organ with her face inspired, and tnrned
to be folded in the arms of Harrington.
"Ah, Muriel," he fervently murmured, "your songs are
more than ' the benediction that follows after prayer !'"
She did not answer, but stood silently in his embrace, with
her face bent upon his breast. Lifting it to his at iength, she
looked upon him with glowing eyes.
" We are mamed," she said. " Do you realize it ?"
"Hardly," he replied. "But it is true. We are one.
One in love for liberty."
" One in love for liberty," she echoed. " One in love for
all mankind."
They stood in silence for a few moments. Then turning
with their anns around each other, they saw Emily and Went-
worth sitting together m deep abstraction.
"Well, Richard and Emily, what are you thinking of?"
Muriel playfully demanded,
" I was thinking," returned Wentworth more gravely than
was usual with him, "that is before your singing, Muriel,
lifted me out of my mind, as it always does — I was thinkmg
what a man Mr. Parker is. How great and noble — how
beautiful were his words and manner. Ah, that was a true
marriage service 1"
" And so was I," cried Emily, who had been weeping a
little. " I was thinking the same thing. I shall never hear
our own minister with comfort again."
" Oh, flower of Episcopahans, are you turning Parkcrite ?"
gaily exclaimed Muriel.
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374 HAEKINGTON.
" I declare I believe I am," sighed Emily, so dolefully that
Wentworth began to laugh, and she hereelf followed his
example.
" Come," cried Wentworth, starting to Ms feet, " this won't
do. Here are John and Muriel married. Do yon realize that
fact, Emily ?"
" Yes, r do," she answered, bounding ap, and raaliirig over
to the loTera to pour out the joy of her heart upon
Mra. Eastman and Wentworth followed, and iji a moment
the room rang with gay talk and irolic hilarity.
" And just take notice," cried Wentworth, amidst the afBn-
ent fun, " taie notice that Harrington has his wish. He was
wishing, Muriel, or rather in a little discussion we had as to
the proper mode of doing the marriage ceremony up golden
brown, he was observing that to be married in this room, just
BM he is, with never a ghost of a. Idd glove on him, or any
wedding embellishment, and nobody present but us, woaM be
the height of his ambition. So you see, his Spartan soul is
gratified 1"
" So it is !" laughed Harrington. " I had forgotten it
amidst the excitement; but that is what I said, and you, dear
fairy princess, have gratified me."
" Hold «n now," burst in the mercurial Wentworth, inter-
rupting Muriel in the gay reply she was about to make.
" Hold on ! An idea striiies me. To wit, that nobody has
called this lady by her new name. Sweet Murici Eastman,
vale, vak, vale. Adieu forevermore I Vanish, flower of
spinsters, vanish into the fragrant twilight of memory. Mrs.
Harrington, appear I All hail, Mrs. Hanington !"
" Bravo I" exclaimed Emily, clapping her hands, and undu-
lating backward into a low curtsey. " All hail, Mrs. Har-
rington !"
Muriel, still clasping her husband, looked at them in their
mirth with a pensice smile.
" I had forgotten it," she said gently, and almost dream-
fully, " for I feel like Murici Eastman, still, with unmerged
individuality."
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UAKKlBtJTOS. 375
" And Muriel Eastman you nhall ho," ianghiniriy said Har-
rington; "and with nnmei^d individuality, too."
" Ifay," said Muriel, with tcndei' gaiety, " My new, sweet
name, John— Muriel Harrington, 1 accept it. At least to
the worid I will be Mariel Harrington, and yon shall think of
me, and call me Muriel Eastman, Ktill."
" As I will ever," responded Harrington.
" Bravo !" cried Wentworth. " An amicable adjustment of
a serious difficulty. And now, what next ?"
"Next, music," laughingly said Emily, moving to the
organ.
Her rich contralto voice rose with the inetnimental sni^e
into a trumpet ptean, and so, amidst music and laughter, and
many-colored festal talk, the golden banquet of the day passed
by, and as they stood together at the single westei-n window
of the library, the evening overspread them with a sky of
deepest azuve, filled with vast blouda of purple and amber
flame, like the wings of seraphim.
Slowly the burning munificence of the celestial pageant
faded from the sky, and the enchanted twilig-ht came with soft
and odorous southwind breathings. All the long evening, in
the dim bloom of moonlight, too faint to veil the brightness
of the stars, the long wafts of balmy odor hung swaying with
the airy poise of spirits around the dwelling, rising in low
whisperings, and slowly swooning away in sweetness. Gradu-
ally the sonnds of life died away, the moon sank low, the
shadows slept within the street, and the silence was unbroken
save by the passionate whispers of the fragrant wind. Ear
above the dark roots, the bright stars were throbbing in the
divine bine gloom, and over the vast night brooded the infinite
presence of the triune Love and Life and Joy.
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HAEKINGTOH,
CHAPTER, XXY.
The next day the announcement of the marriage appeared in
the newspapers, and falUng soft as a rose-leaf on the tail of that
great Chicken Little, Society, Society ran round clucking as if
the sky had fallen. Great was the sensation— especially among
the score or so of lovers who for a long time had been vainly
endeaToring to get sufficieutij intimate with Muriel to make
their love manifest, and whose fate was now sealed.
K^ot having been invited to the wedding, Society expected
ttie cards to aiTive inviting it to the conventional reception.
But Society hearing pi-esently, through some intimate friends
of the family, that Muriel and her husband had decided to dis-
pense witli conventbnaliUes, took it kindly, as just what might
have been expected of that lady, and began to pour in a stream
of congratulatory callers at the house in Temple street. Among
the callers, the startled and enraged Atkinses were missing,
which was melancholy. Amidst the family wrath, Horatio
kept contemptuously cool, remarking, like the fine young
American he was, that a social mesalliance always brought its
own punishment, as she (Mm-iel) would find to her sorrow ;
while Thomas, on al! occasions, when the subject of the mar-
riage came up in convcmition, observed, that that's what comes
of letting girls have too much head, be Jove !
Great was the sensation the nest morning when Muriel and
Harriugton appeared at Captain Fisher's, announcing their
espousals, and great was the joy, and immense the satisfaction.
Greatei- than all or anything was the laige and lustrous hap-
pmess of tlie wedded lovers. The deep change that had come
upon their lives gave them a new and statelier beauty So
might have looked the beautiful and tall Sir Walter, and so
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the fair Elizabetli Throgmorton, his bright Elizabethan flower
of wifely womanhood, in their happiest hour of wedded love.
At home ia Temple street the day after their wedding, in the
new and fresh enjoyment of a marriage whose perfect nobleness
might haye gladdened the pflre soul of Swedenborg, tliej laid
their little plans for the future. It waa first agreed that Har-
rington should permit himself a vacation, free from the toil of
study, in this the golden crescent of their eternal honeymoon.
It was next resolved that Harrington should Iteep his house in
Chambers street, and live there when he so chose. Both he
and Muriel thought that married people are too iutimate with
each other, see too mach of each other, push too far and fre-
quently into the sacred privacy which Ss.tnre sets around the
individual soul, and so lose the charm of freshness which is at once
the crowning delight and most potent safeguard of love. If, in
married life, they thonght, familiarity does not breed contempt, it
commonly bi-eeds a sort of humdrum nnappreciating indifference
which makes the wedded lovers seem less beantifui and noble to
each other than in the matin prime of their early passion. And as
Mni'iel and Hai'rington designed to be lovers forevermore, they
resolved to mamtain the relations which make love ever magical
and ever new. Conntmg himself fortnuate, therefore, tfiat he had
a house of his own to retire to in those golden-valleyed intervals
which Nature prescribes to checquer aad enhance the tender
and holy beauty of the mountain land of love, and sadly wishing
that his fortune might be shared by all, as it might in a nobler
order of society, Harrington agreed with Muriel, aud she with
him, to use their new freedom of intercourse wisely, he spend-
ing his studious days as hei-etofore in his own house, she passing
Ler happy life as in her maidenhood in hers, both coining
together whenever their souls drew, or their duties bade, freely,
attractively, in mutual ministration and communion, living for
each other and for the world's great family of souls.
The nest thing that came under discussion was a proposition
from Muriel to settle half her fortune on her husband, which
HaiTington would not listen to ou any condition. It was
finally compromised, amidst much gaiety, by his agreeing to
let no want of his go uutold, and to always accept from her
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whatever money he needed, instead of mtorniptmg his studies
with compositions to supply his deficiencies. Which bargain
Muriel closed with a frolic threat of banishment from her
presence if she ever discovered him infringing the terms of the
compact, until he made atonemeitt by accepting a double sum
for his disobedience.
Other matters talked of, and the Ijusine^ conference ended,
they were sitting together in the library, when Wentworth
arrived, handsome as usual, and full of gay greetings. Pre-
sently Emily came in from a shoppmg excursion, and eat with
them.
" And why is Raffaello out of his studio this mornii^ ?" she
said, in a gay tone, to Wentworth.
"Well,'" he returned, "fact is, I couldn't paint for"think-
ii^ of OUT recent blind-man's buff game. Xow, look here,
friends, let's Lave a grand confession. Here we are together^
and what I want to know is this : How is it that we fonr
people, of tolei-ably good wits, contrived in our love affairs to
be so mistaken in i-egard to each other ? Grant Witherlee's
share ia the matter, and our own duplicity— that is, yours and
mine, Emily dear— but aftei' all, is it not singular that we
didn't see through it ?"
They sat pensively smiling, with their eyes bent upon the
floor, while he, smiling also, with his brilliant teeth displayed,
looked at them,
" Just thmk," he continued. " Just think of the slightness
of the evidence which set every Jack of ns against Itis true Jill,
and every Jill against her trae Jack. Such evidence wouldn't
have misled us if any other matter but love was involved.
How is this ? Now, Emily, perhaps it's not wonderful that
you should hare thought that I loved Muriel, for who wouldn't
love her f but how could you for a moment imagine that she
— so manifestly my superior every way, so evidently made for
a nobler man than I am — could possibly lore me ?"
" I don't know," naively replied Emily, while Muriel and
Harrington, coJoring at the compliment Wentworth so frankly
paid them, laughed amusedly. " It was very foolish in me
I'm sure, and it seems like a strange dream."
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HAEEIN«TOH. 379
"Good," coiitiuued Weittworth. "The next question is,
Low could I imagine tliat Harniigton, with his lieaveo-fated
wife before ills eyes, could possibly love my Emily ? Aad tLat
I don't liKOW eitiier, and can't explain, except on the theory
that I'm 9, complete fool, which I'm not."
They all laughed merrily, Wentworth louder than any.
" And you, Muriel," he pursued. " How could you imagine
for a moment tliat HaiTington loved anybody but you ? Both
of you in constant communion, in the fuliest, and broadest, and
closest sympathy with each other, how could you think that
he loved Emily better than yon f"
" Why, Richard," returned Muriel, with bewitching gaiety,
" since liis is the hour of confession, let me confess that I don't
know."
Wentworth laughed nproarionsly, and the rest joined him in
his mirth.
" Well, Harrington," he continued, in a niinut*, " you now.
It's not singular, of conrse, that you should have thought I
loved Murie! ; but in the name of all the gods at once, how
could yon think that she loved me 1 Where was your insight,
Harrii^ton ?"
" Well, Richard," said Harrington, jocosely, " this whole
matter may be solved on the theoiy that we are not the wisest
people in the world."
" No, John, that won't do," returned Wentworth, " we're
not the wisest, but we're wise enough not to be made fools of
in anything but a love affair."
" Well then, let ns concede our wisdom," replied Harring-
ton, in the same jocose vein, " and solve the whole riddle with
that deep maxim of my beloved Verulam, ' Love is the folly
of the wise.' "
" Good 1 I rest there," said Wentworth, laughing. " Yes,
my Lord Bacon, you'ie light, love is the folly of the wise."
" But it is the highest wisdom, too," observed Muriel.
" Of course," replied Harrington " Verulam would be the
last to gainsay that 1 nudeistand him to only mean that the
mortal reason most exempt from the clouds of the other pas-
sions, is subject to the obscurations of this. It is one side of
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380
hi! trlbnle to the pot.ncy otloye, and »11 hum.a experience
JHfltihes It. Particularly ours," he jestingly added.
At this moment a tap was heard at the library door It
was Patrick, who, all in smiles for the new-married connle
announced that Mr. With.rlee was in the parlor below. '
Jupiter I" eiclnimed Wentworth. " Let's haye Mm np
Iiere, and give him a rowing."
" Yes, do," said Emily nermusly. " Lei's hear what he las
to say for himself."
Muriel looked dubiously at Harrington.
" I really think," said Harrington, in answer to her look
that Fernando ought to h.ye a lesson on the danger and
folly of such detraction and mischief-making as he practises
It would be salutary."
. "Well then— but, Eicharxi, yoa must promise me that you
won' get angry ,t Mr. Wilherlee-that you'll tJk to him
cahnly," said Muriel.
■■Oh, indeed I will I" declared Wentworth, mbbing hi,
tads gleefully, and all alive with eagerness., ■■ Only h.ye
h.m up here. I promise sacred], that III be as gentle as .
sucking doye." *
■'And yon, EmUy, yon must engage to be calm," said
MnneL
'■ Oh, I'll be calm. I despise him too much to be anything
but calm," returned EmUy with an air of indolent scorn
M^Jd^ ""■ '""*''' ''''°'' "■■■ '""'"'"'" »P l™." "i
Patrick bowed, and departed.
^ " Now for a scene I" cried the gleeful Wentworth ■■ His
impudence won't get him out of this scrape."
'■ Take cai'e, Eichard," remarked Hai-rington ■■ for in my
opinion yoall flud it dlBcult to conyiel him of any misconduct »
■ We'U see 1" exclaimed Wentworth with a confident air
Presently the door opened, and the good Fernando came m
bowmg low with an almost cringe in his courtesy, nud smiling
with his usual constrnlned smile of elegance. He was mv
fashionably dressed, and looked, as he commonly did hand-
.,t.db, Google
HABEINGTON. 381
" Gfood morning," he said with courteons emprmement, as he
came bowing forward. " Ail together, as usual."
" Yes, all together," said Hari'ington, good-iiatm-edly, giving
bim his hand as he spoke, and tailing no notice of the covert
sneer which larked rather io the tone of his last remark than
in the words.
Mnriel also gave hhn her hand, Wentworth his rather dis-
tantly, though he smiled, and Emily bent her head with a,
snmptuous negative politeness, without rising from her chair.
In a minute or so, the good Fernando was seated, and gaz-
ing at them with opaqne gUttering eyes which restlessly flick-
ered and seemed not so much to look at them, aa toward them.
He began to feel, ms^eticaUy, that there was something mys-
terious aad menacing in their manner, and his plump, coloriess,
morbid face grew marble-cool and immobile, with the lips a
little part«d and rigid, as the lips usually are when there is au
attempt at the concealmeiit of emotion or purpose.
" Well, Fernando, have you heard the news," said Went^
worth, alluding to Harru^ton and Muriel's marriage.
" No," drawled Witherlee, with a face discharged of all
expression. " What is it ?"
" Haven't you seen the papers this morning ?" said Went-
worth.
" No ; I rose rather late this morning," was the equable
answer, " and didn't breakfast at home. I went down to
Parker's and had a luneh with a bottle of Sotaime, and
it never occurred to me to glance at the paper. What is the
news 1"
Wentworth paused a moment, conscious that Witherlee had
not heard of the mamage, and filled with an amused disgust,
especially at the a&eeted drawl with which the young
fop had pioaonnced the word Sauterae, and generally at his
ostentatious and nnnecetiAary mention of his epicurean break-
fast.
" The news is," leplied Wentworth, changing his intention,
" that Emily and I are engaged to be married in October."
Witherlee looked at him for a moment with his eyes more
opaque, his lips more rigid, his face more expressionless than
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beloi-1!, and sliglitlj- lifted his Ijaiidsuuu? cyobi'uws ; tlieii Kiuiled
with immense cordiality.
" I am very glad to hear it," he exclaimed, with tender
empressemmt, "very glad indeed. But you surprise me.
I hadn't the remotest idea that such a thing would hap-
pen"
" And yoa didn't mean it should, if yon could help it,"
interrupted Emily, with bland tranquillity.
Witheriee looked at her with an astonishment so admirably
counterfeited, that she almost thoi^ht it genuine, and her
heart faltered in its purpose. Wectworth, with a strong dis-
position to laugh, bit his lip, and looked at the floor. Muriel
wore an ah' of Bunny lasiness, and Harrington, sitting a little
apart, kept his searching blue eyes fixed intently on Witherlee's
countenance, unnoticed bj him.
" Why, Emily," said Fernando, slowly, after a long pause,
" what do you mean I If I conld help it ? "Why how could I
hinder it, eycn if I wished to ? How could I be supposed to
know anything about it F"
"Ton knew Richard and I loved each other," stam-
mered Emily, losing her self-possession as she thought how
intangible was all her evidence against her eolloquiat. "Ton
knew it, and you tried to prqudice me agamst him."
" I knew it V' repeated Eemando. " Miss Ames, you must
pardon me for saying it — but jon are very unjust to me."
And he assumed an injured air, which was really touching.
" It is utterly unpoasible that I could have known it, for neither
you nor Wentworth, nor anybody, ever told me. As for pre-
judicing him, 1 do not know what you refer to— but if you
mean our conversation one evening more than a week ago, you
muat permit me to observe that that is only a proof that I
knew nothing whatever of this matter. For if I had, is it
likely that I would be so foolish as to injure myself in jour
good opinion by saying anything against a man you loved?
Even if I were ungenerous enough to do so, would I be so
unwise? I am sorry, very sorry that you can think so
meanly of my good sense, not to speai of anjtliing higher."
He said it all so mildly, so sadly, with such an injured
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air, tliat Emily was eoiifimiiddl, J!n.l th4i auMf lu donv llif
apparent jnstice of hi^ plansible plea. Yet a desperate sense
tliat he had tampered with her feelings, and maligned her
lover, still lingered in her nund
" It may be as you say, Fernando," she faltered, " but at
any rate, yon know that you made remarks affecting Richard's
character, which could not but make me think hardly of him."
" What did I say ?" inquired Fernando, lifting his eyebrows
in utter astonishment.
Emily, at that moment, could not for the life of her recall
a single disparaging sentence. All tiie delicate poisoned
phrases which had interspersed his lavish praise of Wentworth,
were as iuTisible to the eye of her mind, as wonld be tlie deadly
fragrance of some exquisite poisonons flower.
" Did I not speak of Mr. "Wentworth in the warmest terms ?"
he demanded, " Did I not pay the warmest tributes to his
character and talents ?"
" I admit that you did," replied Emily, painfully coloring ;
" but yon, nevertheless, contrived to throw a shadow pn his
constancy aad purity as it lorer, and what eonld have bepn
worse to me who loved liim ?"
" I contrived I" exclaimed Fernando, liftuig his head with
an air of proud and disdainful injured innocence, which Har-
rington and Muriel alone saw was theatrically assumed and
overdone. " I contrived 1 Miss Ames, I might answer this
charge with simple silence, and conscious of its untruth, might
bear it as a gentlemen should bear all injuries, with foi^ivcness
But, since you were so unfortunate as to receive a wrong im-
pressaon from remarks wliich were made only in candor, and
which were not intended to injure any one, let me say this :
Did you not yourself ask me to tell yon candidly what I thought
of Mr. Wentworth f "
" I own I did," replied poor Emily, wishing she had not said
a word, and sorry that she had so rashly blamed the good
Fernando for what was, she thought, her own fault after all.
" And when you asked me that, in the mutual confidence of
friendship," pursued Witherlee, " can you blame me for having
answered you with the candor yon requested ?"
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394
Emily, with the tcara very near her eyos, ami her face glow-
ing, was silent.
" If I had imagined what your feelings for Mr. Wentworth
were," continued Witherlee, with touching mildness, " I would
never have uttered anythmg bat praisu of him, though yoa
asked it ever so much. But I never even suspected that. As
for throwing a shadow on Mr. -Wentworth's constancy, I never
did it. I simply said, believing it to be true, and Tm very
sorry if it's not true, that he had had a great many love afiairs,
and fell in love ea-sOy, and got out of it lightly, and so forth ;
tut Pm sure that's nothing uncommon with a handsome young
man whom ail the young ladies are after, and no blame to any-
Wentworth colored up to tlie roofs of his hair at the lair
ter part of this speech, which the good Fernando delivered
with a nonclialant, jocose air, very different from the wicked
sigmflrance of manner with which, in spealiing the words he
avowed, and others of the same nature, he had given Emily
to understand that her lover was a gay Lothario.
" You're mistaken, Fernando," stammered Weutworth, " if
yon think I ever fell seriously in love with any woman, and
outlived it. I've had my fancy touched by a nnraber of pretty
gu-Is, it is true, and I've been uncommonly amiable to them,
no doubt, hut they always disappointed me when I came to
know them a little, and there never was any heart-injury done
anywhere."
'* I never supposed or said there was," replied Fernando,
coolly. " It is Emily's misfortune to have exaggerated the
simple meaning of what I did say, and what you, Richard,
have confirmed. As for throwing any Enspicioa on Went-
worth's moral character, Emily, I do not know what you can
mean, and I must ask you to explain, for this is the most
serious part of the whole misapprehension."
" Tou made no chaise of that nature against Richard,"
said Emily tei-ribly embarrassed, "but you told me of that
young lady's betrayal — I foi^et her name — by young Whit-
temore, and dwelt on the inaidiouaness of his addresses to
women in saeh a way, that I thought you were thinking of
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HAEEDJGTON, 385
Richard, or withholding eomethiag similar yoK liuew of him,
and — Oh, I have acted like a foo! 1" she passionately es-
clMmed, dashmg away the teare which sprang to her ejca,
Witherlee saw his triumph with an exalting heart, while his
fadfe was, save for a little dejection, perfectly immobile.
"I am very, very soiTy," he remarked in a. slow, kind
voice. " It is unaccomitable. to me that you should connect
my narration, whicli was simply true, with Mr. Weutworth.
I never heard of anything so singular."
" Let it go, Fernando," said Emily, " and do for<'ive "
"What is the jonng lady's name of whom you speak, in
connection with Mr. Whittcmore, Fernando V interrupted
Muriel, with an air of phlegm which she had caught from Har-
riugton, who occasionally wore it. Muriel put the qnestion, at
once because she wanted to know, and becanse she was
anxious to save Emily from the disgi^aee of asking Witherlee's
forgiveness, when, as she saw, he had only adroitly juggled
away hie subtle slanders.
''Why it's Susan HoUingsworth," returned Witherlee, "you
know her."
"That pretty Susan HoUingsworth 1" exclaimed Muriel
" To be sure I know Jicr. But I hadnt heard of this How-
strange that I had not I"
"It is, certainly," replied Witherlee, lifting his eyebiows
" for it's toivn talk, and Miss Hollingaworth's position in '!0-
ciety is perfectly ruined. She's taboo forever I was at a
party last night at Mrs. Binghampton's and you should have
heard the way the Mies cut her up. It was a treat to hear
it"— and Witherlee laughed with Ms turtle-husky chuckle
" That young Mr. Mill undertook to defend her and it was
perfectly ludicrous -^o see the scrape he gjt himsi,if mto
Miss Bean wanted to know instantly if he was going to come
out in favor of Mormonism, and Mill was completely dnmb-
foundered, and covered with disgrace in a moment." And
again Witherlee laughed with his turtle-husky chuckle.
" Have yoQ seen Susan lately ?" asked Muriel, abstractedly,
with a face of sadness.
" No, I haven't called there since I heard of tliis affair,"
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08t» HABEIHGTON.
replied Witherlee with & sort of stolid importance. "The
Hollingsworths have beea sent to CoTentry, and no decent
person yisits them,"
Muriel colored, hut very slightly, and only for a moment,
" / shall visit them," she said, quietly, " and I would have
visited them hefore if I had heai'd of this. What is more,
Susan is as good a gbl as ever breathed, and I shall make it a
point to invite her to come and spend a month at my house."
Witherlee looked perfectly unmohile, but secretly stang by
the rebuke Muriel'B words conveyed to him, he felt the neces-
sity of defending his attitude toward the 11 ollings worths.
" I should be glad to still visit Miss Hollingsworth, if I
could conscientiously," he said, with an air of cold and lofty
vhtue. •' But when a young lady lets herself be led astray
by an igvia fatmts light, from the paths of Christian mo-
rality "■ — —
The generous color flashed to the cahn face of Muriel, and
her golden eyes glowed on hun so suddenly that he stop]«id in
the middle of his sentence.
" FerDBiido Witherlee," said she, in a slow and steady voice,
and with a dignity that abashed even him, " if there is any-
thing that could mate me despise a fellow-ci-eatm-e, it would
be such a speech as you have just made. Ignis faimis light I
I answer you with Robert Burns, and I accept it in a pro-
founder sense than he did, that even the light that leads astray
is light from Heaven. Chi-istian morahty I Who was the
friend even of the Magdalen f— who was the friend and com-
panion of pubUcans and smners — the taboo men and women
of old Jerusalem ? Oh, shame upon you I A poor girl
lovmg with the whole fervor of the sacred nature God gave
her, guUty, at the most, only of a too absolute confidence in
the traitor she hod cast her heart upon, deceived now and
abandoned, and suffering not only from her own private
anguish, the greatest a human heart can know, but from the
insolent and infamous scorn of society— and it is at such a
time that you can have the soul to avoid her ! And worse
you can tell the cruel treatment she receives from her sex, and
laugh. Those gi-aceless women— but I may weil spare my
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indignation at the inhuman way women treat any of tlieir num-
ber who have fallen from what they call Tul^ue. Shut out by
the impudent assumpfjons of mankind from public life— shut
out from that experience which widens the understanding, and
thus, as the statesman said, corrects the heart — theirs may
well be twihght judgments 1 Well may they have constricted
minds and narrow souls, with life's best cnltnre denied them I
Treated as vassals, theirs are vassals' vices. Bat you — a
man ! And society I Society whose mutual voice should
peal consolation and encouragement to this poor forlorn one,
howhng her off into social exile, and, were she poor, to a hfe
of shame — howling her self-respect, her very womanhood out
of her. Oh, what can I say of such a society ! No matter.
Ton can do as you think best; but I, for one, will never taboo
Susan HoUingsworth, and she shall visit me if I can persuade
Wincing secretly under this rebuke, which Muriel nttered
calmly, but with impressive energy, Witherlee sat in silence,
with his opaque eyes fixed on vacancy, and his handsome eye-
brows lifted very high. Harrington, without taking his gaze
from him, expressed his gratification at what Muriel had said
by laying his large hand over hers, as it rested on the ai-m of
her chair. Emily sat with a dazed look, and her lover was
biting his iip all through the episode, to suppress any signs of
the satisfaction he felt at Witherlee's discomfiture.
"My sentiments exactly, Mnriei," said Wentworth. "But
now, Fernando, to resume. You appear to have cleared
yonrself of any blame in the constraction Emily put upon your
words, and so far so good. But there are some other things
I want to talk with yon about."
" Proceed," said Witherlee, coolly. " Though I really
think Emily ought to be permitted to make the apologies she
was about to make to me for so grievous an uijury to my
feelings as I have sustained."
It is utterly impossible to describe the exquisite titillation
of insult which, despite his subdued manner, these words of
Witherlee conveyed. Wentworth reddened lite fire instantly,
and was only checked in a tremendous retort by a glance from
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JJ88 HAEEmGTOH.
the quiet eye of Mnriel. But poor Emily, filled with contrir
tion, started and colored, and was about to pour forth a pro-
fuse apology, when —
" Pardon me, Fernando," broke in the calm, deep voice of
Harrington, " but let me surest that Miss Ames' apologies
will he in better place when you are entirely clear from the
accnsations connected with her, which Wentworth has to
bring against you."
Witiierlee turned very pale, though iie showed no other
signs of emotion, and fixed his impassible eyes on HaiTitigton's,
bat nuable, with all his stone opacity of outlook, to snsttun
their broad blue gaze, he carelessly lifted hia eyebrows and
looked away, Emily, meanwhile, haying noticed Harrington's
determined face, sudilenly felt a suspicion that aD was not
so clear with Fernando as it seemed, and resolved to say
nothing till she saw the end.
" What I have to say, Fernando, is this," began Went-
worth, having choked down his r^^ into smiling calm. " It
seems to me that on one occasion, at least, you did make mis-
chief, if you'll excuse the word, between Emily and me. Tou
said something that prevented Emily from giving me a hunch
of violets last Tuesday morning."
" I did not," retmrned Witherlee, coolly. " I simply made
a playfnl remark to Emily — the most innocent remark ima^-
nable — which I'm perfectly willing to repeat now."
" Nevertheless," said Wentworth, "your innocent remark, or
the manner in which you made it, incensed Emily against me."
" Am I to blame for her misapprehensions, Richard ?"
mildly asked" Fernando. " Yon are aware now that Emily
was in an unusually sensitive state of mind at that time. Ton
see how she mistook the sense of otlier things I said, and yet
you yourself have admitted that I am blameless in respect to
those. Why, then, may she not have mistaken the sense of
the playful remark I made about the flowers, and if so, why
do you hold me to an account for it t"
Wentworth could not get over this. He was fairly checked
in the very outset. The devil take it, he said to hunaelf, I
believe that Emily and I have been to blame after all !
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r. 389
" I was 33 much astoDished as yon were, Richard, at
Emily's conduct about the violets," continued Fernando.
" But I never imagined till this moment, that she was influ-
enced bj mj remark. How conld I ? I thought she was
rude to you, and I felt sorry. You must remember that I
expressed my iiiendly rt^et to you at the time. Sai'ely, I
wouldn't have done that, if I had instigated her to offend
you."
" Well, well," said Wentworth, hastily, " I pass that. I
own that Emily was in a mood to misunderstand thmga ; but
see here. There were things you said to me in the fencing-
school that morning which, to my shame, made me think
unkindly of Harrington. Now "
" Pardon me, Richard," interrupted Witherlee, with an air
of great concern, " but this is the nnkindest thing yet, and I
do not nnderstand what has got into you people's minds this
morniag. Now, what in the world did I ever say to you
ag^nst Harrington ? Jn.st tell me candidly — were not you at
that time incensed with Harrington for somethinj^ or other — I
don't know what ?"
" I own I was," replied Wentworth, twirling liis moustache
and blusliing.
" Very well. And did I ever express anything more
than sympathy with you in your initation ?" demaaded
Witherlee.
" Well, I admit," replied Wentworth, " that what jou
said was in the form of sympathy with me. But tlien it led
me to think more hardly of Han'ington than I would have
Witherlee laughed as if his throat was full of turtle at
" Yon'n excuse me for laughing, Wentworth," he remarked,
" but this is exceedingly absurd. Here were yon in a state of
nervons resentment at Harrington, and because your fiery
temper took my kindly-meant attempts at consolation as fresh
fuel, you bkime me 1 Now I put it to yon, as a reasonable
man, was I to blame because you wrong-headedly twisted my
consolations against your Mend ?"
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Wentworth colored deeply, and did not answer. The deuce
take it, he thonght -. I am making myself ridiculous iu all
this : the fact ie, I was in such a miserably jealous ajid iitI-
table state, that, as he says, I turned everything topsy-
" Ah, me 1" sighed Witherlce, sadly liftii^ bis eyebrows,
as one who thus expressed that this was the fate of friend-
ship, loyalty, vktue of all sorts, iu this wicked, wicked, wicked
world.
" Well, Fernando," said "Wentworth, " I'm truly sorry but
stay, there's another thing, and thats not so tisilj explained.
John Todd told me of a talk you had with Bi^a^ e that 'iame
morning, about ns four."
Wentworth paused to look at Witlierlee expect ng ta see
him start and change color at this iothog cf the sort,
Witherlee's eyebrows were up, and his eyes were their opaquest,
and his face was perfectly discharged of all expression. But
in his soul was the first shock of alni'm, for he had not counted
on his conversation with Bagasse being reported to Wenl>
worth.
" Well," said he, imperturbably, " what did John Todd say?
Tou will first allow me to obsei-ve that it is not very credita-
ble in him to have played the eavesdropper on a private con-
Ycrsation, And you will pardon me for remarking, Kichard,
that had I been in your place, my sense of honor would not
have permitted me to listen to any gossip from him."
Wentworth blushed deeply. Gallant, honorable fellow that
he was, be half-mistrusted that he bad not done right in letting
John Todd make his report, aad what Withcrlee said, cer-
tainly seemed in the most punctilious spirit of chivalry. With-
erlee, meanwhile, satisfied with having dealt Wentworth's case
a teUii^ blow at the outset, rested iu injured innoceaee, nei^
vousiy impatient in spuit at the same tune, to have the worst
over with.
" I won't excuse myself, Fernando," said Wentworth, hur-
riedly. " But here is what the boy told me. In the first
place, you mentioned the names of these two ladie
Sow, that was not decoroas "
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H-4ESraGT0N,
391
"Why not?" demanded Witherlee. "Jnst consider that
what I eaid to Bagasse was in the confidence of famiUar
friendship, and the proof is, that Bagasse himself never spread
it abroad — only that sneak of a boy."
" Familiar friendship with B^asse !" esclaimed Wentworth,
amazed. " I did not imagine yon wonld be so mtimate with
the old fellow."
" And why not ?" demanded Witherlee, with an air of noble
disdain. " A gallant old soldier of the Empire— a brave old
Trenchmaa, who wears the cross of the Legion 1 Do you
think I'm sneh a snob as to shun his frieudsliip because he's
poor and plebeian, and all that? Indeed, no ! Bagasse and
1," he added, lying desperately, " are ou very mtimate terms,
and I therefore felt justified in talking freely to him— which I
wouldn't have done if I had noticed tlie presence of that rep-
tile of a boy,"
" Well," said Wentworth, beginmog to despair, " bnt that
does not excuse your making fun of my dress, or of"
"It's not true," interrupted Witherlee. "I simply said,
jestingly, that yoa looked bizarre with yom- long curls and
your Rubens hat, and so you do. Bnt it was htvmless jokmg
enough, I'm sure."
" I don't think, at anjrate, it was harmless jokmg for yon
to jeer at Harrington's coat, and say he looked like a rag-
picker," remarked Wentworth.
" Well, if I ever heard of such malice and misrepresentation
as that little serpent has been guilty of !" exclaimed Fernando,
with vurtnous ind^ation. " I never said anything of the sort,
I sunply remarked that Emily looked all the more gorgeous in
contrast to the plam attire of Harrington, which was the sim-
ple truth. And as for the rest, my remai-k was that if she
was dressed like a ragpicker, she would still be beautiful.
Upon my word, I will chastise that boy the next time I see
him 1"
Wentworth looked perfectly confounded as Witherlee, with
an air of indisputable veracity, told these bold lies.
" By Jupiter 1" he exclaimed, " Johnny must have mistaken
what you said, Fernando, with a vengeance ! Well— bnt see
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here, you certainly gave Bagasse to nnderstaiid that Harrintf-
ton and I were in love with Muriel and Emily. Since you
are a friend of his, I won't biame you for what you say you
said m confidence ; but still that doesa't excuse you for saying
contemptuously that Mnriel would as soon marry a man out
of the alms-house as Harrington, and scornfully caUing attea-
tion, as you did in that connection, to Harrington's apparel
You must have said that, for Johnny told me drcnmstantially
what Bagasse said in reply, and he seemed to remember that
better thaa what yon had said. And by the way, yonr repre-
senting that John and I were these ladies' lovers, doesnt
square with your assertion just now to Emily, that you had no
idea of any feeling between her and me. By Jupiter, Fer-
nando I" cried Wentworth at this point, elated to think that
he had reaJly caught Witherlee in a contradiction, "yon can't
make that square I"
" Mr. Wentworth," replied Fernando with dignilied severity,
" you go too far when yon impugn my veracity, and you are
perfectly reckless in your assertions. I told Emily that I had
no idea there wa^ any feeUng between yon two, and I told her
the truth." •
"Who did yoa think I had a feehng for?" demanded
Wentworth.
" Since yon force me to say, I thonght it was Muriel— and
HarringtoD can bear me witness," said Witherlee, severely.
••^ Yes," said Harrington, laconically. " Fernando told'me
"A'ow, then I" eaclaimed Witherlee, triumphantly, "where
doesn't it square V
Wentworth looked completely flabbergasted, as the sailors
say, and colored pamfnlly.
" As for the rest," pursued Witherlee, '■ it is just one tissue
of misstatements. I never told Bagasse you and Harrington
were m love with these ladies. On the contrary, when he
got the notion into his head, I scouted it, as yonr own state-
ment shows, for I did not wish him to believe what though I
supposed it, I did not absolutely An,^ was the case. It is
true that m endeavormg to convey to Bagasse that there was
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HAEEINGTON. 393
no fonndation for hia belief, I did say, rather spleoetically, for
his pertinacity irritated me, that it wag just as likely Muriel
would wed a man out of the poor-honse as Harrington. But
I protest against the construction of those words which would
make -it seem that I compared HarringtoD to a pauper, or
insulted him ia any way. I was only endeayoring to indicate
the distance between his social position and Muriel's, You
mnst bear in mind that I was talking to an illiterate man and
a foreigner, and I only adapted my Isngn^e to his illiteracy
and to his imperfect knowledge of English, and used coarser
terras than I would to a difierent person, which explains my
use of that phia'ie and the alk'^ion to- Harrington's plain
coat. All I meant and all I would have said to a person
of culture, was that Muriel wuuid not marry heneatli her
station." ,
" You were nght Pernindo ' said Ynriel, coldly. " I never
would, and Harrington knows it."
" So I thought," complacently replied Witheriee, thinking,
oddly enough, that she concurred with him. " I knew that
you and Harrington were only frieuds."
" But this Bagasse, I am told, thought it would not he
beneath me to marry Harrington," remarked Muriel, with an
air of contemptuous hanteur which Witheriee had never seen
her wear before, and which sni-prised him. Whew ! he
thought, Harrington is catching it now for his presumption
with a vengeance 1 I wouldn't sit there, and have that said
to my iace, for anything.
" Why yes," he rephed, glancing at Harrii^on, who sat
with his face buried in his hand, and what was visible of it so
red that Witheriee thought he was smitten with agonizing
shame, as he was, but it was for Witheriee. " Yes, Bagasse
went into a fit of eloquence about it, and told what he
would do if he was ' vair fine ladee,' and thonght HarringtoQ
loved him." And Witheriee laughed turtle-husky at the
reminiscence, without any more regard for Harrington's feel-
ings than if he were a post.
" Well, Wentworth, are you satisfied ?" asked Muriel,
quietly.
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394
HAEKINGTOH.
Wentworth, who had gone off into deep abstraction, and
lost the conversation between Muriel and Witherlee (which
wonld Lave convnlsed him, and which had sorely tried Emilj'a
power to snppress her mirth), started and colored.
" Why, yes," he replied, " I am boand to own that Fernan-
do's explanation pots a different look upon the matter, though
I think he did wrong to speak to Bagaese in sach terms of
Hari'ington, and I think he owes Harringtoa an apology for
langn^e at the best too nngentlemanly— I must say it, Fer-
nando—to be passed over in silence. There is no excuse for
it. It was shameful."
"Do yon really ftink so, Richard ?" said Muriel, with such
a contemptuous tone and expression that Wentworth turned
red, and stared at her, wondering what she could mean ; while
Emily moved awa^ to the window, and hid herself behind a
curtain, that she might give some Tent to her agony of
" Wei], Fernando," said Muriel, after a pause, " what do
yon think about making Mr. Harrington an apology ?"
Witherlee, emboldened to intense insolence by his mon-
strously Billy supposition that Muriel was showering contempt
on her lover, curved a supercilious lip and curled a. contume-
lious nose to that extent, that the fiery Wentworth positively
ached to knock him down.
"I do not think about it at all," drawled the good Fer-
nando.
" Very weD," said Muriel, holding Wentworth with her
eye. "Now, Fernando, since we are explaining thmgs, let
me ask you how you came to say that you saw Wentworth
and I one afternoon more than a week ^o, folded in each
other's arms in the parlor, and kissmg each other ?"
Muriel's tactics were capital. By diverting his mind from
the main subject of convei-sation, she had thrown him com-
pletely off his guard, and then suddenly sprung this question
upon him. Fernando positively changed color, and then turned
deadly pale. If a bomb-shell had quietly fallen into his lap,
with the fuze just fizzing into tlie powder, he could not have
been much more aatonaded.
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HAERmoTosr. 395
There was a pause, in which Emily came g'lidin^ back to her
Beat, all alive with cariosity at this unexpected turn in affairs,
while "Wentwortli stared blaulily, and Harrington sat with liis
face buried m his hand, watching Witberlee, as the marine
phrase has it, out of the tail of his eye.
" Well, Fernando, yon turn red, and then you turn pale,"
remarlted Mui-iel, quietly. " What do those two colors
mean ?"
" They mean astonishment," said Witherlee, recoTering his
self-possession instantly, and looking at her with his most
brazen face, conseions that the tug of war had come, and with
an antagomst of another sort than Wentworth or Emily.
Oho, thought Muriel, sniTeying his admirably dissimulated
fecp. I wonder if I'm going to lose this move. Let's see.
" You don't mean to deny that I did see you in such a posi-
tion with Wentworth ?" said Witherlee.
"Most assuredly," was Mm:iel's quiet reply.
"Most inevitably," said Wentworth, like an Irish echo.
"Why, this is perfectly nnaecountable," mm-mured Wither-
lee, with superbly acted astonishment, " I certainly did see
you both, es I told Mr. Harrington in a rash moment, which
I can never too much regret. I was entering the parlor when I
saw you, and drew back instantly. I came in again in a
minnte, and Emily had just entered the room, through the'
door leading from the conservatory."
" It caa't be," said Muriel.
" Can't possibly be," said the Irish echo, ineffably delighted
at Witherlee's fix,
"But how could I be mistaken," persisted Witherlee.
" There you evidently were, both of you, in that position.
You, Mnriel, had on the lilac dress you so often wear. It
was the first thing I saw, and I knew yon by it inhtantly,"
" Utterly impossible," said Muriel.
" Tee-totally impossible," said the gleeful echo.
Witherlee was silent, and gazed at them with admirable
dnbiety, wishing in his heart tliat they would only say more,
for with these brief denials, he found it difScult to gi-acefuily
gain the point he was driving at.
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"It WOB I yon aiw, Pcmando ; I lad on . Iliac dress that
evemng," said the iimocont Eraily, blushing.
