TO HAVE AND TO HOLD

By Mary Johnston

 TO THE MEMORY OF MY MOTHER

CONTENTS

 CHAPTER I. IN WHICH I THROW AMBS-ACE CHAPTER II. IN WHICH I MEET MASTER JEREMY SPARROW CHAPTER III. IN WHICH I MARRY IN HASTE CHAPTER IV. IN WHICH I AM LIKE TO REPENT AT LEISURE CHAPTER V. IN WHICH A WOMAN HAS HER WAY CHAPTER VI. IN WHICH WE GO TO JAMESTOWN CHAPTER VII. IN WHICH WE PREPARE TO FIGHT THE SPANIARD CHAPTER VIII. IN WHICH ENTERS MY LORD CARNAL CHAPTER IX. IN WHICH TWO DRINK OF ONE CUP CHAPTER X. IN WHICH MASTER PORY GAINS TIME TO SOME PURPOSE CHAPTER XI. IN WHICH I MEET AN ITALIAN DOCTOR CHAPTER XII. IN WHICH I RECEIVE A WARNING AND REPOSE A TRUST CHAPTER XIII. IN WHICH THE SANTA TERESA DROPS DOWN-STREAM CHAPTER XIV. IN WHICH WE SEEK A LOST LADY CHAPTER XV. IN WHICH WE FIND THE HAUNTED WOOD CHAPTER XVI. IN WHICH I AM RID OF AN UNPROFITABLE SERVANT CHAPTER XVII. IN WHICH MY LORD AND I PLAY AT BOWLS CHAPTER XVIII. IN WHICH WE GO OUT INTO THE NIGHT CHAPTER XIX. IN WHICH WE HAVE UNEXPECTED COMPANY CHAPTER XX. IN WHICH WE ARE IN DESPERATE CASE CHAPTER XXI. IN WHICH A GRAVE IS DIGGED CHAPTER XXII. IN WHICH I CHANGE MY NAME AND OCCUPATION CHAPTER XXIII. IN WHICH WE WRITE UPON THE SAND CHAPTER XXIV. IN WHICH WE CHOOSE THE LESSER OF TWO EVILS CHAPTER XXV. IN WHICH MY LORD HATH HIS DAY CHAPTER XXVI. IN WHICH I AM BROUGHT TO TRIAL CHAPTER XXVII. IN WHICH I FIND AN ADVOCATE CHAPTER XXVIII. IN WHICH THE SPRINGTIME IS AT HAND CHAPTER XXIX. IN WHICH I KEEP TRYST CHAPTER XXX. IN WHICH WE START UPON A JOURNEY CHAPTER XXXI. IN WHICH NANTAUQUAS COMES TO OUR RESCUE CHAPTER XXXII. IN WHICH WE ARE THE GUESTS OF AN EMPEROR CHAPTER XXXIII. IN WHICH MY FRIEND BECOMES MY FOE CHAPTER XXXIV. IN WHICH THE RACE IS NOT TO THE SWIFT CHAPTER XXXV. IN WHICH I COME TO THE GOVERNOR'S HOUSE CHAPTER XXXVI. IN WHICH I HEAR ILL NEWS CHAPTER XXXVII. IN WHICH MY LORD AND I PART COMPANY CHAPTER XXXVIII. IN WHICH I GO UPON A QUEST CHAPTER XXXIX. IN WHICH WE LISTEN TO A SONG

TO HAVE AND TO HOLD

CHAPTER I IN WHICH I THROW AMBS-ACE

THE work of the day being over, I sat down upon my doorstep, pipe inhand, to rest awhile in the cool of the evening. Death is not more stillthan is this Virginian land in the hour when the sun has sunk away, andit is black beneath the trees, and the stars brighten slowly and softly, one by one. The birds that sing all day have hushed, and the hornedowls, the monster frogs, and that strange and ominous fowl (if fowl itbe, and not, as some assert, a spirit damned) which we English call thewhippoorwill, are yet silent. Later the wolf will howl and the pantherscream, but now there is no sound. The winds are laid, and the restlessleaves droop and are quiet. The low lap of the water among the reeds islike the breathing of one who sleeps in his watch beside the dead. 

I marked the light die from the broad bosom of the river, leaving ita dead man's hue. Awhile ago, and for many evenings, it had beencrimson, --a river of blood. A week before, a great meteor had shotthrough the night, blood-red and bearded, drawing a slow-fading fierytrail across the heavens; and the moon had risen that same nightblood-red, and upon its disk there was drawn in shadow a thing mostmarvelously like a scalping knife. Wherefore, the following day beingSunday, good Mr. Stockham, our minister at Weyanoke, exhorted us to beon our guard, and in his prayer besought that no sedition or rebellionmight raise its head amongst the Indian subjects of the Lord's anointed. Afterward, in the churchyard, between the services, the more timorousbegan to tell of divers portents which they had observed, and to recountold tales of how the savages distressed us in the Starving Time. Thebolder spirits laughed them to scorn, but the women began to weep andcower, and I, though I laughed too, thought of Smith, and how he everheld the savages, and more especially that Opechancanough who was nowtheir emperor, in a most deep distrust; telling us that the red menwatched while we slept, that they might teach wiliness to a Jesuit, andhow to bide its time to a cat crouched before a mousehole. I thoughtof the terms we now kept with these heathen; of how they came and wentfamiliarly amongst us, spying out our weakness, and losing the salutaryawe which that noblest captain had struck into their souls; of how manywere employed as hunters to bring down deer for lazy masters; of how, breaking the law, and that not secretly, we gave them knives and arms, asoldier's bread, in exchange for pelts and pearls; of how their emperorwas forever sending us smooth messages; of how their lips smiledand their eyes frowned. That afternoon, as I rode home through thelengthening shadows, a hunter, red-brown and naked, rose from behind afallen tree that sprawled across my path, and made offer to bring me mymeat from the moon of corn to the moon of stags in exchange for a gun. There was scant love between the savages and myself, --it was answerenough when I told him my name. I left the dark figure standing, stillas a carved stone, in the heavy shadow of the trees, and, spurring myhorse (sent me from home, the year before, by my cousin Percy), was soonat my house, --a poor and rude one, but pleasantly set upon a slope ofgreen turf, and girt with maize and the broad leaves of the tobacco. When I had had my supper, I called from their hut the two Paspahegh ladsbought by me from their tribe the Michaelmas before, and soundly floggedthem both, having in my mind a saying of my ancient captain's, namely, "He who strikes first oft-times strikes last. "

Upon the afternoon of which I now speak, in the midsummer of the year ofgrace 1621, as I sat upon my doorstep, my long pipe between my teeth andmy eyes upon the pallid stream below, my thoughts were busy with thesematters, --so busy that I did not see a horse and rider emerge from thedimness of the forest into the cleared space before my palisade, norknew, until his voice came up the bank, that my good friend, Master JohnRolfe, was without and would speak to me. 

I went down to the gate, and, unbarring it, gave him my hand and led thehorse within the inclosure. 

"Thou careful man!" he said, with a laugh, as he dismounted. "Who else, think you, in this or any other hundred, now bars his gate when the sungoes down?"

"It is my sunset gun, " I answered briefly, fastening his horse as Ispoke. 

He put his arm about my shoulder, for we were old friends, and togetherwe went up the green bank to the house, and, when I had brought him apipe, sat down side by side upon the doorstep. 

"Of what were you dreaming?" he asked presently, when we had made forourselves a great cloud of smoke. "I called you twice. "

"I was wishing for Dale's times and Dale's laws. "

He laughed, and touched my knee with his hand, white and smooth as awoman's, and with a green jewel upon the forefinger. 

"Thou Mars incarnate!" he cried. "Thou first, last, and in the meantimesoldier! Why, what wilt thou do when thou gettest to heaven? Make it toohot to hold thee? Or take out letters of marque against the Enemy?"

"I am not there yet, " I said dryly. "In the meantime I would like acommission against--your relatives. "

He laughed, then sighed, and, sinking his chin into his hand and softlytapping his foot against the ground, fell into a reverie. 

"I would your princess were alive, " I said presently. 

"So do I, " he answered softly. "So do I. " Locking his hands behind hishead, he raised his quiet face to the evening star. "Brave and wise andgentle, " he mused. "If I did not think to meet her again, beyond thatstar, I could not smile and speak calmly, Ralph, as I do now. "

"'T is a strange thing, " I said, as I refilled my pipe. "Love for yourbrother-in-arms, love for your commander if he be a commander worthhaving, love for your horse and dog, I understand. But wedded love! totie a burden around one's neck because 't is pink and white, or clearbronze, and shaped with elegance! Faugh!"

"Yet I came with half a mind to persuade thee to that very burden!" hecried, with another laugh. 

"Thanks for thy pains, " I said, blowing blue rings into the air. 

"I have ridden to-day from Jamestown, " he went on. "I was the onlyman, i' faith, that cared to leave its gates; and I met the world--thebachelor world--flocking to them. Not a mile of the way but Iencountered Tom, Dick, and Harry, dressed in their Sunday bravery andmaking full tilt for the city. And the boats upon the river! I have seenthe Thames less crowded. "

"There was more passing than usual, " I said; "but I was busy in thefields, and did not attend. What's the lodestar?"

"The star that draws us all, --some to ruin, some to bliss ineffable, woman. "

"Humph! The maids have come, then?"

He nodded. "There's a goodly ship down there, with a goodly lading. "

"Videlicet, some fourscore waiting damsels and milkmaids, warrantedhonest by my Lord Warwick, " I muttered. 

"This business hath been of Edwyn Sandys' management, as you very wellknow, " he rejoined, with some heat. "His word is good: therefore I holdthem chaste. That they are fair I can testify, having seen them leavethe ship. "

"Fair and chaste, " I said, "but meanly born. "

"I grant you that, " he answered. "But after all, what of it? Beggarsmust not be choosers. The land is new and must be peopled, nor willthose who come after us look too curiously into the lineage of thoseto whom a nation owes its birth. What we in these plantations need isa loosening of the bonds which tie us to home, to England, and atightening of those which bind us to this land in which we have cast ourlot. We put our hand to the plough, but we turn our heads and lookto our Egypt and its fleshpots. 'T is children and wife--be that wifeprincess or peasant--that make home of a desert, that bind a man withchains of gold to the country where they abide. Wherefore, when atmidday I met good Master Wickham rowing down from Henricus to Jamestown, to offer his aid to Master Bucke in his press of business to-morrow, Igave the good man Godspeed, and thought his a fruitful errand and onepleasing to the Lord. "

"Amen, " I yawned. "I love the land, and call it home. My withers areunwrung. "

He rose to his feet, and began to pace the greensward before the door. My eyes followed his trim figure, richly though sombrely clad, then fellwith a sudden dissatisfaction upon my own stained and frayed apparel. 

"Ralph, " he said presently, coming to a stand before me, "have you everan hundred and twenty pounds of tobacco in hand? If not, I"--

"I have the weed, " I replied. "What then?"

"Then at dawn drop down with the tide to the city, and secure forthyself one of these same errant damsels. "

I stared at him, and then broke into laughter, in which, after a spaceand unwillingly, he himself joined. When at length I wiped the waterfrom my eyes it was quite dark, the whippoorwills had begun to call, andRolfe must needs hasten on. I went with him down to the gate. 

"Take my advice, --it is that of your friend, " he said, as he swunghimself into the saddle. He gathered up the reins and struck spurs intohis horse, then turned to call back to me: "Sleep upon my words, Ralph, and the next time I come I look to see a farthingale behind thee!"

"Thou art as like to see one upon me, " I answered. 

Nevertheless, when he had gone, and I climbed the bank and reentered thehouse, it was with a strange pang at the cheerlessness of my hearth, and an angry and unreasoning impatience at the lack of welcoming face orvoice. In God's name, who was there to welcome me? None but my hounds, and the flying squirrel I had caught and tamed. Groping my way to thecorner, I took from my store two torches, lit them, and stuck them intothe holes pierced in the mantel shelf; then stood beneath the clearflame, and looked with a sudden sick distaste upon the disorder whichthe light betrayed. The fire was dead, and ashes and embers werescattered upon the hearth; fragments of my last meal littered the table, and upon the unwashed floor lay the bones I had thrown my dogs. Dirtand confusion reigned; only upon my armor, my sword and gun, my huntingknife and dagger, there was no spot or stain. I turned to gaze uponthem where they hung against the wall, and in my soul I hated the pipingtimes of peace, and longed for the camp fire and the call to arms. 

With an impatient sigh, I swept the litter from the table, and, taking from the shelf that held my meagre library a bundle of MasterShakespeare's plays (gathered for me by Rolfe when he was last inLondon), I began to read; but my thoughts wandered, and the tale seemeddull and oft told. I tossed it aside, and, taking dice from my pocket, began to throw. As I cast the bits of bone, idly, and scarce caring toobserve what numbers came uppermost, I had a vision of the forester'shut at home, where, when I was a boy, in the days before I ran away tothe wars in the Low Countries, I had spent many a happy hour. Again Isaw the bright light of the fire reflected in each well-scrubbed crockand pannikin; again I heard the cheerful hum of the wheel; again theface of the forester's daughter smiled upon me. The old gray manorhouse, where my mother, a stately dame, sat ever at her tapestry, and animperious elder brother strode to and fro among his hounds, seemed lessof home to me than did that tiny, friendly hut. To-morrow would be mythirty-sixth birthday. All the numbers that I cast were high. "If Ithrow ambs-ace, " I said, with a smile for my own caprice, "curse me if Ido not take Rolfe's advice!"

I shook the box and clapped it down upon the table, then lifted it, and stared with a lengthening face at what it had hidden; which done, Idiced no more, but put out my lights and went soberly to bed. 

CHAPTER II IN WHICH I MEET MASTER JEREMY SPARROW

MINE are not dicers' oaths. The stars were yet shining when I left thehouse, and, after a word with my man Diccon, at the servants' huts, strode down the bank and through the gate of the palisade to the wharf, where I loosed my boat, put up her sail, and turned her head down thebroad stream. The wind was fresh and favorable, and we went swiftly downthe river through the silver mist toward the sunrise. The sky grew palepink to the zenith; then the sun rose and drank up the mist. The riversparkled and shone; from the fresh green banks came the smell of thewoods and the song of birds; above rose the sky, bright blue, with a fewfleecy clouds drifting across it. I thought of the day, thirteen yearsbefore, when for the first time white men sailed up this same river, and of how noble its width, how enchanting its shores, how gay and sweettheir blooms and odors, how vast their trees, how strange the paintedsavages, had seemed to us, storm-tossed adventurers, who thought we hadfound a very paradise, the Fortunate Isles at least. How quickly werewe undeceived! As I lay back in the stern with half-shut eyes and tilleridle in my hand, our many tribulations and our few joys passed in reviewbefore me. Indian attacks; dissension and strife amongst our rulers;true men persecuted, false knaves elevated; the weary search for goldand the South Sea; the horror of the pestilence and the blacker horrorof the Starving Time; the arrival of the Patience and Deliverance, whereat we wept like children; that most joyful Sunday morning when wefollowed my Lord de la Warre to church; the coming of Dale with thatstern but wholesome martial code which was no stranger to me who hadfought under Maurice of Nassau; the good times that followed, whenbowl-playing gallants were put down, cities founded, forts built, andthe gospel preached; the marriage of Rolfe and his dusky princess;Argall's expedition, in which I played a part, and Argall's iniquitousrule; the return of Yeardley as Sir George, and the priceless gift hebrought us, --all this and much else, old friends, old enemies, old toilsand strifes and pleasures, ran, bitter-sweet, through my memory, as thewind and flood bore me on. Of what was before me I did not choose tothink, sufficient unto the hour being the evil thereof. 

The river seemed deserted: no horsemen spurred Along the bridle path onthe shore; the boats were few and far between, and held only servantsor Indians or very old men. It was as Rolfe had said, and the free andable-bodied of the plantations had put out, posthaste, for matrimony. Chaplain's Choice appeared unpeopled; Piersey's Hundred slept in thesunshine, its wharf deserted, and but few, slow-moving figures in thetobacco fields; even the Indian villages looked scant of all but squawsand children, for the braves were gone to see the palefaces buy theirwives. Below Paspahegh a cockleshell of a boat carrying a great whitesail overtook me, and I was hailed by young Hamor. 

"The maids are come!" he cried. "Hurrah!" and stood up to wave his hat. 

"Humph!" I said. "I guess thy destination by thy hose. Are they not'those that were thy peach-colored ones'?"

"Oons! yes!" he answered, looking down with complacency upon histarnished finery. "Wedding garments, Captain Percy, wedding garments!"

I laughed. "Thou art a tardy bridegroom. I thought that the bachelors ofthis quarter of the globe slept last night in Jamestown. "

His face fell. "I know it, " he said ruefully; "but my doublet had morerents than slashes in it, and Martin Tailor kept it until cockcrow. That fellow rolls in tobacco; he hath grown rich off our impoverishedwardrobes since the ship down yonder passed the capes. After all, " hebrightened, "the bargaining takes not place until toward midday, aftersolemn service and thanksgiving. There's time enough!" He waved me afarewell, as his great sail and narrow craft carried him past me. 

I looked at the sun, which truly was not very high, with a secretdisquietude; for I had had a scurvy hope that after all I should betoo late, and so the noose which I felt tightening about my neck mightunknot itself. Wind and tide were against me, and an hour later saw menearing the peninsula and marveling at the shipping which crowded itswaters. It was as if every sloop, barge, canoe, and dugout between PointComfort and Henricus were anchored off its shores, while above themtowered the masts of the Marmaduke and Furtherance, then in port, and ofthe tall ship which had brought in those doves for sale. The river withits dancing freight, the blue heavens and bright sunshine, the greentrees waving in the wind, the stir and bustle in the street and marketplace thronged with gayly dressed gallants, made a fair and pleasantscene. As I drove my boat in between the sloop of the commander ofShirley Hundred and the canoe of the Nansemond werowance, the twobells then newly hung in the church began to peal and the drum to beat. Stepping ashore, I had a rear view only of the folk who had clusteredalong the banks and in the street, their faces and footsteps being withone accord directed toward the market place. I went with the throng, jostled alike by velvet and dowlas, by youths with their estates upontheir backs and naked fantastically painted savages, and trampling thetobacco with which the greedy citizens had planted the very street. Inthe square I brought up before the Governor's house, and found myselfcheek by jowl with Master Pory, our Secretary, and Speaker of theAssembly. 

"Ha, Ralph Percy!" he cried, wagging his gray head, "we two be the onlysane younkers in the plantations! All the others are horn-mad!"

"I have caught the infection, " I said, "and am one of the bedlamites. "

He stared, then broke into a roar of laughter. "Art in earnest?" heasked, holding his fat sides. "Is Saul among the prophets?"

"Yes, " I answered. "I diced last night, --yea or no; and the'yea'--plague on 't--had it. "

He broke into another roar. "And thou callest that bridal attire, man!Why, our cow-keeper goes in flaming silk to-day!"

I looked down upon my suit of buff, which had in truth seen someservice, and at my great boots, which I had not thought to clean since Imired in a swamp, coming from Henricus the week before; then shrugged myshoulders. 

"You will go begging, " he continued, wiping his eyes. "Not a one of themwill so much as look at you. "

"Then will they miss seeing a man, and not a popinjay, " I retorted. "Ishall not break my heart. "

A cheer arose from the crowd, followed by a crashing peal of the bellsand a louder roll of the drum. The doors of the houses around and toright and left of the square swung open, and the company which hadbeen quartered overnight upon the citizens began to emerge. By twos andthrees, some with hurried steps and downcast eyes, others more slowlyand with free glances at the staring men, they gathered to the centre ofthe square, where, in surplice and band, there awaited them godly MasterBucke and Master Wickham of Henricus. I stared with the rest, though Idid not add my voice to theirs. 

Before the arrival of yesterday's ship there had been in this naturalEden (leaving the savages out of the reckoning) several thousand Adams, and but some threescore Eves. And for the most part, the Eves wereeither portly and bustling or withered and shrewish housewives, of ageand experience to defy the serpent. These were different. Ninety slenderfigures decked in all the bravery they could assume; ninety comelyfaces, pink and white, or clear brown with the rich blood showingthrough; ninety pair of eyes, laughing and alluring, or downcast withlong fringes sweeping rounded cheeks; ninety pair of ripe red lips, --thecrowd shouted itself hoarse and would not be restrained, brushing asidelike straws the staves of the marshal and his men, and surging in uponthe line of adventurous damsels. I saw young men, panting, seize hand orarm and strive to pull toward them some reluctant fair; others snatchedkisses, or fell on their knees and began speeches out of Euphues; otherscommenced an inventory of their possessions, --acres, tobacco, servants, household plenishing. All was hubbub, protestation, frightened cries, and hysterical laughter. The officers ran to and fro, threatening andcommanding; Master Pory alternately cried "Shame!" and laughed hisloudest; and I plucked away a jackanapes of sixteen who had his handupon a girl's ruff, and shook him until the breath was well-nigh out ofhim. The clamor did but increase. 

"Way for the Governor!" cried the marshal. "Shame on you, my masters!Way for his Honor and the worshipful Council!"

The three wooden steps leading down from the door of the Governor'shouse suddenly blossomed into crimson and gold, as his Honor with theattendant Councilors emerged from the hall and stood staring at the mobbelow. 

The Governor's honest moon face was quite pale with passion. "What adevil is this?" he cried wrathfully. "Did you never see a woman before?Where's the marshal? I'll imprison the last one of you for rioters!"

Upon the platform of the pillory, which stood in the centre of themarket place, suddenly appeared a man of a gigantic frame, with a strongface deeply lined and a great shock of grizzled hair, --a strange thing, for he was not old. I knew him to be one Master Jeremy Sparrow, aminister brought by the Southampton a month before, and as yet withouta charge, but at that time I had not spoken with him. Without word ofwarning he thundered into a psalm of thanksgiving, singing it at thetop of a powerful and yet sweet and tender voice, and with a fervor andexaltation that caught the heart of the riotous crowd. The two ministersin the throng beneath took up the strain; Master Pory added a huskytenor, eloquent of much sack; presently we were all singing. Theaudacious suitors, charmed into rationality, fell back, and the brokenline re-formed. The Governor and the Council descended, and with pompand solemnity took their places between the maids and the two ministerswho were to head the column. The psalm ended, the drum beat a thunderingroll, and the procession moved forward in the direction of the church. 

Master Pory having left me, to take his place among his brethren ofthe Council, and the mob of those who had come to purchase and of thecurious idle having streamed away at the heels of the marshal and hisofficers, I found myself alone in the square, save for the singer, whonow descended from the pillory and came up to me. 

"Captain Ralph Percy, if I mistake not?" he said, in a voice as deep andrich as the bass of an organ. 

"The same, " I answered. "And you are Master Jeremy Sparrow?"

"Yea, a silly preacher, --the poorest, meekest, and lowliest of theLord's servitors. "

His deep voice, magnificent frame, and bold and free address so gavethe lie to the humility of his words that I had much ado to keep fromlaughing. He saw, and his face, which was of a cast most martial, flashed into a smile, like sunshine on a scarred cliff. 

"You laugh in your sleeve, " he said good-humoredly, "and yet I am butwhat I profess to be. In spirit I am a very Job, though nature hathfit to dress me as a Samson. I assure you, I am worse misfitted than isMaster Yardstick yonder in those Falstaffian hose. But, good sir, willyou not go to church?"

"If the church were Paul's, I might, " I answered. "As it is, we couldnot get within fifty feet of the door. "

"Of the great door, ay, but the ministers may pass through the sidedoor. If you please, I will take you in with me. The pretty fools yondermarch slowly; if we turn down this lane, we will outstrip them quite. "

"Agreed, " I said, and we turned into a lane thick planted with tobacco, made a detour of the Governor's house, and outflanked the procession, arriving at the small door before it had entered the churchyard. Here wefound the sexton mounting guard. 

"I am Master Sparrow, the minister that came in the Southampton, " mynew acquaintance explained. "I am to sit in the choir. Let us pass, goodfellow. "

The sexton squared himself before the narrow opening, and swelled withimportance. 

"You, reverend sir, I will admit, such being my duty. But this gentlemanis no preacher; I may not allow him to pass. "

"You mistake, friend, " said my companion gravely. "This gentleman, myworthy colleague, has but just come from the island of St. Brandon, where he preaches on the witches' Sabbath: hence the disorder of hisapparel. His admittance be on my head: wherefore let us by. "

"None to enter at the west door save Councilors, commander, andministers. Any attempting to force an entrance to be arrested and laidby the heels if they be of the generality, or, if they be of quality, to be duly fined and debarred from the purchase of any maid whatsoever, "chanted the sexton. 

"Then, in God's name, let's on!" I exclaimed "Here, try this!" and Idrew from my purse, which was something of the leanest, a shilling. 

"Try this, " quoth Master Jeremy Sparrow, and knocked the sexton down. 

We left the fellow sprawling in the doorway, sputtering threats to theair without, but with one covetous hand clutching at the shilling whichI threw behind me, and entered the church, which we found yet empty, though through the open great door we heard the drum beat loudly and adeepening sound of footsteps. 

"I have choice of position, " I said. "Yonder window seems a goodstation. You remain here in the choir?"

"Ay, " he answered, with a sigh; "the dignity of my calling must beupheld: wherefore I sit in high places, rubbing elbows with gold lace, when of the very truth the humility of my spirit is such that I wouldfeel more at home in the servants' seats or among the negars that webought last year. "

Had we not been in church I would have laughed, though indeed I saw thathe devoutly believed his own words. He took his seat in the largestand finest of the chairs behind the great velvet one reserved for theGovernor, while I went and leaned against my window, and we stared ateach other across the flower-decked building in profound silence, until, with one great final crash, the bells ceased, the drum stopped beating, and the procession entered. 

CHAPTER III IN WHICH I MARRY IN HASTE

THE long service of praise and thanksgiving was well-nigh over when Ifirst saw her. 

She sat some ten feet from me, in the corner, and so in the shadow of atall pew. Beyond her was a row of milkmaid beauties, red of cheek, freeof eye, deep-bosomed, and beribboned like Maypoles. I looked again, andsaw--and see--a rose amongst blowzed poppies and peonies, a pearl amidstglass beads, a Perdita in a ring of rustics, a nonparella of all graceand beauty! As I gazed with all my eyes, I found more than grace andbeauty in that wonderful face, --found pride, wit, fire, determination, finally shame and anger. For, feeling my eyes upon her, she looked upand met what she must have thought the impudent stare of an appraiser. Her face, which had been without color, pale and clear like the skyabout the evening star, went crimson in a moment. She bit her lip andshot at me one withering glance, then dropped her eyelids and hid thelightning. When I looked at her again, covertly, and from under my handraised as though to push back my hair, she was pale once more, and herdark eyes were fixed upon the water and the green trees without thewindow. 

The congregation rose, and she stood up with the other maids. Her dressof dark woolen, severe and unadorned, her close ruff and prim whitecoif, would have cried "Puritan, " had ever Puritan looked like thiswoman, upon whom the poor apparel had the seeming of purple and ermine. 

Anon came the benediction. Governor, Councilors, commanders, andministers left the choir and paced solemnly down the aisle; the maidsclosed in behind; and we who had lined the walls, shifting from one heelto the other for a long two hours, brought up the rear, and so passedfrom the church to a fair green meadow adjacent thereto. Here thecompany disbanded; the wearers of gold lace betaking themselves to seatserected in the shadow of a mighty oak, and the ministers, of whom therewere four, bestowing themselves within pulpits of turf. For one altarand one clergyman could not hope to dispatch that day's business. 

As for the maids, for a minute or more they made one cluster; then, shyly or with laughter, they drifted apart like the petals of awind-blown rose, and silk doublet and hose gave chase. Five minutes sawthe goodly company of damsels errant and would-be bridegrooms scatteredfar and near over the smiling meadow. For the most part they went manand maid, but the fairer of the feminine cohort had rings of clamoroussuitors from whom to choose. As for me, I walked alone; for if by chanceI neared a maid, she looked (womanlike) at my apparel first, and neverreached my face, but squarely turned her back. So disengaged, I feltlike a guest at a mask, and in some measure enjoyed the show, thoughwith an uneasy consciousness that I was pledged to become, sooner orlater, a part of the spectacle. I saw a shepherdess fresh from Arcadiawave back a dozen importunate gallants, then throw a knot of blue ribboninto their midst, laugh with glee at the scramble that ensued, andfinally march off with the wearer of the favor. I saw a neighbor ofmine, tall Jack Pride, who lived twelve miles above me, blush andstammer, and bow again and again to a milliner's apprentice of a girl, not five feet high and all eyes, who dropped a curtsy at each bow. WhenI had passed them fifty yards or more, and looked back, they were stillbobbing and bowing. And I heard a dialogue between Phyllis and Corydon. Says Phyllis, "Any poultry?"

Corydon. "A matter of twalve hens and twa cocks. "

Phyllis. "A cow?"

Corydon. "Twa. "

Phyllis. "How much tobacco?"

Corydon. "Three acres, hinny, though I dinna drink the weed mysel'. I'ma Stewart, woman, an' the King's puir cousin. "

Phyllis. "What household plenishing?"

Corydon. "Ane large bed, ane flock bed, ane trundle bed, ane chest, anetrunk, ane leather cairpet, sax cawfskin chairs an' twa-three rush, fivepair o' sheets an' auchteen dowlas napkins, sax alchemy spunes"--

Phyllis. "I'll take you. "

At the far end of the meadow, near to the fort, I met young Hamor, alone, flushed, and hurrying back to the more populous part of thefield. 

"Not yet mated?" I asked. "Where are the maids' eyes?"

"By--!" he answered, with an angry laugh. "If they're all like thesample I've just left, I'll buy me a squaw from the Paspaheghs!"

I smiled. "So your wooing has not prospered?"

His vanity took fire. "I have not wooed in earnest, " he said carelessly, and hitched forward his cloak of sky-blue tuftaffeta with an air. "Isheered off quickly enough, I warrant you, when I found the nature ofthe commodity I had to deal with. "

"Ah!" I said. "When I left the crowd they were going very fast. You hadbest hurry, if you wish to secure a bargain. "

"I'm off, " he answered; then, jerking his thumb over his shoulder, "If you keep on to the river and that clump of cedars, you will findTermagaunt in ruff and farthingale. "

When he was gone, I stood still for a while and watched the slow sweepof a buzzard high in the blue, after which I unsheathed my dagger, andwith it tried to scrape the dried mud from my boots. Succeeding butindifferently, I put the blade up, stared again at the sky, drew a longbreath, and marched upon the covert of cedars indicated by Hamor. 

As I neared it, I heard at first only the wash of the river; butpresently there came to my ears the sound of a man's voice, and then awoman's angry "Begone, sir!"

"Kiss and be friends, " said the man. 

The sound that followed being something of the loudest for even the mosthearty salutation, I was not surprised, on parting the bushes, to findthe man nursing his cheek, and the maid her hand. 

"You shall pay well for that, you sweet vixen!" he cried, and caught herby both wrists. 

She struggled fiercely, bending her head this way and that, but his hotlips had touched her face before I could come between. 

When I had knocked him down he lay where he fell, dazed by the blow, and blinking up at me with his small ferret eyes. I knew him to be oneEdward Sharpless, and I knew no good of him. He had been a lawyer inEngland. He lay on the very brink of the stream, with one arm touchingthe water. Flesh and blood could not resist it, so, assisted by the toeof my boot, he took a cold bath to cool his hot blood. 

When he had clambered out and had gone away, cursing, I turned to faceher. She stood against the trunk of a great cedar, her head thrown back, a spot of angry crimson in each cheek, one small hand clenched at herthroat. I had heard her laugh as Sharpless touched the water, but nowthere was only defiance in her face. As we gazed at each other, aburst of laughter came to us from the meadow behind. I looked over myshoulder, and beheld young Hamor, probably disappointed of a wife, --withGiles Allen and Wynne, returning to his abandoned quarry. She saw, too, for the crimson spread and deepened and her bosom heaved. Her dark eyes, glancing here and there like those of a hunted creature, met my own. 

"Madam, " I said, "will you marry me?"

She looked at me strangely. "Do you live here?" she asked at last, witha disdainful wave of her hand toward the town. 

"No, madam, " I answered. "I live up river, in Weyanoke Hundred, somemiles from here. "

"Then, in God's name, let us be gone!" she cried, with sudden passion. 

I bowed low, and advanced to kiss her hand. 

The finger tips which she slowly and reluctantly resigned to me wereicy, and the look with which she favored me was not such an one as poetsfeign for like occasions. I shrugged the shoulders of my spirit, butsaid nothing. So, hand in hand, though at arms' length, we passed fromthe shade of the cedars into the open meadow, where we presently metHamor and his party. They would have barred the way, laughing and makingunsavory jests, but I drew her closer to me and laid my hand upon mysword. They stood aside, for I was the best swordsman in Virginia. 

The meadow was now less thronged. The river, up and down, was white withsailboats, and across the neck of the peninsula went a line of horsemen, each with his purchase upon a pillion behind him. The Governor, theCouncilors, and the commanders had betaken themselves to the Governor'shouse, where a great dinner was to be given. But Master Piersey, theCape Merchant, remained to see the Company reimbursed to the last leaf, and the four ministers still found occupation, though one couple trodnot upon the heels of another, as they had done an hour agone. 

"I must first satisfy the treasurer, " I said, coming to a halt withinfifty feet of the now deserted high places. 

She drew her hand from mine, and looked me up and down. 

"How much is it?" she asked at last. "I will pay it. "

I stared at her. 

"Can't you speak?" she cried, with a stamp of her foot. "At what am Ivalued? Ten pounds--fifty pounds"--

"At one hundred and twenty pounds of tobacco, madam, " I said dryly. "Iwill pay it myself. To what name upon the ship's list do you answer?"

"Patience Worth, " she replied. 

I left her standing there, and went upon my errand with a whirlingbrain. Her enrollment in that company proclaimed her meanly born, andshe bore herself as of blood royal; of her own free will she had crossedan ocean to meet this day, and she held in passionate hatred thisday and all that it contained; she was come to Virginia to better hercondition, and the purse which she had drawn from her bosom was filledwith gold pieces. To another I would have advised caution, delay, application to the Governor, inquiry; for myself I cared not to makeinquiries. 

The treasurer gave me my receipt, and I procured, from the crowd aroundhim, Humfrey Kent, a good man and true, and old Belfield, the perfumer, for witnesses. With them at my heels I went back to her, and, giving hermy hand, was making for the nearest minister, when a voice at a littledistance hailed me, crying out, "This way, Captain Percy!"

I turned toward the voice, and beheld the great figure of MasterJeremy Sparrow sitting, cross-legged like the Grand Turk, upon a grassyhillock, and beckoning to me from that elevation. 

"Our acquaintance hath been of the shortest, " he said genially, when themaid, the witnesses, and I had reached the foot of the hillock, "but Ihave taken a liking to you and would fain do you a service. Moreover, Ilack employment. The maids take me for a hedge parson, and sheer offto my brethren, who truly are of a more clerical appearance. Whereas ifthey could only look upon the inner man! You have been long in choosing, but have doubtless chosen"--He glanced from me to the woman beside me, and broke off with open mouth and staring eyes. There was excuse, forher beauty was amazing. "A paragon, " he ended, recovering himself. 

"Marry us quickly, friend, " I said. "Clouds are gathering, and we havefar to go. "

He came down from his mound, and we went and stood before him. I hadaround my neck the gold chain given me upon a certain occasion by PrinceMaurice, and in lieu of other ring I now twisted off the smallest linkand gave it to her. 

"Your name?" asked Master Sparrow, opening his book. 

"Ralph Percy, Gentleman. "

"And yours?" he demanded, staring at her with a somewhat too apparentdelight in her beauty. 

She flushed richly and bit her lip. 

He repeated the question. 

She stood a minute in silence, her eyes upon the darkening sky. Then shesaid in a low voice, "Jocelyn Leigh. "

It was not the name I had watched the Cape Merchant strike off his list. I turned upon her and made her meet my eyes. "What is your name?" Idemanded. "Tell me the truth!"

"I have told it, " she answered proudly. "It is Jocelyn Leigh. "

I faced the minister again. "Go on, " I said briefly. 

"The Company commands that no constraint be put upon its poor maids. Wherefore, do you marry this man of your own free will and choice?"

"Ay, " she said, "of my own free will. "

Well, we were married, and Master Jeremy Sparrow wished us joy, and Kentwould have kissed the bride had I not frowned him off. He and Belfieldstrode away, and I left her there, and went to get her bundle from thehouse that had sheltered her overnight. Returning, I found her seatedon the turf, her chin in her hand and her dark eyes watching the distantplay of lightning. Master Sparrow had left his post, and was nowhere tobe seen. 

I gave her my hand and led her to the shore; then loosed my boat andhelped her aboard. I was pushing off when a voice hailed us from thebank, and the next instant a great bunch of red roses whirled past meand fell into her lap. "Sweets to the sweet, you know, " said MasterJeremy Sparrow genially. "Goodwife Allen will never miss them. "

I was in two minds whether to laugh or to swear, --for I had nevergiven her flowers, --when she settled the question for me by raising thecrimson mass and bestowing it upon the flood. 

A sudden puff of wind brought the sail around, hiding his fallencountenance. The wind freshened, coming from the bay, and the boatwas off like a startled deer. When I next saw him he had recovered hisequanimity, and, with a smile upon his rugged features, was waving usa farewell. I looked at the beauty opposite me, and, with a suddenmovement of pity for him, mateless, stood up and waved to him vigorouslyin turn. 

CHAPTER IV IN WHICH I AM LIKE TO REPENT AT LEISURE

WHEN we had passed the mouth of the Chickahominy, I broke the silence, now prolonged beyond reason, by pointing to the village upon its bank, and telling her something of Smith's expedition up that river, ending byasking her if she feared the savages. 

When at length she succeeded in abstracting her attention from theclouds, it was to answer in the negative, in a tone of the supremestindifference, after which she relapsed into her contemplation of theweather. 

Further on I tried again. "That is Kent's, yonder. He brought his wifefrom home last year. What a hedge of sunflowers she has planted! If youlove flowers, you will find those of paradise in these woods. "

No answer. 

Below Martin-Brandon we met a canoe full of Paspaheghs, bound upon afriendly visit to some one of the down-river tribes; for in the bottomof the boat reposed a fat buck, and at the feet of the young men laytrenchers of maize cakes and of late mulberries. I hailed them, and whenwe were alongside held up the brooch from my hat, then pointed to thepurple fruit. The exchange was soon made; they sped away, and I placedthe mulberries upon the thwart beside her. 

"I am not hungry, " she said coldly. "Take them away. "

I bit my lip, and returned to my place at the tiller. This rose was setwith thorns, and already I felt their sting. Presently she leaned backin the nest I had made for her. "I wish to sleep, " she said haughtily, and, turning her face from me, pillowed her head upon her arms. 

I sat, bent forward, the tiller in my hand, and stared at my wife insome consternation. This was not the tame pigeon, the rosy, humble, domestic creature who was to make me a home and rear me children. A seabird with broad white wings swooped down upon the water, now dark andridged, rested there a moment, then swept away into the heart of thegathering storm. She was liker such an one. Such birds were caught attimes, but never tamed and never kept. 

The lightning, which had played incessantly in pale flashes across thelow clouds in the south, now leaped to higher peaks and became morevivid, and the muttering of the thunder changed to long, booming peals. Thirteen years before, the Virginia storms had struck us with terror. Compared with those of the Old World we had left, they were as cannon tothe whistling of arrows, as breakers on an iron coast to the dull washof level seas. Now they were nothing to me, but as the peals changed togreat crashes as of falling cities, I marveled to see my wife sleepingso quietly. The rain began to fall, slowly, in large sullen drops, and Irose to cover her with my cloak. Then I saw that the sleep was feigned, for she was gazing at the storm with wide eyes, though with no fear intheir dark depths. When I moved they closed, and when I reached her thelashes still swept her cheeks, and she breathed evenly through partedlips. But, against her will, she shrank from my touch as I put the cloakabout her; and when I had returned to my seat, I bent to one side andsaw, as I had expected to see, that her eyes were wide open again. Ifshe had been one whit less beautiful, I would have wished her back atJamestown, back on the Atlantic, back at whatever outlandish place, where manners were unknown, that had owned her and cast her out. Prideand temper! I set my lips, and vowed that she should find her match. 

The storm did not last. Ere we had reached Piersey's the rain had ceasedand the clouds were breaking; above Chaplain's Choice hung a greatrainbow; we passed Tants Weyanoke in the glory of the sunset, allshattered gold and crimson. Not a word had been spoken. I sat in a humorgrim enough, and she lay there before me, wide awake, staring at theshifting banks and running water, and thinking that I thought she slept. 

At last my own wharf rose before me through the gathering dusk, andbeyond it shone out a light; for I had told Diccon to set my house inorder, and to provide fire and torches, that my wife might see I wishedto do her honor. I looked at that wife, and of a sudden the anger in myheart melted away. It was a wilderness vast and dreadful to which shehad come. The mighty stream, the towering forests, the black skies anddeafening thunder, the wild cries of bird and beast the savages, uncouthand terrible, --for a moment I saw my world as the woman at my feet mustsee it, strange, wild, and menacing, an evil land, the other side of themoon. A thing that I had forgotten came to my mind: how that, after ourlanding at Jamestown, years before, a boy whom we had with us did eachnight fill with cries and lamentations the hut where he lay with mycousin Percy, Gosnold, and myself, nor would cease though we tried bothcrying shame and a rope's end. It was not for homesickness, for hehad no mother or kin or home; and at length Master Hunt brought him toconfess that it was but pure panic terror of the land itself, --not ofthe Indians or of our hardships, both of which he faced bravely enough, but of the strange trees and the high and long roofs of vine, ofthe black sliding earth and the white mist, of the fireflies and thewhippoorwills, --a sick fear of primeval Nature and her tragic mask. 

This was a woman, young, alone, and friendless, unless I, who had swornto cherish and protect her, should prove myself her friend. Wherefore, when, a few minutes later, I bent over her, it was with all gentlenessthat I touched and spoke to her. 

"Our journey is over, " I said. "This is home, my dear. "

She let me help her to her feet, and up the wet and slippery steps tothe level of the wharf. It was now quite dark, there being no moon, andthin clouds obscuring the stars. The touch of her hand, which I perforceheld since I must guide her over the long, narrow, and unrailed trestle, chilled me, and her breathing was hurried, but she moved by my sidethrough the gross darkness unfalteringly enough. Arrived at the gate ofthe palisade, I beat upon it with the hilt of my sword, and shouted tomy men to open to us. A moment, and a dozen torches came flaring downthe bank. Diccon shot back the bolts, and we entered. The men drewup and saluted; for I held my manor a camp, my servants soldiers, andmyself their captain. 

I have seen worse favored companies, but doubtless the woman besideme had not. Perhaps, too, the red light of the torches, now flaringbrightly, now sunk before the wind, gave their countenances a morevillainous cast than usual. They were not all bad. Diccon had thevirtue of fidelity, if none other; there were a brace of Puritans, anda handful of honest fools, who, if they drilled badly, yet abhorredmutiny. But the half dozen I had taken off Argall's hands; the Dutchmenwho might have been own brothers to those two Judases, Adam and Francis;the thief and the highwayman I had bought from the precious crew sentus by the King the year before; the negro and the Indians--small wonderthat she shrank and cowered. It was but for a moment. I was yet seekingfor words sufficiently reassuring when she was herself again. Shedid not deign to notice the men's awkward salute, and when Diccon, ahandsome rogue enough, advancing to light us up the bank, brushed by hersomething too closely, she drew away her skirts as though he had been alazar. At my own door I turned and spoke to the men, who had followed usup the ascent. 

"This lady, " I said, taking her hand as she stood beside me, "is my trueand lawful wife, your mistress, to be honored and obeyed as such. Whofails in reverence to her I hold as mutinous to myself, and will dealwith him accordingly. She gives you to-morrow for holiday, with doublerations, and to each a measure of rum. Now thank her properly. "

They cheered lustily, of course, and Diccon, stepping forward, gave usthanks in the name of them all, and wished us joy. After which, withanother cheer, they backed from out our presence, then turned and madefor their quarters, while I led my wife within the house and closed thedoor. 

Diccon was an ingenious scoundrel. I had told him to banish the dogs, tohave the house cleaned and lit, and supper upon the table; but I hadnot ordered the floor to be strewn with rushes, the walls draped withflowering vines, a great jar filled with sunflowers, and an illuminationof a dozen torches. Nevertheless, it looked well, and I highly approvedthe capon and maize cakes, the venison pasty and ale, with which thetable was set. Through the open doors of the two other rooms were to beseen more rushes, more flowers, and more lights. 

To the larger of these rooms I now led the way, deposited her bundleupon the settle, and saw that Diccon had provided fair water for herface and hands; which done, I told her that supper waited upon herconvenience, and went back to the great room. 

She was long in coming, so long that I grew impatient and went to callher. The door was ajar, and so I saw her, kneeling in the middle of thefloor, her head thrown back, her hands raised and clasped, on her faceterror and anguish of spirit written so large that I started to see it. I stared in amazement, and, had I followed my first impulse, wouldhave gone to her, as I would have gone to any other creature in so diredistress. On second thoughts, I went noiselessly back to my station inthe great room. She had not seen me, I was sure. Nor had I long to wait. Presently she appeared, and I could have doubted the testimony of myeyes, so changed were the agonized face and figure of a few momentsbefore. Beautiful and disdainful, she moved to the table, and tookthe great chair drawn before it with the air of an empress mounting athrone. I contented myself with the stool. 

She ate nothing, and scarcely touched the canary I poured for her. I pressed upon her wine and viands, --in vain; I strove to makeconversation, --equally in vain. Finally, tired of "yes" and "no" utteredas though she were reluctantly casting pearls before swine, I desisted, and applied myself to my supper in a silence as sullen as her own. Atlast we rose from table, and I went to look to the fastenings of doorand windows, and returning found her standing in the centre of the room, her head up and her hands clenched at her sides. I saw that we were tohave it out then and there, and I was glad of it. 

"You have something to say, " I said. "I am quite at your command, " and Iwent and leaned against the chimneypiece. 

The low fire upon the hearth burnt lower still before she broke thesilence. When she did speak it was slowly, and with a voice which wasevidently controlled only by a strong effort of a strong will. Shesaid:--

"When--yesterday, to-day, ten thousand years ago you went from thishorrible forest down to that wretched village yonder, to those huts thatmake your London, you went to buy you a wife?"

"Yes, madam, " I answered. "I went with that intention. "

"You had made your calculation? In your mind you had pitched uponsuch and such an article, with such and such qualities, as desirable?Doubtless you meant to get your money's worth?"

"Doubtless, " I said dryly. 

"Will you tell me what you were inclined to consider its equivalent?"

I stared at her, much inclined to laugh. The interview promised to beinteresting. 

"I went to Jamestown to get me a wife, " I said at length, "because I hadpledged my word that I would do so. I was not over-anxious. I did notrun all the way. But, as you say, I intended to do the best I could formyself; one hundred and twenty pounds of tobacco being a considerablesum, and not to be lightly thrown away. I went to look for a mistressfor my house, a companion for my idle hours, a rosy, humble, docilelass, with no aspirations beyond cleanliness and good temper, who was toorder my household and make me a home. I was to be her head and her law, but also her sword and shield. That is what I went to look for. "

"And you found--me!" she said, and broke into strange laughter. 

I bowed. 

"In God's name, why did you not go further?"

I suppose she saw in my face why I went no further, for into her own thecolor came flaming. 

"I am not what I seem!" she cried out. "I was not in that company ofchoice!"

I bowed again. "You have no need to tell me that, madam, " I said. "Ihave eyes. I desire to know why you were there at all, and why youmarried me. "

She turned from me, until I could see nothing but the coiled wealth ofher hair and the bit of white neck between it and the ruff. We stood soin silence, she with bent head and fingers clasping and unclasping, I leaning against the wall and staring at her, for what seemed a longtime. At least I had time to grow impatient, when she faced me again, and all my irritation vanished in a gasp of admiration. 

Oh, she was beautiful, and of a sweetness most alluring and fatal! HadMedea worn such a look, sure Jason had quite forgot the fleece, and withthose eyes Circe had needed no other charm to make men what she would. Her voice, when she spoke, was no longer imperious; it was low pleadingmusic. And she held out entreating hands. 

"Have pity on me, " she said. "Listen kindly, and have pity on me. Youare a strong man and wear a sword. You can cut your way through troubleand peril. I am a woman, weak, friendless, helpless. I was in distressand peril, and I had no arm to save, no knight to fight my battle. I donot love deceit. Ah, do not think that I have not hated myself for thelie I have been. But these forest creatures that you take, --will theynot bite against springe and snare? Are they scrupulous as to how theyfree themselves? I too was in the toils of the hunter, and I too was notscrupulous. There was a thing of which I stood in danger that wouldhave been bitterer to me, a thousand times, than death. I had butone thought, to escape; how, I did not care, --only to escape. I had awaiting woman named Patience Worth. One night she came to me, weeping. She had wearied of service, and had signed to go to Virginia as one ofSir Edwyn Sandys' maids, and at the last moment her heart had failedher. There had been pressure brought to bear upon me that day, --I hadbeen angered to the very soul. I sent her away with a heavy bribe, andin her dress and under her name I fled from--I went aboard that ship. Noone guessed that I was not the Patience Worth to whose name I answered. No one knows now, --none but you, none but you. "

"And why am I so far honored, madam?" I said bluntly. 

She crimsoned, then went white again. She was trembling now through herwhole frame. At last she broke out: "I am not of that crew that cameto marry! To me you are the veriest stranger, --you are but the hand atwhich I caught to draw myself from a pit that had been digged for me. It was my hope that this hour would never come. When I fled, madfor escape, willing to dare anything but that which I left behind, I thought, 'I may die before that ship with its shameless cargo setssail. ' When the ship set sail, and we met with stormy weather, and therewas much sickness aboard, I thought, 'I may drown or I may die of thefever. ' When, this afternoon, I lay there in the boat, coming up thisdreadful river through the glare of the lightning, and you thought Islept, I was thinking, 'The bolts may strike me yet, and all will bewell. ' I prayed for that death, but the storm passed. I am not withoutshame. I know that you must think all ill of me, that you must feelyourself gulled and cheated. I am sorry--that is all I can say--I amsorry. I am your wife--I was married to you to-day--but I know you notand love you not. I ask you to hold me as I hold myself, a guest in yourhouse, nothing more. I am quite at your mercy. I am entirely friendless, entirely alone. I appeal to your generosity, to your honor"--

Before I could prevent her she was kneeling to me, and she would notrise, though I bade her do so. 

I went to the door, unbarred it, and looked out into the night, forthe air within the room stifled me. It was not much better outside. Theclouds had gathered again, and were now hanging thick and low. From thedistance came a rumble of thunder, and the whole night was dull, heavy, and breathless. Hot anger possessed me: anger against Rolfefor suggesting this thing to me; anger against myself for that unluckythrow; anger, most of all, against the woman who had so cozened me. Inthe servants' huts, a hundred yards away, lights were still burning, against rule, for the hour was late. Glad that there was something Icould rail out against, I strode down upon the men, and caught themassembled in Diccon's cabin, dicing for to-morrow's rum. When I hadstruck out the light with my rapier, and had rated the rogues totheir several quarters, I went back through the gathering storm to thebrightly-lit, flower-decked room, and to Mistress Percy. 

She was still kneeling, her hands at her breast, and her eyes, wide anddark, fixed upon the blackness without the open door. I went up to herand took her by the hand. 

"I am a gentleman, madam, " I said. "You need have no fear of me. I prayyou to rise. "

She stood up at that, and her breath came hurriedly through her partedlips, but she did not speak. 

"It grows late, and you must be weary, " I continued. "Your room isyonder. I trust that you will sleep well. Good-night. "

I bowed low, and she curtsied to me. "Good-night, " she said. 

On her way to the door, she brushed against the rack wherein hung myweapons. Among them was a small dagger. Her quick eye caught its gleam, and I saw her press closer to the wall, and with her right handstrive stealthily to detach the blade from its fastening. She did notunderstand the trick. Her hand dropped to her side, and she was passingon, when I crossed the room, loosened the dagger, and offered it to her, with a smile and a bow. She flushed scarlet and bit her lips, but shetook it. 

"There are bars to the door within, " I said. "Again, good-night. "

"Good-night, " she answered, and, entering the room, she shut the door. Amoment more, and I heard the heavy bars drop into place. 

CHAPTER V IN WHICH A WOMAN HAS HER WAY

TEN days later, Rolfe, going down river in his barge, touched at mywharf, and finding me there walked with me toward the house. 

"I have not seen you since you laughed my advice to scorn--and took it, "he said. "Where's the farthingale, Benedick the married man?"

"In the house. "

"Oh, ay!" he commented. "It's near to supper time. I trust she's a goodcook?"

"She does not cook, " I said dryly. "I have hired old Goody Cotton to dothat. "

He eyed me closely. "By all the gods! a new doublet! She is skillfulwith her needle, then?"

"She may be, " I answered. "Having never seen her with one, I am nojudge. The doublet was made by the tailor at Flowerdieu Hundred. "

By this we had reached the level sward at the top of the bank. "Roses!"he exclaimed, --"a long row of them new planted! An arbor, too, anda seat beneath the big walnut! Since when hast thou turned gardner, Ralph?"

"It's Diccon's doing. He is anxious to please his mistress. "

"Who neither sews, nor cooks, nor plants! What does she do?"

"She pulls the roses, " I said. "Come in. "

When we had entered the house he stared about him; then cried out, "Acrasia's bower! Oh, thou sometime Guyon!" and began to laugh. 

It was late afternoon, and the slant sunshine streaming in at door andwindow striped wall and floor with gold. Floor and wall were no longerlogs gnarled and stained: upon the one lay a carpet of delicate fernsand aromatic leaves, and glossy vines, purple-berried, tapestriedthe other. Flowers--purple and red and yellow--were everywhere. As weentered, a figure started up from the hearth. 

"St. George!" exclaimed Rolfe. "You have never married a blackamoor?"

"It is the negress, Angela, " I said. "I bought her from William Piercethe other day. Mistress Percy wished a waiting damsel. "

The creature, one of the five females of her kind then in Virginia, looked at us with large, rolling eyes. She knew a little Spanish, and Ispoke to her in that tongue, bidding her find her mistress and tell herthat company waited. When she was gone I placed a jack of ale upon thetable, and Rolfe and I sat down to discuss it. Had I been in a moodfor laughter, I could have found reason in his puzzled face. There wereflowers upon the table, and beside them a litter of small objects, oneof which he now took up. 

"A white glove, " he said, "perfumed and silver-fringed, and of a size tofit Titania. "

I spread its mate out upon my palm. "A woman's hand. Too white, toosoft, and too small. "

He touched lightly, one by one, the slender fingers of the glove heheld. "A woman's hand, --strength in weakness, veiled power, the star inthe mist, guiding, beckoning, drawing upward!"

I laughed and threw the glove from me. "The star, a will-of-the-wisp;the goal, a slough, " I said. 

As he sat opposite me a change came over his face, a change so greatthat I knew before I turned that she was in the room. 

The bundle which I had carried for her from Jamestown was neither smallnor light. Why, when she fled, she chose to burden herself with suchtoys, or whether she gave a thought to the suspicions that might beraised in Virginia if one of Sir Edwyn's maids bedecked herself in silkand lace and jewels, I do not know, but she had brought to the forestand the tobacco fields the gauds of a maid of honor. The Puritan dressin which I first saw her was a thing of the past; she clothed herselfnow like the parrakeets in the forest, --or liker the lilies of thefield, for verily she toiled not, neither did she spin. 

Rolfe and I rose from our seats. "Mistress Percy, " I said, "let mepresent to you a right worthy gentleman and my very good friend, MasterJohn Rolfe. "

She curtsied, and he bowed low. He was a man of quick wit and had beenat court, but for a time he could find no words. Then: "Mistress Percy'sface is not one to be forgotten. I have surely seen it before, thoughwhere"--

Her color mounted, but she answered him indifferently enough. "Probablyin London, amongst the spectators of some pageant arranged in honor ofthe princess, your wife, sir, " she said carelessly. "I had twice thefortune to see the Lady Rebekah passing through the streets. "

"Not in the streets only, " he said courteously. "I remember now: 'twas at my lord bishop's dinner. A very courtly company it was. You werelaughing with my Lord Rich. You wore pearls in your hair"--

She met his gaze fully and boldly. "Memory plays us strange tricks attimes, " she told him in a clear, slightly raised voice, "and it hathbeen three years since Master Rolfe and his Indian princess were inLondon. His memory hath played him false. "

She took her seat in the great chair which stood in the centre of theroom, bathed in the sunlight, and the negress brought a cushion for herfeet. It was not until this was done, and until she had resigned her fanto the slave, who stood behind her slowly waving the plumed toy to andfro, that she turned her lovely face upon us and bade us be seated. 

An hour later a whippoorwill uttered its cry close to the window, through which now shone the crescent moon. Rolfe started up. "Beshrewme! but I had forgot that I am to sleep at Chaplain's to-night. I musthurry on. "

I rose, also. "You have had no supper!" I cried. "I too have forgotten. "

He shook his head. "I cannot wait. Moreover, I have feasted, --yea, anddrunk deep. "

His eyes were very bright, with an exaltation in them as of wine. Mine, I felt, had the same light. Indeed, we were both drunk with herlaughter, her beauty, and her wit. When he had kissed her hand, andI had followed him out of the house and down the bank, he broke thesilence. 

"Why she came to Virginia I do not know "--

"Nor care to ask, " I said. 

"Nor care to ask, " he repeated, meeting my gaze. "And I know neither hername nor her rank. But as I stand here, Ralph, I saw her, a guest, atthat feast of which I spoke; and Edwyn Sandys picked not his maids fromsuch assemblies. "

I stopped him with my hand upon his shoulder. "She is one of Sandys'maids, " I asserted, with deliberation, "a waiting damsel who wearied ofservice and came to Virginia to better herself. She was landed with hermates at Jamestown a week or more agone, went with them to church andthence to the courting meadow, where she and Captain Ralph Percy, agentleman adventurer, so pleased each other that they were marriedforthwith. That same day he brought her to his house, where she nowabides, his wife, and as such to be honored by those who call themselveshis friends. And she is not to be lightly spoken of, nor commentpassed upon her grace, beauty, and bearing (something too great for herstation, I admit), lest idle tales should get abroad. "

"Am I not thy friend, Ralph?" he asked with smiling eyes. 

"I have thought so at times, " I answered. 

"My friend's honor is my honor, " he went on. "Where his lips are sealedmine open not. Art content?"

"Content, " I said, and pressed the hand he held out to me. 

We reached the steps of the wharf, and descending them he entered hisbarge, rocking lazily with the advancing tide. His rowers cast loosefrom the piles, and the black water slowly widened between us. From overmy shoulder came a sudden bright gleam of light from the house above, and I knew that Mistress Percy was as usual wasting good pine knots. Ihad a vision of the many lights within, and of the beauty whom the worldcalled my wife, sitting erect, bathed in that rosy glow, in the greatarmchair, with the turbaned negress behind her. I suppose Rolfe saw thesame thing, for he looked from the light to me, and I heard him draw hisbreath. 

"Ralph Percy, thou art the very button upon the cap of Fortune, " hesaid. 

To myself my laugh sounded something of the bitterest, but to him, Ipresume, it vaunted my return through the darkness to the lit room andits resplendent pearl. He waved farewell, and the dusk swallowed up himand his boat. I went back to the house and to her. 

She was sitting as we had left her, with her small feet crossed upon thecushion beneath them, her hands folded in her silken lap, the air fromthe waving fan blowing tendrils of her dark hair against her delicatestanding ruff. I went and leaned against the window, facing her. 

"I have been chosen Burgess for this hundred, " I said abruptly. "TheAssembly meets next week. I must be in Jamestown then and for some timeto come. "

She took the fan from the negress, and waved it lazily to and fro. "Whendo we go?" she asked at last. 

"We!" I answered. "I had thought to go alone. "

The fan dropped to the floor, and her eyes opened wide. "And leave mehere!" she exclaimed. "Leave me in these woods, at the mercy of Indians, wolves, and your rabble of servants!"

I smiled. "We are at peace with the Indians; it would be a stout wolfthat could leap this palisade; and the servants know their master toowell to care to offend their mistress. Moreover, I would leave Diccon incharge. "

"Diccon!" she cried. "The old woman in the kitchen hath told me tales ofDiccon! Diccon Bravo! Diccon Gamester! Diccon Cutthroat!"

"Granted, " I said. "But Diccon Faithful as well. I can trust him. "

"But I do not trust him!" she retorted. "And I wish to go to Jamestown. This forest wearies me. " Her tone was imperious. 

"I must think it over, " I said coolly. "I may take you, or I may not. Icannot tell yet. "

"But I desire to go, sir!"

"And I may desire you to stay. "

"You are a churl!"

I bowed. "I am the man of your choice, madam. "

She rose with a stamp of her foot, and, turning her back upon me, tooka flower from the table and commenced to pull from it its petals. Iunsheathed my sword, and, seating myself, began to polish away a speckof rust upon the blade. Ten minutes later I looked up from the task, to receive full in my face a red rose tossed from the other side of theroom. The missile was followed by an enchanting burst of laughter. 

"We cannot afford to quarrel, can we?" cried Mistress Jocelyn Percy. "Life is sad enough in this solitude without that. Nothing but trees andwater all day long, and not a soul to speak to! And I am horribly afraidof the Indians! What if they were to kill me while you were away? Youknow you swore before the minister to protect me. You won't leave me tothe mercies of the savages, will you? And I may go to Jamestown, may n'tI? I want to go to church. I want to go to the Governor's house. I wantto buy a many things. I have gold in plenty, and but this one decentdress. You'll take me with you, won't you?"

"There's not your like in Virginia, " I told her. "If you go to town cladlike that and with that bearing, there will be talk enough. And shipscome and go, and there are those besides Rolfe who have been to London. "

For a moment the laughter died from her eyes and lips, but it returned. "Let them talk, " she said. "What care I? And I do not think your shipcaptains, your traders and adventurers, do often dine with my lordbishop. This barbarous forest world and another world that I wot of areso far apart that the inhabitants of the one do not trouble those of theother. In that petty village down there I am safe enough. Besides, sir, you wear a sword. "

"My sword is ever at your service, madam. "

"Then I may go to Jamestown?"

"If you will it so. "

With her bright eyes upon me, and with one hand softly striking a roseagainst her laughing lips, she extended the other hand. 

"You may kiss it, if you wish, sir, " she said demurely. 

I knelt and kissed the white fingers, and four days later we went toJamestown. 

CHAPTER VI IN WHICH WE GO TO JAMESTOWN

IT was early morning when we set out on horseback for Jamestown. I rodein front, with Mistress Percy upon a pillion behind me, and Diccon onthe brown mare brought up the rear. The negress and the mails I had sentby boat. 

Now, a ride through the green wood with a noble horse beneath you, andaround you the freshness of the morn, is pleasant enough. Each twig hadits row of diamonds, and the wet leaves that we pushed aside spilledgems upon us. The horses set their hoofs daintily upon fern and mossand lush grass. In the purple distances deer stood at gaze, the air rangwith innumerable bird notes, clear and sweet, squirrels chattered, beeshummed, and through the thick leafy roof of the forest the sun showeredgold dust. And Mistress Jocelyn Percy was as merry as the morning. Itwas now fourteen days since she and I had first met, and in that timeI had found in her thrice that number of moods. She could be as gay andsweet as the morning, as dark and vengeful as the storms that came up ofafternoons, pensive as the twilight, stately as the night, --in her theremet a hundred minds. Also she could be childishly frank--and tell younothing. 

To-day she chose to be gracious. Ten times in an hour Diccon was offhis horse to pluck this or that flower that her white forefinger pointedout. She wove the blooms into a chaplet, and placed it upon her head;she filled her lap with trailers of the vine that swayed against us, andstained her fingers and lips with the berries Diccon brought her; shelaughed at the squirrels, at the scurrying partridges, at the turkeysthat crossed our path, at the fish that leaped from the brooks, at oldJocomb and his sons who ferried us across the Chickahominy. She wascurious concerning the musket I carried; and when, in an open space inthe wood, we saw an eagle perched upon a blasted pine, she demanded mypistol. I took it from my belt and gave it to her, with a laugh. "I willeat all of your killing, " I said. 

She aimed the weapon. "A wager!" she declared. "There be mercers inJamestown? If I hit, thou 'lt buy me a pearl hatband?"

"Two. "

She fired, and the bird rose with a scream of wrath and sailed away. Buttwo or three feathers came floating to the ground, and when Diccon hadbrought them to her she pointed triumphantly to the blood upon them. "You said two!" she cried. 

The sun rose higher, and the heat of the day set in. Mistress Percy'sinterest in forest bloom and creature flagged. Instead of laughter, wehad sighs at the length of way; the vines slid from her lap, and shetook the faded flowers from her head and cast them aside. She talked nomore, and by and by I felt her head droop against my shoulder. 

"Madam is asleep, " said Diccon's voice behind me. 

"Ay, " I answered. "She'll find a jack of mail but a hard pillow. Andlook to her that she does not fall. "

"I had best walk beside you, then, " he said. 

I nodded, and he dismounted, and throwing the mare's bridle over his armstrode on beside us, with his hand upon the frame of the pillion. Tenminutes passed, the last five of which I rode with my face over myshoulder. "Diccon!" I cried at last, sharply. 

