The Begum's Daughter
XXV.
ONE morning, not long after the sentence had been pronounced, the chief culprits were disturbed in their dungeon by the rattling of chains and the drawing of heavy bolts.
On a rude stone bench opposite the door sat Leisler, his elbows on his knees, his chin propped on his clenched fist, his eyes, their gaze inturned, bent outwardly upon the floor. Thus, day and night, he had been sitting since his return to the cell, while his restless companion, on a bench over against him, talked without pause.
Now, aroused by the noise in that direction, Milborne looked curiously towards the door, which opened to admit three persons, whom, in the dim light, he did not directly recognize.
His doubt was short-lived: a sobbing little figure came groping in and knelt by his side ; at the same moment a loud wail broke upon the air, as Vrouw Leisler threw herself upon her husband’s neck. Meanwhile, Cobus, lingering in the corner, turned his face to the wall.
For many minutes not a word was said. It was the elder huysvrouw who first spoke.
“ ’T is an awful — awful thing, but take heart, Jacob ! They dare not harm ye. Take heart, I say. We have appealed to the king. When his Majesty hears o’ this, he ’ll see then what comes o’ sending over his new governors. Ei! ei! there ’ll be a stir when he hears o’ this, never fear ! ”
The condemned man mechanically put his arm about his wife, as she crouched by his side, but gave no other sign of heeding her words.
“Jacob! Jacob! speak to me, man! What is this, — chains on ye ? How dare they ? Look, Mary! See, Cobus ! They have fetters on him, — fetters, like a common wretch. Oh ! oh ! oh ! wait till their Majesties hear this! After all ye did for them, after having them proclaimed at cost of life and limb, after saving the province from the Papists, after letting your own affairs go to rack and ruin! Wait! Wait till the king and the good queen hear these doings ! ”
“ Sh ! sh ! mother,” whispered Mary, “ lest we be overheard.”
“ I care not who hears.”
“ It may go worse with them.”
“ It can go no worse with them ! ”
cried the indignant vrouw. “ What can they do more, tell me ? See ye the hole they have thrust them in! See the chains hanging on them, and now thirsting for their blood ! What can they do more, tell me ? ”
“ Cry away, mother, loud as ye will; spit out your spleen : ’t will give ye ease, if it helps not us,” broke in Milborne ironically. “ ’T is little enough his Majesty cares what we have suffered in the cause. Those rascals have his ear, and will stuff it with what lies they choose.”
“ Let them say what they like, brother Milborne, they dare not do anything,” joined in Cobus, coming forward. “ Warnings are pouring in from every quarter ; a petition has been sent to the king. They dare not raise finger against ye.”
Shaking his head and waving his hand with an air of lofty deprecation, Milborne answered: —
“ Seek not to unsettle our peace. Seek not to arouse vain hopes in us. Our minds are made up for the worst.”
“ Hush! ”
“ Jacob ! ”
“ Be not so cast down, brother Milborne.”
“ Why cheat ourselves with hope ? ” he went on, ignoring the protesting trio. “ Did ye hear the news ? He has pardoned all others but us two, — ye know what that means.”
“ But the king,” urged Cobus ; “ they cannot move till word comes from his Majesty.”
“ The king will not interfere.”
A low wail broke from the women.
“ Blood must be shed to glut the thirst of these wolf-hounds. Vengeance demands a sacrifice; we shall be the victims.”
“ That shall ye not! ” burst out Cobus, with a touch of his father’s energy. “ Help is at hand. Our friends are rising all over the province. Woe to the man that lifts hand of violence against ye ! ”
“ Good, my son ! ” joined in his mother. “ We have friends enough ; they ’ll see no harm comes to ye.”
The sound of sliding bolts announced the jailer’s coming, and cut short the good dame’s eloquence. Instinctively she turned to her husband for protection.
“ Jacob, Jacob, my man, they ’ve come to drag me away from ye ! Jacob, I say, lift your eyes ; turn about and speak a word to me. Do ye hear ? One word for the sake of the old times.”
She gently pulled his head around and gazed anxiously in his face; he stared at her stupidly.
“Father in heaven! Something is wrong with him. Look, Mary, at his eyes ! He heeds nothing. Jacob, I say, look now, — look in my face! ’T is Elsie, your old Elsie ! ’T was young Elsie years ago, when first, I came to ye. Ye remember the day, Jacob, and how ye laughed that night, — our wedding night, — and joined the song, and said we ’d be the happiest two in all New Amsterdam ? Oh, well ye remember; often ye spoke of it since. See, here’s the ring ye gave me. ’T is worn thin and small now with all the years. Ei ! ’t is long enough ago, but ye know best whether I have been true to it. Hard I tried, heart an’ soul I did, to be a faithful wife to ye, Jacob, but — but”—tears choked her utterance — “I’m an old woman now, and ye heed me no more.”
Aroused by this outburst, lier husband put out bis hand and softly caressed her head.
“ Ye heed me no more,” sobbed the dame.
“ Ye have been a true wife, Elsie. Go home to your children.”
“ Oh, Jacob, how can I go leave ye in a place like this ! ”
“ Go get ye home, and waste no thought on me.”
“ To leave ye in a dungeon, with fetters on ye ! ”
“ ’T is just.”
“ Ye shall not say it! ”
“ ’T is right I should suffer for my sin.”
“ How could ye sin, being sent about the Lord’s business ? ”
“ No more o’ that, woman ! ”
“ Ei ? ”
“ The Lord had no hand in it.”
“ No hand ? ”
“ ’T was my own vainglory.”
“ I ’ll not believe ye, — I 'll not believe ye ever did willful wrong! ”
“ God knows I did not, — stick ye to that. I was no rogue, but a fool. A fool does the greater harm, — ’t is a deadly beast not to be spared. Go get ye home to the children, and bid them forget me.”
“ Come, I say, get through with your whimpering. ’T is time ye were gone,” broke in the impatient turnkey at the door.
But the dame, dismayed by her husband’s tone of submission, a note which in all their long intercourse she had never before heard sounded, and which now jarred upon her ears like a painful discord, threw herself in a fresh outburst upon his neck, clinging there till Cobus with might and main dragged her from the cell.
On their way out, as they passed through the great gate of the fort, they met a party of gayly dressed horsemen about to enter. A stout, red-faced person, with an air of pomp and circumstance, who rode in advance, was laughing loudly.
“ ’T is the new governor,” said Mary under her breath, skipping along to get out of the way.
Cobus, who had already recognized several well-known faces in the group, scowled darkly and stepped aside.