Muriel winced, for her game wa* weakened by this aTowol
which had brought up the point Fernando was waiting for'
•nd which she did not mean he should hare. Fernando mean-
while, was delighted, for be saw bis clear way out
"You had on . lilac dress that evening I" he said, with an
ur of sm-prise, to Emily. " Well, I declare I didn't notice it
But how does that alter the matter f Ob I see 1" he ex
claimed, hi, face lighting. " It was the lilac dress misled me
lor yon wore your lilac dross that eronlng, Mniiel. That's it
My eye caught sight of the dress, and I mistook you for Emily
and retreated before my eye could rectify the error What
an nnlnckj blander I I'm very, very sorij. But in the con-
B«ion of the moment, I was naturally deceived. Well well I
Muriel, I humbly beg your pardon, not only for havini men-
tioned what I thought I saw to Mr. Harrington-but you
won t blame me for that, for it foohshly came out in the heat
of couTenatlon—but for this nnfoilnnalo mistake of mine It
was natural, under the circnmstanees, but it is not the lesi hu-
nnliating Say that yon foiglve me, now, do 1"
_^ " Oh, well, Fernando," she rephed, nonchalantly laughing
. I must, of course, give weight to your plea of its naturalness
under the circnmstanees. Still, yon perceive it was a rather
awkward blunder, and it ought lo make you more careful for
the future."
"Indeed, it will_ril be . very careful not to make snob a
mistake again," said Fernando, laughmg turtle, and qnito ej-
nilarated by his lucky escape.
" That's Hght," said Muriel, gaily. " For such a mistake
Hernando, might break up our long acquaiilanco. At all
events "she pursued, with a laugh, "it might prevent your
being honored with such a theatrical reception as I gave yoa
that evening."
" Theatrical '•• said he, smiling ;" what do yon mean !•'
•' Why, don't you remember," she lightly responded " how
snddeni; I stmck an attitude, and held out the bunch of
flowers to yoa ?"
H.,t.db, Google
HAEEIHG'rOH. ofT
" Yes, indeed," replied the jocund Withierlee, " I had for-
gotten it, bnt I remember it now. Just as I came in at one
door, and jou "
He paused blankly, but he was in the trap, and there was
no escape now.
" And I came in at the other," eoutinued Muriel, finishing
his sentence.
He gazed, at her, palo, with opaquest eyes ; she at him, with
clear eyes aglow, and a solemn look upon her countenance.
Wentworth and Emily stared at both of them, not compre-
5 the point at alL
" And now, Feraando," said Muriel, calmly, " the questiou
for you to answer is — How could you think you saw me with
Wentworth, when you saw me come in from the conservatory,
holding out the bunch of flowers to yon ?"
A posing question 1 There was a long pause, in which
Witherlee kept his rigid face fixed upon her. Then, unable
tobear her clear gaze, he meanly trembled, and his head fell.
" Ah !" said Wentworth, in a low voice, " eateh the first 1
A decided catch. Feraandi^ my boy, we liave you in » pure
and simple lie."
At this terrible speech, Witherlee lifted his livid and rigid
face with a forlorn attempt at dignity, but he could not sus-
tain it. His glittering and unsteady eyes flickered away from
the open and gallant countenance of Wentworth; from Emily,
gazing at him with lustrous scorn ; from Muriel, looking at
him with solemn pity ; from Harrington, sitting with his head
bowed in his hand, and fell. He conld not bear to look at
them. Mischief-makers, like other criminals, usually mis foDy
with their crime, and in the commission of their wickedness,
commonly leave the clue to its discovery. Tims had Witherlee
done. And now he was found out. To tattle and lie and
slander was nothing to him ; but to he discovered, was death,
" Fernando," said Emily, with indignant composure, " this
wicked falsehood you have told mates it impossible to believe
a word you have said. I do not now credit a single syllable
of your explanation — not one."
At the sound of her voice, Witherlee seemed to recover a
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little eelf-possession, for he turned quickly to her, though his
nasteady eyes did not rest upon her face.
" Ton have no right to say that," lio replied in a ijuernloua
and tremulous voice, "no right whatever. I am willing to
own my fault, bnt it is not fair to argue from one fault to
another. I have told you the truth, and you saw its reason-
ableness, and acquitted me of blame. It is not fair to take it
badf, not at all fair,"
He rose to his feet with a look of received injury, which
even then touched Emily, and made her hesitate iu her vei^
diet. But at that moment Harrington left his chair, and
came toward him with tears flowing from his eyes. Witheriee
cowered at the sight of this solemn and compassionate emo-
tion, and his head fell. In that moment he remembered the
hard aad cruel insult he had so lately flnng upon the man be-
fore him, and he trembled in an agony of shame.
"Fernando," said Harrington, calmly and tenderly "I
pity you irom the bottom of my heart. I could almost die
with pity for you. Do not, I heg of you, do not degTade your
soul by persisting in what yon know to be falsehoods You
know you are not telling Emily the truth now, and you know
there is not a word of truth in all you have told her."
" I do not see what right you have to say that, Harrinir-
ton," faltered Witheriee.
" Fernando I" exclaimed Harrington, solemnly, " Alas
alas 1 yon poor fellow, I do not blame you I there is some vi>
tue still in this forlorn attempt to clothe the nakedness of
your_ falsehood in the semblance of truth. But it is useless,
and it only does your nature a more grievous harm. Do you
not see that yon have already confessed all ? You hare
admitted that you knew it was Emily and Wentworth you
saw together. You knew, therefore, that they were lovers.
How can you say then, that in your conversation with Emily
that very evening, you did not know of their feeling for each
other ? How can yon say that you did not know your terri-
ble dispraise of Wentworth, so artfully clothed in praise
would shock and grieve the woman who loved him '! How
can you say you did not know your story of Susan Hoilings-
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HAEECTGTON. 399
worth wonld throw its shadow on the thoughts with which
you liad filled Emily ? How can you say you thought your
aggravating word a week later over the Tioleis, was harm-
less ? Ah, Fernando 1 how could you so coldly and cruelly
drop this subtle poison mto the hearts of two lovers ? You
gave Richard and Emily hours of terrible suffering. You
aearly alienated them from eaoh other — you almost murdered
their love. Eow could you do it ? You knew they loved
each other — you knew I loved Muriel ; and yet you wantonly
saddened my jieart by virtually tellmg me that Wentworth
aud Muriel were betrothed. At the same tune whea yon
knew that Emily loved "Wentworth, you gave Captain
Fisher to nnderstand that she was engaged to me. Fernando,
you are entirely discovered. Your talk with Bagasse is just
as transparent, and just as disgraeefiil to your better nature,
as all the rest. Alas, alas 1 I can only pity you I"
The deep voice was gentle, and tears still flowed from the
cahn eyes. Emily sat with her handkerchief to her face,
touched by the majestic sorrow of Harrington mto compas-
sion, and weeping silently. Muriel had covered her eyes with
her hand. Wentworth stood with folded arms, his face pale,
and fised on Witherlee. Witherlee, completely unmasked
evea to himself, stood with bowed head, livid and trembling,
and there was a long pause.
" Harrington," faltered the poor rogue, in a weak, querulous
voice, " I am very sorry — I am indeed. I know I've done
wrong — very wrong, and I'm sorry. I feel very miserable. I
haven't a friend in the world now, and I know I don't deseiwe
to have. But I hope you'D forgive me, Harrington, though I
did you harm. I didn't quite mean "
His faltering voice broke, and apparently unconscious of any
but the presence of the young man before him, he sunk his
head a little lower, and stood trembling.
" Forgive you [" exclaimed Harrington, in a voice so sudden
and sonorous that Witherlee started, and fell a pace away.
" Fernando, give me your hand I"
Tremblingly, as Harrington strode straight up to him, with
a frank outstretched arm, Witherlee put his nerveless hand in
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iOO HAEEINGTON.
his, looked up for an instant into the mascuUne and Eoble
face, dropped his head and burst into tears.
A surge of emotion overswept them all, and for a minnte
there was no sound but the thick sobs of Witherlee.
" Fernando," said Harrmgton, solemnly, clasping his hand,
and putting his arm tenderly around him, " let the past be
with the past, and live nobler for the future. See : your
repentance cancels all, and lifts you into better life. You are
not friendless — not forsaken. We are your friends, all of us
and we will stand by you. Forgive yon 1 I do with all my
soul, fully, heartily, cordially."
" And I, too, Fernando," cried Muriel, bounding up, and
glidmg swiftly toward him, with humid eyes and outstretched
hand. " Well I may, for you did me the greatest eerrice ever
done to me, and I owe you much gratitude."
"1 don't understand," faltered poor Witherlee, trembling
all over, and smilmg, with an effort, a thm, gelid, arctic smile
through his abject teai-s, as he tremulously shook her hand.
" You introduced me, three yeai-a ago, to Harrmgton," she
smilmgly replied, " and now he is my husband. Wo were
married yesterday."
Fernando stopped trembling, and lifted his handsome eye-
brows a hau-'s breadth, with something of his old manner, then
fell a-trembling again, and tried to smile.
" I am very glad to hear this," he wanly faltered, " very
glad indeed. I wish you much happiness. If you'll please to
excuse me, I'll— I'll take my leave."
He bowed with the ghost of his former affected elegance of
manner, and gelidly smUing, backed toward the door.
"Hold on, Fernando," esclauned Wentworth, flying over
to him. " Tip us your flipper, my boy. There isn't a speck
of me that's not friendly to you— not a speck. Come and
see me as often as yon can— that's a good fellow,"
And Wentworth, smihng, shook his hand up and down
with great cordiality, as he rattled off this address.
" And I, Fernando," said Emily, with her slow, ambrosial
smile, sweeping over to him as she spoke, and also taking his
hand, " I am more your friend than I have ever been. I felt
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aAKKCSGTOH. 401
terribly at what you said, but I don't now, so let it all go.
Come to see me soon, won't yoii ?"
" Thank yon. You are both very kind," faltered Witherleo.
" Let us see you as often as you can, Fernando," said Har-
rington, shaking hands with him.
" Yes, do, Fernando," said Mnriel, also giving him her
hand. " Let us foi'gct all this, and when wc next meet, let it
he happily."
He bowed, with his face full of forlorn emotion, and backing
to the door, bowed himself oat of the room. They stood in
silence. Presently they heard the shutting of the streetdoor.
He was gone.
" Good I" esclaimed Wentwortb, with a deep respiration.
" Fernando's cured for life 1"
" I believe he is," murmured Muriel. " But he almost
missed his salvation, poor fellow 1"
" That he did," replied Wentworth. " He got clear of
Emily, ajid he got clear of mo. I never saw anything like
it. But yon nailed him, Muriel, and Harrington finished
him."
" Ah, me I" said Harrington, with a deep sigh, " it was an
awful lesson to give a fellow-being. But it was for his good.
Tes, he will be a better man for the future."
Emily, sat in silence, wiping the fast-springii^ tears from her
eyes.
" I wonder how he will look when we next see him," said
Wentworth, musingly. " And I wonder how soon he will call
here after this "
"Nay," interrupted Muriel, her drooping hands clasped
before her, aiM her head bowed in pensive reverie, " he will
never call hero again."
She was right. He never did — but once.
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nAHEINGTON.
CHAPTER XXVI.
, MAN OF BUINED BLOOD,
Where was Mr, Lafitte all this time ? Had he returned
to the sunuy South, and to that particular part of its sun-
niness in whicli sweltered his negroes at their miserable
toil?
Mr. Lafitte had not. Ho was still in the city, at the Tre-
mont House, and for the last three days he had kept his room,
sick and shattered with the terribie shock he had received, and
raging like a devil in his impotent fury. That he should owe
hia life to the man he hated was bad enough; bat to a womaji,
and worse still, to a negro — oh, to his raijt and insolent pride
ttiis was the hnmiliation of humiliations I It had BOt come to
him at first, but several hours after Harrington had left him,
when he began to recover from the paralysis of spirit in which
he lay, it outgrew upon him, and increased in intensity, till he
raved in a phrenetic agony of infernal shame and rage.
In this delightful mood he had continued for three days.
Exha.uflted on the night of the third by the violence of his
frenzy, he had slept heavily, and awakened late on the morn-
ing of the foarth, calmer in spirit, and though still somewhat
weak, stronger and in better health than he had been. The
Atkinses, father and sons, had called severally three times,
during his illness, but ho had left orders that he would
see nobody, and they had not been admitted to his presence.
Up now and dressed, his breakfast eaten, two juleps imbibed
and a cigar finished, he began to feel more like himself, and
look more like the handsome brunette devil he usually was. A
little less rich in color, to be sure, but still sufficiently so for
good appearance's sake ; and as he walked up and down the
plmnly-furnished chamber, in the space between his bed and
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HAERINGTOH, 403
the window, he even felt sometMng of bis usual iienclish jociin-
dity reyiye sullenly within hira.
Three letters had arrived for him daring his ilioess. He had
not even looked at them, bnt let them Me unopened on the
table where the servant had laid them. Now, however, when
his mind was able to attend to their contents, he paused in his
walk as his eye rested on them, and approaehing the table,
took them up, and gaaed at their superscriptions and post-marks.
"That's from my brother," he muttered, "and that also,
and this — ' Mobile— forwarded' — who can this be from E"
He tore it open, and ran his eye over the contents.
" Oh, pshaw 1" he snarled, flinging it down. " Business,
Business be cursed 1 I'm in uo mood for business. Let's see
what Joseph has to say for hunself Which is the first — Oh,
this is it."
He opened the letter, deliberately smoothed it oat, and
eareBsing his moustache with one hand, while he held the sheet
m the other, began to read with a face that flushed into a,
horrid and tigerish smile as he read on. This was the letter :
New Oblkibs, La., Mcti, WfA, 18S2.
Dear ToBwoon :
There's been tbe detil to pay up on your plantation, and no mis-
take, and poor Tasele has gone the way of all flesh. On the IBth,
Tassle lashed that mulatto wench Sally three or four times for falling
down in the rowa — the yellow beast pretending of course that she was
sick, as they always do. Precious little work, at all events, waa got
oat of her that day, and when night came, Taasle staked her down for
a good flogging. That black Jim of yours, her husband, tried to beg
her off the flogging, but Tassle wasn't to be wheedled out of it, and
struck Jim, so they tell me, across the face with the whip. Where-
upon, Jim flew at him with an aie, and in a second it was ali up with
poor Tassle. The boy actually cut him to pieces, and then ran for the
swamp. The planters were roueed, however, got out the dogs, hunted
him down, and in iesa than no time, I may eay, a Gre was lit by the
bayou, and the black seoimdrel trussed up and burned alive, screeching
like mad, with all the niggers looking on. They'll proflt by the ex-
ample, I reckon, and Jearu that it won't do to murder a white man—
the cursed brutes.
I am hurrying up to fli busmeas, so that I can go up river, and at-
tend to the plantation for you, till yoo get back. But you'd better
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404 IIAEEINGTON.
hurry home as quick bs tou can, for it's a basy season with ns here,
and I can't well liu awaj. In haste, youc aff.,
Joseph LitrrTG.
F.S. By tiie way, the wench Sally gava birth to ft fine piccaninny, a
boy, that night— Bonie what prematurely, I'm told. So you sea thara'a
no email loss without some great gain. As for Tassle, lie's no losa at
all, for yon can liasily replace him, and I've got my eye on a capital
overseer for you. J. L.
The smile on the sardonic visage of Mr. Lafltte expanded
ftnore and more tigerish, and as he came to the end of the let-
ter, he buret into a smooth, soft roar of merriment, while
floods of deviUsh delight raged within him,
" And so William Tassle's food for worms," he soliloquized,
shaking with mternal langhter. " Poor Tassle, that's the end
of yon. And Jim's roasted. Good I I hope they made the
fire slow. Infernal scoundrel ! I wish I'd been there to hear
him screech the soul out of him. That's the way to keep the
black devils under. God 1 if it wasn't for a good Sre ronod
some of them when they lift their hands against us, I believe
that they'd be np in insorrection, and give us St. Domingo,
But that they never can do while the Union lasts. Ah, the
glorious Union ! Rise on ns if you dare, my black angels, and
see the short work the mnskets of the Union will make with
jon. Liberty and Union, now and foreVer, one and insepar-
able 1 That's the ticket for you, my black cherubs !"
And again Mr. Lafttte burst into ragii^ lai^hter,
" Ah, me, ah me 1" he sighed, subsiding, " I feel refresh-
ingly wicked to-day, spite of a]l. This news has done me
good. But let's see what Joseph has to say again," he added,
deliberately opemng the other letter, and smoothing it out as
lie had done the first, with a, sardonic smile on his brunette face>
Ah, Mr, Lafitto 1 What is this t As he began to read
the color of his face sanished, like the flame of a blown-out
lamp, his complesioa became livid, with dark spots on its
ghastliness, his eyes grew glassy, and his jaw fell. He did
not drop the letter, but read slowly and steadily on — and this
is what he read :
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IIARWNGTON, WO
I..nTTE PlAKTATIOH, ATOTELLES, Li, I
Miiy 2S(I, 18M. 1
ToEwooD, come home for God's aivlto as quick as you can. There's
worse naws here than I wrote you on the 2Uth. Josephine has eloped
with young Raynal. Tin sorry lo tell j-ou so abruptl;f, but I don't know
how to break it to you. This is evidectly a preconcerted affair, for
Eaynal, you know, was retiring from bnsiness jnst about the tjme you
left, and has since been turning all liia property into money. Anyhow,
they're gone— gone to Italy— aud they're out of the ooautry by this
I've jnst arrived here, and I never wiis so horrified in my hfe as when
I discOTered this. I half suspected that there was something wrong
when I heard that Eayoal had been in the neighborhood, for I knew
that be loved her before her marriage to yon. But I didn't get any
idea of it till just now, when I caine up to the house and Inquiring for
Josephine, was told by your cook that Raynal oama there the night of
Jim's barbecue, and that she had left with him, taking only a ^ngle
trunk with her. Which way they went, up liver or down, nobody
tnows. But I went up-stairs into her chamber, and found a sheet of
note paper lying on her writing-desk, addressed to you, on which waa
written just these words and no more: "Lafitte, I go away to-night
to Italy, never to return." That was every word.
Torwood, I'm devilish sorry for yon. I had no idea that Josephine
would do such a thing as this, for everybody knows and aaja you've
been a good husband to her, and down in Orleans you were talked of
as a model couple, and your constant eoui-tesy and kindness to her
was in everybody's mouth. Well, women are the devil, and no
mistake.
But come home as soon as you can. Nobody but me knows what
has happened, and I think we can keep this matter private, and save
you the disgrace. Of course her family must Itnow it, but they'll feel
terribly oat up about it, and be willing to keep dark. I've spread it
around that Raynal has taken her up North to you, so the wonder of
her absence is eiplainad. Then, perhaps, you can say that she died
Boddenly up North, and put on the bereaved dodge, and so cover it
up for good.
Anyhow, come right along, and we'll consult together about it.
In great haste, your aff.,
JoSKi'H Lajitte.
Hb slowly laid tlic kttei- dowii, and stood still. Livid and
spotted as a corpse when decomposition has begun, his glassy
orbs fixed on vacancy, his jaw fallen and rigid, his whole form
motionless. Thus for a fuU minute. Then, his Men jaw
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406 HAEKINSTON.
slowly lifted, his lips came togetlicr, aad a still and fdghtfu!
smile glided upon bis features.
" God !" he esclaimed, in a low, clear, (iistinct voice, " it's
over. Josephine has escaped from holy matrimony."
^ He said no more, but with the stiil and frightful smile upon
his face, stood motionless for some mmutes. Slowly his color
returned, his glossy, blood-specked, tawny orbs outgrew again
from the glassiness, and opening his t^r mouth, he burst
into a long fit of smooth, soft, sardonic laughter.
"Yes," he soliloquized, subsiding from his fiendish mirth
into a fiendish smile— "yes, indeed, Josephine has escaped
from holy matrimony. Oh, what a blow to the interests of
morality! What a shock to the foundations of society 1
What a rupture of the sacred bonds of wedlock I What a
profanation of the sacrament of marriage 1 And Joseph pro-
poses to keep it dark. Oh, Joseph, Joseph, how can you ?
As a good Christian, as a friend of morality, and religion,
and society, and, above all, holy matrimony, could I do it F
Ah, never, never ! And Joseph wants to save me the dis-
grace. The dif^ace I"— and with a BCgriiie pcMA, Mr. Lafitte
we»t off into a fit of chuckling men-iment.
" No, indeed, Joseph," he resumed, " we must spread it, and
spread it wide. We must get it into the papers, my beloved
brother. We must get it into the New Orleans papers, and
the Western papers, and the New York papers. Josephine
must have the disgrace as my last love-touch, and I must have
the sympathy ot th F ds f Y t meet Joseph. Oh,
Lord 1" and he hn kl d wUtfa I hall have in 1113- afBic^
tion readmg th h mih f tl n al ditors I Let's see
how will they go M la 1 ly o se of Conjugal Infi-
delity. . . . Y that p tty g od . . . Free Love
Invading the Fa ly C 1 An Ith t's magnificent. .
The Results of Free Love Teachnigs. . . . That's magnifi-
cent, too. Let's see. . . . Another Base Violation of the
Marriage Tie. . . . Shocking Case of Seduction, Elop&-
ment, and Crmie Another Blow at the Foundations
of Morality. . . . Rain of a Home and a Husband. .
Oh, they're all good— capital t Then the articles. Lord, but
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HAKltlNGTON, 407
won't they be luscious ! How I shall weep oyer tho tender
Bympathy ; how I shall mourn, yet aay, it is just,.over the stem
condemnation of Josephine ; what a moral glow I shall feel
through all my heing at the severe rectitude and fidelity to the
best interests of morality which will pervade those high-toned
editorials 1 Now let's see. Let's compose an appropriate
one. It must bo a piece of ignorant, stupid, brutal, senti-
mental twaddle, mal-apropos and biundering, and stuck full of
stale quotations, or it won't be in style. Hold on now," and
m'adeclamatory voice he went on as follows: " We
chronicle in another column a mournful case of conjugal pei>
fidy, of which a too tender and confiding husband is the heart-
broken victim. To what vortex are we rushing ? Well may
we say, in the language of the immortal dramatist, that such
a deed as this —
— ' makes marriage vowB
Aa fsJse 8S dicers' ohiUs. Ohl Euch a deed
As from the body of contraction plucks
Tiie verj soul; und aweet religion makea
A rhapsody of words! Kebcllioua hell.
If Ihou canst mutine in a matron's bones.
To flaming jonth lot virtue be as wai,
And melt in her own fircl'
Capital, capital 1", roared Mr. Lafitte, with a spasm of
chuckling merriment, rubbing his hands gleefully, as he spoke,
" that's the stock quotation, and doesn't it come m gloriously !
Rebellious hell in the matron Josephine's bones — Oh, upon my
soul, but that's decidedly neat 1 Fire away, my boy. . . .
In this melancholy tragedy which has laid low the Lares and
Penates of a once happy home, and brought the severest afflic-
tion on the fond and tmsting heart of a highly respectable aad
estimable citizen, we trace the pernicious influence of those
detestable and hcentious doctrines which have become, alas !
too prevalent throughout the land. We allude of coarse to tho
doctrines of Free Love, and let every man in his sober senses
look upon this domestic tragedy, the legitimate result of those
vile teachings whose poison is spread abroad through the very
ah", and ask what is to be the end, when such teneta are openly
o.led by Google
408
nAEKINGTON.
jd? Here was a woman— we call her woman, hut
every true woman's heart will me in just iticlignation to cktch
away the name from such a moral monster ! a female fiend
rather, who could defile the inviolable saactoary of wedded
life, listen to the insidious honeyed words of a base seducer fly
from tiie tender endearments of home, i-uthlessly abandon her
fond and trnsting husband and innocent children— Oh, damn
it," broke in Mr. Lafiite, " that won't do ! I've got no chil-
dren. Ah, me I what a pity. It would be bo pathetic if the
children could be in it— the dear, littie innocent childrea I No
matter : . , . . abandon her fond and trusting husband
with whom she had lived so many happy years, and who had
lavished on her his wealth, his good name, and all tJie priceless
nehea of a generous and affectionate nature, earrounding her
with every comfort and ministering with the tenderest assidnity
to her lightest want— abandon all this, and dcpai't with her
l^amonr to a life of shame on the voluptuous and luxurious
shores of Italy. Ah, weU may this modem Messalina go to
Italy 1
. . . Capital !" again roared Mr. Lsfitte, rubbing his
gleefol hands, " Italy the laud of the East ! That's a regular
blmiderbuss of a quotation, and therefore in exquisite keeping.
Oh, upon my sou), that comes in finely! But fire away,
Lafitte, you delicious dc^. Let's see now What
makes the criminality of this shameflil woman's conduct more
mexcusable and inexplicable is the fact that she had lived for
years in the most perfect harmony with her amiable and estima-
ble hnsband, receiving from him the most unvarying tenderness,
and to the eye of every person most fiimiliar with their domestic
life, evidently the happiest of the happy. We have it from the
most reliable sources that no cloud ever appeared to mar the
horizon of their home, and among their intimate friends, the
courtesy and almost nxorious tenderness of his demeanor to-
ward her, was absoktely proverbial. But why seek to trace
the causes of this base and ungrateful treachery ? Alas I since
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HAEEINGTON.
400
Eve listened to the t«mptings of the serpent, how mauy of the
sex have sacrifitied their conjugal Edea for the bleak wilderness,
of illicit loTe 1 Frailty, thy name is woman I" . . .
Mr. Lafltte stopped, and with another ptchih., went off into
a fit of infernal merriment, wagging his head from side to side
in the frenzy of his glee.
" That's the way they do it I" he exclauned, resuming.
" Lord, 1 onght to be an editor I I was cut ont for a high-
pressure moral editor of the purest water ! The blasted
idiotfi— that's the way they roll it out whenever one of these
inexcusable and inexplicable eases of shameful criminality on.
the woman's side, and heavenly love and tenderness on the
man's side, or vice veratt, come to their confounded eyes ! The
owls— the bats-the insufferable fraternity of assesi Lord, Lord!
how often I've laughed till I ached over their moral gabble, think-
ing aU the while of the sweet little hell the women or the men
they were pitching into had cut away from, and which the
witless ninnies hadn't brains enough to fancy ! And then
theh- tender sympathy to tie bereaved one — hold on — let me
fancy how they'll touch me off? ... We proffer to the bereaved
husband, in his sad affliction, our tenderest sympathy, and may
God who tempers the wind to the shorn lamb, give him strength
to bear this terrible trial which has tbus desolated the sanctu-
ary of his lonely and forsaken home and so forth, and so
forth, and so forth. Yes, that's the way they'll ponr the oil
of healing mto my aching wounds I Oh, but it'll be touching.
And then society- — what sympathy I'll have from society. I
must be in New Orleans a few weeks to enjoy my affliction.
How melancholy I'll look— how interesting !• And all the old
ladies flocking around me with such doleful and tender faces,
and oh, Mr. Lafitte, we feel so sorry for you, and oh, Mr.
Laiitte, we read that beautiful article in the paper tlite morn-
ing, and it was so sweet and so noble and so high-toned, and
BO this, that, and the other. And the young ladies ogling me
with melancholy eyes, and whispering to eacii other, oh, isn't
he handsome, and oh, isn't he interesting, and oh, doesn't he
bear it beautifully, and how much did you say he was worth ?
— and dymg to become Mrs. Lafltte, number two, every fool
18
o.led by Google
410
HAKRINGTON,
of them. And then the Friends of Virtue, men and women,
joung and old, iu solid column, pitching into Josephine, and
ecacdalizing her ekj-high, and raking up everything she ever
said or did, and twisting it against her. Oh, but it will be
sweet ! Sweeter than to have Raynal's blood on my hands
the dog ! Then when the grand hallali begins to die out, I'll
apply for my divorce, and revive it all once more. Ah, deli-
cious 1 And then by and by, perhajjs, I'll marry again —
some queen of a girl dead in love with the rich Mr. Lafitte,
the handsome Mr. Lafitte, the gentle and courteous Mr. La-
fitte, with the steel claw in the velvet paw. Ah ! and if
Fatima isn't docile, Bluebeard will take her into the Bine
Chamber where Josephine had a little private experience.
Good, good 1 Lafitte, you gay dog, yon are positively witty !"
"Wagging his wicked head to himself, he walked slowly up
and down, laughing softly and smoothly, with his face bent
toward the carpet. He stopped his walk in a minute or two,
and the smile on his visage faded slowly into a look of enllen
and evil moodiness.
" The revenge is sweet," he muttered, " but there is gall in
it. She has escapDd from her hell with me, and she will be
happy with Raynal. Yes, there in that lovely Italy, far away
from all the howls of the slandering curs, she will be happy
with Raynal. For he loves her, and they are both yonng
still, and she is beautiful, and will be fond and sweet, and he is
tender to women, and manly — bah 1 I hate him I"
He walked up and down in silence for a few minutes, with
an evil and moody face, and finally paused with his gloomy
eyes fixed on vacancy.
" People wUl rave at them," he muttered, " but what mat
t* is it what people will say I Fools 1 Look at it. What
was she ? The prey of ray lust— the victim of my cruelty.
God 1 I will not lie to myself whoever else I lie to 1 That is
just what she was. I won her, a yonng, inexperienced, inno-
cent girl— she hved with me as she did, and they call it holy
matrimony. She flies now from lust and ci-uelty to love and
tenderness, and they call it adultery. Oh, world, world,
world I Should I have been what I am, if you had not been
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HAKKIUGTON. 411
what yon are ! Damn vou I jo i bave ruined me ! — from my
very cradle you have lu ned me I I hate jou — I despise y<iu
— I have growu up hatintf and lespisii^ you — souied and
corrupted, aud depraved by you — and I shall he glad nhen
this wretched candle cf a Me gees oat in the blatknc of
darkness forever. "Well «dl 1 Bi happy J scpliii with
your Raynal. I hite yon both and what I can lo t himi
yon I will."
He Bat down near the table an 1 leaned his head on hi& hai d
As he did so, a tap came to the door.
" Come in," he snarled.
It was a servant, who said a gentleman wanted to sec him.
" What's his name ? No matter. Show him np."
With an nneasy, furtive glance at him, the man departed, and
in two or three minutes appeared again with Captain Bangham.
" Well, what do you want ?" snarled Lafitte, the moment
he appeared, " Have you found that curse, Antony ?"
The captain looked savage and sullen at this receptioQ, and
hated Lafitte ten times worse than ever, while, at the same
time, he was afraid of him.
"No, I haven't found him," he said, snappishly. " I've been
two or three times np where that Ronx lives, and he's not
there, and nobody knows where he ia ; and as for the other, I
can't get any clue to him."
Mr. Lafitte rose from his chair, and with glossy, t^rish
eyes, and a ferocious face, advanced upon Bangham, who
winced a little as he came, as if he would like to run from the
room but for the shame of it. Bullies are not always cowai-ds,
but this bully was.
" Hark you, Bangham," said Mr. Lafitte, in a low, smooth
voice, " I'm going home in the first train, and yon may tell
Atkins I've gone, for I shan't see him again. That Roux I
don't want, so let him alone. But you find Antony for me, or
look out. You're in a fix, my captain, and yon know it. Yon
can't bring any evidence against the presumption of the law
that you willfully refused to return that slave. Where are your
witnesses to the contrary ? Your mate has left Atkins's em-
ploy— your sailors don't go back to New Orleans with you.
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il2 HABEIHGTOK.
You know the penaltj for not bringing ba«k a slave yon find
on board yonr brig— from three to eeyen years in prison, and
the payment of the fall value of the slave ; aDd I'll set that
value h^h, Bangham, you may depend. Let your brig touch
the Levee again and he not on board, and ni make you suffer
to the full extent of my power, and spread stories around which
will rum Atkins in New Orieaas for good. Mind what I say
to you. Now go."
At the haughty mandate of the Southerner, spoken with an
outstretched finger, as though he was ordering away his
meanest slave, Bangham slunk from the room without a
"Whelp," snarled Lafitte, walking away from the door
with a shrug of contempt. " Yes, I'll let Ronx go. I owe
so much to that good fool, Hamngton, I suppose. Curse me
if I don't almost hat« myself for liking that fellow I There's
another happy pair. He and that bright creature will be
marrying presently, and going in for domestic felicity with a
rush. Blast them, I hope they'll be miserable together
through life, and I wish I could make them so ! Well— now
to pack up and leave this cursed city for home. 1 bum to get
at my blaek cattle again, and ease my heart of its hatreil ou
them. I hate them and they hate me, and life is thick and
sweet with hate. Oh, but I'll work, and flog, and torture
them worse than ever now ! Thanks to the blessed laws of
Louisiana, I can do it, as long as the glorious Union lasfs.
Till these northern curs dissolve that, my rule is secure, but
when they do, if they ever do, 'ware Lafitte, 'ware my Southern
brethren, for the black worm will turn, and hey for St.
Domingo !"
CHAPTER XXTII.
EEVELATIONS,
WiTHERLEB had not left the house in Temple street but a
little while, when a couple of ladies, intimate with the family.
o.led by Google
HAEEINQION. 4l3
who had seen the news of the marriage m the morning paper,
called, on a visit of congi'ataiation. Presently more came,
and up to one o'clock there was a droppmg shower of callers.
Last of all arriyed Miss Bean, a fat and spectacled childish old
maiden ladj, with a prude's face — the same who, when poor
Susan Hollingsworth was bemg flayed ahve at Mrs. Bing-
hampton's party, had brought ignominy on her defender, young
Mr. Mill, hy inquii-ing if he was going to come out in favor of
Mormonism. Received graciousiy, and having founil out all
she could about Mr. Harrington, and that the newly married
couple were not goii^ on a bridal tour, and that there was to
be no reception, but that everybody was expected to call with-
out formality. Miss Bean waddled off, and, as Muriel expectiid
she would do, never rested till she had gone the entire round
of her acquaintance, and spread the information she had
received to the remotest borders of society.
Left alone, Harrington and Muriel, accompanied by Went-
worth and Emily, went to call on the tabooed Eoilingsworths,
and returned in about an hour in great satisfaction. None but
Muriel, however, knew the sweetest part of that visit ; for
poor Susan not appearing in the parlor, Muriel had begged to
see her, and at last had been admitted to the sad chamber of
her humiliation and ai^ieh. And there, with all fond endear-
ment, and sweet, wise words of sympathy and counsel, Mnriel
had cheered and comforted her, and prevailed on her to make
the visit. It was not a deed that the lofty rectitude of a Bean
or a Binghainpton could approve ; bnt alas, the beautiful
blonde was not a Friend of Virtue !
That Susan was to make tlie visit, and that she was to come
some time next week, was all that anybody but Susan and
Muriel tnew, but that was enough to set the party in a state
of great gratification, and in that state they airived again at
Temple street.
Wentworth had been prevailed upon to spend the day, and
after dinner, HaiTington having said to him, " Kichard, you
are interested in Hungarian fugitives, corae witli ns and see
some fugitives of another color," they had all gone up-stairs,
Mrs. Eastman included, to listen to the story of Antony.
o.led by Google
4t4
HABRINQTOrr.
^ It was a atory till then untold to any of them, even to Har-
rington ; for in Antony's weak health, and amidst the thick-
crowding excitements and interests of the four preceding days,
tune and opportunity had been wantmg. Now, however, they
had come, and the story was told.
A touching and an awful story. The story of a man who
had fled for Liberty or Death through the maUgnant horrors of
a Southern fen, with the hounds and hunters of a pirate civi-
lization on his trail, and who had lain for weeks hke years, m
cold, and stench, and hunger, with rats and vermin swarming
over him, in the black and filthy autre of a Northern vessel's
hold, with a Northern ruffian to maltreat him daily m his
wasting torture ; earning thus, with pangs and fears that free-
men never know, his right to the freedom Nature gave him for
A touching and an awful story, whose dread reality had a,
haggard, haunting shadow, more dreadful than itself. For
the man's childish imagination had been unnaturally wronght
tipon, and his tale involved a flickering and ghostly sense that
he had been in Hell, and that his tormentors were not men but
devils. He did not aver it, but it was strangely and mde-
flnably implied ia his grotesque narration, and reached the
minds of his auditors. Was he wrong? He had eufi'ered
much ; his reason had been a little shaken by his awfiii ex-
periences ; his superstitious, childish fancy had been insanely
stirred. And yet — was he wrong ?
As people emerging from some dark cavern into the glad
%ht of day, so from the room of the fugitive, came the five
agam into the cheerful library. Muriel's face was grave and
dreamful ; Harrington was sad and silent ; Mrs. Eastman
wore a disturbed look ; Enuly seemed a httle frightened, and
Wentworth was red with mdignation
They took their seats agam without speaking, and for a
mmute or two nothing was said
" Well, Richard," said Harrmgton, at length, " what do
you think now of Hungarian fugitives as objects of sympathy,
compared with fugitives like that up-stairs ?"
" Oh bother Hungarian fugitives 1" blurted Wentworth.
o.led by Google
HAKEISGTOTf.
415
" Here's Hungai-ians, as John Randolpli said of the Greeks,
at oar verj doors. After heai'mg that man's story, I can't
help losing mj admiration for Kossuth. You kDOW he cen-
sored the editor (Jjunnan, his countryman, for writing against
slavery, and I thoi^ht once he was right ; but, by Jupiter, a
man who knows anything abont slavery, as I do now, and
doesn't become a red-hot Abolitionist, has a stone in tlie
place where liis heart ought to be, or I'm a Dutchman."
"Well," returned Harrington, langhmg at Richard's vehe-
mence, " don't go too far the other way, dear Raffaello. "We
must feel for the Huagarians too, you know. As for Eos-
Euth, his only fanlt is, that he's so much of a patriot, that lie's
willing to flatter American tyranny to serve Hungary. It'M
wrong aud weak, but let us still aspire for Hungarian inde-
pendence as for American liberty."
" I agree," rephed Wentworth. " But how did you couii;
across this poor follow, Harrington ?"
" I was out on a nocturnal ramble," replied Harrington,
" and I found him in the street, just escaped from the brig,
and took him home with me."
" Yes, Eichard," said Mrs. Eastman, quickly ; " but you
don't know all John did for him. He "—
" Now, mother," pleaded Han-ington, coloring, " don't
mention that — please don't"
" I'll tell you, Eichard, sometime when John is out of the
way," said Muiiel, archly confidential. "No objections,
John ! We'll spare your modesty, and satisfy Richard's curi-
osity, and you are to know nothing about it."
" And my curiosity, too," said Emily, laughiug.
" And yours too," replied Muriel.
" Well, I must say that that was very noble in John," said
Wentworth. " But he's always "■ — —
" No nobler than you're giving poor Vukovich house-room
till he fonnd another friend in Bagasse," broke in Harring-ton,
laughing and coloring.
"I'euh!" said Wentworth, blushing. " How did you find
that out 1 No matter — he was only a Hungarian. But thLs
o.led by Google
416 HABKINGTON.
poor fellow — oh, what an account for a man to have to giye
of himself ! It actuaJiy made my blood boil."
" By the way," said Harrington, " we must try and discoTer
the name of that captain, and have this piece of infamy
properly made pnblie. I caii't help fancying that Antony is
wrong about the name of the br%. The brig Solomon.
Isn't Solomon an odd or unusual name for a vessel ? Solo-
mon— Solomon. But still — I Ion t know she may be named
for her owner, I wonder who he i — tor ths lascahtj must
have been known to bun and we must hold him respons ble
to the public for it, too
Muriel, who was abst ictediy thinking snidenly started
then closed her parted 1 ps and tefleeted again w th a ] a ntul
■color stealing over .her countenance
" John," said she in a low voi^e an ide'i occurs t me
Ton remember thatstevedoie DrincoU W* nt t on i b t,
that he broke his leg ?
" Yes," returned Harrington wonder ng hat s,hc me nt
" It was on one of your u cle ves la
" And don't you .remembei the Bujne of that brig ? It was
the brig Soiiman."
Mrs. Eastman stai-ted violently, and turned pale, while the
■color came like red fire to the face of Harrington.
" Heavens I" exclaimed the pale lady, clasping her hands.
" Oh, I hope you ai-e wrong ! I hope Lemuel has not been
lending himself to such work as this."
" Wait a minute," said Harrington, springing np and leav-
ing the room.
He went up-staffs to the chamber of the fugitives. Roux
and Antony were sitting near each other, and Tagmutton was
ireading to them in his usual grandiloquent way.
"Antony," said Harrington, "what did yon say the name
of that brig was V
The fi^itive, stai lean and haggard, bnt wonderfully im-
proved in aspect, stared at bun with his hollow eyes and skuil-
like visage for a moment,
" Brig Solomon, Marster Harrmgton," he replied, quickly.
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HAEKIHGt^N. 41'^
" Tou say you read the name of the brig when you were
in the water, before you hoarded her 'i"
" Yes, Mai-ster."
" Can you spell the name you read f Spell it for me."
" Yes, Marster. S-o-1, sol, i, solo, m-a-u mon, Solomon."
" You're sure that was the way it was spelled,"
" Yes, Marster."
" Very well," and Harrington turned to go.
" But that's not the way to spell Solomon," hawled Tug-
mntton.
No more it's not, thought Harrington, as he slowly went
down-stairs— but that's the spelimg. O Lemuel AtkiiLs I
He entered the library with a face so grave that they all
saw what he had to tell.
" You are right, Muriel," he said, sinking heayily into his
chaur. " It is the Soliman."
Mrs. Eastman burst into tears.
"My dear mother 1" cried Muriel, flying to her side, and
folding her in her arms, while the astonished and agitated
Emily also came to her.
" No matter," said Mrs. Eastman, suddenly recoTering, and
gently pushing them from her, while her pale face became se-
vere. "It was bnt a moment's pain, and I am now filled with
indignation. To thint that Lemuel, my own brother, would
join in oppressing that poor creature— oh, I cannot bear to
think of it 1 I feel it as if it were my own sjn. I am dis-
graced by it. Every action of his, in his pro-slaveiy mania,
rests on me like a disgrace that I cannot bear. Bat this is
the worst of all."
" My dear mother," said Harrington, approaching, and tak-
ing her hands in his, " let it all go. Fortonately, Antony has
escaped from their clutches, and the worst is over. We will
do nothing more about it, but let it rest in silence. You can-
not help your brother's misconduct, and are not in any way
responsible for it, though I can well understand how it should
grieve yon."
" It ought to be made public, John," she answered tremu-
lously, with the tears m her eyes, " and it would be for his good
18*
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418 HAEEINOTON.
if he were taaght, by the indignation of at least a portion of
the people, that snch thii^ cairnot be done with impunity.
Heaven forgive me, if I fait in my duty, but I cannot help
shrinking from the public outcry, and he my own brother."
She covered her eyes with her hand, as Harrington sadly
withdrew to his chair.
" Bnt, look here, now," said Wentworth, " aren't you all too
fast ? There may be another brig Soliman, you know."
" Perhaps," replied Harrington ; " but I fear not. It ia
unlikely, I think, that two vessels of the same name woald be
in the New Orleans cotton ti'ade."
" Who is this Driscoll, John ?" asked Emily.
" Dmcoll is a stcTedore," he repUed, " who fell into the hold
of the Soiiman, last winter, aa they were unlading, and broke
his leg. I heard of the accident through Captain Fisher, who
happened to be on the spot and knew tlie man, aad as he had
a family who were thus deprived of their means of support till
he got well, I made bold to call on them, and Mnriel and Mrs.
Eastman took care of the poor people till Driscoll got well
and was able to work again. Of course, I recollected him,
but the name of the vessel on which he met with his accident,
though I knew Jlr. Atkins was her owner, had slipped my
mind."