He came to his senses with a start. "Ay, sir?" he questioned, his facedark red. 

"Suppose you look at me for a change, " I said. "How long since Dale camein, Diccon?"

"Ten years, sir. "

"Before we enter Jamestown we'll pass through a certain field andbeneath a certain tree. Do you remember what happened there, some yearsago?"

"I am not like to forget, sir. You saved me from the wheel. "

"Upon which you were bound, ready to be broken for drunkenness, gaming, and loose living. I begged your life from Dale for no other reason, Ithink, than that you had been a horse-boy in my old company in the LowCountries. God wot, the life was scarcely worth the saving!"

"I know it, sir. "

"Dale would not let you go scot-free, but would sell you into slavery. At your own entreaty I bought you, since when you have served meindifferently well. You have showed small penitence for past misdeeds, and your amendment hath been of yet lesser bulk. A hardy rogue thou wastborn, and a rogue thou wilt remain to the end of time. But we have livedand hunted, fought and bled together, and in our own fashion I think webear each other good will, --even some love. I have winked at much, haveshielded you in much, perhaps. In return I have demanded one thing, which if you had not given I would have found you another Dale to dealwith. "

"Have I ever refused it, my captain?"

"Not yet. Take your hand from that pillion and hold it up; then sayafter me these words: 'This lady is my mistress, my master's wife, to beby me reverenced as such. Her face is not for my eyes nor her hand formy lips. If I keep not myself clean of all offense toward her, may Godapprove that which my master shall do!'"

The blood rushed to his face. I watched his fingers slowly looseningtheir grasp. 

"Tardy obedience is of the house of mutiny, " I said sternly. "Will you, sirrah, or will you not?"

He raised his hand and repeated the words. 

"Now hold her as before, " I ordered, and, straightening myself in thesaddle, rode on, with my eyes once more on the path before me. 

A mile further on, Mistress Percy stirred and raised her head from myshoulder. "Not at Jamestown yet?" she sighed, as yet but half awake. "Oh, the endless trees! I dreamed I was hawking at Windsor, and thensuddenly I was here in this forest, a bird, happy because I was free;and then a falcon came swooping down upon me, --it had me in its talons, and I changed to myself again, and it changed to--What am I saying? I amtalking in my sleep. Who is that singing?"

In fact, from the woods in front of us, and not a bowshot away, rang outa powerful voice:--

 "'In the merry month of May, In a morn by break of day, With a troop of damsels playing

Forth I went, forsooth, a-maying;'" and presently, the trees thinningin front of us, we came upon a little open glade and upon the singer. Helay on his back, on the soft turf beneath an oak, with his hands claspedbehind his head and his eyes upturned to the blue sky showing betweenleaf and branch. On one knee crossed above the other sat a squirrel witha nut in its paws, and half a dozen others scampered here and there overhis great body, like so many frolicsome kittens. At a little distancegrazed an old horse, gray and gaunt, springhalt and spavined, with ribslike Death's own. Its saddle and bridle adorned a limb of the oak. 

The song went cheerfully on:--

 "'Much ado there was, God wot:

 would love and she would not;

 said, "Never man was true. "

 He said, "None was false to you. "'"

"Give you good-day, reverend sir!" I called. "Art conning next Sunday'shymn?"

Nothing abashed, Master Jeremy Sparrow gently shook off the squirrels, and getting to his feet advanced to meet us. 

"A toy, " he declared, with a wave of his hand, "a trifle, a silly oldsong that came into my mind unawares, the leaves being so green and thesky so blue. Had you come a little earlier or a little later, you wouldhave heard the ninetieth psalm. Give you good-day madam. I must havesung for that the very queen of May was coming by. "

"Art on your way to Jamestown?" I demanded. "Come ride with us. Diccon, saddle his reverence's horse. "

"Saddle him an thou wilt, friend, " said Master Sparrow, "for he and Ihave idled long enough, but I fear I cannot keep pace with this faircompany. I and the horse are footing it together. "

"He is not long for this world, " I remarked, eyeing his ill-favoredsteed, "but neither are we far from Jamestown. He'll last that far. "

Master Sparrow shook his head, with a rueful countenance. "I bought himfrom one of the French vignerons below Westover, " he said. "The fellowwas astride the poor creature, beating him with a club because he couldnot go. I laid Monsieur Crapaud in the dust, after which we compounded, he for my purse, I for the animal; since when the poor beast and I havetramped it together, for I could not in conscience ride him. Have youread me Aesop's fables, Captain Percy?"

"I remember the man, the boy, and the ass, " I replied. "The ass cameto grief in the end. Put thy scruples in thy pocket, man, and mount thypale horse. "

"Not I!" he said, with a smile. "'T is a thousand pities, Captain Percy, that a small, mean, and squeamish spirit like mine should be cased likea very Guy of Warwick. Now, if I were slight of body, or even if I wereno heavier than your servant there"--

"Oh!" I said. "Diccon, give his reverence the mare, and do you mount hishorse and bring him slowly on to town. If he will not carry you, you canlead him in. "

Sunshine revisited the countenance of Master Jeremy Sparrow; he swunghis great body into the saddle, gathered up the reins, and made the mareto caracole across the path for very joy. 

"Have a care of the poor brute, friend!" he cried genially to Diccon, whose looks were of the sulkiest. "Bring him gently on, and leave him atMaster Bucke's, near to the church. "

"What do you do at Jamestown?" I asked, as we passed from out theglade into the gloom of a pine wood. "I was told that you were gone toHenricus, to help Master Thorpe convert the Indians. "

"Ay, " he answered, "I did go. I had a call, --I was sure I had a call. I thought of myself as a very apostle to the Gentiles. I went fromHenricus one day's journey into the wilderness, with none but an Indianlad for interpreter, and coming to an Indian village gathered itsinhabitants about me, and sitting down upon a hillock read and expoundedto them the Sermon on the Mount. I was much edified by the solemnity oftheir demeanor and the earnestness of their attention, and hadconceived great hopes for their spiritual welfare, when, the readingand exhortation being finished, one of their old men arose and made mea long speech, which I could not well understand, but took to be oneof grateful welcome to myself and my tidings of peace and good will. He then desired me to tarry with them, and to be present at someentertainment or other, the nature of which I could not make out. Itarried; and toward evening they conducted me with much ceremony to anopen space in the midst of the village. There I found planted in theground a thick stake, and around it a ring of flaming brushwood. Tothe stake was fastened an Indian warrior, captured, so my interpreterinformed me, from some hostile tribe above the falls. His arms andankles were secured to the stake by means of thongs passed throughincisions in the flesh; his body was stuck over with countless pinesplinters, each burning like a miniature torch; and on his shaven crownwas tied a thin plate of copper heaped with red-hot coals. A little toone side appeared another stake and another circle of brushwood: the onewith nothing tied to it as yet, and the other still unlit. My friend, Idid not tarry to see it lit. I tore a branch from an oak, and I becameas Samson with the jaw bone of the ass. I fell upon and smote thosePhilistines. Their wretched victim was beyond all human help, but Idearly avenged him upon his enemies. And they had their pains for naughtwhen they planted that second stake and laid the brush for their hellfire. At last I dropped into the stream upon which their damnablevillage was situate, and got safely away. Next day I went to GeorgeThorpe and resigned my ministry, telling him that we were nowherecommanded to preach to devils; when the Company was ready to send shotand steel amongst them, they might count upon me. After which I camedown the river to Jamestown, where I found worthy Master Bucke well-nighdespaired of with the fever. Finally he was taken up river for change ofair, and, for lack of worthier substitute, the Governor and Captain Westconstrained me to remain and minister to the shepherdless flock. Wherewill you lodge, good sir?"

"I do not know, " I said. "The town will be full, and the guest house isnot yet finished. "

"Why not come to me?" he asked. "There are none in the minister's housebut me and Goodwife Allen who keeps it. There are five fair large roomsand a goodly garden, though the trees do too much shadow the house. Ifyou will come and let the sunshine in, "--a bow and smile for madam, --"Ishall be your debtor. "

His plea pleased me well. Except the Governor's and Captain West's, theminister's house was the best in the town. It was retired, too, beingset in its own grounds, and not upon the street, and I desired privacy. Goodwife Allen was stolid and incurious. Moreover, I liked Master JeremySparrow. 

I accepted his hospitality and gave him thanks. He waved them away, andfell to complimenting Mistress Percy, who was pleased to be gracious tous both. Well content for the moment with the world and ourselves, wefared on through the alternating sunshine and shade, and were happywith the careless inhabitants of the forest. Oversoon we came to thepeninsula, and crossed the neck of land. Before us lay the town: tothe outer eye a poor and mean village, indeed, but to the inner thestronghold and capital of our race in the western world, the germ fromwhich might spring stately cities, the newborn babe which might in timeequal its parent in stature, strength, and comeliness. So I and a fewbesides, both in Virginia and at home, viewed the mean houses, thepoor church and rude fort, and loved the spot which had witnessed muchsuffering and small joy, but which held within it the future, which waseven now a bit in the mouth of Spain, a thing in itself outweighing allthe toil and anguish of our planting. But there were others who saw onlythe meanness of the place, its almost defenselessness, its fluxes andfevers, the fewness of its inhabitants and the number of its graves. Finding no gold and no earthly paradise, and that in the sweat of theirbrow they must eat their bread, they straightway fell into the dumps, and either died out of sheer perversity, or went yelping home to theCompany with all manner of dismal tales, --which tales, through my LordWarwick's good offices, never failed to reach the sacred ears of hisMajesty, and to bring the colony and the Company into disfavor. 

We came to the palisade, and found the gates wide open and the wardergone. 

"Where be the people?" marveled Master Sparrow, as we rode throughinto the street. In truth, where were the people? On either side of thestreet the doors of the houses stood open, but no person looked out fromthem or loitered on the doorsteps; the square was empty; there were nowomen at the well, no children underfoot, no gaping crowd before gaoland pillory, no guard before the Governor's house, --not a soul, high orlow, to be seen. 

"Have they all migrated?" cried Sparrow. "Are they gone to Croatan?"

"They have left one to tell the tale, then, " I said, "for here he comesrunning. "

CHAPTER VII IN WHICH WE PREPARE TO FIGHT THE SPANIARD

A MAN came panting down the street. "Captain Ralph Percy!" he cried. "My master said it was your horse coming across the neck. The Governorcommands your attendance at once, sir. "

"Where is the Governor? Where are all the people?" I demanded. 

"At the fort. They are all at the fort or on the bank below. Oh, sirs, awoeful day for us all!"

"A woeful day!" I exclaimed. "What's the matter?"

The man, whom I recognized as one of the commander's servants, a fellowwith the soul of a French valet de chambre, was wild with terror. 

"They are at the guns!" he quavered. "Alackaday! what can a few sakersand demiculverins do against them?"

"Against whom?" I cried. 

"They are giving out pikes and cutlasses! Woe's me, the sight of nakedsteel hath ever made me sick!"

I drew my dagger, and flashed it before him. "Does 't make you sick?" Iasked. "You shall be sicker yet, if you do not speak to some purpose. "

The fellow shrank back, his eyeballs starting from his head. 

"It's a tall ship, " he gasped, "a very big ship! It hath ten culverins, beside fowlers and murderers, sabers, falcons, and bases!"

I took him by the collar and shook him off his feet. 

"There are priests on board!" he managed to say as I set him down. "Thistime to-morrrow we'll all be on the rack! And next week the galleys willhave us!"

"It's the Spaniard at last, " I said. "Come on!"

When we reached the river bank before the fort, it was to find confusionworse confounded. The gates of the palisade were open, and through themstreamed Councilors, Burgesses, and officers, while the bank itself wasthronged with the generality. Ancient planters, Smith's men, Dale's men, tenants and servants, women and children, including the little eyases weimported the year before, negroes, Paspaheghs, French vignerons, Dutchsawmill men, Italian glassworkers, --all seethed to and fro, all talkedat once, and all looked down the river. Out of the babel of voices thesewords came to us over and over: "The Spaniard!" "The Inquisition!" "Thegalleys!" They were the words oftenest heard at that time, when strangesails hove in sight. 

But where was the Spaniard? On the river, hugging the shore, were manysmall craft, barges, shallops, sloops, and pinnaces, and beyond them themasts of the Truelove, the Due Return, and the Tiger, then in port; onthese three, of which the largest, the Due Return, was of but eightytons burthen, the mariners were running about and the masters bawlingorders. But there was no other ship, no bark, galleon, or man-of-war, with three tiers of grinning ordnance, and the hated yellow flagflaunting above. 

I sprang from my horse, and, leaving it and Mistress Percy in Sparrow'scharge, hastened up to the fort. As I passed through the palisade Iheard my name called, and turning waited for Master Pory to come up. Hewas panting and puffing, his jovial face very red. 

"I was across the neck of land when I heard the news, " he said. "I ranall the way, and am somewhat scant of breath. Here's the devil to pay!"

"It looks another mare's-nest, " I replied. "We have cried 'Spaniard!'pretty often. "

"But this time the wolf's here, " he answered. "Davies sent a horseman ata gallop from Algernon with the tidings. He passed the ship, and it wasa very great one. We may thank this dead calm that it did not catch usunawares. "

Within the palisade was noise enough, but more order than without. Onthe half-moons commanding the river, gunners were busy about our sakers, falcons, and three culverins. In one place, West, the commander, wasgiving out brigandines, jacks, skulls, muskets, halberds, swords, andlongbows; in another, his wife, who was a very Mary Ambree, supervisedthe boiling of a great caldron of pitch. Each loophole in palisade andfort had already its marksman. Through the west port came a horde ofreluctant invaders, --cattle, swine, and poultry, --driven in by yellingboys. 

I made my way through the press to where I saw the Governor, surroundedby Councilors and Burgesses, sitting on a keg of powder, and issuingorders at the top of his voice. "Ha, Captain Percy!" he cried, as I cameup. "You are in good time, man! You've served your apprenticeship at thewars. You must teach us how to beat the dons. "

"To Englishmen, that comes by nature, sir, " I said. "Art sure we are tohave the pleasure?"

"Not a doubt of it this time, " he answered. "The ship slipped in pastthe Point last night. Davies signaled her to stop, and then sent a ballover her; but she kept on. True, it was too dark to make out much; butif she were friendly, why did she not stop for castle duties? Moreover, they say she was of at least five hundred tons, and no ship of that sizehath ever visited these waters. There was no wind, and they sent a manon at once, hoping to outstrip the enemy and warn us. The man changedhorses at Basse's Choice, and passed the ship about dawn. All he couldtell for the mist was that it was a very great ship, with three tiers ofguns. "

"The flag?"

"She carried none. "

"Humph!" I said. "It hath a suspicious look. At least we do well to beready. We'll give them a warm welcome. "

"There are those here who counsel surrender, " continued the Governor. "There's one, at least, who wants the Tiger sent downstream with a whiteflag and my sword. "

"Where?" I cried. "He's no Englishman, I warrant!"

"As much an Englishman as thou, sir!" called out a gentleman whom I hadencountered before, to wit, Master Edward Sharpless. "It's well enoughfor swingebuckler captains, Low Country fire-eaters, to talk of holdingout againt a Spanish man-of-war with twice our number of fighting men, and enough ordnance to batter the town out of existence. Wise men knowwhen the odds are too heavy!"

"It's well enough for lily-livered, goose-fleshed lawyers to hold theirtongues when men and soldiers talk, " I retorted. "We are not makingindentures to the devil, and so have no need of such gentry. "

There was a roar of laughter from the captains and gunners, but terrorof the Spaniard had made Master Edward Sharpless bold to all besides. 

"They will wipe us off the face of the earth!" he lamented. "There won'tbe an Englishman left in America! they'll come close in upon us! they'llbatter down the fort with their culverins; they'll turn all theirswivels, sakers, and falcons upon us; they'll throw into our midststinkpots and grenades; they'll mow us down with chain shot! Theirgunners never miss!" His voice rose to a scream, and he shook as withan ague. "Are you mad? It's Spain that's to be fought! Spain the rich!Spain the powerful! Spain the lord of the New World!"

"It's England that fights!" I cried. "For very shame, hold thy tongue!"

"If we surrender at once, they'll let us go!" he whined. "We can takethe small boats and get to the Bermudas, they'll let us go. "

"Into the galleys, " muttered West. 

The craven tried another feint. "Think of the women and children!"

"We do, " I said sternly. "Silence, fool!"

The Governor, a brave and honest man, rose from the keg of powder. "Allthis is foreign to the matter, Master Sharpless. I think our duty isclear, be the odds what they may. This is our post, and we will hold itor die beside it. We are few in number, but we are England in America, and I think we will remain here. This is the King's fifth kingdom, andwe will keep it for him. We will trust in the Lord and fight it out. "

"Amen, " I said, and "Amen, " said the ring of Councilors and Burgessesand the armed men beyond. 

The hum of voices now rose into excited cries, and the watchmanstationed atop the big culverin called out, "Sail ho!" With one accordwe turned our faces downstream. There was the ship, undoubtedly. Moreover, a strong breeze had sprung up, blowing from the sea, fillingher white sails, and rapidly lessening the distance between us. As yetwe could only tell that she was indeed a large ship with all sail set. 

Through the gates of the palisade now came, pellmell, the crowd without. In ten minutes' time the women were in line ready to load the muskets, the children sheltered as best they might be, the men in ranks, thegunners at their guns, and the flag up. I had run it up with my ownhand, and as I stood beneath the folds Master Sparrow and my wife cameto my side. 

"The women are over there, " I said to the latter, "where you had bestbetake yourself. "

"I prefer to stay here, " she answered. "I am not afraid. " Her color washigh, and she held her head up. "My father fought the Armada, " she said. 

"Get me a sword from that man who is giving them out. "

From his coign of vantage the watch now called out: "She's a longship, --five hundred tons, anyhow! Lord! the metal that she carries!She's rasedecked!"

"Then she's Spanish, sure enough!" cried the Governor. 

From the crowd of servants, felons, and foreigners rose a great clamor, and presently we made out Sharpless perched on a cask in their midst andwildly gesticulating. 

"The Tiger, the Truelove, and the Due Return have swung across channel!"announced the watch. "They 've trained their guns on the Spaniard!"

The Englishmen cheered, but the bastard crew about Sharpless groaned. Extreme fear had made the lawyer shameless. "What guns have thoseboats?" he screamed. "Two falcons apiece and a handful of muskets, andthey go out against a man-of-war! She'll trample them underfoot! She'llsink them with a shot apiece! The Tiger is forty tons, and the Trueloveis sixty. You 're all mad!"

"Sometimes quality beats quantity, " said West. 

"Didst ever hear of the Content?" sang out a gunner. 

"Or of the Merchant Royal?" cried another. 

"Or of the Revenge?" quoth Master Jeremy Sparrow. "Go hang thyself, coward, or, if you choose, swim out to the Spaniard, and shift from thywet doublet and hose into a sanbenito. Let the don come, shoot if hecan, and land if he will! We'll singe his beard in Virginia as we did atCales!

 'The great St. Philip, the pride of the Spaniards, Was burnt to the bottom and sunk in the sea. 

 the St. Andrew and eke the St. Matthew

 We took in fight manfully and brought away. '

And so we'll do with this one, my masters! We'll sink her, or we'll takeher and send her against her own galleons and galleasses!

 'Dub-a-dub, dub-a-dub, thus strike their drums, Tantara, tantara, the Englishman comes!'"

His great voice and great presence seized and held the attention of all. Over his doublet of rusty black he had clapped a yet rustier back andbreast; on his bushy hair rode a headpiece many sizes too small; by hisside was an old broadsword, and over his shoulder a pike. Suddenly, fromgay hardihood his countenance changed to an expression more befittinghis calling. "Our cause is just, my masters!" he cried. "We stand herenot for England alone; we stand for the love of law, for the love ofliberty, for the fear of God, who will not desert his servants and hiscause, nor give over to Anti-Christ this virgin world. This plantationis the leaven which is to leaven the whole lump, and surely he willhide it in the hollow of his hand and in the shadow of his wing. God ofbattles, hear us! God of England, God of America, aid the children ofthe one, the saviors of the other!"

He had dropped the pike to raise his clasped hands to the blue heavens, but now he lifted it again, threw back his shoulders, and flung up hishead. He laid his hand on the flagstaff, and looked up to the bannerstreaming in the breeze. "It looks well so high against the blue, doesn't it, friends?" he cried genially. "Suppose we keep it there foreverand a day!"

A cheer arose, so loud that it silenced, if it did not convince, thecraven few. As for Master Edward Sharpless, he disappeared behind theline of women. 

The great ship came steadily on, her white sails growing larger andlarger, moment by moment, her tiers of guns more distinct and menacing, her whole aspect more defiant. Her waist seemed packed with men. But nostreamers, no flag. 

A puff of smoke floated up from the deck of the Tiger, and a ball fromone of her two tiny falcons passed through the stranger's rigging. Acheer for the brave little cockboat arose from the English. "Davidand his pebble!" exclaimed Master Jeremy Sparrow. "Now for Goliath'stwenty-pounders!"

But no flame and thunder issued from the guns aboard the stranger. Instead, from her deck there came to us what sounded mightily likea roar of laughter. Suddenly, from each masthead and yard shot outstreamers of red and blue, up from the poop rose and flaunted in thewind the crosses of St. George and St. Andrew, and with a crash trumpet, drum, and fife rushed into

 "Here's to jolly good ale and old!"

"By the Lord, she's English!" shouted the Governor. 

On she came, banners flying, music playing, and inextinguishablelaughter rising from her decks. The Tiger, the Truelove, and the DueReturn sent no more hailstones against her; they turned and resolvedthemselves into her consort. The watch, a grim old sea dog that hadcome in with Dale, swung himself down from his post, and came towardthe Governor at a run. "I know her now, sir!" he shouted. "I was at thewinning of Cales, and she's the Santa Teresa, that we took and sent hometo the Queen. She was Spanish once, sir, but she's English now. "

The gates were flung open, and the excited people poured out againupon the river bank. I found myself beside the Governor, whose honestcountenance wore an expression of profound bewilderment. 

"What d' ye make of her, Percy?" he said. "The Company does n't sendservants, felons, 'prentices, or maids in such craft; no, nor officersor governors, either. It's the King's ship, sure enough, but what is shedoing here?--that 's the question. What does she want, and whom does shebring?"

"We'll soon know, " I answered, "for there goes her anchor. "

Five minutes later a boat was lowered from the ship, and came swiftlytoward us. The boat had four rowers, and in the stern sat a tall man, black-bearded, high-colored, and magnificently dressed. It touched thesand some two hundred feet from the spot where Governor, Councilors, officers, and a sprinkling of other sorts stood staring at it, and atthe great ship beyond. The man in the stern leaped out, looked aroundhim, and then walked toward us. As he walked slowly, we had leisure tonote the richness of his doublet and cloak, --the one slashed, the otherlined with scarlet taffeta, --the arrogance of his mien and gait, and thesuperb full-blooded beauty of his face. 

"The handsomest man that ever I saw!" ejaculated the Governor. 

Master Pory, standing beside him, drew in his breath, then puffed it outagain. "Handsome enough, your Honor, " he said, "unless handsome is ashandsome does. That, gentlemen, is my Lord Carnal, --that is the King'slatest favorite. "

CHAPTER VIII IN WHICH ENTERS MY LORD CARNAL

I FELT a touch upon my shoulder, and turned to find Mistress Percybeside me. Her cheeks were white, her eyes aflame, her whole frametense. The passion that dominated her was so clearly anger at white heatthat I stared at her in amazement. Her hand slid from my shoulder to thebend of my arm and rested there. "Remember that I am your wife, sir, "she said in a low, fierce voice, --"your kind and loving wife. You saidthat your sword was mine; now bring your wit to the same service!"

There was not time to question her meaning. The man whose position inthe realm had just been announced by the Secretary, and of whom we hadall heard as one not unlikely to supplant even Buckingham himself, wasclose at hand. The Governor, headpiece in hand, stepped forward; theother swept off his Spanish hat; both bowed profoundly. 

"I speak to his Honor the Governor of Virginia?" inquired the newcomer. His tone was offhand, his hat already back upon his head. 

"I am George Yeardley, at my Lord Carnal's service, " answered theGovernor. 

The favorite raised his eyebrows. "I don't need to introduce myself, itseems, " he said. "You've found that I am not the devil, after all, --atleast not the Spanish Apollyon. Zooks! a hawk above a poultry yard couldn't have caused a greater commotion than did my poor little ship and myfew poor birding pieces! Does every strange sail so put you through yourpaces?"

The Governor's color mounted. "We are not at home, " he answered stiffly. "Here we are few and weak and surrounded by many dangers, and have needto be vigilant, being planted, as it were, in the very grasp of thatSpain who holds Europe in awe, and who claims this land as her own. Thatwe are here at all is proof enough of our courage, my lord. "

The other shrugged his shoulders. "I don't doubt your mettle, " he saidnegligently. "I dare say it matches your armor. "

His glance had rested for a moment upon the battered headpiece andancient rusty breastplate with which Master Jeremy Sparrow was bedight. 

"It is something antique, truly, something out of fashion, " remarkedthat worthy, --"almost as out of fashion as courtesy from guests, orrespect for dignities from my-face-is-my-fortune minions and lords oncarpet considerations. "

The hush of consternation following this audacious speech was broken bya roar of laughter from the favorite himself. "Zounds!" he cried, "yourcourage is worn on your sleeve, good giant! I'll uphold you to faceSpaniards, strappado, rack, galleys, and all!"

The bravado with which he spoke, the insolence of his bold glance andcurled lip, the arrogance with which he flaunted that King's favor whichshould be a brand more infamous than the hangman's, his beauty, the pompof his dress, --all were alike hateful. I hated him then, scarce knowingwhy, as I hated him afterward with reason. 

He now pulled from the breast of his doublet a packet, which heproffered the Governor. "From the King, sir, " he announced, in thehalf-fierce, half--mocking tone he had made his own. "You may read it atyour leisure. He wishes you to further me in a quest upon which I havecome. "

The Governor took the packet with reverence. "His Majesty's will is ourlaw, " he said. "Anything that lies in our power, sir; though if you comefor gold"--

The favorite laughed again. "I've come for a thing a deal more precious, Sir Governor, --a thing worth more to me than all the treasure of theIndies with Manoa and El Dorado thrown in, --to wit, the thing upon whichI've set my mind. That which I determine to do, I do, sir, and the thingI determine to have, why, sooner or later, by hook or by crook, fairmeans or foul, I have it! I am not one to be crossed or defied withimpunity. "

"I do not take your meaning, my lord, " said the Governor, puzzled, but courteous. "There are none here who would care to thwart, in anyhonorable enterprise, a nobleman so high in the King's favor. I trustthat my Lord Carnal will make my poor house his own during his stay inVirginia--What's the matter, my lord?"

My lord's face was dark red, his black eyes afire, his mustaches workingup and down. His white teeth had closed with a click on the loud oathwhich had interrupted the Governor's speech. Honest Sir George and hiscircle stared at this unaccountable guest in amazement not unmixed withdismay. As for myself, I knew before he spoke what had caused the oathand the fierce triumph in that handsome face. Master Jeremy Sparrow hadmoved a little to one side, thus exposing to view that which his greatbody had before screened from observation, --namely, Mistress JocelynPercy. 

In a moment the favorite was before her, hat in hand, bowing to theground. 

"My quest hath ended where I feared it but begun!" he cried, flushed andexultant. "I have found my Manoa sooner than I thought for. Have you nowelcome for me, lady?"

She withdrew her arm from mine and curtsied to him profoundly; thenstood erect, indignant and defiant, her eyes angry stars, her cheekscarnation, scorn on her smiling lips. 

"I cannot welcome you as you should be welcomed, my lord, " she said in aclear voice. "I have but my bare hands. Manoa, my lord, lies far to thesouthward. This land is quite out of your course, and you will find herebut your travail for your pains. My lord, permit me to present to you myhusband, Captain Ralph Percy. I think that you know his cousin, my Lordof Northumberland. "

The red left the favorite's cheeks, and he moved as though a blow hadbeen dealt him by some invisible hand. Recovering himself he bowedto me, and I to him, which done we looked each other in the eyes longenough for each to see the thrown gauntlet. 

"I raise it, " I said. 

"And I raise it, " he answered. 

"A l'outrance, I think, sir?" I continued. 

"A l'outrance, " he assented. 

"And between us two alone, " I suggested. 

His answering smile was not good to see, nor was the tone in which hespoke to the Governor good to hear. 

"It is now some weeks, sir, " he said, "since there disappeared fromcourt a jewel, a diamond of most inestimable worth. It in some sortbelonged to the King, and his Majesty, in the goodness of his heart, had promised it to a certain one, --nay, had sworn by his kingdom thatit should be his. Well, sir, that man put forth his hand to claim hisown--when lo! the jewel vanished! Where it went no man could tell. Therewas, as you may believe, a mighty running up and down and looking intodark corners, all for naught, --it was clean gone. But the man to whomthat bright gem had been promised was not one easily hoodwinked orbaffled. He swore to trace it, follow it, find it, and wear it. "

His bold eyes left the Governor, to rest upon the woman beside me; hadhe pointed to her with his hand, he could not have more surely drawnupon her the regard of that motley throng. By degrees the crowd hadfallen back, leaving us three--the King's minion, the masquerading lady, and myself--the centre of a ring of staring faces; but now she becamethe sole target at which all eyes were directed. 

In Virginia, at this time, the women of our own race were held in highesteem. During the first years of our planting they were a greaterrarity than the mocking-birds and flying squirrels, or than that weedthe eating of which made fools of men. The man whose wife was loving anddaring enough, or jealous enough of Indian maids, to follow him intothe wilderness counted his friends by the score and never lacked forcompany. The first marriage in Virginia was between a laborer and awaiting maid, and yet there was as great a deal of candy stuff as if ithad been the nuptials of a lieutenant of the shire. The brother of myLord de la Warre stood up with the groom, the brother of my Lord ofNorthumberland gave away the bride and was the first to kiss her, andthe President himself held the caudle to their lips that night. Sincethat wedding there had been others. Gentlewomen made the Virginia voyagewith husband or father; women signed as servants and came over, to marryin three weeks' time, the husband paying good tobacco for the wife'sfreedom; in the cargoes of children sent for apprentices there were manygirls. And last, but not least, had come Sir Edwyn's doves. Things hadchanged since that day--at the memory of which men still held theirsides--when Madam West, then the only woman in the town with youth andbeauty, had marched down the street to the pillory, mounted it, calledto her the drummer, and ordered him to summon to the square by tuck ofdrum every man in the place. Which done, and the amazed populationat hand, gaping at the spectacle of the wife of their commander (thenabsent from home) pilloried before them, she gave command, throughthe crier, that they should take their fill of gazing, whispering, andnudging then and there, forever and a day, and then should go abouttheir business and give her leave to mind her own. 

That day was gone, but men still dropped their work to see a woman pass, still cheered when a farthingale appeared over a ship's side, and atchurch still devoted their eyes to other service than staring at theminister. In our short but crowded history few things had made a greaterstir than the coming in of Sir Edwyn's maids. They were married now, but they were still the observed of all observers; to be pointed out tostrangers, run after by children, gaped at by the vulgar, bowed to withbroad smiles by Burgess, Councilor, and commander, and openly contemnedby those dames who had attained to a husband in somewhat more regularfashion. Of the ninety who had arrived two weeks before, the greaternumber had found husbands in the town itself or in the neighboringhundreds, so that in the crowd that had gathered to withstand theSpaniard, and had stayed to welcome the King's favorite, there werefarthingales not a few. 

But there were none like the woman whose hand I had kissed in thecourting meadow. In the throng, that day, in her Puritan dress and amidthe crowd of meaner beauties, she had passed without overmuch comment, and since that day none had seen her save Rolfe and the minister, myservants and myself; and when "The Spaniard!" was cried, men thought ofother things than the beauty of women; so that until this moment shehad escaped any special notice. Now all that was changed. The Governor, following the pointing of those insolent eyes, fixed his own upon herin a stare of sheer amazement; the gold-laced quality about him cranednecks, lifted eyebrows, and whispered; and the rabble behind followedtheir betters' example with an emphasis quite their own. 

"Where do you suppose that jewel went, Sir Governor, " said thefavorite, --"that jewel which was overnice to shine at court, which setup its will against the King's, which would have none of that one towhom it had been given?"

"I am a plain man, my lord, " replied the Governor bluntly. "An it pleaseyou, give me plain words. "

My lord laughed, his eyes traveling round the ring of greedily intentfaces. "So be it, sir, " he assented. "May I ask who is this lady?"

"She came in the Bonaventure, " answered the Governor. "She was one ofthe treasurer's poor maids. "

"With whom I trod a measure at court not long ago, " said the favorite. "I had to wait for the honor until the prince had been gratified. "

The Governor's round eyes grew rounder. Young Hamor, a-tiptoe behindhim, drew a long, low whistle. 

"In so small a community, " went on my lord, "sure you must all knowone another. There can be no masks worn, no false colors displayed. Everything must be as open as daylight. But we all have a past as wellas a present. Now, for instance"--

I interrupted him. "In Virginia, my lord, we live in the present. Atpresent, my lord, I like not the color of your lordship's cloak. "

He stared at me, with his black brows drawn together. "It is not of yourchoosing nor for your wearing, sir, " he rejoined haughtily. 

"And your sword knot is villainously tied, " I continued. "And I like notsuch a fire-new, bejeweled scabbard. Mine, you see, is out at heel. "

"I see, " he said dryly. 

"The pinking of your doublet suits me not, either, " I declared. "I couldmake it more to my liking, " and I touched his Genoa three-pile with thepoint of my rapier. 

A loud murmur arose from the crowd, and the Governor started forward, crying out, "Captain Percy! Are you mad?"

"I was never saner in my life, sir, " I answered. "French fashions likeme not, --that is all, --nor Englishmen that wear them. To my thinkingsuch are scarcely true-born. "

That thrust went home. All the world knew the story of my late LordCarnal and the waiting woman in the service of the French ambassador'swife. A gasp of admiration went up from the crowd. My lord's rapier wasout, the hand that held it shaking with passion. I had my blade in myhand, but the point was upon the ground. "I'll lesson you, you madman!"he said thickly. Suddenly, without any warning, he thrust at me; hadhe been less blind with rage, the long score which each was to run upagainst the other might have ended where it began. I swerved, and thenext instant with my own point sent his rapier whirling. It fell at theGovernor's feet. 

"Your lordship may pick it up, " I remarked. "Your grasp is as firm asyour honor, my lord. "

He glared at me, foam upon his lips. Men were between us now, --theGovernor, Francis West, Master Pory, Hamor, Wynne, --and a babel ofexcited voices arose. The diversion I had aimed to make had been madewith a vengeance. West had me by the arm. "What a murrain is all thiscoil about, Ralph Percy? If you hurt hair of his head, you are lost!"

The favorite broke from the Governor's detaining hand and conciliatoryspeech. 

"You'll fight, sir?" he cried hoarsely. 

"You know that I need not now, my lord, " I answered. 

He stamped upon the ground with rage and shame; not true shame for thatfoul thrust, but shame for the sword upon the grass, for that whichcould be read in men's eyes, strive to hide it as they might, for theopen scorn upon one face. Then, during the minute or more in which wefaced each other in silence, he exerted to some effect that willof which he had boasted. The scarlet faded from his face, his framesteadied, and he forced a smile. Also he called to his aid a certainsoldierly, honest-seeming frankness of speech and manner which he couldassume at will. 

"Your Virginian sunshine dazzleth the eyes, sir, " he said. "Of a verityit made me think you on guard. Forgive me my mistake. "

I bowed. "Your lordship will find me at your service. I lodge at theminister's house, where your lordship's messenger will find me. I amgoing there now with my wife, who hath ridden a score of miles thismorning and is weary. We give you good-day, my lord. "

I bowed to him again and to the Governor, then gave my hand to MistressPercy. The crowd opening before us, we passed through it, and crossedthe parade by the west bulwark. At the further end was a bit of risingground. This we mounted; then, before descending the other side into thelane leading to the minister's house, we turned as by one impulseand looked back. Life is like one of those endless Italian corridors, painted, picture after picture, by a master hand; and man is thetraveler through it, taking his eyes from one scene but to rest themupon another. Some remain a blur in his mind; some he remembers not; forsome he has but to close his eyes and he sees them again, line for line, tint for tint, the whole spirit of the piece. I close my eyes, and Isee the sunshine hot and bright, the blue of the skies, the sheen of theriver. The sails are white again upon boats long lost; the Santa Teresa, sunk in a fight with an Algerine rover two years afterward, ridesat anchor there forever in the James, her crew in the waist and therigging, her master and his mates on the poop, above them the flag. I see the plain at our feet and the crowd beyond, all staring withupturned faces; and standing out from the group of perplexed andwondering dignitaries a man in black and scarlet, one hand busy at hismouth, the other clenched upon the newly restored and unsheathed sword. And I see, standing on the green hillock, hand in hand, us two, myselfand the woman so near to me, and yet so far away that a common enemyseemed our only tie. 

We turned and descended to the green lane and the deserted houses. Whenwe were quite hidden from those we had left on the bank below the fort, she dropped my hand and moved to the other side of the lane; and thus, with never a word to spare, we walked sedately on until we reached theminister's house. 

CHAPTER IX IN WHICH TWO DRINK OF ONE CUP

WAITING for us in the doorway we found Master Jeremy Sparrow, relievedof his battered armor, his face wreathed with hospitable smiles, and aposy in his hand. 

"When the Spaniard turned out to be only the King's minion, I slippedaway to see that all was in order, " he said genially. "Here are roses, madam, that you are not to treat as you did those others. "

She took them from him with a smile, and we went into the house to findthree fair large rooms, something bare of furnishing, but clean andsweet, with here and there a bow pot of newly gathered flowers, a dishof wardens on the table, and a cool air laden with the fragrance of thepine blowing through the open window. 

"This is your demesne, " quoth the minister. "I have worthy MasterBucke's own chamber upstairs. Ah, good man, I wish he may quicklyrecover his strength and come back to his own, and so relieve me of theburden of all this luxury. I, whom nature meant for an eremite, have nobusiness in kings' chambers such as these. "

His devout faith in his own distaste for soft living and his longingsafter a hermit's cell was an edifying spectacle. So was the evidentpride which he took in his domain, the complacence with which he pointedout the shady, well-stocked garden, and the delight with which heproduced and set upon the table a huge pasty and a flagon of wine. 

"It is a fast day with me, " he said. "I may neither eat nor drink untilthe sun goes down. The flesh is a strong giant, very full of pride andlust of living, and the spirit must needs keep watch and ward, seizingevery opportunity to mortify and deject its adversary. Goodwife Allen isstill gaping with the crowd at the fort, and your man and maid have notyet come, but I shall be overhead if you need aught. Mistress Percy mustwant rest after her ride. "

He was gone, leaving us two alone together. She stood opposite me, beside the window, from which she had not moved since entering the room. The color was still in her cheeks, the light in her eyes, and she stillheld the roses with which Sparrow had heaped her arms. I was moving tothe table. 

"Wait!" she said, and I turned toward her again. 

"Have you no questions to ask?" she demanded. 

I shook my head. "None, madam. "

"I was the King's ward!" she cried. 

I bowed, but spoke no word, though she waited for me. 

"If you will listen, " she said at last, proudly, and yet with a pleadingsweetness, --"if you will listen, I will tell you how it was that I--thatI came to wrong you so. "

"I am listening, madam, " I replied. 

She stood against the light, the roses pressed to her bosom, her darkeyes upon me, her head held high. "My mother died when I was born; myfather, years ago. I was the King's ward. While the Queen lived she keptme with her, --she loved me, I think; and the King too was kind, --wouldhave me sing to him, and would talk to me about witchcraft and theScriptures, and how rebellion to a king is rebellion to God. When I wassixteen, and he tendered me marriage with a Scotch lord, I, who lovedthe gentleman not, never having seen him, prayed the King to take thevalue of my marriage and leave me my freedom. He was so good to me thenthat the Scotch lord was wed elsewhere, and I danced at the wedding witha mind at ease. Time passed, and the King was still my very good lord. Then, one black day, my Lord Carnal came to court, and the King lookedat him oftener than at his Grace of Buckingham. A few months, and mylord's wish was the King's will. To do this new favorite pleasure heforgot his ancient kindness of heart; yea, and he made the law of noaccount. I was his kinswoman, and under my full age; he would give myhand to whom he chose. He chose to give it to my Lord Carnal. "

She broke off, and turned her face from me toward the slant sunshinewithout the window. Thus far she had spoken quietly, with a certainproud patience of voice and bearing; but as she stood there in a silencewhich I did not break, the memory of her wrongs brought the crimsonto her cheeks and the anger to her eyes. Suddenly she burst forthpassionately: "The King is the King! What is a subject's will to clashwith his? What weighs a woman's heart against his whim? Little caredhe that my hand held back, grew cold at the touch of that other handin which he would have put it. What matter if my will was against thatmarriage? It was but the will of a girl, and must be broken. All myworld was with the King; I, who stood alone, was but a woman, young anduntaught. Oh, they pressed me sore, they angered me to the very heart!There was not one to fight my battle, to help me in that strait, to showme a better path than that I took. With all my heart, with all my soul, with all my might, I hate that man which that ship brought here to-day!You know what I did to escape them all, to escape that man. I fled fromEngland in the dress of my waiting maid and under her name. I came toVirginia in that guise. I let myself be put up, appraised, cried forsale, in that meadow yonder, as if I had been indeed the piece ofmerchandise I professed myself. The one man who approached me withrespect I gulled and cheated. I let him, a stranger, give me his name. Ishelter myself now behind his name. I have foisted on him my quarrel. I have--Oh, despise me, if you will! You cannot despise me more than Idespise myself!"

I stood with my hand upon the table and my eyes studying the shadowof the vines upon the floor. All that she said was perfectly true, and yet--I had a vision of a scarlet and black figure and a dark andbeautiful face. I too hated my Lord Carnal. 

"I do not despise you, madam, " I said at last. "What was done two weeksago in the meadow yonder is past recall. Let it rest. What is mine isyours: it's little beside my sword and my name. The one is naturally atmy wife's service; for the other, I have had some pride in keeping ituntarnished. It is now in your keeping as well as my own. I do not fearto leave it there, madam. "

I had spoken with my eyes upon the garden outside the window, but now Ilooked at her, to see that she was trembling in every limb, --tremblingso that I thought she would fall. I hastened to her. "The roses, " shesaid, --"the roses are too heavy. Oh, I am tired--and the room goesround. "

I caught her as she fell, and laid her gently upon the floor. Therewas water on the table, and I dashed some in her face and moistenedher lips; then turned to the door to get woman's help, and ran againstDiccon. 

"I got that bag of bones here at last, sir, " he began. "If ever I"--Hiseyes traveled past me, and he broke off. 

"Don't stand there staring, " I ordered. "Go bring the first woman youmeet. "

"Is she dead?" he asked under his breath. "Have you killed her?"

"Killed her, fool!" I cried. "Have you never seen a woman swoon?"

"She looks like death, " he muttered. "I thought"--

"You thought!" I exclaimed. "You have too many thoughts. Begone, andcall for help!"

"Here is Angela, " he said sullenly and without offering to move, as, light of foot, soft of voice, ox-eyed and docile, the black womanentered the room. When I saw her upon her knees beside the motionlessfigure, the head pillowed on her arm, her hand busy with the fasteningsabout throat and bosom, her dark face as womanly tender as any Englishmother's bending over her nursling; and when I saw my wife, with alittle moan, creep further into the encircling arms, I was satisfied. 

"Come away!" I said, and, followed by Diccon, went out and shut thedoor. 

My Lord Carnal was never one to let the grass grow beneath his feet. An hour later came his cartel, borne by no less a personage than theSecretary of the colony. 

I took it from the point of that worthy's rapier. It ran thus: "SIR, --Atwhat hour to-morrow and at what place do you prefer to die? And withwhat weapon shall I kill you?"

"Captain Percy will give me credit for the profound reluctance withwhich I act in this affair against a gentleman and an officer so highin the esteem of the colony, " said Master Pory, with his hand upon hisheart. "When I tell him that I once fought at Paris in a duel of sixon the same side with my late Lord Carnal, and that when I was lastat court my Lord Warwick did me the honor to present me to the presentlord, he will see that I could not well refuse when the latter requestedmy aid. "

"Master Pory's disinterestedness is perfectly well known, " I said, without a smile. "If he ever chooses the stronger side, sure he hasstrong reasons for so doing. He will oblige me by telling his principalthat I ever thought sunrise a pleasant hour for dying, and that therecould be no fitter place than the field behind the church, convenient asit is to the graveyard. As for weapons, I have heard that he is a goodswordsman, but I have some little reputation that way myself. If heprefers pistols or daggers, so be it. "

"I think we may assume the sword, " said Master Pory. 

I bowed. 

"You'll bring a friend?" he asked. 

"I do not despair of finding one, " I answered, "though my second, MasterSecretary, will put himself in some jeopardy. "

"It is combat. . . Outrance, I believe?"

"I understand it so. "

"Then we'd better have Bohun. The survivor may need his services. "

"As you please, " I replied, "though my man Diccon dresses my scratcheswell enough. "

He bit his lip, but could not hide the twinkle in his eye. 

"You are cocksure, " he said. "Curiously enough, so is my lord. Thereare no further formalities to adjust, I believe? To-morrow at sunrise, behind the church, and with rapiers?"

"Precisely. "

He slapped his blade back into its sheath. "Then that's over and donewith, for the nonce at least! Sufficient unto the day, etcetera. 'Slife! I'm hot and dry! You've sacked cities, Ralph Percy; now sack methe minister's closet and bring out his sherris I'll be at charges forthe next communion. "

We sat us down upon the doorstep with a tankard of sack between us, andMaster Pory drank, and drank, and drank again. 

"How's the crop?" he asked. "Martin reports it poorer in quality thanever, but Sir George will have it that it is very Varinas. "

"It's every whit as good as the Spanish, " I answered. "You may tell myLord Warwick so, when next you write. "

He laughed. If he was a timeserver and leagued with my Lord Warwick'sfaction in the Company, he was a jovial sinner. Traveler and student, much of a philosopher, more of a wit, and boon companion to any beggarwith a pottle of ale, --while the drink lasted, --we might look askance athis dealings, but we liked his company passing well. If he took half apoor rustic's crop for his fee, he was ready enough to toss him sixpencefor drink money; and if he made the tenants of the lands allotted tohis office leave their tobacco uncared for whilst they rowed him onhis innumerable roving expeditions up creeks and rivers, he at leastlightened their labors with most side-splitting tales, and with bottlesongs learned in a thousand taverns. 

"After to-morrow there'll be more interesting news to write, " heannounced. "You're a bold man, Captain Percy. "

He looked at me out of the corners of his little twinkling eyes. I satand smoked in silence. 

"The King begins to dote upon him, " he said; "leans on his arm, playswith his hand, touches his cheek. Buckingham stands by, biting his lip, his brow like a thundercloud. You'll find in to-morrow's antagonist, Ralph Percy, as potent a conjurer as your cousin Hotspur found inGlendower. He'll conjure you up the Tower, and a hanging, drawing, andquartering. Who touches the King's favorite had safer touch the King. It's _lese-majeste_‚ you contemplate. "

He lit his pipe and blew out a great cloud of smoke, then burst intoa roar of laughter. "My Lord High Admiral may see you through. Zooks!there'll be a raree-show worth the penny, behind the church to-morrow, aPercy striving with all his might and main to serve a Villiers! Eureka!There is something new under the sun, despite the Preacher!" He blew outanother cloud of smoke. By this the tankard was empty, and his cheekswere red, his eyes moist, and his laughter very ready. 

"Where's the Lady Jocelyn Leigh?" he asked. "May I not have the honor tokiss her hand before I go?"

I stared at him. "I do not understand you, " I said coldly. "There's none within but Mistress Percy. She is weary, and rests after herjourney. We came from Weyanoke this morning. "

He shook with laughter. "Ay, ay, brave it out!" he cried. "It's whatevery man Jack of us said you would do! But all's known, man! TheGovernor read the King's letters in full Council an hour ago. She's theLady Jocelyn Leigh; she 's a ward of the King's; she and her lands areto wed my Lord Carnal!"

"She was all that, " I replied. "Now she 's my wife. "

"You'll find that the Court of High Commission will not agree with you. "

My rapier lay across my knees, and I ran my hand down its worn scabbard. "Here 's one that agrees with me, " I said. "And up there is Another, "and I lifted my hat. 

He stared. "God and my good sword!" he cried. "A very knightlydependence, but not to be mentioned nowadays in the same breath withgold and the King's favor. Better bend to the storm, man; sing low whileit roars past. You can swear that you did n't know her to be of finerweave than dowlas. Oh, they'll call it in some sort a marriage, for thelady's own sake; but they'll find flaws enough to crack a thousand suchmad matches. The divorce is the thing! There's precedent, you know. Afair lady was parted from a brave man not a thousand years ago, becausea favorite wanted her. True, Frances Howard wanted the favorite, whilstthis beauty of yours"--

"You will please not couple the name of my wife with the name of thatadulteress!" I interrupted fiercely. 

He started; then cried out somewhat hurriedly: "No offense, no offense!I meant no comparisons; comparisons are odorous, saith Dogberry. All atcourt know the Lady Jocelyn Leigh for a very Britomart, a maid as coldas Dian!"

I rose, and began to pace up and down the bit of green before the door. "Master Pory, " I said at last, coming to a stop before him, "if, withoutbreach of faith, you can tell me what was said or done at the Councilto-day anent this matter, you will lay me under an obligation that Ishall not forget. "

He studied the lace on his sleeve in silence for a while; then glancedup at me out of those small, sly, merry eyes. "Why, " he answered, "theKing demands that the lady be sent home forthwith, on the ship that gaveus such a turn to-day, in fact, with a couple of women to attend her, and under the protection of the only other passenger of quality, to wit, my Lord Carnal. His Majesty cannot conceive it possible that she hathso far forgotten her birth, rank, and duty as to have maintained inVirginia this mad masquerade, throwing herself into the arms of anypetty planter or broken adventurer who hath chanced to have an hundredand twenty pounds of filthy tobacco with which to buy him a wife. If shehath been so mad, she is to be sent home none the less, where she willbe tenderly dealt with as one surely in this sole matter under the spellof witchcraft. The ship is to bring home also--and in irons--the manwho married her. If he swears to have been ignorant of her quality, andplaces no straws in the way of the King's Commissioners, then shall hebe sent honorably back to Virginia with enough in his hand to get himanother wife. Per contra, if he erred with open eyes, and if he remaincontumacious, he will have to deal with the King and with the Court ofHigh Commission, to say nothing of the King's favorite. That's the sumand substance, Ralph Percy. "

"Why was my Lord Carnal sent?" I asked. 

"Probably because my Lord Carnal would come. He hath a will, hath myLord, and the King is more indulgent than Eli to those upon whom hedotes. Doubtless, my Lord High Admiral sped him on his way, gave him theKing's best ship, wished him a favorable wind--to hell. "

"I was not ignorant that she was other than she seemed, and I remaincontumacious. "

"Then, " he said shamelessly, "you'll forgive me if in public, at least, I forswear your company? You're plague-spotted, Captain Percy, and yourfriends may wish you well, but they must stay at home and burn juniperbefore their own doors. "

"I'll forgive you, " I said, "when you 've told me what the Governor willdo. "

"Why, there's the rub, " he answered. "Yeardley is the most obstinate manof my acquaintance. He who at his first coming, beside a great deal ofworth in his person, brought only his sword hath grown to be as very aSir Oracle among us as ever I saw. It's 'Sir George says this, ' and 'SirGeorge says that, ' and so there's an end on't. It's all because of thatleave to cut your own throats in your own way that he brought you lastyear. Sir George and Sir Edwyn! Zooks! you had better dub them St. George and St. Edwyn at once, and be done with it. Well, on thisoccasion Sir George stands up and says roundly, with a good roundoath to boot: 'The King's commands have always come to us through theCompany. The Company obeys the King; we obey the Company. His Majesty'sdemand (with reverence I speak it) is out of all order. Let the Company, through the treasurer, command us to send Captain Percy home in irons toanswer for this passing strange offense, or to return, willy nilly, thelady who is now surely his wife, and we will have no choice but toobey. Until the Company commands us we will do nothing; nay we can donothing. ' And every one of my fellow Councilors (for myself, I was busywith my pens) saith, 'My opinion, Sir George. ' The upshot of it allis that the Due Return is to sail in two days with our humblerepresentation to his Majesty that though we bow to his lightest word asthe leaf bows to the zephyr, yet we are, in this sole matter, handfast, compelled by his Majesty's own gracious charter to refer our slightestofficial doing to that noble Company which owes its very being to itsrigid adherence to the terms of said charter. Wherefore, if his Majestywill be graciously pleased to command us as usual through the saidCompany--and so on. Of course, not a soul in the Council, or inJamestown, or in Virginia dreams of a duel behind the church at sunriseto-morrow. " He knocked the ashes from his pipe, and by degrees got hisfat body up from the doorstep. "So there's a reprieve for you, RalphPercy, unless you kill or are killed to-morrow morning. In the lattercase, the problem's solved; in the former, the best service you can doyourself, and maybe the Company, is to walk out of the world of yourown accord, and that as quickly as possible. Better a cross-roads and astake through a dead heart than a hangman's hands upon a live one. "

"One moment, " I said. "Doth my Lord Carnal know of this decision of theGovernor's?"

"Ay, and a fine passion it put him into. Stormed and swore andthreatened, and put the Governor's back up finely. It seems that hethought to 'bout ship to-morrow, lady and all. He refuseth to go withoutthe lady, and so remaineth in Virginia until he can have his will. Lord!but Buckingham would be a happy man if he were kept here forever and aday! My lord knows what he risks, and he's in as black a humor as everyou saw. But I have striven to drop oil on the troubled waters. 'Mylord, ' I told him, 'you have but to posses your soul with patience for afew short weeks, just until the ship the Governor sends can return. Thenall must needs be as your lordship wishes. In the meantime, you may findexistence in these wilds and away from that good company which is thesoul of life endurable, and perhaps pleasant. You may have daily sightof the lady who is to become your wife, and that should count formuch with so ardent and determined a lover as your lordship hath shownyourself to be. You may have the pleasure of contemplating your rival'sgrave, if you kill him. If he kills you, you will care the less aboutthe date of the Santa Teresa's sailing. The land, too, hath inducementsto offer to a philosophical and contemplative mind such as one whom hisMajesty delighteth to honor must needs possess. Beside these crystalrivers and among these odoriferous woods, my lord, one escapes muchexpense, envy, contempt, vanity, and vexation of mind. '"

The hoary sinner laughed and laughed. When he had gone away, still inhuge enjoyment of his own mirth, I, who had seen small cause for mirth, went slowly indoors. Not a yard from the door, in the shadow of thevines that draped the window, stood the woman who was bringing this fateupon me. 

"I thought that you were in your own room, " I said harshly, after amoment of dead silence. 

"I came to the window, " she replied. "I listened. I heard all. " Shespoke haltingly, through dry lips. Her face was as white as her ruff, but a strange light burned in her eyes, and there was no trembling. "This morning you said that all that you had--your name and yoursword--were at my service. You may take them both again, sir. I refusethe aid you offer. Swear what you will, tell them what you please, makeyour peace whilst you may. I will not have your blood upon my soul. "

There was yet wine upon the table. I filled a cup and brought it to her. "Drink!" I commanded. 

"I have much of forbearance, much of courtesy, to thank you for, " shesaid. "I will remember it when--Do not think that I shall blame you"--

I held the cup to her lips. "Drink!" I repeated. She touched the redwine with her lips. I took it from her and put it to my own. "We drinkof the same cup, " I said, with my eyes upon hers, and drained it to thebottom. "I am weary of swords and courts and kings. Let us go into thegarden and watch the minister's bees. "

CHAPTER X IN WHICH MASTER PORY GAINS TIME TO SOME PURPOSE

ROLFE coming down by boat from Varina, had reached the town in the duskof that day which had seen the arrival of the Santa Teresa, and I hadgone to him before I slept that night. Early morning found us togetheragain in the field behind the church. We had not long to wait in thechill air and dew-drenched grass. When the red rim of the sun showedlike a fire between the trunks of the pines came my Lord Carnal, andwith him Master Pory and Dr. Lawrence Bohun. 

My lord and I bowed to each other profoundly. Rolfe with my sword andMaster Pory with my lord's stepped aside to measure the blades. Dr. Bohun, muttering something about the feverishness of the early air, wrapped his cloak about him, and huddled in among the roots of agigantic cedar. I stood with my back to the church, and my face to thered water between us and the illimitable forest; my lord opposite me, six feet away. He was dressed again splendidly in black and scarlet, colors he much affected, and, with the dark beauty of his face and thearrogant grace with which he stood there waiting for his sword, made apicture worth looking upon. 

Rolfe and the Secretary came back to us. "If you kill him, Ralph, " saidthe former in a low voice, as he took my doublet from me, "you are toput yourself in my hands and do as you are bid. "

"Which means that you will try to smuggle me north to the Dutch. Thanks, friend, but I'll see the play out here. "

"You were ever obstinate, self-willed, reckless--and the man most to myheart, " he continued. "Have your way, in God's name, but I wish not tosee what will come of it! All's ready, Master Secretary. "

Very slowly that worthy stooped down and examined the ground, narrowlyand quite at his leisure. "I like it not, Master Rolfe, " he declared atlength. "Here is a molehill, and there a fairy ring. "

"I see neither, " said Rolfe. "It looks as smooth as a table. But we caneasily shift under the cedars where there is no grass. "

"Here's a projecting root, " announced the Secretary, when the new groundhad been reached. 

Rolfe shrugged his shoulders, but we moved again. 

"The light comes jaggedly through the branches, " objected my lord'ssecond. "Better try the open again. "

Rolfe uttered an exclamation of impatience, and my lord stamped his footon the ground. "What is this foolery, sir?" the latter cried fiercely. "The ground's well enough, and there 's sufficient light to die by. "

"Let the light pass, then, " said his second resignedly. "Gentlemen, are you read--Ods blood! my lord, I had not noticed the roses upon yourlordship's shoes! They are so large and have such a fall that theysweep the ground on either side your foot; you might stumble in all thatdangling ribbon and lace. Allow me to remove them. "

He unsheathed his knife, and, sinking upon his knees, began leisurely tosever the threads that held the roses to the leather. As he worked, helooked neither at the roses nor at my lord's angry face, but beneath hisown bent arm toward the church and the town beyond. 

How long he would have sawed away at the threads there is no telling;for my lord, amongst whose virtues patience was not one, broke from him, and with an oath stooped and tore away the offending roses with hisown hand, then straightened himself and gripped his sword more closely. "I've learned one thing in this d----d land, " he snarled, "and that iswhere not to choose a second. You, sir, " to Rolfe, "give the word. "

Master Pory rose from his knees, unruffled and unabashed, and still witha curiously absent expression upon his fat face and with his ears cockedin the direction of the church. "One moment, gentlemen, " he said. "Ihave just bethought me"--

"On guard!" cried Rolfe, and cut him short. 

The King's favorite was no mean antagonist. Once or twice the thoughtcrossed my mind that here, where I least desired it, I had met my match. The apprehension passed. He fought as he lived, with a fierce intensity, a headlong passion, a brute force, bearing down and overwhelming mostobstacles. But that I could tire him out I soon knew. 

The incessant flash and clash of steel, the quick changes in position, the need to bring all powers of body and mind to aid of eye and wrist, the will to win, the shame of loss, the rage and lust of blood, --therewas no sight or sound outside that trampled circle that could forceitself upon our brain or make us glance aside. If there was a suddencommotion amongst the three witnesses, if an expression of immenserelief and childlike satisfaction reigned in Master Pory's face, we knewit not. We were both bleeding, --I from a pin prick on the shoulder, he from a touch beneath the arm. He made a desperate thrust, which Iparried, and the blades clashed. A third came down upon them with suchforce that the sparks flew. 

"In the King's name!" commanded the Governor. 

We fell apart, panting, white with rage, staring at the unexpecteddisturbers of our peace. They were the Governor, the commander, the CapeMerchant, and the watch. 

"Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace!" exclaimed MasterPory, and retired to the cedar and Dr. Bohun. 

"This ends here, gentlemen, " said the Governor firmly. "You are bothbleeding. It is enough. "

"Out of my way, sir!" cried my lord, foaming at the mouth. He made a madthrust over the Governor's extended arm at me, who was ready enough tomeet him. "Have at thee, thou bridegroom!" he said between his teeth. 

The Governor caught him by the wrist. "Put up your sword, my lord, or, as I stand here, you shall give it into the commander's hands!"

"Hell and furies!" ejaculated my lord. "Do you know who I am, sir?"

"Ay, " replied the Governor sturdily, "I do know. It is because of thatknowledge, my Lord Carnal, that I interfere in this affair. Were youother than you are, you and this gentleman might fight until doomsday, and meet with no hindrance from me. Being what you are, I will preventany renewal of this duel, by fair means if I may, by foul if I must. "

He left my lord, and came over to me. "Since when have you been upon myLord Warwick's side, Ralph Percy?" he demanded, lowering his voice. 

"I am not so, " I said. 

"Then appearances are mightily deceitful, " he retorted. 

"I know what you mean, Sir George, " I answered. "I know that if theKing's darling should meet death or maiming in this fashion, uponVirginian soil, the Company, already so out of favor, might find somedifficulty in explaining things to his Majesty's satisfaction. But Ithink my Lord Southampton and Sir Edwyn Sandys and Sir George Yeardleyequal to the task, especially if they are able to deliver to his Majestythe man whom his Majesty will doubtless consider the true and only rebeland murderer. Let us fight it out, sir. You can all retire to a distanceand remain in profound ignorance of any such affair. If I fall, you havenothing to fear. If he falls, --why, I shall not run away, and the DueReturn sails to-morrow. "

He eyed me closely from under frowning brows. 

"And when your wife's a widow, what then?" he asked abruptly. 

I have not known many better men than this simple, straightforward, soldierly Governor. The manliness of his character begot trust, invitedconfidence. Men told him of their hidden troubles almost against theirwill, and afterward felt neither shame nor fear, knowing the simplicityof his thoughts and the reticence of his speech. I looked him in theeyes, and let him read what I would have shown to no other, and felt noshame. "The Lord may raise her up a helper, " I said. "At least she won'thave to marry him. "

He turned on his heel and moved back to his former station between ustwo. "My Lord Carnal, " he said, "and you, Captain Percy, heed what Isay; for what I say I will do. You may take your choice: either you willsheathe your swords here in my presence, giving me your word of honorthat you will not draw them upon each other before his Majesty shallhave made known his will in this matter to the Company, and the Companyshall have transmitted it to me, in token of which truce between you youshall touch each other's hands; or you will pass the time between thisand the return of the ship with the King's and the Company's will instrict confinement, --you, Captain Percy, in gaol, and you, my LordCarnal, in my own poor house, where I will use my best endeavors tomake the days pass as pleasantly as possible for your lordship. I havespoken, gentlemen. "

There was no protest. For my own part, I knew Yeardley too well toattempt any; moreover, had I been in his place, his course should havebeen mine. For my Lord Carnal, --what black thoughts visited that fierceand sullen brain I know not, but there was acquiescence in his face, haughty, dark, and vengeful though it was. Slowly and as with one motionwe sheathed our swords, and more slowly still repeated the few wordsafter the Governor. His Honor's countenance shone with relief. "Takeeach other by the hand, gentlemen, and then let 's all to breakfast atmy own house, where there shall be no feud save with good capon pastyand jolly good ale. " In dead silence my lord and I touched each other'sfinger tips. 

The world was now a flood of sunshine, the mist on the river vanishing, the birds singing, the trees waving in the pleasant morning air. From the town came the roll of the drum summoning all to the week-dayservice. The bells too began to ring, sounding sweetly through the clearair. The Governor took off his hat. "Let's all to church, gentlemen, " hesaid gravely. "Our cheeks are flushed as with a fever and our pulses runhigh this morning. There be some among us, perhaps, that have in theirhearts discontent, anger, and hatred. I know no better place to takesuch passions, provided we bring them not forth again. "

We went in and sat down. Jeremy Sparrow was in the pulpit. Singly orin groups the town folk entered. Down the aisle strode bearded men, old soldiers, adventurers, sailors, scarred body and soul; young menfollowed, younger sons and younger brothers, prodigals whose portion hadbeen spent, whose souls now ate of the husks; to the servants' benchescame dull laborers, dimly comprehending, groping in the twilight; womenentered softly and slowly, some with children clinging to their skirts. One came alone and knelt alone, her face shadowed by her mantle. Amongstthe servants stood a slave or two, blindly staring, and behind them allone of that felon crew sent us by the King. 

Through the open windows streamed the summer sunshine, soft andfragrant, impartial and unquestioning, caressing alike the upliftedface of the minister, the head of the convict, and all between. Theminister's voice was grave and tender when he read and prayed, butin the hymn it rose above the people's like the voice of some mightyarchangel. That triumphant singing shook the air, and still rang in theheart while we said the Creed. 

When the service was over, the congregation waited for the Governor topass out first. At the door he pressed me to go with him and his partyto his own house, and I gave him thanks, but made excuse to stay away. When he and the nobleman who was his guest had left the churchyard, andthe townspeople too were gone, I and my wife and the minister walkedhome together through the dewy meadow, with the splendor of the morningabout us, and the birds caroling from every tree and thicket. 