Vrouw Leisler, however, startled by Mary’s warning, stood stock-still, and gazed hard at the advancing cavalcade. Thus she neglected to secure her escape from the narrow entrance, and was in consequence well-nigh trampled upon by his Excellency’s prancing stallion.
Fresh from that sad scene in the dungeon, the poor dame could not restrain her wrath at sight of the rollicking party.
“ Shame, shame on ye, cruel man ! ” she cried boldly. “ Ye have brought sorrow and suffering enough upon us, and now would ye make sport of our misery ? ”
His Excellency stared in amazement upon being thus taken to task, but at a hint from Bayard, who rode at his elbow, he quietly drew rein for the dame to pass, and went on his way without answer.
Slight as it was, the incident plainly caused the governor more than a passing discomfiture. Thus far the burden of the song which had reached his ears had been one of unmixed praise. By the common sort he had been hailed as a deliverer. By the long-oppressed body of the groote burgerrecht he had been well-nigh apotheosized. Brought back from exile, restored to their homes, families, and estates, and advanced to new honors, how could they do enough for the man by whose hands all this had been wrought!
A round of dinners, balls, and routs of very unusual splendor was set going, at which his Excellency was the chief and honored guest. It was, indeed, while returning, early in the morning, from a supper-party at Philipse’s, where a dozen of them had literally made a night of it, that the self-complacent official had been so rudely accosted by Vrouw Leisler.
The young gentlemen in the governor’s train spared not to make merry over the incident.
“ What old vrouw was that ? ”
“ The commander’s wife.”
“ So ? ”
“ Never ! ”
“ What, great Cromwell’s spouse ? ”
The laughing skeptics turned back to scan the retreating party.
“ Governor, you are a naughty man.”
“ ’T is better your Excellency meet not the old dame alone.”
“ That is it. I noted her nails.”
“ And the vigor of her arm.”
“ And the mischief in her eye.”
“ Hear the wags prate, Van Cortlandt ! " said the governor good-naturedly, turning to his neighbor.
“ And why not ? ’T is our turn to prate. The shoe is on the other foot now, eh, Bayard ? ”
“ And they that wear it know how it pinches,” added the colonel bitterly. “ Let it pinch. ’T is well they should know the pang. Little enough any of their brood cared for my poor wife’s misery, while I lay yonder in the selfsame dungeon.”
“ Do they cry out already ? Poh! they have had but a month of it yet, while we had a round dozen and more,” put in Nichols.
“ Yet lacked you one solace they enjoy,” suggested a new voice.
“ What is that, Graham ? ”
“ You were not under sentence.”
“ No, but ’t was worse with us; in a sentence there is some certainty.”
“ There should be,” broke in Van Cortlandt, with a swift glance at the governor.
“ Let us hope ’t will prove so,” added another, significantly.
“ But we,” continued Bayard, “ were subject to the caprice of yonder beast, who was capable of striking off our heads at a moment’s notice.”
“ His days of mischief would soon be ended now, if his Excellency were of my mind,” muttered Nichols.
“ Or of mine.”
“ Patience, patience, gentlemen ; be not so bloodthirsty,” said his Excellency, laughing, as he jumped from his horse at the door of the governor’s house, and led the way to a small withdrawing-room adjoining the audience chamber. There, no sooner had he seated himself and called for some wine, than his companions settled about him like a swarm of flies, and directly the chorus was renewed.
“ ’T is no laughing matter, your Excellency, if you knew but a tithe we have suffered from the wretch.”
“ Ay, colonel, you, indeed, have some cause of complaint. Is everybody served ? Gentlemen, here’s your very good health ! ”
“ And which of us has not, and of dread, too, while that viper breathes the air ? ”
“ Poh, poh ! What have you to dread now? Nothing! He is fast and safe. Come, my friends, fill up ! ”
“ He is but scotched; he should be crushed.”
“ There ’ll be neither peace nor safety in the province till ’t is done.”
“ Every breath he draws is a menace to our lives and liberties.”
“ Know ye, too, that hordes of lawless, hulking rascals are scheming this very minute to compass his escape ? ”
“ Eh ? Think you there is any truth in that ? ” asked the governor, rather nervously.
“ ’T is certain ! ”
“ And if your Excellency move not in the matter soon ” —
“ Gentlemen, this talk is idle; my authority in the matter is suspended; they have appealed to the king.”
A babel of protestation arose upon this.
“ ‘ Appealed ’ ! What ground have condemned traitors of appeal ”
“ They have no right of appeal beyond the governor and council.”
“ The governor stands here in loco regis.”
“ Was not your Excellency sent hither to compose differences and secure the peace of the province, and is every little matter to be referred back to his Majesty ? ”
The governor looked harassed and uncertain.
“ There may be reason in what you say, my friends. I will consider of it, and take the minds of my council in the matter.”
Bayard and Van Cortlandt exchanged a grim smile.
“We have a meeting to-day on the question of my going up in person to Albany to make terms with the Mohawks.”
“ I trust you will not think of going away till this matter be settled.”
“ Van Cortlandt, I cry you mercy. Whatever I do, I will postpone further discussion of this matter for the present,” retorted his Excellency pettishly.
“ Right! right! We have too much business! ” cried one of the younger men. “ What says your Excellency to a bit of sport to lighten these weighty affairs of state ? Come, will you join us in running down a cunning old wolf that has been carrying off all the lambs in Ompoge ? ”
“ When is it set for ? ”
“ This very day.”
“ Egad, ’t is a cruel temptation, but ” — motioning with a rueful look towards the table before him, piled high with papers — “ duty, you see, holds me here.”
“ You will not, however, fail us tonight ? ”
“ To-night ? ”
“ At the wedding.”
“ Ay, ay, surely. I ’m pledged to that. To-night is it ? ”
“ To-night; all our little world will be there.”
“ Count upon me. I will not fail.”
The governor bowed his friends out, but did not stay to watch them across the green ; else he might have wondered at their locked arms, their clustered heads, and frequent stops to parley.
The wedding proved a very grand affair. It has, indeed, become of historic interest, and that, too, without any great beauty or worth on the part of the wedded pair. The bride’s father — whose name is withheld for sufficient reasons — was a rich mynheer of good old Dutch stock, a stanch member of the Stadthuys party, who had himself suffered in person and estate under Leisler’s domination. This feast, then, to which were bidden all the men of weight and influence in the country-side, served the double purpose of reassembling the leaders of his own party in a general jubilation over the change in affairs, and incidentally doing honor to his daughter’s nuptials. The governor, who had been the figure-head of the revolution, was naturally the guest of distinction.