" Oh, John," said Emily, impetuously, " how like yon 1"
"What? To forget the name ?" said Harrington, inno-
cently, misled by her tone, " Indeed, no. I usually remem-
ber names very well "
" 'Psha I no," replied Emily, laughing at his simplicity.
"But to visit the poor man, and have his family taken care of.
Tou, a perfect stranger to thsm all. Kow, I should like to
know who beside yon wonld have felt called upon to interest
himself in such a matter V
" Oh, pooh I A. mere trifle," said Harrington, reddening,
and looking extremely uneomfortabie. " Hundreds of people
would have done the same thing. It was Mrs. Eastman and
Muriel who did the real work in this case. Bo, you see, there
are more more willing hetirts and bauds than mine in the
worid."
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HAEKINQTON. 419
" I wonder if my grand Lord Bacon, JJaron Verulam, and
Viscount St. Albans would have interested himself in tho pier
beian Driscolls," said Weatworth, sUly, aiming a hit at Har-
rington's favorite.
" Indeed he wonld," replied Harrington, with great anima-
tion. " It is recorded of him that no case of distress ever
•came under his notice withont being promptly relieved.. Ve-
rulam played Providence well, till the hloat king, and the
pack of Conservatives ruined him. Yea, till then, and after-
ward, till he left the globe. Bacon was the Theodore Parker
of his time, plus the Verulamio-Shakspoarcan intellect — so don't
you say one word in his dispraise, Master Went worth, or you
and I shall quarrel."
Wentworth laughed at the gay threat, and said no more,
" JReaerwns a iws mtmtons — ^let us retnru to our South-
downs," said Mnriel, playfully. " I had a talk with Koux,
John, of which I was going to tell yon when onr company
came this morning, and I haven't 'had a chance since. The
sum and anbetance of which is, that Roux is alive to his dan-
ger in' Boston, and conaente to go to Worcester. So ou
Monday, John, jon mast .transport him and Antony there,
find them a boarding-house, see Mr. Higgmsoa about them,
and let them bo looking out fona house and occupation, while
we arrange to send on the wife and children after them. So
there's work laid out for you, my husband I'f
" Bravo I" cried Harrington, joyfully. " 111 attend to it."
" In the meantime," pursued Muriel, " well put Rous on
salary sufficient to cover all expenses till he gets settled
again. Then, there's his shop to be closed up, and his furni-
ture to be removed, aU which is on your broad sliouidcrs, my
" I'll bear the load !" said Harrington, gaily.
" For it won't do to have Roux burdened with it," she con-
tinued, "lest inhis removing he should be removed."
" See here. Can't I help ?'.' put in Wentworth. ■ " I bum
with ardor,"
" Oh, Ra^ello ! bantered Muriel, with a gay and charm-
ing smile — " you ? Flower of painters, I fear me that you
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420
will not find Buch anti-slavery serrice to your taste 1 How-
erer, we will see. Yes, Richard, serionsly, yon shall help if
yon want to."
" Good !" said Wentworth, laughingly. " What a nest
of traitors to the blessed old granny of a Government we
are !"
" My faith I" said Muriel, with bewitching levity, " if tbey
will have their Fugitive Slave Law, they shall also have their
traitors to balance. But there was once a time," she fervently
added, "when a poor man could earn his bread in the city
which I love, with none to molest him or make him afraJd, and
may that good time come agam."
" Amen I" cried Went worth. "And, apropos, have any
of you seen the papers to-day ? Have you heard the great
news '!"
" I have not," said Muriel.
" Nor I," said Harrington. " What is it ?"
" It came yesterday," replied Wentworth, " but to-day's
paper has a fuller account of it. Charles Sumner hag
announced in .the Senate that lie is ^oing to speak on the
Fugitive Slave Law ! Hurrah I"
" lo triumphe I" cried Muriel, flying from the room to get
the paper, amidst a general chprns of delight.
She came hack presently with the " Commonwealth," and
read aloud Mr. Sumner's brief remarks on presenting^ the
petition of the New England Quakers for the repeal of the
Fugitive Slave Law — remarks which were the prelude to one
of the ablest and noblest speeches ever heard in the American
Congress.
" Bravo 1" cried Harrington, when she had finished. " !Now
we shall hear the old New England voice I"
"By Jupiter, yes," said Wentworth. "Charles Sumner's
going in. It'll be hke a giant sUnging up an elephant by the
tail, and whacking the enemy with it."
They all laughed uproariously at this novel symbol of
^gressive eloquenee.
" Come now," said Wentworth, when the laughter had sub-
sided, " this news calk upon us to round up Saturday night
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HAEEINGTON. 431
with music. Sing, you pair of seraphs, sing. Let's have
Theodore KOrnor's ' Battle-Hymn of the Berlin Laudsturm.' "
Muriel and Emily moved to the orgau, and on the rich and
passionate clouds of Weber's music, their noble voices stormed
iu melody. But as the first exalting tones arose, Mrs. East-
man, sad and sick at heart, withdrew to her chamber, to
think with son'ow of her brother's baseness, to think and
think and think, and weep alone.
CHAPTER XXVIIl.
The Sabbath dawned calm and peaceful and bcautifnl, and
filled with Sabbatic stillness. Such a Sabbath as would have
waied the holy muse of Donne or Herbert, of Keble or He-
ber, to celebrate its restful sanctity in sacred song. But its
sweetest hymn was the gracious face of Mnriel, as she sat at
the organ in the library, singing in a low voice a psalm that
breathed from teaven into the soul of David three thousand
years ago.
The spirit of the music lived in her countenance as she sang,
and lingered tliere when the tender and regal chant had failed.
Too happy for even music to express, she rose from the instru-
ment, and rapt in heavenly reverie, wandered to and fro about
the room.
But a little while, however, for presently the bounding foot
of Harrington was heard upon the stairs, and he came in.
" Ah, truant 1" she playfully exclaimed, gliding to his arms,
and gaaing up into his smiling face, " where have joo been. I
woke this morning to find myself a widow. Now give me the
morning kiss of which I was defrauded."
He folded her in his arms, and fondly kissed her again and
"I have been to my honse," he smd, "and do you know
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i-ia HAKBINGl'ON.
why ? To see after my dog. Positively, X had almost fougotr
feu the existence of that delectable animal, and my conscience
smote me this morning lest he should have been negloL-tcd,
which he has not been, for the boys have bten his guardians.
So I stole from youi' side like a thief of tbe night. Ton were
sleeping so sweetly, and looked so heantifiil in yonr sleep, that
I did not dare to disturb you. Strange feeling I had in leav-
ing you — it was almost like goii^ never to retmu."
" And I, too," she repUed, melting from her blushing smile
into musing. " I woke from a smgnlar dream of you, I
dreamed that I was going about alone in the house aud in the
streets and among all sorts of people, and yoa were at an mi-
measurable distance above me, looking at me constantly from
behind the an-, as it were. The strangest tiling was that I
could not see you, though at the same time I Imew you were
there just as if I saw you. But we were separated. And yet
I was not sad — indeed, the dream was happy. Pr^cntlyl
nnclosed my eyes, and for a moment," she said, laughing, " I
ready felt as if 1 were a widow, which I have no ambition to
be, I assure you."
Harrington laughed gaily, and pressed his lips to her fore
head.
" Dreams are straiige," he said, lightly. " But how exqoi-
site yon are this morning I Every time I see yon yon look
new. Stand back a pace, and let me admire you 1"
She danced back a couple of yards, and stood playfully re-
garding him, with her beautiful and noble head bent a little on
one side, while his eyes dwelt on her delicately tinted features,
and wandered over the stately elegance of her form. She
was robed that morning in pale rose-colored silk, with lace
corsage and lace open sleeves. About her hung that indefina-
ble and delicious patrician odor which we sometunes perceive
around the persons of fair women, and which tonches the inior
gination Ulte the aroma of a poetic nobility of soul. A thi-ill
fled through the veins of Harrington as he gazed on her, and
then his eyes grew sad, and the smile on his face died slowly
away.
" Ah, Muriel," he said, in a low, rapt voice, " the beauty
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HARETNGTON. 433
that my eyes see in yon is the tolien of the beaaty my soul
knows ia you. How could I bear to leave you ! Once it was
a joy to think of death, but now heaven could not teropt me
from eaitli with yon
feiie came quirl !y to him with an agitated face, and pas-
sionately clung t him He folded lier to his hreast, and felt,
as his face drooped upon htr forehead, a vague sense, as of
some Immnouf. ^adow re ting on them. In a moment, she
lifted her face t j his s-rene though the clear eyes were dim,
and gazed ardently into hia countenance.
" Do not speak of leaving me, John," she said. " It was
my foolish dream put that into your mind. Ah, we shall
neither of us leave each other. Life is before us, and love.
Come, let us not dwell on this, hut speak of other tilings."
" So be it," he rephed. " Well, what shall we do with onr-
Belves to-day ?"
" I don't Icnow," she gaily answered, swinging around ftom
his breast to his side, and putting her arm about him, whde he
endrcled her waist. '■' Suppose we vary the general impiety of
our proceedings by going to church,"
" Agreed. To Mr, Parker's, of course."
"Most assuredly. There's the breakfast bell."
And, arm in arm, they descended to the bi-eakfast-voom,
Cbureh-tima came, with the agnai pealing of beils, and with
it came Wentworth, in gallant and perfumed attire, to convoy
Emily to her devotions. Emily, however, had decided to go
with Harrington and Muriel, and presently they all set out
together, Mrs. Eastman, who had recovered her serenity,
accompanying them.
The streets were full of church-goers, some of them haply
wendmg their way to be regaled with exhortations to obey all
laws, right or wrong, especiaEy the Fugitive Slave Law, and
to consent, if need be, to have their brothers go into slavery
to save the Union, In that blissful period, it was agreed,
among ail respectable people, that ministers must not meddle
with politics, unless they were pro-slavery poiitics,- which were
considered perfectly oi-thodox, dmhs of Christ having been
ascertained to mean, not servant, but slave of Christ, and Paul
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424
HAKBIJJGTOrr.
having been proved to have sent back Ones!niu3, not at all as
a brother beloved, but as a' runaway Thomas Siraa. Tlie sedu-
lous Inculcation of these soul-elevating views and this cheering
exegesis of Scripture, was understood to be in perfect hamonj
witli the dictum that ministers musn't meddle with politics and
many ministeis conducted themselves accordmgly.
Debarred by theui own hardness and frowardnm of heart
from the holy solace of these ministrations, our little party
held their perverse way to the Melodeon. The choir was
singing as they entered, and the church was crowded as usual
for no minister m Boston gathered such a concourse as the
mighty Theodore. A little movable pulpit, on which bloomed
a vase of flowers, ocenpied the platform, and behind it with
clasped hands, musing, sat he who shall heave lis noble
thought ra massive mountain-chains of strength and iieanty
never any more. Livmg, his pretwnce was the magic speh that
evolted and commanded Freedom. Oh, dying was it less
strong— less strong when he had died ! Lo j he drew nigh
the shores of Italy, and she rose, in the red storm of Magenta
from the bondage of ten centuries, free 1 He laid hhn down
to sleep m the soO of her Plorenee, and pale and radiant from
her long agony, all disenchanted of her doom, she stands
above his dust, bastioned with hearts and swonls free I Free
and free forever, and secure of ever-broadening freedom foj
the land can never rest in tyranny that holds within its boson
Farlier's grave !
There are thousands who remember those Sabbaths in his
presence ; but who shall paint them in hues that will not seem
faml and nniijithtul m the light of memory? What words
shall revive his uaage as he stood behind the little pulpit—
Socnitic-teatured, strong, onmest, reverend— the large volume
of old Scripture open before him, the tinted flowers blooming
by his Bide, the faces of thousands all mut»lj tnrned toward
him, as once toward Luther, Savonarola, Abeiard ? What
words shall tell of the Ann eye. holdmg all those faces the
resolute features stirring, the orotnud and fervent deep voice
sounding, as he read from the sacred pages, lifting the versos
lato then- fullest signiflcance and life, and flooding the sou]
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HAEKINQTON. 425
with all tliat is loftiest and sweetest in the old saints and pro-
phets' lore ? Who shall brii^ back the hours when, as la that
Lour, the deep voice rose in the tender and gorgeous prayer,
filled with the affluent sunshine, the flowers, the greenery, the
wild-bird melodies, the living glory of the spring, all mnsic-
rich with reverential thought and feeling, all overflowed with
gratitude and praise to the Giver, with faith, and piety, and
aspiration, all throbbing with immortal longings, and raising
the soul to the mystic's vision of God, and kindhng the heart
with the hero's hope of the ideal future of man ? A streaming
altar-flame, uprising rich with incense from hills and valleys
lovely in the blue day and pomps of spring-tune, tlirouged with
the saints and saviors of all time, and echoing with the sup-
plications and hosannas of mankind, might be the symbol of
that prayer. But what symbol shall gather within it the
strong and salient intellections of the following sermon — its
massive breadth and scope of statement, its valiSnt dealii^
with the public sins and sinners of the tune, its learning that
swept all history, its knowledge that swept all life, the broad
illumination of its eloquence, the prowess of ita virtue, the
sweetness of its piety ? A torch of bnrning splendor npheld
by Greatheart, and flashing ou his brand and mail in the crash
of combat with ApoUyon — its blaze poured stj:ong and definite
upon the open midnight landscape of our morta,! life, illumin-
ing the path of nobleness, lighting every danger, darting its
ray upon the secret pitfall, and into the ambush of the foe, and
streaming forward over all the perilous track to the gates of
God — snch might be the visioned symbol of a speech which
yet no symbol can describe. Closed now in death that glori-
ous eloquence, nor in a hundred years may such a bloom unfold
again ; but the continents shall remember how m an evil time
burst forth its flower of flame, and its fragrance shall fill the
world from age to age.
Every high heart has felt the sense of renewal and reconse-
cration which follows the words of a great pnlpit orator ; and
with this sense strong within them, the little party left the
church when the service was ended. On their way home,
Weatworth stopped the others to announce that Emily was to
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i26 UAEKINGTON.
dine at his lather's house, and return to Temple street i t« tl e
aftei'noou. A few momenta passed in exchanging waiTn enlof n us
on t[ie suriQon, and then Mrs. Eastman, iaariel, and Harm ^ton
left the other two and walked across the beautiful suul t Cod mon
" \ow, John," said Mm'iel, gaily, " of course yon hive some
criticism to make on Mr. Parker."
" I declare no," he responded ; " I haven't the conscience to
criticise Mm. He makes one's heart glow so with his man-
hood, that criticism must be dumb. I pass his theology, every-
thing in fact, I might differ on, and rest only on his nmgQifl-
c«nt public service, and the inspiration of his example."
" Still," slie retnmed, "you would differ, if yon could."
"To bo sure," he replied, smilingly. " If I could criticise, I
would own to a divine dissatisfaction. For the sermon implied
no theory that adequately accounts for the scheme of things,
BE my own theory does, at least to me. However, I won't
grumble. I-have Emerson still for my refuge. All the modern
thinkers cramp me in a cell, more or less spacious, but in
Emerson, chiefly in his poems, I escape into the vast of space
and stars, and breathe blithely like t!ie self-existent soul I
" Oh, heretic !" she gaily exclaimed, " But I ^ree with
all yoQ say, and especially about the poems. They are incom-
parably beyond all else the Mnse has vouchsafed to our Ameri-
can hards."
" Now, John," eaid Mrs. Eastman, " I should really like to
know what your theory of things is. Come, define your posi-
"My dear mother," replied Harrington, laughing, "will it
do to give it voice ? The tell-tale birds might hear me, and
carry the news to the orthodox, and then I should have a
jrand auto-da-fe, with all the great wits and little wits daueing
U'ound me in my expiring agooies."
" Oh, bat John," she banteringly answered, " this is the age
lud land of free thought, you know."
" Yes, indeed. Free thought meaning your freedom to think
IS the mass of your leJlow-citizeus do. Go hnyoud that, aiid
iiey'll melt up Judas Iscariot and Ctesar Borgia, and all the
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UAEMNGTON. 437
rascals, little and hig, for coloi's, as Allston's Painf^King melted
up the ladj, aivd paint jour portrait ill hues of earthquake and
eclipse, as Shellej's phrase has it. Political liberty with us
inclttdea the right to wallop jonr owe nigger, and howl into
Coventry, or hang to a tree, any Iiumane persou who objects.
Social liberty means the right to make you submit to the
ordiuances of Mrs. Grundy, be they the prescriptions of a
Preach taOor or milliner in regard to your di'css, or tlie fancies
of some conclave of bigots in regard to your actions, and if
taste or conscience rises in revolt, Mrs, Grundy- raps them on
the head with a stick, as Leai-'s cockney did the eels when slie
put them in the pie alive, and cries, ' Down, wantons, down I'
Religious liberty involves the right to fling theological mud and
fire on the good name of anybody who ventures beyond the
notioBS of clergymen, and liberty in general meaas your privi-
lege to say and do what moderate and immoderate intellects
concede you may. Socially speaking, tlie very essential princi-
ple of liberty, toleration, is tncked away in Roger Williams'
grave. The people of this country think they love liberty.
They don't. They don't know what liberty means. If they
did they'd love tyranny. It is my deliberate conviction
that if the people of this country understood what the
doctrine of liberty involves and comprehends, as it lies in the
p^;es of the scholars who conceived it, they would deny it
utteiiy, and set np the despotism of tlie Middle Ages as their
idol."
Muriel langhed heartily at this outburst.
" Bravo, John I" she cried. " Methinks I hear you thun-
dering that from the rostrum into the startled hearts of your
fellow-citizens."
" Yes, amidst groans and hiss^," returned the smiling Har-
rington. " But I should flash a bolder speech than that if I
were to address the public. That is weak rose-water compai-cd
to what I would say wheu I came to recite the special instances
of the civil or social abuses of which I complain."
"Heaven save the sinners from your sprinkling then if that
is only rose-water," jested Mm'iel. "But hei-e is mamma
bursting with impatience for your theory of the Universe."
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HAEEINGTOM.
My deup mother," said Harrington, tongLingl,, "unothei
ttnae, when I c.n eollect m, Tagrant ideas, I will conhdc to von
•II I saw when I pot my eye to a chink of this mortal prison
and looked ont on the Tme. Meanwhile, yon wiU find some
slight hmt of my notions in Goethe's poem of ' The Festival ' "
" Which I shall read when I get home," replied Mrs. East-
man.
And talking in this strain, they reached the house in Temnle
street ^
CHAPTER XXIX.
HELL ON HEAVEN IMPINGING.
As Mr. Parker only preached in the forenoon, they did not
go to chnrch again, but after dlmiep sat together all the after-
noon m the hbrary, reading alond, and talking, and supremely
So the sweet and peacetd day wore slowly on to snnset
and as the declining beams gilded the rich room, the trio
sank, as if by mntual consent, into a lapse of silence, and sat
enjoying the Injury of the happy hour, and ghd in then- own
society. Mrs. Eastman reclmed in a fauteuii, her cheek pen-
sively resting on her hand, and her raene, poetic face muAg
between its graceful silver tresses on the lovers The cloniS
had melted from her mmd, md she only thonghi with tran-
quil joy of the beantitu change that had come so alently upon
her daughter's hfe, smidermg no tie and marring no relation
a»d her soul was filed with gratitnde to know that the love' '
of her child was anchored on a heart so noble.
TJncomicious that she was the subject of snib sweet reflect
lion, Muriel sat m reverie, and Harrington, silting at a little
distance, fondly dreamed upon her vision-like beauty. So ejoni-
Bite in her delicate clear color, with the silken amber tresses
ripphng low aronnd her cheeks, and the perfection of her fonn
tenderly told by the pale, lossthued robe, that she touched
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HAEEIHGTON. 429
his imagination with a Btrange sense of faSry. He was so
happy, as he gazed on her, that he could scarcely believe in
his happiness. Mixed with his ethereal pleasnre in her IotgU-
ness, was a dim feeling as of one who had wedded a princess
in his dream, and knew that he dreamed, and would awakett
soon to find himself unwedded and alone. Btrange — strange
to think that this surpassing woman was his wife. But it was
true; it was indeed reality, and not a dream; it was indeed
reality, and it had flooded life with the tranquil ecstasy of
heaven.
Gazing upon her in deep abstraetion, he became aware that
her sweet eyes were fixed npon his face, and saw, by the suf-
fnsion on her countenance, as of the rosy color of the morning,
that she was conscious of his ardent gaze. Confnsed a little
at being thus detected in his admiration, he started, blushing,
and then laughed, as she archly shook her finger at him.
"I caught yon," she said. " Now, John, wliat were you
thinking of ?"
" Of yoa, Muriel. Of our happiness. I am strangely
happy to-night. Were not yoa conscious, and you, mother,-
of a singular happiness as we all sat here in silence together ?
The Sahhath peace of the evening was like the peace of
heaven."
They did not answer, but howed theff heads in assent, and
lulled by the sweet influences of the hoar, remained in silence
It was but a few moments, and the sunset light died from the
room ; and as it faded away, and the first grey of twilight
flUed the air, Muriel and Harrington both rose, as if its
departure was the dissolution of a spell that had held them,
and approached each other with loving faces and outstretched
arms.
They were within a yard's dLstance, when suddenly the
door-bell rang with sneh a violent and furious clanging clatter,
that they stood still. It was like the scream of a fury warn-
ing them asunder. The love-look dropped from their faces,
and their arms fell. Only a second's pause, and ^ain the
bell i-ang and rang and rang, clashing and clanging without
1, like the startling peal of an alarum from a cliam-
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430 nAEEINGTON.
ber wtere mnrder was being done, and the straggling victim
had seized the bell-rope. Utterly amazed at this frightful
clamor, and wondering who could he i-ingingiti such a manner
as this, they stood with a shock in thek blood, blajikly gazing
at each other. Suddenly they recovered, as Mrs. Eaatnmu
flew past them with an indignant face, and flmig open the
hhrary door.
" Who dares "— —
She stopped in the miJst of her incensed exclamsstion,
for at that moment the hall-door was opened, and with a
wild clatter of angry words from Patrick below, something
bounced in and-up-stairs, and rushed panting to fall before
tffem.
It was Tngmntton. They gazed cpon him- in utter araaa«-
ment. He fell prone, then rose suddenly on his knees as if a
spring m the floor had shot him up, and knelt gasping and
speechless before them, a fat open-moathed face of ashen fright
glaring with white eancer-eyes upon them from its gi-eat shocks
of wool, and the two huge hands lifted like the paws of a beg-
ging dog, in an agony of supplication. For a moment, they
looked at him astounded. Suddenly Harrington saw his cap
lying on the floor — staggei-ed back with a reeling hrain, dashed
foi-ward with a spring up to Roux's room, and flung open the
door.
Roux was lying on the bed asleep, and did not waken, For
an instant HaiTington's eye swept the chamber, then became
fixed. He heard the voices down-stairs. He heai^d the regu-
lar breathings of the sleeping man. He heard the dinning of
his own brain. Then all seemed to grow still, and with a
dreadful feeling in his mind, he slowly turned and went down.
Tall, erect, terrible, white as death, he entered the
library. They gazed npon his face with draining eyes. He
looked at them for a moment in silence. The boy still knelt
gasping and shuddering on the floor. But they were motiott-
less — motionless as marble.
" Mother," His voice was clear and low. He paused.
" Mother — collect yourself Be calm. Has he told you ?"
There was silence, intense and awful. He did not took at
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HAEEINGTOH. 431
Ilia wife, but he felt that she turned away. He loolied only at
the pallid face gazing at him with parted lips and mute eyes
between its sUver tresses, as if it had turned to stone. Sud-
denly her voice rang.
"Hehasnottoldme. Speak 1 I can hear anything but this."
" Mother, the poor wanderer to whom jou gave shelter is
gone. He went out with the boy. He has been kidnapped
in the streets of Boston."
She stood for a moment, ghastly, rigid, immovable. Sud-
denly a low cry wailed from her lips and she fell He
sprang and caught her, lifted her in his arms and bora ber to
a couch. Muriel glanced from the room. Flying to the win-
dows, he flung them open to let in the fresh air. Then, hack
to the lady in her swoon, and kneeling beside her, his quick
hands snapped the silken strings of her bodice, unclasped her
belt, and loosened her clothes. The boy softly sank on his
face, and lay gasping on the floor.
A light touch : Muriel, calm, self-possessed, paJe, was beside
him. He took from her hands the glass of water, and sprinkled
the pallid face, while she drenched her handkerchief with
cologne and bathed the still brow and nostrils. The evening
wind blew freshly into the room, and gi-adually a qoiver of life
came to the marble features. Harrington silently pointed to
the loosened bodice, moved away, and stood with his brow
resting on his hand.
Minute after minute passed on and all was silent save the
fainter gaspmgs of the boy. G-radnally, low rusthng move-
ments and faint mui-mura, mixed with the sweet and soothing
whis^jers of Muriel, came to him from the couch. He remained
motionless, his mind blank ajid cold. In a minnte oi' two
Mni-iel spoke to him.
" She has recovered, John."
His hand fell fram his brow as he heard her words, and lil't^
iag his white face, he moved noiselessly across the room, closed
the windows, and came to the pale lady's side.
"Mother," he said, kneeling by her, and tenderly folding
her in his arms, " I would not have told you if I could have
kept it from you."
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432 HAEEINGTOH.
" Hush I" she murmured. " You did well. It was terrible,
but I had to know it. Come, I am ready now for the rest.
Bring Charles here, and let me kaow all. I will lie here and
listen. Do not fear. I can bear everything now."
Rising to his feet, he crossed the room, lifted the boy from
the floor as lightly as though ho were a baby, and held him
face to face at arms' length before him. The hapless Tug-
mutton, dangling broad-limbed and big-footed between the
strong supporting hands, stared with blobber visage, ashen
with fright and grief, and with mouth, eyes, and nostrils wildly
open, mto the white face smihi^ into his, with a sraile gentle
eyen in its ghasthness.
" Chai'les," said Harrington, in a low, consoling voice,
" don't be frightened, poor boy. See, I am not angry with
you. I feel badly for what has happened, bat I am not angry
with yoQ, Charles."
The miserable Tugmutton, iacrt in his suspension, opened his
big mouth wide, and bnrst into a roar of tears,
" My gosh 1 Mr. Harrington," he howled, amidst his grief,
" there aint a more mis'ahle yoirag nigger this side of Jordan
than me. He's took off, and I'm the guilty party, Mr. Har^
rington, when I didn't mean it. Oh, Lord A'mighty, I can't
■provide for that family never no more, and the man that won't
provide for his family, is just wus than an infidel, and that's in
the Holy Bible, Mr. Harrington, and father's the victim of
misplaced eonfldenco, and oh, my gosh, I wish I was in Canada,
as sure as you're horn."
With which outburst, the wretched Titgmntton let his head
droop on the blue-striped shirt which covered his fat chest, and
vrith his grey-jacketed, short fat arms hanging over Harring-
ton's hands, and his grey-trowsered, short broad legs dangling
motionless, he sobbed as if his big heart was breaking. Har-
rington, filled with compassion for his uncouth sorrow, took
hun in his arms like an mfant, and held him stiil, not even
smiling at the odd ideas and odd phrases which he had poured
forth, and which, even in that painful hour, might well have
moved a smile.
"Hush, Charles," murmured the yonng man. "Don't cry
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any more. Come, I want you to tell us all that has hap-
pcaed. I want you to tell the wholo truth, and perhaps we
can find Antony again."
At this, Tugmatton started in his arms, and stopped crying
instantly.
" Let me down, Mr. Harrington, let me dow«," he excitedly
vociferated, wriggling like a conger eel from Hanington's hold,
and dumping upon the floor. " My gosh I if you'll on'y find
that Antony, I'll tell you every woi-d of the truth and the
whole truth, and nothing hut the truth, so help you God."
Harrington pushed a chair up to the conch for Muriel, and
seating himself in another, drew the boy near hun, and at
once, in rapid and excited tones, Tugmuttou began his cou-
fession, telling everything even to the most irrelevant details.
It appeared from what he said that his empire over Houx
had extended also over Antony, and that the latter, completely
Bubjngated by his grand airs and assumption of saperior
knowledge, had in his simplicity come to look upon him as
one of the most powerful of his guardians. In this mood,
Tugmntton had regaled him with glowing accounts of the
attractions of the city, every inch of which, from Roxbury
Line to Salutation Alley, and further in all directions, was as
familiar to the Bedouin feet of the fat Puck as his own abode
in Southac street. Especially had he dwelt upon the glories
of Boston Common, and that day he had expatiated upon
them till Antony, filled with wonderment, almost imagined the
place some miheard of Eden. Boux falling asleep in the after-
noon, Tugmntton had continued his ecstatic panegyric on the
Common, and finally wound up by proposing a sliort tour to
that romantic region during the repose of his father. After
some demurring on the part of Antony, and considerable domi-
neering on that of Tugmntton, the foi-mer yielded, and they
stole softly down-stairs and out at the street door, while their
hosts were in the library. Reaching the Common, rich in the
sunset light, and its malls filled with gaily-dressed promena-
ders, the enchanted Antony wandered with his pigmy guide
across the inclosure, and emerged with Mm on the Park street
comer. There they stood on the pavement, while Tugmntton
19
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434
MAItKINGTON.
descanted on the magnificence of the Part street cinircli, with
especial reference to the height of the steeple, loftiness of
Bpire being in his view the chief end and crowning perfection
of oil chnrch architecture. As he was talking, a back drove
up and stood at a little distance from them, and at the same
time his eye fell npon a gentleman standing near a side entrance
of the chnrch, and smilingly beckoning to hmi. A little aston-
ished at first, and then a little flattered at this affability,
he turned with a lofty and vain-glorions air to Antony, as
much aa to say, you see the immense consideration paid me
by the aristocracy, and bidding him wait there a moment,
crossed the street to the stranger, who, with a sraili]^ nod,
retreated into the passage, which happened to be open.
Thither Ti^mntton followed him. What the stranger said,
his subsequent fright drove ont of his memory, and he could
only recollect that he held him lightly by the ai-m as he spoke
to Mm ; but in the midst of the interview, happening to glance
aronnd, he saw a man rush, pushing Antony before Mm, crowd
him into the hack, and spring in after him, while the vehicle
rattled away down Winter street. Of course Tngraatton
sprang to follow, but the stranger seized him by the throat,
and shook him so that he conld neither speak nor ciy. Re-
leased presently, the wretched boy rnshed into the street, and
^r the carriage. Bat it was ont of sight, and running back
to the chnrch, the stranger was gone. Too much horrified to
make any outcry, Tngmutton had instantly mn with all his
speed back to Temple street, where he had arrived as we have
related.
All this, involving details which under ordinaiy circumstan-
ces he would have suppressed as disgraceful to himself, but
which he now frankly disclosed m the full conviction that a know-
ledge of the entire timh would enable Hanington to recapture
Antony from the kidnappei-s, Tngmutton poured forth in his own
way to his pale and silent auditors, and endmg, sat eagerly
staring first at one and then the other, as wondering what was
to be done now that he had told all.
" Charles," said Harrington, " what kind of a looking man
was it you saw seize Antony !"
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HAEKINGTON. 435
" ify gosh I it was bo quick that I scase got a sight of him,
Mr. HarriDgton," retnraed Tngmuttoa, staring mto the white
face of his questioner. " I on'y saw- he had ou a straw hat
aa' a sorter light coat, an' was tanned consid'ble."
" Tanned," mused Harrington. " That must have been the
captain of the tJoUman."
He was right in his conviction. It was Bangham.
"I see how it was duae," he pursued. "Tlwywere to-
getlier, and came on Antouy and Oliarles standing there.
One hailed the carriage — i^robably some passuig hack — tlie
other decoyed the boy away to prerent his outcries — ^aiid the
vest we know. 0 Boston, Boston 1 I loved you once
evei7 stone in your pavement was dear to me ; but I sicken
of you now, and I shall never walk your streets witli joy
&SBhL ! A poor, helpless, harmless man— a fugitive from the
worst tyranny that deforms the world— and ia the streets of
this free city, ic 0]jeu dayliglit, ou the Sabbath, with a crowd
standing aronnd, iie can be sfolen, as a horse could not be
stolen, and not one perann hfts a hand to prevent it, or asks
why I Hot one — not one !"
He covered his burning eyes with his hand, and 'wt stiU.
The doleful boy gazed piteonsly at tlie pale, mute faces of the
two ladies, his fat, ashen *isage quivering with the feeling that
he had doue a nubchief which not even Harrington conld
imdo.
"John," It was Mrs. Eastman that spoke. "Touhave
not asked who the man was that decoyed Charles."
He looked with mortal sadness into her agitated face.
" Need I ask, mother 1" he di-earily replied. " A gentle-
man. It was nut Lafltte, for him Chai-les knows. There is
but one other person that « eara the attire of a gentleman who
could be a party to this deed."
The tears flowed on her face, and as they flowed she wiped
them away.
" You are right," she faltered. " It is the last, the woi-st
disgrace I can ever know. A brother of my own blood, the
eon of the mother that bore me— and with his own hands, not
preserving even the miserable decorum of an agent, with his
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own haads he commits this crime. It almost kills me to thlnii
of it."
" John," smd Muriel, " listen to me,"
He started from his lethargy of sorrow, and gazed into her
face. She was pale, collected, calm ; her eyes firm and clear,
and her voice and manner full of quiet energy.
" John," she pursued, " we must not wuste these hours.
All is not lost yet. We Iiave the clues to this infamy in our
hands. That mau has no donbt been taken on board the
Soliman. You must at once procui-e a writ of habeas corpus
and get "^ —
She paused, arrested by the strange and ghastly smile that
changed hia countenance.
" I have thought of it," he said. " If it were not for this
Fugitive Slave Law, we might have a chance of success. But
aee-^)ejjiiry would be nothing to the men that could do this
deed. When the writ is served on them, they will swear
that the man is not in their possession. Then a warrant will
be procured for his arrest, and after a pretended search, he
will be found, dragged before a commissioner, and sent into
slavery. And if I get a writ, who will I get to serve it ?
I'rom the sheriff to the lowest catchpoll is there one of them
that can be depended upon to do his duty in such a case ?
Justice is drugged with slavery. Law winks at kidnapping."
She looked at him with a still face, touched for a moment
by what he said, then refluent to its purpose.
" It must be tried, nevertheless," she said firmly. " You
yourself, John, can serve the writ, or accompany the of-
He gazed at her with eyes that filled with tears, as they
wandered from her countenance to her mother's. Mrs. East-
man shrank and covered her face with her hands. In an in-
stant Muriel comprehended the deeper reason 'which had made
him hopeless of a rescue, and with a feeling as nearly like de-
spairing agony as her nature, organized for faith and hope and
joy, conid feel, she sank bauk in her chair.
" Muriel," said he, in a solemn voice, " I have thought of
all, and I see no way open to us. Under other circumstances,
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HAKEINGTON. 437
I would get the writ, and though ho probahly could not te
foand, endeavor to save this man. But I cannot take the first
etep without involving Lemuel Atkins. Caa I do it f Think
how mother feels this already. Think how she would feel it
then. Think of the position we are in."
" Tell me, John, tell me," faltered Mrs. Eastman, weepmg,
" tell me what I ought to do. Ought 1 to have this made
public ? What would jou do if he were your brother, as ho
is mine V
" Mother," said he, solemnly, " I cannot guide you. Were
he my brother, though it might break my heart to do it, I
would never keep this wrong secret and silent. Bat my con-
science cannot give the law to yours."
"I cannot do it," she sobbed. " Yon will despise me, but
I cannot bear to think of the disgrace my consent would
bring upon him."
" Despise yoa ?" he qnickly answered. " Never. Tonr
feeling is sacred to me. I appreciate it. I respect it."
" At least," she cried, " give me time to think. Let me
first go to him— let me implore him to undo what he has done.
He does not know that the man was sheltered here. Oh, per-
haps I can prevail with him. Think of the shame it will be one
day to his wife and children. When this slavery madness
ends, as it may soon, think of the awful shame his family will
feel if this act jives against him. How can I bear to have it
brought on them I At least for then- sake let me try every
other effort, and then if I fail, perhaps "— _
She faltered — her voice choked with emotion. She could
not bring herself to say, that perhaps she wonid consent to
publish her brothei-'s shame, and bring the fury of anti-slavery
rebnke, and the scorn of the coming years of freedom upon
They sat in silence thinking with hopeless sadness of the
terrible dond that had mshed so suddenly upon their peaceful
and happy day, and the twilight b^an to darken around
them. Mrs. Eastman rose.
" I will go at once to see hira," she said.
" Let mo attend yon," said Harrington, rising.
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438 HAEEINGTON.
"No, John. Thank joi). I will go alone," she replied and
left the room.
" Tou mflst stay here, Charles," said Harrington, taming
to Tngmutton. " On no account must yon gx) to your father
after what has happened, until we decide what to do."
Tograntton said nothing, bnt sat down on a low stool in a
comer of the room, and leaned against the waU in deep des-
" And what are we to do, Muriel ?" mnrmnred Harrington.
" How are we to tell Roux of this ? It will kiU him. Even
now, perhaps he is wondei-mg where his brother is. Poor,
poor man ! Oh, misery, misery !"
He turned away and walked the dun library with an aching
heart. Muriel, silent, her mind in its fullest activity, wm
vainly striving to think of some plan by which this sad sti'oke
of fortune could be ivtrieved. Presently, Harrington rang
for lights, and Patrick came in and hghtod the chandelier,
whose moony globes of gi-onud glass filled the library with
mellow radiance.
Alone again, Harrington turned to Uoricl ; she rose from
her seat, and gliding swiftly toward him, datppd him in her
srms. Holding her to him, he gazed, sadly smiiiug, into her
face, exqaisite in its pale beauty,
" Beloved," he murmured mournfully, " it is thp first sor-
row of oar wedded life."
" The fir.st," she ralmly answered. " But. oh, my husband,
let us be grateful that it is a sorrow that we feel for others^
and not for oursplves "
The tf-ars ran down his face, and be fondly bent his head
and pressed his lips to her forehead.
"We were so happy," he faltered. " Never was my spii-it
lulled ia so deep and sweet a happiness as when this dreadful
tidings roshed upon me. Strange, strange to think this
heavenly day shouW end thus, in this blackness of darkness.
It quite unmans me."
Folded in each other's arms, they remained for a little while
in silence, while his agitation gi-adnally subsided into sorrowful
calm.
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HAERISGTON.
439
" Do yon remember, Muriel," te resniiied, " the description
in ttie last chapter of the RcTelations of St. Joliti, of the
heavenly city wkei-e tiiere is no n^ht, nor snn, nor moon,
tut the glory of God lightens it, and the Lamb is the light
thereof? And without, yon remember, the Evangelist says ia
the horrible abode of the wicked. Ton remember ?"
" Tea, I remember," she answered, gazing into his ab-
stracted and sorrowing iace.
"When I was a boy," he continued, "I used to have a
dream, unspeakably awftil, derived, I think from my reading
of that part of the Revelations. In my dream, I was in
heaven — a strangely beautiful dim land, filled with a still, mystic
glory. I cannot tell yon the ineffable hush that pervaded the
happy region, and there I wandered tranced in an ind^cribable
tranqnil ecstasy. But in this dream, which I frequently had,
I always came to a spot which seemed the confines of the
place. The glory of the region ran to a poiat tliere, in a
shape like the apex of a triangle, and on either ade a ruling
of rich fretted gold separated it iVom the region beyond.
Suddenly, as I stood, a dreadful perception of the outer
region would overwhelm me. I saw a bovrid realm of black
and grisly twilight, strangely mixed with black darkness — ^I
heard the savage baying of dogs, the confiised jai^n of un-
hnman blasphemies and demon laughter, and the hideous faces
of devils gnashed at me through the golden pales. It is
impossible to tell yon the ghastly affright that suddenly struck
through my ecstasy when this came to me, nor can I say how
fearfully it was intensified by the contrast between the ecstatic
stillness and glory of the place, and the hideous and discord-
ant sights and sounds beyond. I always awoke in horror,
drenched with perspiration, and afraid to be alone in the
darkness."
" What a dreadful dream ?" she murmui'ed, shivering
shghtly, and clinging a little closer to him.
" Yes," he responded, his voice low, and his white face
frigidly fixed on vacancy. "Tes. It was like a spiritual
symbol. And now it has come to me."
His countenance suddenly grew livid and convulsed with
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440
HAKEINGTOS.
writhing anguish, and dark uiri-les itarted ont around his tear-
filled eyes.
" It has come to me," he gasped, tremulously, shaken with
strong agony. " I hare wandered to the confines of my happy
heaven of love, and throngh the glory and the stillness, and
through my sacred ecstasy, the grisly land of slavery strikes
npon me, with its jargontc Llasphemies and revelries of hate,
the gnashing of its devils, and the baying of the dogs that
hunt mea. It has come to me. The dream of my boyhood
was its true symbol. A dreadtiil dream of reality, and I
waie from it in despair and agony and horror."
His low voice shuddered into silence, and convulsed through
aU his frame, he tore himself from her, and covered his fane
with his hands. Sad as she had never been before, she tnrned
away and stood in her wonted attitude, her clasped hands
droopmg before her, and her head bent upon her bosom.
Squatting on his stool in the corner of the room, the horrified
Tagmntton glared at them, with his white eyes bnlgin"- from
his blobber face under his great shoclis of wool, lilie some
lubher imp of darkness risen to work them bane.
In a few momeDts Harrington's hands fell heavUy from his
face, and agile as lightning, Muriel flashed into his arms and
clung to him, with a fimile brilliant and tender as the morning
on her impassioned fcatnrM.
_ " Oh, my beloved I" she cried, " do not sink from yoamlf
mto despair— do not lose the immortal in the mortal ! Think
of the briefness of this life— think of the endless golden reaches
of the life of which all our earthly experience is but a moment
Heaven knows my sympathies ai^ not imperfect; I conld die
myseU-— ah, moi-e, I could see yon die-to save to a life of
human nse this poor spirit, whom his fellow spirits, in their
mcamate madness, hare dragged away from us to wreak
their msamty of hate upon. But it is greater pain than my
death or yours, to sec yon mourn his fate with a mourning
that forgets the godhood within you. Ton told me once
tne divine sentence of the alchemist-' Heaven hath in it
tins scene of earth.' Oh, remember it now-think how brief
how fleeting is this term of grief and wrong-think of the
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HAKBOiaTON. 441
eternal Iieaven in which the grief and wrong melt awoy for-
ever, and be sustained and comforted I"
As at the harpings of the young shepherd of Israel, the
dark spirit sanlt from Saul, so at the clear, fervent music
of her voice, the agony and horror passed from him, and he
grew calm. Fondly and sadly, with tie tears still wet upon
his cheeks, he gaaed into her exalted face, lit with a smile of
auroral tenderness,
" Tou are wise," he said mournfully, " and I know that my
sorrow is weak and unworthy. I sink from my faith — I lose
myself in this dark hour of trouble, A poor, helpless, de-
spised, rejected man, more forlorn and wretched than the most
loathed outcast — I found him in the friendless streets, I took
him to my home, I nonrished his feeble life — and they have
clutched him from me, and dragged him back to outrage and
torment and murder. If it were the act of some Bolit«Ty
ruffian, I conld bear it ; terrible as it is, I could bear it ; but
to think that society in all its stmcture makes it possible for
deeds like this to be done ! Oh, sleep of civilization 1 Jus-
tice, honor, compassion, love, have you gone from earth for-
ever ! Is human brotherhood a Bedlam dream, vanishing
from the mind of man, and leaving him to the dark sanity of
one life-long mutual murder I Is this civil-suited swarm of
sordid devils and fnries the vanguard of the new civilization
that is to oversweep the world ! Let me not think of it — let
my sick heart swoon from the misery of it 1 Oh, that I were
dead this night, if death could hide from me this tremendous
shame I Better to be dead than stand here, tied hand and
foot, unable to lift a finger to prevent the commission of this
ghastly outrage. Better death than to hve pofeoned to my
heart's core with the knowledge that society ia one fell league
agamst the weak and poor."