CHAPTER XI IN WHICH I MEET AN ITALIAN DOCTOR

THE summer slipped away, and autumn came, with the purple of the grapeand the yellowing corn, the nuts within the forest, and the return ofthe countless wild fowl to the marshes and reedy river banks, and stillI stayed in Jamestown, and my wife with me, and still the Santa Teresarode at anchor in the river below the fort. If the man whom she broughtknew that by tarrying in Virginia he risked his ruin with the King, yet, with a courage worthy of a better cause, he tarried. 

Now and then ships came in, but they were small, belated craft. Themost had left England before the sailing of the Santa Teresa; the rest, private ventures, trading for clapboard or sassafras, knew nothing ofcourt affairs. Only the Sea Flower, sailing from London a fortnightafter the Santa Teresa, and much delayed by adverse winds, brought aletter from the deputy treasurer to Yeardley and the Council. FromRolfe I learned its contents. It spoke of the stir that was made by thedeparture from the realm of the King's favorite. "None know where hehath gone. The King looks dour; 't is hinted that the privy council areas much at sea as the rest of the world; my Lord of Buckingham saithnothing, but his following--which of late hath somewhat decayed--is soincreased that his antechambers cannot hold the throngs that come towait upon him. Some will have it that my Lord Carnal hath fled thekingdom to escape the Tower; others, that the King hath sent him on amission to the King of Spain about this detested Spanish match; others, that the gadfly hath stung him and he is gone to America, --to search forRaleigh's gold mine, maybe. This last most improbable; but if 't is so, and he should touch at Virginia, receive him with all honor. If indeedhe is not out of favor, the Company may find in him a powerful friend;of powerful enemies, God knows, there is no lack!"

Thus the worthy Master Ferrar. And at the bottom of the letter, amongother news of city and court, mention was made of the disappearance of award of the King's, the Lady Jocelyn Leigh. Strict search had been made, but the unfortunate lady had not been found. "'T is whispered that shehath killed herself; also, that his Majesty had meant to give herin marriage to my Lord Carnal. But that all true love and virtue andconstancy have gone from the age, one might conceive that the saidlord had but fled the court for a while, to indulge his grief in somesolitude of hill and stream and shady vale, --the lost lady being rightworthy of such dole. "

In sooth she was, but my lord was not given to such fashion of mourning. 

The summer passed, and I did nothing. What was there I could do? I hadwritten by the Due Return to Sir Edwyn, and to my cousin, the Earlof Northumberland. The King hated Sir Edwyn as he hated tobacco andwitchcraft. "Choose the devil, but not Sir Edwyn Sandys!" had been hispassionate words to the Company the year before. A certain fifth ofNovember had despoiled my Lord of Northumberland of wealth, fame, andinfluence. Small hope there was in those two. That the Governor andCouncil, remembering old dangers shared, wished me well I did not doubt, but that was all. Yeardley had done all he could do, more than most menwould have dared to do, in procuring this delay. There was no furtherhelp in him; nor would I have asked it. Already out of favor with theWarwick faction, he had risked enough for me and mine. I could not fleewith my wife to the Indians, exposing her, perhaps, to a death byfierce tortures; moreover, Opechancanough had of late strangely taken toreturning to the settlements those runaway servants and fugitives fromjustice which before we had demanded from him in vain. If even it hadbeen possible to run the gauntlet of the Indian villages, war parties, and hunting bands, what would have been before us but endless forest anda winter which for us would have had no spring? I could not see her dieof hunger and cold, or by the teeth of the wolves. I could not do what Ishould have liked to do, --take, single-handed, that King's ship withits sturdy crew and sail with her south and ever southwards, before usnothing more formidable than Spanish ships, and beyond them blue waters, spice winds, new lands, strange islands of the blest. 

There seemed naught that I could do, naught that she could do. Our Fatehad us by the hands, and held us fast. We stood still, and the days cameand went like dreams. 

While the Assembly was in session I had my part to act as Burgess frommy hundred. Each day I sat with my fellows in the church, facing theGovernor in his great velvet chair, the Council on either hand, andlistened to the droning of old Twine, the clerk, like the droning of thebees without the window; to the chant of the sergeant-at-arms; to longand windy discourses from men who planted better than they spoke; toremarks by the Secretary, witty, crammed with Latin and traveled talk;to the Governor's slow, weighty words. At Weyanoke we had had troublewith the Indians. I was one who loved them not and had fought themwell, for which reason the hundred chose me its representative. In theAssembly it was my part to urge a greater severity toward those ournatural enemies, a greater watchfulness on our part, the need forpalisades and sentinels, the danger that lay in their acquisition offirearms, which, in defiance of the law, men gave them in exchange forworthless Indian commodities. This Indian business was the chief matterbefore the Assembly. I spoke when I thought speech was needed, and spokestrongly; for my heart foreboded that which was to come upon us too soonand too surely. The Governor listened gravely, nodding his head;Master Pory, too, the Cape Merchant, and West were of my mind; but theremainder were besotted by their own conceit, esteeming the very name ofEnglishman sentinel and palisade enough, or trusting in the smoothwords and vows of brotherhood poured forth so plentifully by that redApollyon, Opechancanough. 

When the day's work was done, and we streamed out of the church, --theGovernor and Council first, the rest of us in order, --it was to findas often as not a red and black figure waiting for us among the graves. Sometimes it joined itself to the Governor, sometimes to Master Pory;sometimes the whole party, save one, went off with it to the guesthouse, there to eat, drink, and make merry. 

If Virginia and all that it contained, save only that jewel of whichit had robbed the court, were out of favor with the King's minion, heshowed it not. Perhaps he had accepted the inevitable with a good grace;perhaps it was but his mode of biding his time; but he had shiftedinto that soldierly frankness of speech and manner, that genial, hail-fellow-well-met air, behind which most safely hides a villain'smind. Two days after that morning behind the church, he had removedhimself, his French valets, and his Italian physician from theGovernor's house to the newly finished guest house. Here he lived, cockof the walk, taking his ease in his inn, elbowing out all guests savethose of his own inviting. If, what with his open face and his openhand, his dinners and bear-baitings and hunting parties, his talesof the court and the wars, his half hints as to the good he might doVirginia with the King, extending even to the lightening of the tax uponour tobacco and the prohibition of the Spanish import, his known richesand power, and the unknown height to which they might attain if his starat court were indeed in the ascendant, --if with these things he slowly, but surely, won to his following all save a very few of those I hadthought my fast friends, it was not a thing marvelous or withoutprecedent. Upon his side was good that might be seen and handled; onmine was only a dubious right and a not at all dubious danger. I do notthink it plagued me much. The going of those who had it in their heartto wish to go left me content, and for those who fawned upon him fromthe first, or for the rabble multitude who flung up their caps and ranat his heels, I cared not a doit. There were still Rolfe and West andthe Governor, Jeremy Sparrow and Diccon. 

My lord and I met, perforce, in the street, at the Governor's house, in church, on the river, in the saddle. If we met in the presence ofothers, we spoke the necessary formal words of greeting or leave-taking, and he kept his countenance; if none were by, off went the mask. Theman himself and I looked each other in the eyes and passed on. Once weencountered on a late evening among the graves, and I was not alone. Mistress Percy had been restless, and had gone, despite the minister'sprotests, to sit upon the river bank. When I returned from the assemblyand found her gone, I went to fetch her. A storm was rolling slowly up. Returning the long way through the churchyard, we came upon him sittingbeside a sunken grave, his knees drawn up to meet his chin, his eyesgloomily regardful of the dark broad river, the unseen ocean, andthe ship that could not return for weeks to come. We passed him insilence, --I with a slight bow, she with a slighter curtsy. An hourlater, going down the street in the dusk of the storm, I ran against Dr. Lawrence Bohun. "Don't stop me!" he panted. "The Italian doctor is awayin the woods gathering simples, and they found my Lord Carnal in a fitamong the graves, half an hour agone. " My lord was bled, and the nextmorning went hunting. 

The lady whom I had married abode with me in the minister's house, heldher head high, and looked the world in the face. She seldom went fromhome, but when she did take the air it was with pomp and circumstance. When that slender figure and exquisite face, set off by as rich apparelas could be bought from a store of finery brought in by the Southampton, and attended by a turbaned negress and a serving man who had been to thewars, and had escaped the wheel by the skin of his teeth, appeared inthe street, small wonder if a greater commotion arose than had beensince the days of the Princess Pocahontas and her train of duskybeauties. To this fairer, more imperial dame gold lace doffed itshat and made its courtliest bow, and young planters bent to theirsaddlebows, while the common folk nudged and stared and had theirsay. The beauty, the grace, the pride, that deigned small responseto well-meant words, --all that would have been intolerable in plainMistress Percy, once a waiting maid, then a piece of merchandise to besold for one hundred and twenty pounds of tobacco, then the wife of apoor gentleman, was pardoned readily enough to the Lady Jocelyn Leigh, the ward of the King, the bride to be (so soon as the King's Courtof High Commission should have snapped in twain an inconvenient andill-welded fetter) of the King's minion. 

So she passed like a splendid vision through the street perhaps once aweek. On Sundays she went with me to church, and the people looked ather instead of at the minister, who rebuked them not, because his eyeswere upon the same errand. 

The early autumn passed and the leaves began to turn, and still allthings were as they had been, save that the Assembly sat no longer. Myfellow Burgesses went back to their hundreds, but my house at Weyanokeknew me no more. In a tone that was apologetic, but firm, the Governorhad told me that he wished my company at Jamestown. I was pleased enoughto stay, I assured him, --as indeed I was. At Weyanoke, the thunderboltwould fall without warning; at Jamestown, at least I could see, comingup the river, the sails of the Due Return or what other ship the Companymight send. 

The color of the leaves deepened, and there came a season of a beautysingular and sad, like a smile left upon the face of the dead summer. Over all things, near and far, the forest where it met the sky, thenearer woods, the great river, and the streams that empty into it, there hung a blue haze, soft and dream-like. The forest became a paintedforest, with an ever thinning canopy and an ever thickening carpet ofcrimson and gold; everywhere there was a low rustling underfoot and aslow rain of color. It was neither cold nor hot, but very quiet, and thebirds went by like shadows, --a listless and forgetful weather, in whichwe began to look, every hour of every day, for the sail which we knew weshould not see for weeks to come. 

Good Master Bucke tarried with Master Thorpe at Henricus, recruitinghis strength, and Jeremy Sparrow preached in his pulpit, slept in hischamber, and worked in his garden. This garden ran down to the greenbank of the river; and here, sitting idly by the stream, her chin in herhand and her dark eyes watching the strong, free sea birds as they cameand went, I found my wife one evening, as I came from the fort, wherehad been some martial exercise. Thirty feet away Master Jeremy Sparrowworked among the dying flowers, and hummed:--

 "There is a garden in her face, Where roses and white lilies grow. "

He and I had agreed that when I must needs be absent he should be withincall of her; for I believed my Lord Carnal very capable of intrudinghimself into her presence. That house and garden, her movements andmine, were spied upon by his foreign hirelings, I knew perfectly well. 

As I sat down upon the bank at her feet, she turned to me with a suddenpassion. "I am weary of it all!" she cried. "I am tired of being pent upin this house and garden, and of the watch you keep upon me. And if I goabroad, it is worse! I hate all those shameless faces that stare at meas if I were in the pillory. I am pilloried before you all, and I findthe experience sufficiently bitter. And when I think that that man whomI hate, hate, hate, breathes the air that I breathe, it stifles me! If Icould fly away like those birds, if I could only be gone from this placefor even a day!"

"I would beg leave to take you home, to Weyanoke, " I said after a pause, "but I cannot go and leave the field to him. "

"And I cannot go, " she answered. "I must watch for that ship and thatKing's command that my Lord Carnal thinks potent enough to make me hiswife. King's commands are strong, but a woman's will is stronger. Atthe last I shall know what to do. But now why may I not take Angela andcross that strip of sand and go into the woods on the other side? Theyare so fair and strange, --all red and yellow, --and they look very stilland peaceful. I could walk in them, or lie down under the trees andforget awhile, and they are not at all far away. " She looked at meeagerly. 

"You could not go alone, " I told her. "There would be danger in that. But to-morrow, if you choose, I and Master Sparrow and Diccon will takeyou there. A day in the woods is pleasant enough, and will do none ofus harm. Then you may wander as you please, fill your arms with coloredleaves, and forget the world. We will watch that no harm comes nigh you, but otherwise you shall not be disturbed. "

She broke into delighted laughter. Of all women the most steadfast ofsoul, her outward moods were as variable as a child's. "Agreed!" shecried. "You and the minister and Diccon Demon shall lay your musketsacross your knees, and Angela shall witch you into stone with her old, mad, heathen charms. And then--and then--I will gather more gold thanhad King Midas; I will dance with the hamadryads; I will find out Oberonand make Titania jealous!"

"I do not doubt that you could do so, " I said, as she sprang to herfeet, childishly eager and radiantly beautiful. 

I rose to go in with her, for it was supper time, but in a momentchanged my mind, and resumed my seat on the bank of turf. "Do you goin, " I said. "There's a snake near by, in those bushes below the bank. I'll kill the creature, and then I'll come to supper. "

When she was gone, I walked to where, ten feet away, the bank dippedto a clump of reeds and willows planted in the mud on the brink of theriver. Dropping on my knees I leaned over, and, grasping a man by thecollar, lifted him from the slime where he belonged to the bank besideme. 

It was my Lord Carnal's Italian doctor that I had so fished up. I hadseen him before, and had found in his very small, mean figure clad allin black, and his narrow face with malignant eyes, and thin white lipsdrawn tightly over gleaming teeth, something infinitely repulsive, sickening to the sight as are certain reptiles to the touch. 

"There are no simples or herbs of grace to be found amongst reeds andhalf-drowned willows, " I said. "What did so learned a doctor look for inso unlikely a place?"

He shrugged his shoulders and made play with his clawlike hands, as ifhe understood me not. It was a lie, for I knew that he and the Englishtongue were sufficiently acquainted. I told him as much, and he shotat me a most venomous glance, but continued to shrug, gesticulate, andjabber in Italian. At last I saw nothing better to do than to take him, still by the collar, to the edge of the garden next the churchyard, andwith the toe of my boot to send him tumbling among the graves. I watchedhim pick himself up, set his attire to rights, and go away in thegathering dusk, winding in and out among the graves; and then I went into supper, and told Mistress Percy that the snake was dead. 

CHAPTER XII IN WHICH I RECEIVE A WARNING AND REPOSE A TRUST

SHORTLY before daybreak I was wakened by a voice beneath my window. "Captain Percy, " it cried, "the Governor wishes you at his house!" andwas gone. 

I dressed and left the house, disturbing no one. Hurrying through thechill dawn, I reached the square not much behind the rapid footstepsof the watch who had wakened me. About the Governor's door were horses, saddled and bridled, with grooms at their heads, men and beasts gray andindistinct, wrapped in the fog. I went up the steps and into the hall, and knocked at the door of the Governor's great room. It opened, and Ientered to find Sir George, with Master Pory, Rolfe, West, and others ofthe Council gathered about the great centre table and talking eagerly. The Governor was but half dressed; West and Rolfe were in jack boots andcoats of mail. A man, breathless with hard riding, spattered with swampmud and torn by briers, stood, cap in hand, staring from one to theother. 

"In good time, Captain Percy!" cried the Governor. "Yesterday you calledthe profound peace with the Indians, of which some of us boasted, thelull before the storm. Faith, it looks to-day as though you were in theright, after all!"

"What 's the matter, sir?" I asked, advancing to the table. 

"Matter enough!" he answered. "This man has come, post haste, from theplantations above Paspahegh. Three days ago, Morgan, the trader, wasdecoyed into the woods by that Paspahegh fool and bully, Nemattanow, whom they call Jack of the Feather, and there murdered. Yesterday, outof sheer bravado, the Indian turned up at Morgan's house, and Morgan'smen shot him down. They buried the dog, and thought no more of it. Threehours ago, Chanco the Christian went to the commander and warned himthat the Paspaheghs were in a ferment, and that the warriors werepainting themselves black. The commander sent off at once to me, and Isee naught better to do than to dispatch you with a dozen men to bringthem to their senses. But there 's to be no harrying nor battle. A showof force is all that 's needed, --I'll stake my head upon it. Let themsee that we are not to be taken unawares, but give them fair words. Thatthey may be the sooner placated I send with you Master Rolfe, --they'lllisten to him. See that the black paint is covered with red, give themsome beads and a knife or two, then come home. If you like not thelook of things, find out where Opechancanough is, and I'll send him anembassy. He loves us well, and will put down any disaffection. "

"There's no doubt that he loves us, " I said dryly. "He loves us as acat loves the mouse that it plays with. If we are to start at once, sir, I'll go get my horse. "

"Then meet us at the neck of land, " said Rolfe. 

I nodded, and left the room. As I descended the steps into the growinglight outside, I found Master Pory at my side. 

"I kept late hours last night, " he remarked, with a portentous yawn. "Now that this business is settled, I'll go back to bed. "

I walked on in silence. 

"I am in your black books, " he continued, with his sly, merry, sidelongglance. "You think that I was overcareful of the ground, that morningbehind the church, and so unfortunately delayed matters until theGovernor happened by and brought things to another guess conclusion. "

"I think that you warned the Governor, " I said bluntly. 

He shook with laughter. "Warned him? Of course I warned him. Youth wouldnever have seen that molehill and fairy ring and projecting root, butwisdom cometh with gray hairs, my son. D' ye not think I'll have theKing's thanks?"

"Doubtless, " I answered. "An the price contents you, I do not know why Ishould quarrel with it. "

By this we were halfway down the street, and we now came upon the guesthouse. A window above us was unshuttered, and in the room within a lightstill burned. Suddenly it was extinguished. A man's face looked downupon us for a moment, then drew back; a skeleton hand was put out softlyand slowly, and the shutter drawn to. Hand and face belonged to the manI had sent tumbling among the graves the evening before. 

"The Italian doctor, " said Master Pory. 

There was something peculiar in his tone. I glanced at him, but hisbroad red face and twinkling eyes told me nothing. "The Italian doctor, "he repeated. "If I had a friend in Captain Percy's predicament, I shouldbid him beware of the Italian doctor. "

"Your friend would be obliged for the warning, " I replied. 

We walked a little further. "And I think, " he said, "that I shouldinform this purely hypothetical friend of mine that the Italian and hispatron had their heads mighty close together, last night. "

"Last night?"

"Ay, last night. I went to drink with my lord, and so broke up theirtete-a-tete. My lord was boisterous in his cups and not oversecret. He dropped some hints"--He broke off to indulge in one of his endlesssilent laughs. "I don't know why I tell you this, Captain Percy. I amon the other side, you know, --quite on the other side. But now I bethinkme, I am only telling you what I should tell you were I upon your side. There's no harm in that, I hope, no disloyalty to my Lord Carnal'sinterests which happen to be my interests?"

I made no answer. I gave him credit both for his ignorance of the veryhornbook of honor and for his large share of the milk of human kindness. 

"My lord grows restive, " he said, when we had gone a little further. "The Francis and John, coming in yesterday, brought court news. Out ofsight, out of mind. Buckingham is making hay while the sun shines. Usethangel water for his complexion, sleepeth in a medicated mask such as theValois used, and is grown handsomer than ever; changeth the fashion ofhis clothes thrice a week, which mightily pleaseth his Majesty. Whoopson the Spanish match, too, and, wonderful past all whooping, from theprince's detestation hath become his bosom friend. Small wonder if myLord Carnal thinks it's time he was back at Whitehall. "

"Let him go, then, " I said. "There's his ship that brought him here. "

"Ay, there 's his ship, " rejoined Master Pory. "A few weeks more, andthe Due Return will be here with the Company's commands. D' ye think, Captain Percy, that there's the slightest doubt as to their tenor?"

"No. "

"Then my lord has but to possess his soul with patience and wait for theDue Return. No doubt he'll do so. "

"No doubt he'll do so, " I echoed. 

By this we had reached the Secretary's own door. "Fortune favor you withthe Paspaheghs!" he said, with another mighty yawn. "As for me, I'llto bed. Do you ever dream, Captain Percy? I don't; mine is too good aconscience. But if I did, I should dream of an Italian doctor. "

The door shut upon his red face and bright eyes. I walked rapidly ondown the street to the minister's house. The light was very pale as yet, and house and garden lay beneath a veil of mist. No one was stirring. Iwent on through the gray wet paths to the stable, and roused Diccon. 

"Saddle Black Lamoral quickly, " I ordered. "There's trouble with thePaspaheghs, and I am off with Master Rolfe to settle it. "

"Am I to go with you?" he asked. 

I shook my head. "We have a dozen men. There's no need of more. "

I left him busy with the horse, and went to the house. In the hall Ifound the negress strewing the floor with fresh rushes, and asked herif her mistress yet slept. In her soft half English, half Spanish, sheanswered in the affirmative. I went to my own room and armed myself;then ran upstairs to the comfortable chamber where abode Master JeremySparrow, surrounded by luxuries which his soul contemned. He was notthere. At the foot of the stair I was met by Goodwife Allen. "Theminister was called an hour ago, sir, " she announced. "There's a mandying of the fever at Archer's Hope, and they sent a boat for him. Hewon't be back until afternoon. "

I hurried past her back to the stable. Black Lamoral was saddled, andDiccon held the stirrup for me to mount. 

"Good luck with the vermin, sir!" he said. "I wish I were going, too. "

His tone was sullen, yet wistful. I knew that he loved danger as Iloved it, and a sudden remembrance of the dangers we had faced togetherbrought us nearer to each other than we had been for many a day. 

"I don't take you, " I explained, "because I have need of you here. Master Sparrow has gone to watch beside a dying man, and will not beback for hours. As for myself, there's no telling how long I may bekept. Until I come you are to guard house and garden well. You know whatI mean. Your mistress is to be molested by no one. "

"Very well, sir. "

"One thing more. There was some talk yesterday of my taking her acrossthe neck to the forest. When she awakes, tell her from me that I amsorry for her to lose her pleasure, but that now she could not go evenwere I here to take her. "

"There 's no danger from the Paspaheghs there, " he muttered. 

"The Paspaheghs happen not to be my only foes, " I said curtly. "Do as Ibid you without remark. Tell her that I have good reasons for desiringher to remain within doors until my return. On no account whatever isshe to venture without the garden. "

I gathered up the reins, and he stood back from the horse's head. WhenI had gone a few paces I drew rein, and, turning in my saddle, spoke tohim across the dew-drenched grass. "This is a trust, Diccon, " I said. 

The red came into his tanned face. He raised his hand and made our oldmilitary salute. "I understand it so, my captain, " he answered, and Irode away satisfied. 

CHAPTER XIII IN WHICH THE SANTA TERESA DROPS DOWNSTREAM

AN hour's ride brought us to the block house standing within the forest, midway between the white plantations at Paspahegh and the village of thetribe. We found it well garrisoned, spies out, and the men inclined tomake light of the black paint and the seething village. 

Amongst them was Chanco the Christian. I called him to me, and welistened to his report with growing perturbation. "Thirty warriors!"I said, when he had finished. "And they are painted yellow as well asblack, and have dashed their cheeks with puccoon: it's _l'outrance_, then! And the war dance is toward! If we are to pacify this hornets'nest, it's high time we set about it. Gentlemen of the block house, weare but twelve, and they may beat us back, in which case those that areleft of us will fight it out with you here. Watch for us, therefore, andhave a sally party ready. Forward, men!"

"One moment, Captain Percy, " said Rolfe. "Chanco, where's the Emperor?"

"Five suns ago he was with the priests at Uttamussac, " answered theIndian. "Yesterday, at the full sun power, he was in the lodge ofthe werowance of the Chickahominies. He feasts there still. TheChickahominies and the Powhatans have buried the hatchet. "

"I regret to hear it, " I remarked. "Whilst they took each other'sscalps, mine own felt the safer. "

"I advise going direct to Opechancanough, " said Rolfe. 

"Since he's only a league away, so do I, " I answered. 

We left the block house and the clearing around it, and plunged intothe depths of the forest. In these virgin woods the trees are set wellapart, though linked one to the other by the omnipresent grape, andthere is little undergrowth, so that we were able to make good speed. Rolfe and I rode well in front of our men. By now the sun was shiningthrough the lower branches of the trees, and the mist was fastvanishing. The forest--around us, above us, and under the hoofs of thehorses where the fallen leaves lay thick--was as yellow as gold and asred as blood. 

"Rolfe, " I asked, breaking a long silence, "do you credit what theIndians say of Opechancanough?"

"That he was brother to Powhatan only by adoption?"

"That, fleeing for his life, he came to Virginia, years and years ago, from some mysterious land far to the south and west?"

"I do not know, " he replied thoughtfully. "He is like, and yet not like, the people whom he rules. In his eye there is the authority of mind; hisfeatures are of a nobler cast "--

"And his heart is of a darker, " I said. "It is a strange and subtlesavage. "

"Strange enough and subtle enough, I admit, " he answered, "though Ibelieve not with you that his friendliness toward us is but a mask. "

"Believe it or not, it is so, " I said. "That dark, cold, still face isa mask, and that simple-seeming amazement at horses and armor, guns andblue beads, is a mask. It is in my mind that some fair day the mask willbe dropped. Here's the village. "

Until our interview with Chanco the Christian, the village of thePaspaheghs, and not the village of the Chickahominies, had been ourdestination, and since leaving the block house we had made good speed;but now, within the usual girdle of mulberries, we were met by thewerowance and his chief men with the customary savage ceremonies. We hadlong since come to the conclusion that the birds of the air and the fishof the streams were Mercuries to the Indians. 

The werowance received us in due form, with presents of fish andvenison, cakes of chinquapin meal and gourds of pohickory, an uncouthdance by twelve of his young men and a deal of hellish noise; then, atour command, led us into the village, and to the lodge which marked itscentre. Around it were gathered Opechancanough's own warriors, men fromOrapax and Uttamussac and Werowocomoco, chosen for their strength andcunning; while upon the grass beneath a blood-red gum tree sat hiswives, painted and tattooed, with great strings of pearl and copperabout their necks. Beyond them were the women and children of theChickahominies, and around us all the red forest. 

The mat that hung before the door of the lodge was lifted, and anIndian, emerging, came forward, with a gesture of welcome. It wasNantauquas, the Lady Rebekah's brother, and the one Indian--savingalways his dead sister--that was ever to my liking; a savage, indeed, but a savage as brave and chivalrous, as courteous and truthful, as aChristian knight. 

Rolfe sprang from his horse, and advancing to meet the young chiefembraced him. Nantauquas had been much with his sister during those herhappy days at Varina, before she went with Rolfe that ill-fated voyageto England, and Rolfe loved him for her sake and for his own. "I thoughtyou at Orapax, Nantauquas!" he exclaimed. 

"I was there, my brother, " said the Indian, and his voice was sweet, deep, and grave, like that of his sister. "But Opechancanough would goto Uttamussac, to the temple and the dead kings. I lead his war partiesnow, and I came with him. Opechancanough is within the lodge. He asksthat my brother and Captain Percy come to him there. "

He lifted the mat for us, and followed us into the lodge. There was theusual winding entrance, with half a dozen mats to be lifted one afterthe other, but at last we came to the central chamber and to the man wesought. 

He sat beside a small fire burning redly in the twilight of the room. The light shone now upon the feathers in his scalp lock, now upon thetriple row of pearls around his neck, now upon knife and tomahawk in hissilk grass belt, now on the otterskin mantle hanging from his shoulderand drawn across his knees. How old he was no man knew. Men said that hewas older than Powhatan, and Powhatan was very old when he died. Buthe looked a man in the prime of life; his frame was vigorous, his skinunwrinkled, his eyes bright and full. When he rose to welcome us, andNantauquas stood beside him, there seemed not a score of years betweenthem. 

The matter upon which we had come was not one that brooked delay. Wewaited with what patience we might until his long speech of welcome wasfinished, when, in as few words as possible, Rolfe laid before him ourcomplaint against the Paspaheghs. The Indian listened; then said, inthat voice that always made me think of some cold, still, bottomlesspool lying black beneath overhanging rocks: "My brothers may go inpeace. The Paspaheghs have washed off the black paint. If my brothers goto the village, they will find the peace pipe ready for their smoking. "

Rolfe and I stared at each other. "I have sent messengers, " continuedthe Emperor. "I have told the Paspaheghs of my love for the white man, and of the goodwill the white man bears the Indian. I have told themthat Nemattanow was a murderer, and that his death was just. They aresatisfied. Their village is as still as this beast at my feet. " Hepointed downward to a tame panther crouched against his moccasins. Ithought it an ominous comparison. 

Involuntarily we looked at Nantauquas. "It is true, " he said. "I ambut come from the village of the Paspaheghs. I took them the word ofOpechancanough. "

"Then, since the matter is settled, we may go home, " I remarked, risingas I spoke. "We could, of course, have put down the Paspaheghs with onehand, giving them besides a lesson which they would not soon forget, butin the kindness of our hearts toward them and to save ourselves troublewe came to Opechancanough. For his aid in this trifling business theGovernor gives him thanks. "

A smile just lit the features of the Indian. It was gone in a moment. "Does not Opechancanough love the white men?" he said. "Some day he willdo more than this for them. "

We left the lodge and the dark Emperor within it, got to horse, andquitted the village, with its painted people, yellowing mulberries, andblood-red gum trees. Nantauquas went with us, keeping pace with Rolfe'shorse, and giving us now and then, in his deep musical voice, this orthat bit of woodland news. At the block house we found confirmation ofthe Emperor's statement. An embassy from the Paspaheghs had come withpresents, and the peace pipe had been smoked. The spies, too, broughtnews that all war-like preparations had ceased in the village. Ithad sunk once more into a quietude befitting the sleepy, dreamy, hazyweather. 

Rolfe and I held a short consultation. All appeared safe, but there wasthe possibility of a ruse. At the last it seemed best that he, whoby virtue of his peculiar relations with the Indians was ever ournegotiator, should remain with half our troop at the block house, whileI reported to the Governor. So I left him, and Nantauquas with him, androde back to Jamestown, reaching the town some hours sooner than I wasexpected. 

It was after nooning when I passed through the gates of the palisade, and an hour later when I finished my report to the Governor. When he atlast dismissed me, I rode quickly down the street toward the minister'shouse. As I passed the guest house, I glanced up at the window fromwhich, at daybreak, the Italian had looked down upon me. No one lookedout now; the window was closely shuttered, and at the door beneath mylord's French rascals were conspicuously absent. A few yards further onI met my lord face to face, as he emerged from a lane that led down tothe river. At sight of me he started violently, and his hand went to hismouth. I slightly bent my head, and rode on past him. At the gate of thechurchyard, a stone's throw from home, I met Master Jeremy Sparrow. 

"Well met!" he exclaimed. "Are the Indians quiet?"

"For the nonce. How is your sick man?"

"Very well, " he answered gravely. "I closed his eyes two hours ago. "

"He's dead, then, " I said. "Well, he 's out of his troubles, and haththat advantage over the living. Have you another call, that you travelfrom home so fast?"

"Why, to tell the truth, " he replied, "I could not but feel uneasy whenI learned just now of this commotion amongst the heathen. You must knowbest, but I should not have thought it a day for madam to walk in thewoods; so I e'en thought I would cross the neck and bring her home. "

"For madam to walk in the woods?" I said slowly. "So she walks there?With whom?"

"With Diccon and Angela, " he answered. "They went before the sun wasan hour high, so Goodwife Allen says. I thought that you--" "No, " Itold him. "On the contrary, I left command that she should not ventureoutside the garden. There are more than Indians abroad. "

I was white with anger; but besides anger there was fear in my heart. 

"I will go at once and bring her home, " I said. As I spoke, I happenedto glance toward the fort and the shipping in the river beyond. Something seemed wrong with the prospect. I looked again, and saw whathated and familiar object was missing. 

"Where is the Santa Teresa?" I demanded, the fear at my heart tuggingharder. 

"She dropped downstream this morning. I passed her as I came up fromArcher's Hope, awhile ago. She's anchored in midstream off the bigspring. Why did she go?"

We looked each other in the eyes, and each read the thought that neithercared to put into words. 

"You can take the brown mare, " I said, speaking lightly because my heartwas as heavy as lead, "and we'll ride to the forest. It is all right, Idare say. Doubtless we'll find her garlanding herself with the grape, orplaying with the squirrels, or asleep on the red leaves, with her headin Angela's lap. "

"Doubtless, " he said. "Don't lose time. I'll saddle the mare andovertake you in two minutes. "

CHAPTER XIV IN WHICH WE SEEK A LOST LADY

BESIDE the minister and myself, nothing human moved in the crimsonwoods. Blue haze was there, and the steady drift of colored leaves, andthe sunshine freely falling through bared limbs, but no man or woman. The fallen leaves rustled as the deer passed, the squirrels chatteredand the foxes barked, but we heard no sweet laughter or ringing song. 

We found a bank of moss, and lying upon it a chaplet of red-brown oakleaves; further on, the mint beside a crystal streamlet had been troddenunderfoot; then, flung down upon the brown earth beneath some pines, wecame upon a long trailer of scarlet vine. Beyond was a fairy hollow, acuplike depression, curtained from the world by the red vines that hungfrom the trees upon its brim, and carpeted with the gold of a greatmaple; and here Fear became a giant with whom it was vain to wrestle. 

There had been a struggle in the hollow. The curtain of vines wastorn, the boughs of a sumach bent and broken, the fallen leaves groununderfoot. In one place there was blood upon the leaves. 

The forest seemed suddenly very quiet, --quite soundless save for thebeating of our hearts. On every side opened red and yellow ways, sunnyglades, labyrinthine paths, long aisles, all dim with the blue haze likethe cloudy incense in stone cathedrals, but nothing moved in them savethe creatures of the forest. Without the hollow there was no sign. Theleaves looked undisturbed, or others, drifting down, had hidden anymarks there might have been; no footprints, no broken branches, no tokenof those who had left the hollow. Down which of the painted ways hadthey gone, and where were they now?

Sparrow and I sat our horses, and stared now down this alley, now downthat, into the blue that closed each vista. 

"The Santa Teresa is just off the big spring, " he said at last. "Shemust have dropped down there in order to take in water quietly. "

"The man that came upon her is still in town, --or was an hour agone, " Ireplied. 

"Then she has n't sailed yet, " he said. 

In the distance something grew out of the blue mist. I had not livedthirteen years in the woodland to be dim of sight or dull of hearing. 

"Some one is coming, " I announced. "Back your horse into this clump ofsumach. "

The sumach grew thick, and was draped, moreover, with some broad-leafedvine. Within its covert we could see with small danger of being seen, unless the approaching figure should prove to be that of an Indian. Itwas not an Indian; it was my Lord Carnal. He came on slowly, glancingfrom side to side, and pausing now and then as if to listen. He was solittle of a woodsman that he never looked underfoot. 

Sparrow touched my arm and pointed down a glade at right angles withthe path my lord was pursuing. Up this glade there was coming towardus another figure, --a small black figure that moved swiftly, lookingneither to the right nor to the left. 

Black Lamoral stood like a stone; the brown mare, too, had learned whatmeant a certain touch upon her shoulder. Sparrow and I, with smallshame for our eavesdropping, bent to our saddlebows and looked sidewaysthrough tiny gaps in the crimson foliage. 

My lord descended one side of the hollow, his heavy foot bringing downthe dead leaves and loose earth; the Italian glided down the oppositeside, disturbing the economy of the forest as little as a snake wouldhave done. 

"I thought I should never meet you, " growled my lord. "I thought I hadlost you and her and myself. This d-d red forest and this blue haze areenough to"--He broke off with an oath. 

"I came as fast as I could, " said the other. His voice was strange, thinand dreamy, matching his filmy eyes and his eternal, very faint smile. "Your poor physician congratulates your lordship upon the success thatstill attends you. Yours is a fortunate star, my lord. "

"Then you have her safe?" cried my lord. 

"Three miles from here, on the river bank, is a ring of pines, in whichthe trees grow so thick that it is always twilight. Ten years ago a manwas murdered there, and Sir Thomas Dale chained the murderer to the treebeneath which his victim was buried, and left him to perish of hungerand thirst. That is the tale they tell at Jamestown. The wood is saidto be haunted by murdered and murderer, and no one enters it or comesnearer to it than he can avoid: which makes it an excellent resort forthose whom the dead cannot scare. The lady is there, my lord, with yourfour knaves to guard her. They do not know that the gloom and quiet ofthe place are due to more than nature. "

My lord began to laugh. Either he had been drinking, or the success ofhis villainy had served for wine. "You are a man in a thousand, Nicolo!"he said. "How far above or below the ship is this fortunate wood?"

"Just opposite, my lord. "

"Can a boat land easily?"

"A creek runs through the wood to the river. There needs but theappointed signal from the bank, and a boat from the Santa Teresa can berowed up the stream to the very tree beneath which the lady sits. "

My lord's laughter rang out again. "You're a man in ten thousand, Nicolo! Nicolo, the bridegroom's in town. "

"Back so soon?" said the Italian. "Then we must change your lordship'splan. With him on the ground, you can no longer wait until nightfall torow downstream to the lady and the Santa Teresa. He'll come to look forher. "

"Ay he'll come to look for her, curse him!" echoed my lord. 

"Do you think the dead will scare him?" continued the Italian. 

"No, I don't!" answered my lord, with an oath. "I would he were amongthem! An I could have killed him before I went"--

"I had devised a way to do it long ago, had not your lordship'sconscience been so tender. And yet, before now, our enemies--yours andmine, my lord--have met with sudden and mysterious death. Men stared, but they ended by calling it a dispensation of Providence. " He brokeoff to laugh with silent, hateful laughter, as mirthful as the grin of adeath's-head. 

"I know, I know!" said my lord impatiently. "We are not overnice, Nicolo. But between me and those who then stood in my way there hadpassed no challenge. This is my mortal foe, through whose heart I woulddrive my sword. I would give my ruby to know whether he's in the town orin the forest. "

"He's in the forest, " I said. 

Black Lamoral and the brown mare were beside them before either movedhand or foot, or did aught but stare and stare, as though men and horseshad risen from the dead. All the color was gone from my lord's face, --itlooked white, drawn, and pinched; as for his companion, his countenancedid not change, --never changed, I believe, --but the trembling of thefeather in his hat was not caused by the wind. 

Jeremy Sparrow bent down from his saddle, seized the Italian under thearmpits, and swung him clean from the ground up to the brown mare'sneck. "Divinity and medicine, " he said genially, "soul healer and bodypoisoner, we'll ride double for a time, " and proceeded to bind thedoctor's hands with his own scarf. The creature of venom before himwrithed and struggled, but the minister's strength was as the strengthof ten, and the minister's hand held him down. By this I was off BlackLamoral and facing my lord. The color had come back to his lip andcheek, and the flash to his eye. His hand went to his sword hilt. 

"I shall not draw mine, my lord, " I told him. "I keep troth. "

He stared at me with a frown that suddenly changed into a laugh, forcedand unnatural enough. "Then go thy ways, and let me go mine!" he cried. "Be complaisant, worthy captain of trainbands and Burgess from a dozenhuts! The King and I will make it worth your while. "

"I will not draw my sword upon you, " I replied, "but I will try a fallwith you, " and I seized him by the wrist. 

He was a good wrestler as he was a good swordsman, but, with bitteranger in my heart and a vision of the haunted wood before my eyes, Ithink I could have wrestled with Hercules and won. Presently I threwhim, and, pinning him down with my knee upon his breast, cried toSparrow to cut the bridle reins from Black Lamoral and throw them to me. Though he had the Italian upon his hands, he managed to obey. With myfree hand and my teeth I drew a thong about my lord's arms and boundthem to his sides; then took my knee from his chest and my hand from histhroat, and rose to my feet. He rose too with one spring. He was verywhite, and there was foam on his lips. 

"What next, captain?" he demanded thickly. "Your score is mounting uprather rapidly. What next?"

"This, " I replied, and with the other thong fastened him, despite hisstruggles, to the young maple beneath which we had wrestled. When thetask was done, I first drew his sword from its jeweled scabbard and laidit on the ground at his feet, and then cut the leather which restrainedhis arms, leaving him only tied to the tree. "I am not Sir Thomas Dale, "I said, "and therefore I shall not gag you and leave you bound for anindefinite length of time, to contemplate a grave that you thoughtto dig. One haunted wood is enough for one county. Your lordship willobserve that I have knotted your bonds in easy reach of your hands, theuse of which I have just restored to you. The knot is a peculiar one;an Indian taught it to me. If you set to work at once, you will get ituntied before nightfall. That you may not think it the Gordian knot andtreat it as such, I have put your sword where you can get it only whenyou have worked for it. Your familiar, my lord, may prove of use to us;therefore we will take him with us to the haunted wood. I have the honorto wish your lordship a very good day. "

I bowed low, swung myself into my saddle, and turned my back uponhis glaring eyes and bared teeth. Sparrow, his prize flung across hissaddlebow, turned with me. A minute more saw us out of the hollow, andentered upon the glade up which had come the Italian. When we had gonea short distance, I turned in my saddle and looked back. The tiny hollowhad vanished; all the forest looked level, dreamy and still, barren ofhumanity, given over to its own shy children, nothing moving save theslow-falling leaves. But from beyond a great clump of sumach, set likea torch in the vaporous blue, came a steady stream of words, happilyrendered indistinguishable by distance, and I knew that the King'sminion was cursing the Italian, the Governor, the Santa Teresa, the DueReturn, the minister, the forest, the haunted wood, his sword, the knotthat I had tied, and myself. 

I admit that the sound was music in mine ears. 

CHAPTER XV IN WHICH WE FIND THE HAUNTED WOOD

ON the outskirts of the haunted wood we dismounted, fastening the horsesto two pines. The Italian we gagged and bound across the brown mare'ssaddle. Then, as noiselessly as Indians, we entered the wood. 

Once within it, it was as though the sun had suddenly sunk from theheavens. The pines, of magnificent height and girth, were so closelyset that far overhead, where the branches began, was a heavy roof offoliage, impervious to the sunshine, brooding, dark and sullen asa thundercloud, over the cavernous world beneath. There was noundergrowth, no clinging vines, no bloom, no color; only the dark, innumerable tree trunks and the purplish-brown, scented, and slipperyearth. The air was heavy, cold, and still, like cave air; the silence asblank and awful as the silence beneath the earth. 

The minister and I stole through the dusk, and for a long time heardnothing but our own breathing and the beating of our hearts. But comingto a sluggish stream, as quiet as the wood through which it crept, and following its slow windings, we at last heard a voice, and in thedistance made out dark forms sitting on the earth beside that sombrewater. We went on with caution, gliding from tree to tree and makingno noise. In the cheerless silence of that place any sound would haveshattered the stillness like a pistol shot. 

Presently we came to a halt, and, ourselves hidden by a giant trunk, looked out on stealers and stolen. They were gathered on the bank ofthe stream, waiting for the boat from the Santa Teresa. The lady whom wesought lay like a fallen flower on the dark ground beneath a pine. Shedid not move, and her eyes were shut. At her head crouched the negress, her white garments showing ghostlike through the gloom. Beneath thenext tree sat Diccon, his hands tied behind him, and around him my LordCarnal's four knaves. It was Diccon's voice that we had heard. He wasstill speaking, and now we could distinguish the words. 

"So Sir Thomas chains him there, " he said, --"right there to that treeunder which you are sitting, Jacky Bonhomme. " Jacques incontinentlyshifted his position. "He chains him there, with one chain around hisneck, one around his waist, and one around his ankles. Then he sticks mea bodkin through his tongue. " A groan of admiration from his audience. "Then they dig, before his very eyes, a grave, --shallow enough theymake it, too, --and they put into it, uncoffined, with only a long whiteshroud upon him, the man he murdered. Then they cover the grave. You'resitting on it now, you other Jacky. "

"Godam!" cried the rascal addressed, and removed with expedition to aless storied piece of ground. 

"Then they go away, " continued Diccon in graveyard tones. "They all goaway together, --Sir Thomas and Captain Argall, Captain West, LieutenantGeorge Percy and his cousin, my master, and Sir Thomas's men; they goout of the wood as though it were accursed, though indeed it was nothalf so gloomy then as it is now. The sun shone into it then, sometimes, and the birds sang. You would n't think it from the looks of things now, would you? As the dead man rotted in his grave, and the living man diedby inches above him, they say the wood grew darker, and darker, anddarker. How dark it's getting now, and cold, --cold as the dead!"

His auditors drew closer together, and shivered. Sparrow and I were sonear that we could see the hands of the ingenious story-teller, boundbehind his back, working as he talked. Now they strained this way, andnow that, at the piece of rope that bound them. 

"That was ten years ago, " he said, his voice becoming more and moreimpressive. "Since that day nothing comes into this wood, --nothinghuman, that is. Neither white man nor Indian comes, that's certain. Thenwhy are n't there chains around that tree, and why are there no bonesbeneath it, on the ground there? Because, Jackies all, the man that didthat murder walks! It is not always deadly still here; sometimes there's a clanking of chains! And a bodkin through the tongue can't keep thedead from wailing! And the murdered man walks, too; in his shroud hefollows the other--Is n't that something white in the distance yonder?"

My lord's four knaves looked down the arcade of trees, and saw thesomething white as plainly as if it had been verily there. Each momentthe wood grew darker, --a thing in nature, since the sun outside wasswiftly sinking to the horizon. But to those to whom that tale had beentold it was a darkening unearthly and portentous, bringing with it acolder air and a deepened silence. 

"Oh, Sir Thomas Dale, Sir Thomas Dale!"

The voice seemed to come from the distance, and bore in its dismalcadence the melancholy of the damned. For a moment my heart stood still, and the hair of my head commenced to rise; the next, I knew that Dicconhad found an ally, not in the dead, but in the living. The minister, standing beside me, opened his mouth again, and again that dismal voicerang through the wood, and again it seemed, by I know not what art, tocome from any spot rather than from that particular tree behind whosetrunk stood Master Jeremy Sparrow. 

"Oh, the bodkin through my tongue! Oh, the bodkin through my tongue!"

Two of the guard sat with hanging lip and lacklustre eyes, turned tostone; one, at full length upon the ground, bruised his face againstthe pine needles and called on the Virgin; the fourth, panic-stricken, leaped to his feet and dashed off into the darkness, to trouble us nomore that day. 

"Oh, the heavy chains!" cried the unseen spectre. "Oh, the dead man inhis grave!"

The man on his face dug his nails into the earth and howled; his fellowswere too frightened for sound or motion. Diccon, a hardy rogue, withlittle fear of God or man, gave no sign of perturbation beyond adesperate tugging at the rope about his wrists. He was ever quick totake suggestion, and he had probably begun to question the nature of theghost who was doing him such yeoman service. 

"D' ye think they've had enough?" said Sparrow in my ear. "My inventionflaggeth. "

I nodded, too choked with laughter for speech, and drew my sword. Thenext moment we were upon the men like wolves upon the fold. 

They made no resistance. Amazed and shaken as they were, we might havedispatched them with all ease, to join the dead whose lamentations yetrang in their ears; but we contented ourselves with disarming them andbidding them begone for their lives in the direction of the Pamunkey. They went like frightened deer, their one goal in life escape from thewood. 

"Did you meet the Italian?"

I turned to find my wife at my side. The King's ward had a kinglyspirit; she was not one that the dead or the living could daunt. To her, as to me, danger was a trumpet call to nerve heart and strengthen soul. She had been in peril of that which she most feared, but the light inher eye was not quenched, and the hand with which she touched mine, though cold, was steady. 

"Is he dead?" she asked. "At court they called him the Black Death. Theysaid"--

"I did not kill him, " I answered, "but I will if you desire it. "

"And his master?" she demanded. "What have you done with his master?"

I told her. At the vision my words conjured up her strained nerves gaveway, and she broke into laughter as cruel as it was sweet. Peal afterpeal rang through the haunted wood, and increased the eeriness of theplace. 

"The knot that I tied he will untie directly, " I said. "If we wouldreach Jamestown first, we had best be going. "

"Night is upon us, too, " said the minister, "and this place hath thelook of the very valley of the shadow of death. If the spirits walk, itis hard upon their time--and I prefer to walk elsewhere. "

"Cease your laughter, madam, " I said. "Should a boat be coming up thisstream, you would betray us. "

I went over to Diccon, and in a silence as grim as his own cut the ropewhich bound his hands, which done we all moved through the deepeninggloom to where we had left the horses, Jeremy Sparrow going on ahead tohave them in readiness. Presently he came hurrying back. "The Italian isgone!" he cried. 

"Gone!" I exclaimed. "I told you to tie him fast to the saddle!"

"Why, so I did, " he replied. "I drew the thongs so tight that they cutinto his flesh. He could not have endured to pull against them. "

"Then how did he get away?"

"Why, " he answered, with a rueful countenance, "I did bind him, as Ihave said; but when I had done so, I bethought me of how the leathermust cut, and of how pain is dreadful even to a snake, and of theinjunction to do as you would be done by, and so e'en loosened hisbonds. But, as I am a christened man, I thought that they would yet holdhim fast!"

I began to swear, but ended in vexed laughter. "The milk's spilt. There's no use in crying over it. After all, we must have loosed him beforewe entered the town. "

"Will you not bring the matter before the Governor?" he asked. 

I shook my head. "If Yeardley did me right, he would put in jeopardy hisoffice and his person. This is my private quarrel, and I will draw noman into it against his will. Here are the horses, and we had best begone, for by this time my lord and his physician may have their headstogether again. "

I mounted Black Lamoral, and lifted Mistress Percy to a seat behind me. The brown mare bore the minister and the negress, and Diccon, doggedlysilent, trudged beside us. 

We passed through the haunted wood and the painted forest beyond withoutadventure. We rode in silence: the lady behind me too weary for speech, the minister revolving in his mind the escape of the Italian, and I withmy own thoughts to occupy me. It was dusk when we crossed the neckof land, and as we rode down the street torches were being lit in thehouses. The upper room in the guest house was brightly illumined, andthe window was open. Black Lamoral and the brown mare made a tramplingwith their hoofs, and I began to whistle a gay old tune I had learnt inthe wars. A figure in scarlet and black came to the window, and stoodthere looking down upon us. The lady riding with me straightened herselfand raised her weary head. "The next time we go to the forest, Ralph, "she said in a clear, high voice, "thou 'lt show me a certain tree, " andshe broke into silvery laughter. She laughed until we had left behindthe guest house and the figure in the upper window, and then thelaughter changed to something like a sob. If there were pain and angerin her heart, pain and anger were in mine also. She had never called meby my name before. She had only used it now as a dagger with which tostab at that fierce heart above us. 

At last we reached the minister's house, and dismounted before the door. Diccon led the horses away, and I handed my wife into the great room. The minister tarried but for a few words anent some precautions that Imeant to take, and then betook himself to his own chamber. As he wentout of the door Diccon entered the room. 

"Oh, I am weary!" sighed Mistress Jocelyn Percy. "What was the mightybusiness, Captain Percy, that made you break tryst with a lady? Youshould go to court, sir, to be taught gallantry. "

"Where should a wife go to be taught obedience?" I demanded. "You knowwhere I went and why I could not keep tryst. Why did you not obey myorders?"

She opened wide her eyes. "Your orders? I never received any, --not thatI should have obeyed them if I had. Know where you went? I know neitherwhy nor where you went!"

I leaned my hand upon the table, and looked from her to Diccon. 

"I was sent by the Governor to quell a disturbance amongst the nearestIndians. The woods today have been full of danger. Moreover, the planthat we made yesterday was overheard by the Italian. When I had to gothis morning without seeing you, I left you word where I had gone andwhy, and also my commands that you should not stir outside the garden. Were you not told this, madam?"

"No!" she cried. 

I looked at Diccon. "I told madam that you were called away onbusiness, " he said sullenly. "I told her that you were sorry you couldnot go with her to the woods. "

"You told her nothing more?"

"No. "

"May I ask why?"

He threw back his head. "I did not believe the Paspaheghs would troubleher, " he answered, with hardihood, "and you had n't seen fit, sir, totell me of the other danger. Madam wanted to go, and I thought it a pitythat she should lose her pleasure for nothing. "

I had been hunting the day before, and my whip yet lay upon the table. "I have known you for a hardy rogue, " I said, with my hand upon it; "nowI know you for a faithless one as well. If I gave you credit for all thevices of the soldier, I gave you credit also for his virtues. I was themore deceived. The disobedient servant I might pardon, but the soldierwho is faithless to his trust"--

I raised the whip and brought it down again and again across hisshoulders. He stood without a word, his face dark red and his handsclenched at his sides. For a minute or more there was no sound in theroom save the sound of the blows; then my wife suddenly cried out: "Itis enough! You have beaten him enough! Let him go, sir!"

I threw down the whip. "Begone, sirrah!" I ordered. "And keep out of mysight to-morrow!"

With his face still dark red and with a pulse beating fiercely in hischeek, he moved slowly toward the door, turned when he had reached itand saluted, then went out and closed it after him. 

"Now he too will be your enemy, " said Mistress Percy, "and all throughme. I have brought you many enemies, have I not? Perhaps you count meamongst them? I should not wonder if you did. Do you not wish me gonefrom Virginia?"

"So I were with you, madam, " I said bluntly, and went to call theminister down to supper. 

CHAPTER XVI IN WHICH I AM RID OF AN UNPROFITABLE SERVANT

THE next day, Governor and Councilors sat to receive presents fromthe Paspaheghs and to listen to long and affectionate messages fromOpechancanough, who, like the player queen, did protest too much. TheCouncil met at Yeardley's house, and I was called before it to make myreport of the expedition of the day before. It was late afternoon whenthe Governor dismissed us, and I found myself leaving the house incompany with Master Pory. 

"I am bound for my lord's, " said that worthy as we neared the guesthouse. "My lord hath Xeres wine that is the very original nectar of thegods, and he drinks it from goblets worth a king's ransom. We have hearda deal to-day about burying hatchets: bury thine for the nonce, RalphPercy, and come drink with us. "

"Not I, " I said. "I would sooner drink with--some one else. "

He laughed. "Here's my lord himself shall persuade you. "

My lord, dressed with his usual magnificence and darkly handsome asever, was indeed standing within the guest-house door. Pory drew upbeside him. I was passing on with a slight bow, when the Secretarycaught me by the sleeve. At the Governor's house wine had been set forthto revive the jaded Council, and he was already half seas over. "Tarrywith us, captain!" he cried. "Good wine's good wine, no matter who poursit! 'S bud! in my young days men called a truce and forgot they werefoes when the bottle went round!"

"If Captain Percy will stay, " quoth my lord, "I will give him welcomeand good wine. As Master Pory says, men cannot be always fighting. Abreathing spell to-day gives to-morrow's struggle new zest. "

He spoke frankly, with open face and candid eyes. I was not fooled. If yesterday he would have slain me only in fair fight, it was not soto-day. Under the lace that fell over his wrist was a red cirque, themark of the thong with which I had bound him. As if he had told me, Iknew that he had thrown his scruples to the winds, and that he cared notwhat foul play he used to sweep me from his path. My spirit and mywit rose to meet the danger. Of a sudden I resolved to accept hisinvitation. 

"So be it, " I said, with a laugh and a shrug of my shoulders. "A cup ofwine is no great matter. I'll take it at your hands, my lord, and drinkto our better acquaintance. "

We all three went up into my lord's room. The King had fitted out hisminion bravely for the Virginia voyage, and the riches that had deckedthe state cabin aboard the Santa Teresa now served to transform the bareroom in the guest house at Jamestown into a corner of Whitehall. Thewalls were hung with arras, there was a noble carpet beneath as well asupon the table, and against the wall stood richly carved trunks. On thetable, beside a bowl of late flowers were a great silver flagon anda number of goblets, some of chased silver and some of colored glass, strangely shaped and fragile as an eggshell. The late sun now shining inat the open window made the glass to glow like precious stones. 

My lord rang a little silver bell, and a door behind us was opened. "Wine, Giles!" cried my lord in a raised voice. "Wine for Master Pory, Captain Percy, and myself! And Giles, my two choice goblets. "

Giles, whom I had never seen before, advanced to the table, took theflagon, and went toward the door, which he had shut behind him. Inegligently turned in my seat, and so came in for a glimpse, as heslipped through the door, of a figure in black in the next room. 

The wine was brought, and with it two goblets. My lord broke off in themidst of an account of the morning's bear-baiting which the tediousnessof the Indians had caused us to miss. "Who knows if we three shallever drink together again?" he said. "To honor this bout I use my mostprecious cups. " Voice and manner were free and unconstrained. "This goldcup "--he held it up--"belonged to the Medici. Master Pory, who is a manof taste, will note the beauty of the graven maenads upon this side, andof the Bacchus and Ariadne upon this. It is the work of none other thanBenvenuto Cellini. I pour for you, sir. " He filled the gold cup withthe ruby wine and set it before the Secretary, who eyed it with all thepassion of a lover, and waited not for us, but raised it to his lipsat once. My lord took up the other cup. "This glass, " he continued, "asgreen as an emerald, freckled inside and out with gold, and shaped likea lily, was once amongst a convent's treasures. My father brought itfrom Italy, years ago. I use it as he used it, only on gala days. I fillto you, sir. " He poured the wine into the green and gold and twistedbauble and set it before me, then filled a silver goblet for himself. "Drink, gentlemen, " he said. 

"Faith, I have drunken already, " quoth the Secretary, and proceededto fill for himself a second time. "Here's to you, gentlemen!" and heemptied half the measure. 

"Captain Percy does not drink, " remarked my lord. 

I leaned my elbow upon the table, and, holding up the glass against thelight, began to admire its beauty. "The tint is wonderful, " I said, "aslucent a green as the top of the comber that is to break and overwhelmyou. And these knobs of gold, within and without, and the strange shapethe tortured glass has been made to take. I find it of a quite sinisterbeauty, my lord. "

"It hath been much admired, " said the nobleman addressed. 

"I am strangely suited, my lord, " I went on, still dreamily enjoyingthe beauty of the green gem within my clasp. "I am a soldier with animagination. Sometimes, to give the rein to my fancy pleases me morethan wine. Now, this strange chalice, --might it not breed dreams asstrange?"

"When I had drunken, I think, " replied my lord. "The wine would be apotent spur to my fancy. "

"What saith honest Jack Falstaff?" broke in the maudlin Secretary. "Dothhe not bear testimony that good sherris maketh the brain apprehensiveand quick; filleth it with nimble, fiery, and delectable shapes, whichbeing delivered by the tongue become excellent wit? Wherefore let usdrink, gentlemen, and beget fancies. " He filled for himself again, andburied his nose in the cup. 

"'T is such a cup, methinks, " I said, "as Medea may have filled forTheseus. The white hand of Circe may have closed around this stem whenshe stood to greet Ulysses, and knew not that he had the saving herb inhis palm. Goneril may have sent this green and gilded shape to Regan. Fair Rosamond may have drunk from it while the Queen watched her. Atsome voluptuous feast, Caesar Borgia and his sister, sitting crowned withroses, side by side, may have pressed it upon a reluctant guest, whohad, perhaps, a treasure of his own. I dare swear Rene, the Florentine, hath fingered many such a goblet before it went to whom Catherine de'Medici delighted to honor. "

"She had the whitest hands, " maundered the Secretary. "I kissed themonce before she died, in Blois, when I was young. Rene was one of yourslow poisoners. Smell a rose, draw on a pair of perfumed gloves, drinkfrom a certain cup, and you rang your own knell, though your bier mightnot receive you for many and many a day, --not till the rose was dust, the gloves lost, the cup forgotten. "

"There's a fashion I have seen followed abroad, that I like, " I said. "Host and guest fill to each other, then change tankards. You are myhost to-day, my lord, and I am your guest. I will drink to you, my lord, from your silver goblet. "

With as frank a manner as his own of a while before, I pushed the greenand gold glass over to him, and held out my hand for the silver goblet. That a man may smile and smile and be a villain is no new doctrine. Mylord's laugh and gesture of courtesy were as free and ready as if thepoisoned splendor he drew toward him had been as innocent as a pearlwithin the shell. I took the silver cup from before him. "I drink tothe King, " I said, and drained it to the bottom. "Your lordship does notdrink. 'T is a toast no man refuses. "

He raised the glass to his lips, but set it down before its rim hadtouched them. "I have a headache, " he declared. "I will not drinkto-day. "

Master Pory pulled the flagon toward him, tilted it, and found itempty. His rueful face made me laugh. My lord laughed too, --somewhatloudly, --but ordered no more wine. "I would I were at the Mermaidagain, " lamented the now drunken Secretary. "There we did n't split aflagon in three parts. . . . The Tsar of Muscovy drinks me down a quarternof aqua vitae at a gulp, --I've seen him do it. . . . I would I were theBacchus on this cup, with the purple grapes adangle above me. . . . Wineand women--wine and women. . . Good wine needs no bush. . . Good sherrissack". . . His voice died into unintelligible mutterings, and his grayunreverend head sank upon the table. 

I rose, leaving him to his drunken slumbers, and, bowing to my lord, took my leave. My lord followed me down to the public room below. Aparty of upriver planters had been drinking, and a bit of chalk lay upona settle behind the door upon which the landlord had marked their score. I passed it; then turned back and picked it up. "How long a line shall Idraw, my lord?" I asked with a smile. 

"How does the length of the door strike you?" he answered. 

I drew the chalk from top to bottom of the wood. "A heavy Core makes aheavy reckoning, my lord, " I said, and, leaving the mark upon the door, I bowed again and went out into the street. 

The sun was sinking when I reached the minister's house, and going intothe great room drew a stool to the table and sat down to think. MistressPercy was in her own chamber; in the room overhead the minister paced upand down, humming a psalm. A fire was burning briskly upon the hearth, and the red light rose and fell, --now brightening all the room, nowleaving it to the gathering dusk. Through the door, which I had leftopen, came the odor of the pines, the fallen leaves, and the damp earth. In the churchyard an owl hooted, and the murmur of the river was louderthan usual. 

I had sat staring at the table before me for perhaps half an hour, whenI chanced to raise my eyes to the opposite wall. Now, on this wall, reflecting the firelight and the open door behind me, hung a smallVenetian mirror, which I had bought from a number of such toys broughtin by the Southampton, and had given to Mistress Percy. My eyes restedupon it, idly at first, then closely enough as I saw within it a manenter the room. I had heard no footfall; there was no noise now behindme. The fire was somewhat sunken, and the room was almost in darkness;I saw him in the glass dimly, as shadow rather than substance. But thelight was not so faint that the mirror could not show me the raisedhand and the dagger within its grasp. I sat without motion, watchingthe figure in the glass grow larger. When it was nearly upon me, and thehand with the dagger drawn back for the blow, I sprang up, wheeled, andcaught it by the wrist. 

A moment's fierce struggle, and I had the dagger in my own hand andthe man at my mercy. The fire upon the hearth seized on a pine knot andblazed up brightly, filling the room with light. "Diccon!" I cried, anddropped my arm. 

I had never thought of this. The room was very quiet as, master and man, we stood and looked each other in the face. He fell back to the wall andleaned against it, breathing heavily; into the space between us the pastcame thronging. 

I opened my hand and let the dagger drop to the floor. "I suppose thatthis was because of last night, " I said. "I shall never strike youagain. "

I went to the table, and sitting down leaned my forehead upon my hand. It was Diccon who would have done this thing! The fire crackled on thehearth as had crackled the old camp fires in Flanders; the wind outsidewas the wind that had whistled through the rigging of the Treasurer, one terrible night when we lashed ourselves to the same mast and neverthought to see the morning. Diccon!

Upon the table was the minister's inkhorn and pen. I drew my tabletsfrom the breast of my doublet and began to write. "Diccon!" I called, without turning, when I had finished. 

He came slowly forward to the table, and stood beside it with hanginghead. I tore the leaf from the book and pushed it over to him. "Takeit, " I ordered. 

"To the commander?" he asked. "I am to take it to the commander?"

I shook my head. "Read it. "

He stared at it vacantly, turning it now this way, now that. 

"Did you forget how to read when you forgot all else?" I said sternly. 

He read, and the color rushed into his face. 

"It is your freedom, " I said. "You are no longer man of mine. Begone, sirrah!"

He crumpled the paper in his hand. "I was mad, " he muttered. 

"I could almost believe it, " I replied. "Begone!"

After a moment he went. Sitting still in my place, I heard him heavilyand slowly leave the room, descend the step at the door, and go out intothe night. 

A door opened, and Mistress Jocelyn Percy came into the great room, likea sunbeam strayed back to earth. Her skirt was of flowered satin, herbodice of rich taffeta; between the gossamer walls of her French ruffrose the whitest neck to meet the fairest face. Upon her dark hair sat, as lightly as a kiss, a little pearl-bordered cap. A color was in hercheeks and a laugh on her lips. The rosy light of the burning pinecaressed her, --now dwelling on the rich dress, now on the gold chainaround the slender waist, now on rounded arms, now on the white foreheadbelow the pearls. Well, she was a fair lady for a man to lay down hislife for. 