Mynheer’s house, if not the finest in the town, was yet worthy the company and the occasion, and a good example of the home of a rich burgher of the day. It was a large, square stone mansion on the corner of two considerable streets, with commodious offices, and a garden filled with choice Dutch plants stretching away to the rear. Somewhat bald without, it was luxurious enough within.
The heavy oak rafters which upheld the ceiling of the spacious drawingroom were carved in grotesque devices, and polished like a mirror. The walls, wainscoted in Spanish mahogany and hung with oil-paintings from the best Antwerp masters, abounded in nooks of mysterious gloom, defying the detective glare of a hundred candles. The floor was covered with a thick Flemish carpet. The high carved mantelpiece, adorned with twisted pilasters and overhung by a flowered tabby cloth, was relieved below by a hearth-stone, depicting in chocolate and blue tiles the pathetic story of Daniel in the lions’ den.
The furniture was of a sort with the room. A tall clock in a carved oak case black with age stood in the corner. Velvet chairs hung with silver lace, others covered with leather and studded with brass nails, stood about. The massive sofa seemed poised upon the back of some monstrous beast crouched against the wall, whence his huge claw feet protruded. Above gleamed a big round mirror framed in ebony, and flanked by glittering silver sconces ablaze with wax-lights. On the marble table stood tall candelabra, also bristling with lighted candles. Flowered tabby curtains draped the windows, and the broad window-seats were furnished with feathered cushions covered in tapestrywork. Upon the narrow chimney-shelf stood an hour-glass and the family Bible with polished brass ends and clasps. Above hung the sword used by the host’s father in the English wars. In the near corner leaned a burnished warming-pan, and on the opposite side was a spinning-wheel with cunningly inlaid frame.
In the dining-room, what with the precious accumulation of years of smoke from roaring logs on the hearth and the flaring of innumerable candles, the dusky walls and ceilings recalled the witching sombreness of certain Dutch masterpieces. The heavy mahogany table, dimmed by years of service, mirrored with a ghostly gleam the massive silver service which glittered on its surface. The carving of the huge sideboard was lost in gloom, but the rich store of glasses, flagons, and decanters with which it was loaded caught and reflected in a dazzling way the glow of the fire and candles.
Punctuality had not yet fallen from its high estate as a virtue, so that before the last peal of the sunset bell from the fort had died away the whole company was assembled.
And where upon the round earth could a more sober, respectable, and decorous looking company have been called together ! What it wanted in brilliance it made up in dignity ; what in grace was amply supplied in splendor. In outward aspect, indeed, it fell little short of gorgeousness. The women were loaded with heavy rings and chains of gold; they sported lace of Flemish and Venetian point. Their silken petticoats, of which each wore as many as she could carry, quilted with endless toil in a hundred fantastic patterns, were marvels of handiwork. Stockings curiously clocked, jeweled shoe-buckles, and heavy purses wrought in filigree made up an attire not conspicuous for simplicity.
Neither was the garb of the men, grave and sedate as they looked, behindhand in point of finery, nor, it must be confessed, in point of clumsiness. The number of Mynheer’s breeches equaled that of his vrouw’s petticoats; the outer pair, made of silk or velvet, being overhung by the long lappets of a waistcoat wrought in gold. Covering all was a voluminous coat with buckram-stiffened skirts sweeping to his very ankles. The host, as he stood beside his bobbing vrouw, near the open door, to receive his guests, protected his bald head from the draught by a cap of yellow brocade, with a crimson velvet brim turned up to the crown.
Amidst all this splendor there was one object of elegance : it was the begum. Her flowing robe of creamy cashmere was superbly wrought in colors. A fillet of diamonds shone in her coarse black hair and secured her head-gear, — a long veil of sheerest muslin hemmed with gold thread, — which was drawn at will about her slender person, or tossed hither and thither by her restless hands.
Steenie, coming upon the little woman in the throng, for the first time in his life became vaguely aware of this air of distinction. He stopped to talk, and — was it his own ripened taste, or that he now heeded it as never before ? — he found her conversation so abounding in a piquant flavor that he took no pains to conceal his look of annoyance when somebody came to interrupt them.
Thereafter wandering listlessly through the rooms, his eye was caught by a chattering group gathered about one of the window-seats. He drew near, and found Catalina the centre of it. By a happy audacity her mother had dressed her in scarlet, and she formed the high-light of a striking picture.
Stopping merely to look, he unconsciously listened. Catalina was the speaker. With gay looks and tripping accent she was rehearsing some cabalistic rhyme, to determine which of the group should next fill the place of bride and groom. One after another, with much good-natured banter, slipped into place before her to undergo the test.
A whim seized the junker: watching his chance, without leave or warning he stepped into the vacant place. The speaker was hopelessly discomfited. Controlling an impulse to cry out, she stared at him a moment, and dropped her eyes. Her companions clamored noisily for her to go on. She flushed painfully and stammered. The momentary silence was broken by a rumor that the bride had appeared.
Directly the others flew away, like a flock of birds, leaving Steenie and Catalina alone.
“ See,” he began, holding to his purpose, “ here is my hand. I am waiting to try my luck.”
The timely diversion had given the rhymster a moment’s relief. With illassumed indifference she took his hand, steadied herself, and looked up in his face to begin.
Nothing surely could have been more amiable than the junker’s expectant look. But she, suspecting perhaps a lurking mockery behind that demure mask, suddenly dropped his hand, and hurried away after her companions.
Directly the marriage ceremony was over, the bride fell from her rank as a person of consequence. She was left to the younger fry, who repaired to a room apart, where they danced and sported after time-honored fashion.
With the rest of the company the governor was the hero of the hour. All pressed forward for a presentation. His Excellency was most obliging. He stood flushed and perspiring in his scarlet toggery, shaking hands and bowing acknowledgment of the compliments poured in upon him.
Happily he was soon relieved ; supper was announced, and he was led away by his host to the seat of honor at the board. Every delicacy which the peopled woods or teeming waters could afford loaded the table. The choicest fruit of Spanish and Portuguese vineyards was not wanting, while all was supplemented by divers toothsome kickshaws of the huysvrouw’s art.
Such heavy viands called for huge draughts to wash them down. His Excellency, well known as a good trencherman, proved that he was no laggard at the bowl. Willing hands were not lacking to see that his cup was filled, nor ready wits to furnish occasion for new bumpers to his honor and success.