The words which had begun in sorrow, rose into low
tempestuous agony and ended in a tone of heart-broken
desolate sadness which language cannot tell. Muriel gazed
at him mournfully, and the tears silently welliil from Ler
" My beloved," she said in a trrmulou'' voice, sadly smiling
la*
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4;i2 HARRINfiTON".
as she spoke, " it grieves me mora than all other grief, to see
you oTOrmastered thus. WJiat can I say to calm you 1 Alas !
that I who love yon so c!eei>ly, am powerless to lift you from
this dread son-ovv 1"
He looked at her with a spasm of self-coutrol in his sad
face, and seemed to struggle iuto calm.
" Let me not grieve you," he faltered. "See, it is over. It
shall not master me. There : I am strong ag'ain. For your
sake I wUl crush it down. I lore you— I will not pain yon.
I will strive to forget it, and be again as ia our iiappy hours
of love and peace before this "
The faltering voice failed, and the migttv stnisgle to be
calm agaifl wrought in kia features.
" Courage, courage," she cried, tenderly smiling upon him.
" Courage I All is not ended yet. At worst we can say,
with King Francis, that everything is Inst but honor. But
everything is not lost. We shall devise some means to
retrieve this stroke. Oh, my poor motlier, if it were not
for your unlucky weakness, the victory would not be so difficult !
We would sound a blast in Master Lemuel's ears that would
bring down his ambition for kidnapping like Jericho. But
there's no leaven of the Roman in poor mothei-'a composition,
and we are fatally hampered bylier feeling."
" Yes," said Harrington, mournfully, " the necessity for
keeping this matter private is our ruin. I know not what to
do, or which way to tm-n."
" At all events," she replied, "let us not despair. Nothing
palsies one's faculties and enet^ies like despair. Come, sit here
by me, and let us coolly review our position, and see what we
can do."
^ She sat down on the coucl), and he took his seat Ijv ber
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CHAPTEU XXX.
Thet were about to commence coaTcrsation, when footsteps
and voices were iieai'd upon the staivs, and presently Emily
and Wentworcli, Joyous and smiling, came into the libi-ary.
" Here we are again I" cried Wentworth, in his hearty voice,
flinging Ilia hat on the table, and running his hand throngli hia
clustering curia. "Here we are, in the hdght of feUcity.
Hallo, who's that ?" he exclaimed, catching sight of Tng-
mutton squatting in the corner. " Why, you ineffable young
gobUn, what are you doing there V
Emily, who was layiii^ off her bonnot and sbawl, turned
quickly in the direction he was apostrophizing, and laughed
lialf-amosedly and half-wonderingly at the doleful visage of
the boy.
" Why, what's the matter with you, Ciiai-lcs ?" she in-
quired.
" Well put," ci'ied Wentworth. " He looks ae if he had a
bad attack of the mulligrubs."
" Kow, Richard I" exciahned Emily. " I do wish that yon
wouldn't talk slang. You artists are perfectly incorrigible in
yonr use of slang."
"All due to the artistic faculty, Emily dear," he gaily
returned. " Slang is the picturesqac of language, and we inu.^t '
talk picturesquely, or die. But, conscience alive I Why,
EaiTiugton ! And you, Muriel I What's the matter ?
Ton look as if you had a tonch of the ebony lamb's com-
plaint too."
"Don't jest, Richard," said Harrington. "Wc have had
an awful experience since we saw you."
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4^ HAEKINQTON.
" Awfnl !" exclaimed Wentworth, turning pale. " Why,
Emily eame flying over to them, witli her cheeks blanched,
and her lips parted in irightened inquiry.
" What is it f" she cried. " Is anything the matter with
Mrs. Eastman ?"
"Ko, Emily; she is weil," replied Harrington. " Richard,
the Hungarian fugitive is safe in the streets of Boston. No
honnd of "Vienna ean track him here. But the American fugi-
tive is not safe here from the Vienna of the IjDion. The poor
man, whose tale of suffering so moved you — he has heen kid-
napped in the streets of our city this evening."
" My God !" shouted Wentworth, stamping his foot on the
floor, and turning livid.
Emily burst into tears, and dropped into a chair.
" Kidnapped this evening !" pursued the young artist,
" Why, yon ha^l him here. How could this happen ?"
" Iiisten, and I will tell you," replied Harrington.
Wentworth and Emily drew up their chairs, and sat facing
their friends. There was a moment's silence, and then in a
few clear, d^ect words, Harrington told them all.
Wentworth sat still and silent till he had finished, and then
turned with a face of wrath upon Tugmutton, who immedi-
ately began to cry.
" Hush, Richai-d !" exclaimed Harringttin, stopping Went-
worth in the furious speech he was about to pour upon the
miserable sqnab. " Don't nse one word of reproach to him.
Poor boy 1 He snffers enough
" it is a loving creature, and
it is. See," he whispered,
yon have hurt his poor heart.
Now say something to soothe him.
Wentworth choked down his rage, and sat still for an in-
stant. Then, forcing hunself to smile, he rose, and went over
to Tugmiitton, who was roaring in a muffled undertone of
heart-broken grief.
"ITiere, Tuggy, my boy, don't cry," he said soothingly,
patting him on the shoulder. " I'm sorry I looked at yon so,
but I didn't mean anything."
" My gosh, Mr. Wentworth, I feel as if the light of other
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EAEKINGTON. 445
days was fled," howled Tugmutton, reminiscent in bis anguish
of a line from the song he had picked up somewhere.
Wentworth, mad as be was, felt a strong disposition to
laugh.
" Never miftd, Tuggj," he said lightly. " Cheer up. It'll
be all right,"
" If I could on'y see Brudder Baby in my affliction," sobbed
Tngmutton, " 'pears to me, it would be a reviver. But I can't,
an' I'm wus off than a bob-tail horse in fly-time."
" Cheer up, Charles," said Harrington, " you shall see
Brother Baby soon. Don't cry."
" Yes, don't cry, whatever you do," said Wentworth, " for
erying's bad for the liver. Here's something to remember me
by," and he gave him a half dollar.
Tugmutton, with a feeling that his liver was in immediate
peril, and touched hj Wentworth's munificence, took the
money with a dock of his head, and immediately knuckled
away his tears with his big paws.
" The young devil," muttered Wentworth, walking back to
his chair. "Onght to hare a sound flogging for his mischief, m-
stead of a half dollar ; but that's Harrington all over, and he
just makes a fool of me."
" What are you saymg to yourself, Richard ?" asked Har-
rington, with a waa smile.
" Nothing, nothing," said Wentworth, hm-riedly. " But now
what's to be done with Roux ?"
"I don't know," sadly responded Harrington; " when he
hears of his brother's capture, I fear it will kill him or drive
him crazy."
" Oh, by Jupiter ! bnt he musn't hear of it," replied Went-
worth— " at least not yet a while, till we see if this mischief
can't be remedied someway. We may get hold of Antony
again, you know, for he's not oat of Boston yet. Meanwhile,
yon must go up and tell Roux that while he was asleep yoa
sent Antony off to Worcester."
" No, Richard," returned Harrington, " I can't tell a lie.
If I could, how could I bear to go up, and look into that poor
man's face, aud say that ? I can't do it."
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446
HAEKINGTON.
" You can't, oh ?" retnmed Wentworth, reddening. " Then
I can. Hark you, Han-ington : I may have told iiba in my
life, but I can say, with Alfleri, that I'm a man of as few lies
as anybody. Still, when the time comes for a bouncer, let it
be a big one, I aay, and handsomely done. In my judgment,
the time has come now, and ni>stairs I'm going to do the
deed. After which, if I don't grab Autony back again, oven
if I hare to go all the way to LouLslana to do it, then ^mily
Ames will never be Emily "Wentworth. So 1"
And with his handsome face flushed and kindled, Went-
worth walked out of the library and UI^«tairs to Roux'a room.
" Where's my brother Ant'ny," cried Roux, with a wild face,
the minute he saw him, " I waked up, and he's not here, and
I'm afeard of my life for him."
" My dear Mr. Roux, don't he at all alarmed, for Antony is
perfectly safe," said Wentworth, blandly, with an aiy of the
most perfect smiling composure.
Roux put his dark hand over his month as was his wont, and
looked at Wentworth with a wistful dubiety, as wondering if
he spoke the truth. But there was truth in every lineament
of Wentworth's smiling countenance, and Rous's gaze wan-
dered downward to the floor.
_ 'I I've been mighty akeered, ilr. Wentworth," he said,
timidly. " I was afeai'd all wasn't right somehow."
" Perfectly right, Mr. Rons," pni-sued Wentworth. "Ton
know we were going to send yon up to Worcester on Monday
or Tuesday. But we had a chauce this evening to send An-
tony on by private conveyance, and as we thought that safer
than the cars, we let him go. Tou were asleep, and as you
were to see him again so soon, we thought we wouldn't waken
you. Tugmuttoa's gone on with him, and to-morrow or next
day, you are to follow. I thought I'd just come up and tell
you, lest jou should be anxious."
"I'm very much obleeged to you, Mr. Wentworth," said
Rous, smihng and bowii^, " and I feel mighty relieved to hear
this, Bff, for I begun to he proper skeered." .
" Indeed ?" said Wentworth, blandly, " I'm sony. But it's
all right. Good evening."
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HAEEINGTOM, 447
" Good eTaning, Mr. Wentworth," returned the joyful Ronx,
bending himself double in response to the easy aud gracefni
bow with which Wentworth took leave.
They were all sitting in silence when he entered the library.
" There," ea,id he, seating himself with an air of grare satis-
fection, " I've told the biggest whopper I ever told ia my life,
and if you only knew the virtuous glow and elevatiou of spirit
I feel, you'd all go and tell one apiece to get yonr souls in tlie
Bame eonditioQ. I've saved poor Eonx from awful suffciiug,
maybe death or madness, and I'd do it again if it was neeessavy.
I never told a thundering lie before, but now I've done it, and
done it well, and, when Sterne's Accusuig Angel beare it up to
Heaven's Chaucery, if the Recording Angel doesn't drop tlie
biggest tear upon it his lachrymal glands can fnrnish, and blot
it oat forever, then I trust the Lord will turn liim ont of ofGce
for not nnderstanding his duty, that's all. I'm sorry if you
blame me, Harrington, bnt there's a happy man up-stairs to
balance my side of the ledger."
" 1 am not your conscience, Richard," said Harrington, sim-
ply. " There are some truths that come from liell, and there
are some lies that savor of heaven. I beheve such falsehoods
- as yonrs to be among the latter. I sometimes almost wish I
conld tell them."
The tears sprang to Richard's eyes.
"Ah, HarringtoB," smd he, dejectedly, "it's all very woll
for me to talk, bat I feel poorer in spirit, for having said, even
at such an urging, what was not trne. You are a nobler man
than I, for yon would not lie for the man yon would die for. No
matter,", he added, recklessly, " I conld not do other-
wise"
Eami^on coven d his eyes with his hand ind ^at sd nt
Emily, in a dazed condition, locked slowly fiom one to the
other But AIuikI, ifLci a momonti pa.u'^e loae fiora her
seat, put hei aims mound Richiid and ki=si d him
" I kiES iway the j|,ood sm, deai Uafficilo " sho said ivith
sad pliyfnlness, caiesung his luiI^ hi ad Tie liavL nl
geneiousgood sin"
She stood by lum ammute *Mth hei hinds ii.itm„ i n Lis
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iiS HABKIHGTON.
head, and her beautiful, exalted fa«e upturned, then
glided to her seat, and slowly sank down.
" Now, Harrmgton, what are we to do ?" said Weatworthj
drying the tears from his eyes. " My good sin, as Mariel ealls
it, staves off Roux's trouble for a c;uple of days, but if we
can't get hold of Antony, it will be terrible."
"1 have only one thought, and that is a forlorn one,"
replied Harrington. " I am waiting for Miu Eastman to
return. If her brother does not consent to libei-ate this man,
or if she cannot bring herself to bear public action on this
matter, 1 shall go at once to my house, get my pistols, and
search the SoUman for Antony."
At this astonishing declaration, which Harrington made
very quietly, they all stared. Even Mnriel looked amaaed.
Bat Harrington, unconscious of then: wondering looks, sat in
sad abstraction, brooding on his foriom determination.
" That will compromise no one bat the captain of the brig,"
he SMd presently. " A writ of habeas corpus would involve
Atkins, but a rescue of this sort concerns only myself and that
captain,"
" But, dear John," said Emily, with a slight shiver, " there
will be men on board the vessel, and they will never permit
this."
Harrmgton's broad nostrils quivered in the marble stillness
of his face, and his blue eyes gleamed.
" It will go hard with any men who step between me and
my purpose to-night," he said, in a low, quiet voice, which
made their blood thrill, " The strength of ten is in me now,
and I will cripple whoever undertakes to oppose me. If they
outnumber these naked hands, I have my pistols. I wil! not
be balked. If Antony is on board the Solhnan, I will take bun
away with me, or leave my body beside him. Gfladly would I
respect the law and order of society, but it is the day of
slavers and traders, and civilization sleeps."
"Tee," impetuously cried Wentworth, " and when civiliza-
tion sleeps, up, gentlemen and chevaUers, for it is the hour of
chivalry I"
Harrmgton looked cahnly into his glowing and electric face.
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HAKKINGTON. 449
" Ton say well, Richard," he replied. " When ciyilizatiOQ
lies inert, and the oi^nized mass either helps or does not
hinder the daily outrage to humanity, it is time for every gen-
tleman to take upon himself the vow which bound the antique
chevahera to suffer no injustice, and to succor the oppressed
and helpless. That is the time to try what redress lies in the
individual arm. That is the hour of chivalrv."
There was a long pause, in whii,h a subtle flame of enthusi-
asm, born from the colloquy, beat in the vems of all but Har-
rington. In him there was no enthusiasm, bnt cold and sad
determination.
" But, John," said Emily, at length, " you will not go oa
this desperate adventure alone ?"
" Yes. Alone," he replied.
"Ton shall not 1" she exclaimed, with flashing eyes and her
lit face aglow, stopping the fiery answer just bursting from the
lips of Wentworth. " Richard shall go with you, and I wish
I had twenty lovers to send on such an errand."
Harrington looked at her with a faint color on his mel-
ancholy coiiatenance. Aa for Wentworth, he sank back
in his chair, flushed and throbbing with boundless pride in
Emily.
" Emily," said Harrington, " think I You yourself suggested
the danger of this expedition, and there is danger, for if we are
opposed, it will be by sailors, who are not slow to handle
knives in a quarrel. Now think coolly. It would be dreadful
if Eichard were brought home to you dead."
She looked at him with a paling countenance, proud, though
the tears gathered in her lustrous eyes.
" If he died in trying to save a poor man from a life worse
than the worst death," she answered with a qnivering lip, " I
would thiol; of him as gone to our Savior's rest, and bear ray
soiTow like a joy til! I died and found hun with God. Say
no more, Harrington. He shall go with yon."
" That I will," cried Wentworth, as sprin^ng to his feet,
and leaping to the large fauteuil in which sat Emily, he threw
himself by her side, and clasped her in his arms. " Ay, marry
will I go, and wo to the nautical mind that shall conceive the
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450 HAEKIHGTON.
idea of assaulting me, after the. speech I have heard from you,
Emily, for on tkat depraved and abandoned sailor will I exe-
cute, with Berserker fury,* all that Bagasse has taught me, and
1 swear it by this kias I"
And with a kiss on her carnation month, that brought the
rich blood to her face like fire, he sprang up gaily with an
exolfmg conntenanee, and flnng himself into his ehair.
" BraTO 1" cried Muriel, with a flash of her usual gaiety,
" Cupid and Mars in arms ! Richard," she added more seri-
ously, "yoa have my thanks. And yon, too, flower of Epis-
copalians, bright battle-TOse of womankind. Yes, John, yon
must take Richard with you."
"I will, I will," he impetuously cried. " Oh, why shonld 1
despond when there are hearts like these ! Would to Q-od,
that I could sow the world with such as you, Emily ; with such
as you, Richard ! Yes, Richard, you shall go. And you,
Mnrie!," he added, Biaking into moaruful playfulness, " yon,
too, glye me leave of what may prove eternal absence from you."
" Not eternal," she answered, with a radiant smile ; " not in
the worst event eternal. Go, then, and even were it eternal, still
go I"
A vapor of fire mounted to his brain, and Ms heart heat
thick and fast. He did not reply, but sat motionless, with his
eyes covered by his hand, and all his being pulsing in solemn
" Hark !" whispered Muriel, "she is coming. I hear her
st^ on the stairs."
Her ear must have been fine indeed, for listening they could
hear nothing.
" No, I am not mistaken," she said, seeii^ their incredulons
feces. "Well I know that soft, slow step. She is coming,
and she has failed. Oh, Lemuel Atkins, I pity yon !"
There was a moment's pause, and then the library door
swung slowly open, and with a face severe and ashen, and a
decrepit step, Mrs. Eastman came in. They all rose.
" I have seen him," she said, in a low, frigid, desolate voice.
" I have told him everything. I have knelt to him in supplica-
tion; "Useless— useless. He refused me."
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451
" What did lie say, mother ?" murmured Muriel.
" Do not ask me," ahe replied. "I am heartsick. Ask me
BOthing, I told him that it was in our house the man had
found shelter. And he said he was glad to hear it, for it was
a guaranty that he would not be disturbed in the execution of
'his purpose. He has a power of attorney from Lafitte, he told
me, to act as his agent in the matter, and if we presumed to
interfere further, he said, he would immediately bring the case
before a Commissioner, and have the man returned by law.
That was all"
They remained silent a little while, looking with pity on the
froaen desolation of her still and palhd features.
" Mother," said Muriel, " what shall we do f Are you
willing to let' us act publicly in this matter now ?"
" Do not ask me," she faltered. " Give me a little time to
think. I am going to my chamber. Don't disturb me. I
want to be alone. I will thick, aad to-morrow I will let you
They stood with bowed heads, touched by the solemn win-
ter of ber sorrow, aud ehe feebly glided from the room. Emily,
after a momeut's hesitation, followed her.
" Ah, me, I fear the ease is hopeless," sig;hed Muriel.
" Everything d^nds now on your success in finding Antony
on board the Soliman."
" Everything," replied Harrington. " Tet, Muriel, on re-
flection, it is, perhaps, as well that we should not seek a pub-
lic redress. , For if the writ of habeas corpus failed in its exe-
cution, as it probably would, Mr. Atkins would at once get
out a wan-aut for Antony, and then he would be lost, indeed.
Yes, lost— but by the Eternal God I" he vehemeatly cried,
lifting his arms to heaven, " never should he, never shall any
fugitive, be taken from Boston without a desperate effort to
prevent it, I have seen oue slave dragged hence, and that
sent my brains to my hands, Never while 1 hve will I see
another. The tour that sees the next man haled before a
Commissioner, will see me burst into their court-room, armed
to the teeth, and I will take him from them, if I have to do it
through a lane of corpses, or leave my body beside him. Then,
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if I ItTfi, let them try me for treason, and if I die, let them put
& traitor's stone upon mj grave !"
His arms fell lieavily, and be strode away toward the door,
" Think, Muriel," he cried, turning suddenly, " think of the
baseness of this unde of yours. To refuse his own sister the
man her charity had sheltered I If he had found refuge in the
house of a stranger, I could conceive it ; bnt to take him iiom
here ! And she knelt to him. Knelt to him in her ^ony,
and he could deny her 1 Oh, avarice, avarice ! His wretched
cotton-trade is affected, and to that he sacrifices the ties of
blood, the feelings of a sister, honor, pity, charity, manhood,
everything. Let me not think of it. Come, Richard, come ;
let US try onr fortune."
At that moment Emily returned.
" I have prevailed upon Mrs. Eastman," she said, " to sleep
with me to-night. I could not bear to think of her being
alone in this affliction."
" Kind Emily," said Muriel, fondly embracing her. " You
anticipated me. Alas I poor mother 1 Bat, come, Emily,
say good bye to Richard, for he is going."
Emily ran to Wentworth's arms, and kissed him.
" Yon'll come back safe, I know," she said, cheerfnlly.
" That I will," he returned, with a gay langh ; " and wo
to the man of the tarry trowsers who interferes with my safe
return,"
" Adieu, Mnriel," said Harrington, embracing and kissing
her. " We will not part forever," he added, with a sad smile,
" for 1 fee! that I am to come back again."
" So do I," she replied. " Good bye. Wo will wait tea
for yoo, gentlemen."
■Diey departed, and Muriel and Emily sat down, under the
eyes of the silent Tugmntton, to await their return.
In two hours they came back disconsolate, for they had not
found Antony. They had found the Soliman lying at Long
Wharf, and had boarded her. Nobody happened to be in
the vessel but a stnpid sailor, half drnnk, who, when Harring-
ton told him, very simply, that he came to look for a man hid-
den on board, imbued that he was a policeman, and got him
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HAEEfflGWON. 453
3, lantern. With this Harrington and Wentworth searched
everj hole and corner of the vessel, but Antony was not thei'e.
In fa«t, Baugham had him tied hand and foot, and stowed
away in the back room of a low boozing ken on Commercial
street, whose landlord was a friend of the captam's. On
leaving the vessel, the yonng men found the sailor lying in a
sottish sleep, and as they were certain that he would remem-
ber nothing on the morrow of his visitors, they left him with-
out buying his secrecy, as they had intended, and returned
with heavy hearts to Temple street.
" And so," said Harrii^ton, concluding his narration, " as
there is nothing more to be done till to-morrow, if then, let
ns try to foi^t it all as much as we can. The Soli man ' sails
on Tuesday n%bt, the sailoi' told as. I shall not abandon the
hope of finding the man on board of her till she has gone."
He took a revolver from his breast pocket as he ended, aiid
laid it on the mantel, then wearily eat down.
" Come," said Mnriel, " let us go to tea. We shall all feel
better for a little refreshment. Come, Charles."
Tngmntton, whose grief had not injured his appetite, which
was not the case with the others, bounced up nimbly, and fol-
lowed them.
After tea, the doleful Puck was charged not to go near his
father, and was provided with a separate room. Slowly and
sadly the evening deepened on, till at last the hour of slumber
spread its dove's wings over all their s<
CHAPTER XXXI.
The next day arose in ttie dazeJing effulgence of .a fervid
sun. It was the thirty-first of May — the last day of spring —
but the light and heat of June filled the streets of the crowded
city under a cloudless and resplendent blue.
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45i HAERIMGTOH.
Anticipating a ci-owcl of callers, Muriel, unwilling to see
them witli tliis trouble on hor mind, gave Patriek oi-ders to
admit no one but Weutworth atid Captain Pislier, Harrington
having sent for the latter.
The Captain arrived about ten o'clock, and his features
grew all atwist, and his head all awry, the moment he laid
eyes on Harrington, There is no knowing the unimaginable
screw he would have got himself mto could he have seen the
ghastly face the young man had woro the evening before.
To-day Harrmgton was only intensely pallid, and his face was
resolnte, stem, and calm. While the Captain yet stared at
hhn, and before he could express his astonishment, Hanington
bade 'him sit down, and at once told him the whole story.
■The moment he had done, the Captaia rose in aivfal wrath,
and began to sweax. Such oaths 1 2^0 spniee-gam imprecations
then, but tobacco of every conceivable brand, did the infm-ia-
ted old seaman pour forth iu a steady stream. The army that
swore tenibly ia Flandei-s, never swore worse than he in his
. wrath. Lafitte, Atkins, Boston, Boston merchants, kidnappei-s,
slaveholders, and slavery in the abstract and m the concrete, did
he shower with curses. Never had the Captain sach a backslid-
ing before. ' Hanington, who perhaps thought of Sterne's
Hecording Angel, with his disposition to blot out with tears
the record of what Muriel eahed good sins, let him rip away
till, as the man in the play says, he got al! the bad stuff out
of him, and tumbled into his seat exhausted with his rage.
The iutei-view lasted abont aa hour, and without result.
Hanington had thought it best to let the Captain know what
had happened, and did not hope that he could suggest any
action, as under the circumstances he could not. Profoundly
depressed with the knowledge that Mrs. Eastman's invincible
feelmg shut out even the forlorn hope of legal or anti-slavery
effort, the old man dcpai-tod with a self-imposed promise to re-
main all day on the wiiarf and watch the Soliman.
Mrs. Jilastman's feeling was indued invincible. Sbe said
nothing, but as they saw her moving abont the hoase like a
ghost, they understood from her austere and ashen features
that she could not bring her heart to consent to her brother's
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public dishonor, and Ler own related disgrace. The family
es^ df. corps wsts m^bty in her.
Muriel, meanwhile, thinking that the true disgrace and dis-
Louor would be to liave Antony sacrificed to any private feel-
ing, however sacred, was holding busy audience with her teem-
ing'brain, afl to the duty of diaregarding her motlier's feeling,
and reBolHtely_ taking matters into her own hands. The chief
conaderatiou'that withheld her decision now, was that the
captain of the Solunan might deny, when the writ was served
on him, that the man was in his possession, and that then, in
the interim of delay, Mr. Atkins woiUd procure a regnlar war-
rant, which would be fatal to Antony. Besides, she well
knew that tiie moment the fugitive was brought before a Com-
missioner, the dauiitless Harrington, thoroughly trained in the
use of arms, and with the m^ht of ten men in him, wonlii
burst into the court-room like a thunderbolt of war, and slay
every man that stood between him and the rescue, or be him-
self slain. There was good blood in the veins of yoang Muriel
the old red blood of the Achaian women who sent their dear
ones to Platea with the cry of " return witli your shields or
upon them "—the old red blood of the New England women
who armed their husbands for Lexington ; and sjrong in her
faith of the deathlessnt^ of life, she did not shrink from the
thought of his death in such a cause ; but still she preferred
that every peaccinl means of obtaining the end should be em-
ployed before the last stern issue should be made.
WMle she yet debated with herself, Wentworth arrived. A
hasty council was at once held between the three, and it was
resolved that Han-ington should wait on- Mr. Atkins, with a
proposition to buy Antony at any price within reason.
Accompanied by Wentworth, Harrington at once set oat
for Long "Wharf. It was then nearly noon, and the crowded
streets through which they passed were salient and swarming
in the vertical splendor. A few ramutes' walk brought them'
to the place of their destination, and Wentworth agreeing to
wait outside, wandered across the street to the ehippifig, while
Harrington turned iu to the counting-room.
He paused a moment in the dusky ware-room opening on
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456 HAEEINGTON.
the street, and SHrveyed its contents. Amongst other mei^
chandise iras visible a pile of dirty cotton-bales, burst here
and there with their fullness, and the white staple bulging
from the rents. The thick, musty, stifling smell of cotton
choked the air of the ware-room. It was the same smeU that
had Btifled the conscience of the merchant, the conscience of
his fellows, tlie conscience of the nation— yes, honor, duty,
courage, compassion, manhood, independence, all that was
trnly American.
Pausing only for a moment, Harrington went up-stairs into
the ofEce, and glancing at the clerks by the desks, looked away
and saw the merchant sitting with his back to him ia the little
mner counting-room, and by his side DriscoU, the steredore.
He at once passed forward, noticing, as he entered the count-
ing-room that DriscoU had a twenty-dollar gold piece in his
hand. Without thinking anything of this, Harrington nodded
to the stevedore, and bowed grayely to Mr. Atkins as the latter
turned with a sudden flush and a half scowl toward him.
" Mr. Atkins," said the young man, courteously, " will yon
favor me with a few minntes' conversation with you ?"
The merchant's first unpulse was to order him out of the
office, but Harrington's manner was at once so courteous and
so dignified that he found it difficult to treat him with inci-
vility.
"DriscoU," said he, "just wait outside a few minutes. Now,
Mr. Harrington, what is it ?"
DriscoU withdrew just outside of the open door, where he
remained standing, while Harrington took a chair beside the
merchant, who turned his obstinate, energetic face straight to
the wall before him, and linked his Augers, with the air of one
who was resolved to hear patiently all that could be said, and
not be moved by anything.
" Mr. Atkins," began Harrington, " I have called to see
you about this man AntOny. I am aware that lie escaped
from New Orleans in one of yonr vessels, and I fully appreci-
ate the difficulties of the position iu which his escape has
placed you.^ If it should happen to become i(nown, it not only
injures the credit and character of your house in New Orleaas,
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HABKISGTOH. 457
but it renders your captain liable to iniprisonmeut. Is it not
so, Mr. Atkins ?"
" It is, Mr. Harrington," replied the merchant, somewhat
disconcerted by the gentle suavity of Harrington's manner,
and by his fair statement of the matter, which were not wliat
he had anticipated.
" On the other hand, Mr. Atkins," pursued Harrington, " is
the fact that this negro escaped, as there is no reason to doabt,
from a master of unusual hardness, and only after being very
cruelly treated. Furthermore, he ciianeed to find shelter with
your sister, who feels a deep sympathy for his misfortunes, and
would be very seriously injured both in health and spirits if he
were returned to the unhappy life from which he has fled.
Nov I assume of course that you do not wish to unnecessarily
afBict this poor feOow, still less to grieve Mrs. Eastman. All
that you wish is to be rid of the nufortunate consetiiiences
which his escape is likely to entail upon you in New Orleans.
Is not that the case ?"
Mr. Atkins stared at the wall with an uneasy look, and
twiddled his thumbs.
"Something of that sort, Mr, Harrington, something of
that sort," he nervously replied.
" Exactly," returned Harrington. " Now I take the liberty
to su^;est that this matter can be readily arranged to the
satisfaction of all parties, and every unpleasant consequence be
avoided. I am commissioned to say that the value of this
man, and even twice or three times his value, will be paid to
his owner. It will be easy for you to state this in a card in
the New Orleans papers, and also to slate the drcurastances
nndcr which he got to Boston in your vessel. Everybody
will see at once that you and your captain were not at all
responsible for his escape, and this frank statement, conjoined
with your avowed willingness to reimbarse the owner for his
loss, will not only free you from all suspicion of complicity in
his flight, but will raise your credit as an honorable man in
New Orleans, and also with the conservative portion of the
community at the North. Besides, this compromise will spare
your sister and niece the real distress they will feel if the man
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458
HAEEINSTON,
is returned, and this I think yon will be willing to do if yon
can in justice to all other parties eoneeraed. This arrai^e-
ment will not only cost you nothii^, bat benefit yon materially,
besides satisfying every person iuTolved in the matter. Now,
candidly, ia not this a fair and reasonable proposition V
Mr, Atkins fidgeted in his chau- for a mmute, unable to
deny the force of what Harrington had said.
"Wen,.Mr. Harrington," he replied, "I admit that yoar
plan is feasible enough, and not unfair, certainly. But there
IS one difBcultj in the way. Mr. Lafitte is nnwiliing to lose
this man. His value is not more than tweke hundred dollars,
bnt I am convinced that Mr. Lafitte wonld not take five thou-
sand for him."
" Mr. Atkins, we will give him five thousand," said Har-
ringtou .
"But I toll you he wouldn't take it," replied the mer-
chant.
"Well, then, we will give him ten tiiousand," said Harring-
ton. ^
Mr. Atkine stared at him.
" Pshaw I Mr. Harrington, you snrely wouldn't be sach a
fool as to give that sum for a worthless nigger," he contemp-
tuously answered.
Harrington's blood grew hot, hut externally he kept cool as
ice.
" My dear sir," he said, afiably, " we will not mention the
negro. It ia Mrs. Eastman who is concerned. Your niece
will wiUmgiy give ten thousand dollars out of her fortune to
spare her mother's feelings. And surely you would not deny
her the pnviiege of comforting her mother, even were this a
mere matter of prejudice."
Mr. Atkins really felt cornered. He could not bnt see the
vanous solid advantages of this proposition. But Mr. Atkins
had considerable of the mule in his composition.
"Mr. narrington," said he, after an embarrassed pause
"suppose Lafltte wouldn't be willing to take even ten tho^
" My dear Mr. Atkins," repHed Harrington, laughing— alas!
Ho.led by Google
he fonnd it hard to laugh, poor gentleman — " do jou not see
.that if Mr. Lafitte refuses to take so extrayagant a sum, lie
wUl odIj make himself ridiculous in tte ejes of the New
Orleans people. Why, they will hoot at him 1 And besides,
they will extol your public spirit to the skies. It will give you
a name there no other merchant possesses. Just think of it I
Why, Lafttte woald be forced to accept oat of pure shame,
even were he indifferent to the advantage of having the
round snm of ten thousand dollars."
" I declare, sir, this is too preposterously absurd," said the
merchaut, growing red with vesatioa at being thus tempted
out of his plan. " To think of wasting so much money as that
for snch a purpose."
"Bnt^Mr. Atkins," replied Harrington, ;' large as the snm
is, what is it compared with your sister's peace of mind ? If
yon only knew the dreadful state of distress she is in, you
would not think so. Time her distress may be nonsensical, but
still as a practical man you will be willing to allow that we
must take human nature as we flud it. Besides, we need not
give so large a sum. We only wish to give enough to repair
matters, and set you right with the New Orleans folks.
Lafitte can appraise his slave, and regard for public opinion
will make him keep within reason. Still we are ready to do
anything rather than have you prejudiced in your business,
or your sister injured as, at her time of life, this matter would
injure her."
" I don't see why yon should interest yourself so much in
this affair, Mr. Harrington," grumbled the merchant.
" Pardon me, I am only an agent," replied Harrington, with
a sweet civility which not even Atkins could resist. " I hope
you will excuse me if I have said anything to offend your sense
.of propriety, but I only meant to suggest a way out of this
unpleasant embroilment, which I thought might not have
oeeurre'd to you, and which I am sure will commend itself to
your judgment as a practical business man, and one who only
desires fair play to all partis, I trust there, is no offence in
this Mr. Atkins."
" Oh, no. ar, a6 sir," said the merehaut hastily, with an awk-
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460
HAEEINQTON.
ward bo», ta jaw workins meanwhile with Ms embamsBment
at the deferential politeness will, which Hartinston presented
what he could not but admit was an unexceptionable way of
setting the whole matter. " So offence at all, at But—well
—what I— well the fact is, Mr. Harrinston, von know mv
political riews, which of couree you don't t^-ee with."
" We will not differ about politics, sir," replied Hartms-
ton with gracious affability.
"No, of course not, of course not," fidgeted Mr. Atkins
But this 1. the point : There has been too much (.mpering
with ,1m proi»rty m thi. country, si, and I wanl»d to .end
that man back that Southern men might see that we are de-
Toted to their mterests, and can promptly return their property
without patting them to the trouble of legal formaliaas."
" My dear sir," put in Harrington, " in what better way could
you proTe your deiotioo to the mtereste of Southern men than
by the plan I mention ? Consider how inferior the return of
the man would be to the magnificent offer to pay ten times his
™iue, publicly made, and promptly accomplished. The one
would be the theme of Ihnited complimentary mention but the
other would be blaaoned far and wide, and load and long A
Northern merchant willuig to sacrifico tea thousand delta
even rather than loosen one bond of political or business fel-
owsliip between the North and South 1 Why, it is impossible
that you should not see the superiority of this measure to ac-
compUsh the very end you ha™ in view."
Mr. Atthis thm,it his hands into his pockets, and working
his jaw convulsively, strasrled between the temptation to
yield, and the obstinate desire to carry out his original pm-
pose. Harrington saw that the crisis had come, and fearing
to irntate the merchant into refusal by his presence, he rose
Permit me to leave you to think of It," ho said cour-
teously. " Just give it candid consideratioa, solely as a busi-
ness matter, and with regard to your own interests and politi-
cal feelings, and let me call again, if it is not askuig too much,
at any time you may mention."
^ It is perfectly impossible to describe the fine tact of bear^
lag, the sweet and winnuig courtesy and delicacy with which
H.,t.db, Google
HAEEINGTON. 461
Harrii^ton conducted himself during tliis difficult interview.
If Lemuel Atkins had not been more stubborn than the un-
wedgeable and gnarled oak, ho would have soon opened to
that subtle charm, and as it was, he began to open to it.
" Well, Mr. Hanington," he said after a pause, " I'll think
of it, and jou can caJl in about — no you ueedu't," he cried,
with a sudden revulsion, tnrnii^ red in the face with passion.
" I'll be damned if I'll do it I There, It's cursed foUj, and
I won't consent to it."
Harrington's trembling heart froze, but he did not yet
abandon hope.
" Nay," said he, gently, " I trust yon will not decide hastily.
I know it may strike you unfavorably in one view of it, but if
after careful consideration you do not approve the course I
mention, why then I will submit to your maturer judgment.
Only consider it calmly and candidly, and I do not fear the
result."
" I won't," snarled the merchant. " I won't consider it at
aU."
" But Mr, Atkins "
" I tell yon I won't. Come, bother mo no more with it."
" At least, sir, give one moment's consideration to the suffer-
ing your sister is in."
" Oh, damn my sister 1 What do I care for her suffering.
Let her suffer. I tell you, I'll send that black scoundrel back
in spite of her aud you, and the whole pack of you," he roared,
purple with rage, and shaking his fist at Harrington.
" Mr. Atkins," said Harrington, with an impressive solemnity
which cooled the merchant even in the mad heat of his fury—
" jon know the nature of Mr. Lafitte as well as I, for you have
had dealings with him. I pray you to consider that if you
send that man baek, yon send him to his murder. Murder by
the most merciless torture, Mr. Atkins. Can, yon bear the
responsibility of that ? Now think of it coolly."
" I don't cai-e for his murder," sullenly growled the merchant.
" I'll send him, whether or no."
Hamngton saw that the case was hopeless.
"Mr. Atkins," he said, with touching gentleness, "do not
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463
HARBINGTON.
decide this matter in anger. Pardon me, if I have said any-
thiug to offend you, and pray think of this ^^in "
" Pye heard enough," returned Atkius. " Let me hear no
more, You have my final decision."
" At least," replied Harrington, mournfully, " think of the
^k"''^"^ J^^ ^^^ ™*^ '^^^^ ''■''™ P"'^'''' "P'"'*"^ ^''ill change
Ike old Sew England opposition to slavery may arise again even
m Boston. Do not commit yourself by such au act as this so
that a few years hence men may judge you harshly. Think of
what yonr children will say of you if yon leave them a name
spotted with disgrace. Think of that."
" It is a matter of perfect indifference to me what my chil-
dren will say of me," coolly replied the merchant, with a yawn.
' Hark you, Mr. Harrington," he cried, rising to his feet and
sternly facing the young man. " I'll just give you my idea of
this slaveiy question, and one which involves my whole action
m this matter. When aay nation concludes that it is for the
best interests and prosperity of tlie country to make men aiaves—
I don't care whether those slaves aie white or black— ;io mm
nor body of men, nor aoy other nation, has a right to interfere
With, or in any way prevent that nation's making them slaves
and keeping them in slavery. White or black, it makes no
difference. This nation or any other nation, it's all the same
Statesmen have settled that-.oIder heads than yours or mine
That pnnciple of national right has come up, as a question of
national nght, before the sober, sound, conservative statesman-
ship of the American Union, aqd that statesmanship has
answered it."
'' How has it answered it f" put in Hamngton, quickly,
fixing his stem and searchmg eyes on the fluelied face of the
merchant.
" How has it answered it ?" repeated Mr. Atkins, with a
sarcastic air. -" Well, sir, how has it answered it ?"
"It has answered it nith the lo^i of Decatur & gum, under
the walls of Algiers !" thundered Hinmgton, with a look of
Mr, Atkins, at this itunnmg demolition of his i)osition,
turned red, and then palt and tlitu all sorts of colois and
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HAKRINGTON.
463
finally eat iloi\-n with a working jaw, and a face of utter con-
fusion.
" That is the way the sober, sound, conservatiye statesman-
eliip of the TJnion answered that question of national right,"
sternly coutiuued Hamngton, " It answered from the blazing
muzzles of Decatur's cannon, that the nation that undertakes
to hold innocent men in slaTery is a nation of pirates. By its
own answer it stands condemned. Every State in this Union,
tbat holds innocent men in slavery, is an organized piracy.
The Unioa that sanctions the crime, and makes it possible, ia
another. And you, Lemnel Atkins, trampUng on your sistei^'a
heart, in your scoundrel zeal to throst an innocent and wretched
man into that pirate hell from whence his own bravery freed
him, yon are the vUcst, because the meanest, pirate of them all.
The most degraded slaveholder is white beside such a wretch
as you. Never let me hear agam of Southern infamy. You,
a Northern merchant, kidnapping your brother — kidnapping a
man whose right it is to say with yon, in his prayers to Hea-
ven,' Om* Father' — not respecting even the mi,rerable forms
of pirate law in your infernal zeal for wickedness — what
wretch is there, however black, that does not whiten into vir-
tue beside you 1 Lafltte himself sees in you a depth of mean'
vice to which his self respect will not permit lAn to descend
God forgive me that I lowered myself to pruno my s,peedi,
and curb my heart iud stram my conscience m the <^fFort
to vnn and bnbe you from yoni ghastly crime a^amst man
kintl Go on with it novi Blacken down mto yonr pit of
miquity Wrench frjm the world of livmg men to which
he yet chugs the poor victim of jonr acciiised avaiice and
send bim back "va yon anl yoai muckrike tube sent Sim"-
to shriek hLi life away under the bloodj su>uige So live
your life and goiging on ^<mv miseiable gams til! jou drop
into your grave maj you never know the fate it is to fed
the cnr&es of the puoi I
Gazing aghast with gha'iy eyes hke oni' fascimted into
the white and tuiihle countenance of Hnrnii2;ton nith a
honible blmd look jn his own v a^ Atl ms 5it petrified
undei the low magnetic voice m which Ilcp wind and rain
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464
HAEKINGTON.
and fire and hail, these words burst upon him. A moment,
and Harrington had gone ; and rising to his feet, and shaking
all over as in an ague fit, with that horrible blind look upon
his furious fa«e, and a mad■^iog slaver gathering on his loose
and livid lips, his sick-man's voice Jtrained and gasped into
speech, such as might unnaturally tear its way in agonizing
rage from the throat of one organicaOy dumb.