"I held court this afternoon!" she cried. "Where were you, sir? MadamWest was here, and my Lady Temperance Yeardley, and Master Wynne, and Master Thorpe from Henricus, and Master Rolfe with his Indianbrother, --who, I protest, needs but silk doublet and hose and a month atWhitehall to make him a very fine gentleman. "

"If courage, steadfastness, truth, and courtesy make a gentleman, " Isaid, "he is one already. Such an one needs not silk doublet nor courttraining. "

She looked at me with her bright eyes. "No, " she repeated, "such an oneneeds not silk doublet nor court training. " Going to the fire, she stoodwith one hand upon the mantelshelf, looking down into the ruddy hollows. Presently she stooped and gathered up something from the hearth. "Youwaste paper strangely, Captain Percy, " she said. "Here is a wholehandful of torn pieces. "

She came over to the table, and with a laugh showered the whitefragments down upon it, then fell to idly piecing them together. "Whatwere you writing?" she asked. "'To all whom it may concern: I, RalphPercy, Gentleman, of the Hundred of Weyanoke, do hereby set free fromall service to me and mine'"--

I took from her the bits of paper, and fed the fire with them. "Paperis but paper, " I said. "It is easily rent. Happily a man's will is moredurable. "

CHAPTER XVII IN WHICH MY LORD AND I PLAY AT BOWLS

THE Governor had brought with him from London the year before, a setof boxwood bowls, and had made, between his house and the fort, a noblegreen. The generality must still use for the game that portion of thestreet that was not tobacco-planted; but the quality flocked to theGovernor's green, and here, one holiday afternoon, a fortnight or morefrom the day in which I had drunk to the King from my lord's silvergoblet, was gathered a very great company. The Governor's matchwas toward, --ten men to a side, a hogshead of sweet-scented to thevictorious ten, and a keg of canary to the man whose bowl should hit thejack. 

The season had been one of unusual mildness, and the sunshine was stillwarm and bright, gilding the velvet of the green, and making the red andyellow leaves swept into the trench to glow like a ribbon of flame. Thesky was blue, the water bluer still, the leaves bright-colored, the windblowing; only the enshrouding forest, wrapped in haze, seemed as dim, unreal, and far away as a last year's dream. 

The Governor's gilt armchair had been brought from the church, and putfor him upon the bank of turf at the upper end of the green. By his sidesat my Lady Temperance, while the gayly dressed dames and the men whowere to play and to watch were accommodated with stools and settles orwith seats on the green grass. All were dressed in holiday clothes, alltongues spoke, all eyes laughed; you might have thought there was not aheavy heart amongst them. Rolfe was there, gravely courteous, quietand ready; and by his side, in otterskin mantle, beaded moccasins, andfeathered headdress, the Indian chief, his brother-in-law, --the bravest, comeliest, and manliest savage with whom I have ever dealt. There, too, was Master Pory, red and jovial, with an eye to the sack the servantswere bringing from the Governor's house; and the commander, with hiswife; and Master Jeremy Sparrow, fresh from a most moving sermon on thevanities of this world. Captains, Councilors, and Burgesses aired theirgold lace, and their wit or their lack of it; while a swarm of youngeradventurers, youths of good blood and bad living, come from home for theweal of England and the woe of Virginia, went here and there through thecrowd like gilded summer flies. 

Rolfe and I were to play; he sat on the grass at the feet of MistressJocelyn Percy, making her now and then some courtly speech, and I stoodbeside her, my hand on the back of her chair. 

The King's ward held court as though she were a king's daughter. In thebrightness of her beauty she sat there, as gracious for the nonce as thesunshine, and as much of another world. All knew her story, and to thedaring that is in men's hearts her own daring appealed, --and she wasyoung and very beautiful. Some there had not been my friends, and nowrejoiced in what seemed my inevitable ruin; some whom I had thought myfriends were gone over to the stronger side; many who in secret wishedme well still shook their heads and shrugged their shoulders over whatthey were pleased to call my madness; but for her, I was glad to know, there were only good words. The Governor had left his gilt armchair towelcome her to the green, and had caused a chair to be set for her nearhis own, and here men came and bowed before her as if she had been aprincess indeed. 

A stir amongst the crowd, a murmur, and a craning of necks heralded theapproach of that other at whom the town gaped with admiration. He camewith his retinue of attendants, his pomp of dress, his arrogance ofport, his splendid beauty. Men looked from the beauty of the King's wardto the beauty of the King's minion, from her costly silk to his velvetand miniver, from the air of the court that became her well to thetowering pride and insolence which to the thoughtless seemed hisfortune's proper mantle, and deemed them a pair well suited, and theKing's will indeed the will of Heaven. 

I was never one to value a man by his outward seeming, but suddenly Isaw myself as in a mirror, --a soldier, scarred and bronzed, acquaintedwith the camp, but not with the court, roughened by a rude life, poor inthis world's goods, the first flush of youth gone forever. For a momentmy heart was bitter within me. The pang passed, and my hand tightenedits grasp upon the chair in which sat the woman I had wed. She was mywife, and I would keep my own. 

My lord had paused to speak to the Governor, who had risen to greet him. Now he came toward us, and the crowd pressed and whispered. He bowedlow to Mistress Percy, made as if to pass on, then came to a stop beforeher, his hat in his hand, his handsome head bent, a smile upon hisbearded lips. 

"When was it that we last sat to see men bowl, lady?" he said. "Iremember a gay match when I bowled against my Lord of Buckingham, andfair ladies sat and smiled upon us. The fairest laughed, and tied hercolors around my arm. "

The lady whom he addressed sat quietly, with hands folded in her silkenlap and an untroubled face. "I did not know you then, my lord, " sheanswered him, quite softly and sweetly. "Had I done so, be sure Iwould have cut my hand off ere it gave color of mine to"--"To whom?" hedemanded, as she paused. 

"To a coward, my lord, " she said clearly. 

As if she had been a man, his hand went to his sword hilt. As for her, she leaned back in her chair and looked at him with a smile. 

He spoke at last, slowly and with deliberate emphasis. "I won then, " hesaid. "I shall win again, my lady, --my Lady Jocelyn Leigh. "

I dropped my hand from her chair and stepped forward. "It is my wifeto whom you speak, my Lord Carnal, " I said sternly. "I wait to hear youname her rightly. "

Rolfe rose from the grass and stood beside me, and Jeremy Sparrow, shouldering aside with scant ceremony Burgess and Councilor, came also. The Governor leaned forward out of his chair, and the crowd becamesuddenly very still. 

"I am waiting, my lord, " I repeated. 

In an instant, from what he had been he became the frank and guilelessnobleman. "A slip of the tongue, Captain Percy!" he cried, his whiteteeth showing and his hand raised in a gesture of deprecation. "Anatural thing, seeing how often, how very often, I have soaddressed this lady in the days when we had not the pleasure of youracquaintance. " He turned to her and bowed, until the feather in his hatswept the ground. "I won then, " he said. "I shall win again--MistressPercy, " and passed on to the seat that had been reserved for him. 

The game began. I was to lead one side, and young Clement the other. Atthe last moment he came over to me. "I am out of it, Captain Percy, "he announced with a rueful face. "My lord there asks me to give him myplace. When we were hunting yesterday, and the stag turned upon me, hecame between and thrust his knife into the brute, which else might haveput an end to my hunting forever and a day: so you see I can't refusehim. Plague take it all! and Dorothy Gookin sitting there watching!"

My lord and I stood forward, each with a bowl in his hand. We lookedtoward the Governor. "My lord first, as becometh his rank, " he said. My lord stooped and threw, and his bowl went swiftly over the grass, turned, and rested not a hands'-breadth from the jack. I threw. "Oneis as near as the other!" cried Master Macocke for the judges. A murmurarose from the crowd, and my lord swore beneath his breath. He and Iretreated to our several sides, and Rolfe and West took our places. While they and those that followed bowled, the crowd, attentive thoughit was, still talked and laughed, and laid wagers upon its favorites;but when my lord and I again stood forth, the noise was hushed, and menand women stared with all their eyes. He delivered, and his bowl touchedthe jack. He straightened himself, with a smile, and I heard JeremySparrow behind me groan; but my bowl too kissed the jack. The crowdbegan to laugh with sheer delight, but my lord turned red and his browsdrew together. We had but one turn more. While we waited, I marked hisblack eyes studying every inch of the ground between him and that smallwhite ball, to strike which, at that moment, I verily believe he wouldhave given the King's favor. All men pray, though they pray not to thesame god. As he stood there, when his time had come, weighing the bowlin his hand, I knew that he prayed to his daemon, fate, star, whateverthing he raised an altar to and bent before. He threw, and I followed, while the throng held its breath. Master Macocke rose to his feet. "It'sa tie, my masters!" he exclaimed. 

The excited crowd surged forward, and a babel of voices arose. "Silence, all!" cried the Governor. "Let them play it out!"

My lord threw, and his bowl stopped perilously near the shining mark. AsI stepped to my place a low and supplicating "O Lord!" came to myears from the lips and the heart of the preacher, who had that morningthundered against the toys of this world. I drew back my arm and threwwith all my force. A cry arose from the throng, and my lord ground hisheel into the earth. The bowl, spurning the jack before it, rushed on, until both buried themselves in the red and yellow leaves that filledthe trench. 

I turned and bowed to my antagonist. "You bowl well, my lord, " I said. "Had you had the forest training of eye and arm, our fortunes might havebeen reversed. "

He looked me up and down. "You are kind, sir, " he said thickly. "'To-day to thee, to-morrow to me. ' I give you joy of your pettyvictory. "

He turned squarely from me, and stood with his face downstream. I wasspeaking to Rolfe and to the few--not even all of that side for which Ihad won--who pressed around me, when he wheeled. 

"Your Honor, " he cried to the Governor, who had paused beside MistressPercy, "is not the Due Return high-pooped? Doth she not carry a bluepennant, and hath she not a gilt siren for figurehead?"

"Ay, " answered the Governor, lifting his head from the hand he hadkissed with ponderous gallantry. "What then, my lord?"

"Then to-morrow has dawned, sir captain, " said my lord to me. "Sure, Dame Venus and her blind son have begged for me favorable winds; for theDue Return has come again. "

The game that had been played was forgotten for that day. The hogsheadof sweet scented, lying to one side, wreathed with bright vines, wasunclaimed of either party; the servants who brought forward the keg ofcanary dropped their burden, and stared with the rest. All looked downthe river, and all saw the Due Return coming up the broad, ruffledstream, the wind from the sea filling her sails, the tide with her, thegilt mermaid on her prow just rising from the rushing foam. She came asswiftly as a bird to its nest. None had thought to see her for at leastten days. 

Upon all there fell a sudden realization that it was the word of theKing, feathered by the command of the Company, that was hurrying, arrow-like, toward us. All knew what the Company's orders wouldbe, --must needs be, --and the Tudor sovereigns were not so long in thegrave that men had forgot to fear the wrath of kings. The crowd drewback from me as from a man plague-spotted. Only Rolfe, Sparrow, and theIndian stood their ground. 

The Governor turned from staring downstream. "The game is played, gentlemen, " he announced abruptly. "The wind grows colder, too, andclouds are gathering. This fair company will pardon me if I dismiss themsomewhat sooner than is our wont. The next sunny day we will play again. Give you God den, gentles. "

The crowd stood not upon the order of its going, but streamed away tothe river bank, whence it could best watch the oncoming ship. My lord, after a most triumphant bow, swept off with his train in the directionof the guest house. With him went Master Pory. The Governor drew nearerto me. "Captain Percy, " he said, lowering his voice, "I am going now tomine own house. The letters which yonder ship brings will be in my handsin less than an hour. When I have read them, I shall perforce obey theirinstructions. Before I have them I will see you, if you so wish. "

"I will be with your Honor in five minutes. "

He nodded, and strode off across the green to his garden. I turned toRolfe. "Will you take her home?" I said briefly. She was so white andsat so still in her chair that I feared to see her swoon. But whenI spoke to her she answered clearly and steadily enough, even with asmile, and she would not lean upon Rolfe's arm. "I will walk alone, " shesaid. "None that see me shall think that I am stricken down. " I watchedher move away, Rolfe beside her, and the Indian following with hisnoiseless step; then I went to the Governor's house. Master JeremySparrow had disappeared some minutes before, I knew not whither. 

I found Yeardley in his great room, standing before a fire and staringdown into its hollows. "Captain Percy, " he said, as I went up to him, "Iam most heartily sorry for you and for the lady whom you so ignorantlymarried. "

"I shall not plead ignorance, " I told him. 

"You married, not the Lady Jocelyn Leigh, but a waiting woman namedPatience Worth. The Lady Jocelyn Leigh, a noble lady, and a ward ofthe King, could not marry without the King's consent. And you, CaptainPercy, are but a mere private gentleman, a poor Virginia adventurer;and my Lord Carnal is--my Lord Carnal. The Court of High Commission willmake short work of this fantastic marriage. "

"Then they may do it without my aid, " I said. "Come, Sir George, hadyou wed my Lady Temperance in such fashion, and found this hornets' nestabout your ears, what would you have done?"

He gave his short, honest laugh. "It's beside the question, Ralph Percy, but I dare say you can guess what I would have done. "

"I'll fight for my own to the last ditch, " I continued. "I married herknowing her name, if not her quality. Had I known the latter, had Iknown she was the King's ward, all the same I should have married her, an she would have had me. She is my wife in the sight of God and honestmen. Esteeming her honor, which is mine, at stake, Death may silence me, but men shall not bend me. "

"Your best hope is in my Lord of Buckingham, " he said. "They say itis out of sight, out of mind, with the King, and, thanks to thisinfatuation of my Lord Carnal's, Buckingham hath the field. That hestrains every nerve to oust completely this his first rival since hehimself distanced Somerset goes without saying. That to thwart my lordin this passion would be honey to him is equally of course. I do notneed to tell you that, if the Company so orders, I shall have no choicebut to send you and the lady home to England. When you are in London, make your suit to my Lord of Buckingham, and I earnestly hope that youmay find in him an ally powerful enough to bring you and the lady, towhose grace, beauty, and courage we all do homage, out of this coil. "

"We give you thanks, sir, " I said. 

"As you know, " he went on, "I have written to the Company, humblypetitioning that I be graciously relieved from a most thankless task, to wit, the governorship of Virginia. My health faileth, and I am, moreover, under my Lord Warwick's displeasure. He waxeth ever strongerin the Company, and if I put not myself out, he will do it for me. IfI be relieved at once, and one of the Council appointed in my place, Ishall go home to look after certain of my interests there. Then shall Ibe but a private gentleman, and if I can serve you, Ralph Percy, I shallbe blithe to do so; but now, you understand"--

"I understand, and thank you, Sir George, " I said. "May I ask onequestion?"

"What is it?"

"Will you obey to the letter the instructions the Company sends?"

"To the letter, " he answered. "I am its sworn officer. "

"One thing more, " I went on: "the parole I gave you, sir, that morningbehind the church, is mine own again when you shall have read thoseletters and know the King's will. I am free from that bond, at least. "

He looked at me with a frown. "Make not bad worse, Captain Percy, " hesaid sternly. 

I laughed. "It is my aim to make bad better, Sir George. I see throughthe window that the Due Return hath come to anchor; I will no longertrespass on your Honor's time. " I bowed myself out, leaving him stillwith the frown upon his face, staring at the fire. 

Without, the world was bathed in the glow of a magnificent sunset. Clouds, dark purple and dark crimson, reared themselves in the west todizzy heights, and hung threateningly over the darkening land beneath. In the east loomed more pallid masses, and from the bastions of the eastto the bastions of the west went hurrying, wind-driven cloudless, darkin the east, red in the west. There was a high wind, and the river, where it was not reddened by the sunset, was lividly green. "A storm, too!" I muttered. 

As I passed the guest house, there came to me from within a burst ofloud and vaunting laughter and a boisterous drinking catch sung by manyvoices; and I knew that my lord drank, and gave others to drink, to theorders which the Due Return should bring. The minister's house wasin darkness. In the great room I struck a light and fired the freshtorches, and found I was not its sole occupant. On the hearth, the ashesof the dead fire touching her skirts, sat Mistress Jocelyn Percy, herarms resting upon a low stool, and her head pillowed upon them. Her facewas not hidden: it was cold and pure and still, like carven marble. Istood and gazed at her a moment; then, as she did not offer to move, Ibrought wood to the fire and made the forlorn room bright again. 

"Where is Rolfe?" I asked at last. 

"He would have stayed, " she answered, "but I made him go. I wished tobe alone. " She rose, and going to the window leaned her forehead againstthe bars, and looked out upon the wild sky and the hurrying river. "Iwould I were alone, " she said in a low voice and with a catch of herbreath. As she stood there in the twilight by the window, I knew thatshe was weeping, though her pride strove to keep that knowledge from me. My heart ached for her, and I knew not how to comfort her. At last sheturned. A pasty and stoup of wine were upon the table. 

"You are tired and shaken, " I said, "and you may need all your strength. Come, eat and drink. "

"For to-morrow we die, " she added, and broke into tremulous laughter. Her lashes were still wet, but her pride and daring had returned. Shedrank the wine I poured for her, and we spoke of indifferent things, --ofthe game that afternoon, of the Indian Nantauquas, of the wild nightthat clouds and wind portended. Supper over, I called Angela to bearher company, and I myself went out into the night, and down the streettoward the guest house. 

CHAPTER XVIII IN WHICH WE GO OUT INTO THE NIGHT

THE guest house was aflame with lights. As I neared it, there wasborne to my ears a burst of drunken shouts accompanied by a volley ofmusketry. My lord was pursuing with a vengeance our senseless fashionof wasting in drinking bouts powder that would have been better spentagainst the Indians. The noise increased. The door was flung open, andthere issued a tide of drawers and servants headed by mine host himself, and followed by a hail of such minor breakables as the house containedand by Olympian laughter. 

I made my way past the indignant host and his staff, and standing uponthe threshold looked at the riot within. The long room was thick withthe smoke of tobacco and the smoke of powder, through which the manytorches burned yellow. Upon the great table wine had been spilt, anddripped to swell a red pool upon the floor. Underneath the table, stillgrasping his empty tankard, lay the first of my lord's guests to fall, an up-river Burgess with white hair. The rest of the company were fastreeling to a like fate. Young Hamor had a fiddle, and, one foot upon asettle, the other upon the table, drew across it a fast and furious bow. Master Pory, arrived at the maudlin stage, alternately sang a slow andmelancholy ditty and wiped the tears from his eyes with elaboratecare. Master Edward Sharpless, now in a high voice, now in anundistinguishable murmur, argued some imaginary case. Peaceable Sherwoodwas drunk, and Giles Allen, and Pettiplace Clause. Captain John Martin, sitting with outstretched legs, called now for a fresh tankard, whichhe emptied at a gulp; now for his pistols, which, as fast as my lord'sservants brought them to him new primed, he discharged at the ceiling. The loud wind rattled doors and windows, and made the flame of thetorches stream sideways. The music grew madder and madder, the shotsmore frequent, the drunken voices thicker and louder. 

The master of the feast carried his wine better than did his guests, or had drunk less, but his spirit too was quite without bounds. A colorburned in his cheeks, a wicked light in his eyes; he laughed to himself. In the gray smoke cloud he saw me not, or saw me only as one of the manywho thronged the doorway and stared at the revel within. He raised hissilver cup with a slow and wavering hand. "Drink, you dogs!" he chanted. "Drink to the Santa Teresa! Drink to to-morrow night! Drink to a proudlady within my arms and an enemy in my power!"

The wine that had made him mad had maddened those others, also. In thathour they were dead to honor. With shameless laughter and as littlespilling as might be, they raised their tankards as my lord raised his. A stone thrown by some one behind me struck the cup from my lord's hand, sending it clattering to the floor and dashing him with the red wine. Master Pory roared with drunken laughter. "Cup and lip missed thattime!" he cried. 

The man who had thrown the stone was Jeremy Sparrow. For one instantI saw his great figure, and the wrathful face beneath his shock ofgrizzled hair; the next he had made his way through the crowd of gapingmenials and was gone. 

My lord stared foolishly at the stains upon his hands, at the fallengoblet and the stone beside it. "Cogged dice, " he said thickly, "orI had not lost that throw! I'll drink that toast by myself to-morrownight, when the ship does n't rock like this d--d floor, and the seahas no stones to throw. More wine, Giles! To my Lord High Admiral, gentlemen! To his Grace of Buckingham! May he shortly howl in hell, andlooking back to Whitehall see me upon the King's bosom! The King 's agood king, gentlemen! He gave me this ruby. D' ye know what I had of himlast year? I"--

I turned and left the door and the house. I could not thrust a fightupon a drunken man. 

Ten yards away, suddenly and without any warning of his approach, Ifound beside me the Indian Nantauquas. "I have been to the woods tohunt, " he said, in the slow musical English Rolfe had taught him. "Iknew where a panther lodged, and to-day I laid a snare, and took himin it. I brought him to my brother's house, and caged him there. When Ihave tamed him, I shall give him to the beautiful lady. "

He expected no answer, and I gave him none. There are times when anIndian is the best company in the world. 

Just before we reached the market place we had to pass the mouth of anarrow lane leading down to the river. The night was very dark, thoughthe stars still shone through rifts in the ever moving clouds. TheIndian and I walked rapidly on, --my footfalls sounding clear and sharpon the frosty ground, he as noiseless as a shadow. We had reached thefurther side of the lane, when he put forth an arm and plucked from theblackness a small black figure. 

In the middle of the square was kept burning a great brazier filledwith pitched wood. It was the duty of the watch to keep it flaming fromdarkness to dawn. We found it freshly heaped with pine, and its redglare lit a goodly circle. The Indian, pinioning the wrists of hiscaptive with his own hand of steel, dragged him with us into this circleof light. 

"Looking for simples once more, learned doctor?" I demanded. 

He mowed and jabbered, twisting this way and that in the grasp of theIndian. 

"Loose him, " I said to the latter, "but let him not come too near you. Why, worthy doctor, in so wild and threatening a night, when fire isburning and wine flowing at the guest house, do you choose to crouchhere in the cold and darkness?"

He looked at me with his filmy eyes, and that faint smile that had moreof menace in it than a panther's snarl. "I laid in wait for you, it istrue, noble sir, " he said in his thin, dreamy voice, "but it was foryour good. I would give you warning, sir. "

He stood with his mean figure bent cringingly forward, and with his hatin his hand. "A warning, sir, " he went ramblingly on. "Maybe a certainone has made me his enemy. Maybe I cut myself loose from his service. Maybe I would do him an ill turn. I can tell you a secret, sir. " Helowered his voice and looked around, as if in fear of eavesdroppers. 

"In your ear, sir, " he said. 

I recoiled. "Stand back, " I cried, "or you will cull no more simplesthis side of hell!"

"Hell!" he answered. "There's no such place. I will not tell my secretaloud. "

"Nicolo the Italian! Nicolo the Poisoner! Nicolo the Black Death! I amcoming for the soul you sold me. There is a hell!"

The thundering voice came from underneath our feet. With a sound thatwas not a groan and not a screech, the Italian reeled back against theheated iron of the brazier. Starting from that fiery contact withan unearthly shriek, he threw up his arms and dashed away into thedarkness. The sound of his madly hurrying footsteps came back to usuntil the guest house had swallowed him and his guilty terrors. 

"Can the preacher play the devil too?" I asked, as Sparrow came up tous from the other side of the fire. "I could have sworn that that voicecame from the bowels of the earth. 'T is the strangest gift!"

"A mere trick, " he said, with his great laugh, "but it has served mewell on more occasions than one. It is not known in Virginia, sir, butbefore ever the word of the Lord came to me to save poor silly soulsI was a player. Once I played the King's ghost in Will Shakespeare's'Hamlet, ' and then, I warrant you, I spoke from the cellarage indeed. Iso frighted players and playgoers that they swore it was witchcraft, andBurbage's knees did knock together in dead earnest. But to the matterin hand. When I had thrown yonder stone, I walked quietly down to theGovernor's house and looked through the window. The Governor haththe Company's letters, and he and the Council--all save the reprobatePory--sit there staring at them and drumming with their fingers on thetable. "

"Is Rolfe of the Council?" I asked. 

"Ay; he was speaking, --for you, I suppose, though I heard not the words. They all listened, but they all shook their heads. "

"We shall know in the morning, " I said. "The night grows wilder, andhonest folks should be abed. Nantauquas, good-night. When will you havetamed your panther?"

"It is now the moon of cohonks, " answered the Indian. "When the moon ofblossoms is here, the panther shall roll at the beautiful lady's feet. "

"The moon of blossoms!" I said. "The moon of blossoms is a long way off. I have panthers myself to tame before it comes. This wild night givesone wild thoughts, Master Sparrow. The loud wind, and the sound of thewater, and the hurrying clouds--who knows if we shall ever see the moonof blossoms?" I broke off with a laugh for my own weakness. "It's notoften that a soldier thinks of death, " I said. "Come to bed, reverendsir. Nantauquas, again, good-night, and may you tame your panther!"

In the great room of the minister's house I paced up and down; nowpausing at the window, to look out upon the fast darkening houses of thetown, the ever thickening clouds, and the bending trees; now speaking tomy wife, who sat in the chair I had drawn for her before the fire, herhands idle in her lap, her head thrown back against the wood, her facewhite and still, with wide dark eyes. We waited for we knew not what, but the light still burned in the Governor's house, and we could notsleep and leave it there. 

It grew later and later. The wind howled down the chimney, and I heapedmore wood upon the fire. The town lay in darkness now; only in thedistance burned like an angry star the light in the Governor's house. Inthe lull between the blasts of wind it was so very still that the soundof my footfalls upon the floor, the dropping of the charred wood uponthe hearth, the tapping of the withered vines without the window, jarredlike thunder. 

Suddenly madam leaned forward in her chair. "There is some one at thedoor, " she said. 

As she spoke, the latch rose and some one pushed heavily against thedoor. I had drawn the bars across. "Who is it?" I demanded, going to it. 

"It is Diccon, sir, " replied a guarded voice outside. "I beg of you, forthe lady's sake, to let me speak to you. "

I opened the door, and he crossed the threshold. I had not seen himsince the night he would have played the assassin. I had heard of himas being in Martin's Hundred, with which plantation and its turbulentcommander the debtor and the outlaw often found sanctuary. 

"What is it, sirrah?" I inquired sternly. 

He stood with his eyes upon the floor, twirling his cap in his hands. Hehad looked once at madam when he entered, but not at me. When he spokethere was the old bravado in his voice, and he threw up his head withthe old reckless gesture. "Though I am no longer your man, sir, " hesaid, "yet I hope that one Christian may warn another. The marshal, witha dozen men at his heels, will be here anon. "

"How do you know?"

"Why, I was in the shadow by the Governor's window when the parsonplayed eavesdropper. When he was gone I drew myself up to the ledge, andwith my knife made a hole in the shutter that fitted my ear well enough. The Governor and the Council sat there, with the Company's lettersspread upon the table. I heard the letters read. Sir George Yeardley'spetition to be released from the governorship of Virginia is granted, but he will remain in office until the new Governor, Sir Francis Wyatt, can arrive in Virginia. The Company is out of favor. The King hath sentSir Edwyn Sandys to the Tower. My Lord Warwick waxeth greater every day. The very life of the Company dependeth upon the pleasure of the King, and it may not defy him. You are to be taken into custody within sixhours of the reading of the letter, to be kept straitly until thesailing of the Santa Teresa, and to be sent home aboard of her in irons. The lady is to go also, with all honor, and with women to attend her. Upon reaching London, you are to be sent to the Tower, the lady toWhitehall. The Court of High Commission will take the matter underconsideration at once. My Lord of Southampton writes that, because ofthe urgent entreaty of Sir George Yeardley, he will do for you all thatlieth in his power, but that if you prove not yourself conformable, there will be little that any can do. "

"When will the marshal be here?" I demanded. 

"Directly. The Governor was sending for him when I left the window. Master Rolfe spoke vehemently for you, and would have left the Councilto come to you; but the Governor, swearing that the Company should notbe betrayed by its officers, constrained him to remain. I'm not theCompany's officer, so I may tell its orders if I please. A masterlessman may speak without fear or favor. I have told you all I know. " BeforeI could speak he was gone, closing the door heavily behind him. 

I turned to the King's ward. She had risen from the chair, and now stoodin the centre of the room, one hand at her bosom, the other clenched ather side, her head thrown up. She looked as she had looked at Weyanoke, that first night. 

"Madam, " I said under my breath. 

She turned her face upon me. "Did you think, " she asked in a low, even voice, --"did you think that I would ever set my foot upon thatship, --that ship on the river there? One ship brought me here upona shameful errand; another shall not take me upon one more shamefulstill. "

She took her hand from her bosom; in it gleamed in the firelight thesmall dagger I had given her that night. She laid it on the table, butkept her hand upon it. "You will choose for me, sir, " she declared. 

I went to the door and looked out. "It is a wild night, " I said. "Ican suit it with as wild an enterprise. Make a bundle of your warmestclothing, madam, and wrap your mantle about you. Will you take Angela?"

"No, " she answered. "I will not have her peril too upon me. "

As she stood there, her hand no longer upon the dagger, the large tearswelled into her eyes and fell slowly over her white cheeks. "It is formine honor, sir, " she said. "I know that I ask your death. "

I could not bear to see her weep, and so I spoke roughly. "I have toldyou before, " I said, "that your honor is my honor. Do you think I wouldsleep to-morrow night, in the hold of the Santa Teresa, knowing that mywife supped with my Lord Carnal?"

I crossed the room to take my pistols from the rack. As I passed her shecaught my hand in hers, and bending pressed her lips upon it. "You havebeen very good to me, " she murmured. "Do not think me an ingrate. "

Five minutes later she came from her own room, hooded and mantled, andwith a packet of clothing in her hand. I extinguished the torches, then opened the door. As we crossed the threshold, we paused as by oneimpulse and looked back into the firelit warmth of the room; then Iclosed the door softly behind us, and we went out into the night. 

CHAPTER XIX IN WHICH WE HAVE UNEXPECTED COMPANY

THE wind, which had heretofore come in fierce blasts, was now steadyingto a gale. What with the flying of the heaped clouds, the slanting, groaning pines, and the rushing of the river, the whole earth seemed afugitive, fleeing breathless to the sea. From across the neck of landcame the long-drawn howl of wolves, and in the wood beyond the church acatamount screamed and screamed. The town before us lay as dark and asstill as the grave; from the garden where we were we could not see theGovernor's house. 

"I will carry madam's bundle, " said a voice behind us. 

It was the minister who had spoken, and he now stood beside us. Therewas a moment's silence, then I said, with a laugh: "We are not goingupon a summer jaunt, friend Sparrow. There is a warm fire in the greatroom, to which your reverence had best betake yourself out of this windynight. "

As he made no movement to depart, but instead possessed himself ofMistress Percy's bundle, I spoke again, with some impatience: "We are nolonger of your fold, reverend sir, but are bound for another parish. Wegive you hearty thanks for your hospitality, and wish you a very goodnight. "

As I spoke I would have taken the bundle from him, but he tucked itunder his arm, and, passing us, opened the garden gate. "Did I forget totell you, " he said, "that worthy Master Bucke is well of the fever, andreturns to his own to-morrow? His house and church are no longer mine. Ihave no charge anywhere. I am free and footloose. May I not go withyou, madam? There may be dragons to slay, and two can guard a distressedprincess better than one. Will you take me for your squire, CaptainPercy?"

He held out his great hand, and after a moment I put my own in it. 

We left the garden and struck into a lane. "The river, then, instead ofthe forest?" he asked in a low voice. 

"Ay, " I answered. "Of the two evils it seems the lesser. "

"How about a boat?"

"My own is fastened to the piles of the old deserted wharf. "

"You have with you neither food nor water. "

"Both are in the boat. I have kept her victualed for a week or more. "

He laughed in the darkness, and I heard my wife beside me utter astifled exclamation. 

The lane that we were now in ran parallel to the street to within fiftyyards of the guest house, when it bent sharply down to the river. Wemoved silently and with caution, for some night bird might accost usor the watch come upon us. In the guest house all was darkness save oneroom, --the upper room, --from which came a very pale light. When we hadturned with the lane there were no houses to pass; only gaunt pinesand copses of sumach. I took my wife by the hand and hurried her on. Ahundred yards before us ran the river, dark and turbulent, and betweenus and it rose an old, unsafe, and abandoned landing. Sparrow laid hishand upon my arm. "Footsteps behind us, " he whispered. 

Without slackening pace I turned my head and looked. The clouds, higharound the horizon, were thinning overhead, and the moon, herselfinvisible, yet lightened the darkness below. The sandy lane stretchedbehind us like a ribbon of twilight, --nothing to be seen but it and theebony mass of bush and tree lining it on either side. We hastened on. Aminute later and we heard behind us a sound like the winding of a smallhorn, clear, shrill, and sweet. Sparrow and I wheeled--and saw nothing. The trees ran down to the very edge of the wharf, upon whose rotten, loosened, and noisy boards we now trod. Suddenly the clouds above usbroke, and the moon shone forth, whitening the mountainous clouds, the ridged and angry river, and the low, tree-fringed shore. Below us, fastened to the piles and rocking with the waves, was the open boat inwhich we were to embark. A few broken steps led from the boards above tothe water below. Descending these I sprang into the boat and held out myarms for Mistress Percy. Sparrow gave her to me, and I lifted her downbeside me; then turned to give what aid I might to the minister, who washalfway down the steps--and faced my Lord Carnal. 

What devil had led him forth on such a night; why he, whom with my owneyes, three hours agone, I had seen drunken, should have chosen, afterhis carouse, cold air and his own company rather than sleep; when andwhere he first spied us, how long he had followed us, I have neverknown. Perhaps he could not sleep for triumph, had heard of my impendingarrest, had come forth to add to the bitterness of my cup by hispresence, and so had happened upon us. He could only have guessed atthose he followed, until he reached the edge of the wharf and lookeddown upon us in the moonlight. For a moment he stood without moving;then he raised his hand to his lips, and the shrill call that had beforestartled us rang out again. At the far end of the lane lights appeared. Men were coming down the lane at a run; whether they were the watch, or my lord's own rogues, we tarried not to see. There was not time toloosen the rope from the piles, so I drew my knife to cut it. My lordsaw the movement, and sprang down the steps, at the same time shoutingto the men behind to hasten. Sparrow, grappling with him, locked him ina giant's embrace, lifted him bodily from the steps, and flung him intothe boat. His head struck against a thwart, and he lay, huddled beneathit, quiet enough. The minister sprang after him, and I cut the rope. Bynow the wharf shook with running feet, and the backward-streaming flameof the torches reddened its boards and the black water beneath; but eachinstant the water widened between us and our pursuers. Wind and currentswept us out, and at that wharf there were no boats to follow us. 

Those whom my lord's whistle had brought were now upon the very edge ofthe wharf. The marshal's voice called upon us in the name of the King toreturn. Finding that we vouchsafed no answer, he pulled out a pistol andfired, the ball going through my hat; then whipped out its fellow andfired again. Mistress Percy, whose behavior had been that of an angel, stirred in her seat. I did not know until the day broke that the ballhad grazed her arm, drenching her sleeve with blood. 

"It is time we were away, " I said, with a laugh. "If your reverence willkeep your hand upon the tiller and your eye upon the gentleman whom youhave made our traveling companion, I'll put up the sail. "

I was on my way to the foremast, when the boom lying prone beforeme rose. Slowly and majestically the sail ascended, tapering upward, silvered by the moon, --the great white pinion which should bear us weknew not whither. I stopped short in my tracks, Mistress Percy drew asobbing breath, and the minister gasped with admiration. We all threestared as though the white cloth had veritably been a monster wingendowed with life. 

"Sails don't rise of themselves!" I exclaimed, and was at the mastbefore the words were out of my lips. Crouched behind it was a man. Ishould have known him even without the aid of the moon. Often enough, God knows, I had seen him crouched like this beside me, ourselves inambush awaiting some unwary foe, brute or human; or ourselves in hiding, holding our breath lest it should betray us. The minister who had been aplayer, the rival who would have poisoned me, the servant who wouldhave stabbed me, the wife who was wife in name only, --mine were strangeshipmates. 

He rose to his feet and stood there against the mast, in the oldhalf-submissive, half-defiant attitude, with his head thrown back in theold way. 

"If you order me, sir, I will swim ashore, " he said, half sullenly, half--I know not how. 

"You would never reach the shore, " I replied. "And you know that Iwill never order you again. Stay here if you please, or come aft if youplease. "

I went back and took the tiller from Sparrow. We were now in mid-river, and the swollen stream and the strong wind bore us on with them like aleaf before the gale. We left behind the lights and the clamor, the darktown and the silent fort, the weary Due Return and the shipping aboutthe lower wharf. Before us loomed the Santa Teresa; we passed so closebeneath her huge black sides that we heard the wind whistling throughher rigging. When she, too, was gone, the river lay bare before us;silver when the moon shone, of an inky blackness when it was obscured byone of the many flying clouds. 

My wife wrapped her mantle closer about her, and, leaning back in herseat in the stern beside me, raised her face to the wild and solemnheavens. Diccon sat apart in the bow and held his tongue. The ministerbent over, and, lifting the man that lay in the bottom of the boat, laidhim at full length upon the thwart before us. The moonlight streameddown upon the prostrate figure. I think it could never have shone upona more handsome or a more wicked man. He lay there in his splendid dressand dark beauty, Endymion-like, beneath the moon. The King's ward turnedher eyes upon him, kept them there a moment, then glanced away, andlooked at him no more. 

"There's a parlous lump upon his forehead where it struck the thwart, "said the minister, "but the life's yet in him. He'll shame honest menfor many a day to come. Your Platonists, who from a goodly outside argueas fair a soul, could never have been acquainted with this gentleman. "

The subject of his discourse moaned and stirred. The minister raised oneof the hanging hands and felt for the pulse. "Faint enough, " he went on. "A little more and the King might have waited for his minion foreverand a day. It would have been the better for us, who have now, indeed, astrange fish upon our hands, but I am glad I killed him not. "

I tossed him a flask. "It's good aqua vitae, and the flask is honest. Give him to drink of it. "

He forced the liquor between my lord's teeth, then dashed water in hisface. Another minute and the King's favorite sat up and looked aroundhim. Dazed as yet, he stared, with no comprehension in his eyes, atthe clouds, the sail, the rushing water, the dark figures about him. "Nicolo!" he cried sharply. 

"He's not here, my lord, " I said. 

At the sound of my voice he sprang to his feet. 

"I should advise your lordship to sit still, " I said. "The wind is veryboisterous, and we are not under bare poles. If you exert yourself, youmay capsize the boat. "

He sat down mechanically, and put his hand to his forehead. I watchedhim curiously. It was the strangest trick that fortune had played him. 

His hand dropped at last, and he straightened himself, with a longbreath. "Who threw me into the boat?" he demanded. 

"The honor was mine, " declared the minister. 

The King's minion lacked not the courage of the body, nor, whenpassionate action had brought him naught, a certain reserve force ofphilosophy. He now did the best thing he could have done, --burst intoa roar of laughter. "Zooks!" he cried. "It's as good a comedy as everI saw! How's the play to end, captain? Are we to go off laughing, oris the end to be bloody after all? For instance, is there murder to bedone?" He looked at me boldly, one hand on his hip, the other twirlinghis mustaches. 

"We are not all murderers, my lord, " I told him. "For the present youare in no danger other than that which is common to us all. "

He looked at the clouds piling behind us, thicker and thicker, higherand higher, at the bending mast, at the black water swirling now andagain over the gunwales. "It's enough, " he muttered. 

I beckoned to Diccon, and putting the tiller into his hands went forwardto reef the sail. When it was done and I was back in my place, my lordspoke again. 

"Where are we going, captain?"

"I don't know. "

"If you leave that sail up much longer, you will land us at the bottomof the river. "

"There are worse places, " I replied. 

He left his seat, and moved, though with caution, to one nearer MistressPercy. "Are cold and storm and peril sweeter to you, lady, than warmthand safety, and a love that would guard you from, not run you into, danger?" he said in a whisper. "Do you not wish this boat the SantaTeresa, these rude boards the velvet cushions of her state cabin, thisdarkness her many lights, this cold her warmth, with the night shut outand love shut in?"

His audacity, if it angered me, yet made me laugh. Not so with theKing's ward. She shrank from him until she pressed against the tiller. Our flight, the pursuing feet, the struggle at the wharf, her woundedarm of which she had not told, the terror of the white sail rising as ifby magic, the vision of the man she hated lying as one dead before herin the moonlight, the cold, the hurry of the night, --small wonder ifher spirit failed her for some time. I felt her hand touch mine whereit rested upon the tiller. "Captain Percy, " she murmured, with a littlesobbing breath. 

I leaned across the tiller and addressed the favorite. "My lord, " Isaid, "courtesy to prisoners is one thing, and freedom from restraintand license of tongue is another. Here at the stern the boat is somewhatheavily freighted. Your lordship will oblige me if you will go forwardwhere there is room enough and to spare. "

His black brows drew together. "And what if I refuse, sir?" he demandedhaughtily. 

"I have rope here, " I answered, "and to aid me the gentleman who oncebefore to-night, and in despite of your struggles, lifted you in hisarms like an infant. We will tie you hand and foot, and lay you in thebottom of the boat. If you make too much trouble, there is always theriver. My lord, you are not now at Whitehall. You are with desperatemen, outlaws who have no king, and so fear no king's minions. Will yougo free, or will you go bound? Go you shall, one way or the other. "

He looked at me with rage and hatred in his face. Then, with a laughthat was not good to hear and a shrug of the shoulders, he went forwardto bear Diccon company in the bow. 

CHAPTER XX IN WHICH WE ARE IN DESPERATE CASE

"GOD walketh upon the sea as he walketh upon the land, " said theminister. "The sea is his and we are his. He will do what it likethhim with his own. " As he spoke he looked with a steadfast soul into theblack hollow of the wave that combed above us, threatening destruction. 

The wave broke, and the boat still lived. Borne high upon the shoulderof the next rolling hill, we looked north, south, east, and west, andsaw only a waste of livid, ever forming, ever breaking waves, a graysky streaked with darker gray shifting vapor, and a horizon impenetrablyveiled. Where we were in the great bay, in what direction we were beingdriven, how near we might be to the open sea or to some fatal shore, weknew not. What we did know was that both masts were gone, that we mustbail the boat without ceasing if we would keep it from swamping, thatthe wind was doing an apparently impossible thing and rising higher andhigher, and that the waves which buffeted us from one to the other werehourly swelling to a more monstrous bulk. 

We had come into the wider waters at dawn, and still under canvas. Anhour later, off Point Comfort, a bare mast contented us; we had hardlygotten the sail in when mast and all went overboard. That had been hoursago. 

A common peril is a mighty leveler of barriers. Scant time was therein that boat to make distinction between friend and foe. As one manwe fought the element which would devour us. Each took his turn atthe bailing, each watched for the next great wave before which we mustcower, clinging with numbed hands to gunwale and thwart. We fared alike, toiled alike, and suffered alike, only that the minister and I cared forMistress Percy, asking no help from the others. 

The King's ward endured all without a murmur. She was cold, she was wornwith watching and terror, she was wounded; each moment Death raised hisarm to strike, but she sat there dauntless, and looked him in the facewith a smile upon her own. If, wearied out, we had given up the fight, her look would have spurred us on to wrestle with our fate to the lastgasp. She sat between Sparrow and me, and as best we might we shieldedher from the drenching seas and the icy wind. Morning had shown me theblood upon her sleeve, and I had cut away the cloth from the white arm, and had washed the wound with wine and bound it up. If for my fee, Ishould have liked to press my lips upon the blue-veined marble, still Idid it not. 

When, a week before, I had stored the boat with food and drink and hadbrought it to that lonely wharf, I had thought that if at the last mywife willed to flee I would attempt to reach the bay, and passing outbetween the capes would go to the north. Given an open boat and thetempestuous seas of November, there might be one chance out of a hundredof our reaching Manhattan and the Dutch, who might or might not give usrefuge. She had willed to flee, and we were upon our journey, and theone chance had vanished. That wan, monotonous, cold, and clinging misthad shrouded us for our burial, and our grave yawned beneath us. 

The day passed and the night came, and still we fought the sea, andstill the wind drove us whither it would. The night passed and thesecond morning came, and found us yet alive. My wife lay now at my feet, her head pillowed upon the bundle she had brought from the minister'shouse. Too weak for speech, waiting in pain and cold and terror fordeath to bring her warmth and life, the knightly spirit yet lived in hereyes, and she smiled when I bent over her with wine to moisten her lips. At length she began to wander in her mind, and to speak of summer daysand flowers. A hand held my heart in a slowly tightening grip of iron, and the tears ran down the minister's cheeks. The man who had darkenedher young life, bringing her to this, looked at her with an ashen face. 

As the day wore on, the gray of the sky paled to a dead man's hue andthe wind lessened, but the waves were still mountain high. One momentwe poised, like the gulls that now screamed about us, upon some giddysummit, the sky alone above and around us; the next we sank into darkgreen and glassy caverns. Suddenly the wind fell away, veered, and roseagain like a giant refreshed. 

Diccon started, put his hand to his ear, then sprang to his feet. "Breakers!" he cried hoarsely. 

We listened with straining ears. He was right. The low, ominous murmurchanged to a distant roar, grew louder yet, and yet louder, and was nolonger distant. 

"It will be the sand islets off Cape Charles, sir, " he said. I nodded. He and I knew there was no need of words. 

The sky grew paler and paler, and soon upon the woof of the cloudsa splash of dull yellow showed where the sun would be. The fog rose, laying bare the desolate ocean. Before us were two very small islands, mere handfuls of sand, lying side by side, and encompassed half by theopen sea, half by stiller waters diked in by marshes and sand bars. Acoarse, scanty grass and a few stunted trees with branches bending awayfrom the sea lived upon them, but nothing else. Over them and over themarshes and the sand banks circled myriads of great white gulls. Theirharsh, unearthly voices came to us faintly, and increased the desolationof earth and sky and sea. 

To the shell-strewn beach of the outer of the two islets raced longlines of surf, and between us and it lurked a sand bar, against whichthe great rollers dashed with a bull-like roar. The wind drove usstraight upon this bar. A moment of deadly peril and it had us fast, holding us for the waves to beat our life out. The boat listed, thenrested, quivering through all its length. The waves pounded against itsside, each watery battering-ram dissolving in foam and spray but to giveplace to another, and yet it held together, and yet we lived. How longit would hold we could not tell; we only knew it could not be for long. The inclination of the boat was not so great but that, with caution, wemight move about. There were on board rope and an axe. With the latter Icut away the thwarts and the decking in the bow, and Diccon and I madea small raft. When it was finished, I lifted my wife in my arms and laidher upon it and lashed her to it with the rope. She smiled like a child, then closed her eyes. "I have gathered primroses until I am tired, " shesaid. "I will sleep here a little in the sunshine, and when I awake Iwill make you a cowslip ball. "

Time passed, and the groaning, trembling timbers still held together. The wind fell, the sky became blue, and the sun shone. Another while, and the waves were less mountainous and beat less furiously against theboat. Hope brightened before us. To strong swimmers the distance to theislet was trifling; if the boat would but last until the sea subsided, we might gain the beach. What we would do upon that barren spot, wherewas neither man nor brute, food nor water, was a thing that we had notthe time to consider. It was land that we craved. 

Another hour, and the sea still fell. Another, and a wave struck theboat with force. "The sea is coming in!" cried the minister. 

"Ay, " I answered. "She will go to pieces now. "

The minister rose to his feet. "I am no mariner, " he said, "but oncein the water I can swim you like any fish. There have been times when Ihave reproached the Lord for that he cased a poor silly humble preacherlike me with the strength and seeming of some might man of old, andthere have been times when I have thanked him for that strength. I thankhim now. Captain Percy, if you will trust the lady to me, I will takeher safely to that shore. "

I raised my head from the figure over which I was bending, and lookedfirst at the still tumultuous sea, and then at the gigantic frame of theminister. When we had made that frail raft no swimmer could have livedin that shock of waves; now there was a chance for all, and for theminister, with his great strength, the greatest I have ever seen in anyman, a double chance. I took her from the raft and gave her into hisarms. A minute later the boat went to pieces. 

Side by side Sparrow and I buffeted the sea. He held the King's wardin one arm, and he bore her safely over the huge swells and through theonslaught of the breaking waves. I could thank God for his strength, andtrust her to it. For the other three of us, we were all strong swimmers, and though bruised and beat about, we held our own. Each wave, overcome, left us nearer the islet, --a little while and our feet touched bottom. A short struggle with the tremendous surf and we were out of the maw ofthe sea, but out upon a desolate islet, a mere hand's-breadth of sandand shell in a lonely ocean, some three leagues from the mainland ofAccomac, and upon it neither food nor water. We had the clothes upon ourbacks, and my lord and I had kept our swords. I had a knife, and Diccontoo was probably armed. The flint and steel and tinder box within mypouch made up our store. 

The minister laid the woman whom he carried upon the pebbles, fell uponhis knees, and lifted his rugged face to heaven. I too knelt, and withmy hand upon her heart said my own prayer in my own way. My lord stoodwith unbent head, his eyes upon that still white face, but Diccon turnedabruptly and strode off to a low ridge of sand, from the top of whichone might survey the entire island. 

In two minutes he was back again. "There's plenty of driftwood furtherup the beach, " he announced, "and a mort of dried seaweed. At least weneed n't freeze. "

The great bonfire that we made roared and crackled, sending out a mostcheerful heat and light. Under that genial breath the color cameslowly back to madam's cheek and lip, and her heart beat more strongly. Presently she turned under my hand, and with a sigh pillowed her headupon her arm and went to sleep in that blessed warmth like a littlechild. 

We who had no mind for sleep sat there beside the fire and watched thesun sink behind the low black line of the mainland, now plainly visiblein the cleared air. It dyed the waves blood red, and shot out one longray to crimson a single floating cloud, no larger than a man's hand, high in the blue. Sea birds, a countless multitude, went to and fro withharsh cries from island to marsh, and marsh to island. The marshes werestill green; they lay, a half moon of fantastic shapes, each parted fromthe other by pink water. Beyond them was the inlet dividing us fromthe mainland, and that inlet was three leagues in width. We turned andlooked seaward. Naught but leaping waves white-capped to the horizon. 

"We touched here the time we went against the French at Port Royal andSt. Croix, " I said. "We had heard a rumor that the Bermuda pirates hadhidden gold here. Argall and I went over every foot of it. "

"And found no water?" questioned the minister. 

"And found no water. "

The light died from the west and from the sea beneath, and the nightfell. When with the darkness the sea fowl ceased their clamor, adreadful silence suddenly enfolded us. The rush of the surf made nodifference; the ear heard it, but to the mind there was no sound. Thesky was thick with stars; every moment one shot, and the trail of whitefire it left behind melted into the night silently like snowflakes. There was no wind. The moon rose out of the sea, and lent the sandy isleher own pallor. Here and there, back amongst the dunes, the branches ofa low and leafless tree writhed upward like dark fingers thrust from outthe spectral earth. The ocean, quiet now, dreamed beneath the moon andcared not for the five lives it had cast upon that span of sand. 

We piled driftwood and tangles of seaweed upon our fire, and it flamedand roared and broke the silence. Diccon, going to the landward side ofthe islet, found some oysters, which we roasted and ate; but we had norwine nor water with which to wash them down. 

"At least there are here no foes to fear, " quoth my lord. "We may allsleep to-night; and zooks! we shall need it!" He spoke frankly, with anopen face. 

"I will take one watch, if you will take the other, " I said to theminister. 

He nodded. "I will watch until midnight. "

It was long past that time when he roused me from where I lay atMistress Percy's feet. 

"I should have relieved you long ago, " I told him. 

He smiled. The moon, now high in the heavens, shone upon and softenedhis rugged features. I thought I had never seen a face so filled withtenderness and hope and a sort of patient power. "I have been with God, "he said simply. "The starry skies and the great ocean and the littleshells beneath my hand, --how wonderful are thy works, O Lord! What isman that thou art mindful of him? And yet not a sparrow falleth"--I roseand sat by the fire, and he laid himself down upon the sand beside me. 

"Master Sparrow, " I asked, "have you ever suffered thirst?"

"No, " he answered. We spoke in low tones, lest we should wake her. Diccon and my lord, upon the other side of the fire, were sleepingheavily. 

"I have, " I said. "Once I lay upon a field of battle throughout a summerday, sore wounded and with my dead horse across my body. I shall forgetthe horror of that lost field and the torment of that weight before Iforget the thirst. "

"You think there is no hope?"

"What hope should there be?"

He was silent. Presently he turned and looked at the King's ward whereshe lay in the rosy light; then his eyes came back to mine. 

"If it comes to the worst I shall put her out of her torment, " I said. 

He bowed his head and we sat in silence, our gaze upon the groundbetween us, listening to the low thunder of the surf and the cracklingof the fire. "I love her, " I said at last. "God help me!"

He put his finger to his lips. She had stirred and opened her eyes. Iknelt beside her, and asked her how she did and if she wanted aught. 

"It is warm, " she said wonderingly. 

"You are no longer in the boat, " I told her. "You are safe upon theland. You have been sleeping here by the fire that we kindled. "

An exquisite smile just lit her face, and her eyelids drooped again. "I am so tired, " she said drowsily, "that I will sleep a little longer. Will you bring me some water, Captain Percy? I am very thirsty. "

After a moment I said gently, "I will go get it, madam. " She made noanswer; she was already asleep. Nor did Sparrow and I speak again. Helaid himself down with his face to the ocean, and I sat with my head inmy hands, and thought and thought, to no purpose. 

CHAPTER XXI IN WHICH A GRAVE IS DIGGED

WHEN the stars had gone out and the moon begun to pale, I raised my facefrom my hands. Only a few glowing embers remained of the fire, and thedriftwood that we had collected was exhausted. I thought that I wouldgather more, and build up the fire against the time when the othersshould awake. The driftwood lay in greatest quantity some distance upthe beach, against a low ridge of sand dunes. Beyond these the islettapered off to a long gray point of sand and shell. Walking toward thispoint in the first pale light of dawn, I chanced to raise my eyes, andbeheld riding at anchor beyond the spit of sand a ship. 

I stopped short and rubbed my eyes. She lay there on the sleeping oceanlike a dream ship, her masts and rigging black against the pallid sky, the mist that rested upon the sea enfolding half her hull. She mighthave been of three hundred tons burthen; she was black and two-decked, and very high at poop and forecastle, and she was heavily armed. My eyestraveled from the ship to the shore, and there dragged up on the point, the oars within it, was a boat. 

At the head of the beach, beyond the line of shell and weed, the sandlay piled in heaps. With these friendly hillocks between me and the sea, I crept on as silently as I might, until I reached a point just abovethe boat. Here I first heard voices. I went a little further, thenknelt, and, parting the long coarse grass that filled the hollow betweentwo hillocks, looked out upon two men who were digging a grave. 

They dug in a furious hurry, throwing the sand to left and right, andcursing as they dug. They were powerful men, of a most villainous castof countenance, and dressed very oddly. One with a shirt of coarsestdowlas, and a filthy rag tying up a broken head, yet wore velvetbreeches, and wiped the sweat from his face with a wrought handkerchief;the other topped a suit of shreds and patches with a fine bushy ruff, and swung from one ragged shoulder a cloak of grogram lined withtaffeta. On the ground, to one side of them, lay something long andwrapped in white. 

As they dug and cursed, the light strengthened. The east changed fromgray to pale rose, from rose to a splendid crimson shot with gold. Themist lifted and the sea burned red. Two boats were lowered from theship, and came swiftly toward the point. 

"Here they are at last, " growled the gravedigger with the broken headand velvet breeches. 

"They've taken their time, " snarled his companion, "and us two hereon this d-d island with a dead man the whole ghost's hour. Boarding aship's nothing, but to dig a grave on the land before cockcrow, with theman you're to put in it looking at you! Why could n't he be buried atsea, decent and respectable, like other folk?"

"It was his will, --that's all I know, " said the first; "just as it washis will, when he found he was a dying man, to come booming away fromthe gold seas up here to a land where there is n't no gold, and neverwill be. Belike he thought he'd find waiting for him at the bottom ofthe sea, all along from the Lucayas to Cartagena, the many he sentthere afore he died. And Captain Paradise, he says, says he: 'It's illcrossing a dead man. We'll obey him this once more'"--

"Captain Paradise!" cried he of the ruff. "Who made him captain?--cursehim!"

His fellow straightened himself with a jerk. "Who made him captain? Theship will make him captain. Who else should be captain?"

"Red Gil!"

"Red Gil!" exclaimed the other. "I'd rather have the Spaniard!"

"The Spaniard would do well enough, if the rest of us were n't English. If hating every other Spaniard would do it, he'd be English fastenough. "

The scoundrel with the broken head burst into a loud laugh. "D' yeremember the bark we took off Porto Bello, with the priests aboard? Oho!Oho!"

The rogue with the ruff grinned. "I reckon the padres remember it, andfind hell easy lying. This hole's deep enough, I'm thinking. "

They both clambered out, and one squatted at the head of the grave andmopped his face with his delicate handkerchief, while the other swunghis fine cloak with an air and dug his bare toes in the sand. 

The two boats now grated upon the beach, and several of their occupants, springing out, dragged them up on the sand. 

"We'll never get another like him that's gone, " said the worthy at thehead of the grave, gloomily regarding the something wrapped in white. 

"That's gospel truth, " assented the other, with a prodigious sigh. "Hewas a man what was a man. He never stuck at nothing. Don or priest, manor woman, good red gold or dirty silver, --it was all one to him. Buthe's dead and gone!"

"Now, if we had a captain like Kirby, " suggested the first. 

"Kirby keeps to the Summer Isles, " said the second. "'T is n't often nowthat he swoops down as far as the Indies. "

The man with the broken head laughed. "When he does, there's a noise inthat part of the world. "

"And that's gospel truth, too, " swore the other, with an oath ofadmiration. 

By this the score or more who had come in the two boats were halfwayup the beach. In front, side by side, as each conceding no inch ofleadership, walked three men: a large man, with a villainous face muchscarred, and a huge, bushy, dark red beard; a tall dark man, with a thinfierce face and bloodshot eyes, the Spaniard by his looks; and a slightman, with the face and bearing of an English gentleman. The men behindthem differed no whit from the two gravediggers, being as scoundrelly offace, as great of strength, and as curiously attired. They came straightto the open grave, and the dead man beside it. The three who seemed ofmost importance disposed themselves, still side by side, at the head ofthe grave, and their following took the foot. 

"It's a dirty piece of work, " said Red Gil in a voice like a raven's, "and the sooner it's done with, and we are aboard again and booming backto the Indies, the better I'll like it. Over with him, brave boys!"

"Is it yours to give the word?" asked the slight man, who was dressedpoint-device, and with a finical nicety, in black and silver. His voicewas low and clear, and of a somewhat melancholy cadence, going well withthe pensiveness of fine, deeply fringed eyes. 

"Why should n't I give the word?" growled the personage addressed, adding with an oath, "I've as good a right to give it as any man, --maybea better right!"

"That would be scanned, " said he of the pensive eyes. "Gentlemen, wehave here the pick of the ship. For the captain that these choose, thoseon board will throw up their caps. Let us bury the dead, and then letchoice be made of one of us three, each of whom has claims that mightbe put forward"--He broke off and picking up a delicate shell beganto study its pearly spirals with a tender, thoughtful, half-pleased, half-melancholy countenance. 

The gravedigger with the wrought handkerchief looked from him tothe rascal crew massed at the foot of the grave, and, seeing his ownsentiments mirrored in the countenances of not a few, snatched thebloody clout from his head, waved it, and cried out, "Paradise!"Whereupon arose a great confusion. Some bawled for Paradise, some forRed Gil, a few for the Spaniard. The two gravediggers locked horns, anda brawny devil with a woman's mantle swathed about his naked shouldersdrew a knife, and made for a partisan of the Spaniard, who in his turnskillfully interposed between himself and the attack the body of abawling well-wisher to Red Gil. 

The man in black and silver tossed aside the shell, rose, and enteredthe lists. With one hand he seized the gravedigger of the ruff, andhurled him apart from him of the velvet breeches; with the other hepresented a dagger with a jeweled haft at the breast of the ruffian withthe woman's mantle, while in tones that would have befitted Astrophelplaining of his love to rocks, woods, and streams, he poured forth aflood of wild, singular, and filthy oaths, such as would have disgraceda camp follower. His interference was effectual. The combatantsfell apart and the clamor was stilled, whereupon the gentleman ofcontrarieties at once resumed the gentle and indifferent melancholy ofmanner and address. 

"Let us off with the old love before we are on with the new, gentlemen, "he said. "We'll bury the dead first, and choose his successorafterward, --decently and in order, I trust, and with due submission tothe majority. "

"I'll fight for my rights, " growled Red Gil. 

"And I for mine, " cried the Spaniard. 

"And each of us'll back his own man, " muttered in an aside thegravedigger with the broken head. 

The one they called Paradise sighed. "It is a thousand pities that thereis not amongst us some one of merit so preeminent that faction shouldhide its head before it. But to the work in hand, gentlemen. "

They gathered closer around the yawning grave, and some began to liftthe corpse. As for me, I withdrew as noiselessly as an Indian from mylair of grass, and, hidden by the heaped-up sand, made off across thepoint and down the beach to where a light curl of smoke showed thatsome one was mending the fire I had neglected. It was Sparrow, whoalternately threw on driftwood and seaweed and spoke to madam, whosat at his feet in the blended warmth of fire and sunshine. Diccon wasroasting the remainder of the oysters he had gathered the night before, and my lord stood and stared with a frowning face at the nine-miledistant mainland. All turned their eyes upon me as I came up to thefire. 

"A little longer, Captain Percy, and we would have had out a searchwarrant, " began the minister cheerfully. "Have you been building abridge?"

"If I build one, " I said, "it will be a perilous one enough. Have youlooked seaward?"

"We waked but a minute agone, " he answered. As he spoke, he straightenedhis great form and lifted his face from the fire to the blue sea. Diccon, still on his knees at his task, looked too; and my lord, turningfrom his contemplation of the distant kingdom of Accomac; and MistressPercy, one hand shading her eyes, the slender fingers of the other stillimmeshed in her long dark hair which she had been braiding. They staredat the ship in silence until my lord laughed. 

"Conjure us on board at once, captain, " he cried. "We are thirsty. "

I drew the minister aside. "I am going up the beach, beyond that point, again; you will one and all stay here. If I do not come back, dothe best you can, and sell her life as dearly as you can. If I comeback, --you are quick of wit and have been a player; look that you takethe cue I give you!"

I returned to the fire, and he followed me, amazement in his face. "MyLord Carnal, " I said, "I must ask you for your sword. "

He started, and his black brows drew together. "Though the fortunes ofwar have made me in some sort your captive, sir, " he said at last, andnot without dignity, "I do not see, upon this isle to which we areall prisoners, the need of so strong testimony to the abjectness of mycondition, nor deem it generous"--

"We will speak of generosity another day, my lord, " I interrupted. "Atpresent I am in a hurry. That you are my prisoner in verity is enoughfor me, but not for others. I must have you so in seeming as well as intruth. Moreover, Master Sparrow is weaponless, and I must needs disarman enemy to arm a friend. I beg that you will give what else we musttake. "

He looked at Diccon, but Diccon stood with his face to the sea. Ithought we were to have a struggle, and I was sorry for it, but mylord could and did add discretion to a valor that I never doubted. He shrugged his shoulders, burst into a laugh, and turned to MistressPercy. 

"What can one do, lady, when one is doubly a prisoner, prisoner tonumbers and to beauty? E'en laugh at fate, and make the best of a badjob. Here, sir! Some day it shall be the point!"

He drew his rapier from its sheath, and presented the hilt to me. I tookit with a bow, and handed it to Sparrow. 

The King's ward had risen, and now leant against the bank of sand, her long dark hair, half braided, drawn over either shoulder, her facemarble white between the waves of darkness. 

"I do not know that I shall ever come back, " I said, stopping beforeher. "May I kiss your hand before I go?"

Her lips moved, but she did not speak. I knelt and kissed her claspedhands. They were cold to my lips. "Where are you going?" she whispered. "Into what danger are you going? I--I--take me with you!"

I rose, with a laugh at my own folly that could have rested brow andlips on those hands, and let the world wag. "Another time, " I said. "Rest in the sunshine now, and think that all is well. All will be well, I trust. "

A few minutes later saw me almost upon the party gathered about thegrave. The grave had received that which it was to hold until thecrack of doom, and was now being rapidly filled with sand. The crew ofdeep-dyed villains worked or stood or sat in silence, but all lookedat the grave, and saw me not. As the last handful of sand made it levelwith the beach, I walked into their midst, and found myself face to facewith the three candidates for the now vacant captaincy. 

"Give you good-day, gentlemen, " I cried. "Is it your captain that youbury or one of your crew, or is it only pezos and pieces of eight?"

CHAPTER XXII IN WHICH I CHANGE MY NAME AND OCCUPATION

"THE sun shining on so much bare steel hurts my eyes, " I said. "Putup, gentlemen, put up! Cannot one rover attend the funeral of anotherwithout all this crowding and display of cutlery? If you will take thetrouble to look around you, you will see that I have brought to theobsequies only myself. "

One by one cutlass and sword were lowered, and those who had drawn them, falling somewhat back, spat and swore and laughed. The man in black andsilver only smiled gently and sadly. "Did you drop from the blue?" heasked. "Or did you come up from the sea?"

"I came out of it, " I said. "My ship went down in the storm yesterday. Your little cockboat yonder was more fortunate. " I waved my hand towardthat ship of three hundred tons, then twirled my mustaches and stood atgaze. 