“ Here’s to our new governor,” began an over-zealous young man, sitting below the little group gathered at the head of the table.
“ Nay, nay, spare me; ’t is growing stale, that toast. It has been drunk a half score times already,” pleaded his Excellency, laughing.
“ Very good,” returned the pledger, with a wink at those about him, “ I will ring a change upon it. How is this ? Here ’s to our new broom : may it make a clean sweep, and leave no dust in the corners! ”
A buzz of approbation ran round the table.
“ I accept the amendment, my good friend,” answered the governor, in a voice already somewhat thick, “though I must say ’t is something of a riddle, that toast of yours.”
“ Let me resolve it for your Excellency by another,” said a voice nearer at hand. “ Gentlemen, are you ready ? Well, then ! Here’s to the Theseus sent to cope with our Minotaur : may he prove that the race of heroes is not run out! ”
“ An uproar of applause greeted this sentiment, what with the stamping of feet, the rattling of knives and spoons, mingled with hoarse shouts of delight.
“ After hunting tigers in Bengal, I might make shift to engage the monster,’ said his Excellency, with growing unsteadiness of utterance ; “ but remember the beast was inclosed in a labyrinth, and I — I have no skill in labyrinths.”
“ The way is straight,” said a low voice in his ear.
“ And there are willing guides,” added one in a stage whisper from across the table.
“ Fie, fie, gentlemen ! ” cried his Excellency, with a nervous laugh ; “ remember the occasion : ’t is a feast we are at. No business, I pray you. See, you are driving away the ladies! ”
The remark was occasioned by Madam Van Cortlandt, who, summoning the reluctant Steenie to escort her, was saying good-night at the door. Other guests were going; it was getting late. One little group, however, still lingered about the fireside, listening to the begum’s account of similar festivities in her native land.
Having sent Catalina home in her palanquin, that lady was professedly killing time till its return. Notwithstanding her listeners’ keen interest in what she was saying, the lady talked in a very odd and absent manner. Perhaps the convivial party at the other end of the room disconcerted her, for at every movement in their circle she hesitated, looked uneasy, and cast a furtive glance in that direction. Suddenly she stopped in the very midst of a sentence, and forgetting her staring audience, she listened heart and soul to what his Excellency was saying.
“ Ah, my friends, what a curry Colonel Bob could make ! ’T would keep a fish in the sea thirsty; I swear to you a man could drink all night after it, and begin again in the morning. Egad, I ’d give half my income for a dish of it this minute, if I might ever meet another with the trick of making it.”
To the great surprise of her auditors, the begum advanced quickly, and, leaning over the table, said, —
“ Gentlemen — your pardon ! ”
“ Madam, your most humble servant,” answered the governor, struggling to his feet.
“ I hear,” —the lady’s tone showed, as it seemed, undue agitation, — “it comes to my ear, your Excellency’s wish. ’T is a secret I learned in my own country, the dish you talk of — I know it well, and if I can serve you ” —
“ Nay, madam, ’t was a passing whim. I could never put you to such trouble.”
“ I shall count it an honor. Sir, I beg you ! ”
Gentlemen, you hear, — what can I say ? ”
“ Your Excellency, such an offer is not to be slighted.”
“ Madam, I am but mortal. Hark ye, gentlemen, a toast; and let it be a bumper : Here’s health and gratitude to her Mightiness the Begum ! ”
The lady acknowledged the compliment with a profound obeisance. Then turning briskly to the fulfillment of her promise, she sent to the kitchen for a chafing-dish and ingredients, dispatched a slave to her own house for the rarer condiments, and in an incredibly short time the savory dish was smoking upon the board.
A murmur of thanks, another toast, another salaam, and the agitated cook withdrew to join the ladies in the drawing-room.
Whether the dish proved too fiery for the untutored palates of the Dutchmen, whether from forbearance or some unexplained reason, the lion’s share was served to his Excellency, who scrupled not to accept it. His account of its effects, moreover, was abundantly verified. Relay after relay of wine, fetched from the well-stocked bins beneath, failed to cool the burning throats. In due time a huge bowl of punch took the place of the bottles. Thereupon the merriment grew boisterous. Indiscriminate laughter greeted alike the well-turned song, the stupid jest, or salacious tale, — the ladies were at a safe distance.
The ladies, indeed, were, for the most part, gone. In the drawing-room the patient hostess still nodded in the midst of a few heavy-eyed dames, who, kept by the storm, waited for their carousing lords.
For the storm, long threatening, had broken at last, and in ill-lighted, unpaved streets was not to be lightly encountered. The begum’s palanquin-bearers, driven in by the pelting rain, lay crouched like sleeping dogs upon a rug in a dark corner of the hall. Their mistress, unconscious of their presence, paced the drawing-room with cat-like tread and ear intent upon the progressing orgies.
After a lull which sadly tried the patience of the listener, his Excellency was heard, more inarticulate than ever, in converse with another, whose tones were clear, insinuating, and urgent.
“ But I pray your Excellency to consider ; you are among friends here.”
“ Fr-frien’s! yesh, go-ood frien’s ! ”
“ Good friends, very true. Now among good friends one may talk his mind.”
“ Ay, ay, talk away, go-ood frien’ ; but your glash is empty — see ! ”
“ Listen ; this is business. Your Excellency is looking for a home. Now there is a fine plantation on the river wants an owner.”
“ Eh ? ”
“ An estate for a duke, well watered, timbered, stocked with cattle and slaves.”
“ So — hic-o ? ”
“ There is no better estate in the province.”
“ Go-ood ! ”
“ A word in your ear : the day this matter is settled ” —
His Excellency’s blurred vision clearly failed to catch the wink.
“ Umph ? ”
— “ that estate finds an owner ” —
Was the fuddled official past taking a hint ?
— “ and your Excellency — ahem ” — “ Eh ? ”
— “ finds a home.”
Has some savor of the insinuation at last reached him through the clogged avenues of sense ? He shifts uneasily in his chair, and as his eye lights upon two of the party withdrawn to whisper in the corner, he hails it as a distraction, and loudly rallies them : —
“ Hello! Hel-lo, I say! See yon sneaks ! Go fetch ’em back, ’n’ fill their gl-lashes ! ”
“ But your Excellency ” —
“ Fetch ’em back ! F-fetch ’em back, I say, and make ’em dr-rink ! We ’ll have no sn-neaks here ! ”
“ Make good your promise to us, your Excellency, and we ’ll drink you measure for measure till the cock crows.”