" B-y G-a^ud, I'd sarcnd hm ba-eck," he drawled agasp,
" e-ff I-i ha^ed t-a be sa-ent t-a harcil I"
I would send hun back if I had to be sent to hell. With
these words, which sounded as if they wore torn from him, as
the fabled mandrake was said to be torn from the earth, with
low shrieks and dripping blood ; and which seemed to cling as
they were wrenched away, as the demon vegetable was said to
cling when dragged from the soil, he tottered backward, and
fell with a heavy slump into his chair. There he sat gasping,
with his face turned to the wall.
Driscoll had slunk away into the outer office as Har-
rington left the counting-room, and the young man passed
down into the street without seeii^ him, and croHsed to where
Wentworth was standing. The young artist gazed with a
shocked expression into his colorless face as he approached
*' Heaveas ! Harrington, how white you are I" he mur-
mured.
" I have failed, Richard," returned Harrington in a deep
and quiet voice. " He has no heart, no reason eveu. Trade
has eaten the one and the other out of him. I made my plea
as well as I could. I appealed to his mean self-interest, so
that even he felt the force of my appeal, and wavered, Bnt
he refused me, and I flung upon him the bitterest words that
ever passed my lips, and left him."
Wentworth looked in silence on the marble countenance,
white in the shadow of the slouched hat, with the vertical sun-
light jnat tonching the beard below.
" I am glad, Harrington," he said, after a pause, " that you
flung bitter words upon him."
" No," replied Harrington, mournfully, " do not be ghid.
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HAKEINGTON. 4f)5
for it cannot gladden me. Tet I do not regret what I said to
him, nor do I think it were hatter unsaid. Let him pass. He
lies, the saddest wreck I know, stranded on the shores of my
pity. Mai- organized, misedQeated, the imperfect infant iaken
irom his cradle, and every imperfection developed by the hap-
hazard social eidtnre, and all else uadevelopod ; you hare him
at last, what he is — at once this product and the yictun of a
half-barbarous state of society. Pity him. He might iaye
been better had he lived in a better day and among better men."
"Well, no doubt," musingly replied Wcntwortli, "Like
Dr. Johnsou's Scotchmen — caught young, Bomethiag might
have been made of him. In tie mean time, blast his eyes !"
They wandered on a few steps tt^ther. Suddenly Harring-
ton stood still.
" There's no use in the Captain watching . the Soliman," he
said. " The man is secreted somewhere, and will probably not
be taken on board till the vessel is ready to Bail. Besides, it
may awaken euspidon if anybody should happen to know Bl-
dad's connection with me, and see him hanging about the brig.
Let's go down to hira."
They turned and went down the wharf
" What do you think of boarding the Soiinmn again ?" asked
Wentworth.
" Better not," Harrington returned. " Antony is not there.
It wonld only put them on their guard. The sole chance now
is the writ of habeas corpus."
" And how about Mrs. Eastman ?" said Wentworth.
" We must disregai-d her," HaiTington replied, " She will
thank ns by and by for doing so, especially if we succeed in
savmg poor Antony. The Soliman does not sail tiU Tuesday
night, BO there is plenty of time. We will return presently,
see Muriel, and then I wi!! at once procure the writ. If I fail
with it, the last thing is to search the Soliman as she is on the
point of JeaTing the wharf, opposition or no opposition."
" Good," exclaimed Wentworth, with a proud thrilL
They went on in silence, and presently reaehed the Soli-
man. The stevedores were busy lading her, and all was acti-
vity on board and on the wharf. Looking about, Harrington
20*
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i06 HAKRINGTOM.
presently cai^ht sight of Capta n Fislici on the opposite patc-
mcnt, ami at once weat over to him Tht twi joiucd Went-
wortli iu a couple of minutes md they all weut up the wliai'f
together.
"Now, Captain," said Hanmgton as they walked on, "I
am going on to Temple btieet and I nUl be at your house
soon. Then yoa and I wdl go tjgethei for the writ — so wait
for me.-"
"All right, John," returned the Ciptam who had been pre-
iously told by Harrmgtun that Mii Eastman was to be dis-
Half way up, the Captam atoppel aud fixed J,n admiring
gaze on a pretty little sad boat, sloop r^ged, which layalong-
Bide, and which belonged to him.
" Pooty, aint she ?" he remarked, ogling his property.
" Yes, indeed," returned Harrington, " we've had many a
pleasant sail in her in the old days."
He sighed vaguely, and they went on, up the busy wharf,
and mto the noise and bustle of State street. It was the
great mercantile street of the city, the old street of solemn
memories, the proud street of Sam Adams and Paul Revere,
the brave street of the Boston Massacre, the dark street of
the rendition of Sims. Over those stones once wet with the
sacramental blood of Attucks, under the solemn eye of the
morning star, the child of his race, surrounded by sabres, had
gone to the vessel a Boston merchant volunteered to take him
to his murder. Side by side, amidst the weeds and rabble of
traffic, burst the black slaver flower and bloomed the bright
historic rose.
The merchants were thick on 'Change as the three com-
panions came up the street, and there was much lifting of hats
and fluttering and swarming, which for a moment they could
not account for. But presently, as they entered the crowd,
they met a figure which explained that decorous commotion,
and involuntarily made them start and for a second pause. It
was Webster. Not, alas ! the dark Hyperion, splendid in
Statued majesty, of a younger day, when those stem hps
thundered the speech of fi-eeraen ; but him grown old, his
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HAEEINGTOK. 467
leonine and massive features austere and sullen-grim, fire-
etaiTeil in swarthy grain with ba^ ambition and battered by
the storins of state, jet kingly still in ruin, and with some
relic of their former sombre beauty. He' lifted his hat to a
gentleman as they came up, and for an instant they gazed
upon the rugged and malignant grandeur of that imposing
countenance, with its vast brow and iron majesty of mouth,
aud its oiTemous and torrid eyes. A moment, and they
had gone by. Wentworth looked awed, the Captain's face
was rigid and atwist, and Harrington was blind with tears.
" To meet him at such an hoint as this I" he gasped. " He
who has done it all ! He with the seventh of March upon hia
face, and you aud I and all of us with its shadow on our lives.
One speech for freedom then, and the cloud of this anguish and
dishonor would have passed away. That speech, half-written
in hia desk, never spoken, bat in its stead the speech for
slavery, which has made kidnapping a law. And he, fallea
forever, standing there amidst those mack-rakc rogue.s, fallen
from all he was, fallen from all lie might have been, sunk to
herd among the thieves of men ! Oh, wreck of wrecks— grief
of griefs — ashes and dust and ruin 1"
Touched by the solemn passion of his sorrow, they did not
speak, but went on in brooding silence, regardless of the pass-
ing crowds around them. In a few minutes they reached the
head of State street, where the Captain silently nodded and
left them, and turning in the opposite direction, they went on
to Temple street.
CHAPTER XXXII.
It was about one o'clock when they arrived. After a hasty
dinner, Muriel witlidrew to argue matters with her mother,
while Harrington went into the library, and WentwortL who
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i68 HAREIKGTON.
was suffering from the heat, started for home to change hia
clothes, pi'oiaisiiig to meet hia frieud soon at the house ia
Chambers street.
The coni'eroncB with Mrs. Eastman lasted nearly an honr,
failed of result of coarse, and without tolling her mother of
her purpose, Muriel went mto the hbi'ary, and gave her de-
cision in favor of instant action.
Harrington immediately put his revolver in his pocket, and
took, in case of iioed,a hundred dollar ui bilIs,whioli Muriel, with
her usuil fore'ifiit had drawn from the bank thit morning
Thn'cmghf nhpfl s^hlHlh
mh arm anl k 1 h aal talLed f 1 \ tismis
H w 1 anl elm tu ly 1 th ti
tnle&adipl whlfldlik t gekdw
>« 1 1, b ai Ih 1 J w t 111 dl t a d 1
try but m tl 1 bl f tl m m m s f b ht
wild Id had th ladlyftt llyli mfm
Bhaj t hap m il n ly hud 11 d H ^ tch d
tl m h t 1 al linl m tl t tt ti n f ma
t sad flan h ghtn "fs as th mutall h pes tl y
a md mw 1-p siEofhi wmd li thy
w u 1 mb bl li f 1 dy p d gl tt g
m as f m lit u. t,dlm a dt [jh f m th b
Th th y tl t hed d 1 d -lit f fi wh t h
mull mth ilnlatllu anl ns m d by t n
mt D ty I pla th y had h j. 1 u t th t m f
d tjm g t mi tentlj m It aw j n f i-ast 1 1 t n
In ththyw algh-tf uhnglislkg
out of their manes. B Jow the zeJith, b f hun, a 1 ta y
cloud shaped itself into a vapory hydra ; beyond, another
wore the aemblanee of some mongrel dragon of the air ; and
all were sphinxine, monstrous, daazling, wonderful — a pksmtas-
magoric rack of intervoived chimeras.
With such a pageant bright and wild above his head, and
with a feehng corresponsive to it all within Lis mind, he
strode on through the quiet streets of the neighborhood, and
arrived at his Louse in Chambers street. For some reason or
other, the Captain Lad not yet arrived, and, expectmg him pre-
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HAKliiNGTON.
4Gd
sently, after a minute's kiadly chat with liaiiDah iiiid Soptiy,
he weEt iiito his own apai'tmeut.
The afternoon son lay bright and cheerfiii within the room
where he had sprint so many sweet anil studious hours, but the
fivst thing he saw on entering, brought night and winter on
his heart. Below the em^ity pedestal, the bust of the beloved
Yerulam lay shattered to fragments on tlie floor. His head
sunk npon his breast, and he stood sadly gazicg upon tlie rnin.
He did nut grieve for the loss of the treasured statue ; he did
not even remember to think how the accident could have oc-
curred i oil considerations were lost in tlie feeling of mournful
significance which swept over his bnming brain, as he brooded
on the broken image of the majestic Lord of Civilization.
A few moments he gazed npon the wreck with a face of
marble; then, suddenly, Me features became convulsed, and
his eyes filled with tears.
" It is well, it is well I" be cried, in a ti-ansport of passionate
sorrow. " Oh image, why should you stand there when the
shamed land has lost her breed of noble blood, and civilization
sleeps, and tyranny darkens back upon the world 1 Well
may yon lie shattered, for all that is human and holy is shat-
tered too. Why should I keep jou in this base city, where
all that is noble rests in the grave, or lives a dying life in the
forlorn grapple with hell I . Fade, fade, lai^ memories of
sdnts and martyrs — drop, statues of heroes— melt, phantoms
of old honor from the pictured wall — away, and yield your
places to the forms of downs and knaves 1 Come, yon
artists," he raved, in passionate bitterness—" come, you dilet-
tante bastards — come, you anatomies, whom- the ghost of
Angelo mocks and scorns — here is work for you. God I the
serpentrj and maggotry of Power are all before jou 1 Choose
from them — choose from them— monld us statues of slavers,
paint US pictures of kidauppei's, to fill the vacant places I
Down with the just and great — up with the email and vile 1"
Quivering with the tempest of his agony, he tottered away,
and flinging himself into his chair, covered his face with hie
hands.
A few minutes ti^ailed by in deep stillness. Gi-adoally ha
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470
HAKRINIJTON.
became calm aud hia 1 ir J dr pj 1 ftom Iji'i tvI ite t J n
rowful featmps
"I waste my heart m ^ticf he mournfully murmuied
"It mil pass It will pa*^ Oh wmtet of Slavery you wUl
pass, aud the spiing timf of Preed<Hn wiil emer^ It is but
a season--onl> a season Patience patience patience
He sat for a httle while then rose gathered np and laid
out of sight the fragments of the statue bore the pedestal up-
Btairs, and returning resumed his chair
The minutes were wearing on m deep silence when a low
knock came to the door.
"Enter," cried Harrington, looldiig up from his mournful "
musuig.
The door opened and revealed the grotesque and sloven
figure of Bagasse. He had on an old swallow-tailed coat, and
■wore his usual dingy cap, with the visor turned down, under
which his swarthy, upturned face, with the mustachioed, lion
mouth open in a curious smile, and the nose adorned with the
horn-rimmed goggles, pointed with suave inquiry at Harring-
ton, while the hand performed a militarj salute.
" Why, Bagajise I" cried Harrington, smiling, and rismg
from his Chan- to cross over and shake hands—" how are you ?
Come in. I'm glad to see you."
" Ah, Missr Harrington," returned the old soldier, entering
and bowing low with a quick motion, over the hand he grasped
m his, " I am vair glad to see yon. I haf not see you for so
long, Zea I fancee you are seek, and I call zoo be vair sure
zat it is not zat keep yon from ze acadamee. How is yon
helt ? Br-r-r [ Sacreblm ! but yon haf been seek, eh V he
cried, with a sudden commiseration, expressed by a shrug of
his shoulders, a lift of his eyebrows, and a startled gi-imace of
hia features, as he noticed the whiteness of Harrington's coun-
teuance. " Mon Dka ! you is vair pale wis you eye circle wis
ze dark color I 0 my fren' Missr Hamngton, was is ze
mattair wis you V
A little moisture gathered in Hamngton's eyes at the
pathetic anxiety of the old man's look and voice, but he smiled
cheerfully, and shook his head.
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HAKKINOTON'. 471
" he replied, " I am not sick. T am as well
as I have ever been. Come, take a seat."
Bagasse removed his cap, and sitting on tlie sofa, kept his
nptnroed visage pointed in dubious in<|uiry at Jlarringtotk, who
bad reBumed his chair.
"You know I have been married," said Harrington smil-
ingly-
" Marry I No I Man Dieu, no I I haf not hear zat !"
eselaimed Bs^asse, with a start, and his bright eje glowing
from a flashed visage.
" Yes," replied Harrington. " To that beautiful rich lady
Mr, "Witherleo told you of."
Bi^asse turned the color of heated iron, partly with joy at
this intell^ence, partly with wonder at Harrington's know-
ledge of what had passed between himself and "Witherlee.
" By dam I" he exclaimed suddenly, " I am so glad I haf
ze desire zoo dance like ze v^r devaii 1 But how you know
what zat pup Witteriy-— ex-cnse me, Missr Harrington, but
zat is vair bad young man^ — ah, vair bad I— how yon know
what he say zoo me ?"
" No matter, Bagasse," returned Harrington, smiling, " we
won't talk of that. But my wife heard of what you said
to him — yon remember ?— what you said you would tell me if
yon were her — and she said that to me. Yea, she did."
Bagasse, with his grotesque ferruginous face all aglow with
a dozen emotions, sprang up with a stamp which shook the
room, dropped into hie seat again, and slapped his heart with
his band.
" Hah I" he hoarsely cried, " it is superb ! By dam ! I
sail fly. My heart is too big for his box. Aud zat beauti-
fool, rich, vair, fine ladee saj zat ? Sublhne ! She is great,
she is grand, she is more zan ze great Eiaprese Josephine of
ze great Nap-oleon. Ah, Hypolitc Bagasse my frien', you
haf ze biggest compliment I sail evair hear 1"
" You must see iny wife. Bagasse," continued Harrington.
" She feels very grateful to you, first for defending me from
poor Witherlee's talk "
" SaereP' growled Bagasse, interrupting, " I cat«h zat pup
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4T2
HAEEINGTON.
Witterly in iDy acadatnee once more, and I break him in two
pieces oyair my knee I"
■" Ko," said Harrington, gently, " for my sake, don't touch
him. He has been punished enough already. Say that yon
won't touch Lim, Bagasee."
" Missr Harrington, I do eyairysing yon want," replied the
pacified fencing-master. " You say let Witterly off, I let him
off. I treat him wis civilitee."
" That's right," returned Harrington ; " do. But as I was
saying, my wife feels especially grateful to you for having
given her the charming idea of making that speech to me, and
she wants to see yon, and know yon, and thank you herself.
So the first opportunity I get, I am going to take yon to her
house."
Bagasse tamed ewarthy-red at this, and looked embar-
rassed.
" Pardon me, Miasr Harrington — es-cuse me, sir please "
he said, with suave shamefacedness, bowing low as he sat.
" But it is too mush honor— vair many too mush. Yon beau-
tifool, vair, fine, ladee wife, she is so high, she is so dislingae,
she is ze count^osa, ze dnch-ess, ze queen. She is so far up like
ze beautifool sun. I am so low down like ae paving-stone ze
sun shine on. Yon zink now ! I am ze poor old fencing-
mastair— ze man zat eat ze garleek and drink ze brandee-
bottel— ze ugly old devail Bagasse, so low down. Br-r-r-r ! It
is not propair zat I make ze viseet zoo ze vair, line, beautifool
rich ladee-wife — J, zee poor way Sow down child of ze people.
Saerehka, no ["
" Oh, Bagasse, Bagasse," said Harrini^ton, in a tone of good
aatured ehidmg, " fie upon you to talk in that way ! Sup-
pose my wife is the sun, as you say. Well, the sun is a demo-
crat. The son shines as sweetly on you as on the emperor.
Now my wife is like the sun in that particular at least. Ah,
Bagasse, she, too, is a child of the people, and she will be proad
to know a man who could make the"manly speech you made t
She is not a lady who respecte coats and bank-stock,' but heart
honor, manhood. Come, now, you fancy her a bit of a Marie
Antomette. Not at all, Bagasse. Think of that dear child
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HAEKIHGTOH. 473
of the people w'hom Frenchmen love — Josephine. That is a,
better image of her.. Don't say a word — yon shall visit her,
and then you'll see how much at home she'll make you feel,"
All which Harrington said in French that Bagasse might
perfectly understand him. The old man sat, with a touched
face, loolring at the floor for some time after the young scholar
had ceased to speak. Looking up, at length, with an unsteady
eye, he saw that the sad, introverted expression had rctnmed
to the pallid features hefore him. In fact, Harrington's
thoughts had dropped away to the trouble on his mind, and he
was wondering why the Captaio did not come.
" Misar Harrington," said Bagasse, in a voice, a little lower
and hoarser than usual, " yon make me vair proud — you do
me vair mnsh honor. But ah, my joay haf mush melancolee
wis hhn, for you look so pale^ so bad. Ex-case me, Misar
Harrington— hut was is ze mattair wis you ? Why, yon look
so white, so sorrowfool ? Ah, tell yon old Baga^e zat he may
say ze leetel word wis comfort In him ! Tou marry ze beauti-
fool, dear ladee wife — man Swu, ! zat sal! make you so happy
zan evairybody. Why zen you haf zat face ? Zat is not ze
face for ze new husband— sacj-efiieM, no I Now why is zat ?"
Harrii^ton paused a moment before replymg, struggling to
repress the agitation he felt not only at the rude tenderness of
the old Frenchman's words and manner, bnt at the aching sense,
it brought him of the grief that had clouded his sweet and per-
fect happiness.
"Don't ask me. Bagasse," he faltered. "Kind old friend, I
wish I could tell you, but there are reasons "-- — -
A low knock at the door made him break off in the midst
of his sentence,
"No, don't go," he said to the fencing-master, who had
moved to rise. " Come in," he ciied.
The door opened slowly, and to the ■ astonishment of Har-
rii^ton, Driecol! the stevbdore entered. Harrington smiled
vaguely, and bent his head with ^n absent and wondering sur
in reply to the abashed and awkward bow the Irishman made
"Why, Mr, Driscoll," te said, slowly, " I didn't expect to
Ho.led by Google
*** HAEKIKGTOS.
see yow, though I'm glad you came. Take a chair. How are
yoa?"
"Pnrty well, thank ye kindly, Mr. Harrington," replied
DriscoU, taking off his old straw hat, and wiping his fore-
head with his coat sleeve, without looking at the yonng
Harrington, wondering at his curious air of awkward bash-
fulness, and begiunmg to feel a rising perturbation, as he
remembered that he had seen the man in Atkins' office not
long before, blankly stared at him. He was a strong, thick-set.
stooping man, dressed in coarse canvas trowsers, all stained
with pitch and dirt ; a soiled red flannel shirt ; and a short
frowsy old coat with large horn buttons. He had what is
commonly called a thoroughly Irish face— which means not the
Irish face of Jeremy Taylor or Edmund Burke, but the face of
an Irish peasant after despotism, political, social, and religion^
has wrought on him and his ancestry for a certain period, ^ving
him some abjectness, some lawlessness, some clownish ness, some
stupidity, some insensibility, an aspect of hai-d work and poor fare
and low condition, and degrading his forehead, cloadiug his eye,
lowering his nose, making his lips loose, his gums prominent,
his cheeks scrawny, his throat scraggy, and barbarizing the
manhood of him generally. Such, with the addition of tnu
and freckles got from labor in the sun, and also the grime and
'sweat of that labor, was the visage of Driscoll. The only other
thing Harrmgton noticed about him was that he kept his left
hand tightly clenched while he wiped hig face with the rough
sleeve of his right arm.
" Well," continued Harrington, after a pause, " how goes -
it, Mr. Driscoll ? How is your wife ? And the children ?
And how is the broken leg? Won't yon sit down ?"
'■ They're ail purty well, aur, thank ye kindly," returned
Driscoll, ducking his head continuously as he spoke, and moving
up to the table. " And the leg's sthrong as a post, glory be
to God, sor. Sorra the word o'lie in it, but it's yerself that
it's owin' to, and divil a leg I'd have to stand on this rainit
widout you, Mr. Ilarriagton."
" 0^1 well," said Harrington, smiling ; " I'm glad you're
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HAEKUfGTON- 475
over that trouble. But you came up to tell me something, I
suppose. Did — did Mr. Atltins send you ?"
" Deed he did not, sur," replied Driscoll. " I kern up to
make bowld to ask ye something, Mr. Harrington, if ye
wouldn't think it an offlnce, snr," he added, with a furti™
eidelook at Bagasse, who eat with an aptui'ned fa«e of eurioua
interrt^tion levelled at him.
" Certainly not," replied HarriDgton. " No offence at all.
Ask away. Never mind my friend, there."
" Bad scraa to me if I wor to mind a frind o' yours, sur,"
returned Driscoll, coming close up to the edge of the tabic, and
looking nneasily at Harrington. " It's a quistion I'll make
bowld to ask ye, sur."
" Well, ask on," said Harrington, blankly gazing at him,
with a mounting color, and his heart beating painfully with a
blind clairvoyant sense of what was coming.
" Are je," confldeutlally asked the stevedore, with consider-
able bnrr on the "are" — " are ye opposed, sur, to it's beiii'
done ?"
Harrington started so violently, and turned so pale, that
Bagasse sprang to his feet, and Driscoll's face grew stupid
with surprise.
" To what being done V gasped Harrington. " Speak
quick. Tell me what you mean V
" Are ye opposed, sur, to ould Atkins aendin' off the durty
negar? That's what I mane," said Driscoll.
"I am!" cried Harrington, with a Ughtninr; look at Bar
gasse, and a wish that he was out of the room.
Driscoll looked at the table, and looking at it, slowly swung
up his clenched left fist like one pelting a pool, and hurled &
twenty dollar gold piece ringing on the cloth.
" Then I'm dommed if I'll do it," he exulfjngly howled, with
a thump of his fist on the money. "Hurroo for the bridge
that carries us over, and it's you that wor the bridge of goold
to me and the ould woman and the childher in the black hour,
Mr. Harrington. Ould Atkins and his money to the divil,aiid
bad scran to him and his for an ould robber, for I'm doniraed
if I'll do wan thing that ye are opposed to, sur. .Arrah, bad
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476 HAKRINGTON.
look to him, aud may he niver kuow glory, for the black thafe
o' the world that he is ; but it's yerself that dhressed him down
thremindous this bUssed day, Mr. Harrington. Troth, but it's
the good blood that's in the Hirrim-tona and k' a 1 'mi
rors they wor m th U m t j nst I th 1
lie in it !"
With which h hly j pi I t D II ted
outburst ceased dhflltwp hhtdf fist
with one coat- lee 1 tl w th th th
Han-ingtoa fmh tht dthh tnl
heaving aud h fl
" Bagasse," h d wily bekid ^htl
me " He t pp 1 t h d by tl 1 k f t d ymp
thy on the gi-ot q f f th f g mast N h
cried, " don't ^ &tywthm 1 hUknw t — y
shall know wh t t th t la k II m B t t 11 m h
pureued, speak F h t 11 m th h f
soldier, tliat y w 11 b t! w d f this to y
living being, f t thilmtlkitl
the gi'aTe,"
Bagasse stn 1. 1 1 th 1 tl j t 1 t 1
energy.
" I swear it," he hoarsely cried in French. " Let me know
it, for I cannot bear to see you suffer, and if I can help you, I
will 1"
" Good I" exclaimed Harrington. " DriscoU, attend to me.
Where is that negro 7"
" They'ye got him, sur, in the cuddy of a boat down on
Spectacle Island," replied the stevedore, frightened into con-
ciseness by the stem voice and flaming eyes of Harrington.
"Who are they that have Mm? Mea employed by At-
kins ?"
"Yes, sur. given o' thim, sur. It's me that wor to be
eight."
" Seven men paid by Atkins. Who are they ? Steve-
dores?"
" Stevedores and sailors, sur. Twinty dollars upiece tlicy
get for it, sur."
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HAEEINGTON. 4:17
" What are tliey doing with him there ?"
" Howlding on to him, siir, till the Solimaii sails. She's to
heave to, and talie him on board, sui-."
" When does the SoUman sail ?"
" To-morrow morning at break o' day, sur."
" To-moi'row moniii^ ? No — you mean Tuesday night."
" 'Deed I don't, sur. Siie sails to-morrow morning, if there's
a breath o' wind."
Harrington drew his breath. Lucky I fonnd this oat, he
eeid to himself ; to-morrow I should have been too late.
" DriseoU," lie continued, " are those men armed ?"
" They've got their knives, sur."
" No pistols ?"
" Sorra the wan, sur."
"Do they stay in the boat all the time ?"
" 'Deed they don't, sur. Wan or two o' thim stays iu her
turn and turn about, and the rist o' thim plays cards in the
little room o' the house on the island."
"The house? Oh, it's a hotel. Does the owner of the
house know they have a negro in the boat 1"
"'Deed he don't, ear. The negur's tied hand and fut, and
kep" in tlie cuddy."
" What does the owner of the house think those men are
there for 1"
" I don't know, enr. Captain Bangbam paid him well for
the room they have, and he niver comes nigh thim at all."
" How long were you there ?"
" This morning early, I wint down with thim, sur."
" How eame you to be ap m tlie city this noon ?"
" I kern up, sur, with Captain Bangham. He wint dowa
to the island in a boat of his own, along wid na this morning
early, and stayed wid us a wliile, dhrinkin' like a tish, til! he
got purtj dhrank. So I kem back wid him to help him man-
age the boat lest he'd get dhrowned, anr."
" How came you to come up with him, and not a sailor f"
"We dhrew lots for it, sur, and I was the wan*."
" And you were going down to tlie island again ?"
" Yis, sur. I was gom' in the fii'st boat that wiat down the
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*io HAEamOTON.
harbor. I wint in to odd Atkins to take the pay, for tho
others had got theirs, and there wasn't enough ia hie pocket
for me when he paid thira, so he tonid me to come in whio
I kem up from the island, and begorra, I tuk him at his
word."
" Did Atkins pay those men himself?"
" Deed he did, sur. Early in the momin' when they wmt
down, he was there, and paid thim."
" This Captain Bangham is the captain of tho Soljman, I
" Yia, snr."
" Where does the boat lie that has the negro on board."
" At the wharf o' the island, sur,"
" This room m which the men stay— where is it ?"
_ " It's m the outbuilding, sur. A little room nixt to the
kitchen, low down, wid the doore openin' on the ground, an'
wan step for the stairs, sur."
" Good. Now, Driscoll, you are not going to help these
men any more t"
" I'm doramed if 111 do it, whin you're opposed to me doin'
it, snr. Troth, I heard irery word ye said to the ould thafe,
and says I to meself, if 1 do wan thing that Mr. Harrington's
set agmst, and he the gintleman that befrinded me and mine
itt the black throuble, may the divil fly away wid me."
" Driscoll, take that gold piece back to Mr. Atkins, and tell
him you've thonght better of it. Don't say another word to
him but that. Have no quarrel with him. Say that, put
the money on his desk, and leave his office. Do you under-
stand ?"
" Yis, sur. I'll do it."
■' Good. You shall not lose by it. Take this from me."
Hari'mgton drew from his pocket the money he had
received from Moriel, and counted him out twenty-five
dollars,
" Here, Driscoll," he said, holding out the bills to him,
" Oh, begorra, Mr. Harrington, but I'U niver take it from
yoa. PlaJse don't offer it to me."
" Driscoll, I insist upon your taking it. You shall."
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HAEElNGTONi iiQ
He seized the stevedore's hand, and pot the inonej' into it.
" There. Don't thank me, but attend to what I say. Dris-
coll, that negro is a poor lahoring man hke jou. He has aa
good a right to his freedom as jon have. When jou joined
those men to keep him in that boat, job were guilty of a great
siu. Kever do snch a thing again 1 You saj jou are grate-
fiil to me. ThcE be kind to negroes for my sake. Be kind to
them for jour own sake. You are a poor man, and you ought
to be kind to the poor."
Driscoll looked abashed and touched. Perhaps the words
moved him less than the solemn aud gentle voice which uttered
them.
" Sorra the harm 111 ever work wan o' thim, sir," he mur-
mured. " Deed, I didn't know it was a sin."
" And now, Driscoll," pursued Harrington, " I have reasons
for wishing this matter kept secret, and I want you to swear
to me that you will never speak of this to any person what-
ever. Never tel! anybody that yon were in that boat — that
Mr, Atkins liired you — or that you came here and told me.
. Never speak of this at all in any way."
" I'll swear it, sor. Deed I will."
Harrington turned to his shelves, and took down a Douai
Bible, its covers blazoned with a golden cross.
"Driscoll," said he, "you are a Catholic. Here is the
Catholic Bible. It is opposed to slavery. There have been
great men of your ehiireh who hated slavery. The Pope him-
self, has cursed slavery. See, here is the cross of your church
on the cover. Take this book in your hands, and swear that
you will never speak to any person, man or woman, of what
jou have done, of what passed between Mr. Atkins and you,
of what has passed between us here. Swear it."
Driscoll reverently received the Bible ia his hands, took the
oath, and kissed the cross.
" That is aD," said Harrington, receiving the Bible, and
restoring it to its place. "I am very grateful to you for having
told me of this, Driscoll. You have doue me the greatest good
that any mau could do me."
Driscoll stood in silence, awed and wonder-stricken at what
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45U HARRINGTON.
liad passed, and subdued by the majestic gentleness of Harring-
ton'fi demeanor. In a moment he took tlie gold piece from the
table, and moved to the door.
" God save ye kindly, snr," he faltei-ed, ducking his head.
" Good bye, Driscoll, Shake hands."
He awkwardly took the frank hand Harrington outstretched
as he came over to him, felt it grasp hia own as never gentle-
man's had grasped it before and with a wild aad woful enthn-
siaam heaving within him and repressed by shame and awe,
he torned away and stole out at tlie dooi the young man
opened for him.
Harrington closed the door and all nnnimdful of Bagasse,
turned away nith clasped haudi and a fate of solemn
ec-staay.
"Oh, bread cist upon the waters he muimured, "is it
thus 1 find you after many da}s f I helped him m his ti'ouble,
and he pays me back with life 1"
His head sunk upon his breast, and he stood with closed
' eyes, rapt and still, his heart swelling with gratitude and
Suddenly, from the baiTel-organ in the street, a strain of
martial music arose and flowed in upon the dreaming sileuce. It
was the thrilling tonal glory of the Marseillaise. The thought
of his heart came like flame to the broad-nostrilled countenance
of Harrington, and he stood with kindled features and dilated
form, while the prond and mournful mu^e swept like the
march of an army around him. On and on in burning mea-
sure, rolled the sad and conquering lilt of liberty, and darken-
ing down in fire and tears, voice of the passion of mankind,
voice of the wrongs and woes that redden earth while the
good cause lies bleeding, the weird strain arose and rang in
the clear cry for the sword, and wailed in the mournful glory
of those final tones whose melody is like a hymn for the dead
who die for Man.
Harrington rushed from the room- The Frenchman, left
alone, stood with a dark glow on his iron visage, and the red
light of battle m his eye, thinking of the old days of military
ardor, the old wars in which he had stormed on Europe, the
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481
old Paris folding in iier bosom t!ie ashes of the Emperor, the
old France he himself wonld never see again.
The flash of memory the mnsic brought him was pal-
ing into sadness, when Harrington, returned from the street.
" I have paid him, and sent him away, Bagasse," said
the young man. "After that an-, I wanted to hear no
more. Now sit down, and I will tcE jou the meaning of all
Bagasse took his seat on the sofa, and Ilarriugtou sittii^
beside him, in a few words told him all.
"And now." he joyfully said, in conclusion, "everything
begins to Ughten, since I know where this poor Antony is to be
" Ah, Missr Uarrin'ton," returned the old man, smilingly
regarding him over an upturned chin, " zat face, you haf isnow
ze face of ze new husband ! Ze dear ladee wife will lof zat
face so gay. Missr Harria'ton, yon are ze most grand zhentil-
man I sail evair see. Yon fed kind for ze vair old devail
himself. Ton get white, you get ze dark ronnd jou eye for
zat neeger man so mush as he was you own self. Tfobody, not
ze white man, not ze neeger man, not no man at all, feel so
bad for you like you feel for evairy ozzer man. Why is zat ?"
Harrington's maxillary muscles wrinkled, and his teeth
flashed in an amused laugh, while his face grew scarlet at this
complimentary recognition of the human kindness that was so
mighty in him,
"Bi^asse," said he, "don't praise me for having the feelings
of a man. If yon could have seen the poor fellow when I found
him in the street, and if you could have heard his account of
the life he had been living, you would feel as badly as I did.
But here's Wcntworth and the Captain at last," he added,
catching sight of them from the window near him, as they en-
tered the garden gate.
They came in presently, and for a moment there was a con-
fusion of salutatioos. Then the Captain, having been introduced
to Bagasse, turned to Harrmgton.
"John," said he, "I'm awful exercised about keepin' you
waitin', but "
21
o.led by Google
"Never miQd," interrupted Harringtou. "I shan't try to
get the habeas corpus writ now. Let me tell yon what's hap-
pened." ,
" By Jupiter I" cried Wentworth, reddening at the sight
of Harrington's kindled face. "Antony's got offl GoodI
Hurraii 1"
" Hold on. Not so fast, Eichard," retnmed Harrington.
" Antony's not off yet, but he's going to be. Now listen."
And in a few woi-ds he gave them an account of the inter-
view with Driscoll.
" So Antony's in the cuddy of a boat at Spectacle Island,"
he added, concluding. " And now, see here. Thank fortune
Mra. Eastman's feelings can be spared, Antony saved, and yet
the whole affair be kept strictly private. I shall wait, Captain,
till the dead of night, when those fellows will all be asleep^
and I hope drunk — all except the one in the boat — and then I
shall run down in your Graft, land, and capture the captured."
"Bravo I" shouted Wentworth. "By Jove 1 I shall
laugh fit to kill when we get hold of Antony."
"Wersaid Harrington, jestingly. "Why, are yon going?"
" Am I going !" roared Wentworth. " Of course I am. Do
you think I'd let you go alone ?"
Captain Fisher, who had been sitting in silence, with his
winter pippin face agrin, burst into hearty laaghter.
" By the spoon of horn !" he exclaimed, " but this is a leetle
the richest idee I ever heem tell on. Bnt, John, look a-here.
Siven of them fellers you know Spos n you find tl em m tl e
boat all t<^ether Ike B owns cows w leu he lad I ut n I
What'll you do then ?
"It's not likely repl 1 Hirnngton Men love the r
ease too much to be out m the n ^ht when f s not ne e sary
For my own pait I th uk Atk ns )a manage 1 th s matter
like a fool. Two nen no Id have an wered h a i uj ose per
fectly, and he pu e ^ht th e I can t nnair e what he was
thinking of,"
Mr. Atkias was th nk n^ of Harr ngton f Ha -i n<H^ n
could but hais known t The m ment M fjastn an ha I
told him tbsi Antony 1 ad been theltt ed n her hous a feel
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HAEEINGTOM. 483
ing had come to him that the young scliolar, whose dauntless
temper he had.some notion of, might possibly attempt a rescue,
and he took his measures accordingly. This aeconnted, too.
for Antony not being on board the SoHman.
" But look a-here, John," pursued the Captain. " Satan's
niver onready to play ye a trick, an' there's no countin' on
what's likely with him. Now sposin you find them siyen fellers
in the boat when you git down ?"
" In that case," rephcd Harrington, gravely, " there's no-
thing for it but a desperate fight. I shall teil them of the
illegality of their proceeding, and try to frighten them into
giving up Antony. If they refnse, I shall fall on them like a
fnry. Here's Bagasse has been training me for years, and I
think I should do credit to his training even with seven men.
"Missr Harrin'ton," swd B^asse, with a grimace, "yon
do me one favor. No, pardim, I take zat favor. Look. I
go wis you, Zat is settle. Zen if zo seven men wish zoo fight,
zey sail fight wis yon and me, and zey find oat, by dam, zat we
is fourteen I"
" Bravo, you old Gascon 1" cried Wentworth, slapping him
on the shoulder. " Let him go, Harrington. Don't refnse."
" But, Bagasse," said Harrington, " you have a wife, and I
can't consent that jon should put your life in danger on
my affair."
" Chut 1 poo, poo I aniwired the fencing mastei Ex-cuse
me, Missr Harria'ton but zat is feedelstick I 1 in haf ze
beantifool, dear ladt,o wife a 1 1 I take care ot you for her.
Good. Zat is well Row I go wis yon
"Don't deny him, Harrmgton,' pleaded Wentworth.
" Come, let's arrange the rest of this matter. Where do we
start from ?"
" Long Wharf, at about twelve o'clock," replied Harrington.
" Whoever gets to the boat first will wait for the rest. Then
about landing. Faith, it won't do to land at Long Wharf, if
any of ns gets hurt. We shall have the night police asking
questions if they see one of us limp. Besides, the less seen
of Antony the better. We must land at South Boston,
where it's lonely as a desert."
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484 HAERINGTON.
" And walk ovor to the city !" asked Wentworth, witli a
luugb.
" Ho, wc must have a carriage," replied narrington.
" Kow who's goiug to drive ths carriage out and wMt there
with it ? I can't, for I must go in the boat."
" And I must go wis yon," said Bagasse.
" So must I," added Wentworth.
" It's me then," said the Captain, getting all awi'j. "Now,
that's a pity, for I want to be with you. And spoain there's
a fight. Then you're one able-bodied man the less."
" See," put in Bagasse. " I tell you. We get John Todd
for to drive. You pay him money. Zen he go. Zat John
Todd lof money."
" Bravo I" cried Wentworth, " That's an idea. I'll g^vo
Johnn\ tea dollars for the job."
" 1 hardly like to have another party in a matter so pri-
vate," demurred Harrington.
" But he needn't know anything about it," said Wentworth.
" He needn't even see Antony, When we land, I'll go up and
get the carriage, letting him stay behind, put Antony in, drive
np again, take Johnny on the box, drive in town, set him
down, and go on to Temple street."
" Well," said HaiTington, " that may do. Now who'll get
the carriage ? We want a close carriage."
" I'll get it," returned Wentworth. ■" I know a man who'll
let me have one. I'll attend to all that, and to engaging
Johnny. Where shall we have the carriage stand ? Say Q
street, Good. We'll all go armed, of course."
" Certainly," replied Harrington, " I will take my revolver."
" And I my pistols," said Wentworth,
" I sail carrec ze good cavalree sabre wis my pistol," said
" And 111 take that hickory stick of mine with the lead
knob, and that'll give any feller a headache that wants one,"
said the Captain, with his head ominonsly askew,
"Cfood, everything's settled," said Harrington. "Now,
gentlemen, tonight at twelve. We shaJI get there by two at
the latest, if there's any breeze at all, and probably at one.
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485
You'd better all meet here, and go down together. I will
meet you at the boat."
" Agreed," said Wentworth. " Sow, Bagasse, you and I
will go after Johnny."
" And I home," said Harrington, " 111 meet you again at
twelve."
He lingered a few moments afl«r they had gone, musing
with a kindled and exulting faee, and then with a sadden
yearning to pour out his gladness to Muriel, lie seized his hat
and left the room. In the yard lie happened to tliink of the
dog, and he went for a moment to the kennel. The animal
was lying on its aide, apparently asleep, and Harrington was
just about to turn away, when he chanced to notice that its
eyes were partly open. Surpi-ised a Uttle, he bent down, and
laid hie hand on the animal. It did not move. The old dog
was dead.
He arose, and stood for a moment with a vacant and reel-
ing brain ; then turned, and with a dazed feeling, went into
the street and on his way. The clouds were still bright and
wild in the afternoon sky, and tottering fantastically into ever
mutable strange shapes, fierce, dazzling, sphinxine, wonderful.
He gazed at liiem far a little while as he strode on, until op-
pressed by their instabiUty, and with a dark sense that they
were like an untranslatable hieroglyphic of something that had
been, or was, or was to be, and that could not be defined, he
turned his eyes from them, his heart throhhing thick and fast,
and his burning brain giddy with a fullness of Ufe which, like
the clouds, seemed to reel in dissolution, and yet, like them,
did not dissolve away.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
A LOW and melancholy melody was dreaming from the organ
through the corridors, as Harrii^ton entered the still and
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*aO HAEB1NGTON-.
darkened dwelling. He was about to aso.end to the library,
when the parlor door opened, and Mrs. Eastman, severe and
ashen, beckoned him, with a ghostly motion, to come in. He
entered at once. Closing the door behind him, and folding
her in his arms, he looked tenderly into her still and grief-worn
fac«, while tlio low music brooded above them in aerial and
solemn lamentation.
" John," she whispered, " where have you been ? John, an
awful feehng has been with me since you left the house— a
feelii^ that you are domg that which I cannot bring my heart
to have done — that you have already done it."
She stopped to pore with a ghastly gaze into his coun-
tenance. In the dead stillness, tranced into deeper stillness,
as it seemed, by the low creeping music, he came into rapport
with the cold, dark terror that froze her soul, and he felt his
blood curdle and his hair stir.
" If you have done this," she whispered in a tone that
thrilled him, "it will kill me. I cannot survive it. Tell me
that you whom I love so dearly — tell me that you have not
been so cruel to me. Have you done it ?"
" Mother," he said "sadly, " be at ease. I have not, and I
never will. Bnt, oh I my mother, yoij who dread this dis-
grace and dishonor, think of the disgrace and dishonor it
wonld be if that wretched fugitive were sacrificed by us I
How can you bear to think of that ?"
She shuddered and clung to him, wildly a^tated, bnt smil-
ing ghastlily with the joy she felt at the assurance of her
brother's safety from public obloquy ; and still the low,
lamenting strain above them dreamed sombrely in hollow
murmurs through the darkened air.
" I know it; it is terrible," she whispered. " But it must be.
Yes, it must be. Hate me — despise me — never look at me again ■
but it must be so, and I am glad — very glad. Glad m my
grief ; full of grief, but glad. I am weak, I am degraded,
but it is for his sake, for my brother's sake. Oh, I bless you,
I bless you that you have spared him, and me through him ;
I bless you. Hate me, despise me, if you must. But he ia
safe ; the little child I played with once ia safe ; my brother
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HARRINGTON.