"Was your ship so large, then?" demanded Paradise, while a murmur ofadmiration, larded with oaths, ran around the circle. 

"She was a very great galleon, " I replied, with a sigh for the good shipthat was gone. 

A moment's silence, during which they all looked at me. "A galleon, "then said Paradise softly. 

"They that sailed her yesterday are to-day at the bottom of the sea, " Icontinued. "Alackaday! so are one hundred thousand pezos of gold, threethousand bars of silver, ten frails of pearls, jewels uncounted, clothof gold and cloth of silver. She was a very rich prize. "

The circle sucked in their breath. "All at the bottom of the sea?"queried Red Gil, with gloating eyes fixed upon the smiling water. "Notone pezo left, not one little, little pearl?"

I shook my head and heaved a prodigious sigh. "The treasure is gone, "I said, "and the men with whom I took it are gone. I am a captain withneither ship nor crew. I take you, my friends, for a ship and crewwithout a captain. The inference is obvious. "

The ring gaped with wonder, then strange oaths arose. Red Gil broke intoa bellow of angry laughter, while the Spaniard glared like a catamountabout to spring. "So you would be our captain?" said Paradise, pickingup another shell, and poising it upon a hand as fine and small as awoman's. 

"Faith, you might go farther and fare worse, " I answered, and began tohum a tune. When I had finished it, "I am Kirby, " I said, and waited tosee if that shot should go wide or through the hull. 

For two minutes the dash of the surf and the cries of the wheeling seafowl made the only sound in that part of the world; then from thosehalf-clad rapscallions arose a shout of "Kirby!"--a shout in which thethree leaders did not join. That one who looked a gentleman rose fromthe sand and made me a low bow. "Well met, noble captain, " he cried inthose his honey tones. "You will doubtless remember me who was with youthat time at Maracaibo when you sunk the galleasses. Five years havepassed since then, and yet I see you ten years younger and three inchestaller. "

"I touched once at the Lucayas, and found the spring de Leon sought, "I said. "Sure the waters have a marvelous effect, and if they give noteternal youth at least renew that which we have lost. "

"Truly a potent aqua vitae, " he remarked, still with thoughtfulmelancholy. "I see that it hath changed your eyes from black to gray. "

"It hath that peculiar virtue, " I said, "that it can make black seemwhite. "

The man with the woman's mantle drawn about him now thrust himself fromthe rear to the front rank. "That's not Kirby!" he bawled. "He's no moreKirby than I am Kirby! Did n't I sail with Kirby from the Summer Islesto Cartagena and back again? He's a cheat, and I am agoing to cut hisheart out!" He was making at me with a long knife, when I whipped out myrapier. 

"Am I not Kirby, you dog?" I cried, and ran him through the shoulder. 

He dropped, and his fellows surged forward with a yell. "Yet a littlepatience, my masters!" said Paradise in a raised voice and with genuineamusement in his eyes. "It is true that that Kirby with whom I and ourfriend there on the ground sailed was somewhat short and as swart as araven, besides having a cut across his face that had taken away a partof his lip and the top of his ear, and that this gentleman who announceshimself as Kirby hath none of Kirby's marks. But we are fair andgenerous and open to conviction"--

"He'll have to convince my cutlass!" roared Red Gil. 

I turned upon him. "If I do convince it, what then?" I demanded. "If Iconvince your sword, you of Spain, and yours, Sir Black and Silver?"

The Spaniard stared. "I was the best sword in Lima, " he said stiffly. "Iand my Toledo will not change our minds. "

"Let him try to convince Paradise; he's got no reputation as aswordsman!" cried out the gravedigger with the broken head. 

A roar of laughter followed this suggestion, and I gathered from itand from the oaths and allusions to this or that time and place thatParadise was not without reputation. 

I turned to him. "If I fight you three, one by one, and win, am IKirby?"

He regarded the shell with which he was toying with a thoughtful smile, held it up that the light might strike through its rose and pearl, thencrushed it to dust between his fingers. 

"Ay, " he said with an oath. "If you win against the cutlass of Red Gil, the best blade of Lima, and the sword of Paradise, you may call yourselfthe devil an you please, and we will all subscribe to it. "

I lifted my hand. "I am to have fair play?"

As one man that crew of desperate villains swore that the odds should beonly three to one. By this the whole matter had presented itself to themas an entertainment more diverting than bullfight or bearbaiting. Theythat follow the sea, whether honest men or black-hearted knaves, have intheir composition a certain childlikeness that makes them easily turned, easily led, and easily pleased. The wind of their passion shifts quicklyfrom point to point, one moment blowing a hurricane, the next sinkingto a happy-go-lucky summer breeze. I have seen a little thing convert acrew on the point of mutiny into a set of rollicking, good-natured soulswho--until the wind veered again--would not hurt a fly. So with these. They spread themselves into a circle, squatting or kneeling or standingupon the white sand in the bright sunshine, their sinewy hands thatshould have been ingrained red clasped over their knees, or, armsakimbo, resting upon their hips, on their scoundrel faces a broad smile, and in their eyes that had looked on nameless horrors a pleasurableexpectation as of spectators in a playhouse awaiting the entrance of theplayers. 

"There is really no good reason why we should gratify your whim, " saidParadise, still amused. "But it will serve to pass the time. We willfight you, one by one. "

"And if I win?"

He laughed. "Then, on the honor of a gentleman, you are Kirby and ourcaptain. If you lose, we will leave you where you stand for the gulls tobury. "

"A bargain, " I said, and drew my sword. 

"I first!" roared Red Gil. "God's wounds! there will need no second!"

As he spoke he swung his cutlass and made an arc of blue flame. Theweapon became in his hands a flail, terrible to look upon, makinglightnings and whistling in the air, but in reality not so deadly as itseemed. The fury of his onslaught would have beaten down the guard ofany mere swordsman, but that I was not. A man, knowing his weakness andinsufficiency in many and many a thing, may yet know his strength in oneor two and his modesty take no hurt. I was ever master of my sword, andit did the thing I would have it do. Moreover, as I fought I saw her asI had last seen her, standing against the bank of sand, her dark hair, half braided, drawn over her bosom and hanging to her knees. Hereyes haunted me, and my lips yet felt the touch of her hand. I foughtwell, --how well the lapsing of oaths and laughter into breathlesssilence bore witness. 

The ruffian against whom I was pitted began to draw his breath in gasps. He was a scoundrel not fit to die, less fit to live, unworthy ofa gentleman's steel. I presently ran him through with as littlecompunction and as great a desire to be quit of a dirty job as if he hadbeen a mad dog. He fell, and a little later, while I was engaged withthe Spaniard, his soul went to that hell which had long gaped for it. To those his companions his death was as slight a thing as would theirshave been to him. In the eyes of the two remaining would-be leadershe was a stumbling-block removed, and to the squatting, open-mouthedcommonality his taking off weighed not a feather against the solidentertainment I was affording them. I was now a better man than RedGil, --that was all. 

The Spaniard was a more formidable antagonist. The best blade of Limawas by no means to be despised; but Lima is a small place, and itsblades can be numbered. The sword that for three years had been countedthe best in all the Low Countries was its better. But I fought fastingand for the second time that morning, so maybe the odds were not sogreat. I wounded him slightly, and presently succeeded in disarming him. "Am I Kirby?" I demanded, with my point at his breast. 

"Kirby, of course, senor, " he answered with a sour smile, his eyes uponthe gleaming blade. 

I lowered my point and we bowed to each other, after which he sat downupon the sand and applied himself to stanching the bleeding from hiswound. The pirate ring gave him no attention, but stared at me instead. I was now a better man than the Spaniard. 

The man in black and silver rose and removed his doublet, folding itvery carefully, inside out, that the sand might not injure the velvet, then drew his rapier, looked at it lovingly, made it bend until pointand hilt well-nigh met, and faced me with a bow. 

"You have fought twice, and must be weary, " he said. "Will you not takebreath before we engage, or will your long rest afterward suffice you?"

"I will rest aboard my ship, " I made reply. "And as I am in a hurry tobe gone we won't delay. "

Our blades had no sooner crossed than I knew that in this last encounterI should need every whit of my skill, all my wit, audacity, andstrength. I had met my equal, and he came to it fresh and I jaded. Iclenched my teeth and prayed with all my heart; I set her face beforeme, and thought if I should fail her to what ghastly fate she mightcome, and I fought as I had never fought before. The sound of the surfbecame a roar in my ears, the sunshine an intolerable blaze of light;the blue above and around seemed suddenly beneath my feet as well. Wewere fighting high in the air, and had fought thus for ages. I knew thathe made no thrust I did not parry, no feint I could not interpret. Iknew that my eye was more quick to see, my brain to conceive, and myhand to execute than ever before; but it was as though I held thatknowledge of some other, and I myself was far away, at Weyanoke, in theminister's garden, in the haunted wood, anywhere save on that barrenislet. I heard him swear under his breath, and in the face I had setbefore me the eyes brightened. As if she had loved me I fought forher with all my powers of body and mind. He swore again, and my heartlaughed within me. The sea now roared less loudly, and I felt the goodearth beneath my feet. Slowly but surely I wore him out. His breathcame short, the sweat stood upon his forehead, and still I deferred myattack. He made the thrust of a boy of fifteen, and I smiled as I put itby. 

"Why don't you end it?" he breathed. "Finish and be d-d to you!"

For answer I sent his sword flying over the nearest hillock of sand. "Am I Kirby?" I said. He fell back against the heaped-up sand and leanedthere, panting, with his hand to his side. "Kirby or devil, " he replied. "Have it your own way. "

I turned to the now highly excited rabble. "Shove the boats off, half adozen of you!" I ordered. "Some of you others take up that carrion thereand throw it into the sea. The gold upon it is for your pains. You therewith the wounded shoulder you have no great hurt. I'll salve it with tenpieces of eight from the captain's own share, the next prize we take. "

A shout of acclamation arose that scared the sea fowl. They who so shorta time before had been ready to tear me limb from limb now with thegreatest apparent delight hailed me as captain. How soon they mightrevert to their former mood was a question that I found not worth whileto propound to myself. 

By this the man in black and silver had recovered his breath and hisequanimity. "Have you no commission with which to honor me, noblecaptain?" he asked in gently reproachful tones. "Have you forgot howoften you were wont to employ me in those sweet days when your eyes wereblack?"

"By no means, Master Paradise, " I said courteously. "I desire yourcompany and that of the gentleman from Lima. You will go with me tobring up the rest of my party. The three gentlemen of the broken head, the bushy ruff, which I protest is vastly becoming, and the woundedshoulder will escort us. "

"The rest of your party?" said Paradise softly. 

"Ay, " I answered nonchalantly. "They are down the beach and around thepoint warming themselves by a fire which this piled-up sand hides fromyou. Despite the sunshine it is a biting air. Let us be going! Thisisland wearies me, and I am anxious to be on board ship and away. "

"So small an escort scarce befits so great a captain, " he said. "We willall attend you. " One and all started forward. 

I called to mind and gave utterance to all the oaths I had heard in thewars. "I entertain you for my subordinate whom I command, and not whocommands me!" I cried, when my memory failed me. "As for you, you dogs, who would question your captain and his doings, stay where you are, ifyou would not be lessoned in earnest!"

Sheer audacity is at times the surest steed a man can bestride. Now atleast it did me good service. With oaths and grunts of admirationthe pirates stayed where they were, and went about their business oflaunching the boats and stripping the body of Red Gil, while the man inblack and silver, the Spaniard, the two gravediggers, the knave with thewounded shoulder, and myself walked briskly up the beach. 

With these five at my heels I strode up to the dying fire and to thosewho had sprung to their feet at our approach. "Sparrow, " I said easily, "luck being with us as usual, I have fallen in with a party of rovers. I have told them who I am, --that Kirby, to wit, whom an injurious worldcalls the blackest pirate unhanged, --and have recounted to them how thegreat galleon which I took some months ago went down yesterday with allon board, you and I with these others being the sole survivors. By dintof a little persuasion they have elected me their captain, and we willgo on board directly and set sail for the Indies, a hunting ground whichwe never should have left. You need not look so blank; you shall be mymate and right hand still. " I turned to the five who formed my escort. "This, gentlemen, is my mate, Jeremy Sparrow by name, who hath a tastefor divinity that in no wise interferes with his taste for a galleonor a guarda costa. This man, Diccon Demon by name, was of my crew. Thegentleman without a sword is my prisoner, taken by me from the last shipI sunk. How he, an Englishman, came to be upon a Spanish bark I have notfound leisure to inquire. The lady is my prisoner, also. "

"Sure by rights she should be gaoler and hold all men's hearts in ward, "said Paradise, with a low bow to my unfortunate captive. 

While he spoke a most remarkable transformation was going on. Theminister's grave, rugged, and deeply lined face smoothed itself and shedten years at least; in the eyes that I had seen wet with noble tears alaughing devil now lurked, while his strong mouth became a loose-lipped, devil-may-care one. His head with its aureole of bushy, grizzled hairset itself jauntily upon one side, and from it and from his face and hiswhole great frame breathed a wicked jollity quite indescribable. 

"Odsbodikins, captain!" he cried. "Kirby's luck!--'t will pass into asaw! Adzooks! and so you're captain once more, and I'm mate once more, and we've a ship once more, and we're off once more

 sail the Spanish Main

 give the Spaniard pain, ho, bully boy, heave ho!

By 'r lakin! I'm too dry to sing. It will take all the wine of Xeres inthe next galleon to unparch my tongue!"

CHAPTER XXIII IN WHICH WE WRITE UPON THE SAND

DAY after day the wind filled our sails and sang in the rigging, and dayafter day we sailed through blue seas toward the magic of the south. Dayafter day a listless and voluptuous world seemed too idle for any dreamof wrong, and day after day we whom a strange turn of Fortune's wheelhad placed upon a pirate ship held our lives in our hands, and walked soclose with Death that at length that very intimacy did breed contempt. It was not a time to think; it was a time to act, to laugh and makeothers laugh, to bluster and brag, to estrange sword and scabbard, toplay one's hand with a fine unconcern, but all the time to watch, watch, watch, day in and day out, every minute of every hour. That ship becamea stage, and we, the actors, should have been applauded to the echo. Howwell we played let witness the fact that the ship came to the Indies, with me for captain and the minister for mate, and with the woman thatwas on board unharmed; nay, reverenced like a queen. The great cabin washers, and the poop deck; we made for her a fantastic state withdoffing of hats and bowings and backward steps. We were her guard, --thegentlemen of the Queen, --I and my Lord Carnal, the minister and Diccon, and we kept between her and the rest of the ship. 

We did our best, and our best was very much. When I think of the songsthe minister sang; of the roars of laughter that went up from thelounging pirates when, sitting astride one of the main-deck guns, hemade his voice call to them, now from the hold, now from the sterngallery, now from the masthead, now from the gilt sea maid upon theprow, I laugh too. Sometimes a space was cleared for him, and he playedto them as to the pit at Blackfriars. They laughed and wept and sworewith delight, --all save the Spaniard, who was ever like a thundercloud, and Paradise, who only smiled like some languid, side-box lord. Therewas wine on board, and during the long, idle days, when the wind dronedin the rigging like a bagpipe, and there was never a cloud in the sky, and the galleons were still far away, the pirates gambled and drank. Diccon diced with them, and taught them all the oaths of a free company. So much wine, and no more, should they have; when they frowned, I letthem see that their frowning and their half-drawn knives mattered nodoit to me. It was their whim--a huge jest of which they could neverhave enough--still to make believe that they sailed under Kirby. Lestit should spoil the jest, and while the jest outranked all otherentertainment, they obeyed as though I had been indeed that fierce seawolf. 

Time passed, though it passed like a tortoise, and we came to theLucayas, to the outposts of the vast hunting ground of Spaniard andpirate and buccaneer, the fringe of that zone of beauty and villainy andfear, and sailed slowly past the islands, looking for our prey. 

The sea was blue as blue could be. Only in the morning and the eveningit glowed blood red, or spread upon its still bosom all the gold ofall the Indies, or became an endless mead of palest green shot withamethyst. When night fell, it mirrored the stars, great and small, orwas caught in a net of gold flung across it from horizon to horizon. The ship rent the net with a wake of white fire. The air was balm;the islands were enchanted places, abandoned by Spaniard and Indian, overgrown, serpent-haunted. The reef, the still water, pink or gold, the gleaming beach, the green plume of the palm, the scarlet birds, thecataracts of bloom, --the senses swooned with the color, the steamingincense, the warmth, the wonder of that fantastic world. Sometimes, inthe crystal waters near the land, we sailed over the gardens of the seagods, and, looking down, saw red and purple blooms and shadowy wavingforests, with rainbow fish for humming birds. Once we saw below us asunken ship. With how much gold she had endowed the wealthy sea, howmany long drowned would rise from her rotted decks when the waves gaveup their dead, no man could tell. Away from the ship darted many-huedfish, gold-disked, or barred and spotted with crimson, or silver andpurple. The dolphin and the tunny and the flying fish swam with us. Sometimes flights of small birds came to us from the land. Sometimes thesea was thickly set with full-blown pale red bloom, the jellyfish thatwas a flower to the sight and a nettle to the touch. If a storm arose, a fury that raged and threatened, it presently swept away, and the bluelaughed again. When the sun sank, there arose in the east such a moonas might have been sole light to all the realms of faery. A beautylanguorous and seductive was most absolute empress of the wonderful landand the wonderful sea. 

We were in the hunting grounds, and men went not there to gatherflowers. Day after day we watched for Spanish sails; for the platefleets went that way, and some galleass or caravel or galleon mightstray aside. At last, in the clear green bay of a nameless island atwhich we stopped for water, we found two carracks come upon the sameerrand, took them, and with them some slight treasure in rich cloths andgems. A week later, in a strait between two islands like tinted clouds, we fought a very great galleon from sunrise to noon, pierced her hullthrough and through and silenced her ordnance, then boarded her andfound a king's ransom in gold and silver. When the fighting had ceasedand the treasure was ours, then we four stood side by side on the deckof the slowly sinking galleon, in front of our prisoners, --of the menwho had fought well, of the ashen priests and the trembling women. Those whom we faced were in high good humor: they had gold with which togamble, and wine to drink, and rich clothing with which to prank theirvillainous bodies, and prisoners with whom to make merry. When I orderedthe Spaniards to lower their boats, and taking with them their priestsand women row off to one of those two islands, the weather changed. 

We outlived that storm, but how I scarcely know. As Kirby would havedone, so did I; rating my crew like hounds, turning my point this wayand that, daring them to come taste the red death upon it, braving itout like some devil who knows he is invulnerable. My lord, swingingthe cutlass with which he was armed, stood beside me, knee to knee, andDiccon cursed after me, making quarterstaff play with his long pike. But it was the minister that won us through. At length they laughed, andParadise, standing forward, swore that such a captain and such a matewere worth the lives of a thousand Spaniards. To pleasure Kirby, theywould depart this once from their ancient usage and let the prisonersgo, though it was passing strange, --it being Kirby's wont to clapprisoners under hatches and fire their ship above them. At the endof which speech the Spaniard began to rave, and sprang at me like acatamount. Paradise put forth a foot and tripped him up, whereat thepirates laughed again, and held him back when he would have come at me asecond time. 

From the deck of the shattered galleon I watched her boats, with theirheavy freight of cowering humanity, pull off toward the island. Backupon my own poop, the grappling irons cast loose, and a swiftly wideningribbon of blue between us and the sinking ship, I looked at the piratesthronging the waist below me, and knew that the play was nearly over. How many days, weeks, hours, before the lights would go out, I could nottell: they might burn until we took or lost another ship; the next hourmight see that brief tragedy consummated. 

I turned, and going below met Sparrow at the foot of the poop ladder. 

"I have sworn at these pirates until my hair stood on end, " he saidruefully. "God forgive me! And I have bent into circles three half pikesin demonstration of the thing that would occur to them if they temptedme overmuch. And I have sung them all the bloody and lascivious songsthat ever I knew in my unregenerate days. I have played the bravoand buffoon until they gaped for wonder. I have damned myself to alleternity, I fear, but there'll be no mutiny this fair day. It may arriveby to-morrow, though. "

"Likely enough, " I said. "Come within. I have eaten nothing sinceyesterday. "

"I'll speak to Diccon first, " he answered, and went on toward theforecastle, while I entered the state cabin. Here I found Mistress Percykneeling beside the bench beneath the stern windows, her face buried inher outstretched arms, her dark hair shadowing her like a mantle. WhenI spoke to her she did not answer. With a sudden fear I stooped andtouched her clasped hands. A shudder ran through her frame, and sheslowly raised a colorless face. 

"Are you come back?" she whispered. "I thought you would never comeback. I thought they had killed you. I was only praying before I killedmyself. "

I took her hands and wrung them apart to rouse her, she was so white andcold, and spoke so strangely. "God forbid that I should die yet awhile, madam!" I said. "When I can no longer serve you, then I shall not carehow soon I die. "

The eyes with which she gazed upon me were still wide and unseeing. "Theguns!" she cried, wresting her hands from mine and putting them toher ears. "Oh, the guns! they shake the air. And the screams and thetrampling--the guns again!"

I brought her wine and made her drink it; then sat beside her, and toldher gently, over and over again, that there was no longer thunder of theguns or screams or trampling. At last the long, tearless sobs ceased, and she rose from her knees, and let me lead her to the door of hercabin. There she thanked me softly, with downcast eyes and lips thatyet trembled; then vanished from my sight, leaving me first to wonder atthat terror and emotion in her who seldom showed the thing she felt, andfinally to conclude that it was not so wonderful after all. 

We sailed on, --southwards to Cuba, then north again to the Lucayasand the Florida straits, looking for Spanish ships and their gold. Thelights yet burned, --now brightly, now so sunken that it seemed as thoughthe next hour they must flicker out. We, the players, flagged not inthat desperate masque; but we knew that, in spite of all endeavor, thedarkness was coming fast upon us. 

Had it been possible, we would have escaped from the ship, hazarding newfortunes on the Spanish Main, in an open boat, sans food or water. But the pirates watched us very closely. They called me "captain" and"Kirby, " and for the jest's sake gave an exaggerated obedience, withlaughter and flourishes; but none the less I was their prisoner, --I andthose I had brought with me to that ship. 

An islet, shaped like the crescent moon, rose from out the sea beforeus. We needed water, and so we felt our way between the horns ofthe crescent into the blue crystal of a fairy harbor. One low hill, rose-colored from base to summit, with scarce a hint of the green worldbelow that canopy of giant bloom, a little silver beach with wonderfulshells upon it, the sound of a waterfall and a lazy surf, --we smelt thefruits and the flowers, and a longing for the land came upon us. Sixmen were left on the ship, and all besides went ashore. Some rolled thewater casks toward the sound of the cascade; others plunged into theforest, to return laden with strange and luscious fruits, birds, guanas, conies, --whatever eatable thing they could lay hands upon; othersscattered along the beach to find turtle eggs, or, if fortune favoredthem, the turtle itself. They laughed, they sang, they swore, until theisle rang to their merriment. Like wanton children, they called to eachother, to the screaming birds, to the echoing bloom-draped hill. 

I spread a square of cloth upon the sand, in the shadow of a mighty treethat stood at the edge of the forest, and the King's ward took her seatupon it, and looked, in the golden light of the sinking sun, the veryspirit of the isle. By this we two were alone on the beach. The huntersfor eggs, led by Diccon, were out upon the farthest gleaming horn;from the wood came the loud laughter of the fruit gatherers, and a mostrollicking song issuing from the mighty chest of Master Jeremy Sparrow. With the woodsmen had gone my lord. 

I walked a little way into the forest, and shouted a warning to Sparrowagainst venturing too far. When I returned to the giant tree and thecloth in the shadow of its outer branches, my wife was writing on thesand with a pointed shell. She had not seen or heard me, and I stoodbehind her and read what she wrote. It was my name. She wrote it threetimes, slowly and carefully; then she felt my presence, glanced swiftlyup, smiled, rubbed out my name, and wrote Sparrow's, Diccon's, and theKing's in succession. "Lest I should forget to make my letters, " sheexplained. 

I sat down at her feet, and for some time we said no word. The light, falling between the heavy blooms, cast bright sequins upon her dress anddark hair. The blooms were not more pink than her cheeks, the recessesof the forest behind us not deeper or darker than her eyes. The laughterand the song came faintly to us now. The sun was low in the west, and awonderful light slept upon the sea. 

"Last year we had a masque at court, " she said at length, breaking thelong silence. "We had Calypso's island, and I was Calypso. The islandwas built of boards covered with green velvet, and there was a moundupon it of pink silk roses. There was a deep blue painted sea below, and a deep blue painted sky above. My nymphs danced around the mound ofroses, while I sat upon a real rock beside the painted sea and talkedwith Ulysses--to wit, my Lord of Buckingham--in gold armor. That wasa strange, bright, unreal, and wearisome day, but not so strange andunreal as this. "

She ceased to speak, and began again to write upon the sand. I watchedher white hand moving to and fro. She wrote, "How long will it last?"

"I do not know. Not long. "

She wrote again: "If there is time at the last, when you see that it isbest, will you kill me?"

I took the shell from her hand, and wrote my answer beneath herquestion. 

The forest behind us sank into that pause and breathless hush betweenthe noises of the day and the noises of the night. The sun droppedlower, and the water became as pink as the blooms above us. 

"An you could, would you change?" I asked. "Would you return to Englandand safety?"

She took a handful of the sand and let it slowly drift through her whitefingers. "You know that I would not, " she said; "not if the end wereto come to-night. Only--only"--She turned from me and looked far out tosea. I could not see her face, only the dusk of her hair and her heavingbosom. "My blood may be upon your hands, " she said in a whisper, "butyours will be upon my soul. "

She turned yet further away, and covered her eyes with her hand. Iarose, and bent over her until I could have touched with my lips thatbowed head. "Jocelyn, " I said. 

A branch of yellow fruit fell beside us, and my Lord Carnal, a mass ofgaudy bloom in his hand, stepped from the wood. "I returned to lay ourfirst-fruits at madam's feet, " he explained, his darkly watchful eyesupon us both. "A gift from one poor prisoner to another, madam. " Hedropped the flowers in her lap. "Will you wear them, lady? They are asfair almost as I could wish. "

She touched the blossoms with listless fingers, said they were fair;then, rising, let them drop upon the sand. "I wear no flowers save of myhusband's gathering, my lord, " she said. 

There was a pathos and weariness in her voice, and a mist of unshedtears in her eyes. She hated him; she loved me not, yet was forced toturn to me for help at every point, and she had stood for weeks upon thebrink of death and looked unfalteringly into the gulf beneath her. 

"My lord, " I said, "you know in what direction Master Sparrow led themen. Will you reenter the wood and call them to return? The sun is fastsinking, and darkness will be upon us. "

He looked from her to me, with his brows drawn downwards and hislips pressed together. Stooping, he took up the fallen flowers anddeliberately tore them to pieces, until the pink petals were allscattered upon the sand. 

"I am weary of requests that are but sugared commands, " he said thickly. "Go seek your own men, an you will. Here we are but man to man, andI budge not. I stay, as the King would have me stay, beside theunfortunate lady whom you have made the prisoner and the plaything of apirate ship. "

"You wear no sword, my Lord Carnal, " I said at last, "and so may liewith impunity. "

"But you can get me one!" he cried, with ill-concealed eagerness. 

I laughed. "I am not zealous in mine enemy's cause, my lord. I shall notdeprive Master Sparrow of your lordship's sword. "

Before I knew what he was about he crossed the yard of sand between usand struck me in the face. "Will that quicken your zeal?" he demandedbetween his teeth. 

I seized him by the arm, and we stood so, both white with passion, bothbreathing heavily. At length I flung his arm from me and stepped back. "I fight not my prisoner, " I said, "nor, while the lady you have namedabides upon that ship with the nobleman who, more than myself, isanswerable for her being there, do I put my life in unnecessary hazard. I will endure the smart as best I may, my lord, until a more convenientseason, when I will salve it well. "

I turned to Mistress Percy, and giving her my hand led her down to theboats; for I heard the fruit gatherers breaking through the wood, and the hunters for eggs, black figures against the crimson sky, werehurrying down the beach. Before the night had quite fallen we were outof the fairy harbor, and when the moon rose the islet looked only asilver sail against the jeweled heavens. 

CHAPTER XXIV IN WHICH WE CHOOSE THE LESSER OF TWO EVILS

THE luck that had been ours could not hold; when the tide turned, itebbed fast. 

The weather changed. One hurricane followed upon the stride of another, with only a blue day or two between. Ofttimes we thought the ship waslost. All hands toiled like galley slaves; and as the heavens darkened, there darkened also the mood of the pirates. 

In sight of the great island of Cuba we gave chase to a bark. The sunwas shining and the sea fairly still when first she fled before us;we gained upon her, and there was not a mile between us when a cloudblotted out the sun. The next minute our own sails gave us occupationenough. The storm, not we, was victor over the bark; she sank with ashriek from her decks that rang above the roaring wind. Two days laterwe fought a large caravel. With a fortunate shot she brought down ourforemast, and sailed away from us with small damage of her own. All thatday and night the wind blew, driving us out of our course, and by dawnwe were as a shuttlecock between it and the sea. We weathered the gale, but when the wind sank there fell on board that black ship a menacingsilence. 

In the state cabin I held a council of war. Mistress Percy sat besideme, her arm upon the table, her hand shadowing her eyes; my lord, opposite, never took his gaze from her, though he listened gloomily toSparrow's rueful assertion that the brazen game we had been playing waswell-nigh over. Diccon, standing behind him, bit his nails and stared atthe floor. 

"For myself I care not overmuch, " ended the minister. "I scorn not life, but think it at its worst well worth the living; yet when my God callsme, I will go as to a gala day and triumph. You are a soldier, CaptainPercy, you and Diccon here, and know how to die. You too, my LordCarnal, are a brave man, though a most wicked one. For us four, we candrink the cup, bitter though it be, with little trembling. But there isone among us"--His great voice broke, and he sat staring at the table. 

The King's ward uncovered her eyes. "If I be not a man and a soldier, Master Sparrow, " she said simply, "yet I am the daughter of many valiantgentlemen. I will die as they died before me. And for me, as for youfour, it will be only death, --naught else. " She looked at me with aproud smile. 

"Naught else, " I said. 

My lord started from his seat and strode over to the window, where hestood drumming his fingers against the casing. I turned toward him. "MyLord Carnal, " I said, "you were overheard last night when you plottedwith the Spaniard. "

He recoiled with a gasp, and his hand went to his side, where it foundno sword. I saw his eyes busy here and there through the cabin, seekingsomething which he might convert into a weapon. 

"I am yet captain of this ship, " I continued. "Why I do not, even thoughit be my last act of authority, have you flung to the sharks, I scarcelyknow. "

He threw back his head, all his bravado returned to him. "It is not Ithat stand in danger, " he began loftily; "and I would have you remember, sir, that you are my enemy, and that I owe you no loyalty. "

"I am content to be your enemy, " I answered. 

"You do not dare to set upon me now, " he went on, with his old insolent, boastful smile. "Let me cry out, make a certain signal, and they withoutwill be here in a twinkling, breaking in the door"--"The signal set?"I said. "The mine laid, the match burning? Then 't is time that we weregone. When I bid the world good-night, my lord, my wife goes with me. "

His lips moved and his black eyes narrowed, but he did not speak. 

"An my cheek did not burn so, " I said, "I would be content to let youlive; live, captain in verity of this ship of devils, until, tired ofyou, the devils cut your throat, or until some victorious Spaniardhung you at his yardarm; live even to crawl back to England, by hookor crook, to wait, hat in hand, in the antechamber of his Grace ofBuckingham. As it is, I will kill you here and now. I restore you yoursword, my lord, and there lies my challenge. "

I flung my glove at his feet, and Sparrow unbuckled the keen blade whichhe had worn since the day I had asked it of its owner, and pushed itto me across the table. The King's ward leaned back in her chair, verywhite, but with a proud, still face, and hands loosely folded in herlap. My lord stood irresolute, his lip caught between his teeth, hiseyes upon the door. 

"Cry out, my lord, " I said. "You are in danger. Cry to your friendswithout, who may come in time. Cry out loudly, like a soldier and agentleman!"

With a furious oath he stooped and caught up the glove at his feet; thensnatched out of my hand the sword that I offered him. 

"Push back the settle, you; it is in the way!" he cried to Diccon; thento me, in a voice thick with passion: "Come on, sir! Here there are nomeddling governors; this time let Death throw down the warder!"

"He throws it, " said the minister beneath his breath. 

From without came a trampling and a sudden burst of excited voices. Thenext instant the door was burst open, and a most villainous, fiery-redface thrust itself inside. "A ship!" bawled the apparition, andvanished. The clamor increased; voices cried for captain and mate, andmore pirates appeared at the door, swearing out the good news, come insearch of Kirby, and giving no choice but to go with them at once. 

"Until this interruption is over, sir, " I said sternly, bowing to him asI spoke. "No longer. "

"Be sure, sir, that to my impatience the time will go heavily, " heanswered as sternly. 

We reached the poop to find the fog that had lain about us thick andwhite suddenly lifted, and the hot sunshine streaming down upon a roughblue sea. To the larboard, a league away, lay a low, endless coast ofsand, as dazzling white as the surf that broke upon it, and running backto a matted growth of vivid green. 

"That is Florida, " said Paradise at my elbow, "and there are reefsand shoals enough between us. It was Kirby's luck that the fog lifted. Yonder tall ship hath a less fortunate star. "

She lay between us and the white beach, evidently in shoal and dangerouswaters. She too had encountered a hurricane, and had not come forthvictorious. Foremast and forecastle were gone, and her bowsprit wasbroken. She lay heavily, her ports but a few inches above the water. Though we did not know it then, most of her ordnance had been flungoverboard to lighten her. Crippled as she was, with what sail she couldset, she was beating back to open sea from that dangerous offing. 

"Where she went we can follow!" sang out a voice from the throng in ourwaist. "A d--d easy prize! And we'll give no quarter this time!" Therewas a grimness in the applause of his fellows that boded little good tosome on either ship. 

"Lord help all poor souls this day!" ejaculated the minister inundertones; then aloud and more hopefully, "She hath not the look of adon; maybe she's buccaneer. "

"She is an English merchantman, " said Paradise. "Look at her colors. ACompany ship, probably, bound for Virginia, with a cargo of servants, gentlemen out at elbows, felons, children for apprentices, traders, French vignerons, glasswork Italians, returning Councilors and headsof hundreds, with their wives and daughters, men servants and maidservants. I made the Virginia voyage once myself, captain. "

I did not answer. I too saw the two crosses, and I did not doubt thatthe arms upon the flag beneath were those of the Company. The vessel, which was of about two hundred tons, had mightily the look of theGeorge, a ship with which we at Jamestown were all familiar. Sparrowspoke for me. 

"An English ship!" he cried out of the simplicity of his heart. "Thenshe's safe enough for us! Perhaps we might speak her and show her thatwe are English, too! Perhaps"--He looked at me eagerly. 

"Perhaps you might be let to go off to her in one of the boats, "finished Paradise dryly. "I think not, Master Sparrow. "

"It's other guess messengers that they'll send, " muttered Diccon. "They're uncovering the guns, sir. "

Every man of those villains, save one, was of English birth; everyman knew that the disabled ship was an English merchantman filled withpeaceful folk, but the knowledge changed their plans no whit. There wasa great hubbub; cries and oaths and brutal laughter, the noise of thegunners with their guns, the clang of cutlass and pike as they weredealt out, but not a voice raised against the murder that was to bedone. I looked from the doomed ship, upon which there was now frantichaste and confusion, to the excited throng below me, and knew that I hadas well cry for mercy to winter wolves. 

The helmsman behind me had not waited for orders, and we were bearingdown upon the disabled bark. Ahead of us, upon our larboard bow, wasa patch of lighter green, and beyond it a slight hurry and foam of thewaters. Half a dozen voices cried warning to the helmsman. It was he ofthe woman's mantle, whom I had run through the shoulder on the islandoff Cape Charles, and he had been Kirby's pilot from Maracaibo to FortCaroline. Now he answered with a burst of vaunting oaths: "We're in deepwater, and there's deep water beyond. I've passed this way before, andI'll carry ye safe past that reef were 't hell's gate!"

The desperadoes who heard him swore applause, and thought no more ofthe reef that lay in wait. Long since they had gone through the gatesof hell for the sake of the prize beyond. Knowing the appeal to behopeless, I yet made it. 

"She is English, men!" I shouted. "We will fight the Spaniards whilethey have a flag in the Indies, but our own people we will not touch!"

The clamor of shouts and oaths suddenly fell, and the wind in therigging, the water at the keel, the surf on the shore, made themselvesheard. In the silence, the terror of the fated ship became audible. Confused voices came to us, and the scream of a woman. 

On the faces of a very few of the pirates there was a look of momentarydoubt and wavering; it passed, and the most had never worn it. Theybegan to press forward toward the poop, cursing and threatening, working themselves up into a rage that would not care for my sword, theminister's cutlass, or Diccon's pike. One who called himself a wit criedout something about Kirby and his methods, and two or three laughed. 

"I find that the role of Kirby wearies me, " I said. "I am an Englishgentleman, and I will not fire upon an English ship. "

As if in answer there came from our forecastle a flame and thunder ofguns. The gunners there, intent upon their business, and now withinrange of the merchantman, had fired the three forecastle culverins. Theshot cut her rigging and brought down the flag. The pirates' shout oftriumph was echoed by a cry from her decks and the defiant roar of herfew remaining guns. 

I drew my sword. The minister and Diccon moved nearer to me, and theKing's ward, still and white and braver than a man, stood beside me. From the pirates that we faced came one deep breath, like the firstsigh of the wind before the blast strikes. Suddenly the Spaniard pushedhimself to the front; with his gaunt figure and sable dress he had theseeming of a raven come to croak over the dead. He rested his gloomyeyes upon my lord. The latter, very white, returned the look; then, withhis head held high, crossed the deck with a measured step and took hisplace among us. He was followed a moment later by Paradise. "I neverthought to die in my bed, captain, " said the latter nonchalantly. "Sooner or later, what does it matter? And you must know that beforeI was a pirate I was a gentleman. " Turning, he doffed his hat with aflourish to those he had quitted. "Hell litter!" he cried. "I have runwith you long enough. Now I have a mind to die an honest man. "

At this defection a dead hush of amazement fell upon that crew. One andall they stared at the man in black and silver, moistening their lips, but saying no word. We were five armed and desperate men; they werefourscore. We might send many to death before us, but at the last weourselves must die, --we and those aboard the helpless ship. 

In the moment's respite I bowed my head and whispered to the King'sward. 

"I had rather it were your sword, " she answered in a low voice, in whichthere was neither dread nor sorrow. "You must not let it grieve you;it will be added to your good deeds. And it is I that should ask yourforgiveness, not you mine. "

Though there was scant time for such dalliance, I bent my knee andrested my forehead upon her hand. As I rose, the minister's hand touchedmy shoulder and the voice spoke in my ear. "There is another way, " hesaid. "There is God's death, and not man's. Look and see what I mean. "

I followed the pointing of his eyes, and saw how close we were to thosewhite and tumbling waters, the danger signal, the rattle of the hiddensnake. The eyes of the pirate at the helm, too, were upon them; hisbrows were drawn downward, his lips pressed together, the whole man bentupon the ship's safe passage. . . . The low thunder of the surf, the cry ofa wheeling sea bird, the gleaming lonely shore, the cloudless sky, theocean, and the white sand far, far below, where one might sleep well, sleep well, with other valiant dead, long drowned, long changed. "Oftheir bones are coral made. "

The storm broke with fury and outcries, and a blue radiance of drawnsteel. A pistol ball sang past my ear. 

"Don't shoot!" roared the gravedigger to the man who had fired the shot. "Don't cut them down! Take them and thrust them under hatches untilwe've time to give them a slow death! And hands off the woman untilwe've time to draw lots!"

He and the Spaniard led the rush. I turned my head and nodded toSparrow, then faced them again. "Then may the Lord have mercy upon yoursouls!" I said. 

As I spoke the minister sprang upon the helmsman, and, striking himto the deck with one blow of his huge fist, himself seized thewheel. Before the pirates could draw breath he had jammed the helm tostarboard, and the reef lay right across our bows. 

A dreadful cry went up from that black ship to a deaf Heaven, --a crythat was echoed by a wild shout of triumph from the merchantman. Themass fronting us broke in terror and rage and confusion. Some ranfrantically up and down with shrieks and curses; others sprangoverboard. A few made a dash for the poop and for us who stood to meetthem. They were led by the Spaniard and the gravedigger. The former Imet and sent tumbling back into the waist; the latter whirled past me, and rushing upon Paradise thrust him through with a pike, then dashed onto the wheel, to be met and hewn down by Diccon. 

The ship struck. I put my arm around my wife, and my hand before hereyes; and while I looked only at her, in that storm of terrible cries, of flapping canvas, rushing water, and crashing timbers, the Spaniardclambered like a catamount upon the poop, that was now high above thebroken forepart of the ship, and fired his pistol at me point-blank. 

CHAPTER XXV IN WHICH MY LORD HATH HIS DAY

I AND Black Lamoral were leading a forlorn hope. With all my old companybehind us, we were thundering upon an enemy as thick as ants, coveringthe face of the earth. Down came Black Lamoral, and the hoofs of everymad charger went over me. For a time I was dead; then I lived again, andwas walking with the forester's daughter in the green chase at home. Theoaks stretched broad sheltering arms above the young fern and the littlewild flowers, and the deer turned and looked at us. In the open spaces, starring the lush grass, were all the yellow primroses that everbloomed. I gathered them for her, but when I would have given them toher she was no longer the forester's daughter, but a proud lady, heiress to lands and gold, the ward of the King. She would not take theprimroses from a poor gentleman, but shook her head and laughed sweetly, and faded into a waterfall that leaped from a pink hill into a wavelesssea. Another darkness, and I was captive to the Chickahominies, tied tothe stake. My arm and shoulder were on fire, and Opechancanough came andlooked at me, with his dark, still face and his burning eyes. The fiercepain died, and I with it, and I lay in a grave and listened to the loudand deep murmur of the forest above. I lay there for ages on ages beforeI awoke to the fact that the darkness about me was the darkness ofa ship's hold, and the murmur of the forest the wash of the wateralongside. I put out an arm and touched, not the side of a grave, but aship's timbers. I stretched forth the other arm, then dropped it with agroan. Some one bent over me and held water to my lips. I drank, and mysenses came fully to me. "Diccon!" I said. 

"It's not Diccon, " replied the figure, setting down a pitcher. "It isJeremy Sparrow. Thank God, you are yourself again!"

"Where are we?" I asked, when I had lain and listened to the water alittle longer. 

"In the hold of the George, " he answered. "The ship sank by the bows, and well-nigh all were drowned. But when they upon the George saw thatthere was a woman amongst us who clung to the poop deck, they sent theirlongboat to take us off. "

The light was too dim for me to read his face, so I touched his arm. 

"She was saved, " he said. "She is safe now. There are gentlewomenaboard, and she is in their care. "

I put my unhurt arm across my eyes. 

"You are weak yet, " said the minister gently. "The Spaniard's ball, youknow, went through your shoulder, and in some way your arm was badlytorn from shoulder to wrist. You have been out of your head ever sincewe were brought here, three days ago. The chirurgeon came and dressedyour wound, and it is healing well. Don't try to speak, --I'll tellyou all. Diccon has been pressed into service, as the ship is short ofhands, having lost some by fever and some overboard. Four of the pirateswere picked up, and hung at the yardarm next morning. "

He moved as he spoke, and something clanked in the stillness. "You areironed!" I exclaimed. 

"Only my ankles. My lord would have had me bound hand and foot; but youwere raving for water, and, taking you for a dying man, they were sohumane as to leave my hands free to attend you. "

"My lord would have had you bound, " I said slowly. "Then it's my lord'sday. "

"High noon and blazing sunshine, " he answered, with a rueful laugh. "Itseems that half the folk on board had gaped at him at court. Lord! whenhe put his foot over the side of the ship, how the women screeched andthe men stared! He 's cock of the walk now, my Lord Carnal, the King'sfavorite!"

"And we are pirates. "

"That 's the case in a nutshell, " he answered cheerfully. 

"Do they know how the ship came to strike upon that reef?" I asked. 

"Probably not, unless madam has enlightened them. I did n't take thetrouble, --they would n't have believed me, --and I can take my oath mylord has n't. He was only our helpless prisoner, you know; and theywould think madam mistaken or bewitched. "

"It 's not a likely tale, " I said grimly, "seeing that we had alreadyopened fire upon them. "

"I trust in heaven the sharks got the men who fired the culverins!" hecried, and then laughed at his own savagery. 

I lay still and tried to think. "Who are they on board?" I asked atlast. 

"I don't know, " he replied. "I was only on deck until my lord had hadhis say in the poop cabin with the master and a gentleman who appearedmost in authority. Then the pirates were strung up, and we were bundleddown here in quick order. But there seems to be more of quality thanusual aboard. "

"You do not know where we are?"

"We lay at anchor for a day, --whilst they patched her up, Isuppose, --and since then there has been rough weather. We must be stilloff Florida, and that is all I know. Now go to sleep. You'll get yourstrength best so, and there's nothing to be gotten by waking. "

He began to croon a many-versed psalm. I slept and waked, and sleptagain, and was waked by the light of a torch against my eyes. The torchwas held by a much-betarred seaman, and by its light a gentleman of avery meagre aspect, with a weazen face and small black eyes, was busilyexamining my wounded shoulder and arm. 

"It passeth belief, " he said in a sing-song voice, "how often wounds, with naught in the world done for them outside of fair water and a cleanrag, do turn to and heal out of sheer perversity. Now, if I had beenallowed to treat this one properly with scalding oil and melted lead, and to have bled the patient as he should have been bled, it is ten toone that by this time there would have been a pirate the less in theworld. " He rose to his feet with a highly injured countenance. 

"Then he's doing well?" asked Sparrow. 

"So well that he could n't do better, " replied the other. "The arm wasa trifling matter, though no doubt exquisitely painful. The wound inthe shoulder is miraculously healing, without either blood-letting orcauteries. You'll have to hang after all, my friend. " He looked at mewith his little beady eyes. "It must have been a grand life, " he saidregretfully. "I never expected to see a pirate chief in the flesh. WhenI was a boy, I used to dream of the black ships and the gold and thefighting. By the serpent of Esculapius, in my heart of hearts I wouldrather be such a world's thief, uncaught, than Governor of Virginia!" Hegathered up the tools of his trade, and motioned to his torchbearerto go before. "I'll have to report you rapidly recovering, " he saidwarningly, as he turned to follow the light. 

"Very well, " I made answer. "To whom am I indebted for so muchkindness?"

"I am Dr. John Pott, newly appointed physician general to the colony ofVirginia. It is little of my skill I could give you, but that little Igladly bestow upon a real pirate. What a life it must have been! And tohave to part with it when you are yet young! And the good red gold andthe rich gems all at the bottom of the sea!"

He sighed heavily and went his way. The hatches were closed afterhim, and the minister and I were left in darkness while the slow hoursdragged themselves past us. Through the chinks of the hatches a veryfaint light streamed down, and made the darkness gray instead of black. The minister and I saw each other dimly, as spectres. Some one broughtus mouldy biscuit that I wanted not, and water for which I thirsted. Sparrow put the small pitcher to his lips, kept it there a moment, thenheld it to mine. I drank, and with that generous draught tasted purebliss. It was not until five minutes later that I raised myself upon myelbow and turned on him. 

"The pitcher felt full to my lips!" I exclaimed. "Did you drink when yousaid you did?"

He put out his great hand and pushed me gently down. "I have no wound, "he said, "and there was not enough for two. "

The light that trembled through the cracks above died away, and thedarkness became gross. The air in the hold was stifling; our soulspanted for the wind and the stars outside. At the worst, when the fetidblackness lay upon our chests like a nightmare, the hatch was suddenlylifted, a rush of pure air came to us, and with it the sound of men'svoices speaking on the deck above. Said one, "True the doctor pronounceshim out of all danger, yet he is a wounded man. "

"He is a desperate and dangerous man, " broke in another harshly. "Iknow not how you will answer to your Company for leaving him unironed solong. "

"I and the Company understand each other, my lord, " rejoined the firstspeaker, with some haughtiness. "I can keep my prisoner without advice. If I now order irons to be put upon him and his accomplice, it isbecause I see fit to do so, and not because of your suggestion, my lord. You wish to take this opportunity to have speech with him, --to that Ican have no objection. "

The speaker moved away. As his footsteps died in the distance my lordlaughed, and his merriment was echoed by three or four harsh voices. Some one struck flint against steel, and there was a sudden flareof torches and the steadier light of a lantern. A man with a brutal, weather-beaten face--the master of the ship, we guessed--came down theladder, lantern in hand, turned when he had reached the foot, and heldup the lantern to light my lord down. I lay and watched the King'sfavorite as he descended. The torches held slantingly above cast a fierylight over his stately figure and the face which had raised him from thelow estate of a doubtful birth and a most lean purse to a pinnacle toonear the sun for men to gaze at with undazzled eyes. In his rich dressand the splendor of his beauty, with the red glow enveloping him, he litthe darkness like a baleful star. 

The two torchbearers and a third man descended, closing the hatch afterthem. When all were down, my lord, the master at his heels, came andstood over me. I raised myself, though with difficulty, for the feverhad left me weak as a babe, and met his gaze. His was a cruel look; ifI had expected, as assuredly I did not expect, mercy or generosityfrom this my dearest foe, his look would have struck such a hope dead. Presently he beckoned to the men behind him. "Put the manacles upon himfirst, " he said, with a jerk of his thumb toward Sparrow. 

The man who had come down last, and who carried irons enough to fettersix pirates, started forward to do my lord's bidding. The master glancedat Sparrow's great frame, and pulled out a pistol. The minister laughed. "You'll not need it, friend. I know when the odds are too great. " Heheld out his arms, and the men fettered them wrist to wrist. When theyhad finished he said calmly: "'I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found. '"

My lord turned from him, and pointed to me. He kept his eyes upon myface while they shackled me hand and foot; then said abruptly, "You havecords there: bind his arms to his sides. " The men wound the cords aroundme many times. "Draw them tight, " commanded my lord. 

There came a wrathful clank of the minister's chains. "The arm is tornand inflamed from shoulder to wrist, as I make no doubt you have beentold!" he cried. "For very shame, man!"

"Draw them tighter, " said my lord, between his teeth. 

The men knotted the cords, and rose to their feet, to be dismissed by mylord with a curt "You may go. " They drew back to the foot of the ladder, while the master of the ship went and perched himself upon one of therungs. "The air is fresher here beneath the hatch, " he remarked. 

As for me, though I lay at my enemy's feet, I could yet set my teeth andlook him in the eyes. The cup was bitter, but I could drink it with anunmoved face. 

"Art paid?" he demanded. "Art paid for the tree in the red forestwithout the haunted wood? Art paid, thou bridegroom?"

"No, " I answered. "Bring her here to laugh at me as she laughed in thetwilight beneath the guesthouse window. "

I thought he would murder me with the poniard he drew, but presently heput it up. 

"She is come to her senses, " he said. "Up in the state cabin are brightlights, and wine and laughter. There are gentlewomen aboard, and I havebeen singing to the lute, to them--and to her. She is saved from theperil into which you plunged her; she knows that the King's Court ofHigh Commission, to say nothing of the hangman, will soon snap thefetters which she now shudders to think of; that the King and onebesides will condone her past short madness. Her cheeks are roses, hereyes are stars. But now, when I pressed her hand between the verses ofmy song, she smiled and sighed and blushed. She is again the dutifulward of the King, the Lady Jocelyn Leigh--she hath asked to be socalled"--

"You lie, " I said. "She is my true and noble wife. She may sit in thestate cabin, in the air and warmth and light, she may even laugh withher lips, but her heart is here with me in the hold. "

As I spoke, I knew, and knew not how I knew, that the thing which I hadsaid was true. With that knowledge came a happiness so deep and strongthat it swept aside like straw the torment of those cords, and thedeeper hurt that I lay at his feet. I suppose my face altered, andmirrored that blessed glow about my heart, for into his own came a whitefury, changing its beauty into something inhuman and terrifying. Helooked a devil baffled. For a minute he stood there rigid, with handsclenched. "Embrace her heart, if thou canst, " he said, in a voice so lowthat it came like a whisper from the realm he might have left. "I shallpress my face against her bosom. "

Another minute of a silence that I disdained to break; then he turnedand went up the ladder. The seamen and the master followed. The hatchwas clapped to and fastened, and we were left to the darkness and theheavy air, and to a grim endurance of what could not be cured. 

During those hours of thirst and torment I came indeed to know the manwho sat beside me. His hands were so fastened that he could not loosenthe cords, and there was no water for him to give me; but he couldand did bestow a higher alms, --the tenderness of a brother, the manlysympathy of a soldier, the balm of the priest of God. I lay in silence, and he spoke not often; but when he did so, there was that in the toneof his voice--Another cycle of pain, and I awoke from a half swoon, in which there was water to drink and no anguish, to hear him prayingbeside me. He ceased to speak, and in the darkness I heard him draw hisbreath hard and his great muscles crack. Suddenly there came a sharpsound of breaking iron, and a low "Thank Thee, Lord!" Another moment, and I felt his hands busy at the knotted cords. "I will have them offthee in a twinkling, Ralph, " he said, "thanks to Him who taught my handsto war, and my arms to break in two a bow of steel. " As he spoke, thecords loosened beneath his fingers. 

I raised my head and laid it on his knee, and he put his great arm, withthe broken chain dangling from it, around me, and, like a mother with ababe, crooned me to sleep with the twenty-third psalm. 

CHAPTER XXVI IN WHICH I AM BROUGHT TO TRIAL

MY lord came not again into the hold, and the untied cords and thebroken chain were not replaced. Morning and evening we were brought aniggard allowance of bread and water; but the man who carried it boreno light, and may not even have observed their absence. We saw no one inauthority. Hour by hour my wounds healed and my strength returned. Ifit was a dark and noisome prison, if there were hunger and thirst andinaction to be endured, if we knew not how near to us might be a deathof ignominy, yet the minister and I found the jewel in the head of thetoad; for in that time of pain and heaviness we became as David andJonathan. 

At last some one came beside the brute who brought us food. A quietgentleman, with whitening hair and bright dark eyes, stood before us. Hehad ordered the two men with him to leave open the hatch, and he heldin his hand a sponge soaked with vinegar. "Which of you is--or ratherwas--Captain Ralph Percy?" he asked, in a grave but pleasant voice. 

"I am Captain Percy, " I answered. 

He looked at me with attention. "I have heard of you before, " he said. "I read the letter you wrote to Sir Edwyn Sandys, and thought it anexcellently conceived and manly epistle. What magic transformed agentleman and a soldier into a pirate?"

As he waited for me to speak, I gave him for answer, "Necessity. "

"A sad metamorphosis, " he said. "I had rather read of nymphs changedinto laurel and gushing springs. I am come to take you, sir, before theofficers of the Company aboard this ship, when, if you have aught to sayfor yourself, you may say it. I need not tell you, who saw so clearlysome time ago the danger in which you then stood, that your plight isnow a thousandfold worse. "

"I am perfectly aware of it, " I said. "Am I to go in fetters?"

"No, " he replied, with a smile. "I have no instructions on the subject, but I will take it upon myself to free you from them, --even for the sakeof that excellently writ letter. "

"Is not this gentleman to go too?" I asked. 

He shook his head. "I have no orders to that effect. "

While the men who were with him removed the irons from my wrists andankles he stood in silence, regarding me with a scrutiny so close thatit would have been offensive had I been in a position to take offense. When they had finished I turned and held Jeremy's hand in mine for aninstant, then followed the new-comer to the ladder and out of the hold;the two men coming after us, and resolving themselves above into aguard. As we traversed the main deck we came upon Diccon, busy with twoor three others about the ports. He saw me, and, dropping the bar thathe held, started forward, to be plucked back by an angry arm. The menwho guarded me pushed in between us, and there was no word spoken byeither. I walked on, the gentleman at my side, and presently came to anopen port, and saw, with an intake of my breath, the sunshine, a darkblue heaven flecked with white, and a quiet ocean. My companion glancedat me keenly. 

"Doubtless it seems fair enough, after that Cimmerian darkness below, "he remarked. "Would you like to rest here a moment?"

"Yes, " I said, and, leaning against the side of the port, looked out atthe beauty of the light. 

"We are off Hatteras, " he informed me, "but we have not met with thestormy seas that vex poor mariners hereabouts. Those sails you see onour quarter belong to our consort. We were separated by the hurricanethat nigh sunk us, and finally drove us, helpless as we were, towardthe Florida coast and across your path. For us that was a fortunate reefupon which you dashed. The gods must have made your helmsman blind, for he ran you into a destruction that gaped not for you. Why did everywretch that we hung next morning curse you before he died?"

"If I told you, you would not believe me, " I replied. 

I was dizzy with the bliss of the air and the light, and it seemed asmall thing that he would not believe me. The wind sounded in my earslike a harp, and the sea beckoned. A white bird flashed down into thecrystal hollow between two waves, hung there a second, then rose, asilver radiance against the blue. Suddenly I saw a river, dark andridged beneath thunderclouds, a boat, and in it, her head pillowed uponher arm, a woman, who pretended that she slept. With a shock my sensessteadied, and I became myself again. The sea was but the sea, the windthe wind; in the hold below me lay my friend; somewhere in that ship wasmy wife; and awaiting me in the state cabin were men who perhaps hadthe will, as they had the right and the might, to hang me at the yardarmthat same hour. 

"I have had my fill of rest, " I said. "Whom am I to stand before?"

"The newly appointed officers of the Company, bound in this ship forVirginia, " he answered. "The ship carries Sir Francis Wyatt, the newGovernor; Master Davison, the Secretary; young Clayborne, the surveyorgeneral; the knight marshal, the physician general, and the Treasurer, with other gentlemen, and with fair ladies, their wives and sisters. Iam George Sandys, the Treasurer. "

The blood rushed to my face, for it hurt me that the brother of SirEdwyn Sandys should believe that the firing of those guns had been myact. His was the trained observation of the traveler and writer, and heprobably read the color aright. "I pity you, if I can no longer esteemyou, " he said, after a pause. "I know no sorrier sight than a braveman's shield reversed. "

I bit my lip and kept back the angry word. The next minute saw us atthe door of the state cabin. It opened, and my companion entered, andI after him, with my two guards at my back. Around a large table weregathered a number of gentlemen, some seated, some standing. Therewere but two among them whom I had seen before, --the physician who haddressed my wound and my Lord Carnal. The latter was seated in a greatchair, beside a gentleman with a pleasant active face and light browncurling hair, --the new Governor, as I guessed. The Treasurer, nodding tothe two men to fall back to the window, glided to a seat upon my lord'sother hand, and I went and stood before the Governor of Virginia. 

For some moments there was silence in the cabin, every man being engagedin staring at me with all his eyes; then the Governor spoke: "It shouldbe upon your knees, sir. "

"I am neither petitioner nor penitent, " I said. "I know no reason why Ishould kneel, your Honor. "

"There 's reason, God wot, why you should be both!" he exclaimed. "Didyou not, now some months agone, defy the writ of the King and Company, refusing to stand when called upon to do so in the King's name?"

"Yes. "

"Did you not, when he would have stayed your lawless flight, lay violenthands upon a nobleman high in the King's favor, and, overpowering himwith numbers, carry him out of the King's realm?"

"Yes. "

"Did you not seduce from her duty to the King, and force to fly withyou, his Majesty's ward, the Lady Jocelyn Leigh?"

"No, " I said. "There was with me only my wife, who chose to follow thefortunes of her husband. "

He frowned, and my lord swore beneath his breath. "Did you not, fallingin with a pirate ship, cast in your lot with the scoundrels upon it, andyourself turn pirate?"

"In some sort. "

"And become their chief?"

"Since there was no other situation open, --yes. "

"Taking with you as captives upon the pirate ship that lady and thatnobleman?"

"Yes. "

"You proceeded to ravage the dominions of the King of Spain, with whomhis Majesty is at peace"--

"Like Drake and Raleigh, --yes, " I said. 

He smiled, then frowned "Tempora mutantur, " he said dryly. "And I havenever heard that Drake or Raleigh attacked an English ship. "

"Nor have I attacked one, " I said. 

He leaned back in his chair and stared at me. "We saw the flame andheard the thunder of your guns, and our rigging was cut by the shot. Didyou expect me to believe that last assertion?"

"No. "

"Then you might have spared yourself--and us--that lie, " he said coldly. 

The Treasurer moved restlessly in his seat, and began to whisper to hisneighbor the Secretary. A young man, with the eyes of a hawk and an ironjaw, --Clayborne, the surveyor general, --who sat at the end of the tablebeside the window, turned and gazed out upon the clouds and the sea, as if, contempt having taken the place of curiosity, he had no furtherinterest in the proceedings. As for me, I set my face like a flint, and looked past the man who might have saved me that last speech of theGovernor's as if he had never been. 

There was a closed door in the cabin, opposite the one by which I hadentered. Suddenly from behind it came the sound of a short struggle, followed by the quick turn of a key in the lock. The door was flungopen, and two women entered the cabin. One, a fair young gentlewoman, with tears in her brown eyes, came forward hurriedly with outspreadhands. 

"I did what I could, Frank!" she cried. "When she would not listen toreason, I e'en locked the door; but she is strong, for all that she hasbeen ill, and she forced the key out of my hand!" She looked at the redmark upon the white hand, and two tears fell from her long lashes uponher wild-rose cheeks. 

With a smile the Governor put out an arm and drew her down upon a stoolbeside him, then rose and bowed low to the King's ward. "You are not yetwell enough to leave your cabin, as our worthy physician general willassure you, lady, " he said courteously, but firmly. "Permit me to leadyou back to it. "

Still smiling he made as if to advance, when she stayed him with agesture of her raised hand, at once so majestic and so pleading that itwas as though a strain of music had passed through the stillness of thecabin. 

"Sir Francis Wyatt, as you are a gentleman, let me speak, " she said. It was the voice of that first night at Weyanoke, all pathos, allsweetness, all entreating. 

The Governor stopped short, the smile still upon his lips, his handstill outstretched, --stood thus for a moment, then sat down. Around thehalf circle of gentlemen went a little rustling sound, like wind in deadleaves. My lord half rose from his seat. "She is bewitched, " he said, with dry lips. "She will say what she has been told to say. Lest shespeak to her shame, we should refuse to hear her. "

She had been standing in the centre of the floor, her hands clasped, herbody bowed toward the Governor, but at my lord's words she straightenedlike a bow unbent. "I may speak, your Honor?" she asked clearly. 

The Governor, who had looked askance at the working face of theman beside him, slightly bent his head and leaned back in his greatarmchair. The King's favorite started to his feet. The King's wardturned her eyes upon him. "Sit down, my lord, " she said. "Surely thesegentlemen will think that you are afraid of what I, a poor erring woman, rebellious to the King, traitress to mine own honor, late the playthingof a pirate ship, may say or do. Truth, my lord, should be morecourageous. " Her voice was gentle, even plaintive, but it had in it thequality that lurks in the eyes of the crouching panther. 

My lord sat down, one hand hiding his working mouth, the other clenchedon the arm of his chair as if it had been an arm of flesh. 

CHAPTER XXVII IN WHICH I FIND AN ADVOCATE

SHE came slowly nearer the ring of now very quiet and attentive facesuntil she stood beside me, but she neither looked at me nor spoke to me. She was thinner and there were heavy shadows beneath her eyes, but shewas beautiful. 

"I stand before gentlemen to whom, perhaps, I am not utterly unknown, "she said. "Some here, perchance, have been to court, and have seen methere. Master Sandys, once, before the Queen died, you came to Greenwichto kiss her Majesty's hands; and while you waited in her antechamber yousaw a young maid of honor--scarce more than a child--curled in a windowseat with a book. You sat beside her, and told her wonderful talesof sunny lands and gods and nymphs. I was that maid of honor. MasterClayborne, once, hawking near Windsor, I dropped my glove. There were amany out of their saddles before it touched the ground, but a gentleman, not of our party, who had drawn his horse to one side to let us pass, was quicker than they all. Did you not think yourself well paid, sir, when you kissed the hand to which you restored the glove? All here, Ithink, may have heard my name. If any hath heard aught that ever Idid in all my life to tarnish it, I pray him to speak now and shame mebefore you all!"

Clayborne started up. "I remember that day at Windsor, lady!" he cried. "The man of whom I afterward asked your name was a most libertinecourtier, and he raised his hat when he spoke of you, calling you a lilywhich the mire of the court could not besmirch. I will believe all good, but no harm of you, lady!"

He sat down, and Master Sandys said gravely: "Men need not be courtiersto have known of a lady of great wealth and high birth, a ward of theKing's, and both beautiful and pure. I nor no man else, I think, everheard aught of the Lady Jocelyn Leigh but what became a daughter of herline. "

A murmur of assent went round the circle. The Governor, leaning forwardfrom his seat, his wife's hand in his, gravely bent his head. "All thisis known, lady, " he said courteously. 

She did not answer; her eyes were upon the King's favorite, and thecircle waited with her. 

"It is known, " said my lord. 