“Drink — dr-rink, I say, and I’ll make good anything ! ”
“ Here, then, if it please you, ’t is but to sign this paper.”
“ F-faugh ! T-take it away. Leave si-ignin’ papers till the day. Dr-rink, I say ! ”
“ So we will; but first — ’t is but to write your name.”
A place was cleared upon the table, the parchment was spread before him, a half dozen of the most noted men of the province crowded around.
“ Pray you, sir ! ”
“ A stroke of the pen and ’t is done.”
“ See, here is the place.”
“ To-morrow ’t will be as hard to do.”
“ ’T is the sentence of the court.”
“ ’T is approved by the council.”
“ And confirmed by the assembly.”
“ Would you free the land from rebels and traitors ? ”
“ Indeed, you have no choice.”
“ Come, sir, the punch is waiting.”
“ See, here is the place.”
A pen was fitted to the unsteady fingers, the paper was adjusted. A tense silence fell upon the room, broken only by the roaring of the wind in the huge chimney and the raging of the storm without. The candles burned low in their sockets; a fitful flame flickered among the wasted logs upon the hearthstone. Out of the shadows of the doorway close at hand peered a dusky face, with glaring eyes fixed upon the little group.
“ Wh-wha’ zis for, gen-gen’lemen ? ”
The thick tongue could scarcely articulate, and the heavy lids drooped over the vacant eyes.
“ For his Majesty’s glory and the peace of the province.”
“ He-here’s to ’s Ma-majesty’s glglory ! ”
He scrawled the fateful lines, the pen dropped from his nerveless grasp, and he rolled, a senseless clod, under the table.
XXVI.
All through the night the storm raged on, and the morning brought no change save the glimmering of a cold gray light sifted through countless strata of icy vapor. From the exhaustless reservoir of the northern seas came sweeping, in endless succession, vast masses of clouds, to pour out their floods upon the drenched city.
Round about the little island the storm marshaled its forces as an enemy about a beleaguered camp. The sea thundered upon the rocks; the Kolch, risen high in its basin, threatened overflow ; the brook leaped its bounds, and swept in mad turbulence down the Magde Paetje; while far and near the ground was strewn with dead branches of trees and rotten saplings wrenched from the dismantled palisades.
Within the walls the gutters ran in rivulets ; the shattered bark eaves-troughs spurted cascades from every corner; mimic lakes formed in each hollow of the ground, and the unpaved streets were an ooze of mud.
The fort, perched on its little promontory, suffered the full fury of the attack : loose mortar and bits of rubble from the walls were flung hither and yonder; streams of water poured over the bastions; the wind, swooping among the inclosed buildings, tore shingles from the roofs, rocked the old belltower from base to summit, dashed in shrieks of ill-omen against the barred windows of the dungeon, howled down the chimney of the governor’s house, sending out thick clouds of smoke from the struggling fire into the low-ceiled room where sat some members of the council, shuddering amidst their whispered conference at the fury of the blast, which, shrieking, demon-voiced, at the casement, sped away to blab abroad the dark secret it had eavesdropped.
Catalina stood at the window of her own room, looking out upon the storm. Over the tree-tops in the garden she caught a glimpse of the sea gleaming with white-caps, the further shore blurred out by clouds and rain.
Despite the dreariness of the outlook, the young girl lingered long at her post, and shivered as she turned away; for within things were at their worst. The whole house was torn up and disordered in preparation for moving; her father having resolved, since the change in affairs, to quit the town and retire to his farm in New Utrecht.
Shut up in his herbarium brooding over the results of the late revolution, the doctor concerned not himself with details; the begum had a native scorn for any menial task, and thus the work of packing was left to the slaves, with the natural result.
Notwithstanding the turmoil and the swarming humanity, Catalina was conscious of a sense of isolation and mystery. The house held not a companion for her. The children were at play in the garret; the slaves at their work ; her father shut up as described; while her mother, preoccupied and anxious, spent the day wandering restlessly from room to room, peering from the windows, listening breathlessly as if for some expected sound to break through the dull roar of wind and rain.
Impatient of the stress of influences not to be seen or understood, Catalina at last, with an impetuous movement, started to go to her father’s room. Though silent, he was not unkind, and, though he might not welcome, he would not repulse her. She could at least sit quietly and look at his big musty books filled with odd cuts of plants and flowers, and forget all malign influences in his protective presence.
Down the broad staircase and through the hall, cluttered with furniture and packing-cases, she passed, reaching at length the narrow passage which led to her father’s room.
The sight of the door ajar and the sound of conversation from within caused her to stop. Her father was speaking in a tone of strong excitement.
“ What do you tell me, woman ? ”
Could this be to her mother ? Never had she heard her addressed in such wise.
“ ’T is done, I say. I saw him sign the paper.”
“ They dare not ! ”
“ ’T is the sentence of the court.”
“ A court packed with his enemies.”
“ The council, the assembly, approve it.”
“ And who be they ? — the self-same blood-hungry brood.”
“ The whole country cries out for it. He is a monster, — a beast of carnage that must be hunted down and ” —
The speaker, at a loss for a word strong enough to express her meaning, finished the sentence with a stamp of her foot.
“ ’T will be a murder ! ”
“ It will be to take away a dread and a burden from the people. It will be to bless the province. It will be to let honest people breathe in peace, sleep without horrid dreams, speak like men and women, and not slaves.”
“ I tell you, woman, that day Jacob Leisler dies by the hangman’s hand will be the darkest ever dawned upon this land.”
“ Be it dark or light,” came the retort in a tone almost fierce with exultation, “’t will dawn with to-morrow’s sun.”
Catalina heard these concluding words, saw the door open, saw her mother’s form advancing towards her in the passage, but she stood motionless. So gradually had the intelligence grown in her mind from a premonition to a dark suspicion, to a sinking fear, to a horrible conviction, that she did not start or tremble; she simply stood as if the blood had stopped coursing in her veins.
It was her mother who brought her back to a realization of the truth.
“ Child, what have you heard ? ”
Catalina scarcely felt the grasp upon her arm, heeded not the question; she had but one thought.
Shaking off her mother’s hold, she flew through the hall, opened the door, — entreaties, warnings, threats, unheard, — and dashed away through the pelting storm, hoodless and cloakless.
The day was spent. Night was fast falling. It was simply a change from gray to black. Light or darkness, it was all the same to Catalina; she could have found her way in sleep to that familiar stoop in the Strand. The slave who opened the door was almost startled into dropping her candle, as the bedraggled little figure sprang in out of the swirl of wind and rain, and darted past her up the stairs.