487
whose Bins are many and grievoos, be is safe, and I am
glad — I am glad 1"
" Peace, peace, my mother I Let it go,"' he erifed. Do
not speak so to me. Do not load yourself with reproach.
Oh, I feel with yon, and I am not removed from yon. There
there— let it all he forgotten. Time wttl efface these sad
hours, and we will "be happy again."
She gently withdrew from his embrace, weeping, and
turned away; and gazing at her for a moment, full of mournful
pity, he left the room, and went slowly up-staivs, with the sad
music deepening around him.
It stopped as he entered the room, and Muriel rose from the
organ, and came swiftly toward him, clad all in white, and
noble in her beauty. He clasped her in his arms as if he had
not ae«n her for a year.
" Joy 1" she cried, looking at him with brilliant eyes, and
a faint color mantling her face, " you come back to me with
a changed look 1 Toa have succeeded."
" Not yet," he replied, proudly smiling, " but we are going
to succeed. Come, let us sit together, and let me tell you
what has occurred, and my plan."
They sat dowu, with their arms around each other, and he
told her all, and what he was going to do. She listened to
the end in dreamful silence, smiling faintly, and occasionally
bending her graceful head m assent to his designs.
" Now, what do yon think ?" he asked m conclusion.
" How does the enterprise strike you ?"
" I Uke it," she replied, half gaily. " It is bold, sunple,
and I think yon cajinot fail of success. Go manfully then
to the little battle for the good cause, and come back with
your shield, or upon it. My soul goes with you."
He folded her to his heart, proudly smiling.
" Dear friend, brave wife," he said, fondly. " Thank heaven
that we ai'e wedded for life's duties and life's ends ! Oh,
blessed love that has not shut ns in a private iusury, careless
of liberty and justice and the tears of man I Yes — I will go
on this enterprise of mercy, and I feel I hhiU succeed."
They sat in fervent commumon tiU the twilight feU.- Emily
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488
HARRINGTON.
came m as it began to darken, and they had jast finished tell-
ing ber what was to be done, and were chapnnn- her to say
nothing of it to Mrs. Eastman, when Wentworth arrived in
great spirits.
" Ail r%ht," lie cried, upon entering. " The deed is done
and I feel like Benvenutd Cellini when he drew his rapier, and
fought the whole gang of the Pope's soldiers, single-handed
pinking a coaple of dozen of the rascals. Ha I that was an
artist for yon I Oh, Benvenuto was a regular brick, he was "
^^' Now, Richard I Slang again," chided Emily.
"Slang? I deny it," returned Wentworth, impudently
Now what did I say ?"
" Yon said Cellini was a brick," said Emily, laughing.
"So he was," retort«d Wentwortli, gaily "A regular
brick. Call brick slang ? Why, it's one of the finest epithets
in the English language I What other term conld you use that
IS half as expressive ? And what was langu^e made for but
to espresa our ideas with adequacy, propriety, and elegance?
Oh, by Jupiter 1 but 111 stick to brick like mortar !"
" So you have Johnny," observed Harrington, laughing.
" Yes. He's to start from the stable at about half-past
twelve and drive over to Q street to bring home a small fish-
ing-party," replied Wentworth, with a satirical air. " A party
that goes down the harbor to cat«h hlaek-fish."
"I hope the party won't catch a tartar," said Emily iest-
ingly.
" Nor a cold," added Muriel. " But there's the tea-bell."
They arose and went down to the tea-room, talking and
langhing gaily.
After tea they returned for a short time to the library
Presently, Mrs. Eastman, feeling unwell, left them, and retired
for the night, attended by Muriel, who, fiUed with compassion
for her poor mother, went with her to her chamber and stayed
till she was asleep.
She was gone about half an hour, and returning to the
lighted library at the expiration of that time, found tiie three
chatting together.
"Now, r am going to leave you two," said Harrington,
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HARRINGTON. 489
rising, and addressing Wentworth and Emily. " Muriel, I feel
weary with the excitements of this day, and as I shall want all
my freshness and vigor for this adventure, I am going up-staira
to sleep an hour or two. Kichard, 111 see you at the boat."
" Good," responded Weatworth, " Au revoir."
Harrington bent his head smilingly to them both, and pul^
ting his arm around Muriel's waist, drew her with him from
the room.
" Bleep will be twice sleep with you near me," he tenderly
murmured, bending his face down to hers, as they went up the
stairs together.
" Ah," she said, with pensive playfiilness, " I was afraid yoa
were going to leave me in exile while yoa slept, and I do not
wish to be away from you now."
He did not answer, but clasped her a little closer to him,
and they ascended in silence to their chamber.
She silently lighted a sconce upon the wall, which shed
through its ground-glass globe a mellow moony light upon the
pure and virginal room, with its furniture of white and gold,
and its cloudlike couch, overhung with a drooping fall of filmy
gauze Then gi ig to a closet t,he Uidk from thence a slender
cryitai flak tovaed nitli gjllen arabesqnes, and broi^ht it
to hmu
See' she t-a.il My Greek fnend Kestor, made me a
present of thi'5 more than a year ago It is Greek wine.
Tes — the vme that gave us thi? g ew from the soil of the
ai ti jue heroes I hive kept it for so ne great occasion, and
to-ni^ht bef jie you go van and I will drink it."
Smdmt, be took the Ilisk from her hand and held it to the
light, iookmg at the clear rosy-golden glow of the fine liquid.
"It is beautiful," he eaid. "Too beautiful to drink. One
might fancy this such wine as Leonidas and the Three Hun-
dred drank at the last banquet before they sallied from the
immortal pass and fell upon the hosts of Xerxes, It looks fit
for the veins of heroes."
"And heroes' wives," she playfully added, with a charming
smile. "Therefore, yon and I will drink it, pledging the
But we must have some glasses."
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She rang, and presently one of the maids came up, went,
and returned again with half a doien small goUels on a
tray.
"Well," said Muriel, laughing as she looked at the tray
' with mx glasses we can drink pledges. Good. Now let m
sleep."
Turning the light low, she unbound her tresses and
lymg down with him, kissed his eyelids with soft and dewv
kisses.
" Sleep sweetly, my beloyed," she murmured. " It is the
foorth night. A yery little night, but the «fth ni.hl will be
sweet and long, and full of rest."
He did not reply, but gently kissed her, and with their souls
stilled with inorable tenderness they sank away together in a
slumber, innocent and sweet as that of childhood.
The room was dim u-ouud that tranquil rest, and the faint
light softly showed the forms of the reposing lo»er«. Locked
in each other's arms, with the snowy Jims drooping from the
golden ring m the ceiling in long and Sowing festoons around
them, they la, like some fair picture of immortal love and
peace shadowed within the clear depths of a magic mhror in a
light of darkhng dawn.
An hour molted slowly by and durmg that hour folded to
herbjiom and breathing tie 1 aim of her p„ted lip, the rest
of Harrn.tonwai sweet and deej Tlen«itian„e dream
outgitw up in 1 is brum from the obi mn of h s slumb r
He was runn ng cautnuslv along avaultel archway of the
rude Saion arch lecture t ward a (light of Sre or sa stone
nep. whiehlcdupintotlejpeiair ItwasmbajonEng
hnd m some I me of trouble and he was , young S.xoS
He saw himself dothed m a shirt brown tunic belted at the
waist and reaching neailv to the knees which were bare and
with leatl er bu>kin« on hia feet As it often happens in
dreams he both was that hgure and saw it It was himself
but utterly unlike himself both in aspect and character The
head was nnc TCied saw by sh rt daik enihng I air the
1*1 \°'Y°' "■■ '"'• "" "■• "■"' «■ «1 =-on
with the cheek, rather wan , and the figure was that of a
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EAKKiRaxoM. 491
sUght and strengthleas stripling. A sense of general carnage
was in the air of the dream, anil it seemed as if in that form,
he was seeking to escape from enemies. Too gentle and weak
in nature to feel violent fear, he had only a timoious and mno
cent apprehension of his danger ; and in this mood rnnnuig
on to the steps, and ascending, suddenly the opening of the
archway filled with armed warriors, and as h( shnnk on the
point of turning to flee, their long axes fell apcn him and he
was slain.
He awoke instantly, not with a 'itart Vut bv fmpi undo',
ing his eyes. The dream a v v d 1 ut not f I tiul tnd
waking without alarm, his fi t and o 1 thon^ht w that it
was a memory of an old a ata n wh ch he 1 id hved on
earth in a different organizat on than he ha 1 ow and had
been killed joung. For a n on ent this feel i, can e le^uly to
him, and then sensible of wh e he wis, an 1 of the swtet fact
breathing balm so near his own, his eyelids closed with m me-
Bistible drowMness, and he slept on.
His sleep was undisturbed for abont half an hour when
another strange dream slid upon his mind. He wi'f sittmg np
awake in a bed alone by himself, and though the bed «as m a
room, it was yet, by some singnlar abiquity, whii h still was not
incongruous or wonderful, on the sidewalk of some unfamihjr
street. Sitting upright in it in his nighf>i:lothes m a broad,
grey daylight, and looking over his shoulder he saw far far
away an illimitable waste of snow, out of winch thou ands
upon thousands of piteous and imploriuf- negro tateb looked
toward him. He had the feeling that these were the faces of
the thirty thousand fugitives who at that period had fled to
Canada. While he gazed at them, he beheld coming down
the street on the pavement, a long procession of the Boston
merchantss, all familiar to him, respectable and cosy citizens
whom he often saw about town, or on 'Change They all
wore their usual garb and aspect, but as they patted bj his
bed tliey all changed, yet without seeming to chinge, into
medieval Jews, with long avaricious faces and dio iping bi ards
and stoopii^ shoulders, and eyes bent obhquely upon the
ground before them. Every hand clutched a moaey-bag, and
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HAKKINGTON.
of ShjlTOt So Ita; p.«,l hta, „d ,1,01, H., tad p.s,i^
ch..g.d, jetdHi not „„ to cbang., Into money-gteed, L,
» tl,oj,.„t by, mi ,»„med their prerions f„„„, JhouKh
without seenune to Mom, then, when they h.d peached »
crtam vague hmit. AU this did not m the least snrpriie liim
OP seen, ert«>pdin.py, op unusual, but wea.ylng at last of tU
mlepnunaWe and monotonous ppocession, h« sighed and awote
Her dpoammg face was still neap hhn, and the cool balm of
hep bpoatu touched his sens, with sweet and sad ecst«,
Ihete was a moment of unutteraWe weaij sorrow in which
the bittcp symbolism of his tWou lingered wilh him, and tlien
with a feclmg of melancholy comfort, his he.yy eyelids drooped'
and he slept agam. ^ '
He had a consciousness that he h.d slept long, and with
tim in his mmd, his sleeping soul awoke In a third dream. He
had left his body and was in the ai, of the chamber. Spirit-
ually hght and poised, with the delicious sense of being able
to float upward at will, he was looking down upon tlie co.cli
with the , met room around him. He saw his body lying
folded m hep apmi, the face sleeping close to hep own He
.aw how that face looked to otheiu, and felt a dim wonder at
lis stp.ngen.ss to his own ey«,. His g.» dwelt with c.h.
and holy tenderness, undisturbed b, any regret, upon the beau-
tiful and noble face of his beloTcd, sleeping in its shadowy
tpcsses^is curved lips slightly parted, and .11 its clear and
grmelui lines composed in slumber. A thrill of silent btaing
and farewell stoic softly thpongh hi, being, and with the feci:
ing that he must go, ho slowly floalad backwai-d through the
wall, which made no more resistance than aip. A tpance fell
upon him as he passed thpongh, and seemed to last though he
had no sense of time, till he found himself alone in a tich and
holy garden. The stpange floweps were thick and deep and
wondepfnl m mystic beauty, and though of many pare and lively
colors, the still and tender living glory that brooded on all gave
them something of the pioh pallor of flomr.scen in tome imagi-
nary peupl Md pm-ple moon%ht stiHep aod liiipop than msjts
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HAKEIKGTOH. 493
from any moon of onra. Or rather, they SLemed pale with their
own ecstaay of heayenly odor, for they filled the f^ft, srlf-Iurai-
noua air with a fragrance which dKSolved thrcugh all his being
In ethereal and tranquil raptnre. Filled with celestial bliss, he
wandered on through the purpureal glorj of the garden, under
theholy shadow of strange trees, and amiilst the mjiiad blowing
clusters of the flowers, while the songs of birds sounded m liquid
melody around him, and yet did not break the divine silence
of the solemn Paradise. And wandering on, ho turned a
curve of the path, and came upon the gracious presence of the
man he loved. He knew the majestic front, the vast brow,
the sweet and piercing eye of Verulam, and like a younger
brother yearning with affection, he drew nigh and laid his
head upon his breast. The arms gently enfolded him ; the re-
gal face bent over his with a tender and benignant smile ; and
thrilling with the slow sweetness of an unutterable ecstasy, he
seemed to sink into the swoon of the soul, and the visiou waa
gone.
Her arms had fallen away from him in her slumber, and noise-
lessly rising as he awoke, he sat on the edge of the couch, and
leaned his damp brow on Ms hand, his brain light and clear,
his frame drenched in the renewing dew of sleep, and throb-
bfcig with the remembered bliss of his dream, and one still
solemn thought distinct in his mind. He was to die I The
meaning of that dream was death I A slow thrill ran throi^h
his veins as he thought of it Yes that was its meaning. He
wa'- to die I
He sat still for some minutes w th that thought m his
Xnind Gradnilly the bweetne s otthe dream tailed ftom liim
merged m a ghostlj sense ot the quctude around him He
locked up with a feeling of awe The dim lamplight famtly
lit the pure and sladowj clamber All wa vigue motnn
less mdefimte & othing seemed d atmct or living but that
stiange and awful comiUion too strong ftr any doubt that
he was to die
Turning slowly he gized upon the face of ^turiel T! e
last hngernig rehc of the sweetness of his dream failed from
him as he looked up u lier Hls yuung w te How could he
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494
HAEKDJGTON.
bear to leave her! Four dajs of heavenly joy with her—
heavenly even in the sorrow J:hat had lain upon the last; four
little days— the divine dawn of a long life of happiness— only
four, and this waa to be the end I The golden gates of a
beautiful existence, affluent of use and influence and fame,
just opened to him with her, and now to close forever. To
lay down all the deliciousnesa, the joys the hopes the am
bitions of life, for the happinesb of two poor negro brothers
For their poor trampled r^hts to abandon life— th above all,
to resign her I To die, aad leate her on earth ilone hei
bnrating day-spring of happy and noble love quenched m the
black and blotting cloud of death To die— to die and leave
her.
Icy cold, yet with a burnmg brain and slow thrills creeping
through the horror of his vems, he turned away and sat still
Hark I In the silence came the distant sound from a steeple
striking the hour Ho Loanted the slow strokes. Eleven.
He looked at his watch It was eleven o'clock. In one hour
more he was to go
He looked around the qniet room Life never seemed to
Inm so sweet as then In contrast to the stillness and seck-
sio^ the peaceful comfort and warm luxury of the restful
chamber, came the vision of the bare and open night upon the
bleak waste of waters, and he in the lonely boat with those
rude men, thinking of the gentle being he had left behind him.
A sense as of one who shivers out under the winter stars, and
turns to the warm firelight and the cheerful faces of friends
in the cosy glow of home, came to hma, and with it came
temptation like a voice Turn from this purpose— turn to
love and life ! Tou have been staunt.h and true in humau
kindness to its uttermost demand, but your life belongs to her
and not to another Well to save this man from his doom,'
but not to fling away your life for a single service, when
ampler service needs you. Think of her suffering, think'of her
mother's grief for your loss, think, too, of the friends yon are
leading into peril. Perhaps your warning includes them —
think of those who will mourn them, and for their sakes turn
from this hopeless purpose. Turn, for this is warning and not
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HAEEINGTOH. 495
fate — or go, still in safety, and plead with those men for the
fit^tive'e release— threaten them, menace them with civil
penalties, and perchance they will yield him. But if they do
not, all is done that you are called to do, and life is more than
yon are called to give ; so turn away from them, and tell your
friends you cannot risk their safety, and come back here to
long years of happiness with her.
Sitting in icy silence, the temptings rose within kia brain,
clear as if a still and gentle voice had breathed tkem, and min-.
gled with a siren sense of honeyed music that seemed to circle
romid and ronnd him like an airy coil. Suddenly he sprang
np with a spasm of heroic grief and agony, and stood quiver-
ing with his eyes covered by his hands. Iler eyelids unclosed,
and lying still, she looked at him. The nest instant, she
leaped from the couch and clasped him in her arras.
There was a long pause of awfiil silence, in which he stood
with head nplifted and his eyes covered with his hands, while
she clung to him, her face still between its thick length of
waven tresses, and gazed with dilated eyes into his half-hid
featnres.
" My beloved 1 My own belored, what is this ? Was it
a dream ? Be calm — be strong. I am with you. I hold
yon in my arms. No evil thing can come to you when I am
near. Love clasps you, my dear and gentlS lover, and no-
thing can harm you."
At the full, tender silver of her voice, the shadows and the
terrors rushed from his soul. ITia hands fell from his still and
pallid features, and putting his arras around her, he gazed
into her face.
" Hush I" he murmured. " A moment I I will tell yon in
They stood in silence gazing at eaeh other.
Presently his arms fell from her, and awiftly gliding away
she turned up the light, which at once filled the room with
mellow radiance. Ilurriedly, he bound on his shoes, put his
pistol in his breast, and sat on the couch beside her.
" Muriel," said he, " you were right j I have had dreams.
Listen."
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l3t> HAEKINGTON.
In a low, dear voice, Le toid her all. The narration occu-
pied sereral minutes, and during that time aiie listened with a
still face and lips parted. He ceased at length, and there was
a long pause.
" What does this mean ?" she murmured. " Do you take
these dreams as augury ?"
" Muriel," said he with solemn and passionate tenderness,
" do you remember what yoa said when we lay down to slum-
ber ? It comes again to me now. You said ; ' It is the fourth
night; a very little night; but the fifth night will be sweet and
long, and full of rest.' Oh, my beloved, sweet and long, and
full of rest may it be to you I Sweet and long', and full of
rest, it will be to me. To-night I go from you. Can yoa
bear that I should go when I am not to return ? For the
dream meant death, and I am going away to die."
One spasm of oyermasteriiig pain convulsed her features,
and vanished. The next instant her face was calm, between
its fall of shadowy tresses ; her lips were lightly closed ; her
eyes were fixed on his. Bat a torrent rush of memories over-
swept her— memories of omens and presentiments that had
mysteriously foreshadowed this ; and a mighty feeling rose
within her, and told her that this was the voice of the prescient
soul. Not for an instant did she think he was deceived, and
the calmness thSi sank upon her spirit was the shadow of
eternity.
" To die 1" she answered, in a slow, rapt voice. " Going
away from me to die."
Her lips closed, and pressing one hand to her bosom, she
lifted her clear, still eyes to heaven, and her countenance
became pale and radiant as though it ga^ed upon the face of
God.
There was a long interval of terrible silence.
" It is true," she said at length, m low, abstracted tones,
" he is to leave me. Our happmess foreran the ages. The
world could not sustain it. The music was too divinely sweet
to last, and it melts back from earth I Well, well, I know
it now. The days have been filled with tokens and prophecies
of this, and now I understand them. Yes — ho is to die 1"
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Slowly hpT "jfeti jjrLW baj,'k to him He fiat motionless, his
face pallid m. &hado« ga/jng witli mournful awe upon her clear,
pale features
" Have you had prcspntiments of tliis Muriel ?" he aalicd.
"Tea,' she ansneied m d, hushed vjiue , ' there have been
maay, TIb} cnwd upon me low "iou remember what I
told jou of that mornii^ when I thout,ht you loyed Emily —
how strai^iy your face smded oc me m my reverie from
that immeasurabii, distance I know now what it meant.
That was a ve»l( d prevision Oh ray beloved, you smiled upon
my soul from the depths of Etermty I
A slow ( Did thrill went through hira at the solemn tender-
ness of her Toite and fcr a tew moments his ciind gathered
blankness Gradually the prefiguratiocs of this hour which
had filled his hte for days p<iist came to him
" I, too hive had spintuil warnings of this," he murmured.
" My soul ha^ told me mieh lately ton remember my sad
fancy when I left yju on Sunday mm mug that I was not to
return. And on the evenmg of that day the event occurred
which separates us."
" Yes," she responded, " and that was the morning when I
dreamed that you were gone from earth, and were looking at
me as I moved through life alone."
Again a long silence succeeded.
" To wake from our happy sleep thus," she said, suddenly,
" is it not strange ! Is it not awful 1 And yet I realize it
all. I realize that these are our last moments together. To
deny these presentiments is impossible. Yes — it is destiny. Is
it not ? Is there any escape for us V
" It rests with my will, Muriel," he answered. " I believe
this dream is only a warning. If I stay here with you I
am safe. It rests with me to decide whether I will go or
etay."
" Can nothing be done ?" she hurriedly asked. " Is tliere
no other way of saving this man f "
" None," he answered, " It is too late now. The ship
sails in a few hours. There is nothing but for me to go
at midnight and rescue Antony, or leave him to his fate,
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4yo nAKKISGTOK.
and Eoux to death or raadiioss. Oiic tliinj,' alone aliaiies
" What ?" she asked.
"The snfferiug my death will give joui- mother," he
answered. " It may kill her."
" Aud if yoa die her brother's infamy will become known,"
she replied. " Public mquiry will follow, and all she wishes
kept seci'et will be exposed with the added guilt of your death
upon it."
He did not answer, aud she remained silent for a few
moments, with her soul wildly stirred.
"Oh, Lemoel Atkins," she eiclairaed at length, "if you
only knew the harm yoa have done as 1"
" Pity him, Marie!," answered Harrington. " Both he and
Lafitte are the cause of this disaster. Let us pity and forgiye
thero. They are the Tictima, and not we."
"I do," she responded, clasping her hands ; "I pity and
forgive them,"
" It only remains for me to decide," he said, after a pause.
"If I go to-night I feel I shall save Antony. But I
think it will not he done without a struggle, and I shall
be killed. On the other hand is your mother's grief, and
ell the consequences of my death, and if I stay these will be
spared."
" What do you decide ?" she said, quickly.
"Muriel," said he, tenderiy, "I have not spoken once of
what yon lose m losing me, for I know your nobleness, my
wife, and I know that you can resign me to duty."
She flung her arms around him, her eyes glowing and her
features kindlmg into flushed and exalted loveliness.
" Do not think of me," she said in a clear and fervent voice.
" Oh, my husband, we were wedded m love for Uberty, in love
for all mankind, and we cannot be divided. Think alone of
duty—for death can only separate us a little while, and we
are wedded in love forever."
He gazed at her with lit eyes.
" I will be worthy of you," he answered, with proud fervor.
" The Hereafter is ours. Many an earthly marriage is but
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HAEEINGTOlf. 499
a tent of the n^ht, folded by death, and never to be raised
again ; but oars is a temple eternal in the heaTcns."
Drawing her to his bosom, he pressed his lips to hers ; then
rose to his feet, and stood before her.
" My dnty is clear, Mnriel," he said, in firm, determined
tones. " What is all suffering that will follow my death, com-
pared with the suffering and the wrong my death will prevent ?
Think of the scene we saw at Roux's house, when Emily
wislied to buy hie brother. Think of Antony being dragged
back to torture and murder. Think of that poor brother's
agony when he learns that Antony has been recaptari,d.
Think of all the misery and the outrage now impending. It
muat not be. And beyond it all is the dnty I owe my
country and mankind. I have sworn to balk tyrants— I have
sworn to stand up for the helpless and the poor. Sever yet
has a man suffered wrong that I could prevent, or gone unauc-
cored when I could succor him. I^ot now shall the weak and
friendless find me a dastard in their cause. So then "
He paused, stifled with sndden emotion.
"So then" — she repeated, looking at him with a still
countenance.
A rapture of color blazed npon his pallid face, and ho flung
up his arms.
" 80 then," he cried, in a ringing voice, " I must say like
him of the old Commonwealth, 'To heaven, my love, to
heaven, and leave you in the storm 1' "
Her eyes flashed, and she rose to her feet with the rich
blood glowing in her kindled features.
" Brave heart !" she passionately cried, " one hour of life
with you is worth annihilation I Away with grief— let it
never come nigh me I I swear to yon, Harrington, never,
when you are gone, shall one pulse of sorrow sth- within me —
never shafl one tear stain the lustre of my soul's pride in you !
You die— die ?— no 1— it is not death, but life ! It is the life
of life to die for man I"
" Ay !" he exclaimed, with rapturous fervor, " I feel it so.
It is life to live for man. It is tho life of life to die for him.
It is sweet to die for one's conntry, and to-night I die for
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300 HAKKraGTON.
mine. Far ia the future I see it — ^my own dear land, my
America, t}ie land where all shall be free and equal, the land
of lovers and of frieuds. Oh, my land, of yoa I dream, for
you I have hved, for you I die !"
She stood gazing at him as he poured forth these words—
her face white and radiant, her eyes brilUant, her hands pressed
to her bosom, which rose and fell in quick pulsations.
" And for yon," he cried, as hia eyes rested npon her, " for
my love of you I die. Oh, my wife, 1 love you greatly, or I
could not leave yon [ I could not love you ti>nly if I failed in
love for liberty and justice. Dying for them, I prove my love
for you."
With a low, adoring cry she was in his arms, and clasping
each other, they moved to the centre of the chamber, with
sweet ami passionate words of affection and farewell. The
burning moments of that last sabUme communion sped swiftly
by, and the time for the earthly parting drew near.
"It is the last banquet," she said, with a bright smile.
"To-night is your Thermopylte."
" Ours," he quickly answered. " Ours, for you, too, die.
Tour death is to be divided from me — a sterner and loftier
death than mine."
" Tea," she answered, with solemn fervor, " it is indeed my
death. My heart is prond, my soul is filled with joy, but I
die, for life will never be truly hfe again till I meet you in the
land of the asphodel. So be it. 1 do not qnail. For you
for mo, it is the old Achaian hom:."
" Tor you, for me," he fervently responded. " I await you
in the Hereafter. My life will be but half divine until you
come. Now we must part."
She clung to him for a moment, tlicn withdrew from his
arms.
" Come," she said, taking up the flask, " the last pledge.
Ah, wine of the land of Leonidaa, little did I dream we should
pour you to the pledge of the immortals ! But the old Greek
hour — the festal hour of death has dawned.
With a quick, deft blow on a marble console, she smote the
top from the flask, and filled the six goblets with the rosy-
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HAEEINGTON. 501
f, lie n e Each took on^ Hulding ij the "lass her pale
face lit th a la^zr ^ a le 1 e fine est 1 jq ver ug and
the long br git 1 ks flo v „ ve 1 er w i te ye tn e her
noble hgnre n ts de! nar al andon wore tie oil Greek
Bacchanal grace and gl w
The w n ftu the land of tl e Th pe Hun Ire 1 3 fit to
pledge liberty's defence," she gaily said, " Come, let our first
pledge be — In Liberty's Defence 1"
" Good I" he answered. " In Liberty's Defence 1"
The goblets clanged, the pledge was drank, and the glasses
were flung down. They took up two more.
" And now ?" she said.
He looked at her with a, sweet and solemn face
"And now," he answered, "forgiTenesa and compission
For all injuries, for all baseness, for all tiamplmg of the nth
upon the poor, for all trampling of the strong upon the weak —
forgiveness and compassion !"
" With my whole soul," she solemnly and gently replied
" i"or the sordid and the cruel— forgiveness and tomp'iSMon I"
The goblets softly clanged, the tender pledge was drank,
and the glasses were flung down,
" Now," said he, as they took up the last two, " the first
pledge was in wine from the land of Leomdas But the
second was in wine from the land of 'Socrates Let the tlurd
be drank in wine from the land of both— the saint and the
hero ; for the pledge is m^hty."
" Speak it, my beloved," she said, m cleir and thrilling
tones.
" Drink," his deep voice sounded, "drmk the deep pledge
in the wine from the bright ideal shore, to the Spirit •Ahwe
wing^ span the world, whose life pulses thiough the universe —
the Spffit for whom we live and die 1"
" I know, I know I" she cried. " Spirit, we drmk to thee
in the wine from the holy shore I Spuit of every noble
thought and deed and passion, whose breath is hfe to liberty
and justice, and the soul of man— to thi e, for whom we live
and die— True Love, we drink to thee 1 '
They quaffed the fiery and aSrial wme, and dashmg the gob-
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oO^ HARRItJGTOW.
Istg ringing and shiTering oa the floor, they sprang iuto each
otlmr's arms. One long and close elnb^ace— one )ong and
paswioaate chngiiig kiss — and tliey withdrew,
" Hereafter I"
Their voices rang together by a common impiilae in the
word: and with one Jong di'eaining ga^ of impassioned tender-
ness npoa her proud and i-adiant face, he rusiied away to hia
death like a bridegroom to his bride.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
A LOW, guttural matter of distant thunder shuddered through
the air as Hamngton rushed iuto the night, and tnrning at the
head of the street, he saw the knotted snakes of the lightning
flash and writhe, and yauish, inextricable, on the Blow-heaving
wall of heavy thunde^doud that flded the western sky. Black
poisonous vapors, the flying couriers of the coming' tempest,
fled swiftly up the zenith, and half obscured the livid and tot^
teriug moon ; and projected in the yet unclouded piirpJe east
before him, redly ghmmered the large few stai-a. He did not
panse, but sti-ode rapidly on, while the fitful gusts of the rising
wind swept the dim, deserted streets into atoima of dust
around him. It was a wild Bight, and heaven and earth
seemed to reel in the gathering dai-fcness; but his soul was un-
shaken, and he was strong to die.
The moon was hid before he had reached Beacon street and
a solid blackness, lit only at intervals by wild, bright flashes of
fitiil distant Kghtning, filled the lampless streets. Behind him
as he sped on, the low ominous thntider shuddered through the
black vast, and the dust swept arotind him in rusthn.. storms
througii the darkness. He met no one-every person was
safey housed, aiid even the watchmen had ci'ept away mto
Sheltered aooka from the tempest.
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A melanctoly and funereal sound of bells tolled vi^uely
throiJgli the thick air, striking the midnight hoar, as lie reached
the head of State street. The streaming gusts had lalled, and
in dead silence, broken only by the hollow tramji of his quick
footfalls, and by au occasional muffled shudder of rolling than-
der, he sped over the deserted pavement, while ever and anon
the sudden blue of the lightuing lit for a moment the dark
bulks of the looming buildings, and gleamed ghastfully on
their multitude of gilded signs to vanish into sightless dark-
ness.
Boon he reached the wharf, and saw beyond the dim wilder-
ness of masts and yards, far out at sea, under the heavy canopy
of cloud, a broad half-sphere of cloar .purple sky with the
moonlit level of the di&taiit ocean shmii^ m lostrons sit
ver beneath it Agaiu the hghtnmg qniverpd hluely irradi-
ating for an instant the dark vault into livid violat, and as it
vanished, and the daiknc^ closed, a long, stap'^Liing roll of
heavy thundci rcbomided above hmi, and j. few Urge diops of
rain fell.
Breaking into a mn, he sped along the pier, and presently
saw a vague figure standing and looking toward hira. It was
Captain Fisher, dressed in an oil-skin coat and tarpaulin, on
which the sprinkling ram was pattering.
"Here I am," whispered Ilan'ington. "Have they ar-
rived ?"
" Yes," returned the Captain in a low voice. " We're all
here."
" In then, and away at once," returned Harrington, rushing
aloi^ the pier in advance of him to the boat.
They came upon it presently, and in a faint shimmer of
blue iightning Harrington saw Wentworth and Bagasse stand-
ing below him in the little vessel. Letting himself down from
the pier, he dropped lightly into it, followed by the Captain.
" By Jove I" munnured Wentworth, with a low laugh,
while the Captain was unhampering the sails, " this is a bad
night for our work."
" No, it's a good night," whispered Harrington, glancii^
up at the hulls of the two vessels between which the boat lay,
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S04 HAERIHGION
to be sore that no one was listening " The storm is a real
godaead, for it wUl be suru to dnve those fellows in doors, and
I hope every man of them "
" Ah, ze dam raia," growled Bagasse. " She will wet our
jacket for ds,"
Harrmgton turned away, cast off the paictDi-, and the boat
moved out a little way from her moormgs.
"How'll you have her, John?" whispered the Captain,
referring to the arrangement of the sails,
" There'll be a streaming wind presently," replied Harrmg-
ton, with a glance at the sky. " We'd better have two reefs
in the mainsail aad one iu the jib. Then she^l drive."
The Captain and Wentworth seized the halyards, and up
went the sails. Harrington took the tiller, and whiie they
busied themeelves at the reefing nettles, the boat moved silently
through the black water between the long Tista made by the
dark hulls of the nessela on either side. The wind was iu the
lull preceding the tempest, but it was sufficient to belly the
sail, and push them with silent swiftness before it. Large
drops of rain plashed on the little Tessel and in the dark water
as they went oq. Presently, Bagasse, with a Frenchman's
aversion to wet, went forward mattering, and crept into the
cuddy. The Captain sat on the tiiwart ivith the mainsheet in
his hand, and Wentworth beside him. Harrington, with one
hand on the tiller, was silently brooding on the ghostly effect
of the dark hulls and piers on either side, which made the place
seem like the black wharves of Acheron.
Silently, amidst the soft plashing of the sprinkling rain, they
glided out into the salt smell of the open "harbor, and as the
blue lightning shook over the broad vanlt and dark sea, they
saw a boat with several rowers shoot across their bows at a
distance of about thirty yards. It was the harbor police, and
their boat at once hove to.
"Hallo there," roared a rough voice over the waters —
" who's that, and where are you bound such a night as this f
" It's me. Belcher," shouted the Captain. " Eldad Fisher
and the Polly Ann. Goin' down on business."
The Polly Aan ghded past the police boat as he spoke.
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HAHEINGTOIT. 505
" All right/' returned Belcher, with a laugh. " Great night
though to go on business, 'Dad. Row, inea."
The oara at once fell with a roll in the rullocks, as the Cap-
tain would have phrased it, and the police boat shot away.
Nothing was said m the Polly Ann, and she moved on witii
a steady motion, the drSwiiig wind pulling her bnEging sail.
The Captwn had lit his short pipe, and had turned with his
face to the west, watching for the breeze. Harrington sat in
silence solemnly brooding on the straiige scene around liim.
Overhead a rack of solid darkne^ ; underneath the inky swells
of the wide sea, like a sea of welteiing shadow, which broke
as the boat clove its silent way into a flow of soft gloomy
phosphorescent fire from her prow and in her wake ; before him
the uncouth crouching figure of the Captain, with the red glow
of his pipe momently lighting his cheek in little flashes, and
giving his face the grim, leathern look of some weird Charon
piloting them over the sullen lake of Death ; and beyond in
the far distance, below the sombre canopy, that shape of clear
sky, smaller now, with the silver level of the sea beneath it,
calm and lustrous as the ocean of Eternity. A sense of sombre
sweetness melted into the young man's heart, as he gazed over
the solemn and awfal flood of shadow to that melaneholy gloiy
far away. He thought of that last hour with her ; of their
proud and exulting parting ; he thought of her standing now,
graceful and radiant as a Creek goddess, and noble in her
widowhood, dreaming of him with the mellow light of the holy
room around her, while he drifted on over the sullen water
toward that bright line of jasper, like one drifting from eternal
Night to the ocean of eternal Day.
A moment, and the heavy canopy closed down over the
clear horizon, and all was impenetrable darkness. The wind
freshened with a long, mysterious sigh, the sails swelled and
strained, and the boat began to rush with the water gui^Iing
and brattlyig around her bows, and flowing swiftly past her
sides and from her stern in a brighter gloom of phosphorescent
fire. Except that strange senescent light, and the red glow
of the revolving beacon far down the harbor, which every lit-
tle while glared in the darkness like a sombre eye, there was
22
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506
HAEGIKGTON,
no glimmer oa all the black expanse iKider the vast and hollow
vault of sooty cloud.
Suddenly, while the broad blue shuttle of the lightning
shook over the wild and livid sea, the solid darkness of the
rack split with a crash in a long, bright jiij^rgcd crack of fire,
and closed again with a, tremendoTis trampling roar. At once
through the blackness, the headlong toiTcnt dropijed hi-sing
and seething on the water, the heavy wind streamed stagger^
ing down, shook the craft, stopped and reeled, rose howling
in a mighty forward gale, and amidst the cataract rushing of
the rain, the heeling boat tore like a fury tlivough the level
sea with the spray flying over her bows, ai'id the wash rippling
in at her gunnel. On she fled, leaning down nith h^r bQiglcg
sails strained as though they woyld burst from the bolt-ropes,
the water swisMng swiftly past her side and mshing from her
stem in phosphoi-escent gloom, the rain plashing in clattering
riot oa her planks and canvas, and the whole inky flood beaten
into mjriad-millioned jets of springing flame around her.
Again shook the broad blue shuttle of the lightning, Ulnminat-
ing the darkness for an instant with a ghastly bloom, and
showing the wild shapes of the clouds, and again through the
following blackness burst the roai- of the tumbhng thunder,
dying away in the sweeping rush of tlie headlong wind, and
the voluminous plash and clatter of the falling torrent. Not
a word was spoken on board the flying boat. The Captain
sat grimly holding the tail of the raainshcet, i-eady to let fly
at a moment's warning ; and Wentworth, with a tin-pail ia his
hands, baled out the water as fast as it came in, while Hai^
rington, hare-headed, for he had taken off his felt-hat to wr;ip
around his pistol that it might be kept dry, and tucked both
into his bosom, sat grasping the tiller, drenched, like every
one on board, save the mai^kiutoshed Captain and Bagasse, to
the skin, his soul throbbing with stem glory in the splciulid
terrore of the storm. So, amidst wind and rain and clarkncwR,
and the incessant barats of lightnings, rosy-purjile now, and
the tumbling roll of thunder, the boat held her flying coarse
thi-ough seething flood and showering spray.
At the headlong velocity with which she flew, with the wind
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507
right abaft and a level sea beneath her hnll, it cotiM not take
her long to reach the port to which the haud of Harriiigtou
steered her. It was pevhajs hardly half an hour before, in a
sheeting flood of rose and pnrple lightulns, he saw the lar^e,
humpy mass of the inland loom up from the sea before him.
The darknesi, fell, followed by the thunder, and the boat sped
on. Soon came another sheet of lightning, and this time,
much nearer the island now, he saw the house upon it, and
caught a glimpse of two boats lying at the wharf on the
southern side of the shore. The rain had begun to slacken,
and the wind to abate its riolenee. He waited a moment till
the thunder had rolled away, and then called the Captain to
him.
" Captain," said he, " settle away the sails, call Bigasse,
and out with the oars. I am going to run the lioat to the
northwestern side of the island, out of sight of the fellow
The captain sprang away, cast off the main-sheet, while
Wentworth seized the jib, and amidst the clank and rattle of
hoops and halyards, the sails were settled and clewed, and
the boat swung masterless upon the brine. Bagasse came
creeping out of the caddy at the call of Wentwortli, and Har-
rington securing the tiller rose and came forward,
" Hah I" said the Frenchman, hoarsely, " I haf my jacket
dry 1 Br-r-r ! It is ze night of ze old devail wLs his ton-
nen-e and light and rain n-atair." And with a slirug, he
loofeed out on the black espanse around him, and held out his
hand to see how much rain was falling.
" The rain is nearly OTer," said Harrington, observing his
inotion, as he stooped to take up an oar. " Can you row,
Bagasse ?"
" Oh, yes ; I row vair fine," retnrned the fencing-master,
taking up another, and seating himself.
They al! took their places, Han-ington at the stTOfce-oar, the
blades fell into the water, and the boat turned and shot to the
uorthwestern side of the island. A few minutes' rowing
brought them to the shore, and at the word of command they
rested, backing wat«r, and keeping within about ten yai'ds'
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508
HAEEINGTOrr.
distance from the strand. At that moment the h'ghtning
blaaed, showing them the little heach covered with a mass of
huge pebbles, and the steep aceliyity just bejond which led to
the grassy summit of the island.
A few moments' discussion ensued, Harrington having sug-
gested that perhaps it would be better to make the attack by
rowing up to the boat of the kidnappers, instead of going
across the island as he had intended. Presently it was
decided to carry out the original plan, as if the guard saw a
boat approaching, he might summon his feUows, and thus
mflict.
"Now, Memla, attention," said Harrington. "Captain,
take my oar."
The Captain who sat by his side with one oar, took the
other, and Harrington stepping past the other two, turned and
faced them all.
"Listen," said he. " I am now going on shore to reconnoitre,
which can be best done by one person. If there is only one
man in the boat, I can easily handle him. If there are more,
I will retarn and we will all go up together ; for though I am
loth to imperii your lives, we must not put snceess at hazard.
Sta.} here, and wait for me. On no account leave the boat,
till I come to you. Remember now, for if you come on shore
when I have left you, it may cost me my life. Bagasse, I
trust you, old soldier, to see that I am obeyed."
He uttered the last sentence in French, that Bagasse might
not mistake him.
" It shall bo so, my captain, since you command it," re-
turned the Frenchman, in the same language.
" Good," said Harrington, " Now row me in."
They bent to the oars in silence, and with one stroke the
boat shot in five yards, and with a vigorous leap from the
prow, Harrington sprang the other five, landed safely, and
ran swiftly up the acclivity. The Ughtning blazed as he
reached the summit, and they saw him sink down. The nest
instant the darkness fell with a peal of thunder, and he had
vanished. So thick was the night, that he could not be seen
after the lightning failed.
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HAEEINGTON. 509
Left to himself, Harrington, with his hody bent low^ ran
swiftly over the wet, coarse grass, past the dark bulk of the
silent honse, in the outbuilding of which a dun lamp ghmmered,
and toward the wooden pier. The lightning blazed rosy-
purple as he waa midway, and fearful of being seen, he
dropped prone. The next instant he rose in darkness, and
ran on. Presently he approached the pier,' and dropping on
his hands and knees, he crept down to it, and vaguely saw
the two boats, 8chooner-ri^;ed, and both secured to the wharf
at the foot of a short ladder running down to the water.
Sinking stili lower, he crept to the edge of the wharf, lay flat,
and gazed at the boats, through the dense darkness, with
etrainiug eyes. In a moment the hghtning flashed again, and
he saw a single man standing in one of th'j vessels, looking out
to sea, with his back to him, and his hands in the pockets of
a sou'wester. At a glance, Harrington knew, by the look of
his figure, thai he was a sailor, and oveijoyed that he had
but one to deal with, he instantly rose, drew his pistol from
his breast, put on his hat, and with a noiseless step glided
down the pier to the ladder.
The man turned just as he was within two or three yards
of it, and saw him.
" Oh, it's one o' ye at last," he growled, mistaking Iiim for
a comrade. " Egod, it's about time for some o' ye to bear a
hand in this dog's watch IVe had of it."