She smiled proudly. "For so much grace, thanks, my lord, " she said, thenaddressed herself again to the Governor: "Your Honor, that is the past, the long past, the long, long past, though not a year has gone by. ThenI was a girl, proud and careless; now, your Honor, I am a woman, andI stand here in the dignity of suffering and peril. I fled fromEngland"--She paused, drew herself up, and turned upon my lord a faceand form so still, and yet so expressive of noble indignation, outragedwomanhood, scorn, and withal a kind of angry pity, that small wonder ifhe shrank as from a blow. "I left the only world I knew, " she said. "Itook a way low and narrow and dark and set with thorns, but the only waythat I--alone and helpless and bewildered---could find, because that I, Jocelyn Leigh, willed not to wed with you, my Lord Carnal. Why did youfollow me, my lord? You knew that I loved you not. You knew my mind, and that I was weak and friendless, and you used your power. I musttell you, my lord, that you were not chivalrous, nor compassionate, norbrave"--

"I loved you!" he cried, and stretched out his arm toward her across thetable. He saw no one but her, spoke to none but her. There was a fierceyearning and a hopelessness in his voice and bent head and outstretchedarm that lent for the time a tragic dignity to the pageant, evil andmagnificent, of his life. 

"You loved me, " she said. "I had rather you had hated me, my lord. Icame to Virginia, your Honor, and men thought me the thing I professedmyself. In the green meadow beyond the church they wooed me as such. This one came and that one, and at last a fellow, when I said him nayand bade him begone, did dare to seize my hands and kiss my lips. WhileI struggled one came and flung that dastard out of the way, then askedme plainly to become his wife, and there was no laugh or insult in hisvoice. I was wearied and fordone and desperate. . . . So I met my husband, and so I married him. That same day I told him a part of my secret, andwhen my Lord Carnal was come I told him all. . . . I had not met with muchtrue love or courtesy or compassion in my life. When I saw the danger inwhich he stood because of me, I told him he might free himself from thatcoil, might swear to what they pleased, whistle me off, save himself, and I would say no word of blame. There was wine upon the table, and hefilled a cup and brought it to me, and we drank of it together. We drankof the same cup then, your Honor, and we will drink of it still. Wetwain were wedded, and the world strove to part us. Which of you here, in such quarrel, would not withstand the world? Lady Wyatt, would notthy husband hold thee, while he lived, against the world? Then speak formine!"

"Frank, Frank!" cried Lady Wyatt. "They love each other!"

"If he withstood the King, " went on the King's ward, "it was for hishonor and for mine. If he fled from Virginia, it was because I willedit so. Had he stayed, my Lord Carnal, and had you willed to follow meagain, you must have made a yet longer journey to a most distant bourne. That wild night when we fled, why did you come upon us, my lord? Themoon burst forth from a black cloud, and you stood there upon the wharfabove us, calling to the footsteps behind to hasten. We would have leftyou there in safety, and gone ourselves alone down that stream as blackand strange as death. Why did you spring down the steps and grapple withthe minister? And he that might have thrust you beneath the flood anddrowned you there did but fling you into the boat. We wished not yourcompany, my lord; we would willingly have gone without you. I trust, mylord, you have made honest report of this matter, and have told thesegentlemen that my husband gave you, a prisoner whom he wanted not, allfair and honorable treatment. That you have done this I dare take myoath, my lord"--

She stood silent, her eyes upon his. The men around stirred, and alittle flash like the glint of drawn steel went from one pair of eyes toanother. 

"My lord, my lord!" said the King's ward. "Long ago you won my hatred;an you would not win my contempt, speak truth this day!"

In his eyes, which he had never taken from her face, there leaped tomeet the proud appeal in her own a strange fire. That he loved her witha great and evil passion, I, who needs had watched him closely, hadlong known. Suddenly he burst into jarring laughter. "Yea, he treated mefairly enough, damn him to everlasting hell! But he 's a pirate, sweetbird; he's a pirate, and must swing as such!"

"A pirate!" she cried. "But he was none! My lord, you know he was none!Your Honor"--

The Governor interrupted her: "He made himself captain of a pirate ship, lady. He took and sunk ships of Spain. "

"In what sort did he become their chief?" she cried. "In such sort, gentlemen, as the bravest of you, in like straits, would have beenblithe to be, an you had had like measure of wit and daring! Your Honor, the wind before which our boat drave like a leaf, the waves that wouldengulf us, wrecked us upon a desert isle. There was no food or wateror shelter. That night, while we slept, a pirate ship anchored off thebeach, and in the morning the pirates came ashore to bury their captain. My husband met them alone, fought their would-be leaders one by one, andforced the election to fall upon himself. Well he knew that if he leftnot that isle their leader, he would leave it their captive; and nothe alone! God's mercy, gentlemen, what other could he do? I pray youto hold him absolved from a willing embrace of that life! Sunk shipsof Spain! Yea, forsooth; and how long hath it been since other Englishgentlemen sunk other ships of Spain? The world hath changed indeed ifto fight the Spaniard in the Indies, e'en though at home we be at peacewith him, be conceived so black a crime! He fought their galleons fairand knightly, with his life in his hand; he gave quarter, and whilethey called him chief those pirates tortured no prisoner and wrongedno woman. Had he not been there, would the ships have been taken lesssurely? Had he not been there, God wot, ships and ships' boats alikewould have sunk or burned, and no Spanish men and women had rowed awayand blessed a generous foe. A pirate! He, with me and with the ministerand with my Lord Carnal, was prisoner to the pirates, and out of thatdanger he plucked safety for us all! Who hath so misnamed a gallantgentleman? Was it you, my lord?"

Eyes and voice were imperious, and in her cheeks burned an indignantcrimson. My lord's face was set and white; he looked at her, but spokeno word. 

"The Spanish ships might pass, lady, " said the Governor; "but this is anEnglish ship, with the flag of England above her. "

"Yea, " she said. "What then?"

The circle rustled again. The Governor loosed his wife's fingers andleaned forward. "You plead well, lady!" he exclaimed. "You might win, anCaptain Percy had not seen fit to fire upon us. "

A dead silence followed his words. Outside the square window a cloudpassed from the face of the sun, and a great burst of sunshine enteredthe cabin. She stood in the heart of it, and looked a goddess angered. My lord, with his haggard face and burning eyes, slowly rose from hisseat, and they faced each other. 

"You told them not who fired those guns, who sunk that pirate ship?"she said. "Because he was your enemy, you held your tongue? Knight andgentleman--my Lord Carnal--my Lord Coward!"

"Honor is an empty word to me, " he answered. "For you I would dive intothe deepest hell, --if there be a deeper than that which burns me, dayin, day out. . . . Jocelyn, Jocelyn, Jocelyn!"

"You love me so?" she said. "Then do me pleasure. Because I ask it ofyou, tell these men the truth. " She came a step nearer, and held out herclasped hands to him. "Tell them how it was, my lord, and I will striveto hate you no longer. The harm that you have done me I will pray forstrength to forgive. Ah, my lord, let me not ask in vain! Will you thatI kneel to you?"

"I fix my own price, " he said. "I will do what you ask, an you will letme kiss your lips. "

I sprang forward with an oath. Some one behind caught both my wrists inan iron grasp and pulled me back. "Be not a fool!" growled Claybornein my ear. "The cord's loosening fast: if you interfere, it may tightenwith a jerk!" I freed my hands from his grasp. The Treasurer, sittingnext him, leaned across the table and motioned to the two seamen besidethe window. They left their station, and each seized me by an arm. "Beguided, Captain Percy, " said Master Sandys in a low voice. "We wish youwell. Let her win you through. "

"First tell the truth, my lord, " said the King's ward; "then come andtake the reward you ask. "

"Jocelyn!" I cried. "I command you"--

She turned upon me a perfectly colorless face. "All my life after I willbe to you an obedient wife, " she said. "This once I pray you to hold meexcused. . . . Speak, my lord. "

There was the mirth of the lost in the laugh with which he turned to theGovernor. "That pretty little tale, sir, that I regaled you with, theday you obligingly picked me up, was pure imagination; the wetting musthave disordered my reason. A potion sweeter than the honey of Hybla, which I am about to drink, hath restored me beforehand. Gentlemen all, there was mutiny aboard that ship which so providentially sank beforeyour very eyes. For why? The crew, who were pirates, and the captain, who was yonder gentleman, did not agree. The one wished to attackyou, board you, rummage you, and slay, after recondite fashions, everymother's son of you; the other demurred, --so strongly, in fact, that hislife ceased to be worth a pin's purchase. Indeed, I believe he resignedhis captaincy then and there, and, declining to lift a finger againstan English ship, defied them to do their worst. He had no hand in thefiring of those culverins; the mutineers touched them off without somuch as a 'by your leave. ' His attention was otherwise occupied. Goodsirs, there was not the slightest reason in nature why the ship shouldhave struck upon that sunken reef, to the damnation of her people andthe salvation of yours. Why do you suppose she diverged from the path ofsafety to split into slivers against that fortunate ledge?"

The men around drew in their breath, and one or two sprang to theirfeet. My lord laughed again. "Have you seen the pious man wholeft Jamestown and went aboard the pirate ship as this gentleman'slieutenant? He hath the strength of a bull. Captain Percy here had butto nod his head, and hey, presto! the helmsman was bowled over, and theminister had the helm. The ship struck: the pirates went to hell, andyou, gentlemen, were preserved to order all things well in Virginia. Mayshe long be grateful! The man who dared that death rather than attackthe ship he guessed to be the Company's is my mortal foe, whom I willyet sweep from my path, but he is not a pirate. Ay, take it down, an itplease you, Master Secretary! I retreat from a most choice position, tobe sure, but what care I? I see a vantage ground more to my liking. Ihave lost a throw, perhaps, but I will recoup ten such losses with onesuch kiss. By your leave, lady. "

He went up to her where she stood, with hanging arms, her head a littlebent, white and cold and yielding as a lady done in snow; gazed at hera moment, with his passion written in his fierce eyes and haggard, handsome face; then crushed her to him. 

If I could have struck him dead, I would have done so. When her word hadbeen kept, she released herself with a quiet and resolute dignity. Asfor him, he sank back into the great chair beside the Governor's, leanedan elbow on the table, and hid his eyes with one shaking hand. 

The Governor rose to his feet, and motioned away the two seamen who heldme fast. "We'll have no hanging this morning, gentlemen, " he announced. "Captain Percy, I beg to apologize to you for words that were nevermeant for a brave and gallant gentleman, but for a pirate who I finddoes not exist. I pray you to forget them, quite. "

I returned his bow, but my eyes traveled past him. 

"I will allow you no words with my Lord Carnal, " he said. "With yourwife, --that is different. " He moved aside with a smile. 

She was standing, pale, with downcast eyes, where my lord had left her. "Jocelyn, " I said. She turned toward me, crimsoned deeply, uttered a lowcry, half laughter, half a sob, then covered her face with her hands. Itook them away and spoke her name again, and this time she hid her faceupon my breast. 

A moment thus; then--for all eyes were upon her--I lifted her head, kissed her, and gave her to Lady Wyatt, whom I found at my side. "Icommend my wife to your ladyship's care, " I said. "As you are woman, deal sisterly by her!"

"You may trust me, sir, " she made answer, the tears upon her cheeks. "Idid not know, --I did not understand. . . . Dear heart, come away, --come awaywith Margaret Wyatt. "

Clayborne opened the door of the cabin, and stood aside with a low bow. The men who had sat to judge me rose; only the King's favorite kept hisseat. With Lady Wyatt's arm about her, the King's ward passed betweenthe lines of standing gentlemen to the door, there hesitated, turned, and, facing them with I know not what of pride and shame, wistfulness ofentreaty and noble challenge to belief in the face and form that were ofall women's most beautiful, curtsied to them until her knee touched thefloor. She was gone, and the sunlight with her. 

When I turned upon that shameless lord where he sat in his evil beauty, with his honor dead before him, men came hastily in between. I putthem aside with a laugh. I had but wanted to look at him. I had nosword, --already he lay beneath my challenge, --and words are weak things. 

At length he rose, as arrogant as ever in his port, as evilly superb inhis towering pride, and as amazingly indifferent to the thoughts of menwho lied not. "This case hath wearied me, " he said. "I will retire fora while to rest, and in dreams to live over a past sweetness. Giveyou good-day, gentles! Sir Francis Wyatt, you will remember thatthis gentleman did resist arrest, and that he lieth under the King'sdispleasure!" So saying he clapped his hat upon his head and walked outof the cabin. The Company's officers drew a long breath, as if a fresherair had come in with his departure. 

"I have no choice, Captain Percy, but to keep you still under restraint, both here and when we shall reach Jamestown, " said the Governor. "Allthat the Company, through me, can do, consistent with its duty to hisMajesty, to lighten your confinement shall be done"--

"Then send him not again into the hold, Sir Francis!" exclaimed theTreasurer, with a wry face. 

The Governor laughed. "Lighter and sweeter quarters shall be found. Yourwife's a brave lady, Captain Percy"--

"And a passing fair one, " said Claybourne under his breath. 

"I left a friend below in the hold, your Honor, " I said. "He came withme from Jamestown because he was my friend. The King hath never heardof him. And he's no more a pirate than I or you, your Honor. He is aminister, --a sober, meek, and godly man"--

From behind the Secretary rose the singsong of my acquaintance of thehold, Dr. John Pott. "He is Jeremy, your Honor, Jeremy who made the townmerry at Blackfriars. Your Honor remembers him? He had a sickness, andforsook the life and went into the country. He was known to the Deanof St. Paul's. All the town laughed when it heard that he had takenorders. "

"Jeremy!" cried out the Treasurer. "Nick Bottom! Christopher Sly! SirToby Belch! Sir Francis, give me Jeremy to keep in my cabin!"

The Governor laughed. "He shall be bestowed with Captain Percy wherehe'll not lack for company, I warrant! Jeremy! Ben Jonson loved him;they drank together at the Mermaid. "

A little later the Treasurer turned to leave my new quarters, towhich he had walked beside me, glanced at the men who waited for himwithout, --Jeremy had not yet been brought from the hold, --and returnedto my side to say, in a low voice, but with emphasis: "Captain Percy hasbeen a long time without news from home, --from England. What would hemost desire to hear?"

"Of the welfare of his Grace of Buckingham, " I replied. 

He smiled. "His Grace is as well as heart could desire, and as powerful. The Queen's dog now tuggeth the sow by the ears this way or that, as itpleaseth him. Since we are not to hang you as a pirate, Captain Percy, I incline to think your affairs in better posture than when you leftVirginia. "

"I think so too, sir, " I said, and gave him thanks for his courtesy, andwished him good-day, being anxious to sit still and thank God, with myface in my hands and summer in my heart. 

CHAPTER XXVIII IN WHICH THE SPRINGTIME IS AT HAND

TIRED of dicing against myself, and of the books that Rolfe had sentme, I betook myself to the gaol window, and, leaning against the bars, looked out in search of entertainment. The nearest if not the merriestthing the prospect had to offer was the pillory. It was built so tallthat it was but little lower than the low upper story of the gaol, andit faced my window at so short a distance that I could hear the long, whistling breath of the wretch who happened to occupy it. It was not apleasant sound; neither was a livid face, new branded on the cheek witha great R, and with a trickle of dark blood from the mutilated earsstaining the board in which the head was immovably fixed, a pleasantsight. A little to one side was the whipping post: a woman had beenwhipped that morning, and her cries had tainted the air even moreeffectually than had the decayed matter with which certain small devilshad pelted the runaway in the pillory. I looked away from the poor roguebelow me into the clear, hard brightness of the March day, and was mostheartily weary of the bars between me and it. The wind blew keenly; thesky was blue as blue could be, and the river a great ribbon of azuresewn with diamonds. All colors were vivid and all distances near. Therewas no haze over the forest; brown and bare it struck the cloudlessblue. The marsh was emerald, the green of the pines deep and rich, thebudding maples redder than coral. The church, with the low green gravesaround it, appeared not a stone's throw away, and the voices of thechildren up and down the street sounded clearly, as though they playedin the brown square below me. When the drum beat for the nooning theroll was close in my ears. The world looked so bright and keen that itseemed new made, and the brilliant sunshine and the cold wind stirredthe blood like wine. 

Now and then men and women passed through the square below. Well-nighall glanced up at the window, and their eyes were friendly. It wasknown now that Buckingham was paramount at home, and my Lord Carnal'sfollowing in Virginia was much decayed. Young Hamor strode by, bravelydressed and whistling cheerily, and doffed a hat with a most noblebroken feather. "We're going to bait a bear below the fort!" he called. "Sorry you'll miss the sport! There will be all the world--and my LordCarnal. " He whistled himself away, and presently there came alongMaster Edward Sharpless. He stopped and stared at the rogue in thepillory, --with no prescience, I suppose, of a day when he was to standthere himself; then looked up at me with as much malevolence as hissmall soul could write upon his mean features, and passed on. He had ajaded look; moreover, his clothes were swamp-stained and his cloak hadbeen torn by briers. "What did you go to the forest for?" I muttered. 

The key grated in the door behind me, and it opened to admit the gaolerand Diccon with my dinner, --which I was not sorry to see. "Sir Georgesent the venison, sir, " said the gaoler, grinning, "and Master Pierseythe wild fowl, and Madam West the pasty and the marchpane, and MasterPory the sack. Be there anything you lack, sir?"

"Nothing that you can supply, " I answered curtly. 

The fellow grinned again, straightened the things upon the table, andstarted for the door. "You can stay until I come for the platters, "he said to Diccon, and went out, locking the door after him withostentation. 

I applied myself to the dinner, and Diccon went to the window, and stoodthere looking out at the blue sky and at the man in the pillory. He hadthe freedom of the gaol. I was somewhat more straitly confined, thoughmy friends had easy access to me. As for Jeremy Sparrow, he had spenttwenty-four hours in gaol, at the end of which time Madam West had afit of the spleen, declared she was dying, and insisted upon MasterSparrow's being sent for to administer consolation; Master Bucke, unfortunately, having gone up to Henricus on business connected with thecollege. From the bedside of that despotic lady Sparrow was called tobury a man on the other side of the river, and from the grave to marrya couple at Mulberry Island. And the next day being Sunday, and nominister at hand, he preached again in Master Bucke's pulpit, --andpreached a sermon so powerful and moving that its like had never beenheard in Virginia. They marched him not back from the pulpit to gaol. There were but five ministers in Virginia, and there were a many moresick to visit and dead to bury. Master Bucke, still feeble in body, tarried up river discussing with Thorpe the latter's darling project ofconverting every imp of an Indian this side the South Sea, and Jeremyslipped into his old place. There had been some talk of a publiccensure, but it died away. 

The pasty and sack disposed of, I turned in my seat and spoke to Diccon:"I looked for Master Rolfe to-day. Have you heard aught of him?"

"No, " he answered. As he spoke, the door was opened and the gaoler putin his head. "A messenger from Master Rolfe, captain. " He drew back, andthe Indian Nantauquas entered the room. 

Rolfe I had seen twice since the arrival of the George at Jamestown, butthe Indian had not been with him. The young chief now came forward andtouched the hand I held out to him. "My brother will be here before thesun touches the tallest pine, " he announced in his grave, calm voice. "He asks Captain Percy to deny himself to any other that may come. Hewishes to see him alone. "

"I shall hardly be troubled with company, " I said. "There's abear-baiting toward. "

Nantauquas smiled. "My brother asked me to find a bear for to-day. Ibought one from the Paspaheghs for a piece of copper, and took him tothe ring below the fort. "

"Where all the town will presently be gone, " I said. "I wonder whatRolfe did that for!"

Filling a cup with sack, I pushed it to the Indian across the table. "You are little in the woods nowadays, Nantauquas. "

His fine dark face clouded ever so slightly. "Opechancanough has dreamtthat I am Indian no longer. Singing birds have lied to him, telling himthat I love the white man, and hate my own color. He calls me no morehis brave, his brother Powhatan's dear son. I do not sit by his councilfire now, nor do I lead his war bands. When I went last to his lodge andstood before him, his eyes burned me like the coals the Monacans onceclosed my hands upon. He would not speak to me. "

"It would not fret me if he never spoke again, " I said. "You have beento the forest to-day?"

"Yes, " he replied, glancing at the smear of leaf mould upon his beadedmoccasins. "Captain Percy's eyes are quick; he should have been anIndian. I went to the Paspaheghs to take them the piece of copper. Icould tell Captain Percy a curious thing"--

"Well?" I demanded, as he paused. 

"I went to the lodge of the werowance with the copper, and found him notthere. The old men declared that he had gone to the weirs for fish, --heand ten of his braves. The old men lied. I had passed the weirs of thePaspaheghs, and no man was there. I sat and smoked before the lodge, andthe maidens brought me chinquapin cakes and pohickory; for Nantauquasis a prince and a welcome guest to all save Opechancanough. The old mensmoked, with their eyes upon the ground, each seeing only the days whenhe was even as Nantauquas. They never knew when a wife of the werowance, turned child by pride, unfolded a doeskin and showed Nantauquas a silvercup carved all over and set with colored stones. "

"Humph!"

"The cup was a heavy price to pay, " continued the Indian. "I do not knowwhat great thing it bought. "

"Humph!" I said again. "Did you happen to meet Master Edward Sharplessin the forest?"

He shook his head. "The forest is wide, and there are many trailsthrough it. Nantauquas looked for that of the werowance of thePaspaheghs, but found it not. He had no time to waste upon a white man. "

He gathered his otterskin mantle about him and prepared to depart. Irose and gave him my hand, for I thoroughly liked him, and in the pasthe had made me his debtor. "Tell Rolfe he will find me alone, " I said, "and take my thanks for your pains, Nantauquas. If ever we hunt togetheragain, may I have the chance to serve you! I bear the scars of thewolf's teeth yet; you came in the nick of time, that day. "

The Indian smiled. "It was a fierce old wolf. I wish Captain Percy freewith all my heart, and then we will hunt more wolves, he and I. "

When he was gone, and the gaoler and Diccon with him, I returned tothe window. The runaway in the pillory was released, and went awayhomewards, staggering beside his master's stirrup. Passers-by grew moreand more infrequent, and up the street came faint sounds of laughterand hurrahing, --the bear must be making good sport. I could see thehalf-moon, and the guns, and the flag that streamed in the wind, and onthe river a sail or two, white in the sunlight as the gulls that swoopedpast. Beyond rose the bare masts of the George. The Santa Teresa rodeno more forever in the James. The King's ship was gone home to the Kingwithout the freight he looked for. Three days, and the George wouldspread her white wings and go down the wide river, and I with her, andthe King's ward, and the King's sometime favorite. I looked down thewind-ruffled stream, and saw the great bay into which it emptied, andbeyond the bay the heaving ocean, dark and light, league on league, league on league; then green England, and London, and the Tower. Thevision disturbed me less than once it would have done. Men that I knewand trusted were to be passengers on that ship, as well as one I knewand did not trust. And if, at the journey's end, I saw the Tower, Isaw also his Grace of Buckingham. Where I hated he hated, and was nowpowerful enough to strike. 

The wind blew from the west, from the unknown. I turned my head, andit beat against my forehead, cold and fragrant with the essence of theforest, --pine and cedar, dead leaves and black mould, fen and hollowand hill, --all the world of woods over which it had passed. The ghostof things long dead, which face or voice could never conjure up, willsometimes start across our path at the beckoning of an odor. A day inthe Starving Time came back to me: how I had dragged myself from ourbroken palisade and crazy huts, and the groans of the famished and theplague-stricken, and the presence of the unburied dead, across the neckand into the woods, and had lain down there to die, being taken with asick fear and horror of the place of cannibals behind me; and how weakI was!--too weak to care any more. I had been a strong man, and it hadcome to that, and I was content to let it be. The smell of the woodsthat day, the chill brown earth beneath me, the blowing wind, the longstretch of the river gleaming between the pines, . . . And fair in sightthe white sails of the Patience and the Deliverance. 

I had been too nigh gone then to greatly care that I was saved; now Icared, and thanked God for my life. Come what might in the future, thepast was mine. Though I should never see my wife again, I had that hourin the state cabin of the George. I loved, and was loved again. 

There was a noise outside the door, and Rolfe's voice speaking to thegaoler. Impatient for his entrance I started toward the door, but whenit opened he made no move to cross the threshold. "I am not coming in, "he said, with a face that he strove to keep grave. "I only came to bringsome one else. " With that he stepped back, and a second figure, comingforward out of the dimness behind him, crossed the threshold. It was awoman, cloaked and hooded. The door was drawn to behind her, and we werealone together. 

Beside the cloak and hood she wore a riding mask. "Do you know who itis?" she asked, when she had stood, so shrouded, for a long minute, during which I had found no words with which to welcome her. 

"Yea, " I answered: "the princess in the fairy tale. "

She freed her dark hair from its covering, and unclasping her cloak letit drop to the floor. "Shall I unmask?" she asked, with a sigh. "Faith!I should keep the bit of silk between your eyes, sir, and my blushes. AmI ever to be the forward one? Do you not think me too bold a lady?" Asshe spoke, her white hands were busy about the fastening of her mask. "The knot is too hard, " she murmured, with a little tremulous laugh anda catch of her breath. 

I untied the ribbons. 

"May I not sit down?" she said plaintively, but with soft merriment inher eyes. "I am not quite strong yet. My heart--you do not know whatpain I have in my heart sometimes. It makes me weep of nights and whennone are by, indeed it does!"

There was a settle beneath the window. I led her to it, and she satdown. 

"You must know that I am walking in the Governor's garden, that hathonly a lane between it and the gaol. " Her eyes were downcast, her cheekspure rose. 

"When did you first love me?" I demanded. 

"Lady Wyatt must have guessed why Master Rolfe alone went not to thebear-baiting, but joined us in the garden. She said the air was keen, and fetched me her mask, and then herself went indoors to embroiderSamson in the arms of Delilah. '

"Was it here at Jamestown, or was it when we were first wrecked, or onthe island with the pink hill when you wrote my name in the sand, or"--

"The George will sail in three days, and we are to be taken back toEngland after all. It does not scare me now. "

"In all my life I have kissed you only once, " I said. 

The rose deepened, and in her eyes there was laughter, with tearsbehind. "You are a gentleman of determination, " she said. "If youare bent upon having your way, I do not know that I--that I--can helpmyself. I do not even know that I want to help myself. "

Outside the wind blew and the sun shone, and the laughter from below thefort was too far away and elfin to jar upon us. The world forgot us, andwe were well content. There seemed not much to say: I suppose we weretoo happy for words. I knelt beside her, and she laid her hands inmine, and now and then we spoke. In her short and lonely life, and in mylonger stern and crowded one, there had been little tenderness, littlehappiness. In her past, to those about her, she had seemed bright andgay; I had been a comrade whom men liked because I could jest as well asfight. Now we were happy, but we were not gay. Each felt for the other agreat compassion; each knew that though we smiled to-day, the groan andthe tear might be to-morrow's due; the sunshine around us was pure gold, but that the clouds were mounting we knew full well. 

"I must soon be gone, " she said at last. "It is a stolen meeting. I donot know when we shall meet again. "

She rose from the settle, and I rose with her, and we stood togetherbeside the barred window. There was no danger of her being seen; streetand square were left to the wind and the sunshine. My arm was aroundher, and she leaned her head against my breast. "Perhaps we shall nevermeet again, " she said. 

"The winter is over, " I answered. "Soon the trees will be green andthe flowers in bloom. I will not believe that our spring can have nosummer. "

She took from her bosom a little flower that had been pinned there. Itlay, a purple star, in the hollow of her hand. "It grew in the sun. Itis the first flower of spring. " She put it to her lips, then laidit upon the window ledge beside my hand. "I have brought you evilgifts, --foes and strife and peril. Will you take this little purpleflower--and all my heart beside?"

I bent and kissed first the tiny blossom, and then the lips that hadproffered it. "I am very rich, " I said. 

The sun was now low, and the pines in the square and the upright of thepillory cast long shadows. The wind had fallen and the sounds had diedaway. It seemed very still. Nothing moved but the creeping shadows untila flight of small white-breasted birds went past the window. "The snowis gone, " I said. "The snowbirds are flying north. "

"The woods will soon be green, " she murmured wistfully. "Ah, if we couldride through them once more, back to Weyanoke"--

"To home, " I said. 

"Home, " she echoed softly. 

There was a low knocking at the door behind us. "It is Master Rolfe'ssignal, " she said. "I must not stay. Tell me that you love me, and letme go. "

I drew her closer to me and pressed my lips upon her bowed head. "Do younot know that I love you?" I asked. 

"Yea, " she answered. "I have been taught it. Tell me that you believethat God will be good to us. Tell me that we shall be happy yet; for oh, I have a boding heart this day!"

Her voice broke, and she lay trembling in my arms, her face hidden. "Ifthe summer never comes for us"--she whispered. "Good-by, my lover and myhusband. If I have brought you ruin and death, I have brought you, too, a love that is very great. Forgive me and kiss me, and let me go. "

"Thou art my dearly loved and honored wife, " I said. "My heart forebodessummer, and joy, and peace, and home. "

We kissed each other solemnly, as those who part for a journey and awarfare. I spoke no word to Rolfe when the door was opened and she hadpassed out with her cloak drawn about her face, but we clasped hands, and each knew the other for his friend indeed. They were gone, thegaoler closing and locking the door behind them. As for me, I went backto the settle beneath the window, and, falling on my knees beside it, buried my face in my arms. 

CHAPTER XXIX IN WHICH I KEEP TRYST

THE sun dropped below the forest, blood red, dyeing the river its owncolor. There were no clouds in the sky, --only a great suffusion ofcrimson climbing to the zenith; against it the woods were as black aswar paint. The color faded and the night set in, a night of no wind andof numberless stars. On the hearth burned a fire. I left the window andsat beside it, and in the hollows between the red embers made pictures, as I used to make them when I was a boy. 

I sat there long. It grew late, and all sounds in the town were hushed;only now and then the "All's well!" of the watch came faintly to myears. Diccon lodged with me; he lay in his clothes upon a pallet in thefar corner of the room, but whether he slept or not I did not ask. Heand I had never wasted words; since chance had thrown us together againwe spoke only when occasion required. 

The fire was nigh out, and it must have been ten of the clock when, withsomewhat more of caution and less of noise than usual, the key gratedin the lock; the door opened, and the gaoler entered, closing itnoiselessly behind him. There was no reason why he should intrudehimself upon me after nightfall, and I regarded him with a frown and animpatience that presently turned to curiosity. 

He began to move about the room, making pretense of seeing that therewas water in the pitcher beside my pallet, that the straw beneath thecoverlet was fresh, that the bars of the window were firm, and ended byapproaching the fire and heaping pine upon it. It flamed up brilliantly, and in the strong red light he half opened a clenched hand and showedme two gold pieces, and beneath them a folded paper. I looked at hisfurtive eyes and brutal, doltish face, but he kept them blank as a wall. The hand closed again over the treasure within it, and he turned awayas if to leave the room. I drew a noble--one of a small store of goldpieces conveyed to me by Rolfe--from my pocket, and stooping made itspin upon the hearth in the red firelight. The gaoler looked at itaskance, but continued his progress toward the door. I drew out itsfellow, set it too to spinning, then leaned back against the table. "They hunt in couples, " I said. "There will be no third one. "

He had his foot upon them before they had done spinning. The next momentthey had kissed the two pieces already in his possession, and he hadtransferred all four to his pocket. I held out my hand for the paper, and he gave it to me grudgingly, with a spiteful slowness of movement. He would have stayed beside me as I read it, but I sternly bade him keephis distance; then kneeling before the fire to get the light, I openedthe paper. It was written upon in a delicate, woman's hand, and it ranthus:--

An you hold me dear, come to me at once. Come without tarrying to thedeserted hut on the neck of land, nearest to the forest. As you love me, as you are my knight, keep this tryst. 

In distress and peril, THY WIFE. 

Folded with it was a line in the commander's hand and with hissignature: "The bearer may pass without the palisade at his pleasure. "

I read the first paper again, refolded it, and rose to my feet. "Whobrought this, sirrah?" I demanded. 

His answer was glib enough: "One of the governor's servants. He said ashow there was no harm in the letter, and the gold was good. "

"When was this?"

"Just now. No, I did n't know the man. "

I saw no way to discover whether or not he lied. Drawing out anothergold piece, I laid it upon the table. He eyed it greedily, edging nearerand nearer. 

"For leaving this door unlocked, " I said. 

His eyes narrowed and he moistened his lips, shifting from one foot tothe other. 

I put down a second piece. "For opening the outer door, " I said. 

He wet his lips again, made an inarticulate sound in his throat, and finally broke out with, "The commander will nail my ears to thepillory. "

"You can lock the doors after me, and know as little as you choose inthe morning. No gain without some risk. "

"That's so, " he agreed, and made a clutch at the gold. 

I swept it out of his reach. "First earn it, " I said dryly. "Look at thefoot of the pillory an hour from now and you'll find it. I'll not payyou this side of the doors. "

He bit his lips and studied the floor. "You're a gentleman, " he growledat last. "I suppose I can trust ye. "

"I suppose you can. "

Taking up his lantern he turned toward the door. "It 's growing late, "he said, with a most uncouth attempt to feign a guileless drowsiness. "I'll to bed, captain, when I've locked up. Good-night to ye!"

He was gone, and the door was left unlocked. I could walk out of thatgaol as I could have walked out of my house at Weyanoke. I was free, butshould I take my freedom? Going back to the light of the fire I unfoldedthe paper and stared at it, turning its contents this way and that inmy mind. The hand--but once had I seen her writing, and then it had beenwrought with a shell upon firm sand. I could not judge if this were thesame. Had the paper indeed come from her? Had it not? If in truth itwas a message from my wife, what had befallen in a few hours since ourparting? If it was a forger's lie, what trap was set, what toils werelaid? I walked up and down, and tried to think it out. The strangenessof it all, the choice of a lonely and distant hut for trysting place, that pass coming from a sworn officer of the Company, certain things Ihad heard that day. . . A trap. . . And to walk into it with my eyesopen. . . . An you hold me dear. As you are my knight, keep this tryst. Indistress and peril. . . . Come what might, there was a risk I could not run. 

I had no weapons to assume, no preparations to make. Gathering up thegaoler's gold I started toward the door, opened it, and going out wouldhave closed it softly behind me but that a booted leg thrust acrossthe jamb prevented me. "I am going with you, " said Diccon in a guardedvoice. "If you try to prevent me, I will rouse the house. " His head wasthrown back in the old way; the old daredevil look was upon his face. "I don't know why you are going, " he declared, "but there'll be danger, anyhow. "

"To the best of my belief I am walking into a trap, " I said. 

"Then it will shut on two instead of one, " he answered doggedly. 

By this he was through the door, and there was no shadow of turning onhis dark, determined face. I knew my man, and wasted no more words. Long ago it had grown to seem the thing most in nature that the hour ofdanger should find us side by side. 

When the door of the firelit room was shut, the gaol was in darknessthat might be felt. It was very still: the few other inmates were fastasleep; the gaoler was somewhere out of sight, dreaming with openeyes. We groped our way through the passage to the stairs, noiselesslydescended them, and found the outer door unchained, unbarred, andslightly ajar. 

When I had laid the gold beneath the pillory, we struck swiftly acrossthe square, being in fear lest the watch should come upon us, and tookthe first lane that led toward the palisade. Beneath the burning starsthe town lay stark in sleep. So bright in the wintry air were thosefar-away lights that the darkness below them was not great. We couldsee the low houses, the shadowy pines, the naked oaks, the sandy laneglimmering away to the river, star-strewn to match the heavens. The airwas cold, but exceedingly clear and still. Now and then a dog barked, orwolves howled in the forest across the river. We kept in the shadowof the houses and the trees, and went with the swiftness, silence, andcaution of Indians. 

The last house we must pass before reaching the palisade was onethat Rolfe owned, and in which he lodged when business brought him toJamestown. It and some low outbuildings beyond it were as dark as thecedars in which they were set, and as silent as the grave. Rolfe and hisIndian brother were sleeping there now, while I stood without. Or didthey sleep? Were they there at all? Might it not have been Rolfe who hadbribed the gaoler and procured the pass from West? Might I not find himat that strange trysting place? Might not all be well, after all? I wassorely tempted to rouse that silent house and demand if its master werewithin. I did it not. Servants were there, and noise would be made, andtime that might be more precious than life-blood was flying fast. I wenton, and Diccon with me. 

There was a cabin built almost against the palisade, and here one manwas supposed to watch, whilst another slept. To-night we found bothasleep. I shook the younger to his feet, and heartily cursed him for hisnegligence. He listened stupidly, and read as stupidly, by the light ofhis lantern, the pass which I thrust beneath his nose. Staggering to hisfeet, and drunk with his unlawful slumber, he fumbled at the fasteningsof the gate for full three minutes before the ponderous wood finallyswung open and showed the road beyond. "It's all right, " he mutteredthickly. "The commander's pass. Good-night, the three of ye!"

"Are you drunk or drugged?" I demanded. "There are only two. It's notsleep that is the matter with you. What is it?"

He made no answer, but stood holding the gate open and blinking at uswith dull, unseeing eyes. Something ailed him besides sleep; he may havebeen drugged, for aught I know. When we had gone some yards from thegate, we heard him say again, in precisely the same tone, "Good-night, the three of ye!" Then the gate creaked to, and we heard the bars drawnacross it. 

Without the palisade was a space of waste land, marsh and thicket, tapering to the narrow strip of sand and scrub joining the peninsula tothe forest, and here and there upon this waste ground rose a mean house, dwelt in by the poorer sort. All were dark. We left them behind, andfound ourselves upon the neck, with the desolate murmur of the river oneither hand, and before us the deep blackness of the forest. SuddenlyDiccon stopped in his tracks and turned his head. "I did hear somethingthen, " he muttered. "Look, sir!"

The stars faintly lit the road that had been trodden hard and bare bythe feet of all who came and went. Down this road something was comingtoward us, something low and dark, that moved not fast, and not slow, but with a measured and relentless pace. "A panther!" said Diccon. 

We watched the creature with more of curiosity than alarm. Unlessbrought to bay, or hungry, or wantonly irritated, these great cats werecowardly enough. It would hardly attack the two of us. Nearer and nearerit came, showing no signs of anger and none of fear, and paying noattention to the withered branch with which Diccon tried to scare itoff. When it was so close that we could see the white of its breast itstopped, looking at us with large unfaltering eyes, and slightly movingits tail to and fro. 

"A tame panther!" ejaculated Diccon. "It must be the one Nantauquastamed, sir. He would have kept it somewhere near Master Rolfe's house. "

"And it heard us, and followed us through the gate, " I said. "It was thethird the warder talked of. "

We walked on, and the beast, addressing itself to motion, followed atour heels. Now and then we looked back at it, but we feared it not. 

As for me, I had begun to think that a panther might be the leastformidable thing I should meet that night. By this I had scarcely anyhope--or fear--that I should find her at our journey's end. The lonesomepath that led only to the night-time forest, the deep and dark riverwith its mournful voice, the hard, bright, pitiless stars, the cold, theloneliness, the distance, --how should she be there? And if not she, whothen?

The hut to which I had been directed stood in an angle made by the neckand the main bank of the river. On one side of it was the water, onthe other a deep wood. The place had an evil name, and no man hadlived there since the planter who had built it hanged himself upon itsthreshold. The hut was ruinous: in the summer tall weeds grew up aroundit, and venomous snakes harbored beneath its rotted and broken floor; inthe winter the snow whitened it, and the wild fowl flew screaming in andout of the open door and the windows that needed no barring. To-nightthe door was shut and the windows in some way obscured. But theinterstices between the logs showed red; the hut was lighted within, andsome one was keeping tryst. 

The stillness was deadly. It was not silence, for the river murmured inthe stiff reeds, and far off in the midnight forest some beast of thenight uttered its cry, but a hush, a holding of the breath, an expectanthorror. The door, warped and shrunken, was drawn to, but was notfastened, as I could tell by the unbroken line of red light down oneside from top to bottom. Making no sound, I laid my hand upon it, pushedit open a little way, and looked within the hut. 

I had thought to find it empty or to find it crowded. It was neither. A torch lit it, and on the hearth burned a fire. Drawn in front of theblaze was an old rude chair, and in it sat a slight figure draped fromhead to foot in a black cloak. The head was bowed and hidden, the wholeattitude one of listlessness and dejection. As I looked, there came along tremulous sigh, and the head drooped lower and lower, as if in agrowing hopelessness. 

The revulsion of feeling was so great that for the moment I was dazed asby a sudden blow. There had been time during the walk from the gaol forenough of wild and whirling thoughts as to what should greet me in thathut; and now the slight figure by the fire, the exquisite melancholy ofits posture, its bent head, the weeping I could divine, --I had but onethought, to comfort her as quickly as I might. Diccon's hand was uponmy arm, but I shook it off, and pushing the door open crossed the unevenand noisy floor to the fire, and bent over the lonely figure beside it. "Jocelyn, " I said, "I have kept tryst. "

As I spoke, I laid my hand upon the bowed and covered head. It wasraised, the cloak was drawn aside, and there looked me in the eyes theItalian. 

As if it had been the Gorgon's gaze, I was turned to stone. The filmyeyes, the smile that would have been mocking had it not been so veryfaint, the pallor, the malignance, --I stared and stared, and my heartgrew cold and sick. 

It was but for a minute; then a warning cry from Diccon roused me. Isprang backward until the width of the hearth was between me and theItalian, then wheeled and found myself face to face with the King's latefavorite. Behind him was an open door, and beyond it a small inner room, dimly lighted. He stood and looked at me with an insolence and a triumphmost intolerable. His drawn sword was in his hand, the jeweled hiltblazing in the firelight, and on his dark, superb face a taunting smile. I met it with one as bold, at least, but I said no word, good or bad. In the cabin of the George I had sworn to myself that thenceforward mysword should speak for me to this gentleman. 

"You came, " he said. "I thought you would. "

I glanced around the hut, seeking for a weapon. Seeing nothing morepromising than the thick, half-consumed torch, I sprang to it andwrested it from the socket. Diccon caught up a piece of rusted iron fromthe hearth, and together we faced my lord's drawn sword and a small, sharp, and strangely shaped dagger that the Italian drew from a velvetsheath. 

My lord laughed, reading my thoughts. "You are mistaken, " he declaredcoolly. "I am content that Captain Percy knows I do not fear to fighthim. This time I play to win. " Turning toward the outer door, he raisedhis hand with a gesture of command. 

In an instant the room was filled. The red-brown figures, naked save forthe loincloth and the headdress, the impassive faces dashed with black, the ruthless eyes--I knew now why Master Edward Sharpless had gone tothe forest, and what service had been bought with that silver cup. ThePaspaheghs and I were old enemies; doubtless they would find their taska pleasant one. 

"My own knaves, unfortunately, were out of the way; sent home on theSanta Teresa, " said my lord, still smiling. "I am not yet so poor that Icannot hire others. True, Nicolo might have done the work just now, whenyou bent over him so lovingly and spoke so softly; but the river mightgive up your body to tell strange tales. I have heard that the Indiansare more ingenious, and leave no such witness anywhere. "

Before the words were out of his mouth I had sprung upon him, and hadcaught him by the sword wrist and the throat. He strove to free hishand, to withdraw himself from my grasp. Locked together, we struggledbackward and forward in what seemed a blaze of lights and a roaring asof mighty waters. Red hands caught at me, sharp knives panted to drinkmy blood; but so fast we turned and writhed, now he uppermost, now I, that for very fear of striking the wrong man hands and knives could notbe bold. I heard Diccon fighting, and knew that there would be howlingtomorrow among the squaws of the Paspaheghs. With all his might my lordstrove to bend the sword against me, and at last did cut me across thearm, causing the blood to flow freely. It made a pool upon the floor, and once my foot slipped in it, and I stumbled and almost fell. 

Two of the Paspaheghs were silent for evermore. Diccon had the knife ofthe first to fall, and it ran red. The Italian, quick and sinuous as aserpent, kept beside my lord and me, striving to bring his dagger to hismaster's aid. We two panted hard; before our eyes blood, within our earsthe sea. The noise of the other combatants suddenly fell. The hush couldonly mean that Diccon was dead or taken. I could not look behind tosee. With an access of fury I drove my antagonist toward a corner of thehut, --the corner, so it chanced, in which the panther had taken up itsquarters. With his heel he struck the beast out of his way, then madea last desperate effort to throw me. I let him think he was about tosucceed, gathered my forces and brought him crashing to the ground. Thesword was in my hand and shortened, the point was at his throat, when myarm was jerked backwards. A moment, and half a dozen hands had draggedme from the man beneath me, and a supple savage had passed a thong ofdeerskin around my arms and pinioned them to my sides. The game was up;there remained only to pay the forfeit without a grimace. 

Diccon was not dead; pinioned, like myself, and breathing hard, heleaned sullenly against the wall, they that he had slain at his feet. My lord rose, and stood over against me. His rich doublet was torn anddragged away at the neck, and my blood stained his hand and arm. A smilewas upon the face that had made him master of a kingdom's master. 

"The game was long, " he said, "but I have won at last. A long good-nightto you, Captain Percy, and a dreamless sleep!"

There was a swift backward movement of the Indians, and a loud "Thepanther, sir! Have a care!" from Diccon. I turned. The panther, maddenedby the noise and light, the shifting figures, the blocked doors, thesight and smell of blood, the blow that had been dealt it, was crouchingfor a spring. The red-brown hair was bristling, the eyes were terrible. I was before it, but those glaring eyes had marked me not. It passed melike a bar from a catapult, and the man whose heel it had felt was fullin its path. One of its forefeet sank in the velvet of the doublet;the claws of the other entered the flesh below the temple, and toredownwards and across. With a cry as awful as the panther's scream theItalian threw himself upon the beast and buried his poniard in its neck. The panther and the man it had attacked went down together. 

When the Indians had unlocked that dread embrace and had thrust asidethe dead brute, there emerged from the dimness of the inner room MasterEdward Sharpless, gray with fear, trembling in every limb, to take thereins that had fallen from my lord's hands. The King's minion lay inhis blood, a ghastly spectacle; unconscious now, but with life beforehim, --life through which to pass a nightmare vision. The face out ofwhich had looked that sullen, proud, and wicked spirit had been oneof great beauty; it had brought him exceeding wealth and power beyondmeasure; the King had loved to look upon it; and it had come to this. Helived, and I was to die: better my death than his life. In every heartthere are dark depths, whence at times ugly things creep into thedaylight; but at least I could drive back that unmanly triumph, and bidit never come again. I would have killed him, but I would not have hadhim thus. 

The Italian was upon his knees beside his master: even such a creaturecould love. From his skeleton throat came a low, prolonged, croakingsound, and his bony hands strove to wipe away the blood. The Paspaheghsdrew around us closer and closer, and the werowance clutched me by theshoulder. I shook him off. "Give the word, Sharpless, " I said, "or nod, if thou art too frightened to speak. Murder is too stern a stuff forsuch a base kitchen knave as thou to deal in. "

White and shaking, he would not meet my eyes, but beckoned the werowanceto him, and began to whisper vehemently; pointing now to the man uponthe floor, now to the town, now to the forest. The Indian listened, nodded, and glided back to his fellows. 

"The white men upon the Powhatan are many, " he said in his own tongue, "but they build not their wigwams upon the banks of the Pamunkey. 1 Thesinging birds of the Pamunkey tell no tales. The pine splinters willburn as brightly there, and the white men will smell them not. We willbuild a fire at Uttamussac, between the red hills, before the temple andthe graves of the kings. " There was a murmur of assent from his braves. 

Uttamussac! They would probably make a two days' journey of it. We hadthat long, then, to live. 

Captors and captives, we presently left the hut. On the threshold Ilooked back, past the poltroon whom I had flung into the river onemidsummer day, to that prone and bleeding figure. As I looked, itgroaned and moved. The Indians behind me forced me on; a moment, andwe were out beneath the stars. They shone so very brightly; there wasone--large, steadfast, golden--just over the dark town behind us, overthe Governor's house. Did she sleep or did she wake? Sleeping or waking, I prayed God to keep her safe and give her comfort. The stars now shonethrough naked branches, black tree trunks hemmed us round, and under ourfeet was the dreary rustling of dead leaves. The leafless trees gaveway to pines and cedars, and the closely woven, scented roof hid theheavens, and made a darkness of the world beneath. 

 1. The modern York. 

CHAPTER XXX IN WHICH WE START UPON A JOURNEY

WHEN the dawn broke, it found us traveling through a narrowvalley, beside a stream of some width. Upon its banks grew trees ofextraordinary height and girth; cypress and oak and walnut, they toweredinto the air, their topmost branches stark and black against the roseateheavens. Below that iron tracery glowed the firebrands of the maples, and here and there a willow leaned a pale green cloud above the stream. Mist closed the distances; we could hear, but not see, the deer wherethey stood to drink in the shallow places, or couched in the gray anddreamlike recesses of the forest. 

Spectral, unreal, and hollow seems the world at dawn. Then, if ever, theheart sickens and the will flags, and life becomes a pageant that hathceased to entertain. As I moved through the mist and the silence, andfelt the tug of the thong that bound me to the wrist of the savage whostalked before me, I cared not how soon they made an end, seeing howstale and unprofitable were all things under the sun. 

Diccon, walking behind me, stumbled over a root and fell upon his knees, dragging down with him the Indian to whom he was tied. In a suddenaccess of fury, aggravated by the jeers with which his fellows greetedhis mishap, the savage turned upon his prisoner and would have stucka knife into him, bound and helpless as he was, had not the werowanceinterfered. The momentary altercation over, and the knife restoredto its owner's belt, the Indians relapsed into their usual menacingsilence, and the sullen march was resumed. Presently the stream made asharp bend across our path, and we forded it as best we might. It randark and swift, and the water was of icy coldness. Beyond, the woodshad been burnt, the trees rising from the red ground like charred andblackened stakes, with the ghostlike mist between. We left this dismaltract behind, and entered a wood of mighty oaks, standing well apart, and with the earth below carpeted with moss and early wild flowers. Thesun rose, the mist vanished, and there set in the March day of keen windand brilliant sunshine. 

Farther on, an Indian bent his bow against a bear shambling across alittle sunny glade. The arrow did its errand, and where the creaturefell, there we sat down and feasted beside a fire kindled by rubbing twosticks together. According to their wont the Indians ate ravenously, andwhen the meal was ended began to smoke, each warrior first throwinginto the air, as thank-offering to Kiwassa, a pinch of tobacco. They allstared at the fire around which we sat, and the silence was unbroken. One by one, as the pipes were smoked, they laid themselves down uponthe brown leaves and went to sleep, only our two guardians and a thirdIndian over against us remaining wide-eyed and watchful. 

There was no hope of escape, and we entertained no thought of it. Dicconsat, biting his nails, staring into the fire, and I stretched myselfout, and burying my head in my arms tried to sleep, but could not. 

With the midday we were afoot again, and we went steadily on through thebright afternoon. We met with no harsh treatment other than our bonds. Instead, when our captors spoke to us, it was with words of amity andsmiling lips. Who accounteth for Indian fashions? It is a way theyhave, to flatter and caress the wretch for whom have been provided thetorments of the damned. If, when at sunset we halted for supper andgathered around the fire, the werowance began to tell of a foray I hadled against the Paspaheghs years before, and if he and his warriors, forall the world like generous foes, loudly applauded some daring that hadaccompanied that raid, none the less did the red stake wait for us; nonethe less would they strive, as for heaven, to wring from us groans andcries. 

The sun sank, and the darkness entered the forest. In the distance weheard the wolves, so the fire was kept up through the night. Diccon andI were tied to trees, and all the savages save one lay down and slept. Iworked awhile at my bonds; but an Indian had tied them, and after a timeI desisted from the useless labor. We two could have no speech together;the fire was between us, and we saw each other but dimly through theflame and wreathing smoke, --as each might see the other to-morrow. WhatDiccon's thoughts were I know not; mine were not of the morrow. 

There had been no rain for a long time, and the multitude of leavesunderfoot were crisp and dry. The wind was loud in them and in theswaying trees. Off in the forest was a bog, and the will-o'-the-wispsdanced over it, --pale, cold flames, moving aimlessly here and there likeghosts of those lost in the woods. Toward the middle of the night someheavy animal crashed through a thicket to the left of us, and tore awayinto the darkness over the loud-rustling leaves; and later on wolves'eyes gleamed from out the ring of darkness beyond the firelight. Far onin the night the wind fell and the moon rose, changing the forest intosome dim, exquisite, far-off land, seen only in dreams. The Indiansawoke silently and all at once, as at an appointed hour. They spoke fora while among themselves; then we were loosed from the trees, and thewalk toward death began anew. 

On this march the werowance himself stalked beside me, the moonlightwhitening his dark limbs and relentless face. He spoke no word, nor didI deign to question or reason or entreat. Alike in the darkness of thedeep woods, and in the silver of the glades, and in the long twilightstretches of sassafras and sighing grass, there was for me but onevision. Slender and still and white, she moved before me, with her widedark eyes upon my face. Jocelyn! Jocelyn!

At sunrise the mist lifted from a low hill before us, and showed anIndian boy, painted white, poised upon the summit, like a spirit aboutto take its flight. He prayed to the One over All, and his voice camedown to us pure and earnest. At sight of us he bounded down the hillsidelike a ball, and would have rushed away into the forest had not aPaspahegh starting out of line seized him and set him in our midst, where he stood, cool and undismayed, a warrior in miniature. He wasof the Pamunkeys, and his tribe and the Paspaheghs were at peace;therefore, when he saw the totem burnt upon the breast of the werowance, he became loquacious enough, and offered to go before us to his village, upon the banks of a stream, some bowshots away. He went, and thePaspaheghs rested under the trees until the old men of the villagecame forth to lead them through the brown fields and past the ring ofleafless mulberries to the strangers' lodge. Here on the green turf matswere laid for the visitors, and water was brought for their hands. Lateron, the women spread a great breakfast of fish and turkey and venison, maize bread, tuckahoe and pohickory. When it was eaten, the Paspaheghsranged themselves in a semicircle upon the grass, the Pamunkeys facedthem, and each warrior and old man drew out his pipe and tobacco pouch. They smoked gravely, in a silence broken only by an occasional slow andstately question or compliment. The blue incense from the pipes mingledwith the sunshine falling freely through the bare branches; the streamwhich ran by the lodge rippled and shone, and the wind rose and fell inthe pines upon its farther bank. 

Diccon and I had been freed for the time from our bonds, and placed inthe centre of this ring, and when the Indians raised their eyes from theground it was to gaze steadfastly at us. I knew their ways, and howthey valued pride, indifference, and a bravado disregard of the worst anenemy could do. They should not find the white man less proud than thesavage. 

They gave us readily enough the pipes I asked for. Diccon lit one andI the other, and sitting side by side we smoked in a contentment asabsolute as the Indians' own. With his eyes upon the werowance, Diccontold an old story of a piece of Paspahegh villainy and of the paymentwhich the English exacted, and I laughed as at the most amusing thing inthe world. The story ended, we smoked with serenity for a while; then Idrew my dice from my pocket, and, beginning to throw, we were at once asmuch absorbed in the game as if there were no other stake in the worldbeside the remnant of gold that I piled between us. The strange peoplein whose power we found ourselves looked on with grim approval, as atbrave men who could laugh in Death's face. 

The sun was high in the heavens when we bade the Pamunkeys farewell. Thecleared ground, the mulberry trees, and the grass beneath, the few rudelodges with the curling smoke above them, the warriors and women andbrown naked children, --all vanished, and the forest closed around us. A high wind was blowing, and the branches far above beat at one anotherfuriously, while the pendent, leafless vines swayed against us, and thedead leaves went past in the whirlwind. A monstrous flight of pigeonscrossed the heavens, flying from west to east, and darkening the landbeneath like a transient cloud. We came to a plain covered with verytall trees that had one and all been ringed by the Indians. Long dead, and partially stripped of the bark, with their branches, great andsmall, squandered upon the ground, they stood, gaunt and silver gray, ready for their fall. As we passed, the wind brought two crashing tothe earth. In the centre of the plain something--deer or wolf or bear orman--lay dead, for to that point the buzzards were sweeping from everyquarter of the blue. Beyond was a pine wood, silent and dim, with a highgreen roof and a smooth and scented floor. We walked through it for anhour, and it led us to the Pamunkey. A tiny village, counting no morethan a dozen warriors, stood among the pines that ran to the water'sedge, and tied to the trees that shadowed the slow-moving flood wereits canoes. When the people came forth to meet us, the Paspaheghs boughtfrom them, for a string of roanoke, two of these boats; and we made notarrying, but, embarking at once, rowed up river toward Uttamussac andits three temples. 

Diccon and I were placed in the same canoe. We were not bound: whatneed of bonds, when we had no friend nearer than the Powhatan, andwhen Uttamussac was so near? After a time the paddles were put into ourhands, and we were required to row while our captors rested. There wasno use in sulkiness; we laughed as at some huge jest, and bent to thetask with a will that sent our canoe well in advance of its mate. Dicconburst into an old song that we had sung in the Low Countries, by campfires, on the march, before the battle. The forest echoed to the loudand warlike tune, and a multitude of birds rose startled from the treesupon the bank. The Indians frowned, and one in the boat behind calledout to strike the singer upon the mouth; but the werowance shook hishead. There were none upon that river who might not know that thePaspaheghs journeyed to Uttamussac with prisoners in their midst. Dicconsang on, his head thrown back, the old bold laugh in his eyes. When hecame to the chorus I joined my voice to his, and the woodland rangto the song. A psalm had better befitted our lips than those rude andvaunting words, seeing that we should never sing again upon this earth;but at least we sang bravely and gayly, with minds that were reasonablyquiet. 

The sun dropped low in the heavens, and the trees cast shadows acrossthe water. The Paspaheghs now began to recount the entertainment theymeant to offer us in the morning. All those tortures that they werewont to practice with hellish ingenuity they told over, slowly andtauntingly, watching to see a lip whiten or an eyelid quiver. Theyboasted that they would make women of us at the stake. At all events, they made not women of us beforehand. We laughed as we rowed, and Dicconwhistled to the leaping fish, and the fish-hawk, and the otter lyingalong a fallen tree beneath the bank. 

The sunset came, and the river lay beneath the colored clouds likemolten gold, with the gaunt forest black upon either hand. From thelifted paddles the water showered in golden drops. The wind died away, and with it all noises, and a dank stillness settled upon the flood andupon the endless forest. We were nearing Uttamussac, and the Indiansrowed quietly, with bent heads and fearful glances; for Okee broodedover this place, and he might be angry. It grew colder and stiller, butthe light dwelt in the heavens, and was reflected in the bosom of theriver. The trees upon the southern bank were all pines; as if they hadbeen carved from black stone they stood rigid against the saffron sky. Presently, back from the shore, there rose before us a few small hills, treeless, but covered with some low, dark growth. The one that stoodthe highest bore upon its crest three black houses shaped like coffins. Behind them was the deep yellow of the sunset. 

An Indian rowing in the second canoe commenced a chant or prayer toOkee. The notes were low and broken, unutterably wild and melancholy. One by one his fellows took up the strain; it swelled higher, louder, and sterner, became a deafening cry, then ceased abruptly, making thestillness that followed like death itself. Both canoes swung round fromthe middle stream and made for the bank. When the boats had slipped fromthe stripe of gold into the inky shadow of the pines, the Paspaheghsbegan to divest themselves of this or that which they conceived Okeemight desire to possess. One flung into the stream a handful of copperlinks, another the chaplet of feathers from his head, a third a braceletof blue beads. The werowance drew out the arrows from a gaudily paintedand beaded quiver, stuck them into his belt, and dropped the quiver intothe water. 

We landed, dragging the canoes into a covert of overhanging bushes andfastening them there; then struck through the pines toward the risingground, and presently came to a large village, with many long huts, and a great central lodge where dwelt the emperors when they came toUttamussac. It was vacant now, Opechancanough being no man knew where. 

When the usual stately welcome had been extended to the Paspaheghs, andwhen they had returned as stately thanks, the werowance began a haranguefor which I furnished the matter. When he ceased to speak a greatacclamation and tumult arose, and I thought they would scarce wait forthe morrow. But it was late, and their werowance and conjurer restrainedthem. In the end the men drew off, aud the yelling of the childrenand the passionate cries of the women, importunate for vengeance, were stilled. A guard was placed around the vacant lodge, and we twoEnglishmen were taken within and bound down to great logs, such as theIndians use to roll against their doors when they go from home. 

There was revelry in the village; for hours after the night came, everywhere were bright firelight and the rise and fall of laughter andsong. The voices of the women were musical, tender, and plaintive, andyet they waited for the morrow as for a gala day. I thought of a womanwho used to sing, softly and sweetly, in the twilight at Weyanoke, inthe firelight at the minister's house. At last the noises ceased, thelight died away, and the village slept beneath a heaven that seemedsomewhat deaf and blind. 

CHAPTER XXXI IN WHICH NANTAUQUAS COMES TO OUR RESCUE

A MAN who hath been a soldier and an adventurer into far and strangecountries must needs have faced Death many times and in many guises. Ihad learned to know that grim countenance, and to have no great fear ofit. And beneath the ugliness of the mask that now presented itself therewas only Death at last. I was no babe to whimper at a sudden darkness, to cry out against a curtain that a Hand chose to drop between me andthe life I had lived. Death frighted me not, but when I thought of onewhom I should leave behind me I feared lest I should go mad. Had thisthing come to me a year before, I could have slept the night through;now--now--I lay, bound to the log, before the open door of the lodge, and, looking through it, saw the pines waving in the night wind and thegleam of the river beneath the stars, and saw her as plainly as thoughshe had stood there under the trees, in a flood of noon sunshine. Nowshe was the Jocelyn Percy of Weyanoke, now of the minister's house, nowof a storm-tossed boat and a pirate ship, now of the gaol at Jamestown. One of my arms was free; I could take from within my doublet the littlepurple flower, and drop my face upon the hand that held it. The bloomwas quite withered, and scalding tears would not give it life again. 

The face that was, now gay, now defiant, now pale and suffering, becamesteadfastly the face that had leaned upon my breast in the Jamestowngaol, and looked at me with a mournful brightness of love and sorrow. Spring was in the land, and the summer would come, but not to us. Istretched forth my hand to the wife who was not there, and my heart laycrushed within me. She had been my wife not a year; it was but the otherday that I knew she loved me--

After a while the anguish lessened, and I lay, dull and hopeless, thinking of trifling things, counting the stars between the pines. Another slow hour, and, a braver mood coming upon me, I thought ofDiccon, who was in that plight because of me, and spoke to him, askinghim how he did. He answered from the other side of the lodge, but thewords were scarcely out of his mouth before our guard broke in upon uscommanding silence. Diccon cursed them, whereupon a savage struck himacross the head with the handle of a tomahawk, stunning him for a time. As soon as I heard him move I spoke again, to know if he were much hurt;when he had answered in the negative we said no more. 

It was now moonlight without the lodge and very quiet. The night wasfar gone; already we could smell the morning, and it would come apace. Knowing the swiftness of that approach, and what the early light wouldbring, I strove for a courage which should be the steadfastness of theChristian, and not the vainglorious pride of the heathen. If my thoughtswandered, if her face would come athwart the verses I tried to remember, the prayer I tried to frame, perhaps He who made her lovely understoodand forgave. I said the prayer I used to say when I was a child, andwished with all my heart for Jeremy. 

Suddenly, in the first gray dawn, as at a trumpet's call, the villageawoke. From the long, communal houses poured forth men, women, andchildren; fires sprang up, dispersing the mist, and a commotion arosethrough the length and breadth of the place. The women made haste withtheir cooking, and bore maize cakes and broiled fish to the warriors whosat on the ground in front of the royal lodge. Diccon and I were loosed, brought without, and allotted our share of the food. We ate sitting sideby side with our captors, and Diccon, with a great cut across his head, seized the Indian girl who brought him his platter of fish, and pullingher down beside him kissed her soundly, whereat the maid seemed not illpleased and the warriors laughed. 

In the usual order of things, the meal over, tobacco should havefollowed. But now not a pipe was lit, and the women made haste to takeaway the platters and to get all things in readiness. The werowance ofthe Paspaheghs rose to his feet, cast aside his mantle, and began tospeak. He was a man in the prime of life, of a great figure, strong asa Susquehannock, and a savage cruel and crafty beyond measure. Over hisbreast, stained with strange figures, hung a chain of small bones, andthe scalp locks of his enemies fringed his moccasins. His tribe beingthe nearest to Jamestown, and in frequent altercation with us, I hadheard him speak many times, and knew his power over the passions of hispeople. No player could be more skillful in gesture and expression, nopoet more nice in the choice of words, no general more quick to raisea wild enthusiasm in the soldiers to whom he called. All Indians areeloquent, but this savage was a leader among them. 

He spoke now to some effect. Commencing with a day in the moon ofblossoms when for the first time winged canoes brought white men intothe Powhatan, he came down through year after year to the present hour, ceased, and stood in silence, regarding his triumph. It was complete. Inits wild excitement the village was ready then and there to make anend of us who had sprung to our feet and stood with our backs againsta great bay tree, facing the maddened throng. So much the best for uswould it be if the tomahawks left the hands that were drawn back tothrow, if the knives that were flourished in our faces should be buriedto the haft in our hearts, that we courted death, striving with wordand look to infuriate our executioners to the point of forgetting theirformer purpose in the lust for instant vengeance. It was not to be. Thewerowance spoke again, pointing to the hills with the black houses uponthem, dimly seen through the mist. A moment, and the hands clenched uponthe weapons fell; another, and we were upon the march. 