Hester stood before the mirror smoothing her hair. She looked up tranquilly as the door was flung open, shaded her eyes from the glare of the candle, and stared with quiet curiosity on recognizing her visitor at such an hour and in such a guise.
That undisturbed look struck the visitor dumb. She stood rooted to the threshold, with not a word to say.
“ Catalina, what brings you ? ”
The girl tried to speak; her lips quivered, her face was contorted, but, unable to fetch forth a word, she threw herself into her friend’s arms with a troubled cry.
In vain Hester asked what it all meant. She could only get sobs and inarticulate cries in answer. She made matters worse by offering general condolence upon any or all ills her visitor might be afflicted with.
Her entreaties were interrupted by a loud wail from below, followed by groans and despairing cries. In dismay Hester hurried down-stairs, Catalina vainly striving to withhold her.
She found the cozy supper-room warmed and lighted, and the table spread for their evening meal; but, as if in mockery of all these preparations for creature comfort, there, upon the hearth-rug, stood their old pastor, his wide-brimmed hat and cloak fallen in a sodden mass to the floor, supporting in his arms her mother, who, in an utter abandonment of grief, filled the air with groans. Before him, upon the floor, Mary sobbed without restraint; in the hall Cobus strode up and down in violent agitation; while from the kitchen doorway peered the frightened faces of a group of slaves.
Hester stood in silence, yielding to the creeping chill of coming terror. Before the question that trembled upon her lips could be put into words the need for it was gone.
“ Let us pray.”
All heeded the dominie’s call save Cobus, who kept on his restless march.
The prayer left no more questions to be asked. Hester rose from her knees with face ashen and fixed. She shed no tears, uttered no sound of grief. She sat in a chair for a space, and then went and asked the dominie if they might go to the fort.
“ Yes, yes, go, all of you. Take the mother. The time is short.”
Seeing herself forgotten, Catalina stole away. Coming out upon the stoop, she found a tall figure standing in the darkness. She was about to pass, when a well-known voice said, —
“ You have seen her ?”
“ Yes; oh, go in, — go you and speak to her. She will listen to you.”
Quite unconsciously she caught the junker’s arm and peered beseechingly in his face. He did not heed her clutch, he could not see her pleading eyes; he was busy with some scruples of his own.
“ You will go ? ”
“ I will wait for the dominie.”
Dimly guessing at his meaning, she turned away. A passing lantern showed her scanty dress. He quietly stripped off his great-coat and threw over her. Failing for the first time in her life to resent such a liberty, she went submissively away, trailing the heavy garment through the mud.
The junker remained at his post, pacing up and down in the rain. Drenched muffled figures slipped past him into the house, amongst them Dr. Staats with lantern and a cloak, in search of his daughter. Others, friends and relatives, arrived ; the dreadful news was spreading. A score of persons, all told, might have gathered. The sound of lamentation mingled with curses and execrations gradually increased to an uproar. Thereupon, dominating the tumult, the voice of the dominie once more uprose in supplication. Directly his prayer was ended, a silent procession filed out of the door and took its way towards the fort.
Which of all these cloaked and hooded figures was she ? The junker stood looking after them, in doubt whether to follow, when the dominie stepped up to him.
“ Come with me. I have work for you.”
Without question or hesitation the summons was obeyed.
“ This is a woful business,” said the good man, as they hurried along ; “ it crushes these poor people. I pity them ; but God looks on, ’t is all done in his providence. We cannot stay the course of justice. ’T is best we should not. ’T is best for the people, best for the country, that this thing should be done, — I may speak freely to you, — but some part of these cruel practices may be dispensed with. Let the man pay the penalty of his great sin with his life ; all beyond is barbarity. Let us make haste and see if we may get these cruelties abated.”
“ Is it needful for that to see his Excellency ? ”
“ Yes; he alone has power to remit any part of the sentence.”
“ I hope he may be found,” said Steenie significantly.
But the storm drowned his voice, and the unsuspecting dominie plunged on towards Colonel Bayard’s house, where the governor lodged. Arrived, they were told his Excellency was not at home.
“ Where is he ? ” demanded the dominie sharply.
The servant knew nothing about it.
“ Go tell your master Dominie Selyns waits to see him ! ”
But the colonel was absent also, and nothing was known of his whereabouts.
The dominie uttered an exclamation of impatience.
“ Leave it to me,” said Steenie quickly.
“ There must be no miscarriage in the matter,” was the stern warning.
“ If it be in the power of man to do, I will do it,” said the junker resolutely.
The dominie still hesitated.
“ You are needed yonder,” pointing towards the fort.
“ True, true ; go, my lad, — go and do your best. The business is safer in your hands than in mine,” he added, perhaps with a recollection of the junker’s kinship with many of the party in power.
The two parted on the dark stoop, and went their separate ways.
Whether acting upon information or surmise, Steenie decided at once upon his course, and lost no time in setting off on his errand. Going home, he told nobody of his purpose, but stole to the stables, saddled his own horse, and unaccompanied by servant or slave made his way to the Landpoort and galloped off through the darkness.
Like all youths of the day, he was a skilled horseman and quite familiar with the few highways traversing the island.
Pushing on as fast as the storm and darkness would permit, he saw presently, to the right of the road, a feeble gleam of light. He remembered his whereabouts. Thinking perhaps of his dripping state and the long ride before him, he dashed up to the house and pounded on the door with his whip. It was opened directly, and Tryntie appeared.
“ Quick, huysvrouw, a glass of brandewyn! ”
Without pause or question the little woman darted away, and presently appeared with a bottle and mug, — the owner of the bottle, aroused from his fireside nap, bringing up the rear.
“ What happens, Mynheer ? ” he asked, stifling a yawn.
The junker told the news in a word as he wheeled his horse.
“ God help us all! ”
“ The great captain himself! Ach, if he had but minded me when I ” —
Heedless of the consternation of the worthy pair, Steenie galloped off in the midst of their exclamations, and for several hours, without pause or interruption, held his course.
It was past midnight when at last he drew up before a dark mass of buildings and shrubbery which presently proved a mansion of unusual extent, as the broken line of its wings and offices stood out in gray relief against the black background of the forest.
Driving into the stable-yard, where he was greeted by a chorus of barking dogs, the rider gave over his jaded horse to a sleepy groom and made all haste to the house.
Here tell - tale rays of light seen through chinks and cracks in the closed shutters, together with a murmur of voices and an occasional burst of laughter from within, told of a convivial party.