Harrington's answer was to swing himself from the top of
the ladder into the boat, which rocked beneath him. At that
instant the lightning shook out in vivid rose and purple, illu-
minating his stern bearded face and stalwart form, and the
man, burly fellow though he was, started violently.
" Who are you ? What d'ye want here ?" he demanded.
" I want that negro in the cuddy. Hurry 1" said Harring-
ton, abruptly.
The man clapped his hand to hi.s waist for his knife.
Harrington clutched his throat, and held the pistol to his
temple.
" Take your hand from that knife or I'll shoot you," he said,
sternly.
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510 HARKINGTON.
Aghast at the terrible gripe on his throat, and the touch
of the cold pistol-bari'el oa his brow, the miiii let his hand
drop, and would have sunk upon his knees only that Har-
rington upheld him.
" Mercy 1" he gasped.
" Stand up," said Harrington, releasing him.
The man stood 6p with shaliing knees, trembliag with terror.
" Go forward and take that negro from the cuddy," ordered
Harrington.
The man paused an instant, then went forward, followed by
HaiTingtoa, and sprang for the ladder. But the long arm
clutched him by the throat, and again the terrified wretch
felt the pistol-barrel on his brow.
"Attempt that again and joa die," said Ilamngton,
" How take out the negro. Quick I"
Shaking with affright, the man etoopeiJ, opened the cuddy
doors, and drs^ged oat Antony, feet bound together, aud
ajma lashed above the elbows to his side.
" Oh, Marjter Harrington," cried the delighted ftigitive ;
" oh, I knowed yon was eomin' right along. Never guv it
up, Marster Harrington."
" Silence, Antony," said his savior, " Take yonr knife and
cut those cords," he added, to the other.
The man instantly obeyed, and the fugitive scrambled to hia
feet. The lightning blazed, and showed his lank fignre, and
hia skull-like face wildly lighted with joy.
" Put up your knife, and sit down in the bottom of the boat
where you are," said Harrington to the man.
The man obeyed without a moment's hesitation. He was
almost frightened out of his wits by this terrible armed appa-
" Now, Antony, can you walk ?" asked Harrington,
" Yes, Marster ; fus'rate," returned the fugitive, with a
ghostly caper, which proved that the ropes on his ankles, and
his cramped position in the cuddy, had not materially im-
paired hia circulation.
" Very well," replied Harrington. " Now go up that lad-
der, and wait on. the wharf till I come to you."
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HAEEIN&TON. 611
The man groaned, bnt Antony, with a chuckle, instantly
grasped the steps, crept np the ladder, and stood on the pier.
" Now," said Harrington, turning to the squatting wretch,
" yoa follow him,"
The man rose, trembling, and began to ascend, but he had
only gone three steps when he felt the vice-like hand gripe his
leg.
" Turn round and sit down on the ladder," said Harrington,
standing on the deck of the caddy.
The man obeyed, and in the flash of puiple lightning that
came at that instant, sat livid, witii glaring eyes, palsied with
terror.
Harrington stuck his pistol between the buttoned lapels
of bis coat, clutched the man's thigh with one hand, thus pin-
ning him to the seat, and held out the other hand to hhn.
" Give me your knife," he said, imperatively,
" You're not going to murder me," gasped the sailor
" No," sdd Harrington, curtly.
The man panted hard, and gave hun the knife. Still hold-
ing hun by the thigh, Harrington grasped the ladder with the
band in which he held the knife, pat one foot on the lower
step, drew the boat round broadside to with the other, and
bore heavUy on the gnnnel.
"What are ye doin' ?" stammered the sailor. " She's takin'
in water with your bearln' on her,"
" I am capsizing yonr boat so that jou can't follow me,"
coolly replied Hamngton, amidst the gurgling rash of the wa-
ter with which the boat was nearly full.
The man stared, breathing hard and trembling. Presently
the boat toppled softly and slowly over and her masts splashed
on the water. Harrington at once cut the rope which secured
her, and she began to recede on the weltering swells.
Changing his position, Harrington put out his foot and
drawing the other boat to him, began to press on the gunnel.
"You're not goin' to capsize that boat, too," gasped the
man.
Harrington did not answer, but bore down heavily, and the
boat filled and toppled down with a splash. As it weat over,
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513
HAEEINGTOH,
the man gave a smothered jell, frantically dashed both hands
on his tarpaulin, and with a sudden desperate effort tore him-
self free from the gripe which held him, scrambled up the lad-
der, and with loud shouts raQ madly for the house.
Harrington nearly fell from his hold into the water, and in
the endeavor to save himself, his pistol dropped from the iap-
pel and was gone. Recovering, he cat the rope which secured
the capsized boat to the pier, and in his haste tlionghtlessly
flingmg away the knife, sprang up the ladder.
" Quick Antony," he cried, " fly, for they'll be after us."
They rnshed together up the pier, and fled past the house,
just as the entire gang poured from the ontbuilding. At that
moment the vivid lightning blazed broad, and the wild yella
and the sudden fnrious thudding of feet behind them told
them that they were seen.
" Ran, Antony, run for yonr life 1" cried Harrington.
Sparred by his fear of being retaken, the fugitive ran by
Harrington's side as fast as he did Had he fallen behind, the
young man would instantly have caught him up, and ran with
bun, but he did not. Together they reached the steep sloping
edge of the island and plunged furiously down. But to the
sudden horror of Harnngton, Antony, impelled by some
strange confusion of fear, instead of headmg down with him to
the left toward the boat, swerved in his descent obliquely
away to the right and sped at a frantic pace in that direction
toward the water. It was a moment before Harrington could
stop in his headlong velocity, wheel, and rush after him, and
in that moment Antony got the start of him at least thirty
yards, and ran like a race-horse. Plying after bun, Harring-
ton heard the feet of the pursuers tearing down the slope,
and close behind. Suddenly down went Antony on the
large pebbles close to the edge of the water. The next
instant Harrington reached him, turned, and through the dark-
ness saw his enemies coming fast, and not more than forty
yards distant. With one rapid glance to the right, he looked
through the thick darkness for the boat, saw it not, and knew
that the battle was now with him, and vrith him aione.
" Lie stfll, Antony ; don't move," he cried, stepping close to
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HA.ERI.\eTON.
the prone body and standing with his back to flie sea, hke a
lion at bay.
They were coming. Had it been, not on those ioose stones,
or in the night, but ia broad daylight or on a fair field, not
those seven, no, nor twice their number, could have stood an-
vaaquished before that agile vigor, that dauntless spirit of
assault, tliat roused and terrible magnetic front of war. For
this was one of tliose rare men whose presence in a battle is
worth a thousand brands, and who carry death in their arm
and victory in their eye. This was the Cid Kodiigo Diaz, at
the wind of whose sword-sweep ranlis fled and felL This was
Eoland, storm of dread with the pine-branch in his grasp
among the cloven swanns at Eoticeval. This was Tancred
arm of fate among a thousand foes at Dosylsum. This was
Gaston when with forty knights at his back he drove before
liim one hundred thousand weaponed Jacquerie. All that
ever Paladin did in blazing powess was in him to do. But
there, on the brink of the salt flood, unanned, in the murk
night, on the rough ground, with seven knived hands to con-
quer—oh, hopeless hour of doom aad ruin !— oh, forlorn death-
grapple of the brave !
They came in a body— they spread from right to left in an
arc of murder— they poised for the simultaneous rush— he
swayed back for the cleaving spring. But at that instant,
with a tremendous staggering clap of thunder, which rent tie
sky with fifty glittering cracks of fire, and stunned them all,
the whole heaven, deep and vast and broad, aad earth and
air and sea, upburst^fi a long and lingering rosy flood of liv-
ing flame. In that instant, as in a magic dream, he saw the
boat far down the beach, rise with a peal of cries and a silent
lift of oars, and shoot in silence to the shore— he saw the
great sea sink and swell in vast and weltering lustrous shadow
—he saw the seven assassins standing crouched with gleaming
knives around him— he saw the deep hea^'ens open up in rosy
light to God. The next instant the darkness fell like the
shuttmg of an eye ; a surge of sii'ength rushed like the blood
of the whole race to his heart— and with a terrific bound he
fell upon his foes.
22*
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514 HAERINGTON.
Brief and awful was that battle. At the first leap he went
through tliem like a thunderbolt, and two went dowii erasliiug
Benselesa on the pebbles. Turoiug with a flying spring, he
charged them as they huddled in a fierce knot of five, and dead
thumped the stuff of the French kick, anil the thud of the Eng-
lish blow. It was not moie thoai a qaarter of a minute in
which he raged among . their astounded junto, but m tli it
quarter of a minute somethmg like a bense that this w as a
statue of solid iron, pretei naturally endowed with animate hti,
and flying among them with Iimbb of £^le destruction, buT't
through their terrified souls. Down ttey went in awift sucix. -
sioii, kicked and dashed and whirled hither and thither m
crashing overthrow, and not a man rose more than to ci iwl,
after he once felL The last of the seven was a biawnj wretch,
who made a headloi^ rush and found no man m the place
where there was one a second before, but instead two cruiiiiug
hands that jarred the marrow m hia bones as they fell from
behind around his bull neck, aad swung him off, his feet to dash
him howling a dozen paces distant on the rocky strand. Not
more than a quarter of a minute, and at the tail of it came
Bagasse with cries of fury, and the leaps of a Zouave, brand-
ishing his cavalry sabre ; aiid fast behind him Wentworth,
springing like a panther, with a pistol in ea«h hand ; and
behind him the Captain, with his loaden stave. But the field
was won 1 Groans and cnrses of anguish resounding from it
in all directions. One bruised assassin feebly tottering away
from it throi^h the darkness ; three more weakly crawling
over the stones on their hands and knees -and the other three
lying half senseless where the mighty limbs of Harrington had
hurled them.
Yes, the field was won, but after the battle there was going
to be massacre. For the fierce Celtic blood of Bagasse
was up, and standing only for an instant, he swung up his
sabre and dashed wili a yell npon a wretch who was essaying
to rise. Harrington sprang and caught him by the
" No, Bagasse," he cried, " Spare them. They are hnrt
enough already."
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HABRINOTON. 515
Ba^se stood for an instant, panting, then turced sullenly
At that moment the Captain, who Lad stood looldng in
blank stupefaction on the prostrate bodies, barst into screams
of eldritch merriment, brandishing his stave, and capering like
mad.
Wentworth, meanwhile, was hnggiug the panting Harring-
ton, almost wQd with exulting joy.
" By all the gods 1" he shouted, bursting away and roaring
with laughter, " was there ever the like of this I Sereu to
one, and he fli:^ the life oat of them 1 Oh, Froissart, where
are you I Sieur Jehan Froissart, why did you die I Come
back, yoQ old clerk of chivalry, and write it down I Seven to
one, and there they lie!" And Wentworth bent hiftieelf
double in a fresh convuision of merriment.
" He fit 'em," hooted the Captain, prancing deliriously, "he
fit 'cm all. Glory hallelujah, world without end, amen."
And with a Ifelbo, he subsided, and walked from body to
body, bending cnriously over each, and dropping cheerful sug-
gestions to the safferers, as to the sort of medical treatment
they would better employ,
" Bagasse," panted Harrington, grasping the Frenchman's
hand, "I owe yon this victory. Tour training stood me in
good stead with these fellows."
"Ah, Missr Harrington," returned Bagasse, tapping him
on the chest with the iiilt of the sabre, "you do me mush
credit. Zat was done vair brown."
" I'll bet it was," corroborated Wentworth. " They'll
remember it to their graves, the cowardly rufliana. Had they
knives ? They had, eh ?" he continued, as Harrington bent
his head'in assent. " But why didn't you shoot them ?"
" I lost my pistol," replied Harrington, breathing hard.
" And fought them bare-handed," said Wentwortli. " Yon
infernal dastards," he roared, turning toward the crawling
wretches, " yon deserve to be slaughtered, every hound of you.
Tes, crawl off, you jackals of slavery. Curse you 1 I hate
yon,"
"Richard, Eichard," said Harrington, feebly, "don't talk
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516 HAREIN&ION.
SO. It's enongh to have half-killed the poor fellows, without
abusing them. Heaven linows I wouldn't have harmed them
If it hadn't been necessary. But let us not stain victorj with
iusnlting them in their misery."
" Inaalting them 1" snapped Wentworth. " Come, I lilte
that. Insnlting Iridnappera ! By Jove, it's not possible 1
Suppose they had killed you. I swear, Harri:;gton, it was the
merest chance that we came— though, to be sure, our coming
was coming too late. We heard the running and shouting,
and didn't dare to leave the boat till we knew what it meant,
and where you were. But if I'd only heard your pistol, I tell
you I'd have been on shore, orders or no ordera. Then the
next thing, we saw you in the flash, witb the scoundrels
around you, and we put for the spot at once. The infernal
ruffians I"
" Come, come," murmured Harrington, ending this hasty
colloquy, which had not occupied more than three or four
minutes, "let's be off. I am breathed a little, and I feel
exhausted, and want to lie down."
" But Where's Antony ?" said Wentworth.
" Oh, here he is," replied Harrington, turning to the fugi-
tive, who in blind obedience to his unrevoked command, still
lay upon the stones near the sea. " Get up, Antony, Yoa're
safe forevei I hope poor fellow
The fugitive instantly rose and foil wei the httic iirty
over the shmgle delightedly =!mffing m the '^alt i r
There 6 no possibility of those wietche f llowmg us in
the condition they re in and that s a comfort said Went-
worth
None whatever rephed Harrington in in exhausted
voit* Besi les I capsized all the boats on the islahd
By Jupiter ! exclaimed Wentworth Bagahse — Ca,p-
tain — do you hear that ? He has cipsized all the boats on the
island I Oh, well, there's no use in saying anothei word for
of all the trumps in this world you're the trumpietit, Hai>
rington 1"
Bagasse and the Captain joined in with esLited questions ia
to how he did it, and Harrington gave them a hasty afcoupt
JL Google
HAKBmOTON, 517
of the wliole procedure as tkey went together along the shin-
gle. Soon amidst great hilarity they reached the Polly Ann,
lying bound to the rocks by a grapnel, which the Captain had
flung as he rushed from her to Harrington's rescue. Antony
got in first and squatted down forward on the deck of the
caddy, then the others, and last Harrington, wlio went aft to
the tiller and sat down. For a minute all was activity, then
amidst tie clank and rattle of hoops and halyards np went
the mainsail and jib, the reefing nettles were unclewed, the
canvas filled languidly, and the boat moved away from the
shore with a fajnt brattle over the dark, lifting swells.
CHAPTER XSXV.
For a few minutes tliey all sat in silence, ail but Harring-
ton flushed and throbbing with the excitement of the adven-
ture, and joyous with their success. The storm had broken
with that last thunder-clap, the clouds were rolling away, and
already the moon appeared in the west m a clear sky, and
threw its still lustre upon the drowsy mass of the far distant
city, with its dim multitude of spars, and over the vast and
wild expanse of lifting and falling water which filled aU the
open void with its invigorating odor. Low in the east tho
golden lightnings flaehed fitfully, lighting up fairy grottoes in
the sullen clonds, and overhead the stars bloomed large and
lambent through braided shadows, which were rapidly fleeting
away. Far iu the distance over the flood, the red revolving
beacon glowed a steady raby, and Med, and glowed again.
But the wind had almost died from the magic night, and
hardly bellied the sails as it flowed gently from tlie slumbrous
west, and the boat, gliding with a faint wash and ripple
through the swells, went bat slowly.
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618 HAERISGTON.
" We shall have a long Tojag;e taekiug ap to South Boston
at this rate," murmured Wcutworth.
The Captain grunted assent, and for a few iniimtcs they alt
were silent.
"How white yon look, Harrington," said Wentworth
again, lookujg at the noble, straight-featured face of hia
friend, as he sat, bare-headed, leaning against the stern grasp-
ing the tiller, with the moonlight resting on his palUii coun-
Harringtott did not answer for a minute, but, sat looking at
them with still eyes.
" I'riends," said he at length, m a sweet and hoUow voice,
" come here to me. I want to tell yoa something."
A little startled at his tone and manner, they rose and sat
" Promise me that jon will not let Antony know what I
am going to tell yon," he said. " I don't want to grieve the
poor creature, and besides, it is necessary to the preservation
of our secret. I do not know whether the secret can be pre-
served now, but it is possible, and we must try. But promise
me that yon will not tell Antony."
"Why, certainly, we will not," returned Wentworth,
vacantly. " What is it ?"
" When we get back, Richard," pursued his friend, " you
must take Antony up at once to Charles's room; then, in the
morning, take him in to his brother, and tell Ronx what has
happened to him, and why yon concealed it from him, charg-
ing him, at the same time, to say nothing to anybody of this
matter. Then you must take both of them to Worcester in
the first train. But you mnst tell neither of them of what I
am now going to tell youi Promise me all this,"
" I do," responded Wentworth, tranced with wonder.
" But what is it ?"
"Dear Richard," said Harrington, in the same voice of
hollow sweetness — " dear friends all, I am going to leave you."
They gazed at him.
" What do you mean ?" faltered Wentworth, iu a hushed
Toice.
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llAKIilWUTON. 519
" Look," murmured Ilarriiierton..
They stared aghast at the hand ho held out to thera. The
tips of the fingers were red with blood.
A slow lion-or sank upon them with an icy chill, and the
hair of the three rose as thongh they were one.
" I am hurt to the life," said Ilan-ington. " Here,"
He laid the bloody hand upon his left side jnst over the
heart, as he uttered the last word.
Bagasse fell upon his knees before him with a yell, and flnng
open the coat and vest, which were nubuttoned, while Went-
worth and the Captaio burst into tears. There was a little
blood on the white shut — very little. Bagasse stared at it for
an instant, with a look of livid horror. Then, with a fierce and
sudden motion, he rent the shirt in two, jjut in his hand to the
slit of the undershirt, tore it down, and pulling the clothes
asunder with both hands, gazed. A Httle blot of thiu red on
the silver slcia — in the centre a sliort dark line— a little red
blood thinly oozing fi-om it. They all gazed upon the wound.
" He is stab," said Bagasse, in a low, hoarse voice of heart-
breaking pathos. " He is stab, and he bleed inside him. Ah,
my fren' is stab, and he die, die, die. Oh my old, old vair seek
heart, what will I do wis yon ? My fren', Miasr Harrin'ton, so
good, so kind, so brave, so tendair as ze woman, zat nnrse me
like ze littel babe in my seeknesa, zat come to me when evairy
ozzer one stay off, zat look at me and I was glad, zat take my
hand and I was glad, aat make my old life glad wis ze lof of
him, he is go away out of zis dam world to die, die, die. Oh,
miseree, miseree !"
" Hush, hush. Bagasse I" faltered Harrington, hardly able
to speak for emotion. " Hush, old iriend. We must all die
sometime. Don't grieve. There, tliere. It will soon be over.
Richard, dear Richard, don't weep so. Captain, friend, father,
do not break my heart. Come, come, bear up, bear up."
"Oh, Harrington," sobbed Wentworth, throwing himself
i^on his breast, " what will life be to me if you die I Aud
Murtel~my God, this will kill her I To lose you iu this way,
three days after her wedding. She never can snrvivc it."
"No, Richard," said Harrington, r^hnly. " Muiiel will
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HARRINGTON.
bear her lo.=s with a brave heart. Eclh fhe and I knew that
we were not fo meet again when I parted fi-om her to-night.
We had spiritnal waraing of this."
"Tou had spiritual warning of this?" said Wentworth,
awed from his wild grief into cahn.
"Yes," mumured Harrington, "in presentments and in
dreams. Both of os. We were both prepared for it. I came
here expecting to die, and I was enrpriieed when the conflict
was over to find myself, as I believed, unharmed. I felt
strangely weak, hut I thought it the esha«stion of excitement,
and It was not till I entered the boat that I became conscious
of a heavy feehng and a little smarting in my breast, and dis-
covered that I was stabbed."
" Haven't ye no idee when it was done, John ?" gasped the
Captain, weeping.
"Not the least," replied Harrington, hollowly. " I was not
aware tiiat any of the men touched me during the whole fray."
Bagasse rose from his knees, and turning away, stoodin a
stupor of despair, with his head hent upon his chest and his
anns tightly folded.
"Oh, Harrington, Harrington !" cried Wentworth, "how
conJd you go on this accursed entttprise! How could you
leave Muriel, loving her so much, when you knew that
you were to die! Your love for her should have kept
you "
"No, Richard," interrupted Harrington, m his sweet, faint
tones. " My love for her sent me. I could not love her so
much if I did not love mankind more. No — I might well
doubt (he worth and truth of my love for Muriel if it made me
unwilling to lose my life for the rights of the humblest slave."
Wentworth rose to his feet.
" Dying, dying before our eyes," he wailed, in a low voice.
" Dh, it cannot be. Bagasse, is there no hope ? The wouTid
does not bleed much,"
Bagasse shook his head.
"I haf see many wound, Missr 'WeniwortV' he sombrely
replied. "Kevair one in zat place where ze man will not die.
He bleed inside him."
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521
" Bleeding internally," gasped Weiitworth, ivringing liis
hands. " Oh, if we cunli only get home to a physician. Ko
wind — ^the boat dawdlin;,- along — and he dying ! Look here,
Captain, down with the sails, and let's row. We mast go
faster than this.
Captain Fisher rose quickly, and as he did ao, Bagasse sud-
denly caught up his sabre and faced him.
" See, Capitaine Fisser," he howled hoarsely, " you turn ze
boat to zat dam island. You let me go zere after zoserascail
for my revenge. Zey haf kill ze man I lof— zoy haf kill me
— zey have kill ze whole world, when zey kill ze man zat'haf
!of in his heart for evairybody. i^ow I kill zcm. See, Missr ■
Harrin'ton will die, Ze doctair haf not skill to make him well
— no nevair. Good : you let me go for zose murdair devail,
and chop zem into small fragment wis my sabre. You give
me zat sweet revenge, aen I go home and ci-y wis my old eye
into my grave. You do zat now."
" Bagasse," said the hollow voice of Harrington, " that
most not be. If you love me, do not think of harming those
men. No, let ns go oo. I want to get home. I am dying
slowly, but I hope to live till I get home."
Bagasse lifted his knee, snapped the sabre in two across it,
and flung the pieces into the sea.
" I nevair fight nobody no more," he said hoarsely. " I haf
not zat revenge, and I care for nossing. Zey do to me
evairy insult — zey keek me, zey jnmp on me, zey roll me in ze
mud, I will not flght zem, for I haf not my revenge."
" Come, Captain," cried Wentworth, " let's settle away the
Bails, and out with the oars,"
He flew to the jib halyards, and the Captain to the main-
sail. In a minute, both sails were clewed down, and the main-
sail boom lashod one side to the cleat. Wentworth and the
Captain, followed by Bagasse, tlirew off coats and waistcoats,
and seized tbe oars. The Captain drew up the sliding-keel,
and took the stroke-oars. Bagasse and Wentworth had the
other two. In a moment the blades fell, and the boat foamed
through the moonlit swells.
Of all this colloquy, conducted for the most part in low
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Oa^ HAKKINGTOM.
voices, ADtony, perched upon the euddy-cleck, and hid from
sight by the mainsail, heard little Or nothing, and had no idea
that Harrington was ia any way injured. Sow that the sail
was down, Harrington saw him, and beclioned him aft. He
came instantly, grotesquely sidling between the two front row-
ers, and skipping over Captain Fisher's oars, looking, with the
gleam of the moonlight on his dark, sknll-like fa^e, somethii^
as he did on the night when Han-ington found him,
" Sit down here by me, Antony," said the young man, in his
fiweet, feeble yoice.
Antony squatted beside him, and Harrington put his left
, arm around his shoulder, feeling, in his dying hours, a mild and
compassionate affection for the poor creature for whom he had
laid down his life.
For a little while there was silence, broken only by the regu-
lar roll of the oars in the rowlocks, the plash and dip of the
blades, and the steady, seething, effervescing sound of the
water foaming from tlie bows and stern of the boat as she shot
through the lifting flood. The clouds had rolled down the
east, and Harrington sat weak and suffering, ivith his white
and beautiful fa^e upturned to the millioned host of lambent
stars — a solemn and tremendous glory of golden rain that
seemed descending slowly under the frosted nebnte and vaulted
Soon his face drooped from the midnight sky, and he smiled
palely on the fugitive, who was wistfully looking at him,
" How do you feel, Antony V said the hollow and gentle
"Fns' rate, Marster Harrin'ton, Bight glad to git away
from them soul-drtvers, Marster. Hope you'll scuse me, Mara-
ter Harrin'ton, for goin' out that Sunday, an' givin' you such
a heap o' trouble, Marster. I aint wnth much trouble,
Marster."
" Did you think I would find you again, Antony ?"
" Yes, Mai-ster."
"What made yon thhik so ?"
"Thought you'd git it out o' some o' them books in your
house, Marster."
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HAKETNOTOH.
523
" You caa read, Antony ?"
"Kutlier p'orlj, Marstor. IS'ever had much chaace at
books. Often felt as if I'd like to git a chance, but couldn't
git none. Had a hard time in this world, an' been kep' down
awful, Mai-ster."
Harrington did not reply, and for a few minutes there was
silence.
" Feel tired, Marster Harrin'ton ?" asked Antony.
"What makes you think so ?" was tlie reply.
" Voice sounds tired, Marster. Eatliev curi3 voice, an' not
zaetly like yours, Marster. 'Spect you font them soul-drivers
oncommon hard to-night, I'd liked to font, too, but fight^smost
out o' me, Marster. How do you feel, Marster Hiui'in'ton ?"
" Are you ever ashamed of yourself, Antony, when you
thmk of all you don't know, and can't do ?"
" Tes, Marster."
" You kaow you are a very poor man, Antony."
" Tes, Marster."
" "Very humble, very low, very ignorant, perhaps wicked."
"Yes, Marster."
" Well, did you ever, for alittle while even, feel tliat you were
greater and wiser and better than you had thought you were ?"
"Yes, Marster. Had that feelin' come over me once awfnl.
It was 'iong back when I was chokin' with no air, au'
most gone for sometbin' to eat, Ijin' on the cotton in the bold
of the Solomon, Marster. Tried to make a noise to be let
out, Marster, and couldn't. Then I guv up for good, an' felt
as if I was dyin', an' all on a sudden like, when I was sort o"
sailiii' away, that feelifl' come over me awful, Marster.
Oncommon grand feelin', an' I can't account for it nohow, but
it was oncommon grand, Marster."
Harrington slowly lifted liis tranced and peaceful face to the
sky, and gazed upon the solenm and awful golden rain of stars.
" That is the way I fesl to-night, Antony," he said in bis
sweet and hollow dying voice. "That was jonr true self,
your soul. That was God in you."
There was a long silence.
" Do yon understand, Antony ?" said Harrington.
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524
HAEHINGTOS.
" No, Master."
" It will be made clear to you," answered Harrington after
• panse. « When jou are dj-ing; it will begia to be made
dear to joa. It will grow clearer and clearer as jon leave
the world, and when you are dead you will understand "
The voice was thrilling, tender and low. Awed by its hol-
low music, the fngillTe sat silently revoMng the strange words
in his sunple mind. Gradually his thoughts went from hun
melted m the vast peace of the brooding nlgbt, and soon
lulled by the regular sound of the rowing, he sank away in a
sort of wakmg doze. Harrington «it motionless, dreaming
upon the stars, Ms tranquil soul ebbing in suffering from his
dyir^ frame. No word was said— no sound was heard but
the regular plasli and drip of the rollhig ouii, and the steady
and contlnaons seethe of the sea.
A long and weary hour went by, and through the lonely
darkae., weirdly lit by the wan gleam of the low orescent
moou, the dark shore and dim houses began to loom over the
wellenng flood. The rowers redoubled their energy and the
boat flew seething tlrongli the bime. Half an hoar more
and her keel grated on the sand.
Wentworth and Bagasse sprang np hot and panting, flung
down their oars, and leaped ashore. The Captain waited till
they had seized the painter, then shipped his oars, and left the
boat followed by Antony. Dropping the painter, and hauUng all
(Kigether on the boat, theydrew it np high and dry upon the sands.
"Take Antony on with you, Captam," whispered Hanmgton.
The Captam silently put on his clothes and taking the fugi-
tive by the arm, led him np the dark lane Bagasse and
Wentworth hmriedly resumed then- girments, and assisted
Haitmgton to rise and leave the leaning boat He was very
weak, his noble maeeuhiic vigor ncirly drained away, but his
resolute soul stdl upbore him, and he coMd walk feebly
thongh with heavy and totteung knees Upheld by the
strong hold around him, and leaning on their shoulders with
claipin, am,, he ad.anctd with them u|, the lane. They
wanted to carry liim but not wishni^ to let Antony know his
condition, he refused
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HAEEIHGTON. 525
The cool air was foil of delicious summer fi-agraace, as they
went on through the ghmmeiing darkness. lu a few minutes
they heard the snorting and pawing of horseSj and looking up
the road, saw the carriage at some little distance. Leaving
Harrington to the charge of Bagasse, Wentworth ran for-
ward, told John Todd to stay where he was, and mounting
the box, turned the horses aud drove the hack down. Antony
and the Capt^n got m, then Bagasse and Harrington coming
np, entered also, aud Wentworth taming the horses again
drove up the street, stopped for an instant to take up John
Todd on the box beside him, aud away they rolled rapidly
over the smooth road.
It was then betweea two and three o'clock. Everything
had been successfully managed, aud to his dying day John
Todd never knew who the occupants of the carriage were.
Wentworth was taciturn, aud after a few remarks, finding he
got no answer, John left off talking, and they went on ia silence.
Through the dark, deserted streets of South Boston they
rolled rapidly, and over the long bridge they rapidly rumbled,
silent within the carriage and without. Then over the mtf ling
pavements into Dover, and up Tremont street to Park, and
into Mount Vernon to Temple, where Wentworth reined in
the smoking aud pawing horses.
" Get down, John," said he, "wait here for five minutes,
then walk down Temple street, where you'll And the carriage,
and drive it back to the stables. I'll see you to-mon-ow.
Now do exactly as I tell you."
" Just as you say, Mr. Wentworth," returned tiie boy, get-
ting down, aud wondering what aU this meant anyway.
Wentworth at once drove the horses down the declivity of
Temple street, drew them up at the door of the lighted house,
and with a bursting heart, leaped from the box, and went np
the steps. He laid his hand on the bell-knob to ring, bat
shook so io his nerveless agony, that he had to pause.
Suddenly the door opened, and Muriel appeared standing
within the lighted entry, clad all in white, calm, heautiful and
radiant. Wentworth burst into teai-s, and staggering foi-ward,
fell into her arms.
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O^b RAIiEIITOTON.
"Hush, dear Richard," she said, in a serene and tender
voice, " I know it all. Be calm, as I am. Bring him to me."
Blind with tears, he tottered down the steps to the carriage,
and threw open the door.
" Richard," said the faint voice from within, " take Antony
np at once."
Antony got out from the carriage, wondering why his pro-
tector spoke in such a weak voice, and followed Wentworth in.
" "Welcome hack, Antony," said Mnriei, with a grave smile.
" Go up with Mr. Wentworth."
She turned her face to the carriage, as the fugitive, cring-
ing low, with his dark, skull-like face hideous with a reveren-
tial smile, passed her, draped hastily np-stairs by Wentworth.
In a moment Bagasse sprang from the carriage, and turn-
ing, reached in for Harrington, who crept down presently,
supported from behmd by the Captain, and before by the
fencing-master. The moment he touched the pavement, Muriel
flew down the steps, clasped him in her arms, and gazed for
an instant, with a pale, bright smile, into his dying face.
The two men gazed at her for a moment, their haggard and
weeping faces stilled with wonder at her seraphic smile of
calm, and the soft vision of her beauty in the darkness. Then
Btartmg from thra pause, they lifted Harrington from his fee'.,
bore him up into the hbrary, laid hun half reclining on a
couch, and as they did so, she came quickly with water and
wine, and knelt bcide him.
Wentworth entered behind them, drenched and draggled
with the rain and spray, with his hair dishevelled, and his faco
livid and haj^ard with grief, and went at once to Emily, who
hiy on a couch in a dead swoon. The two men stood forlornly
weeping, Bagasse with his face buried in his hands, the Cap-
tain with his head bent on one side, his visage white with dark
cycles around the eyes, and the tears streaming r>n his cheeks.
Save for their low, hoarse sobs, the lighted room was intensely
stOl.
" Beloved Mnriei," murmured Harrington, " I thank the
kind fate that suffers me to see you again, ami to die in your
arms."
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HAERINQTON.
527
" And I, mj husband," she replied, in a subdued and ten-
der voice, " I am happier that it has been ordered so. You
return to me, as I knew you would, living or dead, a victor."
" Tea," he replied, " we have triumphed. All is rctrieyed,
and I can pass away in peace. I was alone ; I lost my weapon,
and they were seven to one; but I mastered them all with only
one wound. Otdy one — here — but it is fatal."
She qnickly undid his neckerchief and collar, laid bare his
massive breast, aad gazed upon the stab. Then rising, she
went over to Wentworth, wlio was bending over Emily,
she having just recovered from hep swoon.
" Richard," said she, " I dp not think there is any hope for
John, but it is best to call in Dr. Winslow. Will you go for
hun?"
Wentworth at once left the room.
" Dear Emily, be calm," said Muriel, gently. " I told you
of this beforehand, that you might he saved the shock. Try
to be eahn. Try, for my sake, to meet this soitow bravely."
" Oh, Muriel," replied Einily, with the tears flowing upon
her blanched and agitated face, " is he hurt ? Don't tell me
he is killed t Don't tell me that 1 Where is he ? Let me
see him."
" Come here, dear Emily," said Harrington, faintly.
Tremblingly rising, assisted by Muriel, and weeping bitterly,
she crossed the fioor, supported by her, and sinking down by
Harrington, who had covered his breast, she laid her head wi
his shoulder, while he, in low murmurs, tried to comfort her.
Muriel knelt beside them with one ann around Harrington,
and his hand held to her bosom. In a minute or two Emily
had stilled her grief, and nothing was heard but the low,
hoarse sobs of the two men. Watching Harrii^ton's face,
amidst the sobbing, Muriel saw a faint expression of weary
pain flit across it. She instantly rose, and turned to the two
moumei's.
"Mr. Bagasse," said she, sadly smiling, as she laid her
hands on hb arm. " I am glad to see you, though I did not
think our first meeting would be at such a time as this."
He dropped his hands from his uncouth and martial feftlur;:s.
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■^SS HAERI.XGTON.
swarthy-white with grief, and bowed low, with tlte tears nm-
ning from his eyes.
"Ah, madame," he faltered, hoarsely, "ze honor and ze
joay I haf to see ze beaatifool ladee wife is all covait- ovair
wis my sorrow. My old vair seek heart is cut all u|j wis
my des-pair."
" Nay, do not grieve so," slio tetiderly replied, " We shall
all see the maa we love agahi. Ah, Mr. Bagasse, yon conld
bear to see men die for France. Can jou not bear to see one
die for humanity,
" Yes, I haf see vair many men die," he answered, slowly
moving his head up and down. " I was conscrip' wis Nap-oleon.
I see men die in big heap wis cannon an sabre and bayonet at
Ligny and Waterloo, an' I bear it. I see my two brozzer kill
dead at Ligny, an' I bear it. Kot Missr Harriu'ton. No. I
see him kill— I see ze lof of my heart, so kind, so good, so
brave, so tendair wis evairbody, kill by zose murdair devaii,
and I nevair bear it. Ah, madame, nerair, nevair I"
She smiled sadly with dim eyes, and held out her beautiful
white hands to him. He cangbt them qaicklj in his, pressed
them to his lips, and with a convulsive flush darkly reddening
his grotesque and mai'tia! features, drew himself up, and looked
for an instant at her solemn festal loveliness.
" I bear it, madame," he cried hoarsely, with passionate ve-
hemence. "Ton lof him so mush, and yon bear it. You leant
me zat lesson, and I will bear it wis you. Ah, madame, you
are ze brave, beautifool soldier wife. You was fit for his great
lof. I res-peet, I ad-mire, I wop-ship you."
He dropped her haads, bowed low, and faOii^ back a pace,
tightly folded his arms, and stood sombre and calm, with his
one eye glowing like a coal.
She looked at him for a moment, and then her still eyes
wandered slowly to the weeping Captain, and she glided over
" Mr. Fisher," she said, in a cahu, compassionate voice, " let
us endure this trial with fortitude. I grieve to see you suifer.
Try to be calm."
"I can't eudoor it," moaned the Captain. " He's eveiy
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HABBHrGTOH. 529
thing to ns. Whartl Hannah aud the children say when I tell
'em he'a gone 1 It'll be the house of monrnin' I'oriver. Here's
the workin's of elaverj. If John H., or Joel James, was in his
cofQn this minute, it wouldn't compare with this bereavement.
I don't see how yon can endoor it. 1 can't."
" He is the light of hfe to me," she answered, gently, " but I
yield him up with joy and pride. Can 1 feel one pulse of grief
when I thmk that he dies for the inalienable rights of man ?
Can I remember that ho dies to save a fellow-creature from
cruelty and wrong, and mourn ? Thmk I Ho was rich, and
he dies for the poor ; ho was strong, and he dies for the weak;
he was a freeman, and he dies for the slave. Is that a death
to raom-ii ? So ! My sonl is glad in him — my heart covers
him with glory,"
The Captain looked at her calm and radiant face with a
startled visage, while a thrill ran thi-ough his veins.
" Well, that's noble," said be. " Yis, that's liigh^ninded.
Don't say another word, Mrs. Harrington, I'm done. Tis,
John dies in the Lord. His father died in the Lord, an' so he
will. It's hard to bear, bat it's for libaty."
He turned from her, sobbing, with his head on one side, and
sat down. She looked at him compassionately, and then
glided away to Harrington, He lay halt-rechoing, with ae
mellow lamplight resting on his face, sculptural now w^ili the
pallor of dissolution, the eyes clear and still in their shadows,
the brow lit with the dews of suffermg, and 8 sweet, faint
smile palely irradiating all, Emily, white aa marble, sat by
him with her hands clasping one of his, magnetically calmed
by his tender words, and by the peaceful and noble passion of
his dying. Motioning to her not to move, Muriel pushed a
footstool near the couch, and kneeling upon it beside him, put
one arm around his neck, and the other across liis bosom
over his shoulder, and clasping him so, gazed with adoring
tenderness into his eyes.
Kneeling in silence thus, and holding his soul to hers, a few
minutes passed away, and the sound of the shutting door
announced the arrival of the physician. Muriel and Emily
arose, and the former opened the door of the library. Pre-
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060 DAEKINGTON.
sently the doctor, a courteous, elderly gentleman, with a
shining bald head, entered bowing, with his hancls folded
together.
"My dear Mrs. Harrington," said he, "what is this?
Tour husband stabbed I I am shocked to hear it."
He did not seem at all shocked, however, but was smiply
kind, professional and affable, with a little approval and admi-
ration of Muriel's beauty visible in his manner ae he looked
at her.
" Yes, doctor," she replied, calmly, " Will you look at tlie
wound ?"
She turned toward Harrington as she spoke, and the
physician at once passed her,- bowing, with his lips pursed up,
and laying aside the young man's clothes, looked at the stab.
Every eye was fixed upon him, and every heart, save Muriel's,
throbbed painfully in expectancy. In a few moments, he
tnrned away, and came toward them with a silent look on his
iace, which filled them with cold despair,
" How did this happen, Mrs. Han-mgton ?" he asked, with
affable gravity.
" Briefly, doctor, thns," she replied, " Mr. Harrington
■Jiterfered to-night in behalf of a poor man, and was wounded
by iome unknown hand in the contest."
The doctor made a clicking sonnd with his tongue against
his teeth.
" What a p'rty 1" he added. " Have you no clue to the perpe-
ti'ator of this OLti-age. The police should be set ou the track
at once."
" Doctor," said she, "I will tell yon of this hereafter. Let
me only saj now that I wish this matter to remain unknown
if possible. The mischief is done, and it would only be pain-
ful to U3 to have it given to the pnblic. If yon can serve me
in this way, I will be deeply grateful to yon,"
" Oh, certainly, Mrs. Hanington," he replied. " I can ap-
preciate your feeling under these distressing circumstances.
Ton may depend on me. There is nothing to be done, I am
sorry to say. Probably one of the small coronary arteries has
been severed. The wound will not bleed, externally. Give
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HAEIWNGTON. 531
him water and a littlo wine occasionally, and plenty of air.
I will come in again in the morniug ; but I regret to say
that I can do nothing, and aa I unfortanately cannot, I will
not intrude further."
She bent her head in response to his afiable bow, and he
backed bowing out of the library, and was gone.
Muriel opened the windows, then glided over to Harrn^on,
and knelt, murmuring iuaudibly beside him, while the rest
stood in a common stnpor of cold, blank sorrow. Presently
she arose, and gave him wine ; then laying down the glass,
she turned to the dejected group :
" Friends," said she, with calm SQlemnitj, " come here I"
They all approached slowly, and stood with bent heads,
gazmg with mute and mournful faces on the white majestic
features of Harriujrton. He lay, half reclined, his heart
supported by the cushions, and rismg with something of its old
majtial carriage from the massive breast, while he looked upon
them, sweet and regnant, with bright, dying eyes.
" Dear friends," said he, in a voice hollow and low, but firm
and clear, " you will remember to keep all that has happened
secret. It is my 'last request,"
There was a brief interval of silence.
" Come close to me," he said, looking at the Captain.
The old man knelt down beside him, weeping, and put his
arms around him.
" Kind father," said the low, sweet voice, " my own father's
friend, the true friend of my mother, so good and faithful to
me, I love you deariy, and I bless you. Give my fond love to
the poor wife and the children, and tell them we shall all
meet hereafter. I wish I could have seen thera, but it has
been ordered otherwise. No matter : we shall meet ^uin."
There was a long silence. Then rising, still weeping bifr
terly, and unable to speak a word, the old man grasped for a
moment the cold hands of him he loved like his own children,
and tamed away sobbing.
" Come, Bagasse," said Harrington, trying to lift his arms
to him.
With a sudden movement, the Frenchman threw himself
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633 nAKEINQTON.
upon ono knee beside him, clasped him in his arms, and kissed
him oil each cheek.
" Hah ! I lof you," he cried hoarsely, with a visage of
glowing iron, and an eye of fire. " I lof yon wis my heart, my
life. See : I die vair soon. It is sixtee year old wis me.
Soon I die and come to you. Ah, brave, kind, tendair zhentU-
man, joa go off vair young ! You lof evairybody so much zat
ze dam world will not haf no place for you. You go to ze
good God. Ask Him zoo par-don ae vair bad life of old
Bagasse zat he may come stay wis yon. Zen I am happy,
happy,"
" Fear not — soon jou will see me," murmured Harrii^on,
calmly smiling. "It is but a little while. Bend your face
down to me."
Bagasse did so, and Harrington gently pressed his lipa to
each cheek.