As one man, the village swept through the forest toward the risingground that was but a few bowshots away. The young men bounded ahead tomake preparation; but the approved warriors and the old men went moresedately, and with them walked Diccon and I, as steady of step as they. The women and children for the most part brought up the rear, thougha few impatient hags ran past us, calling the men tortoises who wouldnever reach the goal. One of these women bore a great burning torch, theflame and smoke streaming over her shoulder as she ran. Others carriedpieces of bark heaped with the slivers of pine of which every wigwam hasstore. 

The sun was yet to rise when we reached a hollow amongst the low redhills. Above us were the three long houses in which they keep the imageof Okee and the mummies of their kings. These temples faced the crimsoneast, and the mist was yet about them. Hideous priests, painted overwith strange devices, the stuffed skins of snakes knotted about theirheads, in their hands great rattles which they shook vehemently, rushedthrough the doors and down the bank to meet us, and began to dancearound us, contorting their bodies, throwing up their arms, and making ahellish noise. Diccon stared at them, shrugged his shoulders, and witha grunt of contempt sat down upon a fallen tree to watch the enemy'smanoeuvres. 

The place was a natural amphitheatre, well fitted for a spectacle. ThoseIndians who could not crowd into the narrow level spread themselves overthe rising ground, and looked down with fierce laughter upon the drivingof the stakes which the young men brought. The women and childrenscattered into the woods beyond the cleft between the hills, andreturned bearing great armfuls of dry branches. The hollow rang to theexultation of the playgoers. Taunting laughter, cries of savage triumph, the shaking of the rattles, and the furious beating of two great drumscombined to make a clamor deafening to stupor. And above the hollow wasthe angry reddening of the heavens, and the white mist curling up likesmoke. 

I sat down beside Diccon on the log. Beneath it there were growingtufts of a pale blue, slender-stemmed flower. I plucked a handful of theblossoms, and thought how blue they would look against the whiteness ofher hand; then dropped them in a sudden shame that in that hour I was solittle steadfast to things which were not of earth. I did not speak toDiccon, nor he to me. There seemed no need of speech. In the pandemoniumto which the world had narrowed, the one familiar, matter-of-coursething was that he and I were to die together. 

The stakes were in the ground and painted red, the wood properlyarranged. The Indian woman who held the torch that was to light the pileran past us, whirling the wood around her head to make it blaze morefiercely. As she went by she lowered the brand and slowly dragged itacross my wrists. The beating of the drums suddenly ceased, and theloud voices died away. To Indians no music is so sweet as the cry of anenemy; if they have wrung it from a brave man who has striven to endure, so much the better. They were very still now, because they would notlose so much as a drawing in of the breath. 

Seeing that they were coming for us, Diccon and I rose to await them. When they were nearly upon us I turned to him and held out my hand. 

He made no motion to take it. Instead he stood with fixed eyes lookingpast me and slightly upwards. A sudden pallor had overspread thebronze of his face. "There's a verse somewhere, " he said in a quietvoice, --"it's in the Bible, I think, --I heard it once long ago, before Iwas lost: 'I will look unto the hills from whence cometh my help'--Look, sir!"

I turned and followed with my eyes the pointing of his finger. In frontof us the bank rose steeply, bare to the summit, --no trees, only the redearth, with here and there a low growth of leafless bushes. Behind itwas the eastern sky. Upon the crest, against the sunrise, stood thefigure of a man, --an Indian. From one shoulder hung an otterskin, anda great bow was in his hand. His limbs were bare, and as he stoodmotionless, bathed in the rosy light, he looked like some bronze god, perfect from the beaded moccasins to the calm, uneager face below thefeathered headdress. He had but just risen above the brow of the hill;the Indians in the hollow saw him not. 

While Diccon and I stared our tormentors were upon us. They came a dozenor more at once, and we had no weapons. Two hung upon my arms, while athird laid hold of my doublet to rend it from me. An arrow whistled overour heads and stuck into a tree behind us. The hands that clutchedme dropped, and with a yell the busy throng turned their faces in thedirection whence had come the arrow. 

The Indian who had sent that dart before him was descending the bank. Aninstant's breathless hush while they stared at the solitary figure; thenthe dark forms bent forward for the rush straightened, and there arose aloud cry of recognition. "The son of Powhatan! The son of Powhatan!"

He came down the hillside to the level of the hollow, the authority ofhis look and gesture making way for him through the crowd that surgedthis way and that, and walked up to us where we stood, hemmed round, but no longer in the clutch of our enemies. "It was a very big wolf thistime, Captain Percy, " he said. 

"You were never more welcome, Nantauquas, " I answered, --"unless, indeed, the wolf intends making a meal of three instead of two. "

He smiled. "The wolf will go hungry to-day. " Taking my hand in his heturned to his frowning countrymen. "Men of the Pamunkeys!" he cried. "This is Nantauquas' friend, and so the friend of all the tribes thatcalled Powhatan 'father. ' The fire is not for him nor for his servant;keep it for the Monacans and for the dogs of the Long House! The calumetis for the friend of Nantauquas, and the dance of the maidens, thenoblest buck and the best of the weirs"--

There was a surging forward of the Indians, and a fierce murmur ofdissent. The werowance, standing out from the throng, lifted his voice. "There was a time, " he cried, "when Nantauquas was the panther crouchedupon the bough above the leader of the herd; now Nantauquas is a tamepanther and rolls at the white men's feet! There was a time when theword of the son of Powhatan weighed more than the lives of many dogssuch as these, but now I know not why we should put out the fire at hiscommand! He is war chief no longer, for Opechancanough will have notame panther to lead the tribes. Opechancanough is our head, andOpechancanough kindleth a fire indeed! We will give to this one whatfuel we choose, and to-night Nantauquas may look for the bones of thewhite men!"

He ended, and a great clamor arose. The Paspaheghs would have castthemselves upon us again but for a sudden action of the young chief, who had stood motionless, with raised head and unmoved face, during thewerowance's bitter speech. Now he flung up his hand, and in it was abracelet of gold carved and twisted like a coiled snake and set with agreen stone. I had never seen the toy before, but evidently othershad done so. The excited voices fell, and the Indians, Pamunkeys andPaspaheghs alike, stood as though turned to stone. 

Nantauquas smiled coldly. "This day hath Opechancanough made me warchief again. We have smoked the peace pipe together--my father's brotherand I--in the starlight, sitting before his lodge, with the wide marshesand the river dark at our feet. Singing birds in the forest have beenmany; evil tales have they told; Opechancanough has stopped his earsagainst their false singing. My friends are his friends, my brother ishis brother, my word is his word: witness the armlet that hath no like;that Opechancanough brought with him when he came from no man knowswhere to the land of the Powhatans, many Huskanawings ago; that nowhite men but these have ever seen. Opechancanough is at hand; he comesthrough the forest with his two hundred warriors that are as tall asSusquehannocks, and as brave as the children of Wahunsonacock. He comesto the temples to pray to Kiwassa for a great hunting. Will you, whenyou lie at his feet, that he ask you, 'Where is the friend of my friend, of my war chief, of the Panther who is one with me again?'"

There came a long, deep breath from the Indians, then a silence, inwhich they fell back, slowly and sullenly; whipped hounds, but with thewill to break that leash of fear. 

"Hark!" said Nantauquas, smiling. "I hear Opechancanough and hiswarriors coming over the leaves. "

The noise of many footsteps was indeed audible, coming toward thehollow from the woods beyond. With a burst of cries, the priests andthe conjurer whirled away to bear the welcome of Okee to the royalworshiper, and at their heels went the chief men of the Pamunkeys. The werowance of the Paspaheghs was one that sailed with the wind; helistened to the deepening sound, and glanced at the son of Powhatanwhere he stood, calm and confident, then smoothed his own countenanceand made a most pacific speech, in which all the blame of the lateproceedings was laid upon the singing birds. When he had done speaking, the young men tore the stakes from the earth and threw them into athicket, while the women plucked apart the newly kindled fire and flungthe brands into a little near-by stream, where they went out in a cloudof hissing steam. 

I turned to the Indian who had wrought this miracle. "Art sure it isnot a dream, Nantauquas?" I said. "I think that Opechancanough would notlift a finger to save me from all the deaths the tribes could invent. "

"Opechancanough is very wise, " he answered quietly. "He says that nowthe English will believe in his love indeed when they see that he holdsdear even one who might be called his enemy, who hath spoken againsthim at the Englishmen's council fire. He says that for five suns CaptainPercy shall feast with Opechancanough, and that then he shall be sentback free to Jamestown. He thinks that then Captain Percy will not speakagainst him any more, calling his love to the white men only words withno good deeds behind. "

He spoke simply, out of the nobility of his nature, believing his ownspeech. I that was older, and had more knowledge of men and the masksthat they wear, was but half deceived. My belief in the hatred of thedark Emperor was not shaken, and I looked yet to find the drop of poisonwithin this honey flower. How poisoned was that bloom God knows I couldnot guess!

"When you were missed, three suns ago, " Nantauquas went on, "I and mybrother tracked you to the hut beside the forest, where we found onlythe dead panther. There we struck the trail of the Paspaheghs; butpresently we came to running water, and the trail was gone. "

"We walked up the bed of the stream for half the night, " I said. 

The Indian nodded. "I know. My brother went back to Jamestown for menand boats and guns to go to the Paspahegh village and up the Powhatan. He was wise with the wisdom of the white men, but I, who needed no gun, and who would not fight against my own people, I stepped into the streamand walked up it until past the full sun power. Then I found a brokentwig and the print of a moccasin, half hidden by a bush, overlooked whenthe other prints were smoothed away. I left the stream and followed thetrail until it was broken again. I looked for it no more then, for Iknew that the Paspaheghs had turned their faces toward Uttamussac, andthat they would make a fire where many others had been made, in thehollow below the three temples. Instead I went with speed to seekOpechancanough. Yesterday, when the sun was low, I found him, sitting inhis lodge above the marshes and the colored river. We smoked the peacepipe together, and I am his war chief again. I asked for the greenstone, that I might show it to the Paspaheghs for a sign. He gave it, but he willed to come to Uttamussac with me. "

"I owe you my life, " I said, with my hand upon his. "I and Diccon"--WhatI would have said he put aside with a fine gesture. "Captain Percy ismy friend. My brother loves him, and he was kind to Matoax when shewas brought prisoner to Jamestown. I am glad that I could pull off thiswolf. "

"Tell me one thing, " I asked. "Before you left Jamestown, had you heardaught of my wife or of my enemy?"

He shook his head. "At sunrise, the commander came to rouse my brother, crying out that you had broken gaol and were nowhere to be found, andthat the man you hate was lying within the guest house, sorely torn bysome beast of the forest. My brother and I followed your trail at once;the town was scarce awake when we left it behind us, --and I did notreturn. "

By this we three were alone in the hollow, for all the savages, men andwomen, had gone forth to meet the Indian whose word was law from thefalls of the far west to the Chesapeake. The sun now rode above the lowhills, pouring its gold into the hollow and brightening all the worldbesides. The little stream flashed diamonds, and the carven devils uponthe black houses above us were frightful no longer. There was not amenace anywhere from the cloudless skies to the sweet and plaintivechant to Kiwassa, sung by women and floating to us from the woods beyondthe hollow. The singing grew nearer, and the rustling of the leavesbeneath many feet more loud and deep; then all noise ceased, andOpechancanough entered the hollow alone. An eagle feather was thrustthrough his scalp lock; over his naked breast, that was neither paintednor pricked into strange figures, hung a triple row of pearls; hismantle was woven of bluebird feathers, as soft and sleek as satin. Theface of this barbarian was dark, cold, and impassive as death. Behindthat changeless mask, as in a safe retreat, the supersubtle devil thatwas the man might plot destruction and plan the laying of dreadfulmines. He had dignity and courage, --no man denied him that. I suppose hethought that he and his had wrongs: God knows! perhaps they had. But ifever we were hard or unjust in our dealings with the savages, --I say notthat this was the case, --at least we were not treacherous and dealt notin Judas kisses. 

I stepped forward, and met him on the spot where the fire had been. Fora minute neither spoke. It was true that I had striven against him manya time, and I knew that he knew it. It was also true that without hisaid Nantauquas could not have rescued us from that dire peril. And itwas again the truth that an Indian neither forgives nor forgets. He wasmy saviour, and I knew that mercy had been shown for some dark reasonwhich I could not divine. Yet I owed him thanks, and gave them asshortly and simply as I could. 

He heard me out with neither liking nor disliking nor any other emotionwritten upon his face; but when I had finished, as though he suddenlybethought himself, he smiled and held out his hand, white-man fashion. Now, when a man's lips widen I look into his eyes. The eyes ofOpechancanough were as fathomless as a pool at midnight, and as devoidof mirth or friendliness as the staring orbs of the carven imps upon thetemple corners. 

"Singing birds have lied to Captain Percy, " he said, and his voice waslike his eyes. "Opechancanough thinks that Captain Percy will neverlisten to them again. The chief of the Powhatans is a lover of the whitemen, of the English, and of other white men, --if there are others. Hewould call the Englishmen his brothers, and be taught of them how torule, and who to pray to"--

"Let Opechancanough go with me to-day to Jamestown, " I said. "He haththe wisdom of the woods; let him come and gain that of the town. "

The Emperor smiled again. "I will come to Jamestown soon, but not to-daynor to-morrow nor the next day. And Captain Percy must smoke the peacepipe in my lodge above the Pamunkey, and watch my young men and maidensdance, and eat with me five days. Then he may go back to Jamestownwith presents for the great white father there, and with a message thatOpechancanough is coming soon to learn of the white men. "

I could have gnashed my teeth at that delay when she must think me dead, but it would have been the madness of folly to show the impatience whichI felt. I too could smile with my lips when occasion drove, and drink abitter draught as though my soul delighted in it. Blithe enough toall seeming, and with as few inward misgivings as the case called for, Diccon and I went with the subtle Emperor and the young chief he hadbound to himself once more, and with their fierce train, back to thatvillage which we had never thought to see again. A day and a night westayed there; then Opechancanough sent away the Paspaheghs, --where weknew not, --and taking us with him went to his own village above thegreat marshes of the Pamunkey. 

CHAPTER XXXII IN WHICH WE ARE THE GUESTS OF AN EMPEROR

I HAD before this spent days among the Indians, on voyages of discovery, as conqueror, as negotiator for food, exchanging blue beads for corn andturkeys. Other Englishmen had been with me. Knowing those with whom wedealt for sly and fierce heathen, friends to-day, to-morrow deadly foes, we kept our muskets ready and our eyes and ears open, and, what with thedanger and the novelty and the bold wild life, managed to extract somemerriment as well as profit from these visits. It was different now. 

Day after day I ate my heart out in that cursed village. The feastingand the hunting and the triumph, the wild songs and wilder dances, thefantastic mummeries, the sudden rages, the sudden laughter, the greatfires with their rings of painted warriors, the sleepless sentinels, thewide marshes that could not be crossed by night, the leaves that rustledso loudly beneath the lightest footfall, the monotonous days, theendless nights when I thought of her grief, of her peril, maybe, --it wasan evil dream, and for my own pleasure I could not wake too soon. 

Should we ever wake? Should we not sink from that dream without pauseinto a deeper sleep whence there would be no waking? It was a questionthat I asked myself each morning, half looking to find another hollowbetween the hills before the night should fall. The night fell, andthere was no change in the dream. 

I will allow that the dark Emperor to whom we were so much beholden gaveus courteous keeping. The best of the hunt was ours, the noblest fish, the most delicate roots. The skins beneath which we slept were fine andsoft; the women waited upon us, and the old men and warriors held withus much stately converse, sitting beneath the budding trees with theblue tobacco smoke curling above our heads. We were alive and soundof limb, well treated and with the promise of release; we might havewaited, seeing that wait we must, in some measure of content. We did notso. There was a horror in the air. From the marshes that were growinggreen, from the sluggish river, from the rotting leaves and cold blackearth and naked forest, it rose like an exhalation. We knew not what itwas, but we breathed it in, and it went to the marrow of our bones. 

Opechancanough we rarely saw, though we were bestowed so near to himthat his sentinels served for ours. Like some god, he kept within hislodge with the winding passage, and the hanging mats between him and theworld without. At other times, issuing from that retirement, he wouldstride away into the forest. Picked men went with him, and they weregone for hours; but when they returned they bore no trophies, brute orhuman. What they did we could not guess. We might have had much comfortin Nantauquas, but the morning after our arrival in this village theEmperor sent him upon an embassy to the Rappahannocks, and when forthe fourth time the forest stood black against the sunset he had notreturned. If escape had been possible, we would not have awaited thedoubtful fulfillment of that promise made to us below the Uttamussactemples. But the vigilance of the Indians never slept; they watched uslike hawks, night and day. And the dry leaves underfoot would not holdtheir peace, and there were the marshes to cross and the river. 

Thus four days dragged themselves by, and in the early morning of thefifth, when we came from our wigwam, it was to find Nantauquas sittingby the fire, magnificent in the paint and trappings of the ambassador, motionless as a piece of bronze, and apparently quite unmindful of theadmiring glances of the women who knelt about the fire preparing ourbreakfast. When he saw us he rose and came to meet us, and I embracedhim, I was so glad to see him. "The Rappahannocks feasted me long, " hesaid. "I was afraid that Captain Percy would be gone to Jamestown beforeI was back upon the Pamunkey. "

"Shall I ever see Jamestown again, Nantauquas?" I demanded. "I have mydoubts. "

He looked me full in the eyes, and there was no doubting the candor ofhis own. "You go with the next sunrise, " he answered. "Opechancanoughhas given me his word. "

"I am glad to hear it, " I said. "Why have we been kept at all? Why didhe not free us five days agone?"

He shook his head. "I do not know. Opechancanough has many thoughtswhich he shares with no man. But now he will send you with presents forthe Governor, and with messages of his love to the white men. There willbe a great feast to-day, and to-night the young men and maidens willdance before you. Then in the morning you will go. "

"Will you not come with us?" I asked. "You are ever welcome amongst us, Nantauquas, both for your sister's sake and for your own. Rolfe willrejoice to have you with him again; he ever grudgeth you to the forest. "

He shook his head again. "Nantauquas, the son of Powhatan, hath had muchtalk with himself lately, " he said simply. "The white men's ways haveseemed very good to him, and the God of the white men he knows to begreater than Okee, and to be good and tender; not like Okee, who sucksthe blood of the children. He remembers Matoax, too, and how she lovedand cared for the white men and would weep when danger threatened them. And Rolfe is his brother and his teacher. But Opechancanough is hisking, and the red men are his people, and the forest is his home. If, because he loved Rolfe, and because the ways of the white men seemed tohim better than his own ways, he forgot these things, he did wrong, and the One over All frowns upon him. Now he has come back to his homeagain, to the forest and the hunting and the warpath, to his king andhis people. He will be again the panther crouching upon the bough"--

"Above the white men?"

He gazed at me in silence, a shadow upon his face. "Above the Monacans, "he answered slowly. "Why did Captain Percy say 'above the white men'?Opechancanough and the English have buried the hatchet forever, and thesmoke of the peace pipe will never fade from the air. Nantauquas meant'above the Monacans or the Long House dogs. '"

I put my hand upon his shoulder. "I know you did, brother of Rolfe bynature if not by blood! Forget what I said; it was without thoughtor meaning. If we go indeed to-morrow, I shall be loath to leave youbehind; and yet, were I in your place, I should do as you are doing. "

The shadow left his face and he drew himself up. "Is it what you callfaith and loyalty and like a knight?" he demanded, with a touch ofeagerness breaking through the slowness and gravity with which an Indianspeaks. 

"Yea, " I made reply. "I think you good knight and true, Nantauquas, andmy friend, moreover, who saved my life. "

His smile was like his sister's, quick and very bright, and leavingbehind it a most entire gravity. Together we sat down by the fire andate of the sylvan breakfast, with shy brown maidens to serve us and withthe sunshine streaming down upon us through the trees that were growingfaintly green. It was a thing to smile at to see how the Indian girlsmanoeuvred to give the choicest meat, the most delicate maize cakes, to the young war chief, and to see how quietly he turned aside theirbenevolence. The meal over, he went to divest himself of his red andwhite paint, of the stuffed hawk and strings of copper that formed hisheaddress, of his gorgeous belt and quiver and his mantle of raccoonskins, while Diccon and I sat still before our wigwam, smoking, andreckoning the distance to Jamestown and the shortest time in which wecould cover it. 

When we had sat there for an hour the old men and the warriors came tovisit us, and the smoking must commence all over again. The women laidmats in a great half circle, and each savage took his seat with perfectbreeding; that is, in absolute silence and with a face like a stone. The peace paint was upon them all, --red, or red and white; they sat andlooked at the ground until I had made the speech of welcome. Soon theair was dense with the fragrant smoke; in the thick blue haze the sweepof painted figures had the seeming of some fantastic dream. An oldman arose and made a long and touching speech with much reference tocalumets and buried hatchets. When he had finished a chief talked ofOpechancanough's love for the English, "high as the stars, deep asPopogusso, wide as from the sunrise to the sunset, " adding that thedeath of Nemattanow last year and the troubles over the hunting groundshad kindled in the breasts of the Indians no desire for revenge. Withwhich highly probable statement he made an end, and all sat in silencelooking at me and waiting for my contribution of honeyed words. ThesePamunkeys, living at a distance from the settlements, had but littleEnglish to their credit, and the learning of the Paspaheghs was not muchgreater. I sat and repeated to them the better part of the seventh cantoof the second book of Master Spenser's "Faery Queen. " Then I told themthe story of the Moor of Venice, and ended by relating Smith's tale ofthe three Turks' heads. It all answered the purpose to admiration. Whenat length they went away to change their paint for the coming feastDiccon and I laughed at that foolery as though there were none beside uswho could juggle with words. We were as light-hearted as children--Godforgive us!

The day wore on, with relay after relay of food which we must taste atleast, with endless smoking of pipes and speeches that must be listenedto and answered. When evening came and our entertainers drew off toprepare for the dance, they left us as wearied as by a long day's march. 

The wind had been high during the day, but with the sunset it sank toa desolate murmur. The sky wore the strange crimson of the past yearat Weyanoke. Against that sea of color the pines were drawn in ink, andbeneath it the winding, threadlike creeks that pierced the marshes hadthe look of spilt blood moving slowly and heavily to join the river thatwas black where the pines shadowed it, red where the light touchedit. From the marsh arose the cry of some great bird that made its homethere; it had a lonely and a boding sound, like a trumpet blown abovethe dead. The color died into an ashen gray and the air grew cold, with a heaviness beside that dragged at the very soul. Diccon shiveredviolently, turned restlessly upon the log that served him as settle, andbegan to mutter to himself. 

"Art cold?" I asked. 

He shook his head. "Something walked over my grave, " he said. "I wouldgive all the pohickory that was ever brewed by heathen for a toss ofaqua vitae!"

In the centre of the village rose a great heap of logs and dry branches, built during the day by the women and children. When the twilight felland the owls began to hoot this pile was fired, and lit the place fromend to end. The scattered wigwams, the scaffolding where the fishwere dried, the tall pines and wide-branching mulberries, the troddengrass, --all flashed into sight as the flame roared up to the top-mostwithered bough. The village glowed like a lamp set in the dead blacknessof marsh and forest. Opechancanough came from the forest with a score ofwarriors behind him, and stopped beside me. I rose to greet him, as wasdecent; for he was an Emperor, albeit a savage and a pagan. "Tell theEnglish that Opechancanough grows old, " he said. "The years that oncewere as light upon him as the dew upon the maize are now hailstonesto beat him back to the earth whence he came. His arm is not swift tostrike and strong as it once was. He is old; the warpath and the scalpdance please him no longer. He would die at peace with all men. Tellthe English this; tell them also that Opechancanough knows that they aregood and just, that they do not treat men whose color is not their ownlike babes, fooling them with toys, thrusting them out of their pathwhen they grow troublesome. The land is wide and the hunting groundsare many. Let the red men who were here as many moons ago as there areleaves in summer and the white men who came yesterday dwell side by sidein peace, sharing the maize fields and the weirs and the hunting groundstogether. " He waited not for my answer, but passed on, and there was nosign of age in his stately figure and his slow, firm step. I watched himwith a frown until the darkness of his lodge had swallowed up him andhis warriors, and mistrusted him for a cold and subtle devil. 

Suddenly, as we sat staring at the fire we were beset by a band ofmaidens, coming out of the woods, painted, with antlers upon their headsand pine branches in their hands. They danced about us, now advancinguntil the green needles met above our heads, now retreating until therewas a space of turf between us. Their slender limbs gleamed in thefirelight; they moved with grace, keeping time to a plaintive song, nowraised by the whole choir, now fallen to a single voice. Pocahontashad danced thus before the English many a time. I thought of the littlemaid, of her great wondering eyes and her piteous, untimely death, ofhow loving she was to Rolfe and how happy they had been in their briefwedded life. It had bloomed like a rose, as fair and as early fallen, with only a memory of past sweetness. Death was a coward, passing bymen whose trade it was to out-brave him, and striking at the young andlovely and innocent. . . . 

We were tired with all the mummery of the day; moreover, every fibre ofour souls had been strained to meet the hours that had passed since weleft the gaol at Jamestown. The elation we had felt earlier in the daywas all gone. Now, the plaintive song, the swaying figures, the redlight beating against the trees, the blackness of the enshroudingforest, the low, melancholy wind, --all things seemed strange, and yetdeadly old, as though we had seen and heard them since the beginning ofthe world. All at once a fear fell upon me, causeless and unreasonable, but weighing upon my heart like a stone. She was in a palisaded town, under the Governor's protection, with my friends about her and my enemylying sick, unable to harm her. It was I, not she, that was in danger. I laughed at myself, but my heart was heavy, and I was in a fever to begone. 

The Indian girls danced more and more swiftly, and their song changed, becoming gay and shrill and sweet. Higher and higher rang the notes, faster and faster moved the dark limbs; then, quite suddenly, song andmotion ceased together. They who had danced with the abandonment of wildpriestesses to some wild god were again but shy brown Indian maids whowent and set them meekly down upon the grass beneath the trees. From thedarkness now came a burst of savage cries only less appalling than thewar whoop itself. In a moment the men of the village had rushed from theshadow of the trees into the broad, firelit space before us. Now theycircled around us, now around the fire; now each man danced and stampedand muttered to himself. For the most part they were painted red, butsome were white from head to heel, --statues come to life, --while othershad first oiled their bodies, then plastered them over with smallbright-colored feathers. The tall headdresses made giants of them all;as they leaped and danced in the glare of the fire they had a fiendishlook. They sang, too, but the air was rude, and broken by dreadfulcries. Out of a hut behind us burst two or three priests, the conjurer, and a score or more of old men. They had Indian drums upon whichthey beat furiously, and long pipes made of reeds which gave forth nouncertain sound. Fixed upon a pole and borne high above them was theimage of their Okee, a hideous thing of stuffed skins and rattlingchains of copper. When they had joined themselves to the throng in thefirelight the clamor became deafening. Some one piled on more logs, and the place grew light as day. Opechancanough was not there, norNantauquas. 

Diccon and I watched that uncouth spectacle, that Virginian masque, aswe had watched many another one, with disgust and weariness. It wouldlast, we knew, for the better part of the night. It was in our honor, and for a while we must stay and testify our pleasure; but after a time, when they had sung and danced themselves into oblivion of our presence, we might retire, and leave the very old men, the women, and the childrensole spectators. We waited for that relief with impatience, though weshowed it not to those who pressed about us. 

Time passed, and the noise deepened and the dancing became more frantic. The dancers struck at one another as they leaped and whirled, the sweatrolled from their bodies, and from their lips came hoarse, animal-likecries. The fire, ever freshly fed, roared and crackled, mocking thesilent stars. The pines were bronze-red, the woods beyond a dead black. All noises of marsh and forest were lost in the scream of the pipes, thewild yelling, and the beating of the drums. 

From the ranks of the women beneath the reddened pines rose shrilllaughter and applause as they sat or knelt, bent forward, watching thedancers. One girl alone watched not them, but us. She stood somewhatback of her companions, one slim brown hand touching the trunk of atree, one brown foot advanced, her attitude that of one who waits butfor a signal to be gone. Now and then she glanced impatiently at thewheeling figures, or at the old men and the few warriors who took nopart in the masque, but her eyes always came back to us. She had beenamong the maidens who danced before us earlier in the night; when theyrested beneath the trees she had gone away, and the night was much olderwhen I marked her again, coming out of the firelit distance back to thefire and her dusky mates. It was soon after this that I became awarethat she must have some reason for her anxious scrutiny, some message todeliver or warning to give. Once when I made a slight motion as if to goto her, she shook her head and laid her finger upon her lips. 

A dancer fell from sheer exhaustion, another and another, and warriorsfrom the dozen or more seated at our right began to take the places ofthe fallen. The priests shook their rattles, and made themselves dizzywith bending and whirling about their Okee; the old men, too, thoughthey sat like statues, thought only of the dance, and of how theythemselves had excelled, long ago when they were young. 

I rose, and making my way to the werowance of the village where hesat with his eyes fixed upon a young Indian, his son, who bade fair tooutlast all others in that wild contest, told him that I was wearied andwould go to my hut, I and my servant, to rest for the few hours that yetremained of the night. He listened dreamily, his eyes upon the dancingIndian, but made offer to escort me thither. I pointed out to him thatmy quarters were not fifty yards away, in the broad firelight, in sightof them all, and that it were a pity to take him or any others from thecontemplation of that whirling Indian, so strong and so brave that hewould surely one day lead the war parties. 

After a moment he acquiesced, and Diccon and I, quietly and yet withsome ostentation, so as to avoid all appearance of stealing away, leftthe press of savages and began to cross the firelit turf between themand our lodge. When we had gone fifty paces I glanced over my shoulderand saw that the Indian maid no longer stood where we had last seenher, beneath the pines. A little farther on we caught a glimpse of herwinding in and out among a row of trees to our left. The trees ran pastour lodge. When we had reached its entrance we paused and looked back tothe throng we had left. Every back seemed turned to us, every eye intentupon the leaping figures around the great fire. Swiftly and quietly wewalked across the bit of even ground to the friendly trees, and foundourselves in a thin strip of shadow between the light of the great firewe had left and that of a lesser one burning redly before the Emperor'slodge. Beneath the trees, waiting for us, was the Indian maid, with herlight form, and large, shy eyes, and finger upon her lips. She would notspeak or tarry, but flitted before us as dusk and noiseless as a moth, and we followed her into the darkness beyond the firelight, well-nighto the line of sentinels. A wigwam, larger than common and shadowed bytrees, rose in our path; the girl, gliding in front of us, held asidethe mats that curtained the entrance. We hesitated a moment, thenstooped and entered the place. 

CHAPTER XXXIII IN WHICH MY FRIEND BECOMES MY FOE

IN the centre of the wigwam the customary fire burned clear and bright, showing the white mats, the dressed skins, the implements of warhanging upon the bark walls, --all the usual furniture of an Indiandwelling, --and showing also Nantauquas standing against the strippedtrunk of a pine that pierced the wigwam from floor to roof. The fire wasbetween us. He stood so rigid, at his full height, with folded arms andhead held high, and his features were so blank and still, so forced andfrozen, as it were, into composure, that, with the red light beatingupon him and the thin smoke curling above his head, he had the look of awarrior tied to the stake. 

"Nantauquas!" I exclaimed, and striding past the fire would have touchedhim but that with a slight and authoritative motion of the hand he keptme back. Otherwise there was no change in his position or in the deadcalm of his face. 

The Indian maid had dropped the mat at the entrance, and if she waited, waited without in the darkness. Diccon, now staring at the young chief, now eyeing the weapons upon the wall with all a lover's passion, keptnear the doorway. Through the thickness of the bark and woven twigs thewild cries and singing came to us somewhat faintly; beneath that distantnoise could be heard the wind in the trees and the soft fall of theburning pine. 

"Well!" I asked at last. "What is the matter, my friend?"

For a full minute he made no answer, and when he did speak his voicematched his face. 

"My friend, " he said, "I am going to show myself a friend indeed to theEnglish, to the strangers who were not content with their own huntinggrounds beyond the great salt water. When I have done this, I do notknow that Captain Percy will call me 'friend' again. "

"You were wont to speak plainly, Nantauquas, " I answered him. "I am notfond of riddles. "

Again he waited, as though he found speech difficult. I stared at him inamazement, he was so changed in so short a time. 

He spoke at last: "When the dance is over, and the fires are low, andthe sunrise is at hand, then will Opechancanough come to you to bid youfarewell. He will give you the pearls that he wears about his neck for apresent to the Governor, and a bracelet for yourself. Also he will giveyou three men for a guard through the forest. He has messages of love tosend the white men, and he would send them by you who were his enemy andhis captive. So all the white men shall believe in his love. "

"Well, " I said dryly as he paused. "I will take his messages. Whatnext?"

"Those are the words of Opechancanough. Now listen to the words ofNantauquas, the son of Wahunsonacock, a war chief of the Powhatans. There are two sharp knives there, hanging beneath the bow and the quiverand the shield. Take them and hide them. "

The words were scarcely out of his mouth before Diccon had the two keenEnglish blades. I took the one he offered me, and hid it in my doublet. 

"So we go armed, Nantauquas, " I said. "Love and peace and goodwillconsort not with such toys. "

"You may want them, " he went on, with no change in his low, measuredtones. "If you see aught in the forest that you should not see, if theythink you know more than you are meant to know, then those three, whohave knives and tomahawks, are to kill you, whom they believe unarmed. "

"See aught that we should not see, know more than we are meant to know?"I said. "To the point, friend. "

"They will go slowly, too, through the forest to Jamestown, stopping toeat and to sleep. For them there is no need to run like the stag withthe hunter behind him. "

"Then we should make for Jamestown as for life, " I said, "not sleepingor eating or making pause?"

"Yea, " he replied, "if you would not die, you and all your people. "

In the silence of the hut the fire crackled, and the branches of thetrees outside, bent by the wind, made a grating sound against the barkroof. 

"How die?" I asked at last. "Speak out!"

"Die by the arrow and the tomahawk, " he answered, --"yea, and by theguns you have given the red men. To-morrow's sun, and the next, and thenext, --three suns, --and the tribes will fall upon the English. At thesame hour, when the men are in the fields and the women and childrenare in the houses, they will strike, --Kecoughtans, Paspaheghs, Chickahominies, Pamunkeys, Arrowhatocks, Chesapeakes, Nansemonds, Accomacs, --as one man will they strike; and from where the Powhatanfalls over the rocks to the salt water beyond Accomac, there will not beone white man left alive. "

He ceased to speak, and for a minute the fire made the only sound inthe hut. Then, "All die?" I asked dully. "There are three thousandEnglishmen in Virginia. "

"They are scattered and unwarned. The fighting men of the villages ofthe Powhatan and the Pamunkey and the great bay are many, and they havesharpened their hatchets and filled their quivers with arrows. "

"Scattered, " I said, "strewn broadcast up and down the river, --here alonely house, there a cluster of two or three; they at Jamestown andHenricus off guard, --the men in the fields or at the wharves, the womenand the children busy within doors, all unwarned--O my God!"

Diccon strode over from the doorway to the fire. "We'd best be going, Ireckon, sir, " he cried. "Or you wait until morning; then there'll be twochances. Now that I've a knife, I'm thinking I can give account of oneof them damned sentries, at least. Once clear of them"--

I shook my head, and the Indian too made a gesture of dissent. "Youwould only be the first to die. "

I leaned against the side of the hut, for my heart beat like afrightened woman's. "Three days!" I exclaimed. "If we go with all ourspeed we shall be in time. When did you learn this thing?"

"While you watched the dance, " he answered, "Opechancanough and I satwithin his lodge in the darkness. His heart was moved, and he talked tome of his own youth in a strange country, south of the sunset, where heand his people dwelt in stone houses and worshiped a great and fiercegod, giving him blood to drink and flesh to eat. To that country, too, white men had come in ships. Then he spoke to me of Powhatan, myfather, --of how wise he was and how great a chief before the Englishcame, and how the English made him kneel in sign that he held his landsfrom their King, and how he hated them; and then he told me that thetribes had called me 'woman, ' 'lover no longer of the warpath and thescalp dance, ' but that he, who had no son, loved me as his son, knowingmy heart to be Indian still; and then I heard what I have told you. "

"How long had this been planned?"

"For many moons. I have been a child, fooled and turned aside from thetrail; not wise enough to see it beneath the flowers, through the smokeof the peace pipes. "

"Why does Opechancanough send us back to the settlements?" I demanded. "Their faith in him needs no strengthening. "

"It is his fancy. Every hunter and trader and learner of our tongues, living in the villages or straying in the woods, has been sent backto Jamestown or to his hundred with presents and with words that aresweeter than honey. He has told the three who go with you the hour inwhich you are to reach Jamestown; he would have you as singing birds, telling lying tales to the Governor, with scarce the smoking of a pipebetween those words of peace and the war whoop. But if those who go withyou see reason to misdoubt you, they will kill you in the forest. "

His voice fell, and he stood in silence, straight as an arrow, againstthe post, the firelight playing over his dark limbs and sternly quietface. Outside, the night wind, rising, began to howl through the nakedbranches, and a louder burst of yells came to us from the roisterers inthe distance. The mat before the doorway shook, and a slim brown hand, slipped between the wood and the woven grass, beckoned to us. 

"Why did you come?" demanded the Indian. "Long ago, when there werenone but dark men from the Chesapeake to the hunting grounds beneath thesunset, we were happy. Why did you leave your own land, in the strangeblack ships with sails like the piled-up clouds of summer? Was it not agood land? Were not your forests broad and green, your fields fruitful, your rivers deep and filled with fish? And the towns I have heardof--were they not fair? You are brave men: had you no enemies there, and no warpaths? It was your home: a man should love the good earth overwhich he hunts, upon which stands his village. This is the red man'sland. He wishes his hunting grounds, his maize fields, and his riversfor himself, his women and children. He has no ships in which to go toanother country. When you first came we thought you were gods; but youhave not done like the great white God who, you say, loves you so. Youare wiser and stronger than we, but your strength and wisdom help usnot: they press us down from men to children; they are weights upon thehead and shoulders of a babe to keep him under stature. Ill gifts haveyou brought us, evil have you wrought us"--

"Not to you, Nantauquas!" I cried, stung into speech. 

He turned his eyes upon me. "Nantauquas is the war chief of his tribe. Opechancanough is his king, and he lies upon his bed in his lodgeand says within himself: 'My war chief, the Panther, the son ofWahunsonacock, who was chief of all the Powhatans, sits now within hiswigwam, sharpening flints for his arrows, making his tomahawk bright andkeen, thinking of a day three suns hence, when the tribes will shake offforever the hand upon their shoulder, --the hand so heavy and white thatstrives always to bend them to the earth and keep them there. ' Tell me, you Englishman who have led in war, another name for Nantauquas, and askno more what evil you have done him. "

"I will not call you 'traitor, ' Nantauquas, " I said, after a pause. "There is a difference. You are not the first child of Powhatan who hasloved and shielded the white men. "

"She was a woman, a child, " he answered. "Out of pity she saved yourlives, not knowing that it was to the hurt of her people. Then you werefew and weak, and could not take your revenge. Now, if you die not, youwill drink deep of vengeance, --so deep that your lips may never leavethe cup. More ships will come, and more; you will grow ever stronger. There may come a moon when the deep forests and the shining rivers knowus, to whom Kiwassa gave them, no more. " He paused, with unmoved face, and eyes that seemed to pierce the wall and look out into unfathomabledistances. "Go!" he said at last. "If you die not in the woods, if yousee again the man whom I called my brother and teacher, tell him. . . Tell him nothing! Go!"

"Come with us, " urged Diccon gruffly. "We English will make a place foryou among us"--and got no further, for I turned upon him with a sterncommand for silence. 

"I ask of you no such thing, Nantauquas, " I said. "Come against us, if you will. Nobly warned, fair upon our guard, we will meet you asknightly foe should be met. "

He stood for a minute, the quick change that had come into his faceat Diccon's blundering words gone, and his features sternly impassiveagain; then, very slowly, he raised his arm from his side and held outhis hand. His eyes met mine in sombre inquiry, half eager, half proudlydoubtful. 

I went to him at once, and took his hand in mine. No word was spoken. Presently he withdrew his hand from my clasp, and, putting his fingerto his lips, whistled low to the Indian girl. She drew aside the hangingmats, and we passed out, Diccon and I, leaving him standing as we hadfound him, upright against the post, in the red firelight. 

Should we ever go through the woods, pass through that gathering storm, reach Jamestown, warn them there of the death that was rushing uponthem? Should we ever leave that hated village? Would the morning evercome? When we reached our hut, unseen, and sat down just within thedoorway to watch for the dawn, it seemed as though the stars would neverpale. Again and again the leaping Indians between us and the fire fedthe tall flame; if one figure fell in the wild dancing, another took itsplace; the yelling never ceased, nor the beating of the drums. 

It was an alarum that was sounding, and there were only two to hear;miles away beneath the mute stars English men and women lay asleep, withthe hour thundering at their gates, and there was none to cry, "Awake!"When would the dawn come, when should we be gone? I could have cried outin that agony of waiting, with the leagues on leagues to be traveled, and the time so short! If we never reached those sleepers--I saw thedark warriors gathering, tribe on tribe, war party on war party, thickcrowding shadows of death, slipping though the silent forest. . . Andthe clearings we had made and the houses we had built. . . The goodlyEnglishmen, Kent and Thorpe and Yeardley, Maddison, Wynne, Hamor, themen who had striven to win and hold this land so fatal and so fair, Westand Rolfe and Jeremy Sparrow. . . The children about the doorsteps, thewomen. . . One woman. . . 

It came to an end, as all things earthly will. The flames of the greatbonfire sank lower and lower, and as they sank the gray light falteredinto being, grew, and strengthened. At last the dancers were still, thewomen scattered, the priests with their hideous Okee gone. The wailingof the pipes died away, the drums ceased to beat, and the village lay inthe keen wind and the pale light, inert and quiet with the stillness ofexhaustion. 

The pause and hush did not last. When the ruffled pools amid the marsheswere rosy beneath the sunrise, the women brought us food, and thewarriors and old men gathered about us. They sat upon mats or billets ofwood, and I offered them bread and meat, and told them they must come toJamestown to taste of the white man's cookery. 

Scarcely was the meal over when Opechancanough issued from his lodge, with his picked men behind him, and, coming slowly up to us, took hisseat upon the white mat that was spread for him. For a few minutes hesat in a silence that neither we nor his people cared to break. Onlythe wind sang in the brown branches, and from some forest brake came astag's hoarse cry. As he sat in the sunshine he glistened all over, likean Ethiop besprent with silver; for his dark limbs and mighty chest hadbeen oiled, and then powdered with antimony. Through his scalp lock wasstuck an eagle's feather; across his face, from temple to chin, was abar of red paint; the eyes above were very bright and watchful, but weupon whom that scrutiny was bent were as little wont as he to let ourfaces tell our minds. 

One of his young men brought a great pipe, carved and painted, stem andbowl; an old man filled it with tobacco, and a warrior lit it and boreit to the Emperor. He put it to his lips and smoked in silence, whilethe sun climbed higher and higher, and the golden minutes that were moreprecious than heart's blood went by, at once too slow, too swift. 

At last, his part in the solemn mockery played, he held out the pipe tome. "The sky will fall, and the rivers run dry, and the birds cease tosing, " he said, "before the smoke of the calumet fades from the land. "

I took the symbol of peace, and smoked it as silently and soberly--ay, and as slowly--as he had done before me, then laid it leisurely asideand held out my hand. "My eyes have been holden, " I told him, "but nowI see plainly the deep graves of the hatchets and the drifting of thepeace smoke through the forest. Let Opechancanough come to Jamestown tosmoke of the Englishman's uppowoc, and to receive rich presents, --a redrobe like his brother Powhatan's, and a cup from which he shall drink, he and all his people. "

He laid his dark fingers in mine for an instant, withdrew them, and, rising to his feet, motioned to three Indians who stood out from thethrong of warriors. "These are Captain Percy's guides and friends, "he announced. "The sun is high; it is time that he was gone. Here arepresents for him and for my brother the Governor. " As he spoke, he tookfrom his neck the rope of pearls and from his arm a copper bracelet, andlaid both upon my palm. 

I thrust the pearls within my doublet, and slipped the bracelet upon mywrist. "Thanks, Opechancanough, " I said briefly. "When we meet again Ishall not greet you with empty thanks. "

By this all the folk of the village had gathered around us; and now thedrums beat again, and the maidens raised a wild and plaintive songof farewell. At a sign from the werowance men and women formed a rudeprocession, and followed us, who were to go upon a journey, to the edgeof the village where the marsh began. Only the dark Emperor and the oldmen stayed behind, sitting and standing in the sunshine, with the peacepipe lying on the grass at their feet, and the wind moving the branchesoverhead. I looked back and saw them thus, and wondered idly how manyminutes they would wait before putting on the black paint. Of Nantauquaswe had seen nothing. Either he had gone to the forest, or upon somepretense he kept within his lodge. 

We bade farewell to the noisy throng who had brought us upon our way, and went down to the river, where we found a canoe and rowers, crossedthe stream, and, bidding the rowers good-by, entered the forest. Itwas Wednesday morning, and the sun was two hours high. Three suns, Nantauquas had said: on Friday, then, the blow would fall. Threedays! Once at Jamestown, it would take three days to warn each lonelyscattered settlement, to put the colony into any posture of defense. What of the leagues of danger-haunted forest to be traversed before evena single soul of the three thousand could be warned?

As for the three Indians, --who had their orders to go slowly, who at anysuspicious haste or question or anxiety on our part were to kill us whomthey deemed unarmed, --when they left their village that morning, theyleft it forever. There were times when Diccon and I had no need ofspeech, but knew each other's mind without; so now, though no word hadbeen spoken, we were agreed to set upon and slay our guides the firstoccasion that offered. 

CHAPTER XXXIV IN WHICH THE RACE IS NOT TO THE SWIFT

THE three Indians of whom we must rid ourselves were approved warriors, fierce as wolves, cunning as foxes, keen-eyed as hawks. They had noreason to doubt us, to dream that we would turn upon them, but fromhabit they watched us, with tomahawk and knife resting lightly in theirbelts. 

As for us, we walked slowly, smiled freely, and spoke frankly. Thesunshine streaming down in the spaces where the trees fell away was notbrighter than our mood. Had we not smoked the peace pipe? Were we noton our way home? Diccon, walking behind me, fell into a low-voicedconversation with the savage who strode beside him. It related to thebarter for a dozen otterskins of a gun which he had at Jamestown. Thesavage was to bring the skins to Paspahegh at his earliest convenience, and Diccon would meet him there and give him the gun, provided the peltswere to his liking. As they talked, each, in his mind's eye, saw theother dead before him. The one meant to possess a gun, indeed, but hethought to take it himself from the munition house at Jamestown; theother knew that the otter which died not until this Indian's arrowquivered in its side would live until doomsday. Yet they discussed thematter gravely, hedging themselves about with provisos, and, thebargain clinched, walked on side by side in the silence of a perfect andall-comprehending amity. 

The sun rode higher and higher, gilding the misty green of the buddingtrees, quickening the red maple bloom into fierce scarlet, throwinglances of light down through the pine branches to splinter against thedark earth far below. For an hour it shone; then clouds gathered andshut it from sight. The forest darkened, and the wind arose witha shriek. The young trees cowered before the blast, the strong andvigorous beat their branches together with a groaning sound, the old andworn fell crashing to the earth. Presently the rain rushed down, slantlines of silver tearing through the wood with the sound of the feet ofan army; hail followed, a torrent of ice beating and bruising all tendergreen things to the earth. The wind took the multitudinous sounds, --thecries of frightened birds, the creaking trees, the snap of breakingboughs, the crash of falling giants, the rush of the rain, the drummingof the hail, --enwound them with itself, and made the forest like a greatshell held close to the ear. 

There was no house to flee to; so long as we could face the hail westaggered on, heads down, buffeting the wind; but at last, the fury ofthe storm increasing, we were fain to throw ourselves upon the earth, in a little brake, where an overhanging bank somewhat broke the wind. Amighty oak, swaying and groaning above us, might fall and crush us likeeggshells; but if we went on, the like fate might meet us in the way. Broken and withered limbs, driven by the wind, went past us like crookedshadows; it grew darker and darker, and the air was deadly cold. 

The three Indians pressed their faces against the ground; they dreamednot of harm from us, but Okee was in the merciless hail and the firstthunder of the year, now pealing through the wood. Suddenly Dicconraised himself upon his elbow, and looked across at me. Our eyes hadno sooner met than his hand was at his bosom. The savage nearest him, feeling the movement, as it were, lifted his head from the earth, ofwhich it was so soon to become a part; but if he saw the knife, he sawit too late. The blade, driven down with all the strength of a desperateman, struck home; when it was drawn from its sheath of flesh, thereremained to us but a foe apiece. 

In the instant of its descent I had thrown myself upon the Indiannearest me. It was not a time for overniceness. If I could have done so, I would have struck him in the back while he thought no harm; as it was, some subtle instinct warning him, he whirled himself over in time tostrike up my hand and to clench with me. He was very strong, and hisnaked body, wet with rain, slipped like a snake from my hold. Over andover we rolled on the rain-soaked moss and rotted leaves and cold blackearth, the hail blinding us, and the wind shrieking like a thousandwatching demons. He strove to reach the knife within his belt; I, toprevent him, and to strike deep with the knife I yet held. 

At last I did so. Blood gushed over my hand and wrist, the clutch uponmy arm relaxed, the head fell back. The dying eyes glared into mine;then the lids shut forever upon that unquenchable hatred. I staggered tomy feet and turned, to find that Diccon had given account of the thirdIndian. 

We stood up in the hail and the wind, and looked at the dead men atour feet. Then, without speaking, we went our way through the tossingforest, with the hailstones coming thick against us, and the wind astrong hand to push us back. When we came to a little trickling spring, we knelt and washed our hands. 

The hail ceased, but the rain fell and the wind blew throughout themorning. We made what speed we could over the boggy earth against thestorm, but we knew that we were measuring miles where we should havemeasured leagues. There was no breath to waste in words, and thoughtwas a burden quite intolerable; it was enough to stumble on throughthe partial light, with a mind as gray and blank as the rain-blurreddistance. 

At noon the clouds broke, and an hour later the sunshine was streamingdown from a cloudless heaven, beneath which the forest lay clear beforeus, naught stirring save shy sylvan creatures to whom it mattered not ifred man or white held the land. 

Side by side Diccon and I hurried on, not speaking, keeping eye and earopen, proposing with all our will to reach the goal we had set, andto reach it in time, let what might oppose. It was but another forcedmarch; many had we made in our time, through dangers manifold, and hadlived to tell the tale. 

There was no leisure in which to play the Indian and cover up ourfootprints as we made them, but when we came to a brook we stepped intothe cold, swift-flowing water, and kept it company for a while. The brook flowed between willows, thickly set, already green, andoverarching a yard or more of water. Presently it bent sharply, and weturned with it. Ten yards in front of us the growth of willows ceasedabruptly, the low, steep banks shelved downwards to a grassy level, and the stream widened into a clear and placid pool, as blue as the skyabove. Crouched upon the grass or standing in the shallow water weresome fifteen or twenty deer. We had come upon them without noise; thewind blew from them to us, and the willows hid us from their sight. There was no alarm, and we stood a moment watching them before we shouldthrow a stone or branch into their midst and scare them from our path. 

Suddenly, as we looked, the leader threw up his head, made a spring, andwas off like a dart, across the stream and into the depths of the forestbeyond. The herd followed. A moment, and there were only the troddengrass and the troubled waters; no other sign that aught living hadpassed that way. 

"Now what was that for?" muttered Diccon. "I'm thinking we had best nottake to the open just yet. "

For answer I parted the willows, and forced myself into the covert, pressing as closely as possible against the bank, and motioning him todo the same. He obeyed, and the thick-clustering gold-green twigs swunginto place again, shutting us in with the black water and the leafy, crumbling bank. From that green dimness we could look out upon the pooland the grass, with small fear that we ourselves would be seen. 

Out of the shadow of the trees into the grassy space stepped an Indian;a second followed, a third, a fourth, --one by one they came from thegloom into the sunlight, until we had counted a score or more. They madeno pause, a glance telling them to what were due the trampled grass andthe muddied water. As they crossed the stream one stooped and drankfrom his hand, but they said no word and made no noise. All were paintedblack; a few had face and chest striped with yellow. Their headdresseswere tall and wonderful, their leggings and moccasins fringed with scalplocks; their hatchets glinted in the sunshine, and their quivers werestuck full of arrows. One by one they glided from the stream into thethick woods beyond. We waited until we knew that they were were deep inthe forest, then crept from the willows and went our way. 

"They were Youghtenunds, " I said, in the low tones we used when we spokeat all, "and they went to the southward. "

"We may thank our stars that they missed our trail, " Diccon answered. 

We spoke no more, but, leaving the stream, struck again toward thesouth. The day wore on, and still we went without pause. Sun and shadeand keen wind, long stretches of pine and open glades where we quickenedour pace to a run, dense woods, snares of leafless vines, swamp andthicket through which we toiled so slowly that the heart bled at thedelay, streams and fallen trees, --on and on we hurried, until the sunsank and the dusk came creeping in upon us. 

"We've dined with Duke Humphrey to-day, " said Diccon at last; "but if wecan keep this pace, and don't meet any more war parties, or fall foul ofan Indian village, or have to fight the wolves to-night, we'll dine withthe Governor to-morrow. What's that?"

"That" was the report of a musket, and a spent ball had struck me abovethe knee, bruising the flesh beneath the leather of my boot. 

We wheeled, and looked in the direction whence lead come that unwelcomevisitor. There was naught to be seen. It was dusk in the distance, and there were thickets too, and fallen logs. Where that ambuscade wasplanted, if one or twenty Indians lurked in the dusk behind the trees, or lay on the further side of those logs, or crouched within a thicket, no mortal man could tell. 

"It was a spent ball, " I said. "Our best hope is in our heels. "

"There are pines beyond, and smooth going, " he answered; "but if ever Ithought to run from an Indian!"

Without more ado we started. If we could outstrip that marksman, if wecould even hold our distance until night had fallen, all might yet bewell. A little longer, and even an Indian must fire at random; moreover, we might reach some stream and manage to break our trail. The ground wassmooth before us, --too smooth, and slippery with pine needles; the pinesthemselves stood in grim brown rows, and we ran between them lightly andeasily, husbanding our strength. Now and again one or the other lookedbehind, but we saw only the pines and the gathering dusk. Hope wasstrengthening in us, when a second bullet dug into the earth just beyondus. 

Diccon swore beneath his breath. "It struck deep, " he muttered. "Thedark is slow in coming. "

A minute later, as I ran with my head over my shoulder, I saw ourpursuer, dimly, like a deeper shadow in the shadows far down the arcadebehind us. There was but one man, --a tall warrior, strayed aside fromhis band, perhaps, or bound upon a warpath of his own. The musket thathe carried some English fool had sold him for a mess of pottage. 

Putting forth all our strength, we ran for our lives, and for the livesof many others. Before us the pine wood sloped down to a deep and widethicket, and beyond the thicket a line of sycamores promised water. Ifwe could reach the thicket, its close embrace would hide us, --then thedarkness and the stream. A third shot, and Diccon staggered slightly. 

"For God's sake, not struck, man?" I cried. 

"It grazed my arm, " he panted. "No harm done. Here's the thicket!"

Into the dense growth we broke, reckless of the blood which the sharptwigs drew from face and hands. The twigs met in a thick roof over ourheads; that was all we cared for, and through the network we saw one ofthe larger stars brighten into being. The thicket was many yards across. When we had gone thirty feet down we crouched and waited for the dark. If our enemy followed us, he must do so at his peril, with only hisknife for dependence. 

One by one the stars swam into sight, until the square of sky above uswas thickly studded. There was no sound, and no living thing could haveentered that thicket without noise. For what seemed an eternity, we waited; then we rose and broke our way through the bushes to thesycamores, to find that they indeed shadowed a little sluggish stream. 

Down this we waded for some distance before taking to dry earth again. Since entering the thicket we had seen and heard nothing suspicious, and were now fain to conclude that the dark warrior had wearied of thechase, and was gone on his way toward his mates and that larger andsurer quarry which two suns would bring. Certain it is that we saw nomore of him. 

The stream flowing to the south, we went with it, hurrying along itsbank, beneath the shadow of great trees, with the stars gleaming downthrough the branches. It was cold and still, and far in the distance weheard wolves hunting. As for me, I felt no weariness. Every sensewas sharpened; my feet were light; the keen air was like wine in thedrinking; there was a star low in the south that shone and beckoned. Theleagues between my wife and me were few. I saw her standing beneath thestar, with a little purple flower in her hand. 

Suddenly, a bend in the stream hiding the star, I became aware thatDiccon was no longer keeping step with me, but had fallen somewhat tothe rear. I turned, and he was leaning heavily, with drooping head, against the trunk of a tree. 

"Art so worn as that?" I exclaimed. "Put more heart into thy heels, man!"

He straightened himself and strode on beside me. "I don't know what cameover me for a minute, " he answered. "The wolves are loud to-night. Ihope they'll keep to their side of the water. "

A stone's throw farther on, the stream curving to the west, we left it, and found ourselves in a sparsely wooded glade, with a bare and sandysoil beneath our feet, and above, in the western sky, a crescent moon. Again Diccon lagged behind, and presently I heard him groan in thedarkness. 

I wheeled. "Diccon!" I cried. "What is the matter?"

Before I could reach him he had sunk to his knees. When I put my handupon his arm and again demanded what ailed him, he tried to laugh, thentried to swear, and ended with another groan. "The ball did graze myarm, " he said, "but it went on into my side. I'll just lie here anddie, and wish you well at Jamestown. When the red imps come against youthere, and you open fire on them, name a bullet for me. "

CHAPTER XXXV IN WHICH I COME TO THE GOVERNOR'S HOUSE

I LAID him down upon the earth, and, cutting away his doublet and theshirt beneath, saw the wound, and knew that there was a journey indeedthat he would shortly make. "The world is turning round, " he muttered, "and the stars are falling thicker than the hailstones yesterday. Go on, and I will stay behind, --I and the wolves. "

I took him in my arms and carried him back to the bank of the stream, for I knew that he would want water until he died. My head was bare, buthe had worn his cap from the gaol at Jamestown that night. I filled itwith water and gave him to drink; then washed the wound and did what Icould to stanch the bleeding. He turned from side to side, and presentlyhis mind began to wander, and he talked of the tobacco in the fieldsat Weyanoke. Soon he was raving of old things, old camp fires andnight-time marches and wild skirmishes, perils by land and by sea; thenof dice and wine and women. Once he cried out that Dale had bound himupon the wheel, and that his arms and legs were broken, and the woodsrang to his screams. Why, in that wakeful forest, they were unheard, orwhy, if heard, they went unheeded, God only knows. 

The moon went down, and it was very cold. How black were the shadowsaround us, what foes might steal from that darkness upon us, it was notworth while to consider. I do not know what I thought of on that night, or even that I thought at all. Between my journeys for the water that hecalled for I sat beside the dying man with my hand upon his breast, forhe was quieter so. Now and then I spoke to him, but he answered not. 

Hours before we had heard the howling of wolves, and knew that someravenous pack was abroad. With the setting of the moon the noise hadceased, and I thought that the brutes had pulled down the deer theyhunted, or else had gone with their hunger and their dismal voices outof earshot. Suddenly the howling recommenced, at first faint and faraway, then nearer and nearer yet. Earlier in the evening the stream hadbeen between us, but now the wolves had crossed and were coming down ourside of the water, and were coming fast. 

All the ground was strewn with dead wood, and near by was a growth oflow and brittle bushes. I gathered the withered branches, and brokefagots from the bushes; then into the press of dark and stealthy forms Ithrew a great crooked stick, shouting as I did so, and threatening withmy arms. They turned and fled, but presently they were back again. AgainI frightened them away, and again they returned. I had flint and steeland tinder box; when I had scared them from us a third time, and theyhad gone only a little way, I lit a splinter of pine, and with it firedmy heap of wood; then dragged Diccon into the light and sat down besidehim, with no longer any fear of the wolves, but with absolute confidencein the quick appearance of less cowardly foes. There was wood enough andto spare; when the fire sank low and the hungry eyes gleamed nearer, Ifed it again, and the flame leaped up and mocked the eyes. 

No human enemy came upon us. The fire blazed and roared, and the man wholay in its rosy glare raved on, crying out now and then at the top ofhis voice; but on that night of all nights, of all years, light andvoice drew no savage band to put out the one and silence the otherforever. 

Hours passed, and as it drew toward midnight Diccon sank into a stupor. I knew that the end was not far away. The wolves were gone at last, andmy fire was dying down. He needed my touch upon his breast no longer, and I went to the stream and bathed my hands and forehead, and thenthrew myself face downward upon the bank. In a little while the desolatemurmur of the water became intolerable, and I rose and went back to thefire, and to the man whom, as God lives, I loved as a brother. 

He was conscious. Pale and cold and nigh gone as he was, there came alight to his eyes and a smile to his lips when I knelt beside him. "Youdid not go?" he breathed. 

"No, " I answered, "I did not go. "

For a few minutes he lay with closed eyes; when he again opened themupon my face, there were in their depths a question and an appeal. Ibent over him, and asked him what he would have. 

"You know, " he whispered. "If you can. . . I would not go without it. "

"Is it that?" I asked. "I forgave you long ago. "

"I meant to kill you. I was mad because you struck me before the lady, and because I had betrayed my trust. An you had not caught my hand, I should be your murderer. " He spoke with long intervals between thewords, and the death dew was on his forehead. 

"Remember it not, Diccon, " I entreated. "I too was to blame. And I seenot that night for other nights, --for other nights and days, Diccon. "

He smiled, but there was still in his face a shadowy eagerness. "Yousaid you would never strike me again, " he went on, "and that I was manof yours no more forever--and you gave me my freedom in the paper whichI tore. " He spoke in gasps, with his eyes upon mine. "I'll be gone ina few minutes now. If I might go as your man still, and could tell theLord Jesus Christ that my master on earth forgave, and took back, itwould be a hand in the dark. I have spent my life in gathering darknessfor myself at the last. "

I bent lower over him, and took his hand in mine. "Diccon, my man, " Isaid. 

A brightness came into his face, and he faintly pressed my hand. Islipped my arm beneath him and raised him a little higher to meet hisdeath. He was smiling now, and his mind was not quite clear. "Do youmind, sir, " he asked, "how green and strong and sweet smelled the pinesthat May day, when we found Virginia, so many years ago?"

"Ay, Diccon, " I answered. "Before we saw the land, the fragrance told uswe were near it. "

"I smell it now, " he went on, "and the bloom of the grape, and theMay-time flowers. And can you not hear, sir, the whistling and thelaughter and the sound of the falling trees, that merry time when Smithmade axemen of all our fine gentlemen?"

"Ay, Diccon, " I said. "And the sound of the water that was dashed downthe sleeve of any that were caught in an oath. "

He laughed like a little child. "It is well that I was n't a gentleman, and had not those trees to fell, or I should have been as wet as anymerman. . . . And Pocahontas, the little maid. . . And how blue the sky was, and how glad we were what time the Patience and Deliverance came in!"

His voice failed, and for a minute I thought he was gone; but he hadbeen a strong man, and life slipped not easily from him. When his eyesopened again he knew me not, but thought he was in some tavern, andstruck with his hand upon the ground as upon a table, and called for thedrawer. 

Around him were only the stillness and the shadows of the night, butto his vision men sat and drank with him, diced and swore and told wildtales of this or that. For a time he talked loudly and at random of thevile quality of the drink, and his viler luck at the dice; then he beganto tell a story. As he told it, his senses seemed to steady, and hespoke with coherence and like a shadow of himself. 

"And you call that a great thing, William Host?" he demanded. "I cantell a true tale worth two such lies, my masters. (Robin tapster, moreale! And move less like a slug, or my tankard and your ear will cry, 'Well met!') It was between Ypres and Courtrai, friends, and it's nighfifteen years ago. There were fields in which nothing was sowed becausethey were ploughed with the hoofs of war horses, and ditches in whichdead men were thrown, and dismal marshes, and roads that were no roadsat all, but only sloughs. And there was a great stone house, old andruinous, with tall poplars shivering in the rain and mist. Into thishouse there threw themselves a band of Dutch and English, and hardon their heels came two hundred Spaniards. All day they besieged thathouse, --smoke and flame and thunder and shouting and the crash ofmasonry, --and when eventide was come we, the Dutch and the English, thought that Death was not an hour behind. "

He paused, and made a gesture of raising a tankard to his lips. Hiseyes were bright, his voice was firm. The memory of that old day and itsmortal strife had wrought upon him like wine. 

"There was one amongst us, " he said, "he was our captain, and it's ofhim I am going to tell the story. Robin tapster, bring me no more ale, but good mulled wine! It's cold and getting dark, and I have to drink toa brave man besides"--

With the old bold laugh in his eyes, he raised himself, for the momentas strong as I that held him. "Drink to that Englishman, all of ye!" hecried, "and not in filthy ale, but in good, gentlemanly sack! I'll paythe score. Here's to him, brave hearts! Here's to my master!"

With his hand at his mouth, and his story untold, he fell back. I heldhim in my arms until the brief struggle was over, and then laid his bodydown upon the earth. 

It might have been one of the clock. For a little while I sat besidehim, with my head bowed in my hands. Then I straightened his limbs andcrossed his hands upon his breast, and kissed him upon the brow, andleft him lying dead in the forest. 

It was hard going through the blackness of the night-time woods. OnceI was nigh sucked under in a great swamp, and once I stumbled into somehole or pit in the earth, and for a time thought that I had broken myleg. The night was very dark, and sometimes when I could not see thestars, I lost my way, and went to the right or the left, or even backupon my track. Though I heard the wolves, they did not come nigh me. Just before daybreak, I crouched behind a log, and watched a party ofsavages file past like shadows of the night. 

At last the dawn came, and I could press on more rapidly. For two daysand two nights I had not slept; for a day and a night I had not tastedfood. As the sun climbed the heavens, a thousand black spots, likesummer gnats, danced between his face and my weary eyes. The forest laidstumbling-blocks before me, and drove me back, and made me wind in andout when I would have had my path straighter than an arrow. Whenthe ground allowed I ran; when I must break my way, panting, throughundergrowth so dense and stubborn that it seemed some enchanted thicket, where each twig snapped but to be on the instant stiff in place again, Ibroke it with what patience I might; when I must turn aside for thisor that obstacle I made the detour, though my heart cried out at thenecessity. Once I saw reason to believe that two or more Indians wereupon my trail, and lost time in outwitting them; and once I must go amile out of my way to avoid an Indian village. 

As the day wore on, I began to go as in a dream. It had come to seem thegigantic wood of some fantastic tale through which I was traveling. The fallen trees ranged themselves into an abatis hard to surmount; thethickets withstood one like iron; the streamlets were like rivers, themarshes leagues wide, the treetops miles away. Little things, twistedroots, trailing vines, dead and rotten wood, made me stumble. A windwas blowing that had blown just so since time began, and the forest wasfilled with the sound of the sea. 

Afternoon came, and the shadows began to lengthen. They were lines ofblack paint spilt in a thousand places, and stealing swiftly and surelyacross the brightness of the land. Torn and bleeding and breathless, Ihastened on; for it was drawing toward night, and I should have been atJamestown hours before. My head pained me, and as I ran I saw men andwomen stealing in and out among the trees before me: Pocahontas with herwistful eyes and braided hair and finger on her lips; Nantauquas; Dale, the knight-marshal, and Argall with his fierce, unscrupulous face;my cousin George Percy, and my mother with her stately figure, herembroidery in her hands. I knew that they were but phantoms of my brain, but their presence confused and troubled me. 

The shadows ran together, and the sunshine died out of the forest. Stumbling on, I saw through the thinning trees a long gleam of red, andthought it was blood, but presently knew that it was the river, crimsonfrom the sunset. A minute more and I stood upon the shore of the mightystream, between the two brightnesses of flood and heavens. There wasa silver crescent in the sky with one white star above it, and fair insight, down the James, with lights springing up through the twilight, was the town, --the English town that we had built and named for ourKing, and had held in the teeth of Spain, in the teeth of the wildernessand its terrors. It was not a mile away; a little longer, --a littlelonger and I could rest, with my tidings told. 

The dusk had quite fallen when I reached the neck of land. The hut towhich I had been enticed that night stood dark and ghastly, with itsdoor swinging in the wind. I ran past it and across the neck, and, arriving at the palisade, beat upon the gate with my hands, and calledto the warder to open. When I had told him my name and tidings, he didso, with shaking knees and starting eyes. Cautioning him to raise noalarm in the town, I hurried by him into the street, and down it towardthe house that was set aside for the Governor of Virginia. I should findthere now, not Yeardley, but Sir Francis Wyatt. 

The torches were lighted, and the folk were indoors, for the night wascold. One or two figures that I met or passed would have accosted me, not knowing who I was, but I brushed by them, and hastened on. Only whenI passed the guest house I looked up, and saw that mine host's chiefrooms were yet in use. 

The Governor's door was open, and in the hall servingmen were movingto and fro. When I came in upon them, they cried out as it had been aghost, and one fellow let a silver dish that he carried fall clatteringto the floor. They shook and stood back, as I passed them without aword, and went on to the Governor's great room. The door was ajar, and Ipushed it open and stood for a minute upon the threshold, unobserved bythe occupants of the room. 

After the darkness outside the lights dazzled me; the room, too, seemedcrowded with men, though when I counted them there were not so many, after all. Supper had been put upon the table, but they were not eating. Before the fire, his head thoughtfully bent, and his fingers tappingupon the arm of his chair, sat the Governor; over against him, and asserious of aspect, was the Treasurer. West stood by the mantel, tuggingat his long mustaches and softly swearing. Clayborne was in the room, Piersey the Cape Merchant, and one or two besides. And Rolfe was there, walking up and down with hasty steps, and a flushed and haggardface. His suit of buff was torn and stained, and his great-boots werespattered with mud. 

The Governor let his fingers rest upon the arm of his chair, and raisedhis head. 

"He is dead, Master Rolfe, " he said. "There can be no otherconclusion, --a brave man lost to you and to the colony. We mourn withyou, sir. "

"We too have searched, Jack, " put in West. "We have not been idle, though well-nigh all men believe that the Indians, who we know had agrudge against him, murdered him and his man that night, then threwtheir bodies into the river, and themselves made off out of our reach. But we hoped against hope that when your party returned he would be inyour midst. "

"As for this latest loss, " continued the Governor, "within an hourof its discovery this morning search parties were out; yea, if I hadallowed it, the whole town would have betaken itself to the woods. Thesearchers have not returned, and we are gravely anxious. Yet we are notutterly cast down. This trail can hardly be missed, and the Indians arefriendly. There were a number in town overnight, and they went with thesearchers, volunteering to act as their guides. We cannot but think thatof this load, our hearts will soon be eased. "

"God grant it!" groaned Rolfe. "I will drink but a cup of wine, sir, andthen will be gone upon this new quest. "

There was a movement in the room. "You are worn and spent with yourfruitless travel, sir, " said the Governor kindly. "I give you my wordthat all that can be done is doing. Wait at least for the morning, andthe good news it may bring. "

The other shook his head. "I will go now. I could not look my friend inthe face else--God in heaven!"

The Governor sprang to his feet; through the Treasurer's lips came along, sighing breath; West's dark face was ashen. I came forward to thetable, and leaned my weight upon it; for all the waves of the sea wereroaring in my ears, and the lights were going up and down. 

"Are you man or spirit?" cried Rolfe through white lips. "Are you RalphPercy?"

"Yes, I am Percy, " I said. "I have not well understood what quest youwould go upon, Rolfe, but you cannot go to-night. And those parties thatyour Honor talked of, that have gone with Indians to guide them to lookfor some lost person, --I think that you will never see them again. "

With an effort I drew myself erect, and standing so told my tidings, quietly and with circumstance, so as to leave no room for doubt asto their verity, or as to the sanity of him who brought them. Theylistened, as the warder had listened, with shaking limbs and gaspingbreath; for this was the fall and wiping out of a people of which Ibrought warning. 

When all was told, and they stood there before me, white and shaken, seeking in their minds the thing to say or do first, I thought to ask aquestion myself; but before my tongue could frame it, the roaring of thesea became so loud that I could hear naught else, and the lights all rantogether into a wheel of fire. Then in a moment all sounds ceased, andto the lights succeeded the blackness of outer darkness. 

CHAPTER XXXVI IN WHICH I HEAR ILL NEWS

WHEN I awoke from the sleep or stupor into which I must have passed fromthat swoon, it was to find myself lying upon a bed in a room floodedwith sunshine. I was alone. For a moment I lay still, staring at theblue sky without the window, and wondering where I was and how Icame there. A drum beat, a dog barked, and a man's quick voice gave acommand. The sounds stung me into remembrance, and I was at the windowwhile the voice was yet speaking. 

It was West in the street below, pointing with his sword now to thefort, now to the palisade, and giving directions to the armed men abouthim. There were many people in the street. Women hurried by to thefort with white, scared faces, their arms filled with household gear;children ran beside them, sturdily bearing their share of the goods, butpressing close to their elders' skirts; men went to and fro, the mostgrimly silent, but a few talking loudly. Not all of the faces in thecrowd belonged to the town: there were Kingsmell and his wife from themain, and John Ellison from Archer's Hope, and the Italians Vincencioand Bernardo from the Glass House. The nearer plantations, then, hadbeen warned, and their people had come for refuge to the city. A negropassed, but on that morning, alone of many days, no Indian aired hispaint and feathers in the white man's village. 

I could not see the palisade across the neck, but I knew that it wasthere that the fight--if fight there were--would be made. Should theIndians take the palisade, there would yet be the houses of the town, and, last of all, the fort in which to make a stand. I believed not thatthey would take it. Long since we had found out their method of warfare. They used ambuscade, surprise, and massacre; when withstood in force andwith determination they withdrew to their stronghold the forest, thereto bide their time until, in the blackness of some night, they couldagain swoop down upon a sleeping foe. 

The drum beat again, and a messenger from the palisade came down thestreet at a run. "They're in the woods over against us, thicker thanants!" he cried to West as he passed. "A boat has just drifted ashoreyonder, with two men in it, dead and scalped!"

I turned to leave the room, and ran against Master Pory coming in ontiptoe, with a red and solemn face. He started when he saw me. 

"The roll of the drum brought you to your feet, then!" he cried. "You'velain like the dead all night. I came but to see if you were breathing. "

"When I have eaten, I shall be myself again, " I said. "There's no attackas yet?"

"No, " he answered. "They must know that we are prepared. But theyhave kindled fires along the river bank, and we can hear them yelling. Whether they'll be mad enough to come against us remains to be seen. "

"The nearest settlements have been warned?"

"Ay. The Governor offered a thousand pounds of tobacco and the perpetualesteem of the Company to the man or men who would carry the news. Sixvolunteered, and went off in boats, three up river, three down. Howmany they reached, or if they still have their scalps, we know not. Andawhile ago, just before daybreak, comes with frantic haste RichardPace, who had rowed up from Pace's Pains to tell the news which you hadalready brought. Chanco the Christian had betrayed the plot to him, andhe managed to give warning at Powel's and one or two other places as hecame up the river. "

He broke off, but when I would have spoken interrupted me with: "And soyou were on the Pamunkey all this while! Then the Paspaheghs fooled uswith the simple truth, for they swore so stoutly that their absent chiefmen were but gone on a hunt toward the Pamunkey that we had no choicebut to believe them gone in quite another direction. And one and all ofevery tribe we questioned swore that Opechancanough was at Orapax. SoMaster Rolfe puts off up river to find, if not you, then the Emperor, and make him give up your murderers; and the Governor sends a partyalong the bay, and West another up the Chickahominy. And there you were, all the time, mewed up in the village above the marshes! And Nantauquas, after saving our lives like one of us, is turned Indian again! And yourman is killed! Alackaday! there's naught but trouble in the world. 'Asthe sparks fly upwards, ' you know. But a brave man draws his breath andsets his teeth. "

In his manner, his rapid talk, his uneasy glances toward the door, Ifound something forced and strange. "I thought Rolfe was behind me, " hesaid, "but he must have been delayed. There are meat and drink set outin the great room, where the Governor and those of the Council whoare safe here with us are advising together. Let's descend; you've noteaten, and the good sack will give you strength. Wilt come?"

"Ay, " I answered, "but tell me the news as we go. I have been gone tendays, --faith, it seems ten years! There have no ships sailed, MasterPory? The George is still here?" I looked him full in the eye, for asudden guess at a possible reason for his confusion had stabbed me likea knife. 

"Ay, " he said, with a readiness that could scarce be feigned. "She wasto have sailed this week, it is true, the Governor fearing to keepher longer. But the Esperance, coming in yesterday, brought news whichremoved his Honor's scruples. Now she'll wait to see out this hand atthe cards, and to take home the names of those who are left alivein Virginia. If the red varlets do swarm in upon us, there are hertwelve-pounders; they and the fort guns"--

I let him talk on. The George had not sailed. I saw again a firelithut, and a man and a panther who went down together. Those claws had dugdeep; the man across whose face they had torn their way would keep hisroom in the guest house at Jamestown until his wounds were somewhathealed. The George would wait for him, would scarcely dare to sailwithout him, and I should find the lady whom she was to carry away toEngland in Virginia still. It was this that I had built upon, thegrain of comfort, the passionate hope, the sustaining cordial, of thoseyear-long days in the village above the Pamunkey. 

My heart was sore because of Diccon; but I could speak of that grief toher, and she would grieve with me. There were awe and dread and sternsorrow in the knowledge that even now in the bright spring morning bloodfrom a hundred homes might be flowing to meet the shining, carelessriver; but it was the springtime, and she was waiting for me. I strodeon toward the stairway so fast that when I asked a question Master Pory, at my side, was too out of breath to answer it. Halfway down the stairsI asked it again, and again received no answer save a "Zooks! you gotoo fast for my years and having in flesh! Go more slowly, Ralph Percy;there's time enough, there's time enough!"

There was a tone in his voice that I liked not, for it savored of pity. I looked at him with knitted brows; but we were now in the hall, andthrough the open door of the great room I caught a glimpse of a woman'sskirt. There were men in the hall, servants and messengers, who madeway for us, staring at me as they did so, and whispering. I knew thatmy clothing was torn and muddied and stained with blood; as we pausedat the door there came to me in a flash that day in the courting meadowwhen I had tried with my dagger to scrape the dried mud from my boots. I laughed at myself for caring now, and for thinking that she would carethat I was not dressed for a lady's bower. The next moment we were inthe great room. 

She was not there. The silken skirt that I had seen, and--there beingbut one woman in all the world for me--had taken for hers, belonged toLady Wyatt, who, pale and terrified, was sitting with clasped hands, mutely following with her eyes her husband as he walked to and fro. Westhad come in from the street and was making some report. Around the tablewere gathered two or three of the Council; Master Sandys stood ata window, Rolfe beside Lady Wyatt's chair. The room was filled withsunshine, and a caged bird was singing, singing. It made the only soundthere when they saw that I stood amongst them. 

When I had made my bow to Lady Wyatt and to the Governor, and hadclasped hands with Rolfe, I began to find in the silence, as I had foundin Master Pory's loquaciousness, something strange. They looked at meuneasily, and I caught a swift glance from the Treasurer to Master Pory, and an answering shake of the latter's head. Rolfe was very white andhis lips were set; West was pulling at his mustaches and staring at thefloor. 

"With all our hearts we welcome you back to life and to the service ofVirginia, Captain Percy, " said the Governor, when the silence had becomeawkward. 

A murmur of assent went round the room. 

I bowed. "I thank you, sir, and these gentlemen very heartily. You havebut to command me now. I find that I have to-day the best will inthe world toward fighting. I trust that your Honor does not deem itnecessary to send me back to gaol?"

"Virginia has no gaol for Captain Percy, " he answered gravely. "She hasonly grateful thanks and fullest sympathy. "

I glanced at him keenly. "Then I hold myself at your command, sir, whenI shall have seen and spoken with my wife. "

He looked at the floor, and they one and all held their peace. 

"Madam, " I said to Lady Wyatt, "I have been watching your ladyship'sface. Will you tell me why it is so very full of pity, and why there aretears in your eyes?"

She shrank back in her chair with a little cry, and Rolfe stepped towardme, then turned sharply aside. "I cannot!" he cried, "I that know"--

I drew myself up to meet the blow, whatever it might be. "I demand ofyou my wife, Sir Francis Wyatt, " I said. "If there is ill news to betold, be so good as to tell it quickly. If she is sick, or hath beensent away to England"--

The Governor made as if to speak, then turned and flung out his hands tohis wife. "'T is woman's work, Margaret!" he cried. "Tell him!"

More merciful than the men, she came to me at once, the tears runningdown her cheeks, and laid one trembling hand upon my arm. "She was abrave lady, Captain Percy, " she said. "Bear it as she would have had youbear it. "

"I am bearing it, madam, " I answered at length. "'She was a brave lady. 'May it please your ladyship to go on?"

"I will tell you all, Captain Percy; I will tell you everything. . . . Shenever believed you dead, and she begged upon her knees that we wouldallow her to go in search of you with Master Rolfe. That could not be;my husband, in duty to the Company, could not let her have her will. Master Rolfe went, and she sat in the window, yonder, day after day, watching for his return. When other parties went out, she besought themen, as they had wives whom they loved, to search as though thoseloved ones were in captivity and danger; when they grew weary andfainthearted, to think of her face waiting in the window. . . . Day afterday she sat there watching for them to come back; when they were come, then she watched the river for Master Rolfe's boats. Then came word downthe river that he had found no trace of you whom he sought, that he wason his way back to Jamestown, that he too believed you dead. . . . We puta watch upon her after that, for we feared we knew not what, there wassuch a light and purpose in her eyes. But two nights ago, in the middleof the night, the woman who stayed in her chamber fell asleep. When sheawoke before the dawn, it was to find her gone. "

"To find her gone?" I said dully. "To find her dead?"

She locked her hands together and the tears came faster. "Oh, CaptainPercy, it had been better so!--it had been better so! Then would shehave lain to greet you, calm and white, unmarred and beautiful, with thespring flowers upon her. . . . She believed not that you were dead; shewas distraught with grief and watching; she thought that love might findwhat friendship missed; she went to the forest to seek you. They thatwere sent to find and bring her back have never returned"--

"Into the forest!" I cried. "Jocelyn, Jocelyn, Jocelyn, come back!"

Some one pushed me into a chair, and I felt the warmth of wine within mylips. In the moment that the world steadied I rose and went toward thedoor to find my way barred by Rolfe. 

"Not you, too, Ralph!" he cried. "I will not let you go. Look foryourself!"

He drew me to the window, Master Sandys gravely making place for us. From the window was visible the neck of land and the forest beyond, andfrom the forest, up and down the river as far as the eye could reach, rose here and there thin columns of smoke. Suddenly, as we stared, three or four white smoke puffs, like giant flowers, started out of theshadowy woods across the neck. Following the crack of the muskets--firedout of pure bravado by their Indian owners--came the yelling of thesavages. The sound was prolonged and deep, as though issuing from manythroats. 

I looked and listened, and knew that I could not go, --not now. 

"She was not alone, Ralph, " said Rolfe, with his arm about me. "On themorning that she was missed, they found not Jeremy Sparrow either. Theytracked them both to the forest by the footprints upon the sand, though once in the wood the trail was lost. The minister must have beenwatching, must have seen her leave the house, and must have followedher. How she, and he after her, passed through the gates, none know. Socareless and confident had we grown--God forgive us!--that they may havebeen left open all that night. But he was with her, Ralph; she had notto face it alone"--His voice broke. 

For myself, I was glad that the minister had been there, though I knewthat for him also I should grieve after a while. 

At the firing and the shouting West had rushed from the room, followedby his fellow Councilors, and now the Governor clapped on his headpieceand called to his men to bring his back-and-breast. His wife hung aroundhis neck, and he bade her good-by with great tenderness. I looked dullyon at that parting. I too was going to battle. Once I had tasted such afarewell, the pain, the passion, the sweetness, but never again, --neveragain. 

He went, and the Treasurer, after a few words of comfort to Lady Wyatt, was gone also. Both were merciful, and spoke not to me, but only bowedand turned aside, requiring no answering word or motion of mine. Whenthey were away, and there was no sound in the room save the caged bird'ssinging and Lady Wyatt's low sobs, I begged Rolfe to leave me, tellinghim that he was needed, as indeed he was, and that I would stay in thewindow for a while, and then would join him at the palisade. He wasloath to go; but he too had loved and lost, and knew that there isnothing to be said, and that it is best to be alone. He went, and onlyLady Wyatt and I kept the quiet room with the singing bird and thesunshine on the floor. 

I leaned against the window and looked out into the street, --which wasnot crowded now, for the men were all at their several posts, --and atthe budding trees, and at the smoke of many fires going up from theforest to the sky, from a world of hate and pain and woe to the heavenwhere she dwelt, and then I turned and went to the table, where had beenset bread and meat and wine. 

At the sound of my footstep Lady Wyatt uncovered her face. "Is thereaught that I can do for you, sir?" she asked timidly. 

"I have not broken my fast for many hours, madam, " I answered. "I wouldeat and drink, that I may not be found wanting in strength. There is athing that I have yet to do. "

Rising from her chair, she brushed away her tears, and coming to thetable with a little housewifely eagerness would not let me wait uponmyself, but carved and poured for me, and then sat down opposite me andcovered her eyes with her hand. 

"I think that the Governor is quite safe, madam, " I said. "I do notbelieve that the Indians will take the palisade. It may even be that, knowing we are prepared, they will not attack at all. Indeed, I thinkthat you may be easy about him. "

She thanked me with a smile. "It is all so strange and dreadful to me, sir, " she said. "At my home, in England, it was like a Sunday morningall the year round, --all stillness and peace; no terror, no alarm. Ifear that I am not yet a good Virginian. "

When I had eaten, and had drunk the wine she gave me, I rose, and askedher if I might not see her safe within the fort before I joined herhusband at the palisade. She shook her head, and told me that there werewith her faithful servants, and that if the savages broke in upon thetown she would have warning in time to flee, the fort being so close athand. When I thereupon begged her leave to depart, she first curtsied tome, and then, again with tears, came to me and took my hand in hers. "Iknow that there is naught that I can say. . . . Your wife loved you, sir, with all her heart. " She drew something from the bosom of her gown. "Would you like this? It is a knot of ribbon that she wore. They foundit caught in a bush at the edge of the forest. "

I took the ribbon from her and put it to my lips, then unknotted it andtied it around my arm; and then, wearing my wife's colors, I went softlyout into the street, and turned my face toward the guest house and theman whom I meant to kill. 

CHAPTER XXXVII IN WHICH MY LORD AND I PART COMPANY

THE door of the guest house stood wide, and within the lower room wereneither men that drank nor men that gave to drink. Host and drawers andchance guests alike had left pipe and tankard for sword and musket, andwere gone to fort or palisade or river bank. 

I crossed the empty room and went up the creaking stairway. No onemet me or withstood me; only a pigeon perched upon the sill of a sunnywindow whirred off into the blue. I glanced out of the window as Ipassed it, and saw the silver river and the George and the Esperance, with the gunners at the guns watching for Indian canoes, and saw smokerising from the forest on the southern shore. There had been threehouses there, --John West's and Minifie's and Crashaw's. I wondered ifmine were burning, too, at Weyanoke, and cared not if 't was so. 

The door of the upper room was shut. When I raised the latch and pushedagainst it, it gave at the top and middle, but there was some pressurefrom within at the bottom. I pushed again, more strongly, and the doorslowly opened, moving away whatever thing had lain before it. Anothermoment, and I was in the room, and had closed and barred the door behindme. 

The weight that had opposed me was the body of the Italian, lying facedownwards, upon the floor. I stooped and turned it over, and saw thatthe venomous spirit had flown. The face was purple and distorted; thelips were drawn back from the teeth in a dreadful smile. There was inthe room a faint, peculiar, not unpleasant odor. It did not seem strangeto me to find that serpent, which had coiled in my path, dead andharmless for evermore. Death had been busy of late; if he struck downthe flower, why should he spare the thing that I pushed out of my waywith my foot?

Ten feet from the door stood a great screen, hiding from view all thatmight be beyond. It was very quiet in the room, with the sunshine comingthrough the window, and a breeze that smelt of the sea. I had notcared to walk lightly or to close the door softly, and yet no voice hadchallenged my entrance. For a minute I feared to find the dead physicianthe room's only occupant; then I passed the screen and came upon myenemy. 

He was sitting beside a table, with his arms outstretched and his headbowed upon them. My footfall did not rouse him; he sat there in thesunshine as still as the figure that lay before the threshold. I thoughtwith a dull fury that maybe he was dead already, and I walked hastilyand heavily across the floor to the table. He was a living man, for withthe fingers of one hand he was slowly striking against a sheet ofpaper that lay beneath them. He knew not that I stood above him; he waslistening to other footsteps. 

The paper was a letter, unfolded and written over with great blackcharacters. The few lines above those moving fingers stared me in theface. They ran thus: "I told you that you had as well cut your throatas go upon that mad Virginia voyage. Now all's gone, --wealth, honors, favor. Buckingham is the sun in heaven, and cold are the shadows inwhich we walk who hailed another luminary. There's a warrant out forthe Black Death; look to it that one meets not you too, when you come atlast. But come, in the name of all the fiends, and play your last card. There's your cursed beauty still. Come, and let the King behold yourface once more"--The rest was hidden. 

I put out my hand and touched him upon the shoulder, and he raised hishead and stared at me as at one come from the grave. 

Over one side of his face, from temple to chin, was drawn and fasteneda black cloth; the unharmed cheek was bloodless and shrunken, the liptwisted. Only the eyes, dark, sinister, and splendid, were as they hadbeen. "I dig not my graves deep enough, " he said. "Is she behind youthere in the shadow?"

Flung across a chair was a cloak of scarlet cloth. I took it and spreadit out upon the floor, then unsheathed a dagger which I had taken fromthe rack of weapons in the Governor's hall. "Loosen thy poniard, thoumurderer, " I cried, "and come stand with me upon the cloak. "

"Art quick or dead?" he answered. "I will not fight the dead. " He hadnot moved in his seat, and there was a lethargy and a dullness in hisvoice and eyes. "There is time enough, " he said. "I too will soon beof thy world, thou haggard, bloody shape. Wait until I come, and I willfight thee, shadow to shadow. "

"I am not dead, " I said, "but there is one that is. Stand up, villainand murderer, or I will kill you sitting there, with her blood upon yourhands!"

He rose at that, and drew his dagger from the sheath. I laid aside mydoublet, and he followed my example, but his hands moved listlessly andhis fingers bungled at the fastenings. I waited for him in some wonder, it not being like him to come tardily to such pastime. 

He came at length, slowly and with an uncertain step, and we stoodtogether on the scarlet cloak. I raised my left arm and he raised his, and we locked hands. There was no strength in his clasp; his hand laywithin mine cold and languid. "Art ready?" I demanded. 

"Yea, " he answered in a strange voice, "but I would that she didnot stand there with her head upon your breast. . . . I too loved thee, Jocelyn, --Jocelyn lying dead in the forest!"

I struck at him with the dagger in my right hand, and wounded him, butnot deeply, in the side. He gave blow for blow, but his poniard scarcedrew blood, so nerveless was the arm that would have driven it home. Istruck again, and he stabbed weakly at the air, then let his arm drop tohis side, as though the light and jeweled blade had weighed it down. 

Loosening the clasp of our left hands, I fell back until the narrowscarlet field was between us. "Hast no more strength than that?" Icried. "I cannot murder you!"

He stood looking past me as into a great distance. He was bleeding, butI had as yet been able to strike no mortal blow. "It is as you choose, "he said. "I am as one bound before you. I am sick unto death. "

Turning, he went back, swaying as he walked, to his chair, and sinkinginto it sat there a minute with half-closed eyes; then raised his headand looked at me, with a shadow of the old arrogance, pride, and disdainupon his scarred face. "Not yet, captain?" he demanded. "To the heart, man! So I would strike an you sat here and I stood there. "

"I know you would, " I said, and going to the window I flung the daggerdown into the empty street; then stood and watched the smoke across theriver, and thought it strange that the sun shone and the birds sang. 

When I turned to the room again, he still sat there in the great chair, a tragic, splendid figure, with his ruined face and the sullen woe ofhis eyes. "I had sworn to kill you, " I said. "It is not just that youshould live. "

He gazed at me with something like a smile upon his bloodless lips. "Fret not thyself, Ralph Percy, " he said. "Within a week I shall begone. Did you see my servant, my Italian doctor, lying dead upon thefloor, there beyond the screen? He had poisons, had Nicolo whom mencalled the Black Death, --poisons swift and strong, or subtle and slow. Day and night, the earth and sunshine have become hateful to me. I willgo to the fires of hell, and see if they can make me forget, --can makeme forget the face of a woman. " He was speaking half to me, half tohimself. "Her eyes are dark and large, " he said, "and there are shadowsbeneath them, and the mark of tears. She stands there day and night withher eyes upon me. Her lips are parted, but she never speaks. There wasa way that she had with her hands, holding them one within the other, thus"--

I stopped him with a cry for silence, and I leaned trembling against thetable. "Thou wretch!" I cried. "Thou art her murderer!"

He raised his head and looked beyond me with that strange, faint smile. "I know, " he replied, with the dignity which was his at times. "You mayplay the headsman, if you choose. I dispute not your right. But it isscarce worth while. I have taken poison. "

The sunshine came into the room, and the wind from the river, and thetrumpet notes of swans flying to the north. "The George is ready forsailing, " he said at last. "To-morrow or the next day she will be goinghome with the tidings of this massacre. I shall go with her, and withina week they will bury me at sea. There is a stealthy, slow, and secretpoison. . . . I would not die in a land where I have lost every throw ofthe dice, and I would not die in England for Buckingham to come and lookupon my face, and so I took that poison. For the man upon the floor, there, --prison and death awaited him at home. He chose to flee at once. "

He ceased to speak, and sat with his head bowed upon his breast. "If youare content that it should be as it is, " he said at length, "perhaps youwill leave me? I am not good company to-day. "

His hand was busy again with the letter upon the table, and his gazewas fixed beyond me. "I have lost, " he muttered. "How I came to playmy cards so badly I do not know. The stake was heavy, --I have notwherewithal to play again. "

His head sank upon his outstretched arm. As for me, I stood a minutewith set lips and clenched hands, and then I turned and went out of theroom and down the stair and out into the street. In the dust beneaththe window lay my dagger. I picked it up, sheathed it, and went my way. 

The street was very quiet. All windows and doors were closed and barred;not a soul was there to trouble me with look or speech. The yelling fromthe forest had ceased; only the keen wind blew, and brought from theEsperance upon the river a sound of singing. The sea was the home of themen upon her decks, and their hearts dwelt not in this port; they couldsing while the smoke went up from our homes and the dead lay across thethresholds. 

I went on through the sunshine and the stillness to the minister'shouse. The trees in the garden were bare, the flowers dead. The door wasnot barred. I entered the house and went into the great room and flungthe heavy shutters wide, then stood and looked about me. Naught waschanged; it was as we had left it that wild November night. Even themirror which, one other night, had shown me Diccon still hung upon thewall. Master Bucke had been seldom at home, perhaps, or was feeble andcareless of altering matters. All was as though we had been but an hourgone, save that no fire burned upon the hearth. 

I went to the table, and the books upon it were Jeremy Sparrow's: theminister's house, then, had been his home once more. Beside the bookslay a packet, tied with silk, sealed, and addressed to me. Perhaps theGovernor had given it, the day before, into Master Bucke's care, --I donot know; at any rate, there it lay. I looked at the "By the Esperance"upon the cover, and wondered dully who at home would care to write tome; then broke the seal and untied the silk. Within the cover therewas a letter with the superscription, "To a Gentleman who has served mewell. "

I read the letter through to the signature, which was that of his Graceof Buckingham, and then I laughed, who had never thought to laugh again, and threw the paper down. It mattered naught to me now that GeorgeVilliers should be grateful, or that James Stewart could deny a favoritenothing. "The King graciously sanctions the marriage of his sometimeward, the Lady Jocelyn Leigh, with Captain Ralph Percy; invites themhome"--

She was gone home, and I her husband, I who loved her, was left behind. How many years of pilgrimage. . . How long, how long, O Lord?

The minister's great armchair was drawn before the cold and blackenedhearth. How often she had sat there within its dark clasp, the firelighton her dress, her hands, her face! She had been fair to look upon; thepride, the daring, the willfulness, were but the thorns about the rose;behind those defenses was the flower, pure and lovely, with a heart ofgold. I flung myself down beside the chair, and, putting my arms acrossit, hid my face upon them, and could weep at last. 

That passion spent itself, and I lay with my face against the wood andwell-nigh slept. The battle was done; the field was lost; the stormand stress of life had sunk into this dull calm, as still as peace, ashopeless as the charred log and white ash upon the hearth, cold, neverto be quickened again. 

Time passed, and at length I raised my head, roused suddenly to theconsciousness that for a while there had been no stillness. The air wasfull of sound, shouts, savage cries, the beating of a drum, the noiseof musketry. I sprang to my feet, and went to the door to meet Rolfecrossing the threshold. 

He put his arm within mine and drew me out into the sunshine upon thedoorstep. "I thought I should find you here, " he said; "but it is onlya room with its memories, Ralph. Out here is more breadth, more height. There is country yet, Ralph, and after a while, friends. The Indiansare beginning to attack in force. Humphry Boyse is killed, and MorrisChaloner. There is smoke over the plantations up and down the river, asfar as we can see, and awhile ago the body of a child drifted down tous. "

"I am unarmed, " I said. "I will but run to the fort for sword andmusket"--

"No need, " he answered. "There are the dead whom you may rob. " The noiseincreasing as he spoke, we made no further tarrying, but, leaving behindus house and garden, hurried to the palisade. 

CHAPTER XXXVIII IN WHICH I GO UPON A QUEST

THROUGH a loophole in the gate of the palisade I looked, and saw thesandy neck joining the town to the main, and the deep and dark woodsbeyond, the fairy mantle giving invisibility to a host. Between us andthat refuge dead men lay here and there, stiff and stark, with the blackpaint upon them, and the colored feathers of their headdresses red orblue against the sand. One warrior, shot through the back, crawled likea wounded beetle to the forest. We let him go, for we cared not to wasteammunition upon him. 

I drew back from my loophole, and held out my hand to the women for afreshly loaded musket. A quick murmur like the drawing of a breath camefrom our line. The Governor, standing near me, cast an anxious glancealong the stretch of wooden stakes that were neither so high nor sothick as they should have been. "I am new to this warfare, CaptainPercy, " he said. "Do they think to use those logs that they carry asbattering rams?"

"As scaling ladders, your Honor, " I replied. "It is on the cards that wemay have some sword play, after all. "

"We'll take your advice, the next time we build a palisade, RalphPercy, " muttered West on my other side. Mounting the breastwork thatwe had thrown up to shelter the women who were to load the muskets, hecoolly looked over the pales at the oncoming savages. "Wait until theypass the blasted pine, men!" he cried. "Then give them a hail of leadthat will beat them back to the Pamunkey!"

An arrow whistled by his ear; a second struck him on the shoulder, butpierced not his coat of mail. He came down from his dangerous post witha laugh. 

"If the leader could be picked off"--I said. "It's a long shot, butthere's no harm in trying. "

As I spoke I raised my gun to my shoulder; but he leaned across Rolfe, who stood between us, and plucked me by the sleeve. "You've not lookedat him closely. Look again. "

I did as he told me, and lowered my musket. It was not for me to sendthat Indian leader to his account. Rolfe's lips tightened and a suddenpallor overspread his face. "Nantauquas?" he muttered in my ear, and Inodded yes. 

The volley that we fired full into the ranks of our foe was deadly, andwe looked to see them turn and flee, as they had fled before. But thistime they were led by one who had been trained in English steadfastness. Broken for the moment, they rallied and came on yelling, bearing logs, thick branches of trees, oars tied together, --anything by whose helpthey could hope to surmount the palisade. We fired again, but they hadplanted their ladders. Before we could snatch the loaded muskets fromthe women a dozen painted figures appeared above the sharpened stakes. Amoment, and they and a score behind them had leaped down upon us. 

It was no time now to skulk behind a palisade. At all hazards, that tidefrom the forest must be stemmed. Those that were amongst us we mightkill, but more were swarming after them, and from the neck came theexultant yelling of madly hurrying reinforcements. 

We flung open the gates. I drove my sword through the heart of an Indianwho would have opposed me, and, calling for men to follow me, sprangforward. Perhaps thirty came at my call; together we made for theopening. A party of the savages in our midst interposed. We set uponthem with sword and musket butt, and though they fought like very devilsdrove them before us through the gateway. Behind us were wild clamor, the shrieking of women, the stern shouts of the English, the whooping ofthe savages; before us a rush that must be met and turned. 

It was done. A moment's fierce fighting, then the Indians wavered, broke, and fled. Like sheep we drove them before us, across the neck, to the edge of the forest, into which they plunged. Into that ambushwe cared not to follow, but fell back to the palisade and the town, believing, and with reason, that the lesson had been taught. The stripof sand was strewn with the dead and the dying, but they belonged not tous. Our dead numbered but three, and we bore their bodies with us. 

Within the palisade we found the English in sufficiently good case. Of the score or more Indians cut off by us from their mates and pennedwithin that death trap, half at least were already dead, run throughwith sword and pike, shot down with the muskets that there was now timeto load. The remainder, hemmed about, pressed against the wall, werefast meeting with a like fate. They stood no chance against us; we carednot to make prisoners of them; it was a slaughter, but they had takenthe initiative. They fought with the courage of despair, striving tospring in upon us, striking when they could with hatchet and knife, and through it all talking and laughing, making God knows what savageboasts, what taunts against the English, what references to the huntinggrounds to which they were going. They were brave men that we slew thatday. 

At last there was left but the leader, --unharmed, unwounded, though timeand again he had striven to close with some one of us, to strike andto die striking with his fellows. Behind him was the wall: of the halfcircle which he faced well-nigh all were old soldiers and servants ofthe colony, gentlemen none of whom had come in later than Dale, --Rolfe, West, Wynne, and others. We were swordsmen all. When in his desperationhe would have thrown himself upon us, we contented ourselves withkeeping him at sword's length, and at last West sent the knife inthe dark hand whirling over the palisade. Some one had shouted to themusketeers to spare him. 

When he saw that he stood alone, he stepped back against the wall, drewhimself up to his full height, and folded his arms. Perhaps he thoughtthat we would shoot him down then and there; perhaps he saw himself acaptive amongst us, a show for the idle and for the strangers that theships brought in. 

The din had ceased, and we the living, the victors, stood and looked atthe vanquished dead at our feet, and at the dead beyond the gates, andat the neck upon which was no living foe, and at the blue sky bendingover all. Our hearts told us, and told us truly, that the lesson hadbeen taught, that no more forever need we at Jamestown fear an Indianattack. And then we looked at him whose life we had spared. 

He opposed our gaze with his folded arms and his head held high and hisback against the wall. Many of us could remember him, a proud, shy lad, coming for the first time from the forest with his sister to see theEnglish village and its wonders. For idleness we had set him in ourmidst that summer day, long ago, on the green by the fort, and hadcalled him "your royal highness, " laughing at the quickness of our wit, and admiring the spirit and bearing of the lad and the promise he gaveof a splendid manhood. And all knew the tale I had brought the nightbefore. 

Slowly, as one man, and with no spoken word, we fell back, the halfcircle straightening into a line and leaving a clear pathway to the opengates. The wind had ceased to blow, I remember, and a sunny stillnesslay upon the sand, and the rough-hewn wooden stakes, and a little patchof tender grass across which stretched a dead man's arm. The churchbells began to ring. 

The Indian out of whose path to life and freedom we had stepped glancedfrom the line of lowered steel to the open gates and the forest beyond, and understood. For a full minute he waited, moving not a muscle, stilland stately as some noble masterpiece in bronze. Then he stepped fromthe shadow of the wall and moved past us through the sunshine thatturned the eagle feather in his scalp lock to gold. His eyes were fixedupon the forest; there was no change in the superb calm of his face. Hewent by the huddled dead and the long line of the living that spoke noword, and out of the gates and across the neck, walking slowly that wemight yet shoot him down if we saw fit to repent ourselves, and proudlylike a king's son. There was no sound save the church bells ringing forour deliverance. He reached the shadow of the trees: a moment, and theforest had back her own. 

We sheathed our swords and listened to the Governor's few earnest wordsof thankfulness and of recognition of this or that man's service, andthen we set to work to clear the ground of the dead, to place sentinels, to bring the town into order, to determine what policy we should pursue, to search for ways by which we might reach and aid those who might beyet alive in the plantations above and below us. 

We could not go through the forest where every tree might hide a foe, but there was the river. For the most part, the houses of the Englishhad been built, like mine at Weyanoke, very near to the water. Ivolunteered to lead a party up river, and Wynne to go with anothertoward the bay. But as the council at the Governor's was breaking up, and as Wynne and I were hurrying off to make our choice of the craft atthe landing, there came a great noise from the watchers upon the bank, and a cry that boats were coming down the stream. 

It was so, and there were in them white men, nearly all of whom hadtheir wounds to show, and cowering women and children. One boat had comefrom the plantation at Paspahegh, and two from Martin-Brandon; they heldall that were left of the people. . . . A woman had in her lap the bodyof a child, and would not let us take it from her; another, with ahalf-severed arm, crouched above a man who lay in his blood in thebottom of the boat. 

Thus began that strange procession that lasted throughout the afternoonand night and into the next day, when a sloop came down from Henricuswith the news that the English were in force there to stand theirground, although their loss had been heavy. Hour after hour they cameas fast as sail and oar could bring them, the panic-stricken folk, whosehomes were burned, whose kindred were slain, who had themselves escapedas by a miracle. Many were sorely wounded, so that they died when welifted them from the boats; others had slighter hurts. Each boatloadhad the same tale to tell of treachery, surprise, and fiendish butchery. Wherever it had been possible the English had made a desperate defense, in the face of which the savages gave way and finally retired to theforest. Contrary to their wont, the Indians took few prisoners, but forthe most part slew outright those whom they seized, wreaking theirspite upon the senseless corpses. A man too good for this world, GeorgeThorpe, who would think no evil, was killed and his body mutilated bythose whom he had taught and loved. And Nathaniel Powel was dead, andfour others of the Council, besides many more of name and note. Therewere many women slain and little children. 

From the stronger hundreds came tidings of the number lost, and that thesurvivors would hold the homes that were left, for the time at least. The Indians had withdrawn; it remained to be seen if they were satisfiedwith the havoc they had wrought. Would his Honor send by boat--therecould be no traveling through the woods--news of how others had fared, and also powder and shot?

Before the dawning we had heard from all save the remoter settlements. The blow had been struck, and the hurt was deep. But it was not beyondremedy, thank God! It is known what measures we took for our protection, and how soon the wound to the colony was healed, and what vengeance wemeted out to those who had set upon us in the dark, and had failed toreach the heart. These things belong to history, and I am but telling myown story, --mine and another's. 

In the chill and darkness of the hour before dawn something like quietfell upon the distracted, breathless town. There was a pause in thecoming of the boats. The wounded and the dying had been cared for, andthe noise of the women and the children was stilled at last. All waswell at the palisade; the strong party encamped upon the neck reportedthe forest beyond them as still as death. 

In the Governor's house was held a short council, subdued and quiet, forwe were all of one mind and our words were few. It was decided that theGeorge should sail at once with the tidings, and with an appeal for armsand powder and a supply of men. The Esperance would still be with us, besides the Hope-in-God and the Tiger; the Margaret and John wouldshortly come in, being already overdue. 

"My Lord Carnal goes upon the George, gentlemen, " said Master Pory. "Hesent but now to demand if she sailed to-morrow. He is ill, and would beat home. "

One or two glanced at me, but I sat with a face like stone, and theGovernor, rising, broke up the council. 

I left the house, and the street that was lit with torches and noisywith going to and fro, and went down to the river. Rolfe had beendetained by the Governor, West commanded the party at the neck. Therewere great fires burning along the river bank, and men watching for theincoming boats; but I knew of a place where no guard was set, and whereone or two canoes were moored. There was no firelight there, and no onesaw me when I entered a canoe and cut the rope and pushed off from theland. 

Well-nigh a day and a night had passed since Lady Wyatt had told me thatwhich made for my heart a night-time indeed. I believed my wife tobe dead, --yea, I trusted that she was dead. I hoped that it had beenquickly over, --one blow. . . . Better that, oh, better that a thousandtimes, than that she should have been carried off to some village, savedto-day to die a thousand deaths to-morrow. 

But I thought that there might have been left, lying on the dead leavesof the forest, that fair shell from which the soul had flown. I knew notwhere to go, --to the north, to the east, to the west, --but go I must. Ihad no hope of finding that which I went to seek, and no thought but totake up that quest. I was a soldier, and I had stood to my post; but nowthe need was past, and I could go. In the hall at the Governor's house, I had written a line of farewell to Rolfe, and had given the paper intothe hand of a trusty fellow, charging him not to deliver it for twohours to come. 

I rowed two miles downstream through the quiet darkness, --so quiet afterthe hubbub of the town. When I turned my boat to the shore the daywas close at hand. The stars were gone, and a pale, cold light, moredesolate than the dark, streamed from the east across which ran, likea faded blood stain, a smear of faint red. Upon the forest the mist layheavy. When I drove the boat in amongst the sedge and reeds below thebank, I could see only the trunks of the nearest trees, hear only thesullen cry of some river bird that I had disturbed. 

Why I was at some pains to fasten the boat to a sycamore that dipped apallid arm into the stream I do not know. I never thought to come backto the sycamore; I never thought to bend to an oar again, to beholdagain the river that the trees and the mist hid from me before I hadgone twenty yards into the forest. 

CHAPTER XXXIX IN WHICH WE LISTEN TO A SONG

IT was like a May morning, so mild was the air, so gay the sunshine, when the mist had risen. Wild flowers were blooming, and here and thereunfolding leaves made a delicate fretwork against a deep blue sky. The wind did not blow; everywhere were stillness soft and sweet, dewyfreshness, careless peace. 

Hour after hour I walked slowly through the woodland, pausing now andthen to look from side to side. It was idle going, wandering in a desertwith no guiding star. The place where I would be might lie to the east, to the west. In the wide enshrouding forest I might have passed it by. I believed not that I had done so. Surely, surely I should have known;surely the voice that lived only in my heart would have called to me tostay. 

Beside a newly felled tree, in a glade starred with small white flowers, I came upon the bodies of a man and a boy, so hacked, so hewn, so robbedof all comeliness, that at the sight the heart stood still and the braingrew sick. Farther on was a clearing, and in its midst the charred andblackened walls of what had been a home. I crossed the freshly turnedearth, and looked in at the cabin door with the stillness and thesunshine. A woman lay dead upon the floor, her outstretched handclenched upon the foot of a cradle. I entered the room, and, lookingwithin the cradle, found that the babe had not been spared. Taking upthe little waxen body with the blood upon its innocent breast, I laidit within the mother's arms, and went my way over the sunny doorstep andthe earth that had been made ready for planting. A white butterfly--thefirst of the year--fluttered before me; then rose through a mist ofgreen and passed from my sight. 

The sun climbed higher into the deep blue sky. Save where grew pines orcedars there were no shadowy places in the forest. The slight green ofuncurling leaves, the airy scarlet of the maples, the bare branches ofthe tardier trees, opposed no barrier to the sunlight. It streamed intothe world below the treetops, and lay warm upon the dead leaves and thegreen moss and the fragile wild flowers. There was a noise of birds, and a fox barked. All was lightness, gayety, and warmth; the sap wasrunning, the heyday of the spring at hand. Ah! to be riding with her, to be going home through the fairy forest, the sunshine, and thesinging!. . . The happy miles to Weyanoke, the smell of the sassafras inits woods, the house all lit and trimmed. The fire kindled, the wineupon the table. . . Diccon's welcoming face, and his hand upon BlackLamoral's bridle; the minister, too, maybe, with his great heart and hiskindly eyes; her hand in mine, her head upon my breast--

The vision faded. Never, never, never for me a home-coming such as that, so deep, so dear, so sweet. The men who were my friends, the woman whomI loved, had gone into a far country. This world was not their home. They had crossed the threshold while I lagged behind. The door was shut, and without were the night and I. 

With the fading of the vision came a sudden consciousness of a presencein the forest other than my own. I turned sharply, and saw an Indianwalking with me, step for step, but with a space between us of earth andbrown tree trunks and drooping branches. For a moment I thought thathe was a shadow, not substance; then I stood still, waiting for him tospeak or to draw nearer. At the first glimpse of the bronze figure I hadtouched my sword, but when I saw who it was I let my hand fall. He toopaused, but he did not offer to speak. With his hand upon a great bow, he waited, motionless in the sunlight. A minute or more thus; then Iwalked on with my eyes upon him. 

At once he addressed himself to motion, not speaking or making any signor lessening the distance between us, but moving as I moved through thelight and shade, the warmth and stillness, of the forest. For a timeI kept my eyes upon him, but soon I was back with my dreams again. Itseemed not worth while to wonder why he walked with me, who was now themortal foe of the people to whom he had returned. 

From the river bank, the sycamore, and the boat that I had fastenedthere, I had gone northward toward the Pamunkey; from the clearing andthe ruined cabin with the dead within it, I had turned to the eastward. Now, in that hopeless wandering, I would have faced the north again. Butthe Indian who had made himself my traveling companion stopped short, and pointed to the east. I looked at him, and thought that he knew, maybe, of some war party between us and the Pamunkey, and would saveme from it. A listlessness had come upon me, and I obeyed the pointingfinger. 

So, estranged and silent, with two spears' length of earth between us, we went on until we came to a quiet stream flowing between low, darkbanks. Again I would have turned to the northward, but the son ofPowhatan, gliding before me, set his face down the stream, toward theriver I had left. A minute in which I tried to think and could not, because in my ears was the singing of the birds at Weyanoke; then Ifollowed him. 

How long I walked in a dream, hand in hand with the sweetness of thepast, I do not know; but when the present and its anguish weighedagain upon my heart it was darker, colder, stiller, in the forest. Thesoundless stream was bright no longer; the golden sunshine that had lainupon the earth was all gathered up; the earth was dark and smooth andbare, with not a flower; the tree trunks were many and straight andtall. Above were no longer brown branch and blue sky, but a deep andsombre green, thick woven, keeping out the sunlight like a pall. I stoodstill and gazed around me, and knew the place. 

To me, whose heart was haunted, the dismal wood, the charmed silence, the withdrawal of the light, were less than nothing. All day I hadlooked for one sight of horror; yea, had longed to come at last upon it, to fall beside it, to embrace it with my arms. There, there, though itshould be some fair and sunny spot, there would be my haunted wood. Asfor this place of gloom and stillness, it fell in with my mood. Morewelcome than the mocking sunshine were this cold and solemn light, thisdeathlike silence, these ranged pines. It was a place in which to thinkof life as a slight thing and scarcely worth the while, given withoutthe asking, spent in turmoil, strife, suffering, and longings all invain. Easily laid down, too, --so easily laid down that the wonder was--

I looked at the ghostly wood, and at the dull stream, and at my handupon the hilt of the sword that I had drawn halfway from the scabbard. The life within that hand I had not asked for. Why should I stand likea soldier left to guard a thing not worth the guarding; seeinghis comrades march homeward, hearing a cry to him from his distanthearthstone?

I drew my sword well-nigh from its sheath; and then of a sudden I sawthe matter in a truer light; knew that I was indeed the soldier, andwilled to be neither coward nor deserter. The blade dropped back intothe scabbard with a clang, and, straightening myself, I walked on besidethe sluggish stream deep into the haunted wood. 

Presently it occurred to me to glance aside at the Indian who had keptpace with me through the forest. He was not there; he walked with me nolonger; save for myself there seemed no breathing creature in the dimwood. I looked to right and left, and saw only the tall, straight pinesand the needle-strewn ground. How long he had been gone I could nottell. He might have left me when first we came to the pines, for mydreams had held me, and I had not looked his way. 

There was that in the twilight place, or in the strangeness, the horror, and the yearning that had kept company with me that day, or in the dullweariness of a mind and body overwrought of late, which made thoughtimpossible. I went on down the stream toward the river, because itchanced that my face was set in that direction. 

How dark was the shadow of the pines, how lifeless the earth beneath, how faint and far away the blue that showed here and there through riftsin the heavy roof of foliage! The stream bending to one side I turnedwith it, and there before me stood the minister!

I do not know what strangled cry burst from me. The earth was rocking, all the wood a glare of light. As for him, at the sight of me andthe sound of my voice he had staggered back against a tree; but now, recovering himself, he ran to me and put his great arms about me. "Fromthe power of the dog, from the lion's mouth, " he cried brokenly. "Andthey slew thee not, Ralph, the heathen who took thee away! Yesternight Ilearned that you lived, but I looked not for you here. "

I scarce heard or marked what he was saying, and found no time in whichto wonder at his knowledge that I had not perished. I only saw thathe was alone, and that in the evening wood there was no sign of otherliving creature. 

"Yea, they slew me not, Jeremy, " I said. "I would that they had done so. And you are alone? I am glad that you died not, my friend; yes, faith, I am very glad that one escaped. Tell me about it, and I will sit hereupon the bank and listen. Was it done in this wood? A gloomy deathbed, friend, for one so young and fair. She should have died to soft music, in the sunshine, with flowers about her. "

With an exclamation he put me from him, but kept his hand upon my armand his steady eyes upon my face. 

"She loved laughter and sunshine and sweet songs, " I continued. "Shecan never know them in this wood. They are outside; they are outside theworld, I think. It is sad, is it not? Faith, I think it is the saddestthing I have ever known. "

He clapped his other hand upon my shoulder. "Wake, man!" he commanded. "If thou shouldst go mad now--Wake! thy brain is turning. Hold tothyself. Stand fast, as thou art soldier and Christian! Ralph, sheis not dead. She will wear flowers, --thy flowers, --sing, laugh, movethrough the sunshine of earth for many and many a year, please God! Artlistening, Ralph? Canst hear what I am saying?"

"I hear, " I said at last, "but I do not well understand. "

He pushed me back against a pine, and held me there with his hands uponmy shoulders. "Listen, " he said, speaking rapidly and keeping hiseyes upon mine. "All those days that you were gone, when all the worlddeclared you dead, she believed you living. She saw party after partycome back without you, and she believed that you were left behind in theforest. Also she knew that the George waited but for the search to bequite given over, and for my Lord Carnal's recovery. She had been toldthat the King's command might not be defied, that the Governor had nochoice but to send her from Virginia. Ralph, I watched her, and I knewthat she meant not to go upon that ship. Three nights agone she stolefrom the Governor's house, and, passing through the gates that thesleeping warder had left unfastened, went toward the forest. I saw herand followed her, and at the edge of the forest I spoke to her. I stayedher not, I brought her not back, Ralph, because I was convinced that anI did so she would die. I knew of no great danger, and I trusted in theLord to show me what to do, step by step, and how to guide her gentlyback when she was weary of wandering, --when, worn out, she was willingto give up the quest for the dead. Art following me, Ralph?"

"Yes, " I answered, and took my hand from my eyes. "I was nigh mad, Jeremy, for my faith was not like hers. I have looked on Death too muchof late, and yesterday all men believed that he had come to dwell in theforest and had swept clean his house before him. But you escaped, youboth escaped"--

"God's hand was over us, " he said reverently. "This is the way of it. She had been ill, you know, and of late she had taken no thought of foodor sleep. She was so weak, we had to go so slowly, and so winding wasour path, who knew not the country, that the evening found us not farupon our way, if way we had. We came to a cabin in a clearing, and theywhose home it was gave us shelter for the night. In the morning, whenthe father and son would go forth to their work we walked with them. When they came to the trees they meant to fell we bade them good-by, andwent on alone. We had not gone an hundred paces when, looking back, wesaw three Indians start from the dimness of the forest and set upon andslay the man and the boy. That murder done they gave chase to me, whocaught up thy wife and ran for both our lives. When I saw that they werelight of foot and would overtake me, I set my burden down, and, drawinga sword that I had with me, went back to meet them halfway. Ralph, Islew all three, --may the Lord have mercy on my soul! I knew not what tothink of that attack, the peace with the Indians being so profound, andI began to fear for thy wife's safety. She knew not the woods, and Imanaged to turn our steps back toward Jamestown without her knowledgethat I did so. It was about midday when we saw the gleam of the riverthrough the trees before us, and heard the sound of firing and of agreat yelling. I made her crouch within a thicket, while I myself wentforward to reconnoitre, and well-nigh stumbled into the midst of anarmy. Yelling, painted, maddened, brandishing their weapons toward thetown, human hair dabbled with blood at the belts of many--in the name ofGod, Ralph, what is the meaning of it all?"

"It means, " I said, "that yesterday they rose against us and slew us bythe hundred. The town was warned and is safe. Go on. "

"I crept back to madam, " he continued, "and hurried her away from thatdangerous neighborhood. We found a growth of bushes and hid ourselveswithin it, and just in time, for from the north came a great band ofpicked warriors, tall and black and wondrously feathered, fresh to thefray, whatever the fray might be. They joined themselves to the impsupon the river bank, and presently we heard another great din with morefiring and more yelling. Well, to make a long story short, we crouchedthere in the bushes until late afternoon, not knowing what was thematter, and not daring to venture forth to find out. The woman of thecabin at which we had slept had given us a packet of bread and meat, sowe were not without food, but the time was long. And then of a suddenthe wood around us was filled with the heathen, band after band, comingfrom the river, stealing like serpents this way and that into the depthsof the forest. They saw us not in the thick bushes; maybe it was becauseof the prayers which I said with might and main. At last the distanceswallowed them, the forest seemed clear, no sound, no motion. Long wewaited, but with the sunset we stole from the bushes and down an aisleof the forest toward the river, rounded a little wood of cedar, andcame full upon perhaps fifty of the savages"--He paused to draw a greatbreath and to raise his brows after a fashion that he had. 

"Go on, go on!" I cried. "What did you do? You have said that she isalive and safe!"

"She is, " he answered, "but no thanks to me, though I did set lustilyupon that painted fry. Who led them, d' ye think, Ralph? Who saved usfrom those bloody hands?"

A light broke in upon me. "I know, " I said. "And he brought you here"--

"Ay, he sent away the devils whose color he is, worse luck! He told usthat there were Indians, not of his tribe, between us and the town. Ifwe went on we should fall into their hands. But there was a place thatwas shunned by the Indian as by the white man: we could bide there untilthe morrow, when we might find the woods clear. He guided us to thisdismal wood that was not altogether strange to us. Ay, he told her thatyou were alive. He said no more than that; all at once, when we werewell within the wood and the twilight was about us, he was gone. "

He ceased to speak, and stood regarding me with a smile upon his ruggedface. I took his hand and raised it to my lips. "I owe you more than Ican ever pay, " I said. "Where is she, my friend?"

"Not far away, " he answered. "We sought the centre of the wood, andbecause she was so chilled and weary and shaken I did dare to build afire there. Not a foe has come against us, and we waited but for thedusk of this evening to try to make the town. I came down to the streamjust now to find, if I could, how near we were to the river"--

He broke off, made a gesture with his hand toward one of the long aislesof pine trees, and then, with a muttered "God bless you both, " left me, and going a little way down the stream, stood with his back to a greattree and his eyes upon the slow, deep water. 

She was coming. I watched the slight figure grow out of the dusk betweenthe trees, and the darkness in which I had walked of late fell away. Thewood that had been so gloomy was a place of sunlight and song; had redroses sprung up around me I had felt no wonder. She came softly andslowly, with bent head and hanging arms, not knowing that I was near. I went not to meet her, --it was my fancy to have her come to mestill, --but when she raised her eyes and saw me I fell upon my knees. 

For a moment she stood still, with her hands at her bosom; then, softlyand slowly through the dusky wood, she came to me and touched me uponthe shoulder. "Art come to take me home?" she asked. "I have wept andprayed and waited long, but now the spring is here and the woods aregrowing green. "

I took her hands and bowed my head upon them. "I believed thee dead, "I said. "I thought that thou hadst gone home, indeed, and I was left inthe world alone. I can never tell thee how I love thee. "

"I need no telling, " she answered. "I am glad that I did so forget mywomanhood as to come to Virginia on such an errand; glad that they didlaugh at and insult me in the meadow at Jamestown, for else thou mightsthave given me no thought; very heartily glad that thou didst buy me withthy handful of tobacco. With all my heart I love thee, my knight, mylover, my lord and husband"--Her voice broke, and I felt the tremblingof her frame. "I love not thy tears upon my hands, " she murmured. "Ihave wandered far and am weary. Wilt rise and put thy arm around me andlead me home?"

I stood up, and she came to my arms like a tired bird to its nest. Ibent my head, and kissed her upon the brow, the blue-veined eyelids, theperfect lips. "I love thee, " I said. "The song is old, but it is sweet. See! I wear thy color, my lady. "

The hand that had touched the ribbon upon my arm stole upwards to mylips. "An old song, but a sweet one, " she said. "I love thee. I willalways love thee. My head may lie upon thy breast, but my heart lies atthy feet. "

There was joy in the haunted wood, deep peace, quiet thankfulness, aspringtime of the heart, --not riotous like the May, but fair and graveand tender like the young world in the sunshine without the pines. Ourlips met again, and then, with my arm around her, we moved to the giantpine beneath which stood the minister. He turned at our approach, andlooked at us with a quiet and tender smile, though the water stoodin his eyes. "'Heaviness may endure for a night, '" he said, "'but joycometh in the morning. ' I thank God for you both. "

"Last summer, in the green meadow, we knelt before you while you blessedus, Jeremy, " I answered. "Bless us now again, true friend and man ofGod. "

He laid his hands upon our bowed heads and blessed us, and then we threemoved through the dismal wood and beside the sluggish stream down tothe great bright river. Ere we reached it the pines had fallen away, thehaunted wood was behind us, our steps were set through a fairy world ofgreening bough and springing bloom. The blue sky laughed above, the latesunshine barred our path with gold. When we came to the river it lay insilver at our feet, making low music amongst its reeds. 

I had bethought me of the boat which I had fastened that morning to thesycamore between us and the town, and now we moved along the river bankuntil we should come to the tree. Though we walked through an enemy'scountry we saw no foe. Stillness and peace encompassed us; it was like abeautiful dream from which one fears no wakening. 

As we went, I told them, speaking low, for we knew not if we were yetin safety, of the slaughter that had been made and of Diccon. My wifeshuddered and wept, and the minister drew long breaths while his handsopened and closed. And then, when she asked me, I told of how I had beentrapped to the ruined hut that night and of all that had followed. When I had done she turned within my arm and clung to me with her facehidden. I kissed her and comforted her, and presently we came to thesycamore tree reaching out over the clear water, and to the boat that Ihad fastened there. 

The sunset was nigh at hand, and all the west was pink. The wind haddied away, and the river lay like tinted glass between the dark bordersof the forest. Above the sky was blue, while in the south rose cloudsthat were like pillars, tall and golden. The air was soft as silk; therewas no sound other than the ripple of the water about our keel and thelow dash of the oars. The minister rowed, while I sat idle beside mylove. He would have it so, and I made slight demur. 

We left the bank behind us and glided into the midstream, for it was aswell to be out of arrowshot. The shadow of the forest was gone; stilland bright around us lay the mighty river. When at length the boat headturned to the west, we saw far up the stream the roofs of Jamestown, dark against the rosy sky. 

"There is a ship going home, " said the minister. 

We to whom he spoke looked with him down the river, and saw a tall shipwith her prow to the ocean. All her sails were set; the last rays of thesinking sun struck against her poop windows and made of them a half-moonof fire. She went slowly, for the wind was light, but she went surely, away from the new land back to the old, down the stately river to thebay and the wide ocean, and to the burial at sea of one upon her. Withher pearly sails and the line of flame color beneath, she lookeda dwindling cloud; a little while, and she would be claimed of thedistance and the dusk. 

"It is the George, " I said. 

The lady who sat beside me caught her breath. "Ay, sweetheart, " I wenton. "She carries one for whom she waited. He has gone from out our lifeforever. "

She uttered a low cry and turned to me, trembling, her lips parted, hereyes eloquent. "We will not speak of him, " I said. "As if he were deadlet his name rest between us. I have another thing to tell thee, dearheart, dear court lady masking as a waiting damsel, dear ward of theKing whom his Majesty hath thundered against for so many weary months. Would it grieve thee to go home, after all?"

"Home?" she asked. "To Weyanoke? That would not grieve me. "

"Not to Weyanoke, but to England, " I said. "The George is gone, butthree days since the Esperance came in. When she sails again I thinkthat we must go. "

She gazed at me with a whitening face. "And you?" she whispered. "Howwill you go? In chains?"

I took her clasped hands, parted them, and drew her arms around my neck. "Ay, " I answered, "I will go in chains that I care not to have broken. My dear love, I think that the summer lies fair before us. Listen whileI tell thee of news that the Esperance brought. "

While I told of new orders from the Company to the Governor and of myletter from Buckingham, the minister rested upon his oars that he mighthear the better. When I had ceased to speak he bent to them again, andhis tireless strength sent us swiftly over the glassy water toward thetown that was no longer distant. "I am more glad than I can tell you, Ralph and Jocelyn, " he said, and the smile with which he spoke made hisface beautiful. 

The light streaming to us from the ruddy west laid roses in the cheeksof the sometime ward of the King, and the low wind lifted the dark hairfrom her forehead. Her head was on my breast, her hand in mine; we carednot to speak, we were so happy. On her finger was her wedding ring, thering that was only a link torn from the gold chain Prince Maurice hadgiven me. When she saw my eyes upon it, she raised her hand and kissedthe rude circlet. 

The hue of the sunset lingered in cloud and water, and in the paleheavens above the rose and purple shone the evening star. The cloudlikeship at which we had gazed was gone into the distance and the twilight;we saw her no more. Broad between its blackening shores stretched theJames, mirroring the bloom in the west, the silver star, the lights uponthe Esperance that lay between us and the town. Aboard her the marinerswere singing, and their song of the sea floated over the water to us, sweetly and like a love song. We passed the ship unhailed, and glided onto the haven where we would be. The singing behind us died away, but thesong in our hearts kept on. All things die not: while the soul lives, love lives: the song may be now gay, now plaintive, but it is deathless.