Sounding the knocker and making known his name, Steenie was ushered directly to the supper-room, where his appearance was the signal for a noisy greeting.
As the junker stood for a moment upon the threshold, there took place divers swift and marked contractions of his facial muscles. Before him was reproduced the scene of the wedding-feast: the disordered table, the self-same company, with his Excellency in the seat of honor proposing, in a voice reminiscent of yesterday, a toast in his honor.
Notwithstanding this cordial reception, Steenie failed not to detect certain keen and critical glances bent upon him. There was need of caution ; there was need of presence of mind. An ill-judged move might defeat his purpose.
He studied the group with anxiety as he set down his cup, he noted the condition of his Excellency : clearly, no time was to be lost.
Meantime the flow of conviviality was checked. Naturally the company looked to him for an explanation of his unbidden entrance to the revel. The junker hesitated; he floundered for a moment in embarrassment. Presently he drew himself up. His face cleared.
“ Gentlemen, I am come here on an errand of mercy.”
There was an indefinable movement among his hearers.
“ I am come hither on the part of the dominie to beg that no needless cruelty be practiced on yonder wretches.”
A murmur, which, though inarticulate, was as distinctly hostile as the growl of a wild beast, went around the board.
“ May it please your Excellency,” went on the junker without giving time for an interruption, “ I appeal to you to remit so much of this sentence as goes beyond ” —
“ No more o’ that bus-business ! ’T is settled, — I 'll not be plagued with it again. Come, gentlemen, where are your glasses ? ”
“ But please your Excellency, if the ends of justice are answered by the death of the culprits, anything further”—
“ No more, I say! ” interrupted the governor angrily. “ My go-ood friend, let the old dominie do his own preaching, and fill you up your gl-lass like your father’s son ! ”
Silenced by the loud applause which greeted this answer, Steenie looked about with an air of discouragement. Well he knew his listeners : small sympathy they would have at any time for mere sentiment; but in this instance he came to plead for one at whose hands they had suffered every form of indignity, till the very thought of him filled them with a blighting hatred.
As if recognizing in the occasion a crucial test of character, the junker summoned every resource of manhood to the fore.
“ Gentlemen, you are advisers to his Excellency ; I appeal to you. Shall we go back to savage practices ? This is a remnant of barbarism, ’t is a disgrace to Christianity ; will you suffer it? ”
There was a dead silence.
Driven to straits, the petitioner next called on individuals by name to aid him in persuading his Excellency ; in each case he was met by a blank refusal.
“ D-damn me if I ’ll be persua-suaded by the best of you! ” hiccoughed his Excellency. “ I ’d have you to know I ’ve a m-mind o’ my own. C-come, no more o’ this ! Fill up, gentlemen ! ”
Straightway there was a prodigious bustle in opening bottles and filling glasses. The junker was ignored.
But only for a minute. With a supreme effort he met the crisis.
“ Listen ! ” he cried, as he struck the table a resounding thump. “ Listen, I say, one and all! Grant me now and here this thing I ask, or by the goodness of God I will make known to the world how yonder wretches’ death was compassed ! ”
There was an instant commotion. The governor staggered to his feet, purple with wrath.
“ Does he t-think to bully us ? S-seize him! Seize him ! ”
Several members of the startled circle expostulated with his Excellency, others came with overtures to Steenie.
“ Stand off ! I will have no parleying. There is no time to waste. Once for all,” he cried, turning and stalking to the door, “shall I have what I ask ? ”
There was a whispered consultation, accompanied by many oaths and much angry gesticulation. At last one of the elders of the party wrote a few hurried lines on a slip of paper, which his Excellency signed with a tipsy scrawl and flung to the floor. Verifying the paper with one sweeping glance as he picked it up, the waiting junker was away without a word.
On the way back, what with his breathless pace and the heavy roads, his horse foundered. There was no help at hand. There was no time for consideration. Turning the poor beast loose upon the highway, therefore, he pushed on afoot, and arrived, travel-worn and exhausted, at the Landpoort as the gates were opening.
The night had gone, and left a dark legacy of storm and tragedy to the infant day. About the entrance of the fort a restless crowd was already gathered. What had brought them ? What was doing ? Was he too late ?
Filled with forebodings, the junker pushed his way through to the gate, explained his business to the sentry, and after much delay was admitted.
Within, a squadron of troops drawn up before the governor’s house shocked him by its grim significance. Pausing not to see or hear, however, he made his way with all speed to the dungeon in search of the dominie In the narrow corridor, posted about the door of the cell, stood on guard another detachment of troopers.
His name, muttered to the officer, was heard within, and caused a sensation, — his errand being well known. Shrinking from entering, he demanded only to see the dominie, but was pushed across the threshold by the officious soldiers.
In his heated state the dungeon chilled him to the marrow; coming straight from the light, he could see nothing in the gloom but detached haggard faces with eyes hungering for a word of hope. He stood like one in a nightmare till the dominie reached his side.
“ What luck ? ”
“ ’T is granted.”
“ God be praised ! ”
The fervent words were misconstrued. A false hope leaped up in the hearts of those who overheard. Milborne was one of them ; Steenie shuddered to see the despair of the unhappy wretch when the dominie mercifully corrected the mistake.
“ Go back to him, then ! Go to him again ! Go, some one, tell him the king — his Majesty has pardoned us ! The reprieve is on the way — ’t is the storm keeps back the ship ! Go bid him wait — wait for the storm to clear! Go you, dominie ; they will hearken to you ! Tell him God will avenge the death of innocent men ! Go! time is flying. Waste no more breath in prayer. Go threaten them with the thunderbolts of heaven, with earthquake, pestilence, and famine ! — go call down upon them the curses of the Almighty, if they persist in this wickedness! Will nobody listen — will nobody heed ? Have ye no pity — no mercy ? Van Cortlandt, go you, I say, and tell his Excellency we will humble ourselves — we will confess our guilt — we will bind ourselves with pledges — we will submit to any penalty ; go ! — go while there is time ! If you ever hope for mercy, go! Go, as you look for redemption in Christ! Quick ! Haste ! Speak them soft — speak them fair! Tell those honorable councilors and the worshipful governor we are two poor, miserable, contrite wretches, worn out in body and sick at heart, who have few days at best to live — beg them ! — implore them to save us from this! Oh ! — oh-h-h ! Will nobody listen — will nobody heed me ? Cobus ! — Jacobse, I say, Gouveneur — Walters, heed me ! Give over whining and prayer! Out! Out with ye into the streets! Rouse the town! Call out our friends — bid them save us from these bloody tyrants ! They are but a handful, they will run like sheep ! Away with ye ! Go while there’s time ! ye may save us yet. Do ye hear ? Cowards, will ye stand by and see us dragged to slaughter like beasts ? Oh — oh-h-h, Father in heaven — dear God, merciful God, will ye hear ? Almighty God, will ye heed ? Save — save — SAVE US ! ”
The frantic appeals of the unhappy man were interrupted by a movement at the door. An officer stepped forward and said gruffly, —
“ Let the prisoners make ready to go ! ”
Whether finding a calm in uttermost despair, whether paralyzed by the forerunning breath of the impending blow, Milborne straightway ceased. Not another word escaped him.
Crowded back against the wall by the advancing guard, Steenie saw before him as in a picture the cell and its inmates. There was a movement in the corner ; Leisler had risen from his bench, and stood where the light of the narrow window fell full upon him.
The junker stared in amazement at the transfiguration wrought in him : shaven, combed, and dressed, his person had an air of decency which even in the heyday of his power it had lacked ; his rugged features, softened by a look of resignation, showed yet a certain loftiness in their serenity. The strong plebeian expression which had so marked his whole personality seemed to have been fused away, leaving something akin to the sublimated look of martyrdom.
He began to speak, and directly there was a hush in the room.
“ Good-by, dominie. So ! ye scorn not to take the hand of a felon ? Ye have behaved to me ever like a true Christian ; I deserved it not from ye. I am sorry now for the ill-treatment ye had at my hands. I misjudged ye as I did others.
“ Of you and all I have injured I humbly beg pardon, as here a dying sinner before God and the world I declare my own forgiveness of the most bitter of my enemies. More : I make it my last prayer to kith and kin that they be forgetful of any wrong done me. ' T is your holy office, dominie, to bear testimony of the truth: make clear, then, to the people the mind I die in of true repentance and forgiveness. Touching this matter I am condemned for, I declare as my dying word it was my only object to serve the interests of our sovereign lord and lady and the Protestant Reformed Church. Say this for the truth’s sake, when ye hear me maligned !
“ Ei, children! Are ye all here ? — Mary, Hester, Cobus ! Good-by to ye ! — nay, dry your eyes ! I am not one to weep for; my going is no loss to ye, but a gain. Forgive me, my children, the shame I brought upon ye; ’t is a blot will wash out in time. Take ye good care o’ my old Elsie, — she has been a faithful mother to ye. God sends ye not many such friends in life !
“ Elsie,” — he paused, shaken by a passing tremor as he lifted his wife’s half-senseless form and strove to look on her face, — “what can I say to ye, wife ? I have slighted ye and your faithful heart’s service. I held it too cheap because I knew it sure. I had been better off to have minded your counsel, but I was a fool in my pride. Can ye forgive me ? I know ye can ! I know ye will! Ye need not open your lips, I see it in your eyes. ’T was God joined ye to me for better and for worse ; He parts us now in his own great wisdom and goodness. Good-by — good-by. D’ ye hear me, wife ? May God in his mercy — there — there, take her — take her away ! ”
Nothing but force availed to tear the faithful vrouw from her husband’s arms. Steenie shut his eyes that he might not see the poor despairing creature as she was dragged past him out of the cell.
The next moment a movement in the doorway drew his attention ; Hester was coming out with the rest. She looked him in the face without a sign of recognition ; her eyes were as glassy and staring as a doll’s.
With an instinctive movement he sprang forward, as if expecting her to fall; she passed on like a sleep-walker, unheeding his presence. He walked by her side along the corridor and up the steep steps to the outer air, but, for all she knew, he might have been a thousand miles away.
Half-way to the gate they were stopped by the guard. No reason was given for the detention, they asked none ; they dumbly stood and waited, like cattle.
The silence was suddenly broken by a sound which filled the air above them and shook the earth beneath: the bell in the tower began to toll. With a humane instinct Steenie quickly seized Hester by the shoulders and turned her away.
There was a stir behind them, — the procession had begun to move. In the midst of a hollow square formed by the troops the culprits walked. The dull thuds of a muffled drum regulated their step through the mud ; they were bound and bareheaded; the rain dashed in blinding torrents in their faces, while above, like an awful metronome, the bell beat the time for their funeral march.
N-n-n-g! N-n-n-g!
At the gate they are stopped ; there is a disturbance. A little woman breaks through the file of soldiers and stretches forth a bottle to the commander.
“ Take it! ’t is good brandewyn, ’t will bear ye up. The cold and rain will kill ye else, — take but a sip ! ”
From his upper air the commander looked down upon her as upon an insect wriggling in the pathway, with no sense of her meaning.
Before she could repeat her offer the little huysvrouw was roughly thrust back by the soldiers.
N-n-n-g! N-n-n-g!
The merciless bell drives them on. The waiting multitude outside the gate, hungering for the ghastly spectacle, feed fat their eyes upon it as they surround and hem it in and bear it away through the Landpoort, as a monster that has seized its prey.
Homeward faring the mourners go, their different way marking with shuffling feet the adagio measure beaten by the pursuing metronome.
N-n-n-g ! N-n-n-g!
Every blow crushes in upon their hearts, yet its dying vibrations leave them in dread suspense lest it come not again.
But the fear is vain. It comes again and ever again. It tolls on through ages of suffering before they reach the house.
Assembled on the stoop, they turn to go in. Again it comes with warning peal.
N-n-n-g! N-n-n-g!
“ There — there ’t is ! I feared ‘t was the last. My Jacob — my husband — Father in heaven, there is time to save him — he lives and breathes yet! ”
“ Come, mother, — come in from the storm.”
“ Go ! — go leave me here ! I ’ll pray while I have breath. There ! there again ! he lives, I say, he thinks of us. God will hear me, — He ’ll put a stop to this. There ! — ’t is louder that ” —
Unable to bear this longer, Steenie turned to go. He looked wistfully at the figure by his side. He made a move to speak, but the sight of the doll’s eyes restrained him.
At the bottom of the steps he stopped and turned : they were bearing the distracted mourner in ; the others followed, and the door closed behind them.
Turning to the left, the junker sauntered toward the Waterpoort, mindless of the storm which momently increased. At the gate he paused, hesitating which way to go ; suddenly he became conscious that the bell had ceased to toll.
With a shudder he turned around and hurried home.
Edwin Lassetter Bynner.