"There. It is the kiss of France," he said. " Take it with
my love. Farewell,"
" Farewell, brave zhentilman, farewell," the Frenchman re-
plied. " rarcwcll, till I meet wis you. I lay ze immortelle
on yon grave."
He sprang back, erect ajid martial, and folded hLs arms.
Emily sank down beside Harrington, calm, though with a fa«e
of marble, and Weatworth, white and stem with despairing
grief, knelt on the footstool, with one arm around his neck and
the other grasping his hand,
" Dear lovers," said Harrington, smiling with pale tenderness,
"when the wedding comes think of me as there. Do not
think that you will be lost to my love, when I am lost to yonr
eyes. 1 will be happy in your happiness ; and my memory
will be part of your joy. In all the good sweet hours, in all
the hours of earthly trial and sorrow, I will be with yon. Onr
happy days together are not ended — they will be ours again
hereafter."
" Oh, we have lost all in losing you," wailed Emily, with the
tears flowing from her eyes. " I wish that I had died before
this sorrow could come to me."
" And I," gasped Richard ; " my heart is broken !"
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HAUiiixa.'ON. 533
The fleeting soul rallied in tlic feeble frame of Harrington,
and with a convalsivo effort lie raised his arms, and elasped
them to his breast. They dang to liim, silently weeping, and
for a little while all were still,
" This is the grief of dying," he faltered, at length. " Oh,
dear ones, death is bitter to me when I see jon grieve."
"No, no, it shall not be," cfied Wentworth, lifting hia
streaming eyes to Harrington's, " We will not pain yoa.
Emily, dear Emily, let us be calm — let us not make him suffer
whom we love."
"I will not," she answered, lifting her beautiful agonized
face, and controlling herself with a strong effort. " I will be
calm. Eor your sake, John, for I love yon as I never dreamed
I could love."
"Thanks, thanks," faltered Harrington. "Dear Emily,
dear Richard, think of Muriel. She is here, she yon love so
fondly remains to make life beautifnl to joh. Oh, think of
that, and be filled with gladness and gratitude ! There. I
have much to say to you, but my strength fails me. Live
happy. Love much. Now farewell till we meet in the bright
land."
Emily bent down, folding hhn in her arms, and pressed her
mouth to Lis cold lips in a long, fervent kiss, whose memory
never left her life. Rising presently, she swept away to the
extremity of the room, and sank on her knees by a chair.
Weutworth remained for a little while, Ms arms around hia
friend, his head resting upon his bosom. Then raising his
sorrowful aud ha^^ard face, he kissed him on the forehead,
grasped his hand and held it to his heart, and with one linger-
ing, mournful 3ook upon the noble and peaceful countenance
which smiled upon him, reverently laid the hand down, and
slowly wandering away, knelt beside Emily.
Harrington looked at Muriel, with his white face kindled,
" Come to me now, my beloved," he said, in a faint and
fervid voice. " The shadows have passed. Come, and share
my dying hour of joy."
Pale, and glorious in her festal beauty, she moved to the
folding-do ora.
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nAEKIKGTON.
" I will Btay with him till he is gone," she said, calmlj.
" Wait here till I come out to yoa."
She withdrew, closing the doors behind her, leaving the
moamers together. The Captain and Bagasse seated them-
selves in silence. Presently Emily and Wentworth arose from
their knees, and sat on a couch, clasped in each other's arms.
An intense stillness succeeded, and the quiet light shone lonelily
on the four bowed and moveless forms.
CHAPTER XXXTI.
The solemn time slowly wore away. Gradually the twilight
began to glimmer through the slats of the western window.
Wentworth rose noiselessly, opened the window, put back the
blinds, and withdrew the curtains ; then extinguishing the
hght, resumed his seat again beside Emily.
The glimmering twihght slowly melted into pale dawn
with a deep violet sky ; and the few vague noises of reawaken-
ing life began to sound in the streets of the quiet neighbor-
hood. Soon the violet of the sky changed into tiie light blue
of early mornhig, toaehed by the unriseii sun, and the pure
pallor of the daylight, lay within the chamber, and on its
bowed and silent occupants.
Day broadened, and the first fresh beams of the sunrise
reddened on the tops of the chiinneys. A faint stir came to
them from the inner room, and the fotding-doore uuclosed a little,
and remained slightly ajar. They all rose, and stood m silence.
Looking through the apertm-e, they saw that the lamps were
extinguished within, and that a brighter day than tlicirs
fluslied with light the silent roiira. Suddenly the folding-
doors swung wide open, and Mnriel appeared, with a face of
! radiance. For a moment she stood in silence,
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HAKEINGTON.
535
exalted, Sazzliiig, a presence like intoxicating mnsic ; her
snowy drapery falling around her in lioly bacchanal folds, her
amber hair rippling goMeiily and low, and her features
kindled with a smile like morning.
" It is over," she said, her voice thrilling with a rapture of
tenderness. " He has gone."
They stood in silence, gazing with a^^-e upon her pure and
lovely face, and the Jight of her immortal joy and peace
floated in upon their cold and desolate sorrow, like heavenly
rays upon a winter sea. Her sacred and anroral beauty intcr-
blended with their sense of the solemn presence of the dead,
and the feehngs that arose withia them were like the prayers
and hymns of resurrection.
Standing with bowed heads, the passing perfume of her
robes told them tliat she moved,_aud they silently followed
her into the room where all that was mortal of the hero lay.
Tbe curtains were drawn aside, and the light of the morning,
warmed by the coming gold of the sunrise, streamed tenderly
upon the white and noble featnres. He lay reclined, the head
resting upon a cushion, the hands crossed upon tlie bosom, the
bearded face beautiful in grand and sweet serenity, with the
lips and eyelids closed. So peaceful and unchanged was his
countenance, save in its marble pallor, that it might have been
thought he slept. But he was dead. Nerveless now the
limbs so mighty in liberty's defence ; pulseless now the strong
heart whose generous currents beat for man ; the busy brain
that had wrought with such divine ambitions for tlie race, was
stilled ; and all the godhood that had given that body its
majesty and beauty, was gone from it forever.
.They gazed calmly upon the deserted form. Grief had had
its hour. It would but have profoned the sanctuary of that
holy and grand repose. The beauteous peace of death was
there, and it made tliem still. Silently, for a httle while, they
looked with monrnful and chastened spirits upon the clear and
lovely features, and as they turned away, Emily bent and
kissed the sacred forehead.
" Sleep sweetly, gallant and gentle heart," she said in a
voice like fervi.l i;insic, " Sleep, folded in the rest of Heaven,
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'™'' HAEEINGTON.
folded In onr Savior's arms. Well for us if we had died like
yon."
^ She rose with a rapt and pallid face, and moved away on.
circled by Wentworth'a arm, with her own around him.
"I love you, Richard," she said. "I love yon with my
whole nature ! But far above me, 1 saw a nobler love than
mine. It was a love too great and sweet for me— a love to
which I never could attain ; and with that love I loved him."
He did not reply, but clasped her closer to him, and they
all went out into the other section of the room.
While they stood in silence, a loud and violent ring, lifco
the jar of devila breaking in npon their solemn peace, came at
the hall entrance. Muriel paused a moment, then shut the
folding doora, and stepped into the passage. Patrick was up,
and was already shuffling along the entry below to answer the
summons. Presently the hall-door opened, and Muriel, lean-
ing over the banister, heard a harshand angry voice say ;
" Where's Mr. Harrington ? I want to see him immedi-
ately."
It was Lemuel Atkins.
" Patrick," said Muriel, before the servant could reply,
" show that person up here,"
She retu-ed into the library, and trampling rudely up-staira
came Mr. Atkins, and strode into the library with his hat on
livid with paSfiioQ. '
" Where's that ruffian husband of yours P' he brawled, fronts
ing Muriel. " I want to see him instantly. Where is he f
Where have you hidden him V
" Mr. Atkins," said Wentworth, stepping forward, with a
stem white face, "permit me to remmd yon that you are
speaking to a lady, and that you have your hat on in her
presence. Take your hat off at once, sir."
_ Mr. Atkins took his hat by the rim with both hands, pulled
It down more firmly on his head, and swelling out his chest
with Tulgar insolence, fronted Wentworth with a hlusterina- air
" There, sir," said he.
"And there, sir." repUed Wentworth, knocking the hat from
his head cleai- across the room.
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HAEEDJQTOH. 537
Mr. Atkins, frigJitened a little at this deciMve action ghrtd
at him with glassy eyes, hat Went worth with a coH stPin
fa«e, retired a few pat-es, with his gnze fixed on Muriel Ba
gaase, meanwhile, the hat having falkn near him ciTLlied it
beneath his feet, and stood on it with an eye like a led
coal.
"Well, sir," said Muriel, qaietly, " yoa were asking after
my husband. What do you want with him ? What is the
matter V
" The matter is this, madam," roared the merchant, bending
his livid and bruta! face down to hers, with his horse-jaws wide
open, " I send a damned runaway scoundrel down the harhor
for safe-keeping, and your rnffianly hasband goes down there,
and not only takes him away, but nearly kills the men I put
in charge of him. Don't you deny it, inadam, and say it was
some one else, for one of those men heard the runaway rascal
call him by Lis name. Now, where is he ? Out with him at
once ! Here's one of those men just come iip tome with the
news ; yes, and there's another thing. He had to hail a boat
that was passing to take him np to the city, for your robber of
a husband npset every boat that was at the wharf. Yes,
madam, upset them ! And then when the men endeavored to
retake their prisoner, ho fell upon them with his fists and feet,
and nearly killed them. There they are, seven of them, all
mangled, and braised, and battered, and . Where is he,
1 say ? Produce him at once 1"
There was no change in Muriel's serene face while the mer-
chant belched all this into it, save only a close contraction of
her delicate nostrils ; and this was not caused by emotion but
by the fetor of his breath, which was abomind^le,
" How many men did you say, sir ?" she asked quietly, the
moment he had done speaking. .
*' I said seven, madam ; seven men all bruised and "
He stopped, arrested and confused nearly to choking, by her
still smile of scorn.
" Seven men, Lemuel Atkins," said she, derisively. "Seven
men with knives in their hajids. Seven armed rufSans, and my
husband, bare-handed, crashed them all I Oh, my husband,
23*
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*>^0 HAKEINQTON.
but I am proud of yon 1 And yon, Lemael Atkins, you hare
the face to come here, and blazon the shame of your seven
bired assaying. Well done I"
Brutal and impndent as he was, Mr. Atldns could not but
be abashed at this sarcastic exposure of his inglorious com-
plaint, and stood workiog his jaw in the effort to collect him-
self.
" And you want to see my husband ?" pursued Muriel.
" Good. You shall see him. Eichard, throw open those
doors."
Weatworth immediately flung the folding-doore asnndor, and
Mnriel, grasping the merchant by the wrist, drew him into the
room, and up to the conch.
" There he is," said she, " mm-dered I By you 1"
The merchant's visage instantly changed to a frightful and
ghastly blue, his jaw dropped, his hair rose bristling, aud,
peti'ilied v.'ith horror, he stood glaring at the corpse. Like
many coarse natures, he had a natural vnlgar dread of a dead
body, but added to that was the teirific shock of being brought
suddenly before the slaughtered corpse of his niece's husband,
the di-eadful consciousness that he himself was morally respon-
sible for this rum, and the soul-sickening fear that now the
law would pursue its authors, and that his own wicked and
illegal act, with the blood of a murder on it, would be exposed
to the public Yiew. The simple illegal kidnapping, at a time
when Boston had gone for kidnappu^, was nothing ; his tribe
would wink at that , but w ith this crime upon it, he never
could survive the consequences
" See," said Munel, laying bare the breast, " there is the
wound of the -knife that slew him. Ton, Lemuel Atkins,
through yonr i^ent, struck that blow."
She looked at bun with clear and glowing eyes, but iie did
not heed her, nor did the ghastly aspect of his visage change.
Transfixed with horror, he stood immovable, his gaze bonnd
by a dreatlful fascination to the short pnriDle line in an orb of
red suffusion on the white breast. But at last, his glassy eyes
wandered to her face.
" Itm kill her," he murmured in a horrible, low voice, talking'
o.led by Google
539
to himself as though she were not present. " She'll die of grief
fur him."
Muriel smiled — a elear, still smile that made him sliiver.
" You think so I" she replied, in firm and steady tones.
" Ton think I'will die of grief for my slain hu.sbaiid ? Well
you may, for I loved him with a love of whose strength and
fervency a nature like yours knows, and can know, notliing.
Well may you think so, for he was the light of life to me.
But see — " she seiKed the merchant's hand, and laid it on her
wrist — " the pnlse beats eaim 1 Peel "—she placed his liand
upon her heart — " there is no throb of anguish there ! Look
at my face — it is not the face of grief 1 Kill me ? Ko, it
will not kill me 1 Grieve me ? No it can never grieve me I
Sorrow nor death can come not nigh me — for he lies dead hi
the divinest death a man can die, and I am filled with glad-
ness and with pride 1 Should I not be glad and prond ? The
most forsaken of mankind, the Pariah of a despised and
trampled race, came from long years of misery to his chaise,
and when you stole that most wretched being that you might
send him back to the hourly murder from which he had
emei^ed, my spotless hero went from this house knowing that
he never would return alive, and willingly laid down Lis'iife
to save him Yes — he knew that the price of that man's lib-
erty was hia own life and he paid it Alme he did it— alone
he took jcur victim fiom his captors — alone and naked-handed
he crushed the seven assassins who daied to front him in his
manhood — and with that led st»r of honoi m 1 is breast he
came home heie to die in my exulting arms There he lies —
dead in the uoblest death a man can softer — deith m the ser-
vice of the weak andioor Dead— -ind on all his life the
splendor of that heioic devjti n dead — and on his bieast that
red blazon of glory immortal and I *,ould rifle eaith of its
roses to deck this hour, and break up heaven for the music of
my joy P
The clear and fiery silver of her voice rang through him
like a hundred swords, and staggering back a pace, he fairly
crouched before the stormy effulgence of her beauty. For she
flamed upoa him, dilated, with a terrible enthusiasm quivering
o.led by Google
540 HABKINGTON.
throT^h Ler flushed and kindled features and an electric aure-
ole of vietorj darting from her lilie a sense of rays. Not him
alone did she overwheloi— the air of the room was deluged
with the torrent magnetism of her spirit, as, if it had been
flooded with a rushing ether of light flame, and every heart
heat aa with the wings of eagles, and every cheek was pale
with the draining rapture of her ardor. Not him alone, but
hun chiefly, and only him with dread. Had she flashed hate
and scorn upon him, he could have better borne it. But this
supernatural exultation over an event which he thought would
have bowed her in paflid agonies of grief— this sublime and
haughty glory in her husband's fate— astounded and terrified
him. It mingled with his sense of her pcean tones and words,
the patrician nobility of her figure in its snowy odor-breathing
raiment, all the fiery beauty and dazzling enchantmentj^ of her
presence— and it rushed into a consciousness worse than the
conscionsness of her hate and scorn— the consciousness of the
thing he was contrasted with her. The very sight of her was
the insupportable verdict of his own utter baseness, and he
stood crouching and shuddering, with his glassy eyes bound to
her face, as if some judgment angel, dreadful in loveliness, had
burst upon him from the woman he knew.
Sho turned away, and his gaze slowly reverted to the corpse.
At once, with tenfold vehemence, his former fear and horror
rose vrithin him.
" My God I" he gasped, " this is an awful tragedy!"
Sudden as lightning she wheeled around, and the first slant-
ing beam of the sunrise smote her forehead, and lit her noble
features with a new resplendence !
" It is not 1" she cried, in a proud and ringing voice. " It
is a triumph 1 You threw the interests of your party and
your trade into the scale against a man's liberty. He threw
the rich, red blood of his heart into the other side, and weighed
you down. It is a triumph ! CaU it no tragedy which breaks
one fetterlock, even at the cost of a sweet life ! Oh, brother
of the despised and the rejected, weU for earth's proudest if he
went to God like you, the savior of a poor spirit from the
curse of bonds, and bearii^ up to heaven the trophy of one
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HAREIN&TOH. 041
broken eli£un ! Pass me, sorrow, pass, and come not nigh
me— for oh, my hushaad, you laid down jour life for a weak
and lowly slave, and there is morning in my heart for-
Her pealing voice, prond and ringing while she spoke to
hun, melted into clear and noble pathos as she turned to the
visioned image of her hero, and the words breathed in tones of
illimitable ecstasy npon an air that seemed to beat and swim
m rapture. The swiftly ascending sunlight rested upon her as
she stood with clasped hands, her tresses shining in golden
glory aronnd her divinely kindled face, her soft, white drapery
flowing and tremblmg around her, and gazing upon her from
the inner room as through a veil of fire and tears, she seemed
to them like some splendid seraph of the morning, dilated with
holy and heroic joy.
A low groan heaved from the chest of the wretched Atkins.
She looked at him. He was gazing with a face of abject hoi>
ror and despair on the majestic figure of the dead.
" Come away," she said, solemnly, taking the passive wretch
by the arm, and leading him into the other room. "I
pity you from the depths of my sonl. You are the tragedy —
you and the social order that has rumed you. Would that I
could do you good! I cannot. Yon are made, and only
death can unmake you. Well will it be for you when your
sad failure of an earthly life is ended, and you can resume that
you were before yon were born."
He tnmed toward her, dreadfully agitated, with the foul
tears flowing on his convulsed and livid visage.
" Spare me," he hoarsely faltered, clasping his hands, " spare
mo the exposure 1 For the love of God, let it bo hushed up 1
It'll ruin me and my family, and — Oh, I beg of you let
it"
"Listen to me," said Muriel, interruptmg him. "My
mother has not yet left her chamber, and therefore does not
know of what has happened. Spare her the anguish of seeing
you here with the body of her beloved son lying there. I
have ah-eady kept you too long. But hear this : the persons
present, and oue other, are the only persons who know of this
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543
HASKINGTON,
transaction, and they are pledged never to divulge it. Keep
it secret then yourself. It ends here."
" Oh, thank you, thank you; I'm very grateful indeed I
am," he hurriedly replied, showing ia his agitation a mean re-
Jief at his escape from the consequences of Ms wickedness :
" I'll go at once."
He looked around for his hat Bagasse kicked it over to
him, with an eye that flashed red fiie Atkins did not show
the least resentment at the msnlt, but hastilj pi, king up the
cm*ed castor, hurriedly left the library stiaighttmng it
out, and presently they heard the hall-door close behind
Mmiel went to the body of Harrmgton, and anan^td the
clothef over the bosom In a moment ui two the others fol
lowed her, and as they approached, she turned towaid tJiim
" I muht go up to toil mothei ot this," she sj.id It is
better that she should hear it in her own chamber."
" We ought to have called her, that she might see John be-
fore be died," said Emily.
"No," replied Muriel ; "I thought of It, but I feared to
have her here for her own sake. ' And I fear the shock it will
give her now. I mnst go at once."
She moved to the entrance, but at that moment Mrs. East-
man entered the Ubrary in the eectiou beyond the folding doors
Muriel sprang, canght her in her arms, and gazed with all her
BonI in her eyes, inU) her pale countenance. Mrs. Eastman had
not canght sight of the body, but she saw Bagasse and the
Captain, and knew at once that something unusual had hap-
pened, and with a startled glance at the avei-ted faces of the
group, she looked with ashen features at M 1
"Mother," ■udMur el n a fl n pr ul v ] k at me
Am I not happy ?
Mrs. Eastman gazed w th a wan mile at the radiant con
tenanee of her danghter
"Yes, dear, she wonder ngly murmnrel I never sa«
you look more o But vl y a e jou jojhl
'■ Because tl s is a day of j y mother rej i ed Mur el
"It is the joy of joys to-day Heaven touches arthvi tbme
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UAKEINGTON". 543
and I am liappy. Mother, the poor man wlio was stolen from
xm is savcid ! John has ransomed him I"
"Why!" exclaimed Mrs. EaBtmao, starting, with a bright
smile, m her daughter's anna, " This ia indeed good news.
But what do you mean — how did John ransom him ?"
" With a great price, 'my mother," cried Muriel, a brilliant
smile irradiating her inspired features. " A price which I am
wiiling and proud to pay. Are joo ?"
" I would pay any faice for such a good as this," replied
Mrs. Eastman, witli some wonder visible in her joj.
"Any, mother?"
" Yes, any."
" Ah, mother, let me try yon. Suppose the price was your
whole fortune. Would you give it ?"
" I would give it ail," answered Mrs. Eastman, fervently,
" I would give everytliing rather than go throngh hfe with the
shame and agony of Lemuel's sin and that poor man's murder
upon me."
" But, mother, suppose Heaven asked of you a greater price
than that. Suppose it asked, as the price of a poor man's
liberty, yonr daughter's life, or the life of your son. Would
you give it ? Answer me yes," she cried, with flashing eyes.
" Tell me that yonrs is not a cheap devotion to the old New
England honor — the old Kew England liberty — the old New
England justice I Tell me that joa ai'e willing to offer up to
Heaven the dearest and the pioidoat sa^irifiue a sonl can offor,
that I may iove you with the love of love forevermore I"
To stand before that impassioned ajid magnetic face, to hear
those burning and electiic tones and not be kindled by tlitir
enthusiasm, was not m human nitui-e. The flame thrilkd
through the mother's soul ind vith a pale, proud counteuancf ,
and quivering nostrils, while a vague and awful consciousucM
of what had happened arose within her, she looked steadily
into the flushed and exalted features of Muiiui.
" I have not your spirit, Muriel," she tremulously answered,
" and such a sacrifice would be hard for me to make, but I
would strive to make it — I would strive to be worthy of my
dai^hter."
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544
HAKRINGTON.
" Mother of my heart !" cried Muriel, with passionate fer-
vor. " Behold, the honr has come for yea to strive with every
mortal weakness. Lean on me now — let me fill you with my
strength — let me dilate yon with my joy. Rouse up your eoul
to fortitude — nerve it to bear as only a woman's sout can bear
— for Heaven has asked the great sacrifice of us all. Oh, my
mother. Heaven haa said to him we love— the price of the
ransom is you wn hf — . d w th his I f h h pa d t
The mothe I k d t h tl a p 1 t II mt n
She did not s n h d d n t h k 1 d d t w p
tremble. Th t tainnpllfM 1 ptw
upon her ; h 1 m g t y a^ h 1 1 1 1 h
breathed in tl m 1 ty th f th t I t fv j, ph f
prUe and joy L It t I It h m ght h d pp 1 d d
or mad ; but terp t t d th th t ffl t will d
moved and ki dl d I y h d f h i j,hte blo-
ness, she rose g hk th 1 p h t
leaves the ser t da tl ]oom f 1 k t
"Ihearyo h J w fiill q 1 img
more like Muiielt, than her own. "I hear you, and I am
filled with your life. You wish me to be cahn and strong. I
am calm and strong. I understand you perfectly, Tou tell
me that he is dead."
"Mother," reph'ed Muriel, with solemn fervor, " his earthly
life is ended, but he lives forever. He died a hero's death,
and all who made earth noble witli their living and their dy-
ing, rise up to welcome hitn."
There was a moment's pause, in which their eyes remained
bound to each other. Then the low, fuU, equal voice spoke on.
" Tell me more, Muriel. Tell me how he died. I am calm.
I can bear to bear it all."
" I will tell you, my mother," Muriel replied. " He heard
that the man was a prisoner in a boat at an island wharf in
the bay. Last night he sailed through the tempest, and cap-
tured him. Seven to one, they followed him to the beach, and
fell upon him. He crushed them every one, received a death-
wound m the fray, returned in victory, and died here at snu-
rise. That is ali."
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HAEEUrGTON. 545
The pale face flushed slowly.
" I drove him to this," was the low reply. " Did I not ?
HaTe not I killed Mm V
" So, mother," answered Muriel, calmly. " It is not so. I
had determined to disregard your wishes, but this plan was
surer, and he and I chose it."
The pale tb.ce liglilened, and the flush died away in marble
pallor.
" No, it was not I that killed him," she said, slowly. " It
was another, and him I renounce forever. Lemuel " — —
" Hush, mother," said Muriel. " Not a word of him. Let
us pity and pardon him— but do not utter his name again.
Let Lim pass in peace."
There was a brief interval of silence before iho mother
spoke again,
" Where is lie, Muriel ? Let me see him. Do not hold me
from him. Do not fear for me. I am calm and strong. I
can bear to see hira now, though he is dead."
The pleadii^ and pathetic voice touched Muriel to her
heart's core, though there was no sign of emotion on her
face. Her clasp tightened around her mother, and for a mo-
ment her clear eyes dwelt upon the pallid countenance.
" Can you bear to look upon him now ?" she replied. " Be
calm — be strong. Look into that room. He is there,"
The mother, strongly held by Muriel's arms, slowly turned
her head, and gazed. A broad ray of sunlight rested on the
conch, and the sculptured face shone in white splendor. Long
and breathlessly she gazed upon it.
" Come," murmured Muriel.
Clasped in eaeh other's arms, they moved slowly to the side
of the couch, and stood gazing on the white and iioblo features,
clear-cnt and glorious in the daazling stream of light whicli fell
upon them, and relieved by the violet velvet on which the
body lay. It was death, hut death in the lustrous beauty o.f
a vision. The rich magic splendor that irradiated the msyestic
countenance, seemed issnant from it— a blazing halo, in which
it would rest forever.
" He is beautiful " murmured Mrs. Eastman, in a hushed
o.led by Google
and mnu f ! vo L 1 1 I a i dream, Mj dead
Eon 1
ihree 1 ttle word but in them wliat a large worll f aff c
t on an 1 sorrow found room 1 A th U of emoti n cam to
the silent group as her low list net to e awful in t p th
gave tbo e words ntterai ee No ele&ly and slowiy 1 ank
ftom Mnnel anas to her kn es and laid her hea I ni n the
pnJseless brea&t for a httle vhile 'ihe remained th w th
the str ng glory len tn^ a b icl tei & Iver to her tr es an 1
rising £^ain, her calm face was wet with tears,
" It is a great grief," she said, as Muriel aga n n Id
her in her arms. " It is a greater grief, M n 1 th
when your father died, I wonder that I can b ar t a I
do. And you, my poor child, widowed now like m h n
you endure yonr loss— how can you look bo beant ful and
happy, and he iying dead beside yon ?"
" Look, motherj" cried Muriel, " look at that sky !"
She drew her to the casement as she spoke, and flinging it
open, they stood, with the blithe, fresh air of the brilliant
morning aronnd them, gazing together on the transcendent
pomp of the sunrise. Far np the blue zenith, the sky was
bannered with floating clonds of gold and purple and crimson,
and burst on burst of splendor streamed through them from
the dazzling orb which filled the broad day with haughty and
majestic glory.
" Is this a day for grief ?" said Muriel. " Behold, it throbs
with victory — ^it trembles with immortality 1 See how its colors
and its splendors deck the sky ! They glow and bum in
beauty and in triumph for the return of a conqneror. Dead
soldier of Democracy, the beautiful and bannered sky is for
you I Burst high, flash far, float wide, oh divine resplend-
ence, and fill the vast with the goi^ous colors of victory, for
to-day all Heaven holds jubilee, and welcomes back one ssunt
and savior more 1"
Her low voice trembled with fervor as it uttered the pas-
sionate words, and her sunlit face shone like an angel's. Still
holding her mother in her arms, she turned with her to the
illuminated form of her lover.
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HAEKINQTON. Si7
"Thint, mother, how he lived," she said; "think how he
died. In a city whose vice it is that its valor and compassion
run to brains, he was aa arm. A mind trained for the human
service, and an arm. An arm swift, and loving'-swift to smite
the robbera of the poor; a heart that conld feel tenderly and
gently even for them; a life which beat, in its every artery,
with the blood of his love for mankind. Oh, never can I
mourn him ! The question that shakes the land and ^e
came to him— in the person of that forlorn wanderer it came,
saying, shall it be slavery or liberty for such as me — and not
with a word, bnt with a deed he answered, liberty ! Ay,
with his life he answered, liberty I Look oii him with joy as
I do, for grief is insult to the dead who die for man. Prond,
proud death 1 Sweet, sweet to die for liberty, and sweet to
look in life on him who has so died. Monm him? Oh,
never 1 My own dear love, my friend, my husband, angel of
my heart and of my life, I do sot monm you — I think of yon
with joy and pride. You smile upon me still, yon wait for
me in the Hereafter, you see my life all festal with your
memory, you see my earthly years flow forward beautlM with
your presence and rich with the light of your Paradise. Ob,
still be with me — let me never lose the dear eousciousness that
yon see me — ^let it endure to make my solitude divine, unlil I
meet you in the world of souls I"
Awed and thrilled by her tender and fervent ecstasy, Mrs.
Eastman slowly withdrew from her arms, and sank into a
chair. A deep and solemn silence tranced the rich room.
Muriel glided near her dead lover, and stood with the soft
snmmei-shine of June tenderly splendid on her golden hair and
noble features, her soul rapt in exultant joy and peace, and
her thoughts sweeping through Eternity, And as she mused,
Emily, with the color in her face and her eyes like stars, went
to the organ, and the deep surge of music fit for the buriel of
champions, rose and rolled in ravishing triumphal grandeur,
and swelled in a burning dream of joy immortal, and endless
glory for the brave.
Loud rolled and soared the pjean of the music. Burst on
burst, the rays of haughty splendor streamed through the
o.led by Google
548 HiEEDIGTOS.
bannered pomps that flamed and glowed against the darling
Eapphire of the day. Tide on tide the effnlgence poured
aronnd the heavenlj-heartcd heroine; and kindling on the xiolet
velvet of the couch, aa on the bier of an emperor, into a softer
rapture of triumphant flame, it lay in a blazing halo on the
folded hands, the broad heroic breast, the martial and noble
•s of the dead soldier of Democraey,
o.led by Google
EPILOGUE.
That raorning, at eight o'clock, "Wentworth took Kous and
Antony, with the elfln Tugmutton, to Worcester, and delivered
them, with a note from Mnriel, to the care of a friend. A
week later, and Ronx's family foEowed him. Safe in the
nncormpted heart of the Commonwealth, whcrp, even in that
dark period, the old New Ei^land honor fortressed the rights
of the lowly— happy, because they knew not what had
befallen their strong friend— thenceforth their humble fortunes
flowed in peace.
Wentworth returned in the afternoon of that day, but erea
before his return, the news of Harrington's death had spread
abroad among all who knew the family, and already a nur^her
of friends had called. Mrs. Eastman and Muriel, however,
unwilling to be questioned, had decided to excnse themselves
to every one, and nobody was admitted. Harrington had lived
rather a reclnave life — at least, he went but little into what is
called society, and except to a number of poor and humble
people, he was little known. To most of the friends and
acquaintance of Muriel, he was a stranger, and to the neigh-
borhdod only a stately figure, sometimes seen alone from the
windows, sometunes walkmg with her. Hence the interest the
neighborhood felt in his death was, as far as he perhonally was
concerned, vague, and keen only on account of Muriel, whose
loss, so soon after her marriage, excited a great deal of sym-
pathy and comment.
The funeral was to be strictly private, and Wentworth
returned to find the beauteous body already prepare.! for the
grave. It lay in its casket in the hbrary, garbed in the
clothes it had worn in Ufe. The young man gazed upon it a.
little while, thea turned to Muriel
o.led by Google
550 EPILOGDE.
" Of course," he said, " tlie hnrial permit has been at-
tended to,"
" Tea," she answered. " Dr. Winslow ga¥e the cer-
tificate."
" What canse could he hare assigned for the deatli ?" he
asked, with a startled an-,
Muriel looked at him for a moment with a strange, faint
smile.
"Enlargemeut of the heart," she answered
Wentworth's pale face became convulsed, and his eyes filled
with tears,
" Yea," he mnrmured, clasping Lis hands " that was the'
cause indeed 1"
It waa a day of grief to all but Munel The servants
moved about the liouse with eyes red with weeping. Patrick
seemed ten years older with his forlorn soirow Hannah and
the children carae to the house, and lemamed foi a couple of
hours, crying bitterly. Gracious and calm and sweet amidst
the mortal anguish, Muriel soothed aud strengthened and cou-
solod them all.
The next day was the day of the funeral Tlie library
where the body lay was decked at, on tlip day of the wedding,
with & profusion of roses. All the windows were open, and
the rich, dark room swam in clear radiance.
In the morning, Mrs. Eastman, Emily, Wentworth, and
Captain Fisher, being present, Muriel produced a brief will
which Harruigton had made the day after his marriage. The
few engravmgs which decorated his room, and a portion of his
books, he had bequeathed to Emily and Wentworth, The
bulk of his library wae given to Muriel. His house to Cap-
tain Fisher, with iiie provision tbat the two rooms in which he
had lived should be kept for the refi^ of any fugitive, exile,
houselras or outcast person of any description who might stand
in need of succor. His little income he had also given in
charge to the Captain to be expended for the relief of any
human distresses that might fall within his knowledge, or to be
used at his discretion for any charitable end.
The old man bent his head, silently weeping, and the rest sat
o.led by Google
BPILOOCE, 551
mute and stiU, thinking with awelliiig hearta of the Itind spirit
that had left earth forever.
A little while, and they were gone from the room— all save
Muriel and Wcntworth The latter stood bending over the
cofiin and looking mournfnlly on the beantiful dead face of
his fi'iend, and Muriel sat at the organ di'eaming m mnsi«,
which brooded in sweet and glorious surges on the sunlit
Ab the melody died away, Wentwortji Btole slowly to her
dde.
" I forgot to ask you," he murmured, " about the burial
service. Have yoa sent for a clergyman V
"No, Eichard," she replied. "He needs none. Our
thoughts and memories are the fittest burial rites for Mm. He
waa a type and harbinger of the day when religion shall be the
tender love and reverence of every sonl for all. In the vision
of tliat day let ns lay his dead form in the grave, hallowed by
our remembrance."
He bent bis head in silence and moved away.
An hour passed by, and a low tap came to the door. It
was Patrick come up to say that Mr. Witheriee was below,
and be^ed to see her. Muriel paused a moment, with a
strange feeling of surprise at this unexpected visit, and then
went down into the parlor.
Witheriee was there, standing hat jn hand, in the middle of
the floor. He did not bow as she came in, but looked at her
with a ngid and wan face and sad opaque eyts For a mo-
ment "\Inriel usuaEy <!0 collected and calm lost her elf m
wonder at his a pect and blankly gazed at him He was
smgularly changed AU the affected elugince of mi,nner was
t,oue the contumel oninehs the sujercih usness the mor
1 id ty tf tie face wtre gont, too the 1 andsome biown hair
Tvas biahfd flat the handsome eyebrows seemed &■< if then-
expressive lift was lost forever He was attired in deep bl-wk
with not a hne of white visible ani his colorless and ntfid
count nai ce wo e a strange espre ion of wan ascetic abstrw
tion
Wl } r 1 ind) 1 d M II cl n a sktt w Ifi nf, v
Ho.led by Google
recoYcring from her momentary pause, aod approaching him
with an outstretched hand, " I am surprised to see you."
^ He took her hand and bowed sUghtly, with an abstracted
" I ask your pardou for calling," he replied, looking vacantly
at her, and speaking as if in dreaming soliloquy. " I heard
of his death."
He paused, looking at her with his rigid lips slightly parted,
and his eyes like sad stone.
"Yes," said she, slowly, wondering more and more at his
strange manner. " It is true. He died yesterday moruiug at
sunrise."
There was another long pause, in which she looked blankly
at his abstracted gazing face.
"I am gomg to join the Catholic church," he said presently,
looking vacantly at the wall, though hia eyes had not seemed
to tura from her countenance,
" Indeed I" she replied.
" Yes," said he, " in two or three days I am going to Bal-
timore. I intend to prepare myself for holy orders,"
" Do you mean that you are going to become a priest V she
wonderingly asked.
" Yea," he rcpUed, " in the Catholic clinrch.
She blankly looked at hun, marvelling at what he had told
her.
" Would yon be kind enough to let me see him ?" said he,
vacantly. " Only for a moment. I would be very grateful."
So great was her wonderment at the strange aJteration in
hhn, and so potent the deadening inftuence that radiated from
him, that for a few moments she remained still and silent,
fixedly looking at his face.
" Certainly, Fernando," she suddenly replied, starting from
her amazement. " Certainly, you shall see him. Come with
me."
She went quickly from the room and upstairs, almost doabting
that he was following her, so noiseless was his movement. But
as she entered the library and turned, he was there, and mov-
ing slowly to the casket on the table, with his" lips parted, and
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EJPJLOGUK. 533
bis eyes fixed upon it. He laid hLs hat down as lie reached it,
and gazed intently on the face of the dead. For a moment,
Muriel's eyes sank fi'om liun to tlie floor, and when she looked
up again, she saw that his hands wuro folded, his eyes closed,
and his lips movmg in prayer. She turned away, with a
touched heart.
A few minntes went slowly by, and a clim sense of motion,
as if the air stirred, came to her. He was standii^ near her,
hat in hand. His face was mute, and sad, and very pale.
" Thank you," said he, in a low voice. " I am very grate-
ful. It has done me great good to see him once more, I feel
better for it."
Her heart rose to him, and with a sudden movement she
reached out her hand. He took it instantly, and his lip trem-
bled.
"You were very good to me," he faltered — "you and
Ricliard and Emily. I do not feel fit to come here, and I
wonid not have come again if I had not heard he was dead.
I did not feel fit to see him while he lived, hut I wanted to
seo him when I heard lie was no more. He waa the best
Mend I had in the world. He did me good. I think I really
never loved any one but him."
" Fernando," smd Muiicl, tenderly, " can you not let the
past be foi^otten ? Do not go away from us. Stay here, for
we are your friends, and you need to be sustained and com-
forted. Let us forget all that has happened, and meet happily
together now."
" Thank you," he replied, sadly. " You are very kind, and
I am grateful to you. But I do not feel fit to live near you.
I do not deserve your friendship."
Her lips pai'ted to answer him, but be retreated shaking his
head mournfully, and stepping noiselessly from the room, went
down-stairs like a phantom, and was gone. Muriel's head
drooped, and with her hands clasped together, she stood mnang
for a long time.
The hours wore on, and as the time drew near to three
o'clock, which was the hour at which they were to bear the
dead to Mount auburn, Muriel went to her chamber to attu:e
o.led by Google
554
herself for the sacred journey. When she came down into the
libraTj, all who were to go were there. Her mother, Captain
Fisher and his family, Emily and "Wentworth, B^asse, and
with him a new comer — hia wife, a little middle-aged, brown
Frenchwoman, whose eyes were swollen and red with hoars
of weeping for the dead gentleman who had nai-sed her hus-
band in his sickness, and helped him and her to meet life as
they had never been helped before. Muriel paused a few
moments to greet her kindly in her own language, and then
went to the body of Harrington.
As she reached the coffined form, Illmnincd by the bright
light which filled the room, she saw somethhig on the dark-
garbed breast, which brought to her golden eyes the first
tears they had known since her hero died. It was the Cross
of the Legion of Honor I She knew at once who had placed
it there, and a mighty wave of emotion swept through her aa
she gazed on the old soldier's great-hearted tribute to the
valor of her dead.
For a few moments she stood still, then tnrnmg with a suu-
fiast in her dewy eyes, and her features flushed with generons
color, she saw the old Frenchman standing near her, looking
with a reverent and sombre visage, and an eye of dark bril-
liance, on the cross of the Legion,
" It is mush bettair zere zan here," he said, laying his hand
upon his heart, as hia eye met hers. " Mon Empereur, he gif
me zat wis his own hand, madame. I was young conscrip' at
Ligny, and I take ze standard from ze Prussian, Zen he put
on my breast aat cross. I lof it wis van- mush lof, and I will
keep it for vair many year till I die. Zen he die — zat is my
ozaer self, and I put it on him. It is bis right. Ze brave
zhentilman, wis his galiantree, his goodness, his mush lof, he
lie m ze grave wis ze cross of ze Legion on his breast. Zat is
well. It is hia right, madame."
She pressed hia hand in both of hers, looking fervently into
his uucouth and martial visage.
" Thanks," she repUed, speaking in French. " Yon fill me
with gratitude. I accept for him the great and noble tribute
of your love. It is, as yon say, hia right, for he belonged to
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BPILOGTIB. 553
the Legion of Honor. He was a, soldier of the Guard— the
old Guard which dies, but ncTer suiTenders I"
The dark eye blazed as he took in the proud significance of
her words, and silent with emotion, he bowed, and retired.
Two hours later, and, the banal over, they stood in the green
and t«Eder strnlit shadows of Mount Aubnrn, A still peace
filled the sweet sequestered shades. The birds sang in the
murmuiii^ leaves ; the soft warm odors of the flowers and
greenery breathed around them ; the blue June sky was cloud-
less and calm ; and the descending sunlight shone sweetly on
the quiet graves.
For a little while after the others were gone, Muriel and
Wentworth lingered looking at the gentle light which floated
with the shadows of the oak-leaves oyerhead, on the new-made
mound.
" It is all over," said "Wentworth mournfully. " Alas I I
never thought I would stand by his grave 1 He realized the
noblest dreams of chivalry— he was the last grand eheralier-
and he is gone. What is left us now 1"
" Memories," she calmly answered, " memories of a life of
ioTe. Love beat throi^h all his life, love nerved him in tho
strife in which he fell. He smote like Socrates at Delium—
like the divine old Greek who clove his country's foe, and
blessed him as he died. So smote he with stern love, and in
all the wealtli of memories he leaves me, that memory too, is
mine. Sweet memories, I traasure you in my heart of heartsl
Sweet blossoms of True Love, I fold yon all. Stern blossom
of Trae Love, I fold you too."
He gazed with mournful tenderness at her noble features,
which were lit with a brilliant and fervent smile.
" True Love, indeed 1" he answered. " Who but he could
leave his beautiful Muriel, his adored wife, and go away to
die for one of the lowliest of God's creatures ! Ah, were there
a thousand such as he, this land would be purged of every
wrong 1 But he was alone in nobleness."
" No, not alone," she said with sadden spkit. " Not alone.
This is America— America, forming and emei^g, with mar-
tyrs and heroic such as no land Las seen. The Greek could
o.led by Google
WALT WHITMAN'S POEMS,
LEAVES of' GEASS,
o o iq-T E !■
To Bich Glvtra.
To a Pupil.
ijjavkFof'q'eass. '"_
Sniut BU Honde. WaiVwhitnum's Cnutloa.
A Word out of the Sea.
A Leaf of Faces.
Europe, tlie Tad anil rSd Yeara T. S.
ENKAKS d'ADAM.
Poem of thB Road.
a-o the Sayers of Words.
A Boston Ballad, the 7SUi Year T. 8.
CALAMU3.
CrOBBing- Brooklyn Ferry.
KE^^-GKR ™AVES.
(To Yon, Whoever You Aro.
To a Foiled Revoltor or Reroltress.
To Him that was CrneifieiL
To Ono Shortly to Die.
To tt Common Pi'Dstitnte.
p^"'?rXi?ffr^i'r6Ss""H";;fe':ri^er^o^r'^